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.
9. And they went up &c.] The Seer does not pass easily over the immense space of time during which the world is too happy to have a history. He sees the establishment of the earthly kingdom of Christ, and foretells its end: it is only gradually that he comes to see the end also brought before his view as present.
the breadth of the earth ] Perhaps rather, of the land; they overspread the whole land of Israel, against which, as we see from the next clause, their attack is directed.
the camp of the saints ] God’s people assemble in military array, and stand on their defence against His enemies. They are probably prepared to fight, but as in Rev 19:21, they have no need.
the beloved city ] i.e. Jerusalem, which, it appears from this place only, will be the seat and capital of the millennial kingdom. It appears that in the popular millennial anticipations, which discredited the literal interpretation of this prophecy, this localisation of the kingdom was much insisted on, and it was even thought that the Jewish law and the sacrificial worship would be revived. This of course is utterly incredible to most Christians: but there is no difficulty in supposing that the Kingdom of God may literally have an earthly centre in the Holy City and the Holy Land. Even if the literal view be not taken, the prophecy can hardly imply less than a future purity of the Church far exceeding the present; and it may be that this purified Church will recognise a better Papacy at Jerusalem, one not too proud to learn either from the excellences or from the faults of the Roman.
and fire came down &c.] Cf. 2Ki 1:10, and ch. Rev 11:5, and even Rev 13:13. This does not agree with the description of Gog’s overthrow in Ezekiel 39, where the army lie slain till they are buried, and their weapons are broken up for firewood.
from God ] Should probably be omitted.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And they went up on the breadth of the earth – They spread over the earth in extended columns. The image is that of an invading army that seems, in its march, to spread all over a land. The reference here is to the hosts assembled from the regions of Gog and Magog; that is, to the formidable enemies of the gospel that would be roused up at the close of the period properly called the millennial period – the period of the thousand years. It is not necessary to suppose that there would be literally armies of enemies of God summoned from lands that would be called lands of Gog and Magog; but all that is necessarily implied is, that there will be a state of hostility to the church of Christ which would be well illustrated by such a comparison with an invading host of barbarians. The expression the breadth of the land occurs in Hab 1:6, in a description. of the invasion of the Chaldeans, and means there the whole extent of it; that is, they would spread over the whole country.
And compassed the camp of the saints about – Besieged the camp of the saints considered as engaged in war, or as attacked by an enemy. The camp of the saints here seems to be supposed to be without the walls of the city; that is, the army was drawn out for defense. The fact that the foes were able to compass this camp about, and to encircle the city at the same time, shows the greatness of the numbers of the invaders.
And the beloved city – Jerusalem – a city represented as beloved by God and by his people. The whole imagery here is derived from a supposed invasion of the land of Palestine – imagery than which nothing could be more natural to John in describing the hostility that would be aroused against the church in the latter day. But no just principle of interpretation requires us to understand this literally. Compare Heb 12:22. Indeed, it would be absolutely impossible to give this chapter throughout a literal interpretation. What would be the literal interpretation of the very first verses? I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand; and he laid hold on the dragon and bound him. Can anyone believe that there is to be a literal key, and a chain, and an act of seizing a serpent, and binding him? As little is it demanded that the passage before us should be taken literally; for if it is maintained that this should be, we may insist that the same principle of interpretation should be applied to every part of the chapter, and every part of the book.
And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them – Consumed them – fire being represented as devouring or eating. See the notes on Rev 17:16. The meaning is, that they would be destroyed as if fire should come down from heaven, as on Sodom and Gomorrah. But it is not necessary to understand this literally, anymore than it is the portions of the chapter just referred to. What is obviously meant is, that their destruction would be sudden, certain, and entire, and that thus the last enemy of God and the church would be swept away. Nothing can be determined from this about the means by which this destruction will be effected; and that must be left for time to disclose. It is sufficient to know that the destruction of these last foes of God and the church will be certain and entire. This language, as denoting the final destruction of the enemies of God, is often employed in the Scriptures. See Psa 11:6; Isa 29:6; Eze 38:22; Eze 39:6.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 9. The beloved city] Primarily, Jerusalem, typically, the Christian Church.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they went up on the breadth of the earth; that is, in all parts of it where the church of Christ was.
And compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; the church of God (typified by old Jerusalem, which was Gods beloved city) they encompassed in a military order and manner, designing to destroy it, or make it subject to their lusts.
And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them: thus Ezekiel prophesied of the issue of the Gog and Magog by him mentioned, Eze 38:18-22; Eze 38:22, And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. The meaning is, that God would destroy them with a quick and terrible destruction, such as is that destruction of persons and places which is by fire.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. on the breadth of the earthsoas completely to overspread it. Perhaps we ought to translate, “.. . of the [holy] land.”
the camp of the saints andthe beloved citythe camp of the saints encircling thebeloved city, Jerusalem (Ecclesiasticus 24:11). Contrast”hateful” in Babylon (Rev 18:2;Deu 32:15, Septuagint).Ezekiel’s prophecy of Gog and Magog (Eze38:1-39:29) refers to the attack made by Antichrist on Israelbefore the millennium: but this attack is made afterthe millennium, so that “Gog and Magog” are mystical namesrepresenting the final adversaries led by Satan in person. Ezekiel’sGog and Magog come from the north, but those here come “fromthe four corners of the earth.” Gog is by some connectedwith a Hebrew root, “covered.”
from Godso B, Vulgate,Syriac, Coptic, and ANDREAS.But A omits the words. Even during the millennium there is aseparation between heaven and earth, transfigured humanity andhumanity in the flesh. Hence it is possible that an apostasy shouldtake place at its close. In the judgment on this apostasy the worldof nature is destroyed and renewed, as the world of history wasbefore the millennial kingdom; it is only then that the new heavenand new earth are realized in final perfection. The millennialnew heaven and earth are but a foretaste of this everlasting statewhen the upper and lower congregations shall be no longer separate,though connected as in the millennium, and when new Jerusalem shalldescend from God out of heaven. The inherited sinfulness of ournature shall be the only influence during the millennium to preventthe power of the transfigured Church saving all souls. When this timeof grace shall end, no other shall succeed. For what can move him inwhom the visible glory of the Church, while the influence of evil isrestrained, evokes no longing for communion with the Church’s King?As the history of the world of nations ended with the manifestationof the Church in visible glory, so that of mankind in general shallend with the great separation of the just from the wicked (Re20:12) [AUBERLEN].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they went up on the breadth of the earth,…. Either the whole earth, in the several parts of which they will be raised; or the land of Israel, where Christ and his people will be; and so the wicked being raised, will come up from the several parts of the world, and spread themselves over the holy land; just as Gog and Magog are said to cover the land of Israel, as a cloud, Eze 38:16 and it may be observed, that the very phrase of , “the breadth of thy land”, is used of Immanuel’s land, or the land of Israel, in Isa 8:8
and compassed the camp of the saints about; these are the blessed and Holy Ones, who have part in the first resurrection, even all the saints; not only the martyrs under the Heathen persecutions, and the confessors of Christ under the Papacy, but all the saints from the beginning of the world; these will be all encamped together, with the tabernacle of God in the midst of them, Re 21:3 and Christ their King at the head of them, Mic 2:13 the allusion is to the encampment of the children of Israel in the wilderness, about the tabernacle, which was in the midst of them, Nu 2:2 c. afterwards the city of Jerusalem itself was called a camp, and answered in all respects to the camp in the wilderness f, to which the reference is in Heb 13:11 and which serves to illustrate the passage here, since it follows:
and the beloved city: not Constantinople, as some have thought, but the holy city, the new Jerusalem, Re 21:2 the general assembly and church of the firstborn, beloved by God and Christ, and by the holy angels, and by one another and these very probably will be with Christ upon the same spot of ground where the Old Jerusalem stood, a city so highly favoured, and so much distinguished by God; so that where Christ suffered so much reproach and shame, and such an accursed death, he will now be glorified, and live in triumph with his saints:
and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them; not material fire; with this the earth, and the bodies of the wicked then upon it, will be burnt at the beginning of the thousand years; but now their bodies will be raised immortal, and not capable of being consumed with such fire; but the fiery indignation of God, or his wrath, which will be poured out like fire, is here meant, which will destroy both body and soul; this is no other than the lake of fire, or second death, into which they will be cast; and which will not be until the judgment is over, though it is here related to show what will be the event and issue of their attack upon the saints: the allusion is to the fire sent upon Gog and Magog, and to the burning of their weapons, in Eze 38:22 and so the Jews g say of their Gog and Magog, that
“they shall be killed with the burning of the soul, with a flame of fire, which shall come from under the throne of glory.”
f T. Bab Zebachim, fol. 116. 2. Maimon. Hilch. Beth Habbechirah, c. 7. sect. 11. g Targum Jon. in Numb. xi. 26.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
They went up (). Second aorist active indicative of , a return to the manner of the seer as in verses Rev 20:4; Rev 20:5.
Over the breadth of the earth ( ). is old word, in N.T. only here, Rev 21:16; Eph 3:18. The hosts of Satan spread over the earth.
Compassed (). First aorist (prophetic) active indicative of , to encircle, late verb (Strabo) from (circle), in N.T. only here and margin in Joh 10:24 (for from ).
The camp of the saints ( ). (, , ) is common late word for military camp, in LXX for the Israelites in the desert (Ex 29:14, etc.), in N.T. for Roman barracks (Acts 24:34; Acts 24:37) and for an army in line of battle (Heb 11:34; Rev 20:9).
The beloved city ( ). Perfect passive participle of , “the city the beloved.” See Ps 78:68; Ps 87:2 for Jerusalem so described. So Charles takes it here, but Swete holds it to be “the Church the New Zion” that is meant.
And fire came down out of heaven ( ). Second aorist (prophetic) active indicative of . Cf. Gen 19:24; Gen 39:6; Ezek 38:22; 2Kgs 1:10; 2Kgs 1:12; Luke 9:54 (about John).
Devoured them ( ). Second aorist (prophetic) active of , to eat up (down). Vivid climax to this last great battle with Satan.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
On the breadth [ ] . Lit., over [] . As distinguished from the “four corners” of ver. 8. They overspread the earth.
The camp [ ] . See on castle, Act 21:34. Encompassing and defending the city. Compare Psa 78:7.
The beloved city. Compare Psa 78:68.
From God. Omit.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And they went up on the breadth of the earth,” (kai anebesan epi to platos tes ges) “And they went up upon the breadth (the plateaus) of the land; to the height of the Jerusalem area, from where Christ had ruled and reigned a thousand years, Zec 14:1-11; Eze 38:9; Eze 38:16; Heb 1:6. This is earth’s and Satan’s final action against heaven.
2) “And encompassed the camp of the saints about,” (kai ekukleusan ten parembolen ton hagion) “And encircled or surrounded the encampment (campsite) of the saints; about Jerusalem, Isa 2:1-5; Deu 23:14.
3) “And the beloved city,” (kai ten polin ten egapemenen) “Even the beloved city,” the city of Jerusalem, the city on Mount Zion, Psa 87:2; Psa 87:5-7.
4) “And fire came down from God out of heaven,” (kai katebe pur ek tou ouranou) “And there came down (in Divine judgment) fire out of heaven,” from the central throne of God, Eze 38:22; Eze 39:6; Rev 13:13; The fire that the antichrist miracle workers bring down will be without heat in comparison with God’s judgment fire. See 2Th 1:7-9; 2Pe 3:10-12.
5) “And devoured them,” (kai katephagen autous) “And swallowed them down (or up) or consumed them;- This is a release of the final pent-up wrath of God, when not one unregenerate rebel, the Devil or demon spirit shall escape, Rom 2:4-9; 2Pe 3:10-14.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(9) And they went up on the breadth of the earth.The hostile multitudes spread like swarms over the earth, and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Jerusalem is the beloved cityin it was the Mount Zion which God loved (Psa. 78:68). It is the figure of the true spiritual Zion and Jerusalem which has been faithful to her king. The beloved city has its camp; it is ready for war. It has waged its spiritual warfare against all forms of evil, Its citizens, like the returned exiles (Neh. 4:17-18), could never lay down the sword (comp. Eph. 6:10; Joh. 2:14; Joh. 5:4); but the hostile demonstration is arrested by divine intervention. There came down fire out of the heaven (the words from God are of doubtful authority) and devoured them. The Shechinah light tabernacled over the holy city. Its light was also a flame ready to break forth upon the wicked. (Comp. Rev. 1:14; Rev. 7:15, Note; Heb. 12:29; 2Th. 1:6-10.) There may be allusion to the overthrow of the cities of the plains (Gen. 19:24), but other incidents may have been in the prophets mind: the fire which fell from heaven upon the enemies of an earlier prophet, Elijah (2Ki. 1:9-14), and the fire which broke forth from the tabernacle in the wilderness upon those who defied the laws of the God of Israel (Num. 16:16-17; Num. 16:35; Lev. 10:1-2). It must be remembered that, in the passage before us, the prophet is using the incidents and actions of the past as imagery, and that the present vision is figurative, though of course not mere empty figure: for Christ will thoroughly purge His floor (Mat. 3:12).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Went up These hosts from all parts of the earth are concentrating upon Jerusalem.
Breadth of the earth The earth visible to the seer is a vast surface, with four corners, or compass points, and over the plain the armies from every point are making themselves visible.
Camp The heroic body of champions and defenders of the faith.
The beloved city Not the “New Jerusalem,” for that is yet to come down “out of heaven,”
Rev 21:2; nor the old Hebrew capital; but the mystic Jerusalem, the true Church, the antithesis of the mystic Babylon. She is at this period the earth’s centre, and upon her are gathering from all the horizon the hosts of Satan.
Fire devoured them As it once did Sodom. And now is fulfilled St. Paul’s wonderful prediction of the Man of Sin. See our notes on 2Th 2:6-9. This is the final parousia of Satan preceding the second advent. As before the millennium antichrist was consumed “by the breath of his mouth,” so here he is destroyed by “the brightness of his coming” blazing forth in devouring fire. Even Romanistic interpreters admit this future antichrist. Just before the great white throne appears antichrist is consigned to gehenna. There was no need of trial and sentence for him.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
B.EARTH-PICTURE OF THE LAST JUDGMENT
Rev 20:9-10
9And they went up on [om. onins. upon] the breadth of the earth, and compassed [encompassed] the camp [army or fortification ()] of the saints about [om. about],and the beloved city: and fire came down from God [or om. from God]12 out of10 [ins. the] heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived [seduceth or misleadeth] them was cast into the lake of [ins. the] fire and [or ins. the]13 brimstone, where [ins. also are] the beast and the false prophet are [om. are], and [ins. they] shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [into the ages of the ages].
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
SYNOPTICAL VIEW
By the prophetic preterite, as well as by the brevity of the description, the Seer expresses the vanity of this last rebellion, which is aimed directly against God in His people, and which, notwithstanding its terrifically mighty development, is instantaneously annihilated. These enemies, with their creaturely forces, stand opposed, as they think, merely to a city of the children of peace, whilst in reality they are drawn up against all the cosmical powers of Heaven. And they went up upon the breadth of the earth. The idea is that they come from the low-lands of the corners of the earthto destroy the City of God upon the more central, elevated plain of the earth. But that the words are intended to convey the precise idea of a going up against Jerusalem, is difficult to suppose, because for the Seer the true Jerusalem, according to chap. 21, comes down from Heaven, and here only the beloved city is spoken of, which, as well as the camp of the saintswho are drawn up before the city, in order to its protectionthe enemies encompass. It cannot be without reason that the Seer has here avoided the name of Jerusalem (although for an Israelitish heart it might be paraphrased by the expression, the beloved city), whilst in chap. 21. he uses the name in the same sense in which it is employed by the Apostle Paul, Gal 4:26. At this moment, when the last and, apparently, the most fearful crisis of the worlds history is close at handa crisis which is all the more fearful, or, we might say, the more demonically unnatural, if we conceive of the glorified Christ as shut in, together with the saints, by the hostile hostthere falls from Heaven a fire which consumes the foe. An exegetical reading, with the confident feeling that this direct war against God must likewise be put down by God, has added the words, from God; viewed in another aspect, however, the brief term from Heaven is more effective; Heaven itself, the whole Cosmos, against which they finally rage, must now, for Gods sake, react against them, in destroying might, with its fire. And now Satan himself, who seduceth the nations, is cast into the pool of the fire and brimstone, whither the Beast and the False Prophet have preceded him. This view, like the discourse of Christ (Matthew 25.), is at variance with the medival idea that Satan, as a fire-demon and prince of hell, torments souls in hell. They shall, it is declared, be tormented day and night into the ons of the ons To the essence and spiritual condition of the prince of darkness and his consorts, their sphere and external mode of existence shall correspond. There are in their character no motives for a change; except that through the consummate stagnation of their condition, their consummate irritation must be more and more neutralized.
EXPLANATIONS IN DETAIL
Rev 20:9. And they went up.Hab 1:6. The term , usual where military marches are spoken of (1Ki 22:4; Ju. 1:1), because the position of the attacked is naturally conceived of as on a height (Hengstenberg), is the more fitting here, since the march of the heathen is really directed upward against Jerusalem. Duesterdieck. The primary statement is rather, however, that they go up upon the breadth of the earth, the symbolic elevated plain of the earth, which, as such, forms the specific antithesis to the symbolic four corners of the earth; it is the highland of the spirit. The object of the attack is then, certainly, defined in accordance with an Old Testament conception (see Zec 12:7-8; comp. Khler, Sacharja, p. 185). The saints have encamped about the beloved city to protect it. All the forces of the Kingdom of Heaven form the defence for all its possessions. If we glance once more at the passage cited [Zec 12:7-8], Zec 14:1-2 might seem to afford an explanation as to wherefore the Seer did not call the beloved city Jerusalem. Grotius apprehended the Seven Churches by the camp of the saints, and Constantinople by the beloved city. Others (Augustine, Vitringa, Hengstenberg) have regarded the city as the Church; Bengel and most moderns, as Jerusalem.
And fire came down.Eze 39:6; Eze 38:22; Gen 19:24; Lev 10:2; Num 16:35; Luk 9:54. See Syn. View. The fire catastrophe shows that the universal judgment of the world is at handthe fiery metamorphosis of the earth. And consumed them.To be understood of the destruction of their life in this present world.
Rev 20:10. And the devil that seduceth (or misleadeth) them., as the present participle, denotes the continuance of sin under punishment. And they shall be tormented.Namely, the Devil, the Beast, and the False Prophet. A preliminary general presentment, see in Rev 14:11; the final presentment, Rev 20:14-15; Rev 21:8.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
SPECIAL DOCTRINO-ETHICAL AND HOMILETICAL NOTES (ADDENDUM)
Section Ninteenth
Third or General End-Judgment. b. Earth-picture of the Last Judgment. (Rev 20:9-10.)
General and Special.Brief history of the greatest war. 1. The war: (a) they went up; (b) they surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. 2. The defeat: (a) fire from Heaven devoured them; (b) Satan is cast into the lake of fire.Great Heaven as an ally of this little earth.The Kingdom of the Lord must always be victorious.The greater the danger which menaces the people of God, the more wondrous their preservation.The last victory, in its magnitude: Most wonderful (apparently without a weapon of defense), most mysterious (from Heaven), most glorious (destruction of Satan forever).
Starke: Those who regard this vision as, in part, fulfilled, apprehend it as relating to Turks, Tartars, Scythians and Mohammedans, etc. Those who take it, in company with the thousand years, as still future, etc. (Confused mingling of the most diverse periods!)Dimpel: O wretched hellish trinity ! The Beast, the False Prophet and Satan, are tormented in the fiery lake to all eternity.
H. Bhmer (p. 293): The fact here presented, to wit, that Satan, after having been bound, shall at last be loosed again for a short time, seems to us to constitute a deep and weighty truth; not because sin can be traced only to a seduction through Satan, but because we must naturally suppose that God will, at some future day, permit all who set Him at defiance to unite themselves for the last possible battle against Him and thus prosecute their abuse of liberty to the climax of self-inflicted judgment. We hold this final emergence of Satan to be necessary, because without it there would be no real finale to that conflict which was begun in apostasy from God, and, consequently, no full victory.
[From M. Henry: God will, in an extraordinary and more immediate manner, fight this last and decisive battle of His people, that the victory may be complete, and the glory redound to Himself.From Vaughan: Upon this gathering, this confederation of infidelity, of ungodliness, and of atheism, will burst the light of Christs coming, and the devouring fire of God.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
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.
Ver. 9. And they went up ] As a flood, Eze 8:9 ; Eze 8:16 .
And compassed ] As resolved that none should escape them, Psa 118:11-12 ; 2Ki 6:14-15 ; 2Ki 25:1 .
The camp of the saints ] The Church militant.
And the beloved city ] The New Jerusalem, Rev 21:2 ; “The dearly beloved of God’s soul,” Jer 12:7 ; or, “God’s dearly beloved soul,” , as the Septuagint render it. (Spec. Europ.) For present the Turk is the bridle that holds in the pope with all his followers from any universal proceeding against the Protestants; who herein are greatly advantaged above them, in that their opposites lie between them and the Turk; or in that their countries, coasting so much as they do toward the north (as Denmark, Switzerland, &c.), are out of his way, and no part of his present aim. Italy is the mark he shoots at. And when once he shall rise against the true Church, fire from heaven shall devour him.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
, either camp (as in O.T., e.g. , Deu 23:14 ) or army (Heb 11:34 ), the saints being supposed to lie in a circle or leaguer round the headquarters of the messiah in Jerusalem, which by an association common in the ancient world ( e.g. , Nineveh, “the beloved city” of her god Ishtar) istermed his beloved city. The phrase is an implicit answer ( cf. on Rev 3:9 ) to the claim of contemporary Judaism which held to the title of “God’s beloved” as its monopoly (Apoc. Bar. Rev 20:1 , xxi. 21, cf. Sir. xxiv. 11). In the Hebrew Elias apocalypse of the 3rd century ( cf. Buttenwieser, E. J. i. 681 2), where Gog and Magog also appear after the millennium to besiege Jerusalem, their annihilation is followed by the judgment and the descent of Jerusalem from heaven. This tradition of Rev 20:4-10 therefore belongs to the cycle from which Rev 11:1-13 (Rev 14:14-20 ) was drawn; Jerusalem, freed from her foes and purified within, forms the headquarters of messiah’s temporary reign, tenanted not simply by devout worshippers but by martyrs ( cf. Rev 14:1-5 , on mount Zion). Yet only a new and heavenly Jerusalem is finally adequate (21. f.); it descends after the last punishment and judgment (Rev 11:15 f. = Rev 20:10 f.). Wetstein cites from the Targ. Jonath. a passage which has suggested elements in this and in the preceding (Rev 11:17-19 ) vision: a king rises in the last days from the land of Magog, et omnes populi obedient illi; after their rout by fire their corpses lie a prey to wild beasts and birds. Then “all the dead of Israel shall live and receive the reward of their works”. In the highest spirit of the O.T., however, John rejects the horrible companion thought (En. lxxxix. 58, xciv. 10, xcvii. 2) that God gloats over the doom of the damned. An onset of foreign nations upon Jerusalem naturally formed a stereotyped feature in all Jewish expectations of latter-day horrors; here, however, as the city is ipso facto tenanted by holy citizens, the siege is ineffective (contrast Rev 11:1 f.). Neither here nor in Rev 19:21 are the rebellious victims consigned at death to eternal punishment, as are the beast, the false prophet, and Satan. The human tools of the latter die, but they are raised (Rev 20:11 f.) for judgment (Rev 20:15 ), though the result of their trial is a foregone conclusion (Rev 13:8 , Rev 14:9-10 ). In En. vi., from which this passage borrows, Gog and Magog are represented by the Medes and the Parthians from whom (between 100 and 46 B.C.) a hostile league against Palestine might have been expected by contemporaries. But the destruction of the troops is there caused by civil dissensions. In our Apocalypse the means of destruction is supernatural fire, as in 2Th 1:8 ; 2Th 2:8 ; 2Th 2:4 Esd. 12:33, 13:38 39, Ap. Bar. xxvii. 10, Asc. Isa. iv. 18 (where fire issues from the Beloved to consume all the godless); the Parthians also appear some time before the end, in the penultimate stage when the Roman empire and its Nero-antichrist make their last attack. But the prophet is still left with the orthodox eschatological tradition of Gog and Magog, an episode (consecrated by the Ezekiel-prophecy and later belief) which he feels obliged to work in somehow. Hence his arrangement of Satan’s final recrudescence in juxtaposition with the Gog and Magog outburst ( cf. on Rev 16:16 , and Klausner’s messian. Vorstellungen d. jd. Volkes im Zeit. d. Tannaiten , pp. 61 f.). The latter, an honoured but by this time awkward survival of archaic eschatology, presented a similar difficulty to the Talmudic theology which variously put it before, or after, the messianic reign (Volz, pp. 175 f.). In his combination of messianic beliefs, John follows the tradition, accepted in Sib. Or. iii. 663 f., which postponed the irruption till after messiah s temporary period of power.
Rev 20:11 to Rev 22:5 . The connexion of thought depends upon the traditional Jewish scheme outlined, e.g. , in Apoc. Bar. xxix. xxx. ( cf. 4 Esd. 7:29, 30) where the messiah returns in glory to heaven after his reign on earth; the general resurrection follows, accompanied by the judgment. Developing his oracles along these current lines, the prophet now proceeds to depict his culminating vision of the End in three scenes: (1.) the world and its judgment (Rev 20:11-15 ), (2.) the new heaven and earth (Rev 21:1-8 ), centring round (3.) the new Jerusalem as the final seat of bliss (Rev 21:9 to Rev 22:5 ). The last-named phase was associated in eschatology (Sib. Or. ver. 246 f., 414 f.) with the return of Nero redivivus and the downfall of Babylon which preceded the sacred city’s rise. The destruction of hostile forces, followed by the renovation of the universe, is essentially a Persian dogma (Stave, 180 f.), and is paralleled in the Babylonian mythology, where after the defeat and subjugation of Timat in the primeval age creation commences. From this point until Rev 21:9 f., Jesus is ignored entirely.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
earth. App-129. Compare Isa 8:8 and Hab 1:6.
saints. See Dan 7:18, Dan 7:27. Act 9:13.
beloved. App-135.
devoured. As Rev 12:4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 20:9. ) Jerusalem is called , Sir 24:11. But here it comes under the name both of camp and city, . , ch. Rev 18:2, and , are opposed to one another: and yet in this place there seems to be pointed out a security on the part of the city, which is not altogether harmless, as Deu 32:15. In the Greek it is .
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
went: Isa 8:7, Isa 8:8, Eze 38:9, Eze 38:16, Hab 1:6
and compassed: 2Ki 6:15, Mic 2:13, Mat 16:16-18, Luk 19:43, Luk 21:20
the camp: Psa 48:1-3, Psa 74:2-4, Psa 125:1, Psa 125:2, Heb 13:13
and fire: Rev 11:5, Rev 13:13, Gen 19:24, Exo 9:23, Exo 9:24, Lev 10:2, Lev 10:3, Num 11:1, Num 16:35, 2Ki 1:10-15, Psa 97:3, Psa 106:18, Isa 30:33, Isa 37:36, Eze 38:22, Eze 39:6, Luk 9:54, Luk 17:29, 2Th 1:8
Reciprocal: Jos 9:2 – gathered 1Sa 23:26 – away Job 38:18 – General Psa 48:4 – General Psa 110:5 – strike Psa 118:10 – All nations Isa 8:9 – Associate Isa 25:5 – shalt bring Isa 29:7 – the multitude Isa 34:2 – the indignation Isa 51:13 – were ready Isa 54:15 – they shall Eze 13:5 – to stand Dan 7:22 – the Ancient Dan 11:45 – he shall come Joe 3:11 – Assemble Mic 4:3 – and rebuke Mic 5:9 – hand Zep 3:19 – I will undo Zec 9:8 – I will Zec 12:3 – though Zec 12:6 – like an hearth Phi 3:19 – end Rev 12:17 – to make Rev 20:5 – the rest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Rev 20:9. The pronoun they stands for the hostile forces of Satan symbolically mustered from the regions of Gog and Magog. This is the army of Satan that is described in the preceding paragraph. They will fight under his directions with the object of destroying men’s faith in the Bible. The apostate church of Rome taught that the religious conduct of men should be regulated according to the pope and his college of cardinals. The teaching of Christ is that men’s lives should be regulated by the Bible (1Pe 4:11; 1Jn 1:7), that the sole institution for making that Book known is the church (Eph 3:10 Eph 3:21; 1Ti 3:15). Hence the army of Satan was to compass the camp of the saints. This means the church when considered as a group of individuals, and the beloved city means the church if spiritual Jerusalem is used as a symbol. So here is where the issue is joined in this great battle of Armageddon. The church of Christ is on one side, and everything else is on the other in all controversies that involve moral and religious interests, and where belief in or opposition to the Bible is at stake. The first two thirds of this brief verse covers the entire period of the war of Armageddon, beginning when Satan was loosed and extending to the coming of Christ. The last sentence of the verse marks the end of the war. Not that it tells of the date (no passage does), but it names the event that will bring the conflict to a close, namely, the consuming fire out of heaven. We are told in 2Th 2:8 that the pope will be destroyed at the coming of Christ. It is very fitting that the war of Armageddon should be destroyed at the same time, since the pope and Satan have been allies arrayed against the forces of Christ for centuries. And with this verse the prophetic symbols of the book of Revelation bring us to the judgment day for the final showing. At various places in our study we have been brought to that event, then taken back to some earlier period and started all over again. But the rest of the chapter will describe the events on the day of judgment and not go back.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verse 9.
As the beast was symbolic of the Roman empire, personified in the persecuting emperors, so was the Gog and Magog personification symbolic of the spiritual forces of heathenism launched against the church in the “battle” of verse eight, in which the heathen forces of Gog and Magog were represented to be in number as the sand of the sea, which symbolized the proportions of the conflict and its challenge to the church; and verse nine stated that they compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. The reference to the “beloved city” here could not mean Jerusalem–the apostate harlot Jerusalem was no longer “beloved,” and was no more. This beloved city was the church, the New Jerusalem, which was compassed about with heathenism, in the midst of its idolatries, surrounded by all of its antagonism to the church.
The first chapter of Romans, and the Corinthian, Ephesian, and Colossian epistles confirm this great danger to the church. It was concerning this threat of heathen influence that Paul specifically exhorted the Corinthian church in 2Co 6:14-18. The description of verse nine that the legions of the heathen ruler went upon the breath of the earth in the forays of his satanic forces against the church emphasizes the extent of the opposition to Christianity, and of its threat to the church. But as in the finale of the imperial persecutions, the church prevailed against heathenism, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.
This was the symbol of the consuming power of the word of God in exposing the error and evil of heathen idolatry. The apostle declared in 2Co 4:2-4 that the light of the gospel of Christ dispelled the darkness of “the god of this world.” Neither the imperial beast nor the heathen Magog could withstand the power of God. It was in reference to these same things that Paul said in Rom 16:20 : “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.”
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 20:9. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about and the beloved city. The two appellations here used are evidently intended to express only two different aspects of the same thing, although we are probably to think of the camp not as within the city, but as round about it and defending it (comp. Psa 34:7). The beloved city can be no other than Jerusalem, and this is allowed by all commentators. But it is neither the new Jerusalem, which has not yet come down from heaven, nor the actual city of that name, which is supposed by many to play so glorious a part in the latter days. It is in the nature of things impossible that such enormous hosts should encompass one small city. The whole, too, is a vision, and must be symbolically understood. As the nations denote the enemies, the beloved city denotes the people, of God; and surely not a select number, but all the saints; all to whom the term Jerusalem in its best sense may be properly applied. It was in a similar sense that in chap. Rev 14:1 the 144,000 stood upon Mount Zion, and that in chap. Rev 14:20 the slaughter took place without the city.
And fire came down out of heaven and devoured them. The destruction is complete even without mention of a battle being fought (comp. 1Jn 5:4). The imagery is taken from Eze 38:22; Eze 39:6, with allusion also to such a destruction as that of 2Ki 1:10; 2Ki 1:12; 2Ki 1:14.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Satan’s forces will come up against the barracks of the faithful and the holy city, or church ( Heb 12:22-28 ). Their intent is to destroy God’s faithful once and for all but God intervenes with the fire of his judgment and consumes his enemies.
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Verse 9
And compassed the camp of the saints about; were preparing to assault and destroy the people of God.–And fire came down, &c.; that is, God interposed in a remarkable manner to save his people and to destroy their foes.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
20:9 And they went up on the {b} breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and {17} fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
(b) As if he said, in so much that the whole face of the earth, however great it is, was filled.
(17) The wrath of God, consuming the adversaries, and overthrowing all their enterprises; Heb 10:27 . This is the second part mentioned see Geneva “Rev 20:7”, in the overthrow of Satan.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The rebels will occupy Palestine ("the broad plane;" cf. Eze 38:9; Eze 38:11-12; Eze 38:15-16; Eze 39:2). This probably refers to the Plain of Jezreel in northern Israel (cf. Ezekiel 11-16). However topographical changes will precede and accompany Christ’s second coming, so the location of this plain may not be exactly identifiable now. The rebels will also surround the dwelling place ("camp") of believers, even the earthly city of Jerusalem. This city will be Christ’s capital during the Millennium (Jer 3:17; cf. Isa 24:23; Eze 43:7; Mic 4:7; Zec 14:9-11), the center of the world (Eze 38:12). Nevertheless, God will destroy the rebels with fire from heaven (cf. Gen 19:24; Lev 10:2; 2Ki 1:10; 2Ki 1:12; Eze 38:22; Eze 39:6; Luk 9:54). John described the destiny of these mortal rebels in Rev 20:12-15.
Many less literal interpreters understand this verse as a description of the church’s final victory over her enemies. They usually equate this city with the New Jerusalem. [Note: E.g., Swete, pp. 268-69; and Beale, pp. 1025-28.]