mentioned in the book, than the whole preceding part of the dispensation, and perhaps than all preceding time of man's history, is here dispatched in two or three sentences, with hardly any particulars. This is very remarkable, especially when we remember what full particulars we have had of the destruction of Babylon, and can hardly be without significance; for naturally we should have expected that the glories of that period would have been portrayed in ample details and glowing colors. Hence we have the conjecture which has been hazarded (198) confirmed; namely, that these glories were the subject of the revelations made by the seven thunders, which the Seer was forbidden to record, perhaps because the church in the wilderness could not bear them. But these long ages of purity, peace, and prosperity in the church, and consequently of her unparalleled efficiency in the salvation of mankind, when the great antichristian world-power, the beast, and the false prophet shall have been overthrown and destroyed, and Satan put in chains and shut up in the abyss, ought to be, as they have ever been to all the pious and godly among men, the object of our prevalent prayers, unwearied labors, and comforting hopes. For although a period of renewed conflict will come after them, it will be very brief. And who can doubt but that multitudes which no man can number will be saved during the millennium, to make it more and more evident to all worlds that 'where sin abounded, grace did much more abound' (Rom. v. 20). Indeed, it may well be that they who are finally lost will be in comparison with the saved during this period alone as the small dust of the balance to the treasures that are weighed in it, or as the stalk and husk and chaff to the abundant harvest of precious grain. God grant that it may be so. Amen.

XLIV

THE POSTMILLENNIAL CONFLICT

SATAN XX 7-10

THE JUDGMENT OF

This vision also is one of very difficult interpretation. The most that I can hope to do is to gather up the scattered rays of light which gleam from its words and imagery, along with those which are cast upon it from the preceding revelations of this book and other prophetic Scriptures.

7 And when the thousand years are accomplished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 and will come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together unto the war, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

The millennial kingdom of the Lord, as a definitely limited period, will come to an end in the course of time, and the great enemy of God and man, after having been kept in prison and in chains for many ages, will be let loose again, and come forth to deceive the nations, from which will arise the final conflict between good and evil in this world. But why these things should be so is nowhere revealed, and no satisfactory solution of the problem has ever been suggested. It is, as has been said, one of the greatest mysteries of the divine providence (366).

But what nations are these whom Satan will deceive and stir up to rebellion against the Lord and to make war upon His people? Are they such as have never been Christianized, even during the millennium, or Christian nations whom Satan seduces into apostasy? From the words in which they are described, as dwelling 'in the four corners of the earth,' it has been commonly supposed that they are heathen

peoples having their seats in the extremities of the habitable globe; but it seems better to take the number 'four' in this expression in its common symbolical meaning of universality, as in the case of the four angels who hold the four winds of the earth (152). Hence the expression may be taken as designating the nations of the earth in general, or universally, including Gog and Magog, whom, after they have been Christianized, Satan seduces into apostasy; for there is nothing more incredible or mysterious in such a universal national defection than that he should be loosed out of his prison. Moreover, this interpretation is confirmed by what is said concerning Gog and Magog in the preceding Scriptures. For in the ethnological table Magog is mentioned along with his brethren, the other sons of Japheth, Gomer, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras (Gen. x. 2), who are commonly recognized as the ancestors of the ancient Thracians, Medes, Greeks, Muscovites, Iberians, and others. In Ezekiel, also, in a passage which requires to be studied in this connection, the Persians, Ethiopians, and Libyans are included in the armies of Gog and Magog (Ez. xxxviii., xxxix.). Now these peoples include a large proportion of those that were known in ancient times, and we cannot suppose that all of them will be left out of the Lord's millennial kingdom, especially since many of them have been already at least nominally Christianized. It may, indeed, be gathered from the passages in the prophet just referred to that the names, Gog and Magog, were a general designation of northern heathen nations, but even there they were evidently taken symbolically to designate the enemies of the Lord and His kingdom in the last times. These, as we are here informed, in multitudes like the sand on the sea-shore, Satan will gather together unto the war,' i. e. to the final conflict between good and evil in this world which has been previously foreshadowed (320).

9 And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down out of heaven and devoured them.

The expression 'they went up' seems to refer to the surface of the earth conceived of as an elevated plateau, just as the Arabs in the neighborhood of the great Sahara now speak of going up on the desert. These nations, being as the sand of the sea for multitude, and covering the breadth of the earth, represent the universal character of this national apostasy. The beloved city,' which they besiege on all sides, is, of course, Jerusalem, here taken symbolically, as I understand, to represent the church which has remained true. and faithful to her allegiance, notwithstanding the general revolt and rebellion: and she is further characterized as 'the camp of the saints,' to signify that they are not taken by surprise, but are found in a state of preparation for war and defence against this desperate and final onslaught. But they have no need to put forth their strength, for this is God's. battle, and He will fight for them, as in the historical types. to which there are here significant references: "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more forever: the Lord will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace (Ex. xiv. 13-14). Fear not ye, neither be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. . . . Ye shall not need to fight this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (2 Chron. xx. 15– 17). So in this great antitype, the saints have no need to raise a hand against their enemies; for the fire of God, i. e. the divine justice, of which fire is the constant symbol (166), comes down from heaven and consumes them. The prophecies concerning this great event are very numerous, and they throw some light upon the manner in which this rebellious host is broken up and destroyed: "Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I am against thee. O Gog, chief prince of Meshech, and Tubal . . . Persia, Cush, and Put . . . Gomer, and all his hordes . . . Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes

even many peoples with thee. . . . Thou wilt come up, thou wilt come like a storm, thou wilt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy hordes, and many peoples with thee. . . . Thou wilt come up against my people Israel as a cloud to cover the land: it will come to pass in the latter days. . . . And I will call for a sword against him. . . . Every man's sword shall be against his brother: and I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone. . . . And I will send a fire upon Magog (Ez. xxxviii.). And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them. . . . They shall make fires of them seven years. . . . And there shall they bury Gog and his multitude: and they shall call it, The Valley of the Multitude of Gog: and seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land" (Ez. xxxix.). The fulness of these prophecies, from which only meagre extracts are given here, represents the great importance of the event; upon which, moreover, the commentators cite the following from the Rabbinical books: "When Gog and Magog shall see the war, Messiah will say unto them, For what have ye come hither? They will answer, Against the Lord, and against His Christ. . . . In the end of days, Gog and Magog will come up against Jerusalem, and shall fall by the hands of King Messiah; and for seven years of days the sons of Israel will make their fires from their weapons."

10 And the devil, the deceiver of them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone; where also the beast and the false prophet are; and they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Such is the end of Satan's career, as also it was preordained from the time that he fell from heaven (237), and set himself to work woe to mankind. Now he is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death, i. e. he is subjected to the utmost punitive energy of the divine justice; whither have already preceded him his two