If any reader is disposed to raise difficulties here, on the ground that the beast and false prophet are sentenced to the final hell, or lake of fire, before the judgment-day, he should call to mind, that he is reading poetry. The characters are symbolic, generic, not specific individualities. To represent them as cast into the lake of fire, is to show that a fearful and most aggravated doom awaits all who are symbolized by them. As to the machinery of poetry, it would plainly be unjust to exact the precision of prose, in the modes of representation and expression. So with the rich man, in the parable of Lazarus; the fire in which he is tortured figuratively expresses the severity of his punish

ment.

GENERAL JUDGMENT: CHAP. XX. 11-15.

[The opposition of all enemies being thus effectually put down, it follows of course that the church will afterwards enjoy undisturbed tranquillity and prosperity. But on this the writer does not dwell. Still, the fact that he does not, makes nothing against the supposition of a long intervening period between the destruction of Gog and Magog and the general judgment. This subject has been already discussed in the remarks which precede chap. xx.; to which I must refer the reader. It should be remembered, that one leading topic of the book is the subjugation of the enemics of the church; and that topic is now completed. The writer passes on immediately, therefore, to the final and glorious reward of the righteous, when the probation of all the redeemed is to be completed, and the august drama is brought to its final close.

But before the final rewards can be distributed, a general judgment is to be instituted, at which all that have been concerned with the Redeemer's kingdom, either as friends or enemies, are to be present, and to receive their final sentence. The remainder of the chapter is occupied with describing this scene.]

(11) And I saw a great white throne, and him who sat upon it, from whose face the heaven and the earth fled away, and no place was found for them.

The xai with which this transition begins, is usual throughout the Apocalypse, whatever may be the distance of time which intervenes between the things related, or the dissimilarity of the things themselves. Nothing can be deduced from the use of it, to prove an immediate consecution in point of time. See on xaí, in Comm. on 5: 1.—Aɛvxór, splendid, as usual elsewhere in this book. The original source of the image seems to be the white heat of metallic substances melted in an intense fire. -Tor xavýμevov designates the Redeemer here; as the analogy of Christian doctrine and Rev. 21: 5-8 clearly shows. So Ewald.-The fleeing away of heaven and earth is a poetic portraiture of the effects of the divine presence. Even the natural creation shrinks back with awe and seeks to hide itself; comp. Ps. 18: 7, 15. 77: 16-19. 114: 3-5. See the like in Enoch 50: 3, 4. 51: 10. There too the Messiah is repre

sented as the Judge; 60: 8-11. 61: 1–9. To seek for a literal sense in such a passage, would be quite a superfluous undertaking.

(12) And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before the throne; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by the things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Small and great, i. e. all of every class and station. The expression refers to rank, not to age.-Standing before the throne, i. e. gathered around it as the tribunal from which their doom is to be received.-And the books were opened, i. e. the books in which were recorded all the actions (external and internal) of men. The imagery is drawn from the records of accusations made against such as are impeached before human courts of justice. The plural is employed very naturally, considering how voluminous such records must be. And another book was opened, viz. the Lamb's book of life, in which the names of all his followers are recorded; see on 3: 5, also Rev. 21: 27. Col. 4: 3.—And the dead were judged by the things written in the books; what portion of the dead? Or are all included? Naturally the latter must be the meaning here, in connection with uxqovs xai peɣáhovs above, i. e. men of all ranks. All, therefore, must be condemned by these books, i. e. so far as the books. are concerned; for in them the sins of all are recorded. But, on the other hand, some good deeds of the righteous are also recorded in the "other book;" and for these there is a sure promise of reward. Still, some other title than even a balance of good works, (if that indeed should be in their favour), must they have. They must, through grace and the atoning blood of the Lamb, be forgiven; and if they have been forgiven, and their names are recorded in the Lamb's book of life, then they will not only be acquitted as it respects the charges recorded against them, but rewarded for their good works, imperfect as they are.

Moreover there is an implication here, that different degrees of punishment and of reward will be the consequence of final judgment. The sentence will be κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν, which necessarily implies this.

That all of the human race will make their appearance before the tribunal of the judgment-day, if not taught here, seems to be taught in

the next verse.

(13) And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and Death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one, according to their works.

In other words: Not only those who have been buried beneath the earth, in the proper domains of Death and Hades, but all who have perished and are buried in the ocean, will be raised to life. Here Death and Hades are plainly personified, and represented as governing the

under-world. Accordingly it is they, who give up the dead under their domain. See on Rev. 6: 8, where the same personification is palpable. Death is king, and Hades (so to speak) his prime minister, or at least his agents or ministers, the word being used as a noun of multitude.And they were judged, every one, according to their works; xaoros individualizes, and is emphatic here, i. e. the writer means to say emphatically, that no one will escape the final trial. "Exaoros, as a nomen multitudinis, often takes a plural verb, as here.

(14) And Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire; this is the second death, the lake of fire.

If Death and Hades as personified are here meant, (which seems plainly to be the case), then, considered as persons, they may consistently be represented as being cast into the lake of fire. Personification being admitted, there is no violation of propriety in such a representation. But from the very fact that Death and Hades are mere symbolic and not real personages, it follows, that a literal punishment of them is out of question. Of course, therefore, the only intelligible meaning must be, that Death and Hades are now destroyed, i. e. they are to be no more. None ever come from or out of the lake of fire, for this is the second death. That such a view of the subject is altogether appropriate to the context, is quite clear. The new world or creation (21: 1 seq.) is to be immutable and eternal. There will be no more pain, nor any death. Of course, therefore, after the creation of the new world, the power of Death and Hades is to cease, and their influence will be forever abolished. Their work is then done or completed, when the general judgment comes. Mortality is at an end; immortality follows. To inflict the second death, does not fall or come within the province or commission of dávatos and dns; consequently these tyrants must now become extinct, or die so as to live and act no more.

By repeating the sentiment, this is the second death, the lake of fire, the writer means to say, that the death to which váratos and ads are now brought, is one from which there is no resurrection. It is final.

If any one should say, that being cast into the lake of fire necessarily denotes continued torment, and therefore it must have such a meaning here, the answer is easy, and has already for substance been given. Death and Hades are merely symbolical personifications, and such are of course incapable of actual torment. Destruction of their power, then, is the necessary meaning here. But if any one chooses rather to understand Hades of place, viz., the grave or under-world, then the meaning would be, that this place, with its king or ruler ó árazos, now becomes incorporated with the great lake of fire, and so will henceforth be a part of the place of endless torment. But the former meaning is more facile, and therefore preferable.

A second death differs from the first in the fact, that it is not a separation of soul and body, but a state of continued agony like to that which the first death inflicts, like it in intensity, but not in kind.

Thus, it will be seen, effectual provision is made for the eternal blessedness of the righteous. "Death is swallowed up in victory." "The last enemy, i. e. death, is now destroyed;" 1 Cor. 15: 23, 54. In this respect John and Paul completely harmonize.

(15) And if any one was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

The writer speaks here in the past tense, the scene having already passed in vision before him. The declaration reminds us strongly of our Saviour's words: "All those whom thou hast given me have I kept." The names enrolled in the book of grace are not to be blotted out. Others have sinned, and have not repented, and therefore are not forgiven. Their names do not appear on the records of pardon. The law must therefore take its course. They are cast into the lake of fire. This, being the second death, is followed by no resurrection. Inasmuch as death, in its first meaning and with its original power, is now no more, there is no way of relief after a death entirely different in its nature. The sufferings of those who undergo the second death, cannot be alleviated by expiring; for there is no expiring. Pardon, moreover, is now too late. Besides, inasmuch as their names are not written in the Lamb's book of life, how shall they become the subjects of pardon? And what is more than all, the great work of atonement and reconciliation is now at an end; Christ gives up his mediatorial kingdom, having no more official duties (if we may so speak) to perform; and how are they to be ransomed without an acting Mediator? See 1 Cor. 15: 24-28.

Thus is sealed the eternal doom of the dragon, beast, false prophet, and all their followers; yea, and of all who resemble them in the temper of their hearts or the action of their lives. Nothing now remains but to exhibit the glorious reward of the righteous, in the eternal world, as contrasted with the awful punishment of the wicked.

THE NEW JERUSALEM: CHAP. XXI. 1.

(1) And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there is no more sea.

Such is the picture, which Peter also draws, of the events that follow the dissolution of the present material worlds, 2 Pet. 3: 7—13. The original of both is in Is. 65: 17. 66: 22. This new heaven and new earth are not, as it appears, to be constructed by fitting up and vamping

66

ing anew the old and worn out systems. The first heavens and earth pass away; They pass away with a great noise, and the elements are melted with fervent heat;" 2 Pet. 3: 10. Accordingly, the new Jerusalem, the future abode of the blessed, is represented in the sequel as coming down from God, and of course as not being of this material creation. This is sufficient to show what estimate is to be put upon the dreams of men, who urge us to believe that the present material earth is itself to be renovated, and become the personal abode of Christ and the martyrs, during the millennial period. Not a word is said of such a renovation, until after the general judgment.

(2) And the holy city, the new Jerusalem, I saw descending out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

This is "the Jerusalem which is above," spoken of by Paul, Gal. 4:26; this, "the mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem," Heb. 12: 22. Comp. Rev. 3: 12. All glorious is the city, too, for such must be whatever comes from God out of heaven. Splendid is its attire, i. e. its construction and materials, for it is like the splendid dress of a bride adorned for her husband. The author alludes here to the comparison of the church to a wife, Rev. 19: 7, 8. Nor is the congruity of the representation more striking in a rhetorical, than in a physiological respect. When the resurrection of the body takes place, there will be a new state of being. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 15:50); therefore, when the body is raised and united once more to the soul, it will be "a spiritual body," 1 Cor. 15: 44. The natural consequence is, that a new world is necessary for its abode. The Paradise in which pious souls had hitherto been, was a place of happiness fitted for them when separated from their respective bodies. But now a new state of being commences. It is not altogether and merely spiritual, for the body is again united with the soul; it is not a material state, for the body by its resurrection has become a spiritual body. This new state of being demands of course a new world for its appropriate development. In conformity with this plain principle of physiology, (if I may so speak), a new world is provided; not (as before said) from the ruins of the old material heavens and earth vamped up anew, not of this visible creation, but a new Jerusalem from God and out of heaven. The nature of the case fully justifies the representations of the writer. It is not the mere fiction of a poetic imagination, but there is a corresponding reality.

(3) And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them-their God.

The voice from heaven gives definite information to the seer respect>