Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
Be who Rode upon the While Horse. EEVELATIOX XIX. JAe Fuwk Called to the Great Slaughter.
ten " who " give their power unto the beast." free and bond—specilied In eh. 13. IG, as "receiving the mark of the beast." The repetition of flesh (in the Greek It Is plural : masses offlesh) five times in this verse, marks the gross c«»viaii<.(/ of the followers of the beast. Again, the giving of their flesli to the fowls to eat, is a righteous retribution for their not suffering the dead bodies of Christ's witnesses to be put in graves. I'J. gathered together—at Armageddon, under the sixth vial. ¥or " their armies" in B and Andreas, there is found " His armies" in A. war—So Andreas. But A, B, read, "the war," v/z., that foretold, cli. IG. U ; 17. i. 20. and with him, &c.—A reads, "and those with him." Breads, "and he wlio was with him, the false prophet." miraclesG'cefA, " ilie miracles" unknown name also is written on His forehead; as the liigli priest had "Holiness to the Lord" inscribed oh Ihe mitre on his brow. John saw it as "written," but Knew not its meaning. It is, tlierel'ore, a name which in all its glorious signihcancy can be only understood when the union of His saints with Him, and His and their joint triumpli and rein, shall be perfectly maniiesled at Uie final cousumiuatiou. 13. vesture diypftl in blood -Isaiah ().'J. 2 is alluded to here, and in y. 10, end. There the blood is not His own, but that of His foes. So here the blood on His "vesture," reminding us of tlis otvii blood shed for even the ungodly who trample on it.
Is a premonition of the shedding of Ihuir blood in righteous retribution. He sheds the blood, not of the godly, as tl.e harlot and beast did, but of the blood-stained ungodly, Including them both. TUe Word of God—who made the world, is He also who under the same character and attributes shall make it anew. His title, Hoii of God, is appli-
(lit., "signs ") recorded already (ch. 13. H) as wrought by the second beast before (lit., in sight of) the first beast. Hence it follows the second beast is identical with t!ie false prophet. Many expositors represent the first beast to be the secular, the second beast to be the ecclesiastical power of Rome; and account for the change of title for the latter from the "other beast" to the "false prophet," is because by the judgment on the harlot, the ecclesiastical power will then retain nothing of its former character .save the power to deceive. I think it not uhlikely that the false prophet will be the successor of the spiritual pretensions of tlie Papacy; whilst the beast in its last form as the fully-revealed Antichrist will be the secular representativean<l embodimentof the fourth world-kingdom, Rome, in its last form of intensified opposition to God. Cf. with this prophecy, E/.ekiel 38. 39; Daniel 2. 34, 35, 44; U. 44, 45; cable, in a lower sense, also to His people ; but " the Word Of God" indicates His incommunicable Oodliead, joined to His manhood, which He shall then manifest in glory. "The Hi ide does n<jt fear the Bridegroom; her love casteth out fear. She welcomes Him; she cannot be happy but at His side The Lamb [v. 9, the aspect of Christ to His people at His coiningj is the symbol of Christ in His gentleness. Who would be afraid of a lamb? Even a little chihl, Instead of being scaied, desires to caress it. There
Is nothing to make us afraid of God but sin, and Jesus is the Lamb of God that taketh away the uii of the world. What a learful contrast is the aspect whicli He will wear towards His enemits! Not as the Bridegroom and the Lamb, but as the [avenging] judge and warrior stained in the blood of His enemies." 14, tlieariuies ... in licaveii —Cf. "the horse-bridles," ch. H. 20. The glorified saints whom God " will bring with " Christ at His advent; cl. ch.
12. 1 ; Joel 3. 9-17 ; Zechariah 12. ; 13. ; 14. Daniel (7. 8) makes no mention of the second beast, or false prophet, but mentions that " the little horn " has " the eyes of a man," i.e., cunning and intellectual culture; thisisnota feature of the first beast in ch. 13., but Is expre.ssed by the Apocalyptic " false prophet," the embodiment of man's unsancl ified knowledge, and the subtlety of the old serpent. The first beast is a political power; the second is a spiritual power—tlie power of ideas. But both are bMsts, the worldly Antichristian wisdom serving t!ie worldly AntiChristian power. The dragon is both lion and serpent. As the first law in God's moral government is that "judgment should begin at the house of God," and be executed on the harlot, the faithless Church, by the world-power with which she had committed spiritual adultery, so itls a second law that the world-power, after having served as God's instrument of punishment, is itself punished. As the harlot is judged by the beast and the ten kings, so these are destroyed by the Lord Himself coming in person. So Zephaniah ch. 1. compared with ch. 2, And Jeremiah, after denouncing Jerusalem's judgment by Babylon, ends with denouncing Babylon's own dyom. Between the judgment on the harlot, and the Lord's destruction of the beast, &c., will intervene that season in which earthly* mindedness will reach its culmination, and Antichrlstianity triumph for its short three and a half days during which the two witnesses lie dead. Then shall the Church be ripe for her glorification, the Antichristian world for destruction. The world at the highest development of its material .and spiritual power, is but a decorated carcass round which the eagles gather. It is characteristic, that Antichristaud his kings, in their blindness, imagine that they can wage war against the King of heaven with earthly hosts; herein is shown the extreme folly of Babylonian confusion. The Lord's mere appearance, without anj' actual encounter, shows Antichrist his nothingness;
17. H, "they that are with Him, called, chosen, lai Llilul ;" asal.so"His mighty angels." wUile and clean— OretA;, "pure." A, B, Vulyate, Syriac, and Cvpkian omit " and," Which OlUGEX and Andkeas retain, as JEngtish Version.
IS. out of Ills mouHi . . . sword—;Ch. 1. 16; 2. 12, 16.) Here in its avenginij power, 2 Thessalonians 2. 8, "consume witli the Spirit of His mouth" (Isaiah 11. 4, to which there is allusion here); not in its convicting and converting efficacy (Epliesians G. 17; Hebrews i. 12, 13, where also the
Judicial keenness of the sword-like word is included). The Father commits the judgment to the Son. lie gliall rule—The He is emphalical. He and none other, in contrast to the usurpers who have misruled on earth. "Kule," lit., "tend as a shepherd;" but here in a punitive sense. He who would have shepherded them with pastoral rod and with the golden sceptre of His love, shall dash them in pieces, as refractory rebels, with "a rod of iron." treadetli . . . wSne-press—(Isaiah iii. 3.) of the fierceness and wratU—So Andkeas reads. But A, B, Vulgate,
Coptic, and Okigen read, " of the fierceness (or Imdiiig indignation) of the wrath," omitting "and." AlnUgUty— The fierceness of Christ's wrath against His foes will be executed with the resources of omnipotence. IG. " His name written on His vesture and on His thigli," was written partly on the vesture, partly on the tliigh itself, at the part where in an equestrian figure the robe drops from the thigh. The thigh symbolizes Christ's humanity as having come, after the flesh, from the loins of David, and now appearing as the glorified "Son of man." On the other hand. His incommunicable Divine name, "which no man knew," is on His head (i). 12). [MenoCHius.] King of kings; cf. ch. 17. If, in contrast wiili v.
cf. the effect of Jesus' appearance even in His humiliation, John 18. 6. [Aubeklen.] had recelvefl—rather aa Greek, "received," once for all. them that worshipped
17j the beast being iu attempted usurpation a king of kings, the ten kingsdeliveriug their kingdom to him. 17. an Gi-eek, "one." lit the sun—so as to be conspicuous In sight of the whole world, to all tlie fowls—(Ezekiol lit., "them worshipping;" not an act once for all done, as the "received" implies, but those i?i the habit of "worshipping." These both were cast . . . Into a lake —
89. I7-2U.) and gather yourselves—A, B, Vulgate, tiyriac,
Greek, "... the lake of fire," Gehenna. Satan is subsequently cast into it, at the close of the outbreak which succeeds the millennium (ch. 20. 10). Then Death and Hell, as well those not found at the general judgment "written in the book of life ;" this constitutes "the second death." alive—a living death; uot mere anuihllatioit.
Coptic, and Andreas read," be gathered," omitting "and." of the great God—A, B, Vulgate, ISyriac, Coptic, and ANDREAS read, "Tle great supper (i. e., banquet) of God."
18. Contrast with this "supper," v. 17, 18, the marriagetapper of the Lamb, v. 9. captainsCrVee/c, "captains of tiioasauds," i. e., chit captains. The "kings" are "the
Satan Bound/or a Thousand Years, REVELATION XX. and Cast into the Bultomless PiL mission. A tradition in the house of Ellas, a. d. 200, states that the world is to endure 6000 years ; 2000 before the law, 2000 under the law, and 2000 under Messiah. Cf. Note and Margin, Hebrews 4. 9 ; ch. 14. 13. Papi as, Justin Martyr, Ireneus, and Cyprian, among the earliest Fathers, all held the doctrine of a millennial kingdom on earth ; not
"Their worm dieth not, their fire Is not qiienclied." 21. the remnant Greek, "the rest," i.e., "the kings niiil their armies " (u. 19) classed together in one indiscriminate mass. A solemn conflrmalioii of the wai uing in Psalm 2. 10.
CHAPTER XX.
till millennial views degenerated into gross cariialism was this doctrine abandoned, that he should deceiveSo A. But B reads, "that he deceive" (Greek plana, for planeesee). and—So CojMc and Andreas. But A, B, and Vulgate omit "and." 4, 5. they sat—tlie twelve apostles, and the saints in general, judgment was given unto them — (A'oe, Daniel 7. '22.) The office of judging was given to them. Though in one sense having to stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, yet in another sense they "do not come into judgment {Grcek),hnt have already passed from death unto life." souls—This term is made a plea for denying the literality of the first resurrection, as if the resurrection were tlie spiritual one of the souls of believers in tliis life; the life and reign being that of the soul raised in this life from the death of sin by vivifying faith. But "souls" expresses their disembodied state
Ver. 1-15. Satan Bound, and the Fihst-kisen Saints Reign with Christ, a Thousand Years; Satan Loosed Gathers the Nations, Gog and Magog, round THE Camp of the Saints, and is finally Consigned
I'O the Lake of Fire; The General Rksuruisction AND Last Judgment. 1. The destruclion of liis representatives, tlie beast and the false prophet, to wliom he had given his poruer, throne, a.n<\ aulhorily, is followed by the binding of Satan himself for a thousand years, tlie key of the bottomless pit—now transferred from Satan's hands, wlio had heretofore been permitted by God to use it in letting ioose plagues on the earth; he is now to be made to feel himself the torment wliich he had inflicted on men but h'is full torment is not until he is cast into "the lake of tire"' (v. 10). 2. the old—ancient serpent (ch.
12.9). thousand years—As seven mystically implies universality, so a, Ihoxtsand implies perfection, whether in good or evil. [Aquinas on ch. 11.] Thousand symbolizes that the world Is perfectly leavened and pervaded by the Divine; since thomand is ten, the number of the world, raised to the third power, three being the number of God. [Auberlen.] It may denote literally also a thousimd years. 3. shut hlin—A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, and Andreas omit "him." set a seal upon hUu Oreel:, " over l\\m,"
(cf. ch. 6. 9) .as John saw them at tlrst; "and tliey lived" implies their coming to life in the body again, so as to bo visible, as the phrase, v. 5, "this is the first resurrection," proves; for as surely as "the rest of the dead lived not (again) until," &e., refers to the 6o(Zi7^ general resurrection, so must the first resurrection refer to the body. This also accords with 1 Corinthians 15.23, "They that are Christ's at His coming." Cf. Psalm 49. 11-15. From ch. 6.
9, I infer that "souls" is here used in tlie strict sense of spirits disembodied when first seen by John ; though doubtless "souls"' is often used in general (or persons, and even for dead bodies, beheaded—ii/., "smitten witli an axe;" a Roman punishment, tliough crucifi.xion, casting to beasts, and burning, were the more common modes of execution. The guillotine in revolutionary France, still continued In imperial France, is a revival of the mode of capital punishment of Pagan imperial Rome. Paul was beheaded, and no doubt sliall share the first resurrection, in accordance with his prayer that he "might attain unto the resurrection from out of the rest of tlie dead" {Greek exanasi. e., sealed up the door of tlie abyss over his head. A surer seal to keep him from getting out than his seal over Jesus in tlie tomb of Joseph, whicli was burst on the resurrection morn. Satan's binding at this juncture is not arl)itrary, but is the necessary consequence of the events (ch. 1!». 20) ; just as Satan's being cast out of heaven, where he had previously been the accuser of the brethren, was the legil mate judgment which passed on him through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ
(ch. 12. 7-lU) Satan imagined th.at he had overcome Christ on Golgotha, and that his power was secure for ever, but the Lord in death overcame him, and by His ascension as our righteous Advocate cast out Satan the accuser from heaven. Time was given him on earth to make tlie beast and harlot powerful, and then to concentrate all his power in Antichrist. The Anliclnistian kingdom, his last effort, being utterly destroyed by Christ's mere appearing, his power on earth is at an end. He had thought to destroy God's people on earth tiy Antichrlstian persecutions (Just as lie had thought previously to destroy Christ); but the Cliurch is not di'Slroyed from the earth, but is raised to rule over it, and Satan himself tasis). The above facts may account for the specificatioa of this particular kind of punishment, for . . . for— Greek, " for the sake of ;" " on account of;"' " because of." and whieh Greek, "and the which:" And prominent among tliis class (the beheaded), such as did not worship the beast, &e. So ch. 1. 7, (Trcek, "and the which," or " and such as," particularizes prominently among tlie general class those that follow in the description. [Tukoelles.] Tlie extent of tiio first resurrection is not spoken of here. In 1 Corinthians 15. 23, 51 ; 1 Tbessalonlans 1. 14 wo find tliat all "in Clirist" shall share in it. John himself was not " belieaded," yet who doubts but that he sliall .share in the
Is shut up for a tliousand ye.ars in the "abyss" {({reel: for " bottomless pit"), the preparatory prison to the "lake of first resurrection ? The martyrs are put first, beiniise most like Jesus in their sufferings and dealli, therefore nearest Him in tlieir life and reign; for Christ iudlieclly attlrms there are relative degrees and places of honour in His kingdom, tlie liighest being for those who drink ills cup of fire," his fliial doom. As before be ceased by t'lirlst's ascension to be an accuser In heaven, so daring the mlliennium ho ceases to be the seducer and tlie persecutor on earth. As long as the devil rules in the darkness of the world, we live in an atmosphere Impregnated with deadly elements. A mighty purification of tlie air will be effected by Christ's coming. Tliough sin will not be absolutely aliollslu d— for men will still be in tlie tl.'sh [Isaiah suli'ering. Ne.\t sliall be those wtio have not bowed to the world-power, but have looked to the tilings unseen and eternal, neither— " not yet." reljfned wKli flirlst—over the earth, foreheads . . . liands— (/recA-, " fori'lu ad , , . liand." 5. But— H, Coptic, and Anukea.s read, "and." A and Vulgate omit it. again-A, 1!, Vulgate, Coptic, and Andricas omit it. Lived is used (ov lived again, inch.
65. 20]—sin will no longer be a universal power, for Iho flesh Is not any longer seduced liy Satan. He will not Ijo, as now, "the god and prince of the world"— nor will tlie world "lie in the wicked 'one"—tlie llesli will become ever more Isolated and bo overcome. Christ will reign wll h 1 1 Is transllguii il saints over men In the llesli. [AtniKRt.KN.]
2. K. .Joliii saw tliem not only wlien resloreil to life, but when In the act of reviving. [Uknoel.] tlrst reaiurrcvtlon—"the resurrection of the Just," Kiirth Is not yet transligurcd, and I'annot therefore be the meet locality
Tills will be the manlfestalU>n of "the world to eonif," which has been already set up Invisibly In tlie saints, amidst "this world" (2 Corlntlilans 4.4; Hebrews 2.5; 5.
for the transfigured Church ; but from heaven the transllgured saints witli Christ rule the earth, tliere being a inncli freer communion of the heavenly and earthly {•liurchcs (a. type of wlilch state may lie seen in the lorty daysof th(! risen .Saviour during which He appeared to His disciples), and they know no higher Joy than to lead their brithren on earth to the same salvation anil glory us Uiey share tliefiiselves. The millennial reign on eurtb
5). Tlie Jewish Uabbls tliouglit, as the world was crrealed In six days and on the seventh Goil rested, so there would be six millenary p(;riods, followed by a salibatleal millennium. Out of seven years every seventh Is the year of lemlsslon, so out of the seven thousand years of the world the seventh millenary shall lie the ml Heiiaiy of reb'JH
Thoee in the First Ilesurrection Blessed. REVELATION XX. Satan Loosed out of Ins Prison, the moral law, and exercises the prophetic office by the word working inwardly. But when the royal and the priestly office shall be revived, then—the principles of the Epistle to the Hebrews remaining the same—also the ceremonial and civil law of Moses will develop its spiritual depths In the Divine worship (cf. Mattliew 5. J7-19). At present is the time of preaching; but then the time of the Liturgy of converted souls forming "the great congregation" ^hall come. Then shall our present defective governments give place to perfect governments in both Church and State. Whereas under the Old Testament the Jews exclusively, and in the New Testament the Genaoes not rest on an isolated passage of the Apocalypse, but all Olil Testament prophecy goes on the same view (cf. Isaiah i. 3; 11. 9; 35. 8). Jesus, whilst opposing the carnal views of the kingdom of God prevalent among the Jews in His day, does not contiadict, but confirms, the Old Testament view of a coming earthly, Jewish kingdom of glory: beginning from within, and spreading itself now spiritually, the kingdom of God shall manifest itself outwardly at Christ's coming again. The Papacy is a false anticipation of the kingdom duiing the Church-historical period. "When Christianity became a worldly power under Constantino, the hope of the future was weakened by the joy over present success." [Benqei,.] Becoming a harlot, the Church ceased to be a bride going to meet lier Bridegroom ; thus millennial hopes disappeared. The rights which Rome as a harlot usurped, shall be exercised In holiness by the Bride. They are "kings'' because they are " priests" (v. 6; ch. 1.6; 5.10); their priesthood unto God and Christ (ch. 7. 15) is the ground of their kingship in relation toman. Men will be willing subjects of the transfigured priest-kings, in tlie day of the Lord's power. Their power is that of attraction, winning the heart, and not counteracted by devil or beast. Church and State shall then be coextensive. Man created " to have dominion over earth" is to rejoice over his world witli unmixed, holy joy. St. John tells us that, instead of the devil, the transfigured Church of Christ ; Daniel, that instead of the heathen beast, the holy Israel, shall rule the world. [AuBERLEX.] 6. Blessed—(Cf. ch. 11. 13; 19. 9.) on sucli the second death hath no power—even as it has none on Christ now that He is risen, priests of God—Apostate Christendom l)eing destroyed, and the believing Church translated at Christ's coming, there will remain Israel and the heathen world, constituting the majority of men then alive, which, from not having come into close contact with the Gospel, have not incurred the guilt of rejecting it. These will be the sulijects of a general conversion (ch. 11. 15). "The veil" shall be taken off Israel llrst, then from otr "all people." The glorious events attending Christ's appearing, the destruction of Antichrist, the transfiguration of the Church, and the binding of Satan, will prepare the nations for embracing the Gospel. As individual regeneration goes on now, so there shall be a "regeneration" of nations then. Israel, as a nation, shall be " born at once—in one day." As the Church began at Christ's ascension, so the kingdom shall begin at his second advent.. This is the humiliation of the modern civilized nations, that nations which they despise most, Jews and uncivilized barbarians, the negro di;scendants of Ham who from the curse of Noah have been so backward, Kush and .Slieba, shall supplant and surpass them as centres of the world's history (cf. Deuteronomy 32. 21; Romans 10.
tiles exclusively, enjoy the revelation of salvation (in both cases humanity being divided and separated), in the millennium both Jews and Gentiles are united, and the whole organism of mankind under the first-born brother, Israel, walks in the light of God, and the full life of humanity is at last realized. Scripture does not view the human race as an aggregate of individuals and nationalities, but as an organic whole, laid down once for all in the first pages of revelation. [Genesis 9. 2.5-27; 10. 1,5,18,25,
32; Deuteronomy 32. 8 recognizes the fact that from the first the division of the nations was made with a relation to Israel.] Hence.arises tlie importance of the Old Testa-' ment to tlie Chui'ch now as ever. Three grand groups of nations, Hamites, Japhetites, and Shemites, correspond respectively to the three fundamental elements in man body, soul, and spirit. The flower of Sheni, the representative of «pin7«a2 life, is Israel, even as the llower of Israel is He in whom all mankind Is summed up, the second Adam (Genesis 12. 1-3). Thus Israel is the mediator of Divine revelations for all times. Even nature and the animal world will share in the millennial blessedness. As sin loses its power, decay and death will decrease. [AUBEKLEN.] Earthly and heavenly glories shall be united in the twofold election. Elect Israel in the flesh shall stand at the head of the earthly, the elect spiritual Church, the Bride, in the heavenly. These twofold elections are not merely for the good of the elect themselves, but for the good of those to whom they minister. The heavenly Church is elected not merely to salvation, but to rule in love, and minister blessings over the whole earth, as king-priests. The glory of the transfigured saints shall be felt by men in the flesh with the same consciousness of blessing as on the Mount of Transfiguration the three disciples experienced in witnessing the glory of Jesus, and of Moses and Ellas, when Peter exclaimed, "It is good for us to be here;" in 2 Peter 1.
16-18, the Transfiguration is regarded as the earnest of
Christ's coming in glory. The privilege of "our high calling ill Christ" is limited to the present time of Satan's reign ; when he is bound, there will oe no scope for suffering for, and so afterwards reigning with. Him (ch. 3. 21
19; 11. 20, &c.). The Jews are our teachers even in New Testament times. Since their rejection revelation has been silent. The whole Bible, even the New Testament, cf. Note, 1 Corinthians 6. 2). Moreover, none can be saved in the present age and in the pale of the Christian Church who does not also reign with Christ hereafter, the necessary preliminary to which is suffering with Christ now. If we is written by Jews. If revelation is to recommence in the millennial kingdom, converted Israel must stand at the bead of humanity. In a religious point of view, Jews and Gentiles stand on an equal footing as both alike needing mercy; but as regards God's instrumentalities for bringing about His kingdom on earth, Israel Is His chosen people for executing His plans. Tlie Israelite priest-kings on earth are what the transfigured priest-kings are In heaven. There shall be a blessed chain of giving and receiving God,Clirist, the transfigured Bride the Church, Israel, the world of nations. A new time of revelation will begin by the outpouring of the fulness of the Spirit. Ezekiel fail to lay hold of the crown, we lose all, "the gifl of gr<u:e as well as the reward 0/ service." [De Bukgh.] 7. e.\plred —Greek, "finished." 8. Gog and Magog—(AVra, Ezekiel 38. and 39.) Magog is a general name lor northern nations of Japheth's posterity, whose ideal lieail is Gog; (Genesis 10. 2). A has but one Greek article to " Gog and Magog," whereby the two, viz., the prince and (he i)eople, are marked as having the closest connection. B reads the second article before Magog wrongly. Hii.i.Eii (Onomaiticon) explal ns both words as signi fy i ng lo/ly, elevated. For " quarters " the Greek is " corners." to \>sittlv— Greek, " to
(chs. 40.-48.), himself son of a priest, sets forth the priestly character of Israel; Daniel the statesman, its kingly chathe war," in A, B. But Andkeas omits " the." 9. on the brendth of tike earth—so as completely to overspread It. Perhaps we ought to translate, " .. . . of the ['">ly] tand." the camp of the saints . . . and the beloved eity—the camp of the salntM encircling the beloved citi/, Jerusalem racter; Jeremiah (33. 17-21), both its priestly and kingly character. In the Old Testament the whole Jewish national life was religious only in an external legal manner. The New Testament Church insists on inward renewal, but leaves Its outward manifestations free. But In the millennial kingdom, all spheres of life shall be truly Christianized from within outwardly. The Mosaic ceremonial law corresponds to Israel's priestly ofllce ; the
(Eccleslastlcus 24. 11). Contrast " hateful " In Babylon (ch.
18. 2; Deuteronomy 32. 15, LXX.). Ezckiel's prophecy of Gog and Magog (3S. and 39.) refers to the attack made by Antichrist on Israel 6e/ore the millennium: but this attack Is made a/ter the millennium, so that " Gog and Mii>>
Clv'l law to its kingly office: the Gentile Church adopts