Revelation 20

Notes

Ver. 2-7. Whether the millennium or thousand years here mentioned denotes precisely a thousand of our years, or only many years, as the term thousand is taken, De. 1. 11; 7. 9; 32. 30; Ps. 90. 4; 91. 7; 105. 8; Ec. 6. 6; Is. 30. 17; 60. 22; 2 Pe. 3. 8, I cannot determine. The glory and happiness of this thousand years' reign of the saints is to be understood, not literally, but spiritually and figuratively, according to the common style of the book. It could not consist with the happiness of the saints to leave the heavenly mansions and live in bodies needing meat and drink; nor, if their bodies were raised spiritual and incorruptible, would they need any such thing; and in vain would Satan instigate the wicked to war against and cut off spiritual and incorruptible bodies. The dead in Christ are also represented as all rising together at the last day. And a proper resurrection is never in Scripture represented as a reviving or living again of the soul, but of the body. The resurrection of the martyrs' and confessors' souls here spoken of must therefore mean, not the resurrection of these deceased persons, but the remarkable reformation, deliverance, comfort, and activity of the church in their successors, Ro. 11. 15; Eze. 37. 1-14; Ps. 85. 6; Ho. 6. 2, 3; Zec. 10. 1.—And as Elijah is represented as living in John Baptist, Mat. 11. 14; 17. 12; Lu. 1. 17, and antichristian Rome is called in this book Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon, on account of her likeness to them in luxury, cruelty, pride, and idolatry, ch. 11. 8; 14. 8; 16. 19; 17. 5; 18. 2, 21, so the ancient martyrs will live in the Christians of this period, being united to the same head, members of the same body, and of the same temper, faith, patience, zeal, and fortitude, and professing the same gospel truths. And this restoration of the church to this peaceable and glorious state, after a long death under the reign of evil, in which multitudes of Jews and Gentiles shall be converted to Christ, and shall enjoy much spiritual, delightful, and honourable fellowship with Christ and with one another, and have the governing power in the earth, is called the first resurrection, as it is a figure and pledge of the general resurrection of the saints to eternal life at the last day. The wicked will not live again till the end of the thousand years; that is, they will be reduced to the same condition in which Christ's slain witnesses were a little before, ch. 11. 7-9, having no authority, power, or activity to make head against Christ and his cause. 8-10. Perhaps Gog and Magog may here include the wicked everywhere in the world, instigated by Satan to embolden their spirits, and combine in a furious and desperate attack upon the church, which shall issue in a manner no less dreadful than the last efforts of evil. 11. The opening of the books, and judging men according to them, denotes that, in the last judgment, the infinite and all-observing knowledge and exact remembrance of God, the extensive notice and exact recording of men's own consciences, and the whole contents of God's revelations and purposes, will be clearly manifested, and all men righteously judged exactly answerable thereto. 13, 14. By hell may be understood the state of separate spirits; and death and hell are cast into the lake of fire, when the bodies and souls of all the wicked are shut up in hell, and there is no vestige of sin or misery left anywhere else in the creation of God.

Ver. 4. A thousand years. Are these thousand years literal or prophetic? In the midst of such an array of unquestionable emblems, it seems impossible, by any rule of interpretation, to understand them as literally 'a thousand;' but, taken prophetically, and according to the wont of this book—a day for a year—they represent 360,000 years, a period which some deem so long as to appear inadmissible. Let it, however, be recollected, that from Adam to Christ was but 75 generations, Lu. 3. 23-38; that, calculating generations, not by antediluvian, but by Abrahamic life, 78 years must yet run before 42 generations can be added, making in all 117 generations since the creation. Then, let it be recollected, that Jehovah is described (Ex. 20. 6) as 'keeping mercy for thousands,' even for thousands of generations; that he has 'commanded his Word to a thousand generations,' Ps. 105. 8; 'and the Scripture cannot be broken,' Jn. 10. 35; neither does the Spirit of truth speak in vain and boastful hyperboles; and the length of time thus allotted to the happy condition of the church will appear in no-wise disproportionate to the announcement of other scriptures. C.

Reflections.—Glorious is the period of light, life, liberty, love, peace, purity, joy, and triumph which the church of true believers shall enjoy even on earth, after a long, long night of darkness, trouble, and oppression. When Satan is restrained by Christ, and the Holy Ghost poured out, with what power, spirituality, and splendour shall the cause of Christ revive! They who in evil times had faithfully adhered to the truth shall, in their persons, or in the numerous multitudes of their converted successors, live and reign under the protection and smiles of their Redeemer. But no happiness on earth is unmovable or everlasting. Satan and his wicked instruments will always disturb the beloved saints and city of the Lord to their utmost; but quickly shall their most furious and joint attacks issue in their universal and everlasting destruction. In what a public and awful manner the general resurrection and last judgment will shut up the scenes of time! How great and glorious the Judge! how tremendous the tribunal! how numerous and serious the panels! how exact the trial! Just, but awful and irrevocable, shall be the decisions, and infinitely important and lasting the execution.