Chapter XX (2)

(1) There is strong _presumptive_ evidence against this interpretation, and especially against the main point in the doctrine, that there will be a _literal resurrection_ of the bodies of the saints at the beginning of that millennial period, to live and reign with Christ on earth, from the following circumstances:――(a) It is admitted, on all hands, that this doctrine, if contained in the Scriptures at all, is found in this one passage only. It is not pretended that there is, in any other place, a direct affirmation that this will literally occur, nor would the advocates for that opinion undertake {429} to show that it is fairly implied in any other part of the Bible. But it is strange, not to say improbable, that the doctrine of the literal resurrection of the righteous, a thousand years before the wicked, should be announced in one passage only. If it were so announced in plain and unambiguous language, I admit that the believer in the divine origin of the Scriptures would be bound to receive it; but this is so contrary to the usual method of the Scriptures on all great and important doctrines, that this circumstance should lead us at least to doubt whether the passage is correctly interpreted. The resurrection of the dead is a subject on which the Saviour often dwelt in his instructions; it is a subject which the apostles discussed very frequently and at great length in their preaching, and in their writings; it is presented by them in a great variety of forms, for the consolation of Christians in time of trouble, and with reference to the condition of the world at the winding up of human affairs; and it is strange that, in respect to so important a doctrine as this, if it be true, there is not elsewhere, in the New Testament, a hint, an intimation, an allusion, that would lead us to suppose that the righteous are to be raised in this manner. (b) If this is a true doctrine, it would be reasonable to expect that a clear and unambiguous statement of it would be made. Certainly, if there is but _one_ statement on the subject, that might be expected to be a perfectly clear one, it would be a statement about which there could be no diversity of opinion, concerning which those who embraced it might be expected to hold the same views. But it cannot be pretended that this is so in regard to this passage. It occurs in the book which, of all the books in the Bible, is most distinguished for figures and symbols; it cannot be maintained that it is _directly_ and _clearly_ affirmed; and it is _not_ so taught that there is any uniformity of view among those who profess to hold it. In nothing has there been greater diversity among men than in the opinions of those who profess to hold the “_literal_” views respecting the personal reign of Christ on the earth. But this fact assuredly affords _presumptive_ evidence that the doctrine of the literal resurrection of the saints a thousand years before the rest of the dead, is not intended to be taught. (c) It is presumptive proof against this, that nothing is said of the employment of those who are raised up; of the reason why they are raised; of the new circumstances of their being; and of their condition when the thousand years shall have ended. In so important a matter as this, we can hardly suppose that the whole subject would be left to a single hint in a symbolical representation, depending on the doubtful meaning of a single word, and with nothing to enable us to determine, with absolute certainty, that this _must_ be the meaning. (d) If it be meant that this is a description of the resurrection of the _righteous_ as such――embracing _all_ the righteous――then it is wholly unlike all the other descriptions of the resurrection of the righteous that we have in the Bible. Here the account is confined to “those that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus,” and to “those who had not worshipped the beast.” If the righteous, as such, are here referred to, why are these particular classes specified? Why are not the usual general terms employed? Why is the account of the resurrection confined to these? Elsewhere in the Scriptures, the account of the resurrection is given in the most _general_ terms (comp. Mat. xxv. 41; Jn. iv. 54; v. 28, 29; Ro. ii. 7; 1 Co. xv. 23; Phi. iii. 20, 21; 2 Th. i. 10; He. ix. 28; 1 Jn. ii. 28, 29; iii. 2); and if this had been the designed reference here, it is inconceivable why the statement should be limited to the martyrs, and to those who have evinced great fidelity in the midst of temptations and allurements to apostasy. These circumstances furnish strong _presumptive_ proofs, at least, against the doctrine that there is to be a literal resurrection of _all_ the saints at the beginning of the millennial period. Comp. _Christ’s Second Coming_, by Rev. David Brown, p. 219, seq.

(2) In reference to many of the views necessarily implied in the doctrine of the “second advent,” and avowed by those who hold that doctrine, it cannot be pretended that they receive any countenance or support from this passage. In the language of Professor Stuart (_Com._ vol. ii. p. 479), there is “not a word of Christ’s descent to the earth at the beginning of the millennium. Nothing of the literal assembling of the Jews in Palestine; nothing of the Messiah’s temporal reign on _earth_; nothing of the overflowing abundance {430} of worldly peace and plenty.” Indeed, in all this passage, there is not the remotest hint of the grandeur and magnificence of the reign of Christ as a literal king upon the earth; nothing of his having a splendid capital at Jerusalem, or anywhere else; nothing of a new dispensation of a miraculous kind; nothing of the renovation of the earth to fit it for the abode of the risen saints. All this is the mere work of fancy, and no man can pretend that it is to be found in this passage.

(3) Nor is there anything here of a literal resurrection of the _bodies_ of the dead, as Professor Stuart himself supposes. It is not a little remarkable that a scholar so accurate as Professor Stuart is, and one, too, who has so little sympathy with the doctrines connected with a literal reign of Christ on the earth, should have lent the sanction of his name to perhaps the most objectionable of all the dogmas connected with that view――the opinion that the _bodies_ of the saints will be raised up at the beginning of the millennial period. Of this there is not one word, one intimation, one hint, in the passage before us. John says expressly, _and as if to guard the point from all possible danger of this construction_, that he “saw the SOULS of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus;” he saw them “_living_” and “reigning” with Christ――raised to the exalted honour during that period, as if they had been raised from the dead; but he nowhere mentions or intimates that they were raised up from their graves; that they were clothed with bodies; that they had their residence now literally on the earth; or that they were, in any way, otherwise than disembodied spirits. There is not even one word of their having “_a spiritual body_.”

(4) There are _positive_ arguments, which are perfectly decisive, against the interpretation which supposes that the bodies of the saints will be raised up at the beginning of the millennial period, to reign with Christ on the earth for a thousand years. Among these are the following:――

(a) If the “first resurrection” means rising from the grave in immortal and glorified bodies, we do not need the assurance (ver. 6), that “on such the second death hath no power;” that is, that they would not perish for ever. That would be a matter of course, and there was no necessity for such a statement. But if it be supposed that the main idea is that the _principles_ of the martyrs and of the most eminent saints would be revived and would live, _as if_ the dead were raised up, and would be manifested by those who were in _mortal_ bodies――men living on the earth――then there would be a propriety in saying that all such were exempt from the danger of the _second_ death. _Once_, indeed, they would die; but the _second_ death could not reach them. Comp. Re. ii. 10, 11.

(b) In the whole passage there are but two classes of men referred to. There are those “who have part in the first resurrection;” that is, according to the supposition, _all_ the saints; and there are those over whom “the second death” _has_ power. Into which of these classes are we to put the myriads of men having flesh and blood who are to people the world during the millennium? They have no part in “the first resurrection,” if it be a bodily one. Are they then given over to the power of the “second death?” But if the “first resurrection” be regarded as figurative and spiritual, then the statement that those who are actuated by the spirit of the martyrs and of the eminent saints, shall not experience the “second death,” is seen to have meaning and pertinency.

(c) The mention of the _time_ during which they are to reign, if it be literally understood, is contrary to the whole statement of the Bible in other places. They are to “live and reign with Christ” _a thousand years_. What, then? Are they to live no longer? Are they to reign no longer with him? This supposition is entirely contrary to the current statement in the Scriptures, which is, that they are to live and reign with him _for ever_: 1 Th. iv. 17, “_And so shall we ever be with the Lord_.” According to the views of the “literalists,” the declaration that they “should live and reign with Christ,” considered as the characteristic features of the millennial state, is to terminate with the thousand years――for this is the promise, according to that view, that they should thus live and reign. But it need not be said that this is wholly contrary to the current doctrine of the Bible, that they are to live and reign with him for ever.

(d) A further objection to this view is, that the wicked part of the world――“the rest of the dead who lived not {431} again _until_ the thousand years were finished”――must of course be expected to “live again” in the same bodily sense _when_ those thousand years were finished. But, so far from this, there is no mention of their living then. When the thousand years are finished, Satan is loosed for a season; then the nations are roused to opposition against God; then there is a conflict, and the hostile forces are overthrown; and then comes the final judgment. During all this time we read of no resurrection at all. The period after this is to be filled up with something besides the resurrection of the “rest of the dead.” There is no intimation, as the _literal_ construction, as it is claimed, would demand, that immediately after the “thousand years are finished” the “rest of the dead”――the wicked dead――would be raised up; nor is there any intimation of such a resurrection until _all_ the dead are raised up for the final trial, ver. 12. But every consideration demands, if the interpretation of the “literalists” be correct, that the “rest of the dead”――the unconverted dead――should be raised up immediately after the close of the millennial period, and be raised up as a distinct and separate class.

(e) There is no intimation in the passage itself that the _righteous_ will be raised up _as such_ in this period, and the proper interpretation of the passage is contrary to that supposition. There are but two classes mentioned as having part in the first resurrection. They are those who were “beheaded for the witness of Jesus,” and those who “had not worshipped the beast”――that is, the martyrs, and those who had been eminent for their fidelity to the Saviour in times of great temptation and trial. There is no mention of the resurrection of the righteous _as such_――of the resurrection of the great body of the redeemed; and if it could be shown that this refers to a _literal_ resurrection, it would be impossible to apply it, according to any just rules of interpretation, to any more than the two classes that are specified. By what rules of interpretation is it made to to teach that _all_ the righteous will be raised up on that occasion, and will live on the earth during that long period? In this view of the matter, the passage _does not_ express the doctrine that the whole church of God will be raised bodily from the grave. And supposing it had been the design of the Spirit of God to teach this, is it credible, when there are so many clear expressions in regard to the resurrection of the dead, that so important a doctrine should have been reserved for one single passage so obscure, and where the great mass of the readers of the Bible in all ages have failed to perceive it? That is not the way in which, in the Scriptures, great and momentous doctrines are communicated to mankind.

(f) The fair statement in ver. 11‒15 is, that _all_ the dead will then be raised up and be judged. This is implied in the general expressions there used――“the dead, small and great;” the “book of life was opened”――as if _not_ opened before; “the dead”――_all_ the dead――“were judged out of those things which were written in the books;” “the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell (hades) delivered up the dead which were in them.” This is entirely inconsistent with the supposition that a large part of the race――to wit, all the righteous――had been before raised up; had passed the solemn judgment; had been clothed with their immortal bodies, and had been admitted to a joint reign with the Saviour on his throne. In the last judgment what place are _they_ to occupy? In what sense are _they_ to be raised up and judged? _Would_ such a representation have been made as is found in ver. 11‒15, if it had been designed to teach that a large part of the race had been already raised up, and had received the approval of their judge?

(g) This representation is wholly inconsistent, not only with ver. 11‒15, but with the uniform language of the Scriptures, _that all the righteous and the wicked will be judged together, and both at the coming of Christ_. On no point are the statements of the Bible more uniform and explicit than on this, and it would seem that the declarations had been of design so made that there should be no possibility of mistake. I refer for full proof on this point to the following passages of the New Testament:――Mat. x. 32, 33, compared with Mat. vii. 21‒23; xiii. 30, 38‒43; xvi. 24‒27; xxv. 10, 31‒46; Mar. viii. 38; Jn. v. 28, 29; Ac. xvii. 31: Ro. ii. 5‒16; xiv. 10, 12; 1 Co. iii. 12‒15; iv. 5; 2 Co. v. 9‒11; 2 Th. i. 6‒10; 1 Ti. v. 24, 25; 2 Pe. iii. 7, 10, 12; 1 Jn. ii. 28; iv. 17; Re. iii. 5; xx. 11‒15; xxii. 12‒15. It is utterly _impossible_ to explain these passages on any other supposition than that they are intended to teach that {432} the righteous and the wicked will be judged together, and both at the coming of Christ. And if this is so, it is of course impossible to explain them consistently with the view that all the righteous will have been already raised up at the beginning of the millennium in their immortal and glorified bodies, and that they have been solemnly approved by the Saviour, and admitted to a participation in his glory. Nothing could be more irreconcilable than these two views; and it seems to me, therefore, that the objections to the literal resurrection of the saints at the beginning of the millennial period are insuperable.

III. The following points, then, according to the interpretation proposed, are implied in this statement respecting the “first resurrection,” and these will clearly comprise _all_ that is stated on the subject.

(1) There will be a reviving, and a prevalence of the spirit which actuated the saints in the best days, and a restoration of their principles as the grand principles which will control and govern the church, _as if_ the most eminent saints were raised again from the dead, and lived and acted upon the earth.

(2) Their memory will then be sacredly cherished, and they will be honoured on the earth with the honour which is due to their names, and which they should have received when in the land of the living. They will be no longer cast out and reproached; no longer held up to obloquy and scorn; no longer despised and forgotten; but there will be a reviving of sacred regard for their principles, _as if_ they lived on the earth, and had the honour which was due to them.

(3) There will be a state of things upon the earth as if they thus lived and were thus honoured. Religion will no longer be trampled under foot, but will triumph. In all parts of the earth it will have the ascendency, as if the most eminent saints of past ages lived and reigned with the Son of God in his kingdom. A spiritual kingdom will be set up with the Son of God at the head of it, which will be a kingdom of eminent holiness, as if the saints of the best days of the church should come back to the earth and dwell upon it. The ruling influence in the world will be the religion of the Son of God, and the principles which have governed the most holy of his people.

(4) It may be implied that the saints and martyrs of other times will be employed by the Saviour in embassies of mercy; in visitations of grace to our world to carry forward the great work of salvation on earth. Nothing forbids the idea that the saints in heaven may be thus employed, and in this long period of a thousand years, it may be that they will be occupied in such messages and agencies of mercy to our world as they have never been before――_as if_ they were raised from the dead, and were employed by the Redeemer to carry forward his purposes of mercy to mankind.

(5) In connection with these things, and in consequence of these things, they may be, during that period, exalted to higher happiness and honour in heaven. The restoration of their principles to the earth; the Christian remembrance of their virtues; the prevalence of those truths to establish which they laid down their lives, would in itself exalt them, and would increase their joy in heaven. All this would be well represented, in vision, by a resurrection of the dead; and admitting that this was all that was intended, the representation of John here would be in the highest degree appropriate. What could better symbolize it――and we must remember that this is a symbol――than to say that at the commencement of this period there was, as it were, a solemn preparation for a judgment, and that the departed dead seemed to stand there, and that a sentence was pronounced in their favour, and that they became associated with the Son of God in the honours of his kingdom, and that their principles were now to reign and triumph in the earth, and that the kingdom which they laboured to establish would be set up for a thousand years, and that, in high purposes of mercy and benevolence during that period, they would be employed in maintaining and extending the principles of religion in the world? Admitting that the Holy Spirit intended to represent these things, and these only, no more appropriate symbolical language could have been used; none that would more accord with the general style of the book of Revelation.

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be
loosed out of his prison,

7. _And when the thousand years are {433} expired_. See ver. 2. ¶ _Satan shall be loosed out of his prison._ See ver. 3. That is, a state of things will then occur as if Satan should be for a time let loose again, and should be permitted to go as formerly over the world. No intimation is given _why_ or _how_ he would be thus released from his prison. We are not, however, to infer that it would be a mere arbitrary act on the part of God. All that is necessary to be supposed is, that there would be, in certain parts of the world, a temporary outbreak of wickedness, _as if_ Satan were for a time released from his chains.

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the
four quarters of the earth, [622]Gog and Magog, to [623]gather
them together to battle: the number of whom _is_ as the sand
of the sea.

8. _And shall go out to deceive the nations._ See Notes on ch. xii. 9. The meaning here is, that he would again, for a time, act in his true character, and in some way delude the nations once more. In what way this would be done is not stated. It would be, however, clearly an appeal to the wicked passions of mankind, exciting a hope that they might yet overthrow the kingdom of God on the earth. ¶ _Which are in the four quarters of the earth._ Literally, _corners_ of the earth, as if the earth were one extended square plain. The earth is usually spoken of as divided into four parts or quarters――the eastern, the western, the northern, and the southern. It is implied here that the deception or apostasy referred to would not be confined to one spot or portion of the world, but would extend afar. The idea seems to be, that during that period, though there would be a _general_ prevalence of the gospel, and a _general_ diffusion of its blessings, yet that the earth would not be entirely under its influence, and especially that the native character of the human heart would not be changed. Man, under powerful temptations, would be liable to be deluded by the great master spirit that has so often corrupted the race. Once more he would be permitted to make the trial, and then his power would for ever come to an end. ¶ _Gog and Magog._ The name _Gog_ occurs as the name of a prince in Eze. xxxviii. 2, 3, 16, 18; xxxix. 1, 11. “He is an invader of the land of Israel, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal,” Eze. xxxviii. 2. _Magog_ is also mentioned in Eze. xxxviii. 2, “the land of Magog;” and in Eze. xxxix. 6, “I will send a fire on Magog.” As the terms are used in the Old Testament, the representation would seem to be that _Gog_ was the king of a people called _Magog_. The signification of the names is unknown, and consequently nothing can be determined about the meaning of this passage from that source. Nor is there much known about the _people_ who are referred to by Ezekiel. His representation would seem to be, that a great and powerful people, dwelling in the extreme recesses of the north (ch. xxxviii. 15; xxxix. 2), would invade the Holy Land after the return from the exile, ch. xxxviii. 8‒12. It is commonly supposed that they were _Scythians_, residing between the Caspian and Euxine Seas, or in the region of Mount Caucasus. Thus Josephus (_Ant._ i. 6, 3) has dropped the Hebrew word _Magog_, and rendered it by Σκύθαι――_Scythians_; and so does Jerome. Suidas renders it Πέρσαι――Persians; but this does not materially vary the view, since the word _Scythians_, among the ancient writers, is a collective word, to denote all the north-eastern, unknown, barbarous tribes. Among the Hebrews, the name _Magog_ also would seem to denote all the unknown barbarous tribes about the Caucasian mountains. The fact that the names Gog and Magog are, in Ezekiel, associated with Meshech and Tubal, seems to determine the locality of these people, for those two countries lie between the Euxine and Caspian Seas, or at the south-east extremity of the Euxine Sea (Rosenmüller, _Bib. Geog._ vol. i. p. 240). The people of that region were, it seems, a terror to Middle Asia, in the same manner as the Scythians were to the Greeks and Romans. Intercourse with such distant and savage nations was scarcely possible in ancient times; and hence, from their numbers and strength, they were regarded with great terror, just as the Scythians were regarded by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and as the Tartars were in the middle ages. In this manner they became an appropriate symbol of rude and savage people; of enemies fierce and warlike; of foes to be dreaded; and as such they were referred to by both Ezekiel and John. It has been made {434} a question whether Ezekiel and John do not refer to the same period, but it is not necessary to consider that question here. All that is needful to be understood is, that John means to say that at the time referred to there would be formidable enemies of the church who might be compared with the dreaded dwellers in the land of Magog; or, that after this long period of millennial tranquillity and peace, there would be a state of things which might be properly compared with the invasion of the Holy Land by the dreaded barbarians of Magog or Scythia. It is not necessary to suppose that any particular _country_ is referred to, or that there would be any one portion of the earth which the gospel would not reach, and which would be still barbarous, heathen, and savage; all that is necessary to be supposed is, that though religion would generally prevail, human nature would remain essentially corrupt and unchanged; and that, therefore, from causes which are not stated, there might yet be a fearful apostasy, and a somewhat general prevalence of iniquity. This would be nothing more than _has_ occurred after the most favoured times in the church, and nothing more than human nature would exhibit at any time, if all restraints were withdrawn, and men were suffered to act out their native feelings. _Why_ this will be permitted; what causes will bring it about; what subordinate agencies will be employed, is not said, and conjecture would be vain. The reader who wishes more information in regard to Gog and Magog may consult Professor Stuart on this book, vol. ii. pp. 364‒368, and the authorities there referred to. Comp. especially Rosenmüller on Eze. xxxviii. 2. See also Sale’s _Koran_, Pre. Dis. § 4, and the _Koran_ itself, Sura xviii. 94, and xxi. 95. ¶ _To gather them together to battle._ _As if_ to assemble them for war; that is, a state of things would exist in regard to the kingdom of God and the prevalence of the true religion _as if_ distant and barbarous nations should be aroused to make war on the church of God. The meaning is, that there would be an awakened hostility against the kingdom of Christ in the earth. See Notes on ch. xvi. 14. ¶ _The number of whom |is| as the sand of the sea._ A common comparison in the Scriptures to denote a great multitude, Ge. xxii. 17; xxxii. 12; xli. 49; 1 Sa. xiii. 5; 1 Ki. iv. 20, _et al._

§ c.――_Condition of things in the period
referred to in ver. 7, 8._

(1) This will occur _at the close_ of the millennial period――the period of the thousand years. It is not said, indeed, that it would be _immediately_ after that; but the statement is explicit that it will be _after_ that, or “when the thousand years are expired.” There may be an interval before it shall be accomplished of an indefinite time; the alienation and corruption may be gradual; a considerable period may elapse before the apostasy shall assume an organized form, or, in the language of John, before the hosts shall “be gathered to battle,” but it is to be the _next_ marked and prominent event in the history of the world, and is to precede the final consummation of all things.

(2) This will be a _brief period_. Compared with the long period of prosperity that preceded it, and _perhaps_ compared with the long period that shall follow it before the final judgment, it will be short. Thus, in ver. 3, it is said that Satan “must be loosed _a little season_.” See Notes on that verse. There is no way of determining the time with exactness; but we are assured that it will not be long.

(3) What will be the exact state of things then can be only a matter of conjecture. We may say, however, that it will _not_ be (a) necessarily _war_. The language is figurative and symbolical, and it is not necessary to suppose that an actual and bloody warfare will be literally waged against the church. Nor (b) will there be a literal invasion of the land of Palestine as the residence of the saints and the capital of the Redeemer’s visible empire, for there is not a hint of this――not a word to justify such an interpretation. Nor (c) is it necessary to suppose that there will be literally such nations as will be then called “_Gog_ and _Magog_,” for this language is figurative, and designed to characterize the foes of the church――as being in some respects formidable and terrible as were those ancient nations.

We may thus suppose that at that time, from causes which are unexplained, there will be (a) a revived opposition to the truths of religion; (b) the prevalence, to a greater or less extent, of infidelity; (c) a great spiritual declension; (d) a combination of interests opposed to the gospel; (e) possibly some new form of error and delusion that shall extensively prevail. {435} Satan may set up some new form of religion, or he may breathe into those that may already exist a spirit of worldliness and vanity――some new manifestation of the religion of forms――that shall for a limited period produce a general decline and apostasy. As there is, however, no distinct specification of what will characterize the world at that time, it is impossible to determine what is referred to any more than in this general manner.

(4) A few remarks may, however, be made on the _probability_ of what is here affirmed, for it seems contrary to what we should suppose would be the characteristics of the closing period of the world. The following remarks, then, may show that this anticipated state of things is not improbable:――(a) We are to remember that human nature will then be essentially the same as now. There is no intimation that man, as born into the world, will be then different from what he is now, or that any of the natural corrupt tendencies of the human heart will be changed. Men will be _liable_ to the same outbreaks of passion, to be influenced by the same forms of temptation, to fall into the same degeneracy and corruption, to feel the same unhappy influences of success and prosperity as now, for all this appertains to a fallen nature, except as it is checked and controlled by grace. We often mistake much in regard to the millennial state by supposing that all the evils of the apostasy will be arrested and that the _nature_ of man will be as wholly changed as it will be in the heavenly world. (b) The whole history of the church has shown that there is a liability to _declension_ even in the best state and in the condition of the highest spiritual prosperity. To see this we have only to remember the example of the Hebrews, and how readily they apostatized after the most striking manifestation of the divine mercies; the early Christian church, and how soon it declined; the seven churches of Asia Minor, and how soon their spirituality departed; the various revivals of religion that have occurred from time to time, and how soon they have been succeeded by coldness, worldliness, and error; the fact that great religious denominations, which have begun their career with zeal and love, have so soon degenerated in spirit, and fallen into the same formality and worldliness which they have evinced who have gone before them; and the case of the individual Christian, who from the most exalted state of love and joy so soon often declines into a state of conformity to the world. These are sad views of human nature, even under the influence of true religion; but the past history of man has given but too much occasion for such reflections, and too much reason to apprehend that the same things may occur, for a time, even under the best forms in which religion may manifest itself in a fallen world. Man’s nature will be better in heaven, and religion there, in its purest and best form, will be permanent; here we are not to be surprised at _any_ outbreak of sin or any form of declension in religion. What has often occurred in the world on a small scale we may suppose may then occur on a larger scale. “Just as on a small scale, in some little community like that of Northampton, as described by President Edwards, after the remarkable sense of God’s presence over the whole town had begun to wax feeble, the still unconverted persons of it, though subdued and seemingly won over to Christ, would by little and little recover themselves, and at length venture forth in their true character; so it will be, in all probability, on a vast scale, at the close of the latter day. The unconverted portion of the world――long constrained by the religious influences everywhere surrounding them to fall in with the spirit of the day, catching apparently its holy impulses, but never coming savingly under its power――this portion of mankind, which we have reason to fear will not be small, will now be freed from these irksome restraints, no longer obliged to breathe an atmosphere uncongenial to their nature” (Brown on the _Second Coming of Christ_, p. 442). “No oppression is so grievous to an unsanctified heart as that which arises from the purity of Christianity. A desire to shake off this yoke is the true cause of the opposition which Christianity has met with in the world in every period, and will, it is most likely, be the chief motive to influence the followers of Gog in his time” (Frazer’s _Key_, p. 455). (c) The representations of the New Testament elsewhere confirm this view in regard to the latter state of the world――the state when the Lord Jesus shall come to judgment. “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Lu. xviii. 8. “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of {436} his coming?” 2 Pe. iii. 3, 4. “The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape,” 1 Th. v. 2, 3. See especially Lu. xvii. 26‒30: “As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. _Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed._”

9 And [624]they went up on the breadth of the earth, and
compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city:
and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

9. _And they went up on the breadth of the earth._ They spread over the earth in extended columns. The image is that of an invading army that seems, in its march, to spread all over a land. The reference here is to the hosts assembled from the regions of Gog and Magog; that is, to the formidable enemies of the gospel that would be roused up at the close of the period properly called the _millennial_ period――the period of the thousand years. It is not necessary to suppose that there would be _literally_ armies of enemies of God summoned from lands that would be called lands of “Gog and Magog;” but all that is necessarily implied is, that there will be a state of hostility to the church of Christ which would be well illustrated by such a comparison with an invading host of barbarians. The expression “the breadth of the land” occurs in Hab. i. 6, in a description of the invasion of the Chaldeans, and means there _the whole extent of it_; that is, they would spread over the whole country. ¶ _And compassed the camp of the saints about._ Besieged the camp of the saints considered as engaged in war, or as attacked by an enemy. The “camp of the saints” here seems to be supposed to be _without_ the walls of the city; that is, the army was drawn out for defence. The fact that the foes were able to “compass this camp about,” and to encircle the city at the same time, shows the greatness of the numbers of the invaders. ¶ _And the beloved city._ Jerusalem――a city represented as beloved by God and by his people. The whole imagery here is derived from a supposed invasion of the land of Palestine――imagery than which nothing could be more natural to John in describing the hostility that would be aroused against the church in the latter day. But no just principle of interpretation requires us to understand this _literally_. Comp. He. xii. 22. Indeed, it would be absolutely _impossible_ to give this chapter throughout a _literal_ interpretation. What would be the _literal_ interpretation of the very first verses? “I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the _key_ of the bottomless pit, and _a great chain_ in his hand; and he laid hold on the _dragon_ and _bound_ him.” Can anyone believe that there is to be a literal _key_, and a _chain_, and an act of seizing a _serpent_, and _binding_ him? As little is it demanded that the passage before us should be taken _literally_; for if it is maintained that this should be, we may insist that the same principle of interpretation should be applied to every part of the chapter, and every part of the book. ¶ _And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them._ Consumed them――fire being represented as _devouring_ or _eating_. See Notes on ch. xvii. 16. The meaning is, that they would be destroyed _as if_ fire should come down from heaven, as on Sodom and Gomorrah. But it is not necessary to understand _this_ literally, any more than it is the portions of the chapter just referred to. What is obviously meant is, that their destruction would be sudden, certain, and entire, and that thus the last enemy of God and the church would be swept away. Nothing can be determined from this about the _means_ by which this destruction will be effected; and that must be left for time to disclose. It is sufficient to know that the destruction of these last foes of God and the church will be certain and entire. This _language_, as denoting the final destruction of the enemies of God, is often employed in the Scriptures. See Ps. xi. 6; Is. xxix. 6; Eze. xxxviii. 22; xxxix. 6.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the
[625]lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false
prophet _are_, and shall be tormented day and night for ever
and ever.

{437} 10. _And the devil that deceived them._ See Notes on ver. 3, 8. ¶ _Was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone._ In ch. xix. 20, it is said of the beast and the false prophet that they were “cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone.” Satan, on the other hand, instead of being doomed at once to that final ruin, was confined for a season in a dark abyss, ch. xx. 1‒3. As the final punishment, however, he is appropriately represented as consigned to the same doom as the beast and the false prophet, that those great enemies of God, that had been associated and combined in deceiving the nations, might share the same appropriate punishment in the end. Comp. ch. xvi. 13, 14. ¶ _Where the beast and the false prophet |are|._ Notes on ch. xix. 20. ¶ _And shall be tormented day and night for ever._ Comp. Notes on ch. xiv. 11. All the great enemies of the church are destroyed, and henceforward there is to be no array of hostile forces; no combination of malignant powers against the kingdom of God. The gospel triumphs; the way is prepared for the final consummation.

§ d.――_Condition of things in the period
referred to in ver. 9, 10._

(1) There will be, after the release of Satan, and of course at the close of the millennial period properly so called, a state of things which may be well represented by the invasion of a country by hostile, formidable forces. This, as shown in the exposition, need not be supposed to be literal; but it is implied that there will be decided hostility against the true religion. It may be an organization and consolidation, so to speak, of infidel principles, or a decided worldly spirit, or some prevalent form of error, or some new form of depravity that shall be developed by the circumstances of that age. What it will be it is impossible now to determine; but, as shown above (§ c, (4)), it is by no means improbable that this will occur even at the close of the millennium.

(2) There will be a decided defeat of these forces thus combined, _as if_ fire should come down from heaven to destroy an invading army. The _mode_ in which this will be done is not indeed stated, for there is no necessity of understanding the statement in ver. 9 _literally_, any more than the other parts of the chapter. The fair inference, however, is that it will be by a manifest divine agency; that it will be sudden, and that the destruction will be entire. We have no reason, therefore, to suppose that the outbreak will be of long continuance, or that it will _very_ materially disturb the settled order of human affairs on the earth――any more than a formidable invasion of a country does, when the invading army is suddenly cut off by some terrible judgment from heaven.

(3) _This_ overthrow of the enemies of God and of the church will be _final_. Satan will be “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, to be tormented day and night for ever.” The beast and the false prophet are already there (ch. xix. 20); that is, they will have ceased long since, even before the beginning of the millennial period (ch. xix. 20, compared with ch. xx. 1‒3), to have opposed the progress of truth in the world, and their power will have been brought to an end. Satan now, the last enemy, will be doomed to the same hopeless woe; and _all_ the enemies that have ever opposed the church――in all forms of Paganism, Mahometanism, Popery, and delusion――will be destroyed for ever. The world then will have peace; the church will have rest; the great triumph will have been achieved.

(4) For reasons stated in the Analysis of the Chapter, V. (c), it is possible that there will be a long period of continued prosperity and peace between the events stated in ver. 9, 10, and the final judgment, as described in ver. 11‒15. If so, however, the purpose of the book did not require that that should be described at length, and it must be admitted that the most _obvious_ interpretation of the New Testament would not be favourable to such a supposition. Comp. Lu. xvii. 26‒30; xviii. 8; 1 Th. v. 2, 3; 2 Pe. iii. 3, 4. The great glory of the world will be the millennial period; when religion shall have the ascendency and the race shall have reached its highest point of progress on earth, and the blessings of liberty, intelligence, peace, and piety, shall have during that period been spread over the globe. In {438} that long duration, who can estimate the numbers that shall be redeemed and saved? That period passed, the great purpose contemplated by the creation of the earth――the glory of God in the redemption of a fallen race, and in setting up a kingdom of righteousness in a world of apostasy――will have been accomplished, and there will be no reason why the final judgment should not then occur. “The work of redemption will now be finished. The end for which the means of grace have been instituted shall be obtained. All the effect which was intended to be accomplished by them shall now be accomplished. All the great wheels of Providence have gone round――all things are ripe for Christ’s coming to judgment” (President Edwards’ _History of Redemption_).

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it,
from whose face the [626]earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place for them.

11. _And I saw a great white throne._ This verse commences the description of the final judgment, which embraces the remainder of the chapter. The first thing seen in the vision is the burning throne of the Judge. The things that are specified in regard to it are, that it was _great_, and that it was _white_. The former expression means that it was high or elevated. Comp. Is. vi. 1. The latter expression――_white_――means that it was _splendid_ or _shining_. Comp. 1 Ki. x. 18‒20. The throne here is the same which is referred to in Mat. xxv. 31, and called there “the throne _of his glory_.” ¶ _And him that sat on it._ The reference here undoubtedly is to the Lord Jesus Christ, the final Judge of mankind (comp. Mat. xxv. 31), and the scene described is that which will occur at his second advent. ¶ _From whose face._ Or, from whose presence; though the word _may_ be used here to denote more strictly his _face_――as illuminated, and shining like the sun. See ch. i. 16, “And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” ¶ _The earth and the heaven fled away._ That is, as the stars, at the rising of the sun, seem to flee to more remote regions, and vanish from human view, so when the Son of God shall descend in his glory to judge the world, the earth and all other worlds shall seem to vanish. Every one must admire the sublimity of this image; no one can contemplate it without being awed by the majesty and glory of the final Judge of mankind. Similar expressions, where the natural creation shrinks back with awe at the presence of God, frequently occur in the Bible. Comp. Ps. xviii. 7‒15; lxxvii. 16‒19; cxiv. 3‒5; Hab. iii. 6, 10, 11. ¶ _And there was found no place for them._ They seemed to flee _entirely_ away, as if there was _no_ place where they could find a safe retreat, or which would receive and shelter them in their flight. The image expresses, in the most emphatic manner, the idea that they entirely disappeared, and _no_ language could more sublimely represent the majesty of the Judge.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and
the [627]books were opened: and [628]another book was opened,
which is _the book_ of life: and the dead were judged out of
those things which were written in the books, [629]according
to their works.

12. _And I saw the dead, small and great._ _All_ the dead――for this language would express that――the whole race being composed of the “small and great.” Thus, in other language, the same idea might be expressed by saying, the young and old; the rich and poor; the bond and free; the sick and well; the happy and the unhappy; the righteous and the wicked; for all the human family might, in these respects, be considered as thus divided. The fair meaning in this place therefore is, that _all_ the dead would be there, and of course this would preclude the idea of a _previous_ resurrection of any part of the dead, as of the saints, at the beginning of the millennium. There is no intimation here that it is the _wicked_ dead that are referred to in this description of the final judgment. It is the judgment of _all_ the dead. ¶ _Stand before God._ That is, they appear thus to be judged. The word “God” here must naturally refer to the final Judge on the throne, and there can be no doubt (see Mat. xxv. 31) that this is the Lord Jesus. Comp. 2 Co. v. 10. None can judge the secrets of the heart; none can pronounce on the moral character of all mankind, of all countries and ages, and determine their everlasting allotment, but he who is Divine. {439} _And the books were opened._ That is, the books containing the record of human deeds. The representation is, that all that men have done is recorded, and that it will be exhibited on the final trial, and will constitute the basis of the last judgment. The imagery seems to be derived from the accusations made against such as are arraigned before human courts of justice. ¶ _And another book was opened, which is the |book| of life._ The book containing the record of the names of all who shall enter into life, or into heaven. See Notes on ch. iii. 5. The meaning here is, that John saw not only the general books opened containing the records of the deeds of men, but that he had a distinct view of the list or roll of those who were the followers of the Lamb. It would seem that in regard to the multitudes of the impenitent and the wicked, the judgment will proceed _on their deeds_ in general; in regard to the righteous, it will turn on the fact that their names had been enrolled in the book of life. That will be sufficient to determine the nature of the sentence that is to be passed on them. He will be safe whose name is found in the book of life; no one will be safe who is to have his eternal destiny determined by his own deeds. This passage proves _particularly_ that the righteous dead are referred to here as being present at the final judgment; and is thus an additional argument against the supposition of a resurrection of the righteous, and a judgment on them, at the beginning of the millennium. ¶ _And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books._ The records which had been made of their deeds. The final judgment will proceed on the record that has been made. It will not be arbitrary, and will not be determined by rank, condition, or profession, but it will be according to the record. ¶ _According to their works._ See Notes on 2 Co. v. 10. The fact that the name of anyone was found in the book of life would seem, as above remarked, to determine the _certainty_ of salvation; but the amount of reward would be in proportion to the service rendered to the Redeemer, and the attainments made in piety.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death
and [630]hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and
they were judged every man according to their works.