A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
A fire going before him is the plain account of the Lord's personal, literal and visible coming to judge the earth in righteousness before the thousand years begin, when the earth rejoices and millennial glory begins. Flame advances ahead of him and consumes his enemies on every side, amid clouds and darkness about him, with lightning lighting the world, trembling earth and melting hills, while the heavens declare his righteousness against sin and oppression. He appears in the glory of the King of the universe, seen by every eye with joy unspeakable to the ready and dread to the lost, to give to every man according as his works shall be, the devouring fire before him showing at once his majesty, his wrath against sin and his love for his chosen. The burning is utter destruction of the living wicked at his coming, wiping from the earth those who would not have him rule, while the righteous dead are raised and the righteous living are changed to incorruption and caught up together to meet him in the air. This is annihilation that leaves neither root nor branch, burning the proud and evildoers like stubble, chaff and tares to ashes so that the wicked shall not be and their place shall not be found, while the meek inherit the earth; in another reading the fire is symbolic language for vindicating justice overtaking persecutors, fulfilled in providential deliverances and at death.
Coming in Fiery Judgment
The verse describes the Lord's personal, literal, real and visible second coming to judge the earth with righteousness and equity before the millennium begins, at which the earth rejoices and millennial glory begins. Its words are as plain and literal in style as the coming and judgment in Psalm 50, and it is one of the strongest descriptions of His coming to judgment. Its place with Psalms 96, 97 and 98, which interweave millennial matter through their whole structure, proves the coming and judgment are pre-millennial.
Fire advances ahead of Him and destroys His enemies on every side, amid clouds and darkness round about Him, with lightning that lights the world, trembling earth and melting hills. The heavens declare His righteousness in a final protest against the world's sins and oppressions, presenting divine power and judgment as signs of the end. The Lord's presence is thus overwhelming and destructive to His adversaries, while the related prophecy says the wicked will perish and the righteous inherit the land.
He comes in the glory of the King of the universe, looked upon by every eye, with joy unspeakable for the ready and dread and horror for the lost, to reward every man according as his works shall be while heavenly intelligences bear witness His judgment is just. The devouring fire before Him depicts the majesty of the coming King and the destruction awaiting the condemned, wiping out of the earth those who would not have Christ rule over them in the terrible smiting of the sin-sodden world in the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. It is a token alike of wrath against sin and of love for His chosen, flashing before Him with clouds, bowed heavens, chariots of fire on wheels of flame and myriads of bright angels whose robes outshine aurora, lightning and sun.
The verse is part of the proclamation that Jehovah reigns in righteous rule, and all who refuse to submit to it will perish.
By a different reading, the fire is Old Testament symbolic language for God's vindicating justice and the divine recompense that overtakes persecutors of Christians, the same kind of graphic imagery as the revelation of the Lord Jesus in flaming fire taking vengeance in 2 Thessalonians, not requiring a greater literal display since equally strong language describes facts of common providence. That reading finds it primarily fulfilled in deliverances of Christians and the overthrow of their enemies at death when the Christian enters heavenly rest. In a related reading its fiery imagery is comparable to expressions in Isaiah 65-66 and can be interpreted spiritually.
Destruction of His Enemies
The fire burns up His living enemies round about at His coming, wiping out of the earth those who would not have Christ rule over them. It is the terrible smiting of the sin-sodden world in the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. On the dreadful day of His coming a literal fire destroys all the wicked from off the earth and cuts off their remembrance from it, as the wicked of old were destroyed by the flood. At that same time the righteous dead are raised and the righteous living are changed from corruption to incorruption and caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The destruction then is of the bodies of all the wicked, while their spirits are reserved in prison until their resurrection and damnation.
The burning is utter annihilation rather than sustaining the wicked eternally in torment, for fire goes out from God's presence and inflicts final punishment by fire. All the proud and all who do wickedly shall be burned up like stubble, chaff, tares and tow in the day that burns as an oven with unquenchable fire that none can quench. Soul and body are destroyed in hell and cast into a furnace of fire with wailing and gnashing of teeth at the end of the world when the angels gather out all that offend and do iniquity. They are left with neither root nor branch, made ashes under the soles of the feet of those who fear His name, as nothing and as though they had not been, so that the wicked shall not be and their place shall not be found. Meanwhile the wheat are gathered into the garner and the Sun of righteousness arises with healing and the meek inherit the earth. This fire is identified with His lightning and the consuming fire of the final judgment, the fire that destroyed Sodom is an example of it, He is a consuming fire to His enemies but not to the righteous, and the righteous by contrast can dwell forever in the everlasting fire.
This fire belongs to the time of trouble just before the Lord comes, when the wicked suffer plagues and the righteous witness them but remain unharmed. At Christ's coming the revealed glory of His presence sets the earth on fire, though not everywhere, breaking down and consuming human works and destroying earthly systems, including the beast and false prophet, before the millennium. Their destruction and that of their followers results from the calamities and snares of their own wickedness. The fire continues its work until every trace of sin is removed from the earth, cleansing it before the new earth is brought forth. After the thousand years the whole earth becomes a lake of fire that consumes sin and those identified with it.
The present auroral flame-painting on the midnight sky, flashed by the sun as but one servant, is a signal of that coming splendor. It warns that the midnight hour is near and calls the sorrowful, suffering, oppressed and dying in all the world to look up and prepare to meet the Judge as Bridegroom, King and Judge.
A fire going before him is the plain account of the Lord's personal, literal and visible coming to judge the earth in righteousness before the thousand years begin, when the earth rejoices and millennial glory begins. Flame advances ahead of him and consumes his enemies on every side, amid clouds and darkness about him, with lightning lighting the world, trembling earth and melting hills, while the heavens declare his righteousness against sin and oppression. He appears in the glory of the King of the universe, seen by every eye with joy unspeakable to the ready and dread to the lost, to give to every man according as his works shall be, the devouring fire before him showing at once his majesty, his wrath against sin and his love for his chosen. The burning is utter destruction of the living wicked at his coming, wiping from the earth those who would not have him rule, while the righteous dead are raised and the righteous living are changed to incorruption and caught up together to meet him in the air. This is annihilation that leaves neither root nor branch, burning the proud and evildoers like stubble, chaff and tares to ashes so that the wicked shall not be and their place shall not be found, while the meek inherit the earth; in another reading the fire is symbolic language for vindicating justice overtaking persecutors, fulfilled in providential deliverances and at death.
Coming in Fiery Judgment
The verse describes the Lord's personal, literal, real and visible second coming to judge the earth with righteousness and equity before the millennium begins, at which the earth rejoices and millennial glory begins. Its words are as plain and literal in style as the coming and judgment in Psalm 50, and it is one of the strongest descriptions of His coming to judgment. Its place with Psalms 96, 97 and 98, which interweave millennial matter through their whole structure, proves the coming and judgment are pre-millennial.
Fire advances ahead of Him and destroys His enemies on every side, amid clouds and darkness round about Him, with lightning that lights the world, trembling earth and melting hills. The heavens declare His righteousness in a final protest against the world's sins and oppressions, presenting divine power and judgment as signs of the end. The Lord's presence is thus overwhelming and destructive to His adversaries, while the related prophecy says the wicked will perish and the righteous inherit the land.
He comes in the glory of the King of the universe, looked upon by every eye, with joy unspeakable for the ready and dread and horror for the lost, to reward every man according as his works shall be while heavenly intelligences bear witness His judgment is just. The devouring fire before Him depicts the majesty of the coming King and the destruction awaiting the condemned, wiping out of the earth those who would not have Christ rule over them in the terrible smiting of the sin-sodden world in the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. It is a token alike of wrath against sin and of love for His chosen, flashing before Him with clouds, bowed heavens, chariots of fire on wheels of flame and myriads of bright angels whose robes outshine aurora, lightning and sun.
The verse is part of the proclamation that Jehovah reigns in righteous rule, and all who refuse to submit to it will perish.
By a different reading, the fire is Old Testament symbolic language for God's vindicating justice and the divine recompense that overtakes persecutors of Christians, the same kind of graphic imagery as the revelation of the Lord Jesus in flaming fire taking vengeance in 2 Thessalonians, not requiring a greater literal display since equally strong language describes facts of common providence. That reading finds it primarily fulfilled in deliverances of Christians and the overthrow of their enemies at death when the Christian enters heavenly rest. In a related reading its fiery imagery is comparable to expressions in Isaiah 65-66 and can be interpreted spiritually.
Destruction of His Enemies
The fire burns up His living enemies round about at His coming, wiping out of the earth those who would not have Christ rule over them. It is the terrible smiting of the sin-sodden world in the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. On the dreadful day of His coming a literal fire destroys all the wicked from off the earth and cuts off their remembrance from it, as the wicked of old were destroyed by the flood. At that same time the righteous dead are raised and the righteous living are changed from corruption to incorruption and caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. The destruction then is of the bodies of all the wicked, while their spirits are reserved in prison until their resurrection and damnation.
The burning is utter annihilation rather than sustaining the wicked eternally in torment, for fire goes out from God's presence and inflicts final punishment by fire. All the proud and all who do wickedly shall be burned up like stubble, chaff, tares and tow in the day that burns as an oven with unquenchable fire that none can quench. Soul and body are destroyed in hell and cast into a furnace of fire with wailing and gnashing of teeth at the end of the world when the angels gather out all that offend and do iniquity. They are left with neither root nor branch, made ashes under the soles of the feet of those who fear His name, as nothing and as though they had not been, so that the wicked shall not be and their place shall not be found. Meanwhile the wheat are gathered into the garner and the Sun of righteousness arises with healing and the meek inherit the earth. This fire is identified with His lightning and the consuming fire of the final judgment, the fire that destroyed Sodom is an example of it, He is a consuming fire to His enemies but not to the righteous, and the righteous by contrast can dwell forever in the everlasting fire.
This fire belongs to the time of trouble just before the Lord comes, when the wicked suffer plagues and the righteous witness them but remain unharmed. At Christ's coming the revealed glory of His presence sets the earth on fire, though not everywhere, breaking down and consuming human works and destroying earthly systems, including the beast and false prophet, before the millennium. Their destruction and that of their followers results from the calamities and snares of their own wickedness. The fire continues its work until every trace of sin is removed from the earth, cleansing it before the new earth is brought forth. After the thousand years the whole earth becomes a lake of fire that consumes sin and those identified with it.
The present auroral flame-painting on the midnight sky, flashed by the sun as but one servant, is a signal of that coming splendor. It warns that the midnight hour is near and calls the sorrowful, suffering, oppressed and dying in all the world to look up and prepare to meet the Judge as Bridegroom, King and Judge.