irit of life from God,"
to the dismay of their enemies; (chs. xi. 11; xx. 4,) so Gog and Magog
re-appear in the persons and bloody cruelties of their genuine
successors. And in language similar to that in the context we may
warrantably say,--this is the _second resurrection_; for when it is
declared that the "rest of the dead lived not again," it is manifest
that two classes of dead are intended. All are said to be dead; the
witnesses, slain by the beast; their enemies, slain by the Lord. The
witnesses rise, and "this is the first resurrection." A _first_ implies
a _second of the same kind_. Well, "the rest lived not again till the
thousand years were finished." What then? Why, simply this,--that the
other remaining class of the dead _lived again_; and this appears to be
the obvious scope and meaning of these terms, so vexing to many critics.

By deception Satan prevails to assemble the nations in vast multitudes,
"as the sand of the sea,"--a proverbial form of expression applied to
Abraham's seed. (Gen. xxii. 17.) "They went up on the breadth of the
earth." Coming from the "four quarters of the earth," they "compassed
the camp of the saints." The allusion here is twofold: to Israel in the
wilderness, in the time of Moses; and to the holy city Jerusalem, in the
days of David; (Ps. cxviii. 10-12,) for often did the enemy with "joint
heart" attempt to "cut off the name of Israel." (Ps. lxxxiii. 4-8.)
Never was Pharaoh or Sennacherib more confident of a sure and easy
victory over the saints. (Exod. xv. 9; Isa. xxxvi. 20.) As in the days
of Noah, most of the generation of the righteous had been taken home to
glory before the ungodly were destroyed by the deluge, so we may suppose
the "camp of the saints" to be but a "little flock," when assailed for
the last time, while they are in a militant state.--The issue in this
case, however, will be more decisive and glorious than any other battle
with the powers of darkness. We may adopt and apply the words of the
prophet to God's people in the time of Jehoshaphat:--"Thus saith the
Lord,--Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for
the battle is not yours, but God's. Ye shall not need to fight in this
battle." (2 Chron. xx. 15, 17.)--"Fire came down from God out of heaven,
and devoured" this great multitude. This most dreadful of all elements
in the material universe, is that which is commonly employed to
represent the wrath of God. By it Sodom and Gomorrah wer