riod of his confinement,
therefore, cannot be one of partial exemption from sin; but the living
will be perfectly free from all its contagious influences. He is to
deceive the nations _no more_, till the thousand years shall be fulfilled.

"The nations" who are freed from his influences, and also those whom he is
subsequently to deceive, are not, necessarily, organized political bodies,
under civil rulers, as they now exist. The original term, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, is
defined by Robinson to be "a multitude, people, race, belonging and living
together." At this epoch, the national organizations having disappeared,
and the people constituting them being translated or slain, the only
nations remaining will be "the nations of them which are saved" (21:24),
over whom the influence of Satan will have ceased forever; and those
constituting "the rest of the dead" (20:5), who will not live again till
the end of the thousand years--at the very time when Satan is to be loosed
from his prison to go out to deceive them, 20:7, 8.

The Cleansing of the Earth.

There is, in the Apocalypse, no symbolic representation of the act of the
cleansing of the earth, yet various scriptures show that it is at the
epoch of the second advent, and of the establishment of the kingdom of
God. If so, it follows the destruction of the wicked and the binding of
Satan, while the raised and transfigured saints--constituting "the
bride"--are still with the Lord in the clouds of heaven (19:7-9), where
they were caught up to meet him in the air, 1 Thess. 4:17.

A restoration of the earth, in connection with the first resurrection, is
in accordance with the testimony of scripture, and was the opinion of the
ancients. We read in Isaiah: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new
earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind," Isa.
65:17.

"As for my opinion," saith R. Menasse, a Jewish Rabbi, "I think that after
six thousand years, the world shall be destroyed, upon one certain day, or
in one hour; that the arches of heaven shall make a stand as immovable;
that there will be no more generation or corruption; and that all things
by the resurrection shall be renovated, and return to a better condition."
He also assures us that "this, without doubt, is the opinion of the most
learned Aben Ezra," who looked for it