signify not the literal raising of dead men, but the raising up of an increased Christian zeal and holiness: the revival in the Christian church, or in some considerable portion of it, of the spirit and energy of the noble martyrs of old (even as John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elias); so that Christian principles shall be displayed in action throughout the world in an infinitely greater degree than ever be-
fore." This view of the signification of the word lived is sustained by its use else where in the Scriptures, and by its •om-
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years
honors and bis triumphs. Who can tell, also, whether they may not be employed in special services of mercy, in administering the affairs of his government during that bright and happy period? ^ A thousand years. During the period when Satan will be bound, and when the true religion Avill have the ascendency in the earth. Notes, ver. 2.
5. But the rest of the dead. In contra distinction from the beheaded martyrs, and from those who had kept themselveg pure in the times of great temptation. The phrase 'rest of the dead' here would most naturally refer to the same general class which was before mentioned — the pious dead. The meaning is, that the martyrs would be honored as if they were raised up and the others not; that is, that special respect would be shown to their principles, their memory, and their character. In other words, special honor would be shown to a spirit of eminent 2nety during that period, above the common and ordinary piety which has been manifested in the church. The 'rest of the dead' — the pious dead — would indeed be raised up and rewarded, but they would occupy comparatively humble places, as if they did not partake in the exalted triumphs when the world should be subdued to the Saviour. Their places in honor, in rank, and in reward, would be beneath that of those who in fiery times had maintained unshaken fidelity to the cause of truth. ^ Lived not. On the word lived, see Notes on ver. 4. That is, they lived not during that period in the peculiar sense in which it is said (ver. 4,) that the eminent saints and martyrs lived. They did not come into remembrance; their principles were not what then characterised the church; they did not see, as the martyrs did, their principles and mode of life in the ascendency, and consequently they had not the augmented happiness and honor which the more eminent saints and martyrs had. If Until the thousand years are finished. Then all who were truly the children of God, though some might be less eminent than others had been, would come into remembrance, and would have their proper place in the rewards of heaven. The language here is not necessarily to be interpreted as meaning that they «oou?d be raised up then, or would live theny mon use among men. Thus in this very book, eh. xi. 11, '*' And after three days and an half, the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet." So in Ezekiel, in speaking of the restoration of the Jews, " Thus saith the Lord God, 0 my people, / will open your graves, and cause you to come tip out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live," ch. xxvii. 12-14. So in Hosea, vi. 2, ** After two days he will revive us [cause us to live again ]; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight." So in the Parable of the Prodigal Son: " This thy brother was dead, and is alive again," Luke xv. 32. So in Isaiah xxvi. 19, " Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise." The following extract from D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation, will show how natural it is to use the very language employ^ed here when the idea is intended to be conveyed of reviving former principles as if the men who held them should be raised to life again. It is the language of the martyr John Huss, who, in speaking of himself in view of a remarkable dream
that he had, said, " I am no dreamer, but I maintain this for certain that the image of Christ wUl never be effaced. They [his enemies] have wished to destroy it, but it shall be painted afresh in all hearts by much better preachers than myself. The nation that loves Christ will rejoice at this. And T, awaking from among the dead, and rising, so to speak, from my grave, shall leap with great Joy." So a Brief ad-
dressed by Pope Adrian to the Diet at Nuremberg, contains these words: '' The heretics Huss and Jerome are noio alive again in the person of Martin Luther." For a further illustration of the passage, eee the remarks which follow (^ h) on the state of things which may be expected to exist in the time referred to in vs. 4-6. ^ And reigned with Christ. Were exalted in their principles, and in their personal happiness in heaven, as?/they occupied the throne irith him, and personally shared his
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection:
whatever maybe true on that point. It is merely an emphatic mode of aflSrming that vp to that period they icoxdcl not live in the sense in which it is aflBrmed that the others would. But it is not affirmed that they would even then 'live' immediately. A long interval might elapse before that would occur in the general resurrection of the dead. See the Analysis of the chapter. ^ This is the first resurrection. The resurrection of the eaints and martyrs, as specified in ver. 4. It is called the first resurrection in contradistinction from the second and last — the general resurrection — when all the dead will be literally raised up from their graves, and assembled for the judgment, ver. 12. It is not necessary to suppose that what is called here the ' first resurrection' will resemble the real and literal resurrection in every respect. All that is meant is, that there will be such a resemblance as to make it proper to call it a resurrection — a coming to life again. This will be, as explained in the Notes on ver. 4, in the honor done to the martyrs; in the restoration of their principles as the great actuating principles of the church; and perhaps in the increased happiness conferred on them in heaven, and in their being employed in promoting the cause of truth in the world.
6. Blessed. That is, his condition is to be regarded as a happy or a favored one. This is designed apparently to support and encourage those who in the time of John suffered persecution, or who might suffer persecution afterwards. IT And holy. That is, no one will be thus honored who has not an established character for holiness. Holy principles will then reign, and none will be exalted to that honor who have not a character for eminent sanctity. ^ That hath part in the first resurrection. That i^articipated in it; that is, who is associated with those who are thus raised up. ^ On such the second death hath no poicer. The 'second death' is properly the death •which the wicked will experience in the vorld of woe. See ver. 14 The meanlag here is, that all who are here referred
on such the second death " hath no power, but they shall be priests ' of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. b 18.61.6; c.l. 6.
to as having part in the first resurrection, will be secure against that. It will be one of the blessed privileges of heaven that there will be absolute seciu-ity against death in any and every form; and when we think of what death is here, and still more when we think of 'the bitter pains of the second death,' we may well call that state 'blessed' in which there will be eternal exemption from either. ^ Btit they shall be 2^riests of God and of Christ, and shall reign xcith him. See Notes on chs. i. 6, v. 10.
I. It is well known that this passage is the principal one which is relied on by those who advocate the doctrine of the literal reign of Christ on the earth for a thousand years, or who hold what are called the doctrines of the 'second advent.' The points which are maintained by those who advocate these views, are, substantially, (a) that at that period Christ will descend from heaven to reign personally upon the earth; [h) that he will have a central place of power and authority, probably Jerusalem; (c) that the righteous dead will then be raised, in such bodies as are to be immortal; {d) that they will be his attendents, and will participate with him in the government of the world; (e) that this will continue during the period of a thousand years; (/) that the world will be subdued and converted during this period, not by moral means, but by ' a new dispensation'— by the power of the Son of God; and {g) that at the close of this period all the remaining dead will be raised, the judgment will take place, and the affairs of the earth will be consummated.
The opinion here adverted to was held substantially by Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenajus, Tertullian, and others among the Christian Fathers, and, it need not be said, is held by many modern expositors of the Bible, and by large numbers of Christian ministers of high standing, and other Christians. See the Literalittf passim. The opinion of the Christica
S'athers, -with which the modern ' literalists,' as they are called, substantially coincide, is thus stated by Mr. Elliott: —
" This resurrection is to be literally that of departed saints and martyrs, then at length resuscitated in the body from death and the grave; its time to synchronize with, or follow instantly after, the destruction of the beast Antichrist, on Christ's personal second advent; the binding of Satan to be an absolute restriction of the power of hell from tempting, deceiving, or injuring mankind, throughout a literal period of a thousand years, thence calculated; the government of the earth during its continuance to be administered by Christ and the risen saints — the latter being now laayycXoi — in nature like angels; and under it, all false religion having been put down, the Jews and saved remnant of the Gentiles been converted to Christ, the earth renovated by the fire of Antichrist's destruction, and Jerusalem made the universal capital, there will be a realization on earth of the blessedness depicted in the Old Testament prophecies, as well as perhaps of that too which is associated with the new Jerusalem in the visions of the Apocalypse — until at length this Millennium having ended, and Satan gone for-th to deceive the nations, the final conoummation will follow; the newraised ensraies of the saints, Gog and Magog, be destroyed by fire from heaven: and then the general resurrection and judgment take place, the Devil and his servants be cast into the lake of fire, and the Millennial reign of the saints extend itself into one of eternal duration." Elliott on the Apocalypse, iv. 177, 178.
Mr. Elliott's own opinion, representing, it is supposed, that of the great body of the *literaUsts,' is thus expressed: "It
would seem, therefore, that in this state of things and of feeling in professing Christendom [a feeling of carnal security], all suddenly, and unexpectedly, and conspicuous over the world as the lightning that shineth from the East even unto the West, the second advent and appearing of Christ will take place; that at the accompanying voice of the Archangel, and trump of God, the departed saints of either dispensation will rise from their graves to meet him — alike patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, imd martyrs, and confessors— all at once and in the twinkling of an eye; and then instantly the saints living at the time will be also caught up to meet him in the air; these latter being separated out of the ungodly nations, as when a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats, and all, both dead and living saints, changed at the moment from corruption to incorruption, from dishonor to glory, though with very different degrees of glory; and so in a new angelic nature, to take part in the judging and ruling in this world. Meanwhile, with a tremendous earthquake accompanying, of violence unknown since the revolutions of primeval chaos, an earthquake under which the Roman world at least is to rock to and fro like a drunken man, the solid crust of this earth shall be broken, and fountains burst forth from its inner deep, not as once cf water, but of liquid fire; and that the flames shall consume the Antichrist and his confederate kings, while the sword also does its work of slaughter; the risen saints being perhaps the attendants of the Lord's glory in this destruction of Antichrist, and assessors in his judgment on a guiltj' world. And then immediately the renovation of this our earth is to take place, its soil being purified by the very action of the fire, and the Spirit poured out from on high, in a yet better sense, the moral face of nature; the shekinah, or personal glory of Christ amidst his saints being manifested chiefly in the Holy Land and at Jerusalem, but the whole earth partaking of the blessedness; and thus the regeneration of all things, and the world's redemption from the curse, having their accomplishment, according to the promise, at the manifestation of the sons of God." iv. 224-231.-;;:-
To this account of the prevailing opinion of the * literalists' in interpreting the passage before us, there should bo added that of Prof. Stuart, who, in genoral, is as far as possible from sympathizing with this class of writers. He says in his explanation of the expression
'therj lived' in ver. 4, "There would seem to remain, therefore, only one meaning which can be consistently given to ii^riaav, [they lived], viz.: that they (the martyrs who renounced the beast) are now restored to life, viz., such life as implies the vivification of the body. Not
to a union of the soul with a gross material body indeed, but with such an one as the saints in general will have at the final resurrection — a spiritual body. 1 Cor. XV. 44. In no other way can this resurrection be ranked as correlate with the second resurrection named in the sequel." ii. 360. So again, Excursus vi. (vol. ii. p. 476), he says, "I do not see how we can, on the ground of exegesis, fairly avoid the conclusion, that John has taught in the passage before us, that there will he a resurrection of the martyrsaints, at the commencement of the period after Satan shall have been shut up in the dungeon of the great abyss," This opi-
nion he defends at length, pp. 476-490. Prof. Stuart, indeed, maintains that the martyrs thus raised up will be taken ^to heaven and reign with Christ there, and opposes the whole doctrine of the literal reign on the earth, ii. 480. The risen saints and martyrs are to be '^ enthroned with Christ; that is, they are to be where he dwells, and where he will continue to dwell, until he shall make his descent at the final judgment-day."
II. In regard to these views as expressive of the meaning of the passage under consideration, I would make the following remarks: —
(1) There is strong pr€sum2)tive 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: — («) 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 aflirmution that this will literally occur, nor would the advocates for that opinion undertake 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 4^ 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 w^ould lead us to suppose that the righteous are to be raised in this manner, [h) 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 thero 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 jt is directly and clearly affirmed; and it is iiot 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 presum2)tive 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 rifjhteous 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 va.o?,i general terms (comp. Matt. xxv. 41; John v. 28. 29, iv. 54; Rom. ii. 7; 1 Cor. XV. 23; Phil. iii. 20, 21; 2 Thess. i. 10; Heb. ix. 28; 1 John 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 apostacy. These circumstances furnish strong presumptive proofs, at least, against the doctrine that -here is to be a literal resurrection of all th^ saints at the beginning of the Millennial period. Comp. " Christ's Second Oominrj," 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 Prof. Stuart (com. ii.
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 of worldly peace and plenty."
Indeed, in all this passage, there is net the remotest hint of the grandeur and magnifif ence of the reign of Christ as a literal king upon the earth; nothing of his having a splendid capital at Jerusalem or any where 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 any thing here of a literal resurrection of the bodies of the dead, as Prof. Stuart himself supposes. It is not a little remarkable that a scholar so accurate as Prof. 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 thaJ 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 2^oint 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 exalted honor 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 sjjiritual body.'
(4) There are positive arguments, ivhich 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 arc the following: —
(o) If the 'fii-st resurrection' meao rising from the grave in immortal and glorified bodies, we do not need the assurance (vcr. 6) that "on such tlie second death hath no power;" that is, that they would not perish for ever. That would bo 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 th.at 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. Rev. ii. 10, 11.
(6) In the -R^ole passage there are but two dasses ci 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 /or ever. 1 Thess. 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 feature 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 farther objection to this view is, that the wicked part of the world — " the rest of the dead who lived not again «ntil the thousand years were finished," must of course be expected to 'live again' in tho same bodily sense when those thousand years were finished. But (50 far from this, there is no mention of their living then. When the thousand years are fipished, Satan is loosed for a season; theo the nations are roused to opposition against God; then there is a conflict, Q>d the hostile forces are overthrown; and then comes the final judgment. During all tlus time ■rt e 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 pas sage 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 pan 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 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 momentoUfj doctrines are communicated to mankind is, that uU 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 ivhich 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 thei/ to occupy? In what sense are they to be raised up and judged? Would such a representation have been made as is found in vs. 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 vs. 11-15, but with the uniform language of the Scriptures that all the righteous and the wicked will he 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: Matt. x. 32, 33, compared with Mark viii. 38; Rev. xxii. 12-15; Matt. xvi. 24-27, vii. 21-23, XXV. 10, 31-46, xiii. 30, 38-43; John V. 28, 29; Acts xviii. 31; Rom. ii. 5-16; 2 Cor. v. 9-11; 1 Cor. iv. 5; 2 Thess. i. 6-10; 1 Cor. iii. 12-15; 1 John ii. 28, iv. 17; Rev. iii. 5; 1 Tim. v. 24, 25; Rom. xiv. 10, 12; 2 Pet. iii. 7, 10, 12; Rev. xx. 11-15. It is utterly im- 2)os8ible to explain these passages on any other supposition than that they are intended to teach that 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, aa 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 honored on the earth with the honor 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, a-s if they lived on the earth, and had the honor which was due them.
(3) There will be a state of things upon the earth as if they thus lived and were thus honored. 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
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.
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 connexion with these things, and in consequence of these things, they may be, during that period, exalted to higher happiness and. honor 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 favor, and that they became associated with the Son of God in the honors of his kingdom, and that their principles were now to reign and triumph in the earth, and that the kingdom which they labored 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. See ver. 2. ^ Satan shall be loosed out of his ]yrison. See ver. 3. That is, a state of things will then occur as if Satan should be for a time let loose 40*
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog " and
again, and should be permitted to go aa 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. A7id 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 onc^ 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 apostacy 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 Avould 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 Ezek. xxxviii. 2, 3, 16, 18, xxxix. 1, 11. Ee is an invader of the land of Israel, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal," Ezek. xxxviii. 2. Magog is also mentioned in Ezek. xxxviii. 2, " the land i)f Magog," and in Ezek. xxxix. 6, " I will
Bend 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 Ifagog. 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 peo2jle 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 Ifagog, and rendered it by I.Kvdai — Scythians; and so does Jerome. Suidas renders it n/p<rai — 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. Roseum. Bib. Geog. 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 a question whether Ezekiel and to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
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 apostacy, and a somewhat general prevalence of iniquity. This would be nothing more than has occui-red after the most favored times in the church, and nothing more than human nature would exhibit at any time, if all restraints were withdrawn, and men were suftered 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 fo Gog and Magog, may consult Prof. Stuart on this book, vol. ii. pp. 3G4-3C8, and the authorities there referred to. Comp. especially Rosenmiiller on Ezek. xxxviii. 2. See also Sale's Koran, Pre. Dis. ^ 4, and the Koran itself, Sura xviit. 94, and xxi. 95. ^ To gather them together to hattle. 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 bo an awakened hostility against the kingdom of Christ in the earth. Sec Notes on ch. xvi. 14. f The number of whom is as the sand of the
(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 apostacy 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 j)eriod. Compared with the long period of prosperity that preceded it, and perhajys 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 («) necessarily war. The language is figurative and symbolical, and it is not necessary to suppose that an actual and bloody warfare will be lite- ■ rally waged against the church. Nor (6) 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; (h) the prevalence, to a greater or le*?s extent, of infidelity;
(c) a great spiritual declension; {d) u combination of interests opposed to the gospel; (e) possibly some new form of error and delusion that shall extensively prevail. 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 apostacy. 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 -prohahility of what is here afiirmed — for it seems contrary to what we should suppose would be the characteristics of the closing period of thf 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 diiferent from what he is now; or that any of the natural corrupt tendencies of the human heart will be changed. Men will bo 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 apostacy will be arrested, and that the nature of man will be as wholly changed as it will be in the heavenly world. (&) 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.
9 And ** they went up on the
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 ani/ 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 every where 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 noAv 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 unsanctifled 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,
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and
and will, it is most likely, be the chief motive to influence the followers of Gog in his time." Fraser'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. Luke xviii. 8: " When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" 2 Peter iii. 3, 4: "There shall come in the last days scoJBFers, walking after their own lusts, and saying. Where is the promise of his coming?" 1 Thess. V. 2, 3: " The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Tor 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." See especially Luke 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 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 cf 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 Habakkuk i. 6, in the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake " of fire
a description of the invasion of the Chaldeans, and means there the tchole extent of it; that is, thoy 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 icithout 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 heloved 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. Heb. 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 doAvn from heaven, having the Jcey of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and he laid hold on the dragon, and bound him," Can any one 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 wcnld 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 and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
than it is the portions of the chapter just referred to. What is obviously meant is, that their destruction wovild 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 Avill 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,• Isa. xxix. 6; Ezek. xxxix. 6, xxxviii. 22.
10. And the devil that deceived them. See Notes on vs. 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 brim stone.' 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 finai 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 pro2)het are. Notes ch. xix. 20. ^ And shall be tormented day and night for ever. Comp. Notes 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.
(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 gome 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 {^_ b, 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 de-,5troy 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 (eh. 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, Mohammedanism, Popery, and delusion, will be destroyed for ever. The world then will have peace; the church will ha\-orest; the great triumph will hare been achieved.
11 And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from
sis' of the chaptei*, Y. (c), it is pcswible that there will be a long period of continned prosperity and peace betweei. the events stated in vs. 9, 10, and the final judgment, as described in vs. 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 bo favorable to such a supjiosition. Comp. Luke xvii. 26-30: 1 Thess. v. 2, 3; 2 Peter iii. 3, 4; Luke xviii. 8. 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 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 apostacy, 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." Pres. Edwards, History of Eedemption.
11. And 1 saw a great white throne. This verso 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 arc specified in regard to it are that it was great, and that it was tchite. The former expression means that it was high or elevated. Comp. Isa. vi. 1. The latter expression — wJiite — means that it was splendid or shining. Comp. 1 Kings x. 18, 19, 20. The throne here is the same which is referred to in Matt. xxv. 31, and called there "the throne of his glory." ^ And him that sat on it. The reference here, undoubtedly, is to th«
whose face the earth " and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small
Lord Jesus Christ, the final Judge of mankind (comp. Matt. 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 aioay. That is, as the^tars, at the rising of the sun, seem to floe 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, Ixxvii. 16-19, exiv. 3-5, Habak. iii. 6, 10, 11. ^ And there was found no jilace for them. They seemed to flee entirely away, as if there was 720 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. 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 previoiui resurrection of any part of the dead, as of the saints, at the bcii^iniiino^ of the Millennium. There is and great, stand before God: and the books * were opened; and another book " was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were 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. ^ Sta7id 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 Matt. XXV. 31) that this is the Lord Jesus. Comp. 2 Cor. 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. ^ And the books u-ere 02'>ened. That is, the books containing the record of human deeds. TI;o 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 arc 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 sufiBcient 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 particidarly that the righteous dead are referred to hero 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
judged out of those things which were written in the books, according " to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and ' hell delivered up the dead which
them, at the beginning of tho Millennium. ^ And the dead loere judged out of those things which loere written in the hooks. 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 icorks. See Notes on 2 Cor. v. 10. The fact that the name of any one 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. All that had been buried in the depths of oceans. This number in the aggregate will be great. If we include all who were swept oflf by the flood, and all who have perished by shipwreck, and all who have been killed in naval battles and buried in the sea, and all who have been swept away by inundations of the ocean, and all who have peacefully died at sea, as sailors, or in the pursuits of commerce or benevolence, the number in the aggregate will be immense — a number so vast that it was proper to notice them particularly in the account of the general resurrection and the last judgment. ^ And death and hell delivered vji the dead tchich toere in them. That is, all the dead came, from all regions where they were scattered — on the land and in the ocean — in this world and in the invisible world. ' Death and hell' are here personified, and are represented as having dominion over the dead, and as now delivering up, or surrendering those who were held under them. On the meaning of the words here used, see Notes on ch. i. 18, vi. 8. Comp. Notes on Matt. x. 23, Luke xvi. 23, Job x. 21, 22, Isa. jciv. 9. This whole representation is entirely inconsistent with tho supposi-
were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death * and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
tion that a large part of the dead had been already raised up at the beginning of the Millennial period, and had been permitted, in their glorified bodies, to reign with Christ. ^ And they icere judged, &c. All these were judged — the righteous and the wicked; those buried at sea, and those buried on the land; the small and the great; the dead, in whatever world they may have been. 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. Death and Hades {hell) are here personified, as they are in the previous verse. The declaration is equivalent to the statement in 1 Cor. xv. 26, " The last enemy that shall be dsstroyed is death." See Notes on that passage. The idea is, that death, considered as the separation of soul and body, with all the attendant woes, will exist no more. The righteous will live for ever, and the wicked will linger on in a stato never to be terminated by death. The reign of Death and Hades, as such, would come to an end, and a new order of things would commence where thia would be unknown. There might be that which would be properly called death, but it would not be death in thia form; the soul would live for ever, but it would not bo in that condition represented by the word airig — hades. There would be death still, but a " second death difi"ers from the first, in the fact that it is not a separation of the soul and body, but a state of continual agony like that which the first death inflicts — like that in intensity, but not in kind." Prof. Stuart. ^ This is the second death. That is, this whole process here described — the condemnation, and the final death and ruin of those whose names are ' not found written in the book of life,' properly constitutes the second death. This proves that when it is said that * death and hell were cast into a lake of fire,' it cannot be meant thfit all punishment will cease for ever, and that all will be saved, for the writer goes on to describe what ho calls * the eeoond
15 And whosoever was not found
death' as still existiug. See ver. 15. John describes this as the second death, not because it in all respects resembles the first death, but because it has so many points of resemblance that it may be properly called death. Death, in any form, is the penalty of law; it is attended with pain; it cuts off from hope, from friends, from enjoyment; it subjects him who dies to a much dreaded condition, and in all these respects it was proper to call the final condition of the wicked, death — though it would still be true that the soul would live. There is no evidence that John meant to affirm that the second death would imply an extinction of existence. Death never does that; the word does not naturally and properly convey that idea.
15. And whosoever. All persons, of all ranks, ages, and conditions. No word could be more comprehensive than this. The single condition here stated, as being that which would save any from being cast into the lake of fire, is, that they are " found written in the book of life." All besides these, princes, kings, nobles, philosophers, statesmen, conquerors; rich men and poor men; the bond and the free; the young and the aged; the gay, the vain, the proud, and the sober; the modest, and the humble, will be doomed to the lake of fire. Unlike in all other things, they will be alike in the only thing on which their eternal destiny will depend — that they have oot so lived that their names have become recorded in the book of life. As they will also be destitute of true religion, there will be a propriety that they shall share the same doom in the future world. ^ Written in the hook of life. Sec Notes on ch. iii. 5. ^ Was cast into the lake of fire. See Notes on Matt. XXV. 41. That is, they will be doomed to a punishment which will be well represented by their lingering in a sea of fire for ever. This is the termination of the judgment; the winding up of the aflairs of men. The vision of John here rests for a moment on the doom of the wicked, and then turns to a more full contemplation of the happy lot of the righteous as detailed in the two closing chapters of the book.
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."
(1) There will be a general resurrection of the dead — of the righteous and the wicked. This is implied by the statement that the ' dead small and great' were seen to stand before God; that 'the sea gave up the dead which were in it;' that ' Death and Hades gave up their dead.' All were there whose names were or were not written in the book of life.
(2) There will be a solemn and impartial judgment. How long a time this will occupy, is not said, and is not necessary to be known — for time is of no consequence where there is an eternity of devotion — but it is said that they will all be judged " according to their works;" that is, strictly according to their character. They will receive no arbitrary doom; they will have no sentence which will not be just. See Matt. xxv. 31-46.
(3) This will be the final judgment. After this, the affairs of the race will be put on a different footing. This will be the end of the present arrangements; the end of the present dispensations; the end of human probation. The great question to be determined in regard to our world will have been settled; what the plan of redemption was intended to accomplish on the earth will have been accomplished; the agency of the Divine Spirit in converting sinners will have come to an end; and the means of grace, as such, will be employed no more. There is not here or elsewhere an intimation that beyond this period any of these things will exist, or that the work of redemption, as such, will extend into the world beyond the judgment. As there is no intimation that the condition of the righteous will be changed, so there is none that the condition of the wicked will be; as there is no hint that the righteous will ever be exposed to temptation, or to the danger of falling into sin, so there is none that the offers of salvation will ever again be made to the wicked. On the contrary, the whole representation is, that all beyond this will be fixed and unchangeable for ever. See Notes on ch. xxii. 11.
(4) The wicked will be destroyed, in what may be properly calUnl the second death. As remarked in the Notes, this does not mean that this death will in all respeets resemble the first death, but there will be so many points of resemblance that it will be proper to call it death. It does not mean that they will be annihilated, for death never implies that. The meaning is, that this will be a cutting off from what is properly called Hfe, from hope, from happiness, and from peace, and a subjection to pain and agony, which it will be proper to call death — death in the most fearful form; death that will continue for ever. No statements in the Bible are more clear than those which are made on this point; no affirmation of the eternal punishment of the wicked could he more explicit than those which occur in the Sacred Scriptures. See Notes on Matt. XXV. 46, and 2 Thess. i. 9.
(5) This will be the end of the woes and calamities produced in the kingdom of God by sin. The reign of Satan and of Death, so far as the Eedeemer's kingdom is concerned, will be at an end, and henceforward the church will be safe from all the arts and efforts of its foes. Religion will be triumphant, and the affairs of the universe be reduced to permanent order.
(6) The preparation is thus made for the final triumph of the righteous — the state to which all things tend. The writer of this book has conducted the prospective history through all the times of persecution which awaited the church, and stated the principal forms of error which would prevail, and foretold the conflicts through which the church would pass, and described its eventful history to the Millennial period, and to the final triumph of truth and righteousness, and now nothing remains to complete the plan of the work but to give a rapid sketch of the final condition of the redeemed. This is done in the two following chapters, and with this the work is ended.
The whole of ch. xxi., and the first five verses of ch. xxii., relate to scenes beyond the judgment, and are descriptive of the happy and triumphant state of the redeemed church, when all its conflict-s shall have ceased, and all its enemies shall have been destroyed. That happy state is depicted under the image of a beautiful city, of which Jerusalem was the emblem, and it was disclosed to John by a vision of that city — the New Jerusalem — descending from heaven. Jerusalem was regarded as the peculiar dwelling-place of God, and to the Hebrews it became thus the natural emblem or symbol of the heavenly world. The conception having occurred of describing the future condition of the righteous under the image of a beautiful city, all that follows is in keeping with that, and is merely a carrying out of the image. It is a city with beautiful walls and gates; a city that has no temple — for it is all a temple; a city that needs no light — for God is its light; a city into which nothing impure ever enters; a city filled with trees, and streams, and fountains, and fruits — the Paradise Regained.
I. A vision of a new heaven and a new earth, as the final abode of the blessed, ver. 1. The first heaven and the first earth passed away at the judgment (ch. XX. 11-15), to be succeeded by a new heaven and earth fitted to be the abode of the blessed.
II. A vision of the holy city — the New Jerusalem — descending from heaven, as the abode of the redeemed, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband — representing the fact that God would truly abide with men, vs. 2-4. Now all the effects of the apostacy will cease; all tears will be wiped away, and in that blessed state there will be no more death, or sorrow, or pain. This contains the general statement of what will be the condition of the redeemed in the future world. God will be there; and all sorrow will cease.
III. A command to make a record of these things, ver. 5.
IV. A general description of those who should dwell in that future world of blessedness, vs. 6-8. It is for all who are athirst; for all who desire it, and long for it; for all who ' overcome' their spiritual enemies, who maintain a steady conflict with sin, and gain a victory over it. But all who are fearful and unbelieving — all the abominable, and murderers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and liars, shall have their part in th« lake that burns with fire and brimstone. That is, that world will be pure and holy. V. A minute description of the city, representing the happy abode of the redeemed, vs. 9-26. This description embraces many particulars: —
21. ]t is bright and splendid — like a precious jasper-stone, clear as crystal, and composed of pure gold.
(2) Its walls, vs. 12, 18. The walls are represented as ' great and high,' and as composed of 'jasper.'
(3) Its gates, vs. 12, 13, 21. The gates are twelve in number, three on each side; and are each composed of a single pearl.
(4) Its foundations, vs. 14, 18-20. There are twelve foundations, corresponding to the number of the apostles of the Lamb. They are all composed of precious stones — jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysopi-asus, jacinth, and amethyst.
(5) Its size, vs. 15-17. It is square — the length being as great as the breadth, and its height the same. The extent of each dimension is twelve thousand furlongs— a length on each side and in height of three hundred and seventy-five miles. It would seem, however, that though the city was of that height, the wall was only an hundred and forty-four cubits, or about two hundred and sixteen feet high. The idea seems to be that the city — the dwellings within it — towered high above the wall that was thrown around it for protection. This is not uncommon in cities that are surrounded by walls.
(6) Its light, vs. 23, 24, ch. xxii. 5. It has no need of the sun, or of the moon, or of a lamp (ch. xxii. 6), to enlighten it, and yet there is no night there (ch. xxii. 6), for the glory of God gives light to it.
22. There is no one place in it that is peculiarly sacred, or where the worship of God will be exclusively celebrated. It will be all a temple, and the worship of God will be celebrated in all parts of it.
(8) It is always open, ver. 25. There will be no need of closing it as walled cities on earth are closed to keep enemies out, and it will not be shut to prevent those who dwell there from going out and coming in when they please.
The inhabitants will not be prisoners, nor will they be in danger, or be alarmed by the prospect of an attack from an enemy.
(9) Its inhabitants will all be pure and holy, ver. 27. There will in no wise enter there any thing that defiles, or that works abomination, or that ia false. They only shall dwell there whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.
(10) Its enclosures and environs, ch. xxii. 1, 2. A stream of water, pure as crystal, proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb. That stream flows through the city, and on its banks is the tree of life constantly bearing fruit — fruit to be partaken of freely. It is Paradise Regained — a holy and beautiful abode, of which the garden of Eden was only an imperfect emblem, where there is no prohibition, as there was there, of any thing that grows, and where there is no danger of falling into sin.
(11) It is a place free, consequently, from the curse that was pronounced on man when he forfeited the blessings of the first Eden, and when he was driven out from the happy abodes where God had placed him.
(12) It is a place where the righteous shall reign for ever, ch. xxii. 6. Death shall never enter there, and the presenca and glory of God shall fill all with peace and joy.
Such is an outline of the figurative and glowing description of the future blessedness of the redeemed; the eternal abode of those who shall be saved. It is poetic and emblematical; but it is elevating, and constitutes a beautiful and appropriate close, not only of this single book, but of the whole sacred volume — for to this the saints are every where directed to look forward; this is the glorious termination of all the struggles and conflicts of the church; this is the result of the work of redemption in repairing the evils of the fall, and in bringing man to more than the bliss which he lost in Eden. The mind rests with delight os this glorious prospect; the Bible closes, as a revelation from heaven should, in a manner that calms down every anxioua feeling; that fills the soul with peace, and that leads the child of God to look forward with bright anticipations, and to say, as John did, * Come, Lord Jesus.' ch. xxii 20.
I saw a new " heaven and new earth: for the first and the first earth nrere away, and there was no
1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. Such a heaven and earth that they might properly be called new; such transformations, and such changes in their appearance, that they seemed to be just created. He does not say that they were created now, or anewj that the old heavens and earth were annihilated; — but all that he says is that there were such changes, that they seemed to be new. If the earth is to be renovated by fire, such a renovation will give an appearance to the globe as if it were created anew, and might be attended with such an apparent change in the heavens that they might be said to be neio. The description here (ver. 1,) relates to scenes after the general resurrection and the judgment — for those events are detailed in the close of the previous chapter. In regard to the meaning of the language here, see Notes on 2 Peter iii. 13. Compare, also, " The Religion of Geology and its Connected Sciences," by Edward Hitchcock, D. D., LL. D., pp. 370-408. ^ For the first heaven and the first earth were 2^"^s<^(i away. They had passed away by being changed, and a renovated universe had taken their place. See Notes on 2 Peter iii. 10. ^ And there was no more sea. This change struck John more forcibly, it would appear, than any thing else. Now, the seas and oceans occupy about three-fourths of the surface of the globe, and of course to that extent prevent the world from being occupied by men — except by the comparatively small number that are mariners. There, the idea of John seems to be, the whole world will be inhabitable, and no part will be given up to the wastes of oceans. In the present state of things, these vast oceans are necessary to render the world a fit abode for human beings, as well as to give life and happiness to the numberless tribes of animals that find their homes in tbe waters. In the future state, it would seem, the present arrangement Avill be unnecessary, and if man dwells upon the earth at
2 And I John saw the holy city, * new Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a " bride ** adorned for her husband.
all, or if he visits it as a temporary abode (see Notes on 2 Peter iii. 13), these vast wastes of water will be needless. It should be remembered that the earth, in its changes, according to the teachings of geology, has undergone many revolutions quite as remarkable as it would be if all the lakes, and seas, and oceans of the earth should disappear. Still, it is not certain that it was intended that this language should be understood literally as applied to the material globe. The object is to describe the future blessedness of the righteous, and the idea is, that that will be a world where there will be no such wastes as those produced by oceans.
2. And I, John, saio the holy city, neio Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. See the 'Analysis' of the chapter. On the phrase * new Jerusalem,' see Notes on Gal. iv. 26, and Heb. xii. 22. Here it refers to the residence of the redeemed, the heavenly world, of which Jerusalem was the type and symbol. It is here represented as 'coming down from God out of heaven.' This, of course, does not mean that this great city was literally to descend upon the earth, and to occupy any one part of the renovated world; but it is a symbolical or figurative representation, designed to show that the abode of the righteous will be splendid and glorious. The idea of a city literally descending from heaven, and being set upon the earth with such proportions — three hundred and seventy miles high (ver. IC), made of gold, and with single pearls for gates, and single gems for the foundations, is absurd. No man can suppose that this is literally true, and hence this must be regarded as a figurative or emblematic description. It is a representation of the heavenly state under the image of a beautiful city, of which Jerusalem was, in many respects, a natural and striking emblem. ^ Prejiared as a bride adorned for her husband. See Notes on Isa. xlix. 18, Ixi. 10. The purpose hero is, to repro*
3 And I heard a great voice out I self shall be with them, and le their
of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle " of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, ^ and God him-
sent it as exceedingly beautiful. The comparison of the churcli with a bride, or a wife, is common in the Scriptures. See Notes on ch. xix. 7, 8, and on Isa. i. 21. It is also common in the Scriptures to compare a city with a beautiful woman, and these images here seem to be combined. It is a beautiful city that seems to descend, and this city is itself compared with a richly attired bride prepared for her husband.
3. And I heard a voice out of heaven. As if uttered by God himself, or the voice of angels. ^ Behold the tabernacle of God is with men. The tabernacle, as that word is commonly used in the Scriptures — referring to the sacred tent erected in the wilderness — was regarded as the peculiar dwelling-place of God among his people, as the temple was afterwards, which was also called a tabernacle. See Notes on Heb. ix. 2. The meaning here is, that God would now dwell with the redeemed, as if in a tabernacle, or in a house specially prepared for his residence among them. It is not said that this would be on the earth, although that may be, for it is possible that the earth, as well as other worlds, may yet become the abode of the redeemed. See Notes on 2 Peter iii. 13. ^ And he loill dtoell with them. As in a tent, or tabernacle — cKTjviiati. This is a common idea in the Scriptures. ^ And they shall be his ^)eo- 2ilc. He will acknowledge them in this public way as his own, and wil'i dwell with them as such. ^ And God himself shall be with them. Shall be permanently with them; shall never leave them. *[[ And be their God. Shall manifest himself as such, in such a manner that there shall be no doubt.
4. And God shall wijie aioay all tears from their eyes. This will be one of the characteristics of that blessed state, that not a tear shall ever be shed there. How diiferent will that be from the condition here — for who is there here who has not learned to weep? See Notes'on ch. vii. 17. Comp. Notes on Isa. xxv. 8. ^ And there shall he no more death. In all that
4 And God shall wipe away all *= tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, ^ neither
future world of glory, not one shall ever die; not a grave shall ever be dug! What a view do we begin to get of heaven, when we are told there shall be no death there! How different from earth, where death is so common; where it spares no one; where our best friends die; where the wise, the good, the useful, the lovely, die; where fathers, mothers, wives, husbands, sons, daughters, all die; where we habitually feel that we must die. Assuredly we have here a view of heaven most glorious and animating to those who dwell in a world like this, and to whom nothing is more common than death. In all their endless and glorious career, the redeemed will never see death again; they will never themselves die. They will never follow a friend to the tomb, nor fear that an absent friend is dead. The slow funeral procession will never be witnessed there; nor will the soil ever open its bosom to furnish a grave. See Notes on 1 Cor. xv. 55. ^ Neither sorrow. The word sorrow here — Trfv^os — denotes sorrow or grief of any kind; sorrow for the loss of property or friends; sorrow for disappointment, persecution, or care; sorrow over our sins, or sorrow that we love God so little, and serve him so unfaithfully; sorrow that we are sick, or that we must die. How innumerable are the sources of sorrow here; how constant is it on the earth! Since the fall of man there has not been a day, an hour, a moment, in which this has not been a sorrowful world; there has not been a nation, a tribe — a city or a village — nay, not a family where there has net been grief. There has been no individual who has been always perfectly happy. No one rises in the morning with any certainty that he may not end the day in grief; no one lies down at night with any assurance that it may not be a night of sorrow. How different would this world be if it were announced that henceforward there would be no sorrow 1 Ho^ different, therefore, will heaven ba "hei we shall have the assurance that h©i»iCfr.
Borrow, " nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, AVrite: for these words are true and faithful.
forward grief shall be at an end! ^ Nor crying. — Kpavyn. This word properly denotes a cry, an outcry, as in giving a public notice; a cry in a tumult — a clamor, Acts xxiii. 9; and then a cry of sorrow, or wailing. This is evidently its meaning here, and it refers to all the outbursts of grief arising from aflBliction, from oppression, from violence. The sense is, that as none of these causes of wailing will be known in the future state, all such wailing will cease. This, too, will make the future state vastly different from our condition here; for what a change would it produce on the earth if the cry of grief were never to be heard again! ^ Neither shall there be any more pain. There will be no sickness, and no calamity; and there will be no mental sorrow arising from remorse, from disappointment, or from the evil conduct of friends. And what a change would this produce — for how full of pain is the world now! How many lie on beds of languishing; how many are suffering under incurable diseases; how many are undergoing severe surgical operations; how many are pained by the loss of property or friends, or subjected to acuteranguish by the misconduct of those who are loved! How different would this Avorld be, if all pain were to cease for ever; how different, therefore, must the future state of the blessed be from the present! ^ For the former things are passed away. The world as it was before the judgment.
5. And he that sat upon the throne, said. Probably the Messiah, the dispenser of the rewards of heaven. See Notes on ch. xx. 11. ^ Behold, I make all things new. A new heaven and new sarth (ver. 1), and an order of things to correspond with that new creation. The former state of things when sin and death reigned will be changed, and the change consequent on this must extend to every thing. ^ And he said unto me, W> itc. Make a record of these things, for they are founded in truth, and. they
6 And he said unto me. It * is done. " I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is ^ athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
are adapted to bless a suffering world. Comp. Notes on ch. xiv. 13. See also ch. i. 19. ^ For these words are true and faithful. They are founded in truth, and they are worthy to be believed. See Notes on ch. xix. 9. Comp. also Notes on Dan. xii. 4.
6. And he said unto me. That is, he that sat on the throne — the Messiah. ^ It is done. It is finished, complete; or still more expressively, it is. — yiyovt. An expression remarkably similar to this occurs in John xix. 30, when the Saviour on the cross said, ' It is finished.' The meaning in the passage before us evidently is, ' the great work is accomplished; the arrangement of human affairs is complete. The redeemed are gathered in; the wicked are cut off; truth is triumphant, and all is now complete— prepared for the eternal state of things.' ^ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The language makes it morally certain that the speaker here is the Lord Jesus, for it is the very language which he uses of himself in ch. i. 11. See its meaning explained in the Notes on ch. i. 8. If it is applied to him here, it proves that he is divine, for in the following verse (7) the speaker says that he would be a God to him who should * overcome.' The meaning of the language as here used, regarded as spoken by the Redeemer at the consummation of all things, and as his people are about entering into the abodes of blessedness, is, *I am now indeed the Alpha and the Omega — the first and the last. The attributes implied in this language which I claimed for myself, are now verified in me, and it is seen that these properly belong to me. The scheme for setting up a kingdom in the lost world began in rac, and it ends in me — the glorious and triumphant king.' f 1 will give unto him that is athirst. See Notes on Matt. v. 6, John vii. 37, iv. 14. If Of the fountain of the tcater of life. An image often used in the Scriptures to represent salvation. It is compared
7 He that overcometh shall inherit " all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, * and unbelieving, *= and the abominable, '' and murderers, * and whoremongers, •'" and sorcerers, ^ and idolaters, * and all liars, * shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire
with a fountain that flows in abundance, where all may freely slake their thirst. ^ Freely. Without money and without price (Notes on Isa. Iv. 1; John vii. 37); the common representation in the Scriptures. The meaning here is not that he would do this in the future, but that he had shown that this was his character, as he had claimed, in the same way as he had shown that he was the Alpha and the Omega. The freeness and the fulness of salvation will be one of the most striking things made manifest when the immense hosts of the redeemed shall be welcomed to their eternal abodes.
7. He that overcometh. See Notes on ch. ii. 7. % Shall inherit all things. Be an heir of God in all things. See Notes on Rom. viii. 17. Comp. Rev. ii. 7, 11, 17, 26, iii. 5, 12, 21. ^ And I will be his God. That is, for ever. He would be to them all that is properly implied in the name God; he would bestow upon them all the blessings which it was appropriate for God to bestow. See Notes on Heb. viii. 10; 2 Cor. vi. 18. ^ AjuI he shall be my son. He shall sustain to me the relation of a son, and shall be treated as such. He would ever onward sustain this relation, and be honored as a child of God.
8. But the fearful. Having stated, in general terms, who they were who would be admitted into that blessed world, he now states explicitly who would not. The fearful denote those who had not firmness boldly to maintain their professed principles, or w'-ho were afraid to avow themselves as the friends of God in a wicked world. They stand in contrast with those who * overcome,' ver. 6. ^ And unbelieving. Those who have not true faith; avowed infidels; infidels at heart; and all who have not the sincere faith of the gospel. See Noies on Mark and brimstone: which is the second death.
9 And there came unto me one of the seven -^ angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying. Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.''
xvi. 16. ^ And the abominable. The verb from which this word is derived, means, to excite disgust; to feel disgust at; to abominate or abhor; and hence the participle — ' the abominable' — refers to all who are detestable, to wit, on account of their sins; all whose conduct is offensive to God. Thus it would include those who live in open sin; who practise detestable vices; whose conduct is fitted to excite disgust and abhorrence. These must all, of course, be excluded from a pure and holy world, and this description, alas, would embrace a lamentably large portion of the world as it has hitherto been. See Notes on Rom. i. 26, seq. % And murderers. See Notes on Rom. i. 29; Gal. v. 21. ^ And whoremongera. See Notes on Gal. v. 19. ^And sorcerers. See the word here used — (PapfiaKtvffi — explained in the Notes on Gal. V. 19, under the word icitcn'^^aft. ^ And idolaters. Gal. v. 19; 1 Cor. vi. 9. *^ And all liars. All who are false in their statements, their promises, their contracts. The word would embrace all who are false towards God (Acts v. 1-3), and false toward men. See Rom. i. 31, ^ Shall have their part in the lake which burneth, &c. Notes ch. xx. 14. That is, they will be excluded from heaven, and punished for ever. See Notes on 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10; Gal. v. 19-21.
9. And there came nnto me one of the seven angels, &c. See Notes on ch. xvi. 6, 7. Why one of these angels was employed to make this communication, is not stated. It may be that as they had been engaged in bringing destruction on th« enemies of the church, and securing its final triumph, there was a propriety that that triumph should be announced by one of their number. ^ And talked loith me. That is, in regard to what he was about to show mo. ^ / will ^how thet
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, " the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory '' of God: and her light loas like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
the bride, the Lamb's wife. I -will show you what represents the redeemed church now to be received into permanent union with its Lord — as a bride about to be united to her husband. See Notes on ver. 2. Comp. ch. xix. 7, 8.
10. And he carried me away ni the Spirit. Gave him a vision of the city; seemed to place him where he could have a clear view of it as it came down from heaven. See Notes on ch. i. 10. ^ To a great and high mountain. The elevation, and the unobstructed range of view, gave him an opportunity to behold it in its glory. ^ And showed me that great city, &c. As it descended from heaven. Notes ver. 2.
11. Having the glory of God. A glory or splendor such as became the dwellingplace of God. The nature of that splendor is described in the following verses. ^ And her light. In ver. 23, it is said that " the glory of God did lighten it." That is, it was made light by the visible symbol of the Deity — the shekinah. See Notes on Luke ii. 9, Acts ix. 3. The word here rendered light — (puycrr/jp — occurs nowhere else in the New Testament except in Phil. ii. 15. It means properly a light, a light-giver, and in profane writers means commonly a window. It is used here to denote the brightness or shining of tho divine glory, as supplying the place of the sun, or of a Avindow. •f Like unto a stone most ]irecious. A stone of the richest or most costly nature. ^ Eicn like a jasper stone. On the jasper, see Notes on ch. iv. 3. It is used there for the same purpose as here, to illustrate the majesty and glory of God. ^ Clear as crystal. Pellucid or resplendent like crystal. There are various kinds of jasper, as rod, yellow, and brown, brownish vellow, Ac. The stone is essentially a quartz, and the word crystal here is used
12 And had a wall great and high, a7id had twelve gates, '^ and at tho gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
12. And had a wall great and high. Ancient cities were always surrounded with walls for protection, and John represents this as enclosed in the usual manner. The woi-d great means that it was thick and strong. Its height also is particularly noticed, for it was unusual. See ver. 16. ^ And had twelve gates. Three on each side. The number of the gates correspond to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and to the number of the apostles. The idea seems to be t'lnt there would be ample opportunity Oi;iccess and egress. ^ And at the gates twelve angels. Stationed there as guards to tho new Jerusalem. Their business seems to have been to watch the gates that nothing improper should enter; that the great enemy should not make an insidious approach to this city as he did to the earthly Paradise. ^ And names written thereon. On the gates. ^ Which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. So in the city which Ezekiel saw in vision, which John seems also to have had in his eye. See Ezek. xlviii. 31. This inscription in Ezekiel denoted that that was the residence of the people of God; and the same idea is denoted here. The new Jerusalem is the eternal residence of the children of God, and this is indicated at every gate. None can cntw who do not belong to that people; all who are within are understood to be of their number.