in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great GoD: that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." "The sun," in its primary signification, as an emblem, represents the LORD JESUS CHRIST as the Sun of Righteousness and the angel standing in the sun, is also descriptive of Him as the angel of the everlasting covenant. This compound emblem shows that His Advent will reveal Him in His own peculiar glory as the Sun of Righteousness, and as the Head, or Universal Angel of His Church. And He cried with a loud voice." The last voice that is heard, is the voice of the LORD JESUS Himself. And He calleth to " all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven." These, we know, from our LORD's own interpretation, are evil spirits. This call, therefore, to the powers of darkness to come and possess themselves, as it were, of His enemies, is the judicial act of giving them over to perdition. Such will be the last sad and irremediable state of those who have quenched and rejected the SPIRIT of GOD, and abjured the Name of CHRIST, given them in their baptism. That to which these evil spirits are invited, is called "the Supper of the great GOD," because it is the last act of judgment, and the consigning of these His enemies over to the blackness of darkness for ever. The enumeration of the different orders, namely, of "kings and captains, and mighty men, and horses, and those that sit on them, and of men, both free and bond, both small and great," shows the universality of this last confederacy, and that the classes and con ditions of men, comprehended in it, are manifold. These are led on by the beast and his kings. “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These were both cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. "And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." These kings are not the same as are mentioned in the preceding verse, but distinct from them; and being associated with the beast and the false prophet, we have no doubt, that though their number is not specified, they are the ten kings menVerses 12- tioned in chapter xvii., who give their power and strength unto the beast, and make war with the Lamb, and who are overcome by Him: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with Him, are called, and chosen, and faithful. The beast and his ten kings are distinguished from their armies, which are led on by them for upon the latter, the evil spirits are invoked to feed, and to possess themselves of their flesh; that is, of their bodies; whilst the judgment upon the beast and the false prophet is, that they are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire. The reason of this distinction appears to be, that the head of the last confederacy, and those immediately under him, including the false prophet, will be persons who having been pre-eminently wicked, are raised at this time in order to receive a pre-eminence in punish 14. : Vide Dan. ment and condemnation; even as after the same analogy, those saints who have excelled in virtue, and been pre-eminently holy, shall be raised and made partakers of the first resurrection, and attain a higher degree of glory than the generality of Christians. Our reasons for thinking thus are these. First, it would appear from Daniel xii., that two classes of persons vi are spoken of as being raised at this time; some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt; and this takes place when "His people are delivered." Therefore this must be the first resurrection, and not the general resurrection after the millennium. Secondly, the beast ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, and goeth into perdition. "The bottomless pit, (äßurros,) in other portions of Scripture is used to denote the place of the departed, and the abode of evil spirits. The only two places in the New Testament where the term is used, except in the Revelation, are S. Luke viii. 31, and Rom. x. 7; the one is spoken of as the abode of evil spirits, and the other as Hades, into which our LORD descended. It is spoken of also, as the place where Satan is to be confined during the thousand years. It seems impossible, Vide Rev. therefore, to explain this term as referring to infidel principles, as some interpreters do, because it would be absurd to suppose the devils besought our LORD not to send them into an infidel state. Nor was CHRIST raised from infidel principles, or a state of infidelity, but from Hades; neither would it be any punishment to confine Satan a thousand years in such a condition; nor is it very consistent with reason to assert, as those must do who identify the locusts with Mahometanism, that the bottomless pit means Arabia, and the locusts Arabian horsemen; yet such incon XX. 1-3. Compare verses 19, 20, with xvii. 11-14. sistencies are the natural result of an interpretation, which does not take the Scripture for its guide. Moreover, analogy would seem to demand in this last conflict for the possession of the earth, that there should be some similarity between the condition of the contending armies. If our LORD is to come out of heaven with His risen and translated saints, it is natural to suppose that the leaders, at least of those who oppose Him, will be risen men also; for we can scarcely conceive that any in mortal flesh should put themselves in array against such an army. But if this confederacy is led on by devil-possessed men, raised from the dead, and alive to their own eternal condition, it is easy to believe there is no desperate act within the compass of possibility which they would not attempt, in order, if possible, to keep possession of the earth of which they fear to be for ever dispossessed. The beast and the false prophet are also said to be cast alive into the lake of fire; which being called "the second death," seems to imply that some of these persons at least have passed through the first, otherwise this casting into the lake of fire could not be called with any propriety, the second. Finally, the remnant slain with the sword, and on whose flesh the fowls of the air (evil spirits) feed, are those enumerated in the eighteenth verse, who are subject to, and led on to the final conflict by this power from beneath, namely, the beast and the false prophet; to whom also, as we have before seen, the ten kings associated with them give their strength. PART XIV. THE BINDING OF SATAN. THE FIRST RESURRECTION. THE 1 AND I saw an Angel come down from heaven, having the key Rev. xx. 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 saw 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 his 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 is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is 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 is 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. |