CHAPTER XX. _An angel binds Satan a thousand years, and shuts him up in the_ _bottomless pit_, 1-3. _They who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, who have_ _part in the first resurrection, and shall reign with Christ_ _a thousand years_, 4-6. _When the thousand years are expired, Satan s... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:2. _THE DRAGON_] Revelation 12:9, Revelation 12:9. _THAT OLD SERPENT, WHICH IS THE DEVIL, AND SATAN_] He who is called the _old serpent_ is the DEVIL-the _calumniator_, and SATAN-the _opposer_. He who supposes that the term _old serpent_ here plainly proves that the creature tha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:3. _HE SHOULD DECEIVE THE NATIONS NO MORE_] Be unable to blind men with superstition and idolatry as he had formerly done.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:4. _I SAW THRONES_] Christianity established in the earth, the kings and governors being all Christians. _REIGNED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS._] I am satisfied that this period should not be taken _literally_. It may signify that there shall be a long and undisturbed state of... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:5. _THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN_] It is generally supposed from these passages that all who have been _martyred_ for the truth of God shall be raised a thousand years before the other dead, and reign on earth with Christ during that time, after which the dead in general... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:6. _BLESSED_] μακαριος Happy. _And holy_; he _was_ holy, and therefore he suffered for the testimony of Jesus in the time when nothing but _holiness_ was called to such a trial. _THE FIRST RESURRECTION_] Supposed to be that of the _martyrs_, mentioned above. _THE SECOND DEATH_]... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:7. _SATAN SHALL BE LOOSED_] How can this bear any kind of _literal_ interpretation? Satan is bound a thousand years, and the earth is in peace; righteousness flourishes, and Jesus Christ alone reigns. This state of things may continue for ever if the imprisonment of Satan be _con... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:8. _GOG AND MAGOG_] This seems to be almost literally taken from the _Jerusalem Targum_, and that of _Jonathan ben Uzziel_, on Numbers 11:26. I shall give the words at length: "And there were two men left in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, the name of the other was Meda... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:9. _THE BELOVED CITY_] Primarily, Jerusalem, typically, the Christian Church.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:10. _AND THE DEVIL-WAS CAST ONTO THE LAKE_] Before Satan was _bound_, that is, his power was curtailed and restrained; now, he is _cast into the lake of fire_, his power being _totally_ taken away.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:11. _A GREAT WHITE THRONE_] Refulgent with glorious majesty. _HIM THAT SAT ON IT_] The indescribable Jehovah. _FROM WHOSE FACE THE EARTH AND THE HEAVEN FLED AWAY_] Even the brightness of his countenance dissolved the universe, and annihilated the laws by which it was governed.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:12. _THE DEAD, SMALL AND GREAT_] All ranks, degrees, and conditions of men. This description seems to refer to Daniel 7:9. _AND THE BOOKS WERE OPENED_] See Daniel 12:1. "Rab. Jehuda said: All the actions of men, whether good or bad, _are written in a book_, and of all they shall... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:13. _THE SEA GAVE UP THE DEAD_] Those who had been drowned in it, and those millions slain in naval contests, who had no other grave. _AND DEATH_] All who died by any kind of _disease_. Death is here _personified_, and represented as a keeper of defunct human beings; probably no... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:14. _AND DEATH AND HELL WERE CAST INTO THE LAKE_] Death himself is now abolished, and the _place_ for separate spirits no longer needful. All dead bodies and separated souls being rejoined, and no more separation of bodies and souls by death to take place, consequently the existe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Revelation 20:15. _WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF LIFE_] Only those who had continued faithful unto death were taken to heaven. All whose names were not found in the public registers, who either were not citizens, or whose names had been _erased_ from those registers because of crimes against the stat... [ Continue Reading ]