The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 457

shall go out [come forth} to deceive the nations" (vers. 7,.8). Christ, who knows his entire history, has declared that he "abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him; n and that" he is a liar, and the father oflies." He. baa filled the.worid with lies-charged our atmosphere wit.h lies-political, social, moral, and religious. "Every man walketh in a vain show." Who can "fathom the depths or Satan"-? He " beguiled" our first parents; be prompted Ananias " to lie to the Roly Ghost." He " bath blinded the minds" of men. 3. Here is deception employed by Satan, first, upon those who are most a.~sailable, and afterwards thrwgh them tipon othera. " He goes out to deceive the nations which.are in the four quarters [corn~rs I of the earth, Gog and Magog," etc. (vers. 8, 9). No one has been able to determine with certainty who Gog and Magog are. I am inclined to believe, with Bloomfield, "that no par- ticular nations are meant, but that these are only names designating bodies of men inimical to the. gospel." Probably, through all the ages of the millennial period, there had always continued soma disaffected towards Christ, some who loved darkness rather than light, some'' Gog and Magog." Upon these Satan now acted. By his su,gges- titms he evoked tireir latent depravity, kindled into a flame the long-smoul4ering fires of their rebellion against he,aven. The more evil there is in a man, the more accessible that ma.n is to Satai;i,and the morn susceptible to his influence. The more virtue in tLe heart, the stronger its safeguard. Hence he ever begins his work with the most assail- able-with those who are mO'l'ally the most remote from Christianity, who dwell ''in the four quarters of the earth." And through them he goes on to propagate his cause. From Eve he proceeds to Adam; from Gog and Magog he proceeds to the very" camp of the saints" (ver. 9). II. THE REACTION IS OF A CIIABACTER THE MOST THREATENING. There are two things in tbe passage which suggest this. L The vast number ef its agents. Those whom Satan enlists in his canse from the "four quarters of the earth "-these moral tribes, called Gog and Magog, constitute a great multitude," the number of whom is as the sand of the sea" (ver. 8)-a figurative expression indicating their numerousne,s. It is not necessary to suppose that these unbelievers had been numerous tl,rough all the cent-uries of the millennial times. Nor is it necessary to suppose that any genuine Christians had really and finally been tempted to renounce their principles. It seems to me highly improbable that a man whose nature has been thO'l'oughly Christianized will ever finaliy degenerate into a life of sin, We may suppose that for many ages there were but few whose 8pirits did not flow with the clear and majestic stream of Christian truth anci practice. If, however, at one time there were only a dozen, or even fewer, sinners among the teeming millions of saints, it is easy to see how they could multiply in the course of time, without causing any of the really good to aposta- tize. These twelve, we will suppose, become parents; their children, on the principle of filial love and dependence, will catch their spirit and be moulded by their example; they, in their turn, become parents; and thus, according to the common law .of genera- tion, in a few years these few may multiply to thousands. Amongst the angels, who do not probably derive their existence from each other, between whom there is not this relation of parent and child, there is not this character-propagating power. 2. 'J!htJ anti-Christian aim of its agenf,s, "Aud they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the snints about, and the beloved city" (ver; 9). '!'he .idea, 1yrubolized, I take to be this-they made efforts to assault the most central and vital part o{ religion. They sought, perhaps, to argue away the being of God, the doctrine. of human responsibility, the necessity or mediation, and the existence of a future likof rewards and punishments. There are minor attacks which unbelievers make upon Christianity, but the attempt to disprove these fundamentals is a. blow aimed at the most vital part-it is to compass "the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city." Ill. TUE REACTION TERMINATES IN THE EVERLASTING DESTRUCTION OJ!' ALL ITS AGENTS, "And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoure<l them. And the devil that deceivad them was cast into the lake of fire," etc. {vers. 9; 10). From thi~ language we learn the following truths: 1. 1'hat there is in thtJ universe of God a distinc i local scene, where the wicked of all clas;es are to ,·eceive their righteous retribuli1.,,,. This is implied in the expression, "lake of fire." '!'here are other scriptural expreK- sions which imply it; such as "Gehcuna," "furnace of fire," etc. Reason would also suggest this. (1) .&ll existence impliu place. You may think or space apart from being, bl.\t }"OU cann?t th_ink of bein$ apa~t fro~ ~~ce. .Yo~. thin~ of~n ~nfinite being in con- trect1on with 1n6n1tespace, and·fimte beJ,ng m connection w1tli .limited locality. (2) A fiMW eziatence implies a mi$era1ilt sdtme. ·4titecedently, we should infll!" that the otiter sqene of:a. moral 'bein~s existence,'would resemble hie nioi'al character and niood. '.Chiii--,;>rld. W#S made for innocence, and it is beautiful, etc. : It see\)ll3 :fitting that a dark/.inluirinonio1,1s, deformed 'spjrit should have a sunless, tumultuous, and horrid world as .its resid~nce. · (3} Moral beings, of directly· opposite sympath~, habits, and aims, as an sinners and ,aints, imply separate.local homes. There ~ a m11-tual repug~ mmce to each other's society here, and, it is natural. to suppose that, when retribution comes, they shall have their "own place." We know not where this place ii', whether in the depths of the earth ·or in regions far beyond this planet. 'l'here may be, perhaps, 'in some district of the·creat!on, ~ sc~ne without a streak of beauty,a gleam of· hght; or a drop of goodness, on which Justice frowns and thunders. 2. Tl1at the retributim which the wicked will endure in this sc~ will be of a most terrible descriptlon. "Fire and brimstone" (ver. 10). The' allu.,iori b'.ere is most likely to the fate of Sodom .ari.d Gomorrah (Gen. xix. 24-28); fire is the emblem of suffering (Zeeb. xiii. 9; '1 Cor. iii 13-15; 1 Pet. i. 7); biimstone is the emblem of cie1olatio11, (Job xviii. I6). Nothing will grow on any soil that is covered .with sulphur. 'l'he ~ible employs other figures equally terrible, such a~ "outer darkn,ess,'"' blackness of dark- ness,... " prison," etc. Here, then; is the em! of the enemies of Christ. Redeemed humanity, henceforth, will be freed fro·ID "Gog .and Magog,'' from the beast and the false prophet, and from the devil, the prince of darkness, for ever and ever. · Glorious :lay I '!'hough countless ages in the future, this faint' glimpse of thee adds energy to our faith and brightness to our hope l But how long will this reaction continue? We have an answer to this iri the third verse of the chapter, "And after that be must be loosed for a little season." Its duration will be short compared with either of the two following periods: (1) Compared with the preceding period of almost universal holiness. 'l'he period of millennial holiness continued for a thousand years-i.e. either three hundred arid sixty-five thousand years, or some immense period of duration. This period of reaction is called a "little seas<Jn " in relation to that. (2) Compared with the imcceecling period o/ perfect holiness to be enfoyed by tlie redeemed in the heavenly world. In the twenty-secor.d chapter of this book it is said of the state and residence of the redeemed tbat " there sha][ be no night there ; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lori! God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever." "For ever and ever." What arithmetic ('an compute the ages contained in this" ever and ever"? All the preceding periods in the world's history are but as a "little season" compared with· this "ever and ever;" less than an hour to the geological cycles that are gone ; less than a spark to the central firea that light and warm the unnumbered worlds ofspace.-D. T. Vets.11..:..15;..:..Thefourth scene in tk history of humanity: tlie age of retri'hulion, "And I saw a; great white throne," etc. '!'here was one fact comll)on to all the pre- ceding epochs through which redeemed humanity had passed-they were all proba- tiottary, all connected with the overtnreH. of mercy to the guilty, a!ld the IJ'.!.eans of Apitituaf pll'rity, blessedness, i1nd elevati,•n for the polluted, unhappy, and. de,,,<>Tade;l. llut the probationary element, which had l'Uri on through all dispensati.ons from Adam to Christ, and through nil revolutions from. Christ to the consummation of the world, is now' closed; its la.fit ray has fallen, its sun has gone down to rise no more. Hence- on, every man shall be treated aceording to his past' woi:ks, and shall reap the fruit of his own doings. The· morning of retribution has broken. The mag1Jificent passage before us points to the period designated in Scripture "the day of God," " the judgnient. of the great day," "the revelation of the righteous judgment of God," "the eternal judgment." It may be well to premise at the outset, in order to guard against the tendency of associating too much of what is merely material and human with the cir- cumstances and transactions of this period, that this retribution will literaUy involve the judiciary circumstances here portrayed. I have heard and read discourses on this subject~ \\hich impress the mind more with II kind of Old Bailey scene, than with. the great moral facts which distinguish that period from all preceding times. ltis true that we have. here the mention of the ''throne" and "books" common to human oourta i cii, tx. t,--{~~l · '.Um· ~VEL.TION. :Oli' S'l'. 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