grave,' who are here personified, as they are likewise in other places of holy scripture. It may seem strange, that death should be 'cast into the lake of fire which is the second death;' but the meaning is that temporal death, which hitherto had exercised dominion over the race of men, shall be totally abolished, and with respect to the wicked, be converted into eternal death. Then, as St. Paul saith, 1 Cor. xv. 24, 26. 'shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory: for the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.'

CHAPTER XXI.

'A new heaven and a new earth,' ver. 1. succeeded in the room of the first heaven and the first earth,' which 'passed away,' xx. 11. at the general judgment. In the new earth there is this remarkable property, that there is no more sea,' which whether it shall be effected by the means which the theorists of the earth have prescribed, or by any other, time must discover but it is evident from hence, that this new heaven and earth are not designed to take place till after the general judgment, for at the general judgment, xx. 13. the sea gave up the dead which were in it.' Many understand the expression figuratively, that there shall be no troubles or commotions in this new world. In this new world too, the new Jerusalem' appears, ver. 2. in full glory and splendour. It is described as 'coming down from God out of heaven :' it is a city, whose builder and maker is God; and is adorned as the bride for the Lamb,' the true church

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of Christ and the new Jerusalem, the true church of Christ, subsists as well during the millenium kingdom as after it. At the commencement of the millennium it was said, xix. 7. The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.' At the conclusion of the millennium, Gog and Magog went up, xx. 9. against the beloved city:' And here it is represented as the metropolis of the new heaven and the new earth. The new Jerusalem shall be the habitation of the saints of the first resurrection, and it shall also be the habitation of the saints of the general resurrection. The church of Christ shall endure through all times and changes in this world, and likewise in the world to come; it shall be glorious upon earth during the millennium, and shall be more glorious still in the new earth after the millennium to all eternity. Earth shall then become as heaven, or rather it shall be a heaven upon earth, ver. 3. God dwelling visibly among men; and, ver. 4. 'there shall be no more death,' which cannot come to pass, till death shall be totally abolished, xx. 14. by being cast into the lake of fire,' and till 'the former things,' the first heaven and the first earth, are passed away.' He 'who sat upon the throne,' as judge of the world, xx. 11. declares, ver. 5. Behold, I make all things new:' He is theauthor of this second as well as of the first creation, and he commands these things to be written for the edification and consolation of his church, with a firm assurance of their truth and certainty. He pronounces this period, ver. 6, 7, 8. to be the consummation of all things, when the promises of God, and the desires of his faithful servants, shall all be fully ac

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complished; the righteous shall inherit all things,' but the profligate and immoral shall have their portion in the lake of fire and brimstone; which is a farther demonstration, that these things cannot take effect till after the general judgment.

Many, I know, both ancients and moderns, make the millennium synchronize with the new heaven and the new earth; and some latitude of interpretation may be well allowed in these mysterious points of futurity but this order of things, and this interpretation of the words, appear to me most natural, and most agreeable to the context. Gog and Magog, the nations in the four corners of the earth, are deceived by Satan after the expiration of the millennium; but Gog and Magog are not inhabiters of the new heaven and the new earth. It is not our business to frame theories and invent hypotheses, but faithfully to follow the word of God as our surest guide, without regarding much the authority of men. Not but various authorities might be cited to shew that this is no novel opinion. As St. Barnabas says, "When the Lord shall make all things new, than shall be the beginning of the eighth day, which is the beginning of another world;" allowing six thousand years to the duration of this world, the seventh thousand to the millennium, and the eight thousand to the beginning of a blessed eternity: and you may find many more testimonies alleged to this purpose in the notes of Cotelerius and other critics upon this passage of St. Barnabas. Lactantius affirms, that "when the thousand years shall be completed, the world shall be renewed by God, and the heavens shall be folded up, and the

earth shall be changed; and God shall transform men into the similitude of angels: and they shall be white as snow, and shall be always conversant in the sight of the Almighty, and shall sacrifice to their Lord, and serve him for ever." St. Austin also declares, that "the judgment being finished, then this heaven and this earth shall cease to be, when the new heaven and the new earth shall begin to be. For by a mutation of things this world will pass away, not by an utter extinction. Whence also the apostle says, 1 Cor. vii. 31. that the fashion of this world passeth away." And indeed why should the new heaven and the new earth be destroyed, when there shall be no more sin, when 'there shall be no more curse,' when there shall be no more death? The heaven and the earth of old, 2 Pet. iii. 5. for the wickedness of man perished by water: The heaven and the earth which are now, are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men ;' but why should not the new heaven and the new earth,' be preserved, wherein dwelleth righteousness?'

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A more particular description is afterwards given of the new Jerusalem. One of the seven angels who had the seven vials,' ver. 9. and most probably the same angel, who before had shewed to St. John, xvii. 1, &c. the mystic Babylon and her destruction, now sheweth by way of contrast the new Jerusalem and her glory. For this purpose, ver. 10. he carrieth him away in the spirit to a great and high mountain ;' in the same manner as Ezekiel xl. 2. 'was brought in the visions of God, and set upon a very high mountain,' to see the frame of the city and temple: and

this description of the new Jerusalem is an assemblage of the sublimest richest imagery of Ezekiel and other ancient prophets. The glory of God,' or the divine Shechinah, ver. 11. illuminates the city. It hath, ver. 12, 13, 14. ' a wall great and high,' to shew its strength and security; and twelve gates' with angels for guards, three on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west,' to show that people of all climates and nations may have access to it. On the twelve gates' are written the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel,' as on 'the twelve foundations' are inscribed, the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb,' to signify that the Jewish and the Christian church are now united, and, Eph. ii. 20. built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone.' The angel hath, ver. 15, 16, 17. a measuring reed, as the angel had likewise in Ezekiel ; xl. 3. and the measures of the city and of the walls are formed by the multiplication of twelve, the number of the apostles. • The city lieth four-square, the length as large as the breadth,' according to the pattern of Jerusalem in Ezekiel; xlviii. 16. and the length and breadth and heighth,' of the walls and buildings are every where of the same beauty, strength, and proportion. It is built and garnished with gold and all manner of precious stones,' ver. 18-21. as the richest emblems of eastern wealth and magnificence; the stones resembling those on Aaron's breastplate, to denote that the Urum and Thummim, the light and perfection of God's oracle are there. It hath one remarkable peculiarity, ver. 22. that there is no