were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and "for the word of God, and which had not worshipped his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."

We are now brought in the beginning of this chapter to the blessed Millennium; to which the faithful followers of Christ and the attentive readers of the Prophecies have long been looking forward, as the accomplishment of ancient predictions, and as the consummation of the hopes of pious believers in the Gospel, that they should be permitted to live and reign with Christ on earth for a very long and happy period, before the end of this world should take place.

When the beast and the false prophet are taken, and destroyed, an angel descends from heaven, with the key of the abyss, and a chain in his hand, and seizes on the dragon, who is here described under his different denominations, as the grand deceiver of mankind, as the old serpent, the devil, and Satan, and binds him in the

abyss for a thousand years: After the expiration of which, we are told he is again to be loosed for a short time. But during his imprisonment, the reign of righteousness will prevail. Thrones are set, and the saints of God sit on them to execute judgment. And the souls of martyrs and confessors, who had suffered for the cause of Jesus, revived and lived, and reigned with him a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again till the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection, and blessed and holy is he that hath part in it. On him the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God, and Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This happy state of the Church is confirmed by the predictions of all the ancient prophets. We are assured that such a time shall come, when the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the, saints of the Most High, when Christ shall have the Heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost part of the earth for his possession; and when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Then "shall the fulness of the Gentiles come in, and all Israel shall be saved." St. Paul likewise, in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians (iv. 16.) says, "the dead in

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Christ shall rise first ;" and in the first Epistle to the Corinthians (xv. 23.) "every man shall be made alive in his own order; Christ the first fruits, afterward, those that are Christ's at his coming;" and then cometh the end, " or the general resurrection." This is that blessed kingdom upon earth, which the most enlightened of the Jews believed should prevail under the reign of the Messiah, which the Christians in the four first centuries implicitly relied on, till the carnal glosses of the later Jews threw a doubt upon its authenticity. This was the doctrine which encouraged martyrs and confessors, under their sufferings, to look forward to the happy recompense of reward, and for which our Saviour himself authorizes us to hope, when he commands us daily to pray that his "kingdom may come."

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil, that deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet

are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."

"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire."

We are now carried beyond the era of the Millenium, when we find, that from some cause inscrutable to us, but which the wisdom of God will explain in his good time, Satan will again be loosed and permitted to go forth to deceive the nations, who live at a distance from the Holy Land and the beloved city. These nations are unhappily a prey to his devices, and, in number as the sand of the sea, assemble and surround the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; but at this juncture the vengeance of God arrests their progress and defeats their design; for fire comes down from God out of heaven, and devours them. The devil and his new adherents

are thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, to be tormented for ever. Gog and Magog are twice alluded to by Ezekiel, and by that prophet only. The first expedition against the holy people seems evidently to be undertaken before the restitution of Jerusalem and the commencement of the Millennium. And then it is that their exploit fails, that they are turned back at the will of God, that they find their graves in the land of Israel, and leave their weapons of war to supply the people with fuel whom they desired to extirpate. All this is fully detailed in the thirtyninth chapter of Ezekiel; but in the thirty-eighth, after mentioning the first expedition, the prophet suddenly adverts to the last, and from the eighth verse he dwells exclusively on this long predicted and premeditated attempt on those who are living safely without walls, and without defence, and relying entirely on the protection of the Almighty. Then it is threatened by God himself that His fury shall be excited, and a tremendous earthquake shall make an entire alteration in the face of the earth. And now likewise it appears, that immediately after the vengeance exercised on the devil and his followers, a mighty change takes place, for St. John sees a white throne, and Him that sat thereon, before whose face heaven and earth fled away, and there was found no place for them.