they were judged every man | according to their works. Judges ix. 8—15. Dr. Macknight, speaking of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, says: "If, from these resemblances, it is thought the parable is formed on the Grecian mythology, it will not at all follow that our Lord approved of what the common people thought or spake concerning those matters, agreeably to the notions and language of the Greeks. In parabolical discourses, provided the doctrines inculcated are strictly true, the terms in which they are inculcated may be such as are most familiar to the ears of the vulgar, and the images made use of such as they are best acquainted with.”—(Par. and Com. on the place.) The sacred writers frequently drew their metaphors from hades, or the state of the dead. A striking passage is found in Isa. xiv., where the overthrow of the king of Babylon is described in the most glowing language. The inhabitants of hades rise up to meet him at his approach; the kings of the lower regions rise from their thrones, and address him. See the passage: "Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased," &c. * * * "Hades from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations - All they shall speak, and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?" verses 4, 9, 10. Now let the reader reflect upon this passage one moment. The scene of it is laid in hades, or hell. The inhabitants are the dead. The dead rise up, and taunt the king of Babylon at his destruction, saying: "Art thou become like unto us?" This is literally untrue, and impossible; because the dead know not anything. The whole passage is a prosopopoeia, designed to represent the fall of Babylon. No one supposes that the views of hades here introduced by the prophet were literally correct; all agree that he used them metaphorically, to give force and beauty to the subject of his prophecy. We take the same ground in regard to the passage before us; and the argument is precisely as good in the one case as in the other. "And We have thus seen that the judgment begun when Christ ascended "the great white throne;" that the nations then stood before him; that the books were then opened; and that the dead were then judged according to their works. All this, it seems to us, we have proved, beyond carping or contradiction. And here let it be observed, that, as the gospel was established at the end of the Jewish state, we found, when we came, in the course of our Commentary, to that section of the Apocalypse which described the destruction of the Jews, and the establishment of the gospel, this same fact of the judging of the dead, small and great, brought into close proximity to that event. the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because tho hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth;" xi. 15-18. Here again we find the judging of the dead, small and great, closely connected with the commencement of the reign of Christ; 14 And death and hell were and all linked indissolubly to the time of the destruction of the Jewish state.* There are a few other points in the verse before us which we should notice before we proceed to the subsequent verses. Before God. Some think these events must happen in the eternal world, because it is said those who are judged stand before God. So was the earth corrupt before God, in the days of Noah; Gen. vi. 11; so the elders of Israel eat bread with Jethro, the father-inlaw of Moses, before God; Exod. xviii. 12; so David and all Israel played before God with harps and *Dr. Woodhouse_gets a glimpse of the Scripture doctrine of judgment, in the following note on Rev. xi. 18. His thoughts were evidently much trammelled with preconceived opinions; but the truth was struggling with error in his mind, and broke forth like beams of sun-light through the vistas of a darkened cloud. "The received translation expresses that the dead are to be judged at this time; but more than this seems to be intended in the original; for before the great day of final retri: bution, when the literally dead shall be raised from their graves for judgment, (as in ch. xxii. 12,) another kind of judgment is to be expected, that by which the inequalities in the distribution of justice shall be rectified under the reign of Christ's religion upon earth. Krisin tois ethnesin apangelei, 'He shall utter judgment to the nations,' was the prophetic designation of our Lord, (Matt. xii. 18.) All judgment was committed to him by the Father;' (John v. 22;) and his right to exercise it took place from his crucifixion; (John xii. 31;) but this judgment was suspended for a time, he krisis autou erthe; (Acts viii. 33;) and was not to be exercised in plenitude of power, till the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled; (Luke xxi. 24.) And this judgment, though not perfected in all its parts before the great and last day, (which is also comprehended under this seventh and last trumpet,) yet is first to be partially displayed in the destruction of the corrupt worldly powers, and the restoration of a purer religion and morality. "The time of the dead,' may likewise sig. nify (in that metaphorical sense in which the word death, &c., is frequently used) the time when pure religion, dead and buried with the witnesses, shall with them revive and flourish. But no final and certain opinion can be passed on prophecy, before the event shall direct the interpretation." (Annotations on the Apoc., London, 1828.) cast into the lake of fire. This with psalteries, &c.; 1 Chron. xiii. 8; xvi. 1; so Zacharias and Elizabeth were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless; Luke i. 6; so Jesus of Nazareth was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; Luke xxiv. 9; so Cornelius said to Peter, "Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God;" Acts x. 33. Let these references suffice, although many more might be given. To do a thing before God was to do it in a formal, religious, solemn and conscientious manner, with a sense of his presence and oversight. Such was peculiarly the case with Christ's judgment; the Father was ever with him. The words "before God" were quoted from Dan. vii. 10: "Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set and the books were opened." This is sufficient on this topic, in this place; but those who wish to see the subject of the divine presence much more fully discussed, are referred to our note on xiv. 10, illustrating the words, "in the presence of the holy angels, and the presence of the Lamb." books were opened. The figures here are evidently drawn from a human court of justice. The world is brought to Christ's bar to be judged. The books are opened; i. e., the books of God's law, of his precepts, out of which men are judged. Men are decided to be good or evil as their lives agree with the statutes written in the books. The law was called the book or books of the law; and when the children of Israel were judged, they were judged out of the things written in the books; Deut. XXIX. 50, 27; 2 Kings xxii. 13. emiah says: "And I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah The Jer is the second death. hath prophesied against all the nations; and I will recompense them according to their deeds, and according to the works of their own hands;" xxv. 13, 14. This was judging men out of the things written in the books, according to their works. That this opening of the books was simultaneous with the commencement of Christ's kingdom, has already been proved in this article so clearly as to preclude all doubt. The dead were judged out of those things written in the books, according to their works. That the dead are judged in the present life, according to their works, is as plainly taught in the Bible as any other truth. The Jews were judged, under the old covenant, according to their works; and the same principle is maintained under the gospel. If men are judged according to their works in this world, there is no ground for supposing that they will be judged over again, for these same works, in some other state. Professor Stuart says, on other parts of the Apocalypse, "What John declared would take place shortly, happened according to his prediction; and if so, the dispute whether it is all to happen over again, after so many centuries, cannot be a dispute of much interest or importance. One fulfilment is enough." (Hints on Proph. 141, 142.) Men were judged out of the things written in the books; i. e., by the statutes and precepts of God. Everything is adjudged to be right as it agrees with these, and wrong as it disagrees with them. All the abettors of false systems must be judged by the gospel; all the opposers of Christianity will be judged by its principles in the reign of Christ which is now going on. Every man shall be thus judged. The book of life. This expression occurs once only, except in the book of Revelation. See Phil. iv. 3; Rev. iii. 5; xiii. 8; xvii. 8; xx. 12, 15; xxi. 27; xxii. 19. The book of life was the book of favorable remembrance; the roll of the true 15 And whosoever was not be and faithful Christians who endured through all trials, unto the end. Whosoever's name was not found on this, was destroyed with the unbelievers. See the notes on iii. 5; xiii. 8; where our opinion will be found fully expressed on the phrase "book of life." We need not repeat the arguments and illustrations in this place. 13. Sea gave up the dead. - The metaphor here corresponds to that of the preceding verse. The dead must come from every place in which they may be supposed to lie - from the sea as well as the land. Death and hell (or hades, the state of the dead) must give up their prisoners to be judged by the gospel. The intent of the metaphor is, that men, from all their hiding places, their places of retreat, and rest, and security, shall brought forth to be judged. ¶ Death and hell delivered up the dead. — Isaiah used a somewhat similar metaphor : "We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. * * Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it;" Isaiah xxviii. 15, 18. Here, evidently, death- and hell delivered up their dead, to be judged by God's truth. The refuge of lies was swept away, falsehood was demolished by the overflowing scourge of God's judgments. The metaphors of the prophet and the revelator were very similar. To show that men cannot escape the judgments of the Almighty, however safe from them they may fancy themselves to be, the prophet says: "Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord;" Obadiah i. 4. And again, "Though * found written in the book of life they dig into hell, thence shall my nand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: and though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them;" Amos ix. 2, 3. Thus we see, that these metaphors of bringing men from death, from hades, or hell, and from the bottom of the sea, to judge them, are used in reference to temporal judgments. The revelator evidently quotes his metaphors from the prophets. The simple meaning is, that none, wherever they may be, can escape from the judgments of God, "who will render to every man according to his works." was cast into the lake of fire. 14. Death and hell. - The primary question here is, What do death and hell stand for in the Apocalypse? Hell, in this place, is a translation of hades, meaning, primarily, the state of the dead; but it is used metaphorically for darkness, opposition, desolation, prostration, destruction, &c.; Matt. xi. 23; Luke x. 15; Matt. xvi. 18. In Rev. i. 18, Jesus claims to "have the keys of hell and of death;" i. e., he had power over everything represented by hell and by death. The gates of hell, or hades, Matt. xvi. 18, were the powers of opposition which could not prevail against the church of Christ, because Christ had the keys of the gates, i. e., power over them; he opened, and no man could shut; he shut, and no man could open; Rev. iii. 7. When it is said that death and hell followed in the path of the pale horse, Rev. vi. 8, we are to understand it as of the evils attendant on pestilence, viz., paleness, sinking, EZEKIEL: destruction, death. Death and hell can mean nothing more here. These their graves; xxxvii. Calling dead from are the only instances in the Apoca-1-14. lypse of the use of these terms, until Gog and Magog arwe come to the 20th chapter. The ray themselves against whole is metaphorical. The dead xxxviii., xxxix. the people of God; EZEKIEL: The fowls are called to the banquet of the dead; xxxix. 17-20. The prophet's vision of the new city of Jerusalem; chaps. xl. to xliv. The prophet's vision of the holy waters proceeding out of the temple; xlvii. REVELATION: to 21. The new Jerusalem comes down from God out of heaven, and is very particularly described; chaps. xxi. xxii. was a second death, so there was also The same; xix. 17 a second resurrection; for, if there were no second resurrection, it would not be proper to speak of "the first resurrection." And we do not know what the second resurrection can more appropriately represent than the extended and glorious spread of the gospel, immediately described by the revelator, when God should wipe away all tears; when there should be no more death, [the second death being annihilated,] neither sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, and when all things should be made new. The river of the water of life proceeding from the throne of God; xxii. 1. 15. Not written. - Those not written : That the revelator borrowed the whole train of his metaphors, in the closing up of the Apocalypse, from the latter part of the prophecy of Ezekiel, is fully manifest; and the in the book of life were the enemies calling the dead up out of their graves of Christianity throughout the empire to be judged by the gospel, is no more -the heathen power, and all whom to be interpreted literally, as if belong- the beast and the dragon had kept ing to the immortal state, than the under their authority. They were dry bones of the valley, in Ezekiel's all to be utterly destroyed as such. vision. And as the gospel was in-¶ Lake of fire. They were to be tended to put an end to all tears, and death, and sorrow, and crying, and pain, and everything of that kind; xxi. 3, 4; how appropriately is it said, "Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire;" i. e., were destroyed. ¶ Lake of fire. - We have already explained this metaphor, under xix. 20, and xx. 10. It was a metaphor for utter destruction. Death and hell were to be utterly destroyed by the reign of the gospel, as is plainly taught in the 21st chapter of the Apocalypse. Everything that opposed the gospel was to be put down. The second death. -The first death was the death in sin, in which the gospel found men; for when men were raised from that state of moral death, they were said to experience "the first resurrection." Those who received the first resurrection lived and reigned with Christ during the time called "the thousand years." Such as did not embrace the gospel, in the empire, during that time, suffered the second death; i. e., remained dead after the happy period of the church, and were destroyed as the enemies of Jesus, with everything that opposed the gospel. As there cast into the lake of fire; not in the future state, for we have no account of any lake of fire there; besides, if it were there, how could the beast and the false prophet have been cast alive into it? The Jews met a similar fate for their wickedness and opposition to God. See Isaiah xxxi. 9, and Ezk. xxii. 18-22: "Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my fury upon you." This is a very similar metaphor to |