the personal kingdom of Christ, there will be no abuse of power for the purpose of gratifying the evil passions of rulers, very different maxims of state, and new objects to direct the final views of citizens, communities, kingdoms and nations. All wars shall cease among them, and its spirit be considered the product of Pagan ignorance and Satanic delusion. P's. LXXXV, 10. Isa. XXXI, 17. 18. chap. 11, 4. Mich. iv, 3. Every ruler will consider the glory of God, and the happiness of man, his chief object; and the citizens will render a cheerful and unanimous obedience to their eternal sovereign. There will be plentiful years, Hos. 11, 21. 22. Ps. ixv, 13—15; all the labours of the saints will be blessed, Isa. LXV, 21-23; epidemic diseases shall no longer exist, and the days of the people of God, will be again prolonged almost to those of the antediluvian world, Isa. xi, 6. 9. ch. LXV, 20-22. Zech. vin, 4. All these, and many other blessings shall be enjoyed by the nations submitting to Christ's kingdom; but the obstinate will be miserable, and, often punished in a miraculous manner, Zech. xiv, 12-21. The accomplishment of these prophecies in the Millennium, is the mystery of God declared to the ancient prophets, Rev. x, 7; where we are to look for the history of the Church and kingdom of Christ, during these thousand years, and which is therefore omitted here in the Revelation. See the following passages, Psalm XLV. XLVII, 7—10. XLVIII. LXXII. LXXXVII. XCIII. XCVI. CXLV. Isa. II. XI. XI. XXXIII, - LIV. LX. Jer. xxx. xxxi- xxx11, 37—xxx111. Zech. xxxiv, 22—31. xxxvI. XXXVII. XL—XLVII, which refer more or less, and some of them the whole chapter to the Millennium.

After this necessary digression, I would now observe, that it does not appear as if the holy martyrs would be

As the days of a tree. The oak is said to live 1000 years. See Evelyn's Sylva B. Ill. chap iii. The great Michaels says, the olive-tree, and the palm-tree live to an age of 200 years.

raised to a mortal life, and participate in pleasures of a temporal nature. The most probable opinion is, that they will be the Lord's ministers and agents, in the administration of his government, and have a familiar, and perhaps a daily intercourse with the saints, to direct the affairs on earth, as the ancient saints had with angels during the Patriarchal-Economy. But one thing here in this 6th verse is worthy of particular remark. The holy martyrs are said to reign with Christ, and yet they are not termed kings, but priests; which may indicate that the Church will exercise the legislative power, according to the spirit and principles of the New Testament, and that the nations will not be governed by human laws. Christ's kingdom will be a Royal priesthood, after the manner of Melchisedec.

GOG AND MAGOG.

Verse 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.

10. And the Devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Satan will have a thousand years respite during his imprisonment, to contemplate, and take counsel with himself, and with his angels chap. xII; but all this forbear

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ance of the Lord, and the dreadful consequences of his own wickedness, will not humble his pride, nor conquer his enmity to God and man. This long term of contemplation only serves him to lay a new plot, which he puts in execution from the moment he obtains his liberty. We may expect a deep and marvellous scheme, from a being of such great intellectual capacities, and an experience of more than 7000 years; and such a one will be requisite too, to delude the nations of the earth in those days, after a long peace of centuries, and without provocation, to so dreadfully wicked an undertaking, as the one here recorded. He will form a coalition among nations in the four quarters of the earth, and succeed so well, as even to approach the residence of Christ's kingdom. These nations are termed Gog and Magog, which names probably refer to the two principal monarchs at the head of this immense army, or to the principal nations composing it, from whom the whole coalition derives this name. They are, no doubt, the same nations mentioned Ezek. xxxvIII, and XXXIX; where this battle is described at full length, with the same final issue.

The camp of the saints, and the beloved city. This city cannot be New-Jerusalem, which only descends from heaven long after this battle, and is in no danger of such an attack. It is highly probable from the prophecies of Ezekiel and Zechariah, that Palestine will be the chief seat of Christ's kingdom, and Jerusalem as it will be built again, the capital, where a college or Sanhedrim under the immediate direction of the Lord enacts laws, and decides matters of great importance, Isa. 11, 3. Mich. iv, 2.

There will be the theatre of this tremendous scene. It is worthy of remark, that the enemies are said to encompass the camp of the saints, and the city. The citizens of Christ's kingdom, have at all times considered war a judgment of God upon nations; and must then feel extremely averse to it, after a peaceable reign of a thousand

years. They therefore withdraw at the approach of Gog and Magog, without making any opposition to an army thirsting for blood and slaughter. And being pursued, they fly for protection even to the city of the Lord; where they arrive in such numbers with all their families, as to fill the city, and form a camp around it, waiting for the assistance of their immortal king. In this expectation they are not disappointed. The whole army meets with total and terrible destruction; and Satan the author of all this evil, having now filled the measure of his iniquity to the brim, is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where he shall be tormented to all ages of the world. This torment is inexpressibly great, and terrible beyond conception, but yet it is no more than just; and justice required its execution on the beast and false prophet more than a thousand years sooner before Satan meets his final and eternal doom.

THE SECOND RESURRECTION AND DAY OF JUDGMENT.

Verse 11. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away: and there was found no place for them.

12. And I saw the dead, small and great stand before God: and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

In this vision St. John beheld the general resurrection of the dead, and the day of final retribution, for the purpose of pointing out the precise time of these awful events, in this general series of prophetic chronology. The Creator, the Redeemer, the invisible governor of the world, is also the judge of all the earth, who will finally termi

nate the whole scene of mortality, Matt. xIx. xxv, 31. The apostle saw him on a white throne, but such was the divine majesty and glory of his face, that he could not find a word in human language to convey the idea; he only adds, earth and heaven fled away at his sight! to show that it was beyond expression. This throne is different from all the thrones we have met with in this prophecy, none of which were white; for it is the throne of the last judgment, and its colour indicates holiness, justice and purity, whish shall be evident from the sentence, pronounced on every individual arraigned at his bar.

Verse 12. I saw the dead small and great stand before God. Having described the judge in awful ma jesty, St. John now proceeds to mention those who shall be judged. These he seems to divide into two great multitudes, the first of which he mentions in this verse, and the second verse 13. He describes the general resurrection verse 13. by saying, the sea gave up the dead, death and hell delivered up the dead; in which number the dead spoken of in this 12th verse do not appear to be comprised. They are probably those, whom the day of judgment shall find alive. These he beheld, small and great, of every age, condition and character, standing before God the judge of all flesh, in awful expectation of their final doom.

The books were opened. This is a figurative expression in allusion to the custom of criminal courts, who, to avoid mistakes of memory and render due justice, use books of law, and public records in their prosecutions against the accused. The meaning is, that the whole history of life of every individual, will there be examined into, and every action of man minutely investigated, as to its intrinsic worth or demerit, in order to render exact justice by eternal rewards and punishments. These books, which are also mentioned in Daniel chap. vi, 10. are of two kinds, the records of human life and actions, and the book of life. All these who did not accept the reconcili