Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_100_p.lzh/5_138.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-09 | 6KB | 120 lines

Ver. 22. And they shall be gathered together, &c.]
First to the battle of the great day of God Almighty at
Armageddon, _Rev. xvi. 14, 16y. and xix. 19. and there
being overcome and taken, they shall be gathered to-
gether as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shah be
shut up in the prison; in the prison or' the grave," and
in hell; as captiv/es are, till such time as something is
determined and ordered what to be done with them:
and after many days shah they be visited; or pttnished,
that is, after the thousand years are ended, when the
wicked dead will be all raised; after the battle of Gog
and Magog, when Satan, the beast, and false prophet,
and all their adherents, shall be cast into the lake
which burns with fire and brimstone, Rev. xix. 2O, 21.
and xx. 5, 8, 9, 10.
Ver. 23. Then the moon shah be confounded, and the
sun ashamed, &c.] Either literally understood; and
the meaning is, that they shall be darkened, their light
being eclipsed by the superior light of Christ, the sun
of righteousness; see Matt. xxiv. 29, 30. the New-Je-
rusalem church-state, which is referred to, will have no
need of the light of the sun, or of the moon, Christ
being the light thereof, Rev. xxi. 23. figuratively it may
be interpreted of the kings and great men of the earth,
as Aben Ezra; whose glory will be outshone by the
transcendent lustre and glory' of Christ, the King of
saints. The Targum paraphrases it of idolaters thus,
"and they shall be confounded that worship the
"moon, and they shall be ashamed that worship the
"sun ;" perhaps  this may have reference to the fourth
vial, which shall be poured out upoh the pope and his
clergy, Rev. xvi. 8: when the Lord of hosts .shall reign
in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem; who is no other
than the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Jehovah, the
Lord of hpsts or armies, of the sun, moon, and.stars,
the host of heaven, and of the heavenly host of angels,
and of men on earth; who was King from eternity, arid
re!Sued during the Old Festament dispensation; came
a King into this world, though his kingdom was not of
it, nor was with observation: upon his ascension to
heaven was made and declared Lord and Christ; and
now rules in the hearts of his people by his spirit and
grace, and whose spiritual reign will more manifestly
appear in the latter day; but here it is to be under-
stood of his reign on earth, which-will be personal,
visible, and glorious, and in a different manner from
what it now is, when he will be King. overall the earth.
Zion and Jerusalem, where he will reign, may be lite-
rally understood as the chief place of his residence
during this state, the spot o,f ground whe. re he was
most despised and ill treated; see Zech. xiv. 4, 5, 9. or
mystically, the church in the New-Jerusalem state,
Rev. xxi. 2, 3. here he will reign, be. fore his ancients
gloriously: or, in glory; in his own glory, both as God
and as man, and Mediator; and in his Father's glory,
and in the glory of his holy angels, in which he will
come and appear; and therefore his appearing is
called a glorious one, Luke ix. 26. Tit. ii. 13. and this
before his ancients, the ancient patriarchs both before
the flood, as Adam, Abel, &c. and after the flood, as
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others; the old Jewish
church, the prophets and saints of the Old-Testament
dispensation; the apostles and elders of the Gospel
churches under the New; the four-and-twenty elders,
the rep'resentatives of the Gospel churches, so often
spoken of in the book of the Revelation; very probably
with reference to this text;and all the saints, in all
ages, who will now be raised from the dead, and live
and reign with him; these are his ancients, who are
loved with an everlasting love, chosen in him before
the foundation of the world, with whom a covenant
was made in him, and grace given to them in him, be-
fore' the world began; in the midst and presence of
these he'll reign, and they shall behold his glory; yea,
these shall appear in glory; for so the words may be
construed, before his ancients, who are glory, or in
glory {b}; for they shall appear with him in glory, both in
soul and body, having the glory of God upon them, Col,
iii. 4. Rev. xxi. 11.

C H A P. XXV.

THIS chapter cofftains a thanksgiving, or a triumph-
ant song, upon the destruction of antichrist, and the
antichristian states, for benefits and blessings bestowed
upon the church, and for the setting up of the glorious
kingdom of Christ in the Jerusalem state. It begins
with a form of praise, and the reason of it in general,
yet. 1. the particular instances of wonderful things are,
the ruin of a certain city described, vet. 2. which will
issue in the fear and glory of God, ver. & the great ap-
pearance of the Lord .for his poor people, in being
strength, refuge, and a shadow to them, yet. 4, 5. a
rich feast m'ade for them, vet. 6. the removal of the
veil from all people, vet. 7- the abolition of death, and
every affliction, ver. 8. the personal appearance of
Christ unto salvation, vet. 9. the protection of the
church, and the certain and utter destruction of her
enemies, under the name of Moab, vet. 10, 11, l2.
Vet. 1. 0 Lord, thou art my God, &c.] Not by
creation and providence only, but by covenant and
grace. This is the first and foundation-blessing of
grace, and secures all the rest; in this true happiness
consists, and is preferable to every other enjoyment;
the knowledge of it is come at in effectual vocation,
and by the withessings of the spirit; it is the highest
attainment of grace to be assured of it; and though it
is not always seen and known, it will always remain,
and will be the glory of the New-Jerusalem state,
Rev. xxi. 3, 7. These are the words, Aben Ezra says,
either of the prophet, or of the ancients, before whom
the Lord will reign, ch. xxiv. 23. Kimchi says of the
latter, which seems very probable, these are the elders
and representatives of the ohurch; see Rev. xi. 16, 17.
arid xix. 1, 2, 4: I will exalt thee; the Lord God,
Father, Son, and Spirit; the Father, by attributing

{b} \^dwbk wynqz dgnw\^ & coram senibus suis, gloria,
Pagninus, Moatanus.