[339]Chap. xiii. 3, R.V.[340]Chap. v. 6.[341]Heb. ii. 14.[342]Chap. xii. 12.[343]Vers. 3, 4.[344]Ver. 7.[345]Ver. 8.[346]Ver. 5.[347]Comp. p.175.[348]Ps. cxiii. 5; Isa. xl. 25, xlvi. 3, 5.[349]Ver. 6.[350]John i. 14; Rev. vii. 15.[351]1 Cor. ii. 12. Comp. Gal. vi. 14.[352]James iv. 4.[353]1 John ii. 15, 16.[354]John xiv. 30; xvi. 33; xvii. 15, 16.[355]Eph. vi. 12.[356]2 Thess. i. 6, 7.[357]Ps. cxlvii. 19.[358]Matt. vii. 15.[359]Acts xx. 29.[360]Vers. 12, 15.[361]Matt. xxiv. 24.[362]2 Thess. ii. 9, 10.[363]Comp. chaps. xvi. 13; xix. 20; xx. 10.[364]1 John iv. 1.[365]Fairbairn,On Prophecy, p. 328.[366]John xix. 12.[367]Matt. vi. 23.[368]Luke xiv. 34, 35.[369]The Revelation of St. John: Baird Lectures published by Macmillan and Co., second edition, p. 142, etc., 319, etc.[370]Comp. chaps. iii. 12; xiv. 1; ii. 17.[371]Chap. ii. 17. Comp. John i. 31; iv. 32.[372]Dan. vii. 8.[373]Comp. 1 John ii. 18.[374]2 Thess. ii. 8.[375]John xii. 36-38.[376]Vers. 42, 50.[377]Ps. cxxxiii. 3.[378]Ps. ix. 11.[379]Ps. lxxviii. 68.[380]Ps. xiv. 7.[381]Ps. ii. 6, 7.[382]Isa. xxxv. 10.[383]Heb. xii. 22-24.[384]Ps. xlviii. 2.[385]Comp. Lee inSpeaker's Commentary in loc.The distinction between the two references is there wrongly given.[386]2 Cor. xi. 2.[387]1 John v. 20, 21.[388]John xxi. 22.[389]Chaps. xxi. 27; xxii. 15.[390]Heb. ix. 14; 1 Pet. i. 19.[391]Rom. xi. 16; xvi. 5; 1 Cor. xv. 20; xvi. 15.[392]James i. 18.[393]Rom. viii. 21.[394]Isa. lv. 12.[395]Ps. xcvi. 13.[396]Chaps. xvii. 1; xviii. 7.[397]Comp. chaps. xi. 9; xiii. 7.[398]Comp. James ii. 19.[399]Chaps. viii., xv.[400]They are so rendered in the margin of the Revised Version.[401]Jude 7 (margin of R.V.).[402]Rom. vii.[403]Comp. p.108.[404]Matt. ix. 37, 38; xiii. 29, 30.[405]John xiv. 3.[406]John v. 19.[407]Mark xiii. 32.[408]Comp. the "dried up" of the margin of the Revised Version.[409]John v. 30.[410]Joel iii. 12, 13.[411]Isa. lxiii. 2-4.[412]Ver. 15.[413]Zech. xiv. 20.[414]Comp. 1 Cor. ix. 24.[415]Matt. xiii. 41.[416]Matt. xiii. 49, 50.[417]Vaughan,u. s., p. 378.[418]Exod. xv. 1.[419]Isa. lxi. 10.[420]Ezek. xxviii. 13.[421]Comp. chap. vi.[422]Exod. xl. 35.[423]1 Kings viii. 11.[424]Isa. vi. 4.[425]Exod. xix. 18; Heb. xii. 18.[426]Chap. xv. 1.[427]Comp. chap. viii. 7 and xvi. 2.[428]Comp. chap. viii. 8, 9 and xvi. 3.[429]Comp. chap. viii. 10, 11 and xvi. 4.[430]Comp. chap. viii. 12 and xvi. 8.[431]Exod. ix. 10.[432]Exod. vii. 20.[433]Exod. x. 21.[434]Isa. xi. 15, 16.[435]Isa. li. 10.[436]Zech. x. 10-12.[437]1 Kings xxii. 19-22.[438]Judges v.[439]2 Chron. xxxv. 22.[440]Ephes. ii. 2.[441]Chap. xi. 2; xx. 9.[442]Chap. vi. 14.[443]Chap. xx. 11.[444]Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3, 7.[445]Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3.[446]Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3, 12.[447]Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 8.[448]Comp. pp.75,199.[449]Chap. xvii. 12.[450]Chap. xvii. 12.[451]Chap. xvii. 11.[452]Chap. xiii. 2.[453]Chap. xii. 17.[454]Chap. xvii. 14.[455]Comp. p.222.[456]Ver. 8.[457]Chap. i. 18.[458]Comp. chap. xiii. 3.[459]Chap. v. 6.[460]Comp. chaps. vi. 13; viii. 10; ix. 1; xi. 13; xiv. 8; xvi. 19; xviii. 2.[461]Comp. Dan. vii. 17, 23; Rev. xviii. 3.[462]Chap. xii. 12.[463]Dan. vii. 7, 8.[464]Chap. xii. 13.[465]Acts i. 7.[466]Chaps. xiv. 8; xvi. 19.[467]Jer. iii. 1.[468]Micah i. 7.[469]Matt. xxiii. 34-36.[470]Chap. xi. 8.[471]Isa. i. 10.[472]Isa. i. 21.[473]Guinness,The Approaching End of the Age, p. 143.[474]Chap. xvii. 15.[475]Comp. 2 Thess. ii. 7.[476]John x. 16.[477]Comp. chap. xi. 10.[478]Chap. i. 9.[479]Ps. xcii. 7-9.[480]Kliefoth seems to have been the first to point this out.[481]Luke ii. 9; Acts xxvi. 13.[482]Isa. xiii. 19-22.[483]John x. 7.[484]John ix. 35.[485]Exod. xxii. 4, 7, 9.[486]Jer. xvi. 18.[487]Isa. xxiv. 10.[488]Chap. xvii. 16.[489]Chap. xviii. 8.[490]Lev. xxi. 9.[491]Isaac Williams,The Apocalypse, with Notes, etc., p. 360.[492]Matt. xxiii. 35. Comp. p.291.[493]Vers. 10, 17, 19.[494]Jer. iv. 19; Zeph. i. 15, 16.[495]Mark x. 39.[496]Rev. i. 9.[497]John xvii. 4.[498]Ver. 9.[499]Chap. xx. 7.[500]Comp.[501]Comp. p.250.[502]Exod. xxxiv. 7.[503]Comp. chap. iii. 20.[504]Comp. Ps. xiv. 9-15; Isa. liv. 5; Hos. ii. 19; Matt. xxii. 2; Eph. v. 32, etc.[505]John ii. 1-11.[506]John iii. 28, 29.[507]Col. i. 27.[508]Eph. ii. 8.[509]Rom. viii. 29.[510]1 Cor. vi. 11.[511]Chap. xiv. 13.[512]Matt. xxvi. 26, 27; 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.[513]Comp. chaps. i. 3, 9, vi. 9, xi. 7, xii. 17, xx. 4.[514]Rom. ix. 5.[515]Matt. xi. 27.[516]Isa. lxiii. 3.[517]Ezek. xxxix. 17-20.[518]Ver. 9.[519]John xviii. 28.[520]The writer has endeavoured to unfold this view of Jesus on the Cross in two papers inThe Expositor, first series, vol. vi., pp. 17, 129.[521]Chap. xiii. 14.[522]Burgerin loc.[523]Comp. p.297.[524]Chaps. i. 16; xix. 15.[525]Chap. xx. 15.[526]Chap. xix. 21.[527]Chap. xx. 9.[528]Ezek. xxxix. 14.[529]Chaps. i. 3, ii. 16, iii. 20, xxii. 20, etc.; 1 Cor. vii. 29; Heb. x. 37.[530]John v. 25.[531]John v. 28.[532]Comp. chap. vi. 9.[533]Chap. v. 10.[534]Comp. the teaching of our Lord in John xi. 25, 26, and v. 24.[535]John xiv. 19 (margin of R.V.).[536]Chap. ii. 11.[537]Chap. vi. 9.[538]Comp. p.102.[539]Matt. xxv. 31-46; Rom. ii. 5, 7; 1 Thess. iv. 17; 2 Thess. i. 7, 10.[540]John vi. 39, 40, 44.[541]See authorities in Lee (Speaker's Commentary) on Rev. xx. 2, and his excursus on that chapter.[542]Speaker's Commentary,u.s.[543]John xvii. 22.[544]1 John iii. 9.[545]1 John v. 18.[546]Chap. xii. 12.[547]Comp. the remarkable parallel in John i. 5: "and the darkness overcame it not."[548]It is not to be denied that difficulties attend the interpretation of the thousand years suggested in the text. The writer would advert in a note to the two which appear to him to be the most formidable.1. In ver. 3 we read that Satan was cast into the abyss, etc., "that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished." Let it be granted that "the nations" here referred to can hardly be understood in any other sense than that common in the Apocalypse: the heathen, the ungodly, nations or the wicked in general. We then seem to read that there must be a time during which Satan does not "deceive the nations," while the explanation given above has been that he was no sooner subjugated for the righteous than he was let loose to deceive the unrighteous. In hisLectures on the Revelation of St. John(p. 224, note) the author was disposed to plead that the words in question may not have been intended to indicate that action on Satan's part was for a time to cease, but rather to bring out and express that aspect of Satan by which he is specially distinguished in the Apocalypse. In deference to the criticism of the Rev. H. W. Reynolds (Remarks on Dr. Milligan's Interpretation of the Apocalypse, pp. 9, 27), he would yield this point. Notwithstanding the irregular constructions of the Apocalypse, it is at least precarious; and it is better to leave a difficulty unsolved, especially in a case where difficulties surround every interpretation yet offered, than to propose solutions of the sufficiency of which even the proposer is doubtful. It may be asked, however, without resorting to the conjecture formerly thrown out, whether the words "that he should deceive," even when taken in what is said to be their only true sense, are irreconcilable with the view of the thousand years advocated in this commentary. That view is that the subjugation of Satan for a thousand years means his complete subjugation. When, therefore, it is said that he has been so shut up as "to deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished," the meaning may simply be that in theact of being subjectedhe was deprived alike of authority and opportunity to deceive the nations. It lay within the power of the Conqueror to grant or not to grant him fresh liberty to do so. The "strong man" was then bound, and "his goods were spoiled." He was completely subjected to Christ. When, therefore, we are told of the thousand years during which he was to deceive the nations no more, this language is only the continuation of the figure used in the second verse of the chapter; and what the Seer intends to express is, that during the process of his subjection, and until he should be again loosed by Him who had subjected him, he could do nothing. Satan, in short, must bepermittedto come up out of the abyss either in his own person or by his agents before he can disturb the earth (comp. chap. ix. 2); and it is the purpose of God that he shall not have power to disturb it until, having been really "brought to nought" by Christ (comp. Heb. ii. 14), he shall go forth to his evil work among the nations as one who, whatever may be the increase of his wrath (comp. chap. xii. 12), has yet been overcome by another far mightier than himself.2. The second difficulty demanding notice is presented by the words of ver. 5, "The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished." Who are these called "the rest of the dead," and in what sense did they "live"? The term "the rest," applied to persons, occurs in the following passages of the Apocalypse in addition to that before us: chaps. ii. 24, ix. 20, xi. 13, xii. 17, xix. 21. In every one of these cases it refers to the remaining portion of a class mentioned, but not exhausted; and it cannot be extended to any class beyond them. Here, however, no class has been spoken of exceptthe righteous, or rather the "souls" of the righteous, described by various particulars both of their character and their state. "The rest" of the dead must therefore belong to that class, and to it alone. They cannot be the general body of mankind, both good and bad, with the exception of those previously mentioned. Again, what is meant when it is said that the rest of the dead "lived"? The same word had occurred in the immediately preceding verse, and it must now be understood in the same sense. "If," says Dean Alford, who has been quoted with great confidence against the present writer (Reynolds,u.s., p. 23), "in such a passage the first resurrection may be understood to meanspiritualrising with Christ, while the second meansliteralrising from the grave, then there is an end of all significance in language; and Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to anything. If the first resurrection is spiritual, then so is the second, which I suppose none will be hardy enough to maintain" (on Rev. xx. 4-6). Now that is exactly what is here maintained. The "lived" of ver. 4 is spiritual; the "lived" of ver. 5 is also spiritual. The "rest of the dead" then are the Old Testament saints of chap. vi. 9, who, by the completion of the Lord's redeeming work, were brought up to the level of the New Testament Church (comp. p.101). The meaning of chap. xx. 5 may thus be said to be that, the New Testament Church having hadfirstbestowed upon it a complete redemption, the same white robes were afterwards given to the Old Testament Church, the succession being again one of thought rather than time. In this wayallthe members of Christ's body are marked out as having been "dead" before they lived, thus identifying them with their Lord in chap. i. 18; the position of the words at the close of ver. 5, "this is the first resurrection," is rendered more natural by their thus following what is wholly a description of the condition of the blessed, instead of having a sentence interposed of an entirely different character; and, finally, to say nothing of the contextual considerations already referred to, the full Johannine force of the word "lived" is preserved.These answers to the two chief difficulties associated with the interpretation here suggested of the thousand years may not be satisfactory to all; but it is submitted that they go far at least to meet them, and that in themselves they are neither unfair nor strained. Against one thing only must the author of this commentary enter his most decided protest,—the allegation that the interpretation here offered is gained by dispensing with textual criticism (?) and by sacrificing grammar to an idea. If there be one ground more than another upon which it rests, it is upon the strictest principles of historical interpretation. It ought only to be remembered that the idiosyncrasies of an author are as much a part of such interpretation as the literal meaning of his words; and that to that interpretation, if honestly and thoroughly conducted, the most deeply ingrained prejudices will in due time be compelled to submit.[549]Comp. Matt. xxii. 12.[550]Chap. xxi. 1.[551]Acts iii. 21.[552]2 Pet. iii. 10, 13.[553]Rom. viii. 21-23.[554]2 Cor. v. 4.[555]Comp. 1 Cor. xv. 44.[556]John iv. 24.[557]In connexion with the point here spoken of, reference may be made to an interesting and instructive paper by Canon Dale Stewart, Rector of Coulsdon, inThe Churchmanfor December, 1887.[558]Chap. xi. 18.[559]Matt. xi. 23, xvi. 18.[560]Isa. xxiv. 23.[561]Trench,Synonyms, second series, p. 39.[562]Comp. pp.227,357.[563]Chap. iv. 3.[564]Matt. v. 14.[565]Ps. xxxi. 21; Isa. xxvi. 1.[566]Ps. xci. 11.[567]Comp. Ezek. xlviii. 31.[568]Comp. Ezek. xl. 2, 3.[569]Chap. xxi. 9.[570]Ezek. xl. 1, 2.[571]Ezek. xliii. 2.[572]Ezek. xliv. 1-3.[573]The Apocalypse, p. 438.[574]Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2; Col. i. 2.[575]Col. i. 27; 1 Cor. i. 30; Phil. iii. 9.[576]Eph. v. 25-27.[577]Eph. i. 3.[578]Phil. iii. 20.[579]Heb. xii. 22, 23.[580]John xiv. 20.[581]John xvii. 22.[582]1 Pet. i. 8.[583]Comp. Foxley,Hulsean Lectures, Lect. i.[584]Commentary inClark's Foreign Theological Library,in loc.[585]Comp. p.373.[586]Chap. i. 1.[587]Chap. xix. 5.[588]John xix. 35. Wider questions than can be here discussed would be opened up by an inquiry how far the same method of explanation may be applied to John xvii. 3.[589]Chap. i. 3.[590]Chap. i. 4, 9.[591]Chap. xix. 10.[592]Dan. xii. 4; comp. viii. 26.[593]Comp. John iii. 19.[594]See a fuller treatment of this important point by the author in hisLectures on the Revelation of St. John, p. 286, etc.[595]Comp. chap. xi. 18.[596]Chap. i. 8.[597]Chap. i. 5.[598]1 Cor. i. 30.[599]Comp. Ps. xxii. 16, 20; Matt. vii. 6; Phil. iii. 2.[600]Comp. Matt. xxv. 10.[601]Chap. i. 1.[602]John i. 51.[603]Matt. xxii. 45.[604]Isa. xi. 1.[605]Rom. i. 3.[606]Mal. iv. 2.[607]Matt. i. 23.[608]Rom. viii. 31-39.[609]John xv. 26, 27.[610]John iv. 14.[611]Chap. i. 3.[612]Matt. x. 40.[613]Comp. Mark xiii. 11.[614]Judges v. 28.[615]John xiv. 18, R.V. (margin).[616]Expositor, July, 1888, p. 58.
[339]Chap. xiii. 3, R.V.
[340]Chap. v. 6.
[341]Heb. ii. 14.
[342]Chap. xii. 12.
[343]Vers. 3, 4.
[344]Ver. 7.
[345]Ver. 8.
[346]Ver. 5.
[347]Comp. p.175.
[348]Ps. cxiii. 5; Isa. xl. 25, xlvi. 3, 5.
[349]Ver. 6.
[350]John i. 14; Rev. vii. 15.
[351]1 Cor. ii. 12. Comp. Gal. vi. 14.
[352]James iv. 4.
[353]1 John ii. 15, 16.
[354]John xiv. 30; xvi. 33; xvii. 15, 16.
[355]Eph. vi. 12.
[356]2 Thess. i. 6, 7.
[357]Ps. cxlvii. 19.
[358]Matt. vii. 15.
[359]Acts xx. 29.
[360]Vers. 12, 15.
[361]Matt. xxiv. 24.
[362]2 Thess. ii. 9, 10.
[363]Comp. chaps. xvi. 13; xix. 20; xx. 10.
[364]1 John iv. 1.
[365]Fairbairn,On Prophecy, p. 328.
[366]John xix. 12.
[367]Matt. vi. 23.
[368]Luke xiv. 34, 35.
[369]The Revelation of St. John: Baird Lectures published by Macmillan and Co., second edition, p. 142, etc., 319, etc.
[370]Comp. chaps. iii. 12; xiv. 1; ii. 17.
[371]Chap. ii. 17. Comp. John i. 31; iv. 32.
[372]Dan. vii. 8.
[373]Comp. 1 John ii. 18.
[374]2 Thess. ii. 8.
[375]John xii. 36-38.
[376]Vers. 42, 50.
[377]Ps. cxxxiii. 3.
[378]Ps. ix. 11.
[379]Ps. lxxviii. 68.
[380]Ps. xiv. 7.
[381]Ps. ii. 6, 7.
[382]Isa. xxxv. 10.
[383]Heb. xii. 22-24.
[384]Ps. xlviii. 2.
[385]Comp. Lee inSpeaker's Commentary in loc.The distinction between the two references is there wrongly given.
[386]2 Cor. xi. 2.
[387]1 John v. 20, 21.
[388]John xxi. 22.
[389]Chaps. xxi. 27; xxii. 15.
[390]Heb. ix. 14; 1 Pet. i. 19.
[391]Rom. xi. 16; xvi. 5; 1 Cor. xv. 20; xvi. 15.
[392]James i. 18.
[393]Rom. viii. 21.
[394]Isa. lv. 12.
[395]Ps. xcvi. 13.
[396]Chaps. xvii. 1; xviii. 7.
[397]Comp. chaps. xi. 9; xiii. 7.
[398]Comp. James ii. 19.
[399]Chaps. viii., xv.
[400]They are so rendered in the margin of the Revised Version.
[401]Jude 7 (margin of R.V.).
[402]Rom. vii.
[403]Comp. p.108.
[404]Matt. ix. 37, 38; xiii. 29, 30.
[405]John xiv. 3.
[406]John v. 19.
[407]Mark xiii. 32.
[408]Comp. the "dried up" of the margin of the Revised Version.
[409]John v. 30.
[410]Joel iii. 12, 13.
[411]Isa. lxiii. 2-4.
[412]Ver. 15.
[413]Zech. xiv. 20.
[414]Comp. 1 Cor. ix. 24.
[415]Matt. xiii. 41.
[416]Matt. xiii. 49, 50.
[417]Vaughan,u. s., p. 378.
[418]Exod. xv. 1.
[419]Isa. lxi. 10.
[420]Ezek. xxviii. 13.
[421]Comp. chap. vi.
[422]Exod. xl. 35.
[423]1 Kings viii. 11.
[424]Isa. vi. 4.
[425]Exod. xix. 18; Heb. xii. 18.
[426]Chap. xv. 1.
[427]Comp. chap. viii. 7 and xvi. 2.
[428]Comp. chap. viii. 8, 9 and xvi. 3.
[429]Comp. chap. viii. 10, 11 and xvi. 4.
[430]Comp. chap. viii. 12 and xvi. 8.
[431]Exod. ix. 10.
[432]Exod. vii. 20.
[433]Exod. x. 21.
[434]Isa. xi. 15, 16.
[435]Isa. li. 10.
[436]Zech. x. 10-12.
[437]1 Kings xxii. 19-22.
[438]Judges v.
[439]2 Chron. xxxv. 22.
[440]Ephes. ii. 2.
[441]Chap. xi. 2; xx. 9.
[442]Chap. vi. 14.
[443]Chap. xx. 11.
[444]Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3, 7.
[445]Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3.
[446]Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 3, 12.
[447]Comp. chaps. xiii. 1 and xvii. 8.
[448]Comp. pp.75,199.
[449]Chap. xvii. 12.
[450]Chap. xvii. 12.
[451]Chap. xvii. 11.
[452]Chap. xiii. 2.
[453]Chap. xii. 17.
[454]Chap. xvii. 14.
[455]Comp. p.222.
[456]Ver. 8.
[457]Chap. i. 18.
[458]Comp. chap. xiii. 3.
[459]Chap. v. 6.
[460]Comp. chaps. vi. 13; viii. 10; ix. 1; xi. 13; xiv. 8; xvi. 19; xviii. 2.
[461]Comp. Dan. vii. 17, 23; Rev. xviii. 3.
[462]Chap. xii. 12.
[463]Dan. vii. 7, 8.
[464]Chap. xii. 13.
[465]Acts i. 7.
[466]Chaps. xiv. 8; xvi. 19.
[467]Jer. iii. 1.
[468]Micah i. 7.
[469]Matt. xxiii. 34-36.
[470]Chap. xi. 8.
[471]Isa. i. 10.
[472]Isa. i. 21.
[473]Guinness,The Approaching End of the Age, p. 143.
[474]Chap. xvii. 15.
[475]Comp. 2 Thess. ii. 7.
[476]John x. 16.
[477]Comp. chap. xi. 10.
[478]Chap. i. 9.
[479]Ps. xcii. 7-9.
[480]Kliefoth seems to have been the first to point this out.
[481]Luke ii. 9; Acts xxvi. 13.
[482]Isa. xiii. 19-22.
[483]John x. 7.
[484]John ix. 35.
[485]Exod. xxii. 4, 7, 9.
[486]Jer. xvi. 18.
[487]Isa. xxiv. 10.
[488]Chap. xvii. 16.
[489]Chap. xviii. 8.
[490]Lev. xxi. 9.
[491]Isaac Williams,The Apocalypse, with Notes, etc., p. 360.
[492]Matt. xxiii. 35. Comp. p.291.
[493]Vers. 10, 17, 19.
[494]Jer. iv. 19; Zeph. i. 15, 16.
[495]Mark x. 39.
[496]Rev. i. 9.
[497]John xvii. 4.
[498]Ver. 9.
[499]Chap. xx. 7.
[500]Comp.
[501]Comp. p.250.
[502]Exod. xxxiv. 7.
[503]Comp. chap. iii. 20.
[504]Comp. Ps. xiv. 9-15; Isa. liv. 5; Hos. ii. 19; Matt. xxii. 2; Eph. v. 32, etc.
[505]John ii. 1-11.
[506]John iii. 28, 29.
[507]Col. i. 27.
[508]Eph. ii. 8.
[509]Rom. viii. 29.
[510]1 Cor. vi. 11.
[511]Chap. xiv. 13.
[512]Matt. xxvi. 26, 27; 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.
[513]Comp. chaps. i. 3, 9, vi. 9, xi. 7, xii. 17, xx. 4.
[514]Rom. ix. 5.
[515]Matt. xi. 27.
[516]Isa. lxiii. 3.
[517]Ezek. xxxix. 17-20.
[518]Ver. 9.
[519]John xviii. 28.
[520]The writer has endeavoured to unfold this view of Jesus on the Cross in two papers inThe Expositor, first series, vol. vi., pp. 17, 129.
[521]Chap. xiii. 14.
[522]Burgerin loc.
[523]Comp. p.297.
[524]Chaps. i. 16; xix. 15.
[525]Chap. xx. 15.
[526]Chap. xix. 21.
[527]Chap. xx. 9.
[528]Ezek. xxxix. 14.
[529]Chaps. i. 3, ii. 16, iii. 20, xxii. 20, etc.; 1 Cor. vii. 29; Heb. x. 37.
[530]John v. 25.
[531]John v. 28.
[532]Comp. chap. vi. 9.
[533]Chap. v. 10.
[534]Comp. the teaching of our Lord in John xi. 25, 26, and v. 24.
[535]John xiv. 19 (margin of R.V.).
[536]Chap. ii. 11.
[537]Chap. vi. 9.
[538]Comp. p.102.
[539]Matt. xxv. 31-46; Rom. ii. 5, 7; 1 Thess. iv. 17; 2 Thess. i. 7, 10.
[540]John vi. 39, 40, 44.
[541]See authorities in Lee (Speaker's Commentary) on Rev. xx. 2, and his excursus on that chapter.
[542]Speaker's Commentary,u.s.
[543]John xvii. 22.
[544]1 John iii. 9.
[545]1 John v. 18.
[546]Chap. xii. 12.
[547]Comp. the remarkable parallel in John i. 5: "and the darkness overcame it not."
[548]It is not to be denied that difficulties attend the interpretation of the thousand years suggested in the text. The writer would advert in a note to the two which appear to him to be the most formidable.
1. In ver. 3 we read that Satan was cast into the abyss, etc., "that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished." Let it be granted that "the nations" here referred to can hardly be understood in any other sense than that common in the Apocalypse: the heathen, the ungodly, nations or the wicked in general. We then seem to read that there must be a time during which Satan does not "deceive the nations," while the explanation given above has been that he was no sooner subjugated for the righteous than he was let loose to deceive the unrighteous. In hisLectures on the Revelation of St. John(p. 224, note) the author was disposed to plead that the words in question may not have been intended to indicate that action on Satan's part was for a time to cease, but rather to bring out and express that aspect of Satan by which he is specially distinguished in the Apocalypse. In deference to the criticism of the Rev. H. W. Reynolds (Remarks on Dr. Milligan's Interpretation of the Apocalypse, pp. 9, 27), he would yield this point. Notwithstanding the irregular constructions of the Apocalypse, it is at least precarious; and it is better to leave a difficulty unsolved, especially in a case where difficulties surround every interpretation yet offered, than to propose solutions of the sufficiency of which even the proposer is doubtful. It may be asked, however, without resorting to the conjecture formerly thrown out, whether the words "that he should deceive," even when taken in what is said to be their only true sense, are irreconcilable with the view of the thousand years advocated in this commentary. That view is that the subjugation of Satan for a thousand years means his complete subjugation. When, therefore, it is said that he has been so shut up as "to deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished," the meaning may simply be that in theact of being subjectedhe was deprived alike of authority and opportunity to deceive the nations. It lay within the power of the Conqueror to grant or not to grant him fresh liberty to do so. The "strong man" was then bound, and "his goods were spoiled." He was completely subjected to Christ. When, therefore, we are told of the thousand years during which he was to deceive the nations no more, this language is only the continuation of the figure used in the second verse of the chapter; and what the Seer intends to express is, that during the process of his subjection, and until he should be again loosed by Him who had subjected him, he could do nothing. Satan, in short, must bepermittedto come up out of the abyss either in his own person or by his agents before he can disturb the earth (comp. chap. ix. 2); and it is the purpose of God that he shall not have power to disturb it until, having been really "brought to nought" by Christ (comp. Heb. ii. 14), he shall go forth to his evil work among the nations as one who, whatever may be the increase of his wrath (comp. chap. xii. 12), has yet been overcome by another far mightier than himself.
2. The second difficulty demanding notice is presented by the words of ver. 5, "The rest of the dead lived not until the thousand years should be finished." Who are these called "the rest of the dead," and in what sense did they "live"? The term "the rest," applied to persons, occurs in the following passages of the Apocalypse in addition to that before us: chaps. ii. 24, ix. 20, xi. 13, xii. 17, xix. 21. In every one of these cases it refers to the remaining portion of a class mentioned, but not exhausted; and it cannot be extended to any class beyond them. Here, however, no class has been spoken of exceptthe righteous, or rather the "souls" of the righteous, described by various particulars both of their character and their state. "The rest" of the dead must therefore belong to that class, and to it alone. They cannot be the general body of mankind, both good and bad, with the exception of those previously mentioned. Again, what is meant when it is said that the rest of the dead "lived"? The same word had occurred in the immediately preceding verse, and it must now be understood in the same sense. "If," says Dean Alford, who has been quoted with great confidence against the present writer (Reynolds,u.s., p. 23), "in such a passage the first resurrection may be understood to meanspiritualrising with Christ, while the second meansliteralrising from the grave, then there is an end of all significance in language; and Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to anything. If the first resurrection is spiritual, then so is the second, which I suppose none will be hardy enough to maintain" (on Rev. xx. 4-6). Now that is exactly what is here maintained. The "lived" of ver. 4 is spiritual; the "lived" of ver. 5 is also spiritual. The "rest of the dead" then are the Old Testament saints of chap. vi. 9, who, by the completion of the Lord's redeeming work, were brought up to the level of the New Testament Church (comp. p.101). The meaning of chap. xx. 5 may thus be said to be that, the New Testament Church having hadfirstbestowed upon it a complete redemption, the same white robes were afterwards given to the Old Testament Church, the succession being again one of thought rather than time. In this wayallthe members of Christ's body are marked out as having been "dead" before they lived, thus identifying them with their Lord in chap. i. 18; the position of the words at the close of ver. 5, "this is the first resurrection," is rendered more natural by their thus following what is wholly a description of the condition of the blessed, instead of having a sentence interposed of an entirely different character; and, finally, to say nothing of the contextual considerations already referred to, the full Johannine force of the word "lived" is preserved.
These answers to the two chief difficulties associated with the interpretation here suggested of the thousand years may not be satisfactory to all; but it is submitted that they go far at least to meet them, and that in themselves they are neither unfair nor strained. Against one thing only must the author of this commentary enter his most decided protest,—the allegation that the interpretation here offered is gained by dispensing with textual criticism (?) and by sacrificing grammar to an idea. If there be one ground more than another upon which it rests, it is upon the strictest principles of historical interpretation. It ought only to be remembered that the idiosyncrasies of an author are as much a part of such interpretation as the literal meaning of his words; and that to that interpretation, if honestly and thoroughly conducted, the most deeply ingrained prejudices will in due time be compelled to submit.
[549]Comp. Matt. xxii. 12.
[550]Chap. xxi. 1.
[551]Acts iii. 21.
[552]2 Pet. iii. 10, 13.
[553]Rom. viii. 21-23.
[554]2 Cor. v. 4.
[555]Comp. 1 Cor. xv. 44.
[556]John iv. 24.
[557]In connexion with the point here spoken of, reference may be made to an interesting and instructive paper by Canon Dale Stewart, Rector of Coulsdon, inThe Churchmanfor December, 1887.
[558]Chap. xi. 18.
[559]Matt. xi. 23, xvi. 18.
[560]Isa. xxiv. 23.
[561]Trench,Synonyms, second series, p. 39.
[562]Comp. pp.227,357.
[563]Chap. iv. 3.
[564]Matt. v. 14.
[565]Ps. xxxi. 21; Isa. xxvi. 1.
[566]Ps. xci. 11.
[567]Comp. Ezek. xlviii. 31.
[568]Comp. Ezek. xl. 2, 3.
[569]Chap. xxi. 9.
[570]Ezek. xl. 1, 2.
[571]Ezek. xliii. 2.
[572]Ezek. xliv. 1-3.
[573]The Apocalypse, p. 438.
[574]Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2; Col. i. 2.
[575]Col. i. 27; 1 Cor. i. 30; Phil. iii. 9.
[576]Eph. v. 25-27.
[577]Eph. i. 3.
[578]Phil. iii. 20.
[579]Heb. xii. 22, 23.
[580]John xiv. 20.
[581]John xvii. 22.
[582]1 Pet. i. 8.
[583]Comp. Foxley,Hulsean Lectures, Lect. i.
[584]Commentary inClark's Foreign Theological Library,in loc.
[585]Comp. p.373.
[586]Chap. i. 1.
[587]Chap. xix. 5.
[588]John xix. 35. Wider questions than can be here discussed would be opened up by an inquiry how far the same method of explanation may be applied to John xvii. 3.
[589]Chap. i. 3.
[590]Chap. i. 4, 9.
[591]Chap. xix. 10.
[592]Dan. xii. 4; comp. viii. 26.
[593]Comp. John iii. 19.
[594]See a fuller treatment of this important point by the author in hisLectures on the Revelation of St. John, p. 286, etc.
[595]Comp. chap. xi. 18.
[596]Chap. i. 8.
[597]Chap. i. 5.
[598]1 Cor. i. 30.
[599]Comp. Ps. xxii. 16, 20; Matt. vii. 6; Phil. iii. 2.
[600]Comp. Matt. xxv. 10.
[601]Chap. i. 1.
[602]John i. 51.
[603]Matt. xxii. 45.
[604]Isa. xi. 1.
[605]Rom. i. 3.
[606]Mal. iv. 2.
[607]Matt. i. 23.
[608]Rom. viii. 31-39.
[609]John xv. 26, 27.
[610]John iv. 14.
[611]Chap. i. 3.
[612]Matt. x. 40.
[613]Comp. Mark xiii. 11.
[614]Judges v. 28.
[615]John xiv. 18, R.V. (margin).
[616]Expositor, July, 1888, p. 58.