mh_parser/vol_split/66 - Revelation/Chapter 20.xml

<div2 id="Rev.xxi" n="xxi" next="Rev.xxii" prev="Rev.xx" progress="99.22%" title="Chapter XX">
<h2 id="Rev.xxi-p0.1">R E V E L A T I O N.</h2>
<h3 id="Rev.xxi-p0.2">CHAP. XX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Rev.xxi-p1">This chapter is thought by some to be the darkest
part of all this prophecy: it is very probable that the things
contained in it are not yet accomplished; and therefore it is the
wiser way to content ourselves with general observations, rather
than to be positive and particular in our explications of it. Here
we have an account, I. Of the binding of Satan for a thousand
years, <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.1-Rev.20.3" parsed="|Rev|20|1|20|3" passage="Re 20:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. The
reign of the saints with Christ for the same time, <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.4-Rev.20.6" parsed="|Rev|20|4|20|6" passage="Re 20:4-6">ver. 4-6</scripRef>. III. Of the loosing of
Satan, and the conflict of the church with Gog and Magog, <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.7-Rev.20.10" parsed="|Rev|20|7|20|10" passage="Re 20:7-10">ver. 7-10</scripRef>. IV. Of the day of
judgment, <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.11-Rev.20.15" parsed="|Rev|20|11|20|15" passage="Re 20:11-15">ver. 11</scripRef>,
&amp;c.</p>
<scripCom id="Rev.xxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20" parsed="|Rev|20|0|0|0" passage="Re 20" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Rev.xxi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.1-Rev.20.10" parsed="|Rev|20|1|20|10" passage="Re 20:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.20.1-Rev.20.10">
<h4 id="Rev.xxi-p1.7">The Binding of Satan. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.xxi-p1.8">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.xxi-p2">1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven,
having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
  2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is
the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,   3 And
cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the
thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be
loosed a little season.   4 And I saw thrones, and they sat
upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and <i>I saw</i> the
souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for
the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither
his image, neither had received <i>his</i> 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 <i>is</i>
the first resurrection.   6 Blessed and holy <i>is</i> 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.   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 <i>is</i> 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 the false prophet <i>are,</i> and shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxi-p3">We have here, I. A prophecy of <i>the
binding of Satan</i> for a certain term of time, in which he should
have much less power and the church much more peace than before.
The power of Satan was broken in part by the setting up of the
gospel kingdom in the world; it was further reduced by the empire's
becoming Christian; it was yet further broken by the downfall of
the mystical Babylon; but still this serpent had many heads, and,
when one is wounded, another has life remaining in it. Here we have
a further limitation and diminution of his power. Observe, 1. To
whom this work of binding Satan is committed—to <i>an angel from
heaven.</i> It is very probable that this angel is no other than
the Lord Jesus Christ; the description of him will hardly agree
with any other. He is one who has power to <i>bind the strong man
armed, to cast him out, and to spoil his goods;</i> and therefore
must be stronger than he. 2. The means he makes use of in this
work: he has a <i>chain</i> and a <i>key, a great chain</i> to bind
Satan, and <i>the key of the</i> prison in which he was to be
confined. Christ never wants proper powers and instruments to break
the power of Satan, for he has the powers of heaven and the keys of
hell. 3. The execution of this work, <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.2-Rev.20.3" parsed="|Rev|20|2|20|3" passage="Re 20:2,3"><i>v.</i> 2, 3</scripRef>. (1.) <i>He laid hold on the
dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan.</i>
Neither the strength of the dragon, nor the subtlety of the
serpent, was sufficient to rescue him out of the hands of Christ;
he caught hold, and kept his hold. And, (2.) He <i>cast him into
the bottomless pit,</i> cast him down with force, and with a just
vengeance, to his own place and prison, from which he had been
permitted to break out, and disturb the churches, and deceive the
nations; now he is brought back to that prison, and there laid in
chains. (3.) He is <i>shut up, and a seal set upon him.</i> Christ
shuts, and none can open; he shuts by his power, seals by his
authority; and his lock and seal even the devils themselves cannot
break open. (4.) We have the term of this confinement of
Satan—<i>a thousand years,</i> after which he was to <i>be
loosed</i> again for <i>a little season.</i> The church should have
a considerable time of peace and prosperity, but all her trials
were not yet over.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxi-p4">II. An account of the reign of the saints
for the same space of time in which Satan continued bound
(<scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.4-Rev.20.6" parsed="|Rev|20|4|20|6" passage="Re 20:4-6"><i>v.</i> 4-6</scripRef>), and here
observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxi-p5">1. Who those were that received such
honour—those who had suffered for Christ, and all who had
faithfully adhered to him, not receiving the mark of the beast, nor
worshipping his image; all who had kept themselves clear of pagan
and papal idolatry.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxi-p6">2. The honour bestowed upon them. (1.) They
were raised from the dead, and restored to life. This may be taken
either literally or figuratively; they were in a civil and
political sense dead, and had a political resurrection; their
liberties and privileges were revived and restored. (2.)
<i>Thrones,</i> and power of <i>judgment, were given to them;</i>
they were possessed of great honour, and interest, and authority, I
suppose rather of a spiritual than of a secular nature. (3.)
<i>They reigned with Christ a thousand years.</i> Those who suffer
with Christ shall reign with Christ; they shall reign with him in
his spiritual and heavenly kingdom, in a glorious conformity to him
in wisdom, righteousness, and holiness, beyond what had been known
before in the world. This is called <i>the first resurrection,</i>
which none but those who have served Christ and suffered for him
shall be favoured with. As for the wicked, they shall not be raised
up and restored to their power again, till Satan be let loose; this
may be called a resurrection, as the conversion of the Jews is said
to be <i>life from the dead.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxi-p7">3. The happiness of these servants of God
is declared. (1.) They are <i>blessed and holy,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.6" parsed="|Rev|20|6|0|0" passage="Re 20:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. None can be blessed but
those that are holy; and all that are holy shall be blessed. These
were holy as a sort of first-fruits to God in this spiritual
resurrection, and as such blessed by him. (2.) They are secured
from the power of the second death. We know something of what the
first death is, and it is awful; but we know not what this second
death is. It must be much more dreadful; it is the death of the
soul, eternal separation from God. The Lord grant we may never know
what it is by experience. Those who have had experience of a
spiritual resurrection are saved from the power of the second
death.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxi-p8">III. An account of the return of the
church's troubles, and another mighty conflict, very sharp, but
short and decisive. Observe, 1. The restraints laid for a long time
on Satan are at length taken off. While this world lasts, Satan's
power in it will not be wholly destroyed; it may be limited and
lessened, but he will have something still to do for the
disturbance of the people of God. 2. No sooner is Satan let loose
than he falls to his old work, <i>deceiving the nations,</i> and so
stirring them up to make a war with the saints and servants of God,
which they would never do if he had not first deceived them. They
are deceived both as to the cause they engage in (they believe it
to be a good cause when it is indeed a very bad one), and as to the
issue: they expect to be successful, but are sure to lose the day.
3. His last efforts seem to be the greatest. The power now
permitted to him seems to be more unlimited than before. He had now
liberty to beat up for his volunteers in all <i>the four quarters
of the earth,</i> and he raised a mighty army, the number of which
was <i>as the sand of the sea,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.8" parsed="|Rev|20|8|0|0" passage="Re 20:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. 4. We have the names of the
principal commanders in this army under the dragon—<i>Gog and
Magog.</i> We need not be too inquisitive as to what particular
powers are meant by these names, since the army was gathered from
all parts of the world. These names are found in other parts of
scripture. <i>Magog</i> we read of in <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.10.2" parsed="|Gen|10|2|0|0" passage="Ge 10:2">Gen. x. 2</scripRef>. He was one of the sons of Japheth,
and peopled the country called <i>Syria,</i> from which his
descendants spread into many other parts. Of <i>Gog and Magog</i>
together we only read in <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.38.2" parsed="|Ezek|38|2|0|0" passage="Eze 38:2">Ezek.
xxxviii. 2</scripRef>, a prophecy whence this in Revelation borrows
many of its images. 5. We have the march and military disposition
of this formidable army (<scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.9" parsed="|Rev|20|9|0|0" passage="Re 20:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>): <i>They went up on the breadth of the earth, and
compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city,</i>
that is, the spiritual Jerusalem, in which the most precious
interests of the people of God are lodged, and therefore to them a
beloved city. The army of the saints is described as drawn forth
out of the city, and lying under the walls of it, to defend it;
they were encamped about Jerusalem: but the army of the enemy was
so much superior to that of the church that they compassed them and
their city about. 6. You have an account of the battle, and the
issue of this war: <i>Fire came down from God out of heaven, and
devoured the enemy.</i> Thus the ruin of <i>Gog and Magog</i> is
foretold (<scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.38.22" parsed="|Ezek|38|22|0|0" passage="Eze 38:22">Ezek. xxxviii.
22</scripRef>), <i>I will rain upon him and upon his bands an
overflowing rain, and great hailstones, and fire and brimstone.</i>
God would, in an extraordinary and more immediate manner, fight
this last and decisive battle for his people, that the victory
might be complete and the glory redound to himself. 7. The doom and
punishment of the grand enemy, <i>the devil:</i> he is now cast
into hell, with his two great officers, <i>the beast and the false
prophet,</i> tyranny and idolatry, and that not for any term of
time, but to be there <i>tormented night and day, for ever and
ever.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Rev.xxi-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.11-Rev.20.15" parsed="|Rev|20|11|20|15" passage="Re 20:11-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Rev.20.11-Rev.20.15">
<h4 id="Rev.xxi-p8.7">The Universal Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Rev.xxi-p8.8">a.
d.</span> 95.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Rev.xxi-p9">11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and
there was found no place 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 <i>the book</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Rev.xxi-p10">The utter destruction of the devil's
kingdom very properly leads to an account of the day of judgment,
which will determine every man's everlasting state; and we may be
assured there will be a judgment when we see <i>the prince of this
world is judged,</i> <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:John.16.11" parsed="|John|16|11|0|0" passage="Joh 16:11">John xvi.
11</scripRef>. This will be a great day, <i>the great day, when all
shall appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.</i> The Lord help
us firmly to believe this doctrine of the judgment to come. It is a
doctrine that made Felix tremble. Here we have a description of it,
where observe, 1. We behold <i>the throne,</i> and tribunal of
judgment, <i>great</i> and <i>white,</i> very glorious and
perfectly just and righteous. <i>The throne of iniquity, that
establishes wickedness by a law,</i> has no fellowship with this
righteous throne and tribunal. 2. The appearance of the Judge, and
that is the Lord Jesus Christ, who then puts on such majesty and
terror that <i>the earth and the heaven flee from his face, and
there is no place found for them;</i> there is a dissolution of the
whole frame of nature, <scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.3.10" parsed="|2Pet|3|10|0|0" passage="2Pe 3:10">2 Pet. iii.
10</scripRef>. 3. The persons to be judged (<scripRef id="Rev.xxi-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.20.12" parsed="|Rev|20|12|0|0" passage="Re 20:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>The dead, small and
great;</i> that is, young and old, low and high, poor and rich.
None are so mean but they have some talents to account for, and
none so great as to avoid the jurisdiction of this court; not only
those that are found alive at the coming of Christ, but all who
have died before; the grave shall surrender the bodies of men, hell
shall surrender the souls of the wicked, the sea shall surrender
the many who seemed to have been lost in it. 4. The rule of
judgment settled: <i>The books were opened.</i> What books? The
books of God's omniscience, who is greater than our consciences,
and knows all things (there is a book of remembrance with him both
for good and bad); and the book of the sinner's conscience, which,
though formerly secret, will now be opened. <i>And another book</i>
shall be <i>opened</i>—the book of the scriptures, the
statute-book of heaven, the rule of life. This book is opened as
containing the law, the touchstone by which the hearts and lives of
men are to be tried. This book determines matter of right; the
other books give evidence of matters of fact. Some, by <i>the other
book,</i> called <i>the book of life,</i> understand the book of
God's eternal counsels; but that does not seem to belong to the
affair of judgment: in eternal election God does not act
judicially, but with absolute sovereign freedom. 5. The cause to be
tried; and that is, <i>the works of men,</i> what they have done
and whether it be good or evil. <i>By their works men shall be
justified or condemned;</i> for though God knows their state and
their principles, and looks chiefly at these, yet, being to approve
himself to angels and men as a righteous God, he will try their
principles by their practices, and so will <i>be justified when he
speaks and clear when he judges.</i> 6. The issue of the trial and
judgment; and this will be according to the evidence of fact, and
rule of judgment. All those who have <i>made a covenant with
death,</i> and an <i>agreement with hell,</i> shall then be
condemned with their infernal confederates, cast with them into the
lake of fire, as not being entitled to eternal life, according to
the rules of life laid down in the scripture; but those whose names
are written in that book (that is, those that are justified and
acquitted by the gospel) shall then be justified and acquitted by
the Judge, and shall enter into eternal life, having nothing more
to fear from death, or hell, or wicked men; for these are all
destroyed together. Let it be our great concern to see on what
terms we stand with our Bibles, whether they justify us or condemn
us now; for the Judge of all will proceed by that rule. <i>Christ
shall judge the secrets of all men according to the gospel.</i>
Happy are those who have so ordered and stated their cause
according to the gospel as to know beforehand that they shall be
justified in the great day of the Lord!</p>
</div></div2>