Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
The Devil Cast into the Lake of Fire. EEVELATION XXI. T7i€ Last and General Resurrection.
of both the saved and the lost, in the presence of an assembled universe. Cf. " We must all appear," <tc., Romans 14. 10; 2 Corinthians 5. 10. The saints having been gog" are mystical names representing the final adversaries led by Satan in person. Ezekiel's Gog and Jingo? come from the north, but those here come " from the. four corners of the earth." Gog is by some connected with a Hebrew root, "covered." from God—So B, Vulgate, Siiriae, Coptic, and Andreas. But A omits the words. Even during tlie niillenninm there is a separation between heaven and earth, transfigured humanitj' and humanity in the flesh. Hence it is possible that an apostasy sliould take place at its close. In the judgment on this apostasy the world of nature is destroyed and renewed, as the world of liistory was before the millennial kingdom; it first pronounced just themselves by Christ out of "tha book of life," shall sit as assessors of the Judge. Cf. Matthew 25. 31, 32, 40, "these my brethren." God's omniscience will not allow the most insignificant to escape unobserved, and His omnipotence will cause the mightiest to obey the summons. The living are not specially mentioned : as these all shall probably first (before the destruction of the ungodly, v. 9) be transfigured, and caught up with the saints long previously transfigured; and though present for the confirmation of their justification by the Judge, shall not then first have their eternal state assigned to them, but shall sit as assessors with the Judge, the books . . . opened—(Daniel 7. 10.) The. books of God's remembrance, alike of the evil and the good (Psalm 56.8; 139.4; Malachi 3. 16): Conscience (Romans is onljthen that the new heaven and new earth are realized in final perfection. The millennial new heaven and earth are but a foretaste of this everlasting state when the upper and lower congregations shall be no longer separate, though connected as in the millennium, and when new Jerusalem sliall descend from God out of heaven. The inherited sinfulness of our nature sliall be the only influence during the millennium to prevent the power of the transfigured Church saving all souls. When this time of grace shall end, no other shall succeed. For what can move him in whom the visible glory of the fchurch, whilst the influence of evil is restr.ained, evokes no longing for communion with the Cliurch's King? As the history of the world of nations ended with tlie manifestation of tlie Church in visible glory, so tliatof mankind in general shall end with the great separation of the just from the wicked (f. 12). [Auberi-ex.] 10. that (Received— GcecA', " that deceiveth," &c. lake of fire—his dual doom: as "the bottomless pit" (i'. l)was his temporary prison. wUere 9,n Coptic. But A, B, VuUjntc.iywA Syriac read, "where also.'' tlie beast ninl tUc false prophet are—(C'll. 19. 20.) for ever and ever— Greek, " lo the ages of the ages." day and night—figurative for without intermission (ch. 22. 5), such as now is caused l>y night interposing between day and day. The same phrase
2. 15, 16), the wordof Christ(John 12. 48), the Law (Galatians
3. 10), God's eternal counsel (Psalm 139. 16). book of life (Ch. 3. 5; 13.8; 21.27; Exodus 32.32, 33; Psalm 69.28; Daniel 1'2. 1; Philippians 4.3.) Besides the general book recording the works of all, there is a special book for believers in which their names are written, not for theii works, but for the work of Christ for, and in them. Therefore it is called "the Lamb's book of 1 fe." Electing grace Jias singled them out from the general mass, according to their works—We are justified by faith, but judged according to (not by) our works. For the general judgment is primarily designed for the final vindication of God's rigliteoiisncs.i before the whole world, which in this chequered dispensation of good aud evil, though really ruling the world, has been for the time less manifest. I^'aith is appreciable by God and the believer alone (ch. 2. 17). But works are appreciable by all. These, then, are made the evidential test to decide men's eternal state, thus showing that God'sadniinistration ofjudgment is altogether ri.gliteous. 1,3. death and hell— Gcppfr, Hades. The essential identity of the dying and risen body is hereby shown ; for the sea and grave give up their dead. The bod.y that sinned or served God shall, in righteous retribution, be the body also that shall suffer or be rewarded. The "sea "'may have a symliolical [Cluver from Augustine], besides the literal, meaning, as in ch. 8. 8; 12.12; 13.1; 18.17.19: so "death" and "hell" are personifications (cf. ch. 21. 1). But the literal sense iwed hardly be departed from: all the dirterent regions wherein the bodies and souls of men had been, gave them up. 14. Death and Hades, as personified representatives of the enemies of Christ aud His Church, are said to be cast Into the lake of fire lo express the truth that Christ and His p(>ople shall never more die, or be in the state of disembodied spirits. This is used of the externa! state of the blessed (ch. -1. K). As tlie bliss of tliese is eternal, so the woe of Satan and the lost must be. As the beast and the false prophet led the former conspiracy against Christ and His people, so Satan
In person lieads the last conspiracy. Satan shall lie permitted to enter tiiis I'aradise regained, toshow the perfect Becurity of believers, unlike the first Adam whom Satan succeeded in robliing of Paradise ; and sliall, like Tliaraoli at the Bed Sea, receive in this lastattempt his final doom. 11. great— in contrast to the "thrones," t\ 4. whUe—the emblem of purity and Justice. Him that sat on II—The Father. [Al.roun.] Rather, the Son, to whom "the Father hatli committed all judgment." God in Christ, i. e., the P'alher repr(»eiited by the Son, Is He before whose
Judgment-seat we must all stand. The .Son's mediatorial reign is with a view to prepare the Icingdom for the Father's acceptance, which having done He shall give it up to the P'athcr, "that God may be all in all," coming Into direct communion with His creatures, without intervention of a Mediator, for the first time since the fall. Heretofore Christ's Projilietical mediation had been prominent In His earthly ministry, His Priestly mediation Is prominent now in heaven between His first and second advents, and His Kingly shall be so during tlu' millennium and at the general judgment, earth and heaven fled away—The final conflagration, tlieicrore, precedes the general judgment. This Is followed by the new neaven and earth (cli. 21). 1!J. the dead—"the rest of the dead" wlioilid not share the first resurrection, and those who died (hiring the milh Minium. small aii<l ^reat— ia the second death—(i'i2.), " the lake of fire " Is addi d In A, B, and .VNnitEAS. English ^'ersion. which omits the clause, rests on inferior MSS. In hell the ancient form of death, which was one of the enemies destroyed by Christ, shall not continue, but a death of a far dlll'erent kind reigns there, "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord:" an abiding testimony of the victory of Christ. 1.5. The blissful lot of the righteous Is not here specially mentioned, as their bliss had commenced he/ore the final judgment. Cf., however, Matthew 25. 34, 41, 46.
CHAPTER XXI.
Ver. l-'27. The New Hkavkn and Kaktii : New JkudSAI.EM our OK Heaven. The remaining two chapters ^escribe the eternal and consummated kingilum of God and the saints on the new earth. As th(> world of nations has " l/ie small and the great." A, Vulgate, S'l/riar, and .\nDUE AS have " the great and the small." The wicked wlio had died from the time of A<lam to Christ's second advent, and all the righteous and wicked who had died during and after the millennium, shall then have tlieir eternal portion assigned to them. The godly who weio transtlgiired and reigned with Christ, (hiring II, sljall also
Is lo be pervaded by Pivlne lnflu(-nce In the nii Uennium, so t he world of nature shall he, not annihi lated, but t ransfigund universally In the eternal state which lo Uows It. The earth was cursed for man's sake; but Is redeemed by tlicse(^on(l Adam. . A^())(i Is the Church ; in t lie mi llennlum shall be the kingdom; and after that shall be the new world wherein God shall bo all In all. The "day of Ihe Lord" and the conflagration of the earth are In 2 Peter 8. sjioken of us If connected together, from which mauy tje present, not Indeed to have their portion asslgiuMl as
If tor the fiist time (for that shall have been fi,\ed long
Ijefore, John Jj. 2t), but to have It cmijumed for ever, and that Ood'H righteousness ina.v be vindicated In the case 600
A Ktu Heaven anaa Kew Earlh.
KEVELATIOIs XXI.
God's Promise to Ihe FailhfuL argue against a millennial interval between His coming and tlie general eontlagration of the old earlh, preparatory to the new; but "day" is used often of a whole period comprising events intimately connected together, as are the Lord's second advent, the millennium, and the general conflagration and judgment. Cf. Genesis 2. -1 as to the wide use of " day." Man's sottHs redeemed liy regeneration through the Holy Spirit now; man's body sliall be redeemed at. the resurrection; man's dwel Uiig-place, His inheritance, the earth, shall be redeemed perlec'.ly at the creation of tlie new heaven and earth, whicli sliall exceed in glory tlie first Pai-adise, as mucli as the second Adam exceeds in glory the first Adam before the fall, and as man regenerated in body and .soul shall exceed man as he was at creation. 1. the first — i. e., the former, passed away Greek \n A, B is "were departed" (Greek, apeelihon, not as in English Version, pareel Uie). was— Greek, "is," whicli graphically sets the thing before our eyes as present, no more sea—The sea is the type of perpetual unrest. Hence our Lord rebukes it as an unruly hostile troubler of His people. It symbolized tlie political tumults out of which "the beast" arose, cli. 13. 1. As the physical corresponds to the spiritual and moral work!, so the absence of «t'a, after the metanrorphosis of the earth
14, betwaen "the patterns" and "the heavenly things themselves," between " the figures" and " the true." The earnest of the true and heavenly tabernacle was alforded in the Jerusalem temple descrilied by Eiiekiel 40., &c., as about to be, viz., during tlie millennium, dwell with tikem lit., " tabei-nacle With tliem;" the same GrecA; word as is used of the Divine Son " /abcrnacling among us." Then He was in the weakness of the Jlesh: but at the new creation of heaven and eartli He shall tabernacle among us in the glory of His manifested Godhead (ch. 22.
4). they—in Greek emphatical, " t/iey" (in particular), his people— GreeA), " Hifi peoples "the nations of the saved" being all peculiarly His, as Israel was designed to be. So A reads. But B, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic read, "His people:" singular. God himself. . . with them—realizing fully His name Iminanuel. 4. all tears — Greek, "every tear." no more deatii Greek, "death shall be no more." Therefore it is not ti)e millennium, for in the latter there is death (Isaiah (io. 20; 1 Corinthians
15. 20, 51, " the last enemy . . . destroyed is deatli," ch. 20. 14, after the millennium), sorrow Greek, "mourning." passed away— Greek, "departed," as in v. 1. 5. sat Greek, " sitteth." all tilings new—not recent, but changed from tlie old (Greek, kaina, not 7iea). An earnest of this regeneration and transfiguration of nature is given already in the regenerate soul, unto me—So Coptic and Andkeas. But A, B, Fift/ac, and <S,(/r(ac omit, true and faithflU-So Andreas. But A, B, Vulgate, Syriac; and Coptic transpose, "faithful and true" (lit., genuine). 6. It by fire, answers to the unruffled state of solid peace wliich shall then prevail. The sea, though severing lands from one another, is now, by God's eliciting of good from evil, made the medium of communication between countries through navigation. Then man shall possess inherent powers which shall make the sea no longer necessary, but an element which would detract from a perfect state. A "river" and "water" are spoken of in ch. 22. 1, 2, probably literal (i. e., with sucli changes of the natural properis done—The same Greek as in ch. 16. 17. "It is come to pass." So Vulgate reads witli English Version. But A reads, "They (these ivords, v. 5) are come to pass." All is as sure as if it actually had been fullilled, for it rests on the word of the unchanging God. When the consummation shall be, God shall rejoice over the work of His own hands, as at tlie completion of the first creation God sdui everything that He had made, and behold it was very good. Alpha . . . Omega Greek in A, B, "the Alplia . . . the Omega" (ch. 1. IS), give unto . . . atliirst . . . water of life—(Ch. 22. 17; Isaiah 12. 3; 55. 1; John 4. 13, 14; 7.37, ties of water, as correspond analogically to man's own transfigured body), as well as sj-mbolical. The sea was once the element of the world's destruction, and is still the source of death to thousands, whence after tlie millennium, at the general judgment, it is specially said,
The sea gave up the dead ... in it." Then it shall cease to destroy, or disturb, being removed altogether on account of its past destructions. 3. And I John— "John"
38.) This is added lest any should despair of attaining ic omitted In A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and Andreas; to this exceeding weight of glory. In our present state we may drink of the stream, then we shall drink at the fountain, freely— GreeA, " gratui tously :" tlie same Greeh as is translated, " (They hated me) without a cause," John akio the "X" in the Greek of these authorities is not emphalical. The insertion of "I John" in the GmAwould somewhat interfere with the close connection whicli subsists between "the new heaven and earth," i'. 1, and the "new Jerusalem" in this verse. Jerusalem . . . out of heaven—<L'h. 3. 12; Galatians 4. 20, "Jerusalem wliich is above;" Hebrews 11. 10; 12. 22; 13. 11.) The descent of the new Jerusalem oi(« o/ heaven is plainly distinct Irom the
15. 25. As gratuitous as was man's hatred of God, so gratuitous is God's love to man : there was every cause in Christ why man should love Him, yet man hated Him; there was every cause in man why (humanly speaking) God should have hated man, yet God loved man : the very reverse of what might be expected took jilace in both cases. Even in heaven our drinking at tlie Fountain sliall be God's gratuitoas gift. 7. He tliat overcomctlk—Another aspect of the believer's life: a conflict with sin, Satan, and the world is needed. Thirsting for salvation is the earthly Jerusalem in which Israel in the flesh siiall dwell during tlie millennium, and follows on tlie crealifSn of the new heaven and earth. John in his Gospel always
[Greek] Hierosoluma o( the old city; in tlie Apocalypse always Uierousaleem of the heavenly city (cli. 3. 12).
Jiierousalcem is a Hebrew name, tiie original and lioly first beginning of, and continues for ever (in the sense of an appetite and relish for Divine joys) a characteristic of the believer. In a dif Terent sense, the believer "shall never thirst." inherit all tlilngs—A, B, Fw/f/ae and Cyprian rea<I, "these things," viz., the blessings descrilied in appellation. Jlierosoluma is tlie common Greek term, used in a political sense. St. Paul observes the same distinction when refuting Judaism (Galatians 4. 2(j; cf. 1. 17,
18; 2. 1; Hebrews 12. 22), though not so in the Epistles to Romans and Corinthians. [Bengel.] bride-made up of the blessed citiiiensof " the holy city." There is no longer merely a Paradise as in Eden (though there is that also, this whole passage. With "all things,
' cf. 1 Corinthians
3. 21-23. I will be his GoA— Greek, "... to him a (if)d,"
I.e., all that is implied of blessing in the name "God." he sliall bemy son-"He" is emphatical : He\n particular and in a peculiar sense, above others: Greek, "shall be to me a son," in fullest realization of the promise made In type to Solomon, son of David, and aiititypically to the Divine Son of David. 8. the fearful— G'/t-eA, "the cowardly," who do not quit themselves like men .so as to "ovtrcome" in the good fight; who have the spirit of slavish " fear," not love, towards God ; and who tlirougli fear of man are not bold for God, or "draw back." (;f. v. 27; ch. 22.
ch. 2. 7), no longer a mere garden, but now the city of God on earth, costlier, statelier, and more glorious, but at the same time the result of labour and pains such as had not to be expended by man in dressing the primitive garden of Eden. "Tlie lively stones" were severally in tinxe laboriously cliiselled into shape, after the pattern of 'the Chief corner-stone," to prepare them for tiie plaCe vhich they shall everlastingly fill in the heavenly Jerusalem. 3. out of heaven—So Andkeas. But A and
15. unbelieving Grf'eA:, " fallhlcss." nbominnble—who havedrankof the harlot's "cup of abominations." sorcerers-one of the characteristics of Antichrist's lime, all Wan—Greek," all tte liars:" or else "all who are liars:" cf.
Vulgate read, "out of the throne." the fnbcniacle—Alluding to the tabernacle of God in the wilderness (wherein many signs of His presence were given): ofwiiich this
Is the iintltype, having previously been in heaven : cli. 11.
1 Timothy 1. 1, 2, where similarly lying, and dealings with
19; 15. 5, "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony u heaven ;" also 13. 6. Cf. the contrast in Hebrews 9. 2;i, spirit* and demorw, are joined togetlier as features of the GOl
The Heavenly Nenu Jerusalem, EEVELATION XXI. with, a Full Description thereof.
latter times." second death—Ch. 20. 1-1 : " everla.stinp destruction," 2 Tliessalonians 1. 9; Mark 9. U, id, 48, " Where THEIR worm (lieth not, and tlie fire is not queuclied." 9. The same atigel who liad sliown John Babylon the harlot, their great woiks, so the names of the apostles shall be held in everlasting remembrance. Vulgate reads, "in them." But A, B, Syriac, Coptic, and Andreas read, "upon them." These autliorities also insert "twelve" before " names." 15. had a golilen reed-So Ctopiic. But A, B, Vulgate, and Syriac read, " Had (as) a measure, a golden reed." In ch. 11. 2 the non-measuring of the outer courts of the temple implied its being given up to secular and heathen desecration. So here, ou the contrary, the city being measured implies the entire consecration of every part, all things being brought up to the most exact standard of God's holy requirements, and also God's accurate guardianship henceforth of even the most minute parts of His holy city from all evil, twelve thonsand furlongs lit., "to 12,000 stadii:" one thousand furlongs being the space between the several twelve gates. Bengel makes the length of each side of the city to be 12,000 stadii. The stupendous height, length, and breadth being exactly alike, imply its faultless symmetry, transcending in glory all our most glowing conceptions. H. hundred . . . forty . . . four cubits—Twelve times twelve: the Church-number squared. The wall is far beneath the height of the city, measure of a man, tikat is, of tlie angel— The ordinary measure used by men is the measure here used bj' the angel, distinct from "the measure of the sanctuary." Men shall then be equal to the angels. 18. the building—" the structure" [TregelLES], Greek endomeesis. gold, like . . . clear glass—Ideal gold, transparent as no gold here is. [Alfokd.] Excellencies will be combined in the heavenly city which now seem incompatible. 19. And—So Syriac, Coptic, and Andreas. But A, B, and Vulgate omit. Cf. v. 14 with this verse ; also Isaiah 54. 11, all manner of precious stones —Contrast ch. 18. 12 as to the harlot, Babylon. These precious stones constituted the " foundations." chalcedony—Agate from Chalcedon : semi-opaque, sky-blue, with stripes of other colours. [Alford.] ^0. sardonyx —A gem having the redness of the cornelian, and the whiteness of the onyx, sardius—(iVo<c, ch. 4. 3.) chrysolite—Described by Puny as transparent and of a golden brightness, like our topaz: dilferent from our pale green crystallized chrysolite, beryl — of a sea-green colour, topaz—Pliny, 37. 3'2, makes it green and transparent, like our chrysolite, chrysoprasus—somewhat pale, and having the purple colour of the amethyst. [Plinv, 37, 20, is appropriately employed to show him in contrast «eu; Jerusalem, the Bride (ch. 17. l-o). The angel so employed is the one that had the last seven plagues, to show that the ultimate blessedness of the Church is one end of the Divine judgments on her foes, unto me—A, B, and Vulgate omit, ttie Lamb's wife—in contrast to her who sat on many waters (ch. 17. 1), i. e., intrigued with many peoples and nations of the world, instead of giving lier undivided affections, as the Bride doth, to the Lamb. 10. The words correspond toch. 17. 3, to heighten the contrast of the bride and harlot, mountain—Cf. Ezekiel 40. 2, where a similar vision is given from a high mountain. that great—Omitted in A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and Cyprian. IVanslale then, "the holy city Jerusalem." descending;—Even in the millennium the eartli will not be a suitable abode for transfigured saints, who therefore shall then reign in heaven over the earth. But after the renewal of the earth at the close Of the millennium and judgment, they shall descend from heaven to dwell on an earth assimilated to heaven itself. "From God" implies that " we (the city) are God's workmanship." 11. Having the glory of God—not merely the Shekinah cloud, but God Himself as lier glory dwelling in the midst of her. Cf. the t.vpe, the earthly Jerusalem in the millennium (Zechariah 2. 5; cf. v. 23, below), her light— Oreek, "light-giver:" properlj' applied to the lieaveuly luminaries which dittuse light. Cf. note, Philippians 2. 1.5, the only other passage where it occurs. The "and" before "her light" is omitted in A, B, and Vulgate, even like
Greefc, "as it were." jasper-representing ?(;ci«(tv/ c)-i(S?a4Une brightness. X:i. And—A, B omit. Ezekiel 48. 30-35, has a similar description, wliich implies that tire millennial Jerusalem shall have its exact antitype in the heavenly Jerasalenr which shall descend on the finally-regenerated earth, wall great and high—.setting forth the security of the Church. Also, the exclusion of the ungodl.v. twelve angels—guards of*the twelve gates: an additional emblem of perfect security, whilst the gates being never shut (v. T>) imply perfect liberty and peace. .Also, angels shall be the brethren of the heavenly citizens, names of . . . twelve tribfs—The inscription of tlie names on the gates implies that none but tlie spiritual Israel, God's elect, shall enter the lieavenly city. As the millennium wherein literal Israel in the flesh sliall be tlie mother Cliurcli, is the antitype to the Old Testament earthly theoeracj' In the Holy Land, so the heavenly new Jerusalem is the consummation antityplcal to the spiritual Israel, the elect Church of Jews and Gentiles being now gathered out : as the spiritual Israel now is an advance upon the previous literal and carnal Israel, so the heavenly Jerusalem shall be much in advance of the millennial Jerusalem. 13. On tlie north . . . on the sonth —A, B, Vrdgate, Syriac, and Coptic read, "Anil on the north anrf on south.- In Ezekiel 48. 32, Joseph, Benjamin, IJan (for which Manasseh Is substituted inch. 7.6), are on the east, llcuben, .ludah, Levi, are on the north. Simeon, Issachar, Zcbulun, on the south. Gad, Asher, Naphtali, on the vest. In NumlxMS 2., Judali, Issacliar, Zebulun, are on the east. Heuben, Simeon, Gail, on tho south. Ei)liralm, Manasseh, Benjamin, on the Dan, Asher, Najilitall, on the north. 14. twelve founilatlong —Joshua, the t.vi)o of Jesus, chose twelve men out of tho people, to carry twelve stones over the Jordan with them, us .Fesus chose twelve apostles to be tho twelve foundations of the heavenly city, of which He Is Himself the Chlel corner-stone. Peter Is not the only apos-
21.] jacinth—The tUVShing violet brightness in the ame- 'hyst is diluted in the jacinth. [Pliny, 37. 41.] 'it. every several— Greci-, "each one severally." a!J. no temple. . . God . . . tl»e temple—As God now dwells in the spiritual Church, His "temple" (Greek naos, shrine; 1 Corinthians 3. 17; 6. 19), so the Church when perfected shall dwefl in Him as her "temple" {naos: the same Greek), As the Church was "His sanctuary," so He Is to be their sanctuary. Means of grace shall cease when the end of grace Is come. Church ordinances shall give place to the Ciod of ordinances. Uninterrupted, immediate, direct, communion with Him and the Lamb (cf. John 4. 23), shall supersede intervening ordinances. !J3. in it—So Vulgate But A, B, and Andreas read, "(shine) on It," or lit., "for her." the UfUt— Greek, "the lamp" (Isaiah CO. 19, 20). The direct light of God and tho Lamb shall make the saints Independent of Goil's creatures, the sun and moon, for light. 'H. of them wliicli are saved . . . In—A, B, Vulgate, Coptic, and Andreas read, (the nations shall walk) "by means of her light:" omitting "of them which are saved." Her brightness shall supply them with light, the kings of tlie cartli — who once had regard only to Uielr glory, having been convertini, now In the new Jerusalem do bring thelrglory Into It, to lay It down at the feet of their (}od and Lord, and lionour—So B, Vulgate, and Syriac. But A omits tho clause. 'M. not be sikut ... by day—therefore shall never be shut: for It shall always be day. Gates are usually shut by iiight: l)Ut In it shall be no night. There shall be continual free Ingress Intolt, so as that all which Is blessed anil glorious may continually be brought Into It. Ho In tho millennial type. 'M. AU that was truly glorious and excellent In tho eartli and Us converted nations shall bo gathereil Into it; and whilst tolic rock on whose preaching Christ builds Ills Church. Christ Himself Is the true foundation: tho twelve are foundations only In regard to their apostolic testlmoi\y concerning Hlin. Though Paul was an apostle besides the twelve, yet llie mystical number is retained, 12 representing the (JIuircli, viz., 3, the Divine number, multiplied by 4, the world-number, in them tlie names, Ac—As architects often have their names inscribed ou 602
REVELATION XXII,
God Himself shaU be the Light of tht City
Tlie Biver of the Water of Life.
Paradise; which shows that there are several trees of the one kind, all termed "the tree of life." Death reigns now because of sin; even in the millennial eartli sin, and therefore death, though much limited, shall not altogether cease. But in the final and heavenly city on earth, sin and death shall utterly cease, yielded her fruit every month— Greet, "according to each month;" each month had its own proper fruit, just as difierent seasons are now marked by their own productions; only that then, unlike now, there sliall be no season without its fruit, and there shall be an endless variety, answering to twelve, the number symbolical of the world-wide Church (cf. Notes, ch.
all shall form one Bride, there shall be various orders among the redeemed, analogous to the divisions of 7iations on earth constituting tlie one great liuman family, and to the various orders of angels. 37. anyt Uing that defiletU Greek koinoun. A, B read {koinon], "anything unclean." In tlie Lamb's book of life INote, ch. 20. 12,
15.) As all the fllth of the old Jerusalem was carried outside the walls and burnt there, so nothing defiled shall enter the heavenly city, but be burnt outside (cf. ch. 22.
15). It is striking that the apostle of love, who shows us the glories of the heavenly city, is he also who speaks most plainly of the terrors of hell. On v. 26, 27, Alfokd writes a Note, rash In speculation, about the heathen na-
12. 1 ; 21. 14). Archbishop Whately thinks that the tree of life was among the trees of which Adam freely ate (Genesis 2. 9, 16, 17), and that his continuance in immortality was dependent on his continuing to eat of this tree ; having forfeited it, he became liable to death ; but still the effects of having eaten of it for a time showed themselves in the longevity of the patriarchs. God could undoubtedly endue a tree with special medicinal powers. But Genesis 3. 22 seems to imply, man had not yet taken of the tiont, above what Is written, and not at all required by the sacred text: cf. my Note, v, 26.
CHAPTER XXII.
Ver. 1-21. The River of Life : the Tree of Life : THE other Blessednesses of the Redeemed. John Forbidden to Worship the Angel. Nearness of Christ's CoMiNa to Fix Man's Eternal State. Testimony OF Jesus, His Spirit, and the Bride, any Addition TO which, or Subtraction from which, shall BE Eternally Punished. Closing Benediction. 1. pure—A, B, Vulgate, and Hilary, 22, omit, water of life —infinitely superior to the typical waters in tlie first Paradise (Genesis 2. 10-H); and even supei'ior to those figurative ones in the millennial Jerusalem (Ezekiel 47. 1, &c., 12; Zechariah 14. 8), as the matured fruit is superior to the flower. The millennial waters represent full Gospel-grace; these waters of new Jerusalem represent Gospel-glory perfected. Their continuous flow from God, the Fountain of life, symbolizes the uninterrupted coutinuaute of life derived by the saints, ever fresh, from Him tree, and that if he had, he would have lived for ever, which in his then fallen state would have been the greatest curse, leaves . . . for . . . healing—(Ezekiel 47. 9, IZ) The leaves shall be the health-giving preventive securing the redeemed against, not healing them of, sicknesses. Whilst "the fruit shall be for meat." In the millennium described by Ezekiel 47., and ch. 20., the Church shall give the Gospel-tree to the nations outside Israel and the Church, and so shall heal their spiritual malady; but in the final and perfect new Jerusalem here described, the state of all is eternally fixed, and no saving process goes on any longer (cf. v. 11). Alford utterly mistakes ia speaking of "nations outside," and "dwelling on the renewed earth, organized under kings, and saved by the influences of the heavenly city."(!) Cf. v. 2, 10-27; the "nations" mentioned (ch. 21. 24) are those which have long before, viz., in the millennium (cli. 11. 15), become the Lord's and His Christ's. 3. no more curse—of which the earnestshall be given in themillennium (Zechariali 14. 11;. God can only dwell wfiere the curse and its cause, the cursed tiling sin (Joshua 7. 12), are removed. So there follows riglitly, "But the throne of God and of tlie Lamb (wlio redeemed us from the curse, Galatians 3. 10, 13) shall be in it." Cf. in the millennium, Ezekiel 48. 35. serve him—witii worship (ch. 7. 15). 4. see his face—revealed in Divine glory, in Christ Jesus. They shall see and know Him with intuitive knowledge of Him, eve/i as they are known by Him (1 Corinthians 13. 9-12), and face to face. Cf.
life in fulness of joy, as well as perpetual vitality. Like pure crystal, it is free from every taint: cf. ch. 4. 6, " before the throne a sea of glass, like crystal." clear Greek, "bright." 2. The harmonious unity of Scripture is herein exhibited. The Fathers compared it to a ring, an unbroken circle, returning into Itself. Between the events of Genesis and those at the close of the Apocalypse, at least 6000 or 7000 years intervene; and between Moses tlie first writer, and John the last, about 1500 years. How striking it is that, as in the beginning we found Adam and Eve, his bride, in innocence in Paradise, then tempted by the serpent, and driven from the tree of life, and from the pleasant waters of Eden, yet not without a promise of a Redeemer who should crush the serpent; so at the close, the old serpent cast out for ever by tlie second Adam, the Lord from heaven, who appeal's with His Bride, tlie Church, in a better Paradise, and amidst better watei'? {v.
1 Timothy 6. 16, with John 14. 9. God the Fatlier can only be seen in Christ. In— ffree/c, " on. their foreheads." Not only shall they personally and in secret (ch. 3. 17) know their souship, but they shall be known as sons of God to
1): the tree of life also is there with all its healing properall tlie citizens of the new Jerusalem, so that the free flow of mutual love among the members of Christ's family will not be checked by suspicion as here. 5. there—So Andreas. But A, B, Vulgate, and Syriac read, "(there shall be no night) any longer;" Greek eti for ekei. they need—A, Vulgate, and Coptic read the future, " They shall not have need." B reads "(And there shall be) no need." candle— Greek, "lamp." A, Vulgate, Syriac, and Coptic insert " light (o/ a candie, or tomp)." B omits it. of the sun—So A. But B omits it. glveth . . . light—"illumines." So Vulgate and Syriac. But A reads, ".«/ta/i give light." them—So B and Andreas. But A reads, "upo-n them." reign—with a glory probably transcending that of their reign in heaven with Christ over tlie millennial nations in the flesh described in ch. 20. 4, 6; tliat reign was but for a limited time, "a thousand years;" this final reign is "unto the ages of the ages." 6. these sayings are true—Thrice repeated (ch. 19. 9 ; 21. 5). For we are slow to believe tliat God is as good as He is. Tlie news seems to us, habituated as we are to the misery of . his I'alleu world, too good to be true. [Nanole.] They uie no dreams of a visionary, but the realities of God's sure word, holy—So Andreas. But A, B, Vulgate, Syriac, wii ties, not guarded with a flaming sword, but open to all who overcome (ch. 2. 7),and there is no more curse, street of It—t. e., of the city, on either side of the river—AlroRD translates, "In the midst of the street of it (tlie city) and of the river, on one side and on the other" (for the second Greek enteuihen, A, B, and Syriac read, ekvithen: the sense is the same; cf. Greek, John 19. 18); thus the trees were on each side in the middle of the space between the street and the river. But from Ezekiel 47. 7, pi'efer English Version. The antitype exceeds the type: In the first Paradise was only one tree of life; now there are "very many tx-ees at the bank of tlie river, on the one tide and on the other." To make good sense, supposing there to be but one tree, we should either, as Medis, suppose that the Greek for street is a plain washed on both sides by the river (as the first Paradise was washed on one side by the Tigris, on the other by the Euphrates), and that In the midst of the plain, which Itself is In the midst of the river's branches, stood the tree: in which case we may translate, " In the midst of the street (plain) itself, and of the river (having two brandies flowing) on this and on that side, was there the tree of life." Or else with Durham suppose, the tree was In tlie midst of the river, and extending its branches to both banks. But cf. Ezekiel 47. 12, tlie millennial type of the final 85
Coptic read, "(tlie Lord God of tha) spirits (of the prophets)." The Lord God who with His .Spirit inspired their
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