And I saw an angel come down from heavens &c.— After the destruction of the beast, and the false prophet,there still remains the dragon, who had delegated his power unto them; that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, Revelation 20:2. but he is bound by an angel,—an especial minister of Providence; and the famous millennium, or the reign of the saints upon earth for a thousand years, commences. Binding him with a great chain, casting him into the bottomless pit, shutting him up, and setting a seal upon him, (Revelation 20:3.) are strong figures, to shew the strict and severe restraint which he should be laid under, that he should deceive the nations no more during this whole period. Wickedness being restrained, the reign of righteousness succeeds; and the martyrs and confessors of Jesus, not only those who were beheaded, or suffered any kind of death under the Roman emperors, but also those who refused to comply with the idolatrous worship of the beast and his image, are raised from the dead, and have the principal share in the felicities of Christ's kingdom upon earth, Revelation 20:4. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished, Revelation 20:5. so that this was a peculiar prerogative of the martyrs and confessors, above the rest of mankind. This is the first resurrection, a particular resurrection, preceding the general one at least a thousand years. Blessed and holy too is he who hath part in the first resurrection; Revelation 20:6. He is holy in all senses of the word; holy, as separated from the common lot of mankind; holy, as endowed with all holy and virtuous qualifications; and none but such are admitted to partake of this blessed state:—On such the second death hath no power. The second death is a Jewish phrase for the punishment of the wicked after death. The Chaldee paraphrase of Onkelos, and the other paraphrases of Jonathan Ben Uziel, and of Jerusalem, on Deuteronomy 33:6. Let Reuben live, and not die, say, "Let him not die the second death, by which the wicked die in the world to come." The sons of the resurrection therefore shall not die again, but shall live in eternal bliss, as well as enjoy all the glories of the millennium;—be priests of God and Christ, and reign with him a thousand years. Nothing is more evident than that this prophesy of the millennium, and of the first resurrection, has not yet been fulfilled, even though the resurrection be taken in a figurative sense. For, reckon the thousand years from the time of Christ, or reckon them from the time of Constantine, yet neither of these periods, nor indeed any other, will answer the description and character of the millennium, the purity and peace, the holiness and happiness of that blessed state.
Before Constantine, the church was indeed in greater purity, but was groaning under the persecutions of the heathen emperors: after Constantine, the churchwas in greater prosperity, but was soon shaken and disturbed by heresies, schisms, incursions, devastations, corruptions, idolatry, wickedness, and cruelty. If Satan was then bound, when can he be said to be loosed? Or how could the saints and the beast, Christ and antichrist, reign at the same time? This prophesy therefore remains yet to be fulfilled, eventhough the resurrection be taken only for an allegory; which yet the text cannot admit, without the greatest torture and violence. For with what propriety can it be said, that some of the dead who were beheaded, lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished, unless the dying and living again be the same in both places;—a proper death and resurrection. Indeed, the death and resurrection of the witnesses, ch. 11 appear, from the concurrent circumstances of the vision, to be figurative; but the death and resurrection here mentioned, must, for the very same reasons, be concluded to be real. If the martyrs rise only in a spiritual sense, then the rest of the dead rise only in a spiritual sense; but if the rest of the dead really rise, the martyrs rise in the same manner. There is no difference between them; and we should be cautious and tender of making the first resurrection an allegory, lest others should reduce the second into an allegory too, like those whom St. Paul mentions, 2 Timothy 2:17-18. In the general, that there shall be such a happy period as the millennium, is the plain and express doctrine of Daniel 7:27. Psalms 2:8. Isaiah 11:9. Romans 11:25; Romans 11:36. and of all the prophets, as well as of St. John; and we daily pray for the accomplishment of it, in saying, thy kingdom come. But of all the prophets, St. John is the only one who has declared particularly, and in express terms, that the martyrs shall rise to partake of the felicities of this kingdom; and that it shall continue upon earth a thousand years: and the Jewish church before him, and the Christian church after him, have farther believed and taught, that these thousand years will be the seventh millenary of the world. A pompous heap of quotations might be produced to this purpose, both from Jewish and Christian writers; but to enumerate only a few of both sorts: among the Jewish writers, are rabbi Ketina, and the house of Elias: among the Christian writers, are St. Barnabas in the first century, Justin Martyr in the second century, Tertullian in the beginning of the third, and Lactantius in the beginning of the fourth century. In short, the doctrine of the millennium was generally believed in the three first and purest ages; and this belief was one principal cause of the fortitude of the primitive Christians: they even coveted martyrdom, in hopes of being partakers of the privileges and glories of the martyrs in the first resurrection. Afterwards this doctrine grew into disrepute for various reasons: some, both Jewish and Christian writers, have debased it with a mixture of fables. It has suffered by the misrepresentations of its enemies, as well as by the indiscretions of its friends: it has been abused even to the worst purposes; it has been made an engine of faction. Besides, wherever the influence and authority of the church of Rome have extended, she has endeavoured by all means to discredit this doctrine; and indeed not without sufficient reason, this kingdom of Christ being founded on the ruins of antichrist. No wonder, therefore, that this doctrine lay depressed for many ages; but it sprang up again at the Reformation, and will flourish together with the study of the Revelation. All the danger is, on the one side of pruning and lopping it too short; and, on the other, of suffering it to grow too wild and luxuriant. Great caution and judgment are required, to keep in the middle way. We should neither, with some, interpret it into allegory; nor, with others, indulge an extravagant fancy, nor explain too curiously the manner and circumstances of this future state: it is safest and best faithfully to adhere to the words of scripture, and to rest contented with the general account, till time shall accomplish and clear up all the particulars.