A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse Part 24

The Final Conflict.

"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying in the midst of heaven, Come! gather yourselves to the great supper of G.o.d; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of the mighty, and the flesh of the horses, and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the wild beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered to make war with him, who sat on the horse, and with his army. And the wild beast was taken, and with him the false prophet, who wrought signs in his sight, with which he had deceived those who received the mark of the wild beast, and those who wors.h.i.+pped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were slain with the sword of him who sat on the horse, which sword goeth forth from his mouth; and all the birds were filled with their flesh." Rev.

19:17-21.

The contest being between the Lord and his armies on the one part, and the wicked nations on the other, the angel seen standing in the sun and performing an important act in connection with the Lord's army, must represent one of his attending angels; for the acts to be performed are to be by their instrumentality: "In the end of this world, the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire," Matt. 13:40-42.

His crying to the fowls of heaven to come and sup on the bodies of the slain, is indicative of the certainty of victory and of the entire overthrow of those who war against the Lamb. As birds gather on fields of slaughter to feast on the slain, so a cry to "all the fowls of heaven" is expressive of the extent and thoroughness of the destruction to be inflicted. It is the same cry which is made in Ezekiel, 39:17, when the armies of Gog are slain on the mountains of Israel. The beast and the kings of the earth symbolize the various governments in the world. The "beast" is that which had seven heads and ten horns (13:1, and 17:3), and was a symbol of Rome in its decem-regal form. It was said of this beast, it shall "go into perdition," (17:8); so that under some manifestation, it must continue till the end of the world: the earth being "reserved unto fire against the day of judgement, and perdition of unG.o.dly men," 2 Pet.

3:7. As only in its divided form, the Roman empire continues till then, the beast is here significant of the divisions represented by its ten horns-the governments of modern Europe. "These shall war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords and King of kings; and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful,"

17:14.

"The false prophet," which is taken with the beast, is described as the one "that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that wors.h.i.+pped his image," v.

20. This identifies him as the two-horned beast of Rev. 13. (13:11-17).

The two-horned beast being a representative of the Eastern Roman empire, when that was subverted by the Turks it became the seat of the false prophet,-the Mahometan hierarchy.

The kings of the earth must be the remaining governments which are not represented by those two. By their subsequently warring with the Lamb, it follows that the previous resurrection and translation of the saints does not produce a cessation of all government. Those events may not be apparent to all eyes; or they may serve only to madden the unbelieving, and to make them more desperate in their infidelity.

They gather their armies to war against the Lamb. They resist his authority. They will not have Him to reign over them. They are instigated to oppose him by "unclean spirits like frogs" (16:13), which are the spirits of devils [_demons_, understood by the Jews to be spirits of the wicked dead] working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of G.o.d Almighty, _Ib._ v. 14. This is when Christ is to "come as a thief;"

and they are to be gathered "into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon," 16:15, 16. This was the name of the valley at the foot of Mount Megiddo (Judg. 5:19), which was famous as a valley of slaughter. In it Jehu fought against Ahaziah and Joram, and slew both the kings of Israel and Judah, 2 Kings 9:27. It was afterwards memorable for the death of king Josiah, when Pharaoh-necho fought against him, (2 Kings 23:29); so that the mourning as "in the valley of Megiddon," became a proverbial expression in Israel for great mourning, Zech. 12:11,12. It is therefore significantly applied to the final battle.

Thus do "the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against his Anointed;" but "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall have them in derision."

For the decree has gone forth: "I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel," Ps. 2:2-9. In this victory the saints, also, have a part; for it is written: "He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to s.h.i.+vers: even as I received of my Father," 2:26, 27.

As thus predicted, in this final conflict the nations are smitten, 19:15.

Those symbolized by the beast and false prophet are cast alive into the burning flame; _i.e._, the individuals const.i.tuting the bodies of those beasts are cast therein: their governments cease when taken by the Lamb and his armies. This is in accordance with what Daniel saw, who "beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame," Dan. 7:11.

"The remnant" also are slain; so that there are none left alive on the earth of all the wicked. Thus Daniel interpreted to king Nebuchadnezzar his dream: "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image [representing the governments of earth] upon his feet, that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the bra.s.s, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer thres.h.i.+ng-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them," Dan. 2:34, 35. It will "break in pieces, and consume all these kingdoms" (_Ib._), according to the prediction: "The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted," Isa. 60:12. "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people which have fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongues shall consume away in their mouth," Zech. 14:12. "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch," Mal. 4:1. "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it," Isa. 13:9. Thus will the Saviour come "in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not G.o.d, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power, when he comes to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day," (2 Thess. 1:8-10): saying to the nations on his left, "Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," Matt. 25:41. Thus will he "gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth," _Ib._, 13:41, 42. The destruction of all the wicked from the earth is followed by:

The Binding of Satan.

"And I saw an angel descending from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the old serpent, who is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut him up, and set a seal over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were completed; and after that, he must be loosed a short time." Rev. 20:1-3.

The angel descending from heaven, must be a representative of his own order; for at this epoch there are no other orders of beings for him to be a representative of. He therefore symbolizes the angels who are commissioned to "gather out of his kingdom all things that offend," Matt.

13:41.

The "key," "pit," and "chain," symbolize the instruments of restraint and confinement to which Satan is to be subjected; and his being bound and confined symbolize his restraint.

The "Dragon" is expressly called "that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan." With the appendages of heads and horns-symbols of political sovereignty-he is used in Rev. 12:3, as a symbol of the Roman civil power, under Pagan rule; and in verse 7, when divested of political insignia, of the pagan hierarchy. But now, as the beast, another symbol of Roman civil rule, has been cast into "the lake of fire and brimstone," and the "remnant" are "slain with the sword" (19:21), there are no a.n.a.logous powers remaining on earth for him to be a representative of, and consequently he is here represented as a symbol of himself.

Of his ident.i.ty there can be no question: He is "that Old Serpent," who, being "more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord G.o.d had made" (Gen. 3:1), "beguiled Eve through his subtlety," 2 Cor. 11:3. He is also the Devil, by whom our Saviour was tempted in the wilderness, (Matt.

4:1-12); and the Satan, whose working is "with all power and signs and lying wonders," 2 Thess. 2:9. He is our adversary the devil, who, "as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour," (1 Pet. 5:8); and against whom we are to guard continually, "lest Satan should get an advantage of us," 2 Cor. 2:11.

Coeval with the fall, the promise was given that his head should in due time be bruised, and he is not ignorant of his doom; for when the legion saw the Saviour about to dispossess them of the two men among the tombs, they recognized him as "the Son of G.o.d," and cried, "Art thou come hither to torment us before _the time_?" (Matt. 8:29); "and they besought him, that he would not command them to go out into the _deep_,"-the _pit_, or _abyss_, Luke 8:31. The epoch when he should be there confined, is also shown by Isaiah to be when "the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity," when "the earth also shall disclose her blood, and no more cover her slain," Isa. 26:21. For "in that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan [the dragon], the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent," _Ib._ 27:1. This synchronizes with the slaying of the remnant with the sword, when Satan is bound and cast into the _abyss_, to continue there a thousand years.

His being bound and confined must symbolize his dejection to a position where he can have no possible influence over the nations during the time he is bound. It can be no _partial_ restraint, as some theologians hold; for that is contrary to the conditions of the symbolic representation. His restraint is full, complete, and entire. Consequently his influence, for the time being, will have entirely ceased. The period of his confinement, therefore, cannot be one of partial exemption from sin; but the living will be perfectly free from all its contagious influences. He is to deceive the nations _no more_, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled.

"The nations" who are freed from his influences, and also those whom he is subsequently to deceive, are not, necessarily, organized political bodies, under civil rulers, as they now exist. The original term, e????, is defined by Robinson to be "a mult.i.tude, people, race, belonging and living together." At this epoch, the national organizations having disappeared, and the people const.i.tuting them being translated or slain, the only nations remaining will be "the nations of them which are saved" (21:24), over whom the influence of Satan will have ceased forever; and those const.i.tuting "the rest of the dead" (20:5), who will not live again till the end of the thousand years-at the very time when Satan is to be loosed from his prison to go out to deceive them, 20:7, 8.

The Cleansing of the Earth.

There is, in the Apocalypse, no symbolic representation of the act of the cleansing of the earth, yet various scriptures show that it is at the epoch of the second advent, and of the establishment of the kingdom of G.o.d. If so, it follows the destruction of the wicked and the binding of Satan, while the raised and transfigured saints-const.i.tuting "the bride"-are still with the Lord in the clouds of heaven (19:7-9), where they were caught up to meet him in the air, 1 Thess. 4:17.

A restoration of the earth, in connection with the first resurrection, is in accordance with the testimony of scripture, and was the opinion of the ancients. We read in Isaiah: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind," Isa.

65:17.

"As for my opinion," saith R. Mena.s.se, a Jewish Rabbi, "I think that after six thousand years, the world shall be destroyed, upon one certain day, or in one hour; that the arches of heaven shall make a stand as immovable; that there will be no more generation or corruption; and that all things by the resurrection shall be renovated, and return to a better condition."

He also a.s.sures us that "this, without doubt, is the opinion of the most learned Aben Ezra," who looked for it in the new earth of Isa. 65:17.

"Man shall be restored in that time, namely, in the days of the Messiah, to that state in which he was before the first man sinned."-_R. Moses Nachmanides in Duet. - 45._

"Although all things were created perfect, yet when the first man sinned, they were corrupted, and will not again return to their congruous state till PHEREZ (_i.e._, the MESSIAH) comes." "There are six things which shall be restored to their primitive state, viz.: the splendor of man, his life, the height of his stature, the fruits of the earth, the fruits of the trees, and the luminaries, (the sun, moon, and stars.)"-_R. Berakyah_, in the _name of R. Samuel-Beres.h.i.+th Rabba, Fol. 11, Col. 3_.

"In that time (_i.e._, of the Messiah) the whole work of creation shall be changed for the better, and shall return into its perfect and pure state, as it was in the time of the first man, before he had sinned."-_R. Becai, in s.h.i.+lcan Orba, Fol. 9, Col. 4, p. 360._

"Theopompus, who flourished three hundred and forty years B. C., relates that the Persian Magi taught that the present state of things would continue 6000 years; after which _hades_, or death, would be destroyed, and men would live happy," &c. "The opinion of the ancient Jews, on this head, may be gathered from the statement of one of their Rabbins, who said, 'The world endures 6000 years, and in the thousand, or millennium that follows, the enemies of G.o.d would be destroyed.' It was in like manner a tradition of the house of Elias, a holy man, who lived about B.

C. 200, that the world was to endure 6000 years, and that the righteous, whom G.o.d should raise up, would not be turned again into dust. That, by this resurrection, he meant a resurrection prior to the millennium, is manifest from what follows.... It is worthy of remark, that the two ancient authors, whose words have just been quoted, speak of the seventh millennium as 'that day'-the day in which G.o.d will renew the world, and in which he alone shall be exalted."-_Dis. on Mill. by Bishop Russell, Prof.

Eccl. Hist. in the Scottish Epis. Ch._

"The Divine inst.i.tution of a sabbatical, or seventh year's solemnity among the Jews, has a plain typical reference to the seventh chiliad, or millenary of the world, according to the well known tradition among the Jewish doctors, adopted by many in every age of the Christian Church, that this world will attain to its limit at the end of 6000 years."-_Mede._

"The observance of the Sabbath is essential to the faith; for such only as observe the Sabbath confess that the earth will be renewed: because He who created it out of nothing will renew it."-_David Kimchi, on Isa. 55:5, quoted by Mede._

"In as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years it is perfected; for if the day of the Lord be as it were a 1000 years, and in six days those things that are made were finished, it is manifest that the perfecting of those things is in the 6000th year, when anti-Christ, reigning 1260 years, shall have wasted all things in the world, ... then shall the Lord come from heaven in the clouds, with the glory of his Father." _Irenaeus, Bish. of Lyons, A. D. 178._

"In six thousand years, the Lord will bring all things to an end, ... when iniquity shall be no more, all things being renewed by the Lord."-_Epst.

of Barnabas, sec. 14, 15._

"Let philosophers know, who number thousands of years, ages since the beginning of the world, that the 6000th year is not yet concluded or ended. But that number being fulfilled, of necessity there must be an end, and the state of human things must be transformed into that which is better."-_Lactantius, B. of Divine Inst., A. D. 310._

Thomas Burnet (Theory of Earth, Lon. 1697) states "that it was the received opinion of the primitive church from the days of the apostles to the council of Nice, that this earth would continue 6000 years, when the resurrection of the just, and conflagration of the earth, would usher in the millennium and reign of Christ on earth."

"G.o.d's blessing the Sabbath day, and resting on it from all his works, was a type of that glorious rest that the saints shall have when the six days of this world are fully ended.... He will finish the toil and travail of his saints, with the burden of the beasts and the curse of the ground, and bring all into rest for a thousand years.... None ever saw this world as it was in its first creation but Adam and his wife, neither will any see it until the manifestation of the children of G.o.d; _i.e._, until the redemption or resurrection of the saints."-_John Bunyan's Works, vol. 6, pp. 301, 329._

"I expect with Paul a reparation of _all_ the evils caused by sin, for which he represents the creatures as groaning and travailing."-_John Calvin, in his __"__Inst.i.tutes.__"_