Thoughts on the Revelation.
VERSE 4. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: 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. From the Devil in his gloomy confinement, John now directs our attention to the saints in victory and glory, the saints reigning on thrones—how many? All who are blessed and holy, and who, consequently, have part in the first resurrection. From that general assembly John then selects two classes as worthy of especial attention: first, the martyrs, those who have been beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and second, those who had not worshiped the beast and his image. This class, the ones who refuse the mark of the beast and his image, are of course the ones who hear and obey the third message of Rev. xiv; but these are not the ones who are beheaded for the witness of Jesus, as some have supposed who have contended that the last generation of saints were all to be slain. The word rendered which, in the expression, "and which had not worshiped the beast," &c., shows that there is another class introduced. The word is hôtis (hostis), and is defined by Liddell and Scott, "Whosoever, whichsoever, any one who, any thing which;" and by Robinson, "One who, some one who, whosoever, whatsoever." As one class, John saw the martyrs, and as another he saw those who had not worshiped the beast and his image. The rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished. Whatever may be said to the contrary, no language could more plainly prove two resurrections: one of the righteous at the commencement of the thousand years, and one of the wicked at the end of that period. On such as have part in the first resurrection, the second death will have no power. They can pass unharmed through the elements which destroy the wicked like chaff. They will be able to dwell with devouring fire, and everlasting burnings, Isa. xxxiii, 14, 15; they will be able to go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men who have transgressed against the Lord, as the quenchless fire and undying worm are preying upon them. Isa. lxvi, 24. The difference between the righteous and the wicked in this respect is seen again in the fact that while God is to them a consuming fire, he is to his people, both a sun and shield. Verse 7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. 8. And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10. And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. At the end of the one thousand years, the holy city, the New Jerusalem, in which the saints have dwelt in heaven during that period, comes down, and is located upon the earth, and becomes the camp of the saints, around which the resurrected wicked come up numberless as the sand of the sea. The Devil deceives them as he brings them up to this battle. The deception must of course have reference to some advantage to be gained by fighting against the saints. They are probably deluded into the hope that they can destroy the saints, dispossess them of their city, and still hold possession of the earth. But fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. The word here rendered devour, Prof. Stuart admits is "intensive," and signifies "to eat up, devour, so that it denotes utter excision." This is the time of the perdition of ungodly men, the time when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and when the works that are in the earth shall be burnt up. 2 Pet. iii, 1, 10. In the light of these scriptures we can see how the wicked are to receive their recompense in the earth; Prov. xi, 31; we can see also that it is not eternal life in misery, but an "utter excision" entire and complete destruction. Two views deserve a word of notice right here. The first is that the earth is renewed at the second coming of Christ, and is the habitation of the saints during the thousand years. The other is that when Christ appears the second time he sets up his kingdom in Palestine, and performs in connection with his saints a work of conquest over the nations that are left on the earth during the thousand years, and finally subdues them to himself. One, among many objections to the first view, is, that it makes the wicked in their resurrection, come up, with the devil at their head, and tread with their unhallowed feet upon the purified and holy earth, and the saints who have held possession for a thousand years, are obliged to yield possession, and flee into the city. But we cannot believe that the saints' inheritance will ever be thus marred, or that the fair plains of earth made new will ever be polluted with the impious tread of the resurrected wicked; for besides outraging all our ideas of propriety, there is no scripture from which even an inference can be drawn to support it. And as to the second view, one among many of its absurdities is, that notwithstanding Christ and his saints have conquered the earth during the thousand years, at the end of this period the wicked get the upper hand of them, they lose their territory, the work of a thousand years is undone, and they are compelled into an ignominious retreat into the city for shelter, leaving the earth to their undisputed sway. Those who wish may rack their brains in trying to harmonize the inconsistencies and absurdities of such theories, or may endeavor to draw consolation from the dubious prospect. For ourselves we prefer better employment and a brighter hope. In contrast with these theories there is a beautiful harmony in the view which we defend: that the saints are with Christ in heaven during the thousand years, while the earth lies desolate; that at the end of that time the saints and the city come down, the wicked dead are raised, and come up against it; that they there receive their judgment; and that from the purifying fires which destroy them, come forth the new heavens, and new earth to be the abode of the saints throughout endless ages. From verse 10 some have argued that the Devil alone was to be tormented day and night. But the testimony of this verse is more extensive than that. The verb, shall be tormented, is in the plural, and agrees with the beast and false prophet; whereas it would be in the singular number if it referred to the Devil alone. It will be noticed that in the expression, "where the beast and false prophet are," are is a supplied word. It would be more proper to supply the words, were cast, answering to what was spoken of the Devil just before. The sentence would then read, "the Devil was cast into the lake of fire where the beast and false prophet were cast." They were cast in there and destroyed at the commencement of the thousand years. Being resurrected, a similar and final destruction is now visited upon them. Some reader may be induced to ask for a definition of the lake of fire. As a comprehensive definition we should say that it is a symbol of the agencies which God employs to close up his controversy with the living wicked, at the beginning of the thousand years, and with all the hosts of the ungodly, at the end of that time. We can better describe its effects than the thing itself. At the second coming of Christ, it is the flaming fire in which the Lord Jesus is revealed; it is the spirit of his mouth and brightness of his coming by which the man of sin is to be consumed; it is the fire in which great Babylon shall be utterly burned. Rev. xviii, 8. At the end of the thousand years it is the day that burneth as an oven, Mal. iv, 1; it is the fervent heat that shall melt the elements and the earth, and burn up the works that are therein; it is the fire of Tophet "prepared for the king" (the Devil and his angels, Matt. xxv, 41), the pile whereof is deep and large, and which "the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle." Isa. xxx, 33. On the expression, "tormented day and night forever and ever," see Thoughts on chap. xix, 1-4. Verse 11. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it, from whose face the heaven and earth fled away; and there was no place found for them. 12. And I saw the dead, small 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 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 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. 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. With verse 11 John introduces another scene to take place in connection with the final doom of the ungodly. It is the great white throne of judgment before which they are assembled to receive their awful sentence of condemnation and death. 1. They are judged out of the things written in the books; from which we learn the solemn fact that a record of all our deeds is kept on high. A faithful and unerring record is made by the angelic secretaries. The wicked cannot conceal from them any of their deeds of darkness. They cannot bribe them to pass over in their record any of their unlawful acts. They must meet them all again, and be judged accordingly. 2. They are to be punished according to their works. The Scriptures declare that they shall be rewarded according to their deeds. There are then to be degrees in the punishment of the wicked; and it may be asked how this can be harmonized with our view that death is the punishment for sin, and comes upon all alike. Let us ask the believers in eternal misery how they will maintain degrees in their system. They tell us the intensity of the pain endured will be in each case proportioned to the guilt of the sufferer. But how can this be? Are not the flames of hell equally severe in all parts? and will they not equally affect all the immaterial souls cast therein? But God can interpose, it is answered, to produce the effect desired. Very well, then, we reply, cannot he also interpose, if necessary, according to our view, and graduate the pain attendant upon the sinner's being reduced to a state of death as the climax of his penalty? So then our view is equal with the common one in this respect, while it possesses great advantage over it in another; for while that has to find the degrees of punishment in intensity of pain alone, the duration in all cases being equal, ours may not only have degrees in pain, but in duration also; for while some may perish in a short space of time, the weary sufferings of others may be long drawn out. But yet, we apprehend that the bodily sufferings will be but an unnoticed trifle compared with that mental agony, that keen anguish which will rack their souls as they get a view of their incomparable loss, each according to his capacity of appreciation. The youth who had but little more than reached the years of accountability, and died perhaps with just enough guilt upon him to debar him from heaven, being less able to comprehend his situation and his loss, will of course feel it less. To him of older years, more capacity, and consequently a deeper experience in sin, the burden of his fate will be proportionately greater. While the man of giant intellect and almost boundless comprehension, who thereby possessed greater influence for evil, and hence was the more guilty for devoting his powers to that evil, being able to understand his situation fully, comprehend his fate, and realize his loss, will feel it most keenly of all. Into his soul indeed the iron will enter most intolerably deep. And thus, by an established law of mind, the sufferings of each may be most accurately adjusted to the magnitude of their guilt. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Reader, is your name written in the book of life? Are you striving to avert in your own case the fearful doom that awaits45the ungodly? What we would say to you is, Rest not till you have reason to believe that your name is registered on the glorious list of those who are to share at last in the glories of eternal life.