From this I collect, that the Lord Jesus Christ will judge all the living and all the dead at the time of his appearing. Two inferences appear to me to follow from this. First inference: All the ungodly dead must be raised at the time of his appearing, in order to be judged, as well as the godly dead. Consequently the resurrection of the godly dead will not take place before that of the ungodly. Hence, what is called the first resurrection (Rev. xx. 4), cannot be the same as the resurrection of the saints at the appearing or epiphany of the Lord Jesus Christ. Second inference: The judgment of the living and dead, of which the Holy Ghost here speaks, cannot but coincide with the judgment which he also describes (Rev. xx. 11, 12). Consequently, the time also must be the same of each. Therefore the appearing or epiphany of Christ, will take place at the time noticed (Rev. xx. 11,12), when he takes his seat upon the great white throne ; and therefore must be more than a thousand years after what is called the first resurrection.

XVIII. 2 Pet. iii." This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you: in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2 that ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: 3 knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. 8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to re

pentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." [Note V.]

[V] The reader should carefully notice the change of expression which the Holy Ghost has made in describing what will take place at the day of the Lord, from that which he uses in describing what did take place at the deluge. At the deluge, every thing living upon the surface of the earth, including the whole human race except Noah and his family, perished (Gen. vii. 20-23). But the material earth itself, whatever change its surface may have undergone, was not destroyed but remained (Gen. viii. 1-3). In agreement with this, when the destruction caused by the deluge is described in ver. 6 the word (yn), earth, which had been used in the one immediately before (ver. 5), in the sense of the material earth, is changed for another word (xooμos) world, which usually denotes persons who live upon the earth. See John i. 9, 10, 29; and iii. 16, 17, 19; and iv. 42; and vi. 14, 33, 51; and vii. 4, 7, &c. Concerning this world of ungodly persons, it is said that by the flood it perished (arwλero), which signifies the perishing or destruction of the existence of any thing, as its substantive, arwasta, perishing or destruction, does in On the other hand, when the Holy Ghost foretells the events which will take place at the coming of the day of the Lord, the word (xosuos) world, which had been substituted for (yn) earth, in ver. 6, is dropped, and the word (y) earth, is resumed from ver. 5. By this striking change and rechange he indicates to us, I conceive, that the burning up which he foretells, will not merely destroy the world of ungodly persons living upon the earth, as the flood did, which he describes (ver. 6), but will destroy the earth itself.

ver. 7.

This same distinction as to the extent of destruction at the flood, and at the last day appears to me to be pointed out equally clearly in three other ways. First, by the difference between the element (water) which Jehovah used to destroy the world at the deluge, and the element (fire) which he will use to effect the destruction at the day of the Lord. Water will overflow land, and will wash away any thing on its surface, which is the meaning of the word xataxλvobis, translated overflowed (ver. 6), in reference to the waters of the deluge, which washed away and overwhelmed the world of ungodly men, and of animals then living on the surface of the earth. But

From this passage I collect: First, That the present heavens and earth are reserved unto fire against (or unto) the day of judgment, and perdition (or perishing, añwλɛiac) of ungodly men (ver. 7), of that and all other ages (compare chap. ii. 9). Secondly, At the coming of the day

water will not consume the earth itself. On the other hand, fire, the element which the Holy Ghost foretells will be used to accomplish the Lord's purpose at the last day, affects the very material and substance of the thing to which it is applied. The difference, therefore, of the two elements water and fire is one way by which the Holy Ghost indicates to us the same difference of extent of destruction, as by the change of the words world and earth.

The second way by which he marks to us the extent of destruction is by using the word (xaTaxanderal) burned up (ver. 10). I cannot find a single passage in the New Testament in which this verb is used in any other sense than that which both its composition (xara, intensative, entirely or thoroughly, and xxww, to burn,) and its use in classical authors would denote, namely, that of consuming or burning up, either at once, or, as it were, by a continuing consumption : of this, however, the reader will be able to judge for himself, by referring to the following passages, which are all, I believe, in which it occurs in the New Testament, Matt. iii. 12, and xiii. 30 and 40; Luke iii. 17; Acts xix. 19; 1 Cor. iii. 15; Heb. xiii. 11 ; Rev. viii. 7, and xvii. 16, and xviii. 8. It has been alleged that the element of fire is used for refining, and, therefore, we may suppose it will be used to refine the earth at the day of the Lord, and not to consume it. To this I would reply, that the other element, water, is also used for purifying. To suppose therefore, that, because the element of fire is used for refining, the fire which the Hold Ghost declares will burn up the earth (expressly using a word which always bears this sense), will be for refining the earth, and not for burning it up, would appear to me to be as entirely a groundless and unscriptural assumption, as if when the Lord declared he would bring a flood of waters upon the earth and would destroy all flesh (Gen. vi. 17), any one before the deluge had argued, that water is an element which is used for purifying, therefore all flesh will not be destroyed by the waters of the flood, but will be merely purified thereby. For myself I feel convinced that as the element of water did not purify the all flesh, whom Jehovah had declared he would destroy, but did actually destroy them; so the element of fire will not be for refining the earth, which Jehovah has expressly declared (xaraxanderas ) shall be burned up, but will actually burn it up. The use, therefore, of this verb (xaraxaw signifying to burn up, or consume by fire, as well as the declaration concerning the element itself (fire) which will be used at the day of the Lord, convince me that the Holy Ghost thereby foretells that the earth itself will be burnt up or consumed, as fire consumes (xaraxaiei) chaff, wood, stubble, &c. see Matt. ii. 12; and 1 Cor. iii. 12, 15, (Gr and Eng.) And this appears to me to be greatly confirmed by the other strong expressions, which the Holy Ghost uses in this passage, such as the heavens and the elements passing away, being melted, dissolved (vers. 10—12);

of the Lord, the heavens will pass away; and, instead of merely the world (the persons who were living upon the earth) perishing, as was the case when they were washed away and drowned at the deluge (ver. 6), the material

although perhaps we cannot conceive in what precise extent of sig nification the word heavens is to be understood, as we find the word Do used, even in Gen. i. in apparently different extents of signification, vers. 1, 8, 14, 30 (air). See also Psalm exlviii. 1, 4, &c.

The third way in which the Holy Ghost indicates to us the difference of extent of destruction, is the express declaration, that there will be a new heavens and new earth (ver. 13), which exactly agrees with the declaration just noticed concerning the passing away of the present heavens, and the burning up of the present earth.

We may observe how strikingly this distinction is confirmed by Heb. i. 10-12: "And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up and they shall be changed." Here we may remark two things noticed concerning the heavens and earth. 1. Their creation in the beginning. 2. Their future destruction. No notice is taken in this passage of any effect produced in them by the deluge, because, as already observed, the heavens and earth did not perish then, but only the ungodly world living upon the earth. But it is expressly declared, that they shall perish. The same verb (αλтα) is here used with reference to the heavens and earth, as in 2 Pet. iii. 6 with reference to the ungodly world; and as it there signifies the destruction of the existence of the ungodly, so here it signifies the destruction of the heavens and earth, as now existing, according indeed to its, I believe I might say, almost invariable signification in the New Testament. The same thing is intimated by the figure of a garment, which after it has grown old, and worn out, is folded up, and not changed into, but changed for a new one, as the expression changed implies, by comparing the original passage (Psalm cii. 26). In like manner, the present heavens and earth, after having become, as it were, worn out by the accomplishment of the period and objects for which they were created, will be, not refined and altered, but rolled up and put away, and a new heavens and earth substituted in their place. The description, therefore, which is given in this passage of what will take place with respect to the present heaven and earth, combined with the total omission of any reference to any effect of the deluge, appears to me to afford a striking confirmation to the observations which I have just made respecting 2 Pet. iii.; and when I combine all these considerations, I cannot but conclude that the events which will take place at the coming of the day of the Lord, will be as much more extensive and decisive in their effects than the events which took place at the deluge, as the description which the Holy Ghost has here given of the former is than the description which he has given of the latter.

On the other hand, if I interpret what is called the first resurrection, to signify that of the saints, I must be compelled not only to

G

earth itself will be burned up (кatakaŋσɛrai) with all the works that are therein. Thirdly, In the stead of the present heavens which have thus passed away, and of the present earth which has thus been burned up, there will

fritter away the obvious meaning of this plain and solemn passage, but I must be reduced to the following, in my view, insuperably dif ficult conclusion; namely, that the Holy Ghost has described, in one and the same passage, two events; and that he has given us a far more extensive and decisive description of one of these events than he has of the other; but that, instead of the effects of the one event thus described, being proportionably more extensive and decisive than the effects of the other were (and we actually know what they were), the case will be directly the reverse; and the far more extensive and decisive description will receive the far less extensive and decisive fulfilment. This would be considered by us as a glaring defect in any human writing; and can it exist in the word of God? Such, however, must be the difficulty in which I shall be involved, and in which, it appears to me, all are actually involved, who interpret the first resurrection to mean that of the saints at the coming of the day of the Lord, when the events noticed in this passage will take place. For, on this interpretation, ungodly persons must survive all that is described in the passage, such as the passing away of the heavens, the burning up of the earth, &c. because the ungodly nations described in Rev. xx. 7, 8, cannot spring from any other than such survivors. Indeed, the reigning with Christ (Rev. xx. 4), is considered by those who adopt this interpretation, to mean the glorified saints reigning over the ungodly persons who, it is conceived, will live through all the events here described. On this interpretation, therefore, 1. Though all the ungodly world, and the whole brute creation on the surface of the earth were destroyed at the flood, yet the ungodly living upon the surface of the earth, at the coming of the day of the Lord, will not be destroyed. 2. On this interpretation, an hypothesis must be set up; namely, that the effect of the fire will not be to burn up the earth, according to the invariable signification of the verb xaTaxaiw in the New Testament, but to purify or refine it, a sense with which it has not the least connection, as far as I can find, in a single passage in the New Testament, and which is in direct contradiction to the equally express declaration in Heb. i. 11, that the carth shall perish. 3. Ungodly persons having thus lived through all the events which the Holy Ghost has described in such a sublime and extensive manner, would, according to this interpretation, remain, and dwell upon the earth thus purified, and refined, and not only fitted for but actually become the habitation of Christ and his saints who are reigning with him upon it. And, 4. While thus dwelling upon this new earth, they will continue in a state of open enmity against the Son of Man, present and reigning in all the glory and power of his kingdom; and at length ungodly nations, occupying the four quarters of this very new earth, and their number being as the sand of the sea (Rev. xx. 8), would break out into open warfare and compass about the camp of the saints and the beloved city. I would not wish an unchristian expression to escape my pen, but the