ACC ~ Revelation 20 v5 - 6

OVERVIEW:

The apostle Paul speaks of two trumpets, indicating two resurrections. The first resurrection is that of the saints and the believing Jews, who will reign with Christ a thousand years. The second is the final resurrection of the sinners and impious, who will suffer the second death of damnation in hell (VICTORINUS). One might, however, understand the first resurrection to be that of faith (OECUMENIUS) by which one passes from death unto life (AUGUSTINE). For although he was largely hidden in the Old Testament and even during the time of the incarnation, the divine Holy Spirit became manifest and perceptible when he led many to receive faith in Christ (OECUMENIUS). In Adam all are dead in sins and trespasses (CAESARIUS OF ARLES), but the holy person whom Christ baptizes with the Holy Spirit (ORIGEN) receives the first resurrection through the remission of sins in baptism (CAESARIUS OF ARLES, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). Those who participate in this first resurrection by rising from the death of sin and persevering in the new life (AUGUSTINE) will not suffer the second death of the eternal punishment for sin (AUGUSTINE, OECUMENIUS). Christ baptizes the holy man in the Spirit, the sinner in fire. Those who sin after the first resurrection of the Holy Spirit, however, must receive another resurrection through the purifying baptism of fire (ORIGEN). Those who rise to the second death of unending torment (ANDREW OF CAESAREA) will remain as though dead, for there is no true life where there is no joy and happiness (AUGUSTINE, APRINGIUS). Moreover, in the second death pain afflicts but never destroys, so that the corruption of death continues without itself dying (AUGUSTINE). Those who rise to be eternally with Christ will reign with him in the strength of the cross and in the sovereignty of his might (APRINGIUS). As now the saints reign with Christ by keeping themselves free of temptation (CAESARIUS OF ARLES) and reign as priests in him who is the true Priest (AUGUSTINE), so then when things eternal arrive and temporal reality passes away, the saints will possess the kingdom of Christ more certainly (ANDREW OF CAESAREA). And so, there is a first death which is physical and temporary, and a second death, which is spiritual and eternal (OECUMENIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). And there is a first resurrection, which is that of faith, and a second resurrection, which is universal and for all, even for the unwilling (OECUMENIUS).

20:5-6 | The First Resurrection

THOSE WHO DID NOT PASS FROM DEATH TO LIFE. AUGUSTINE: Compare [John’s] other words: “The hour is coming, and now is here, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live”—implying that the rest of the dead (who do not hear) will “not come to life.” The added clause, “until the thousand years were finished,” means that during that time “the rest of the dead” did “not come to life” as they should by passing over from death to life. Therefore, in the day of the body’s resurrection, they will go forth from their tombs, not to life but to “judgment,” meaning that condemnation that is called the second death. Anyone at all who will have failed to “come to life” during this millennium, this whole era of the first resurrection, by not hearing “the voice of the Son of God” and by not passing from death to life will certainly, when the second and bodily resurrection comes, pass to the second death, body and soul together. CITY OF GOD 20.9.

THEY ARE AS THOUGH DEAD. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: “Until the thousand years were ended,” that is, until such time as the sacrament of the faith and the mystery of the cross is perfected in them and that those who are beginning to flourish might appear in their eternal blessedness. “The rest of the dead did not come to life.” He did not say, “they did not arise again,” but that they did not come to life, because without joy and happiness, and without the reward of eternity, in their torments they shall be regarded as though dead. “This is the first resurrection.” That is to say, the happiness of the saints and their reward; for it is said to be the “first” because of its splendor and its preeminence. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.5.

MOST COME TO FAITH BY THE POWER OF THE DIVINE SPIRIT. OECUMENIUS: “The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.” He calls those “dead” who remained in unbelief. The Lord also spoke of these when he said, “Let the dead bury their own dead.” To be sure, the unbelievers did not live the reasonable life until the time of the incarnation, which is the thousand years, was completed. But after this they lived. How so? By the visitation and presence of the Holy Spirit. For then most of the Jews believed in Christ, as many as did not believe in him when he was living among them in the flesh. This was accomplished in a most divine manner, not as the human mind might have expected. For while in the Old Testament the Son was proclaimed and was made known through his incarnation and his many signs and wonders, the Holy Spirit was not yet clearly revealed to humankind. In the Old Testament there was only talk concerning him, as there was of the Son, but there was no manifest and perceptible activity, which especially leads people to faith. He was, however, perceived by those who progressed into the depths of the divine purpose, For to be sure, everything which is done and accomplished is produced by the Holy Trinity. The Lord establishes this clearly when he says somewhere, “The Father has given me commandment what to say and what to speak” and again, “I am able to do nothing from myself,” referring to whatever happens in the Trinity; and again from John, “The Son of man can do nothing from himself, unless he sees his Father doing it,” and somewhere he vigorously claims, “If I by the Spirit of God cast out demons.” Since, as we said, there was no perceptible activity of the Holy Spirit among humankind, it was determined by plan that virtually all people would receive faith in Christ by the presence and power of the Paraclete and of God the Father, so that it might be clearly evident to all that he also is of the same substance and of equal power with the Father and the Son. To be sure, we are given no information that during the time of the incarnation any more than 120 had come to faith. The Acts [of the Apostles] numbers those who had gathered together in the upper room to have been so many. But since the power of the Lord’s teaching had reached many, certainly the conviction concerning this coming of the Spirit would have been preserved [among them]. Just as when seed is scattered upon the ground and the rains come and the sun shines upon it, all the seeds that had remained hidden and concealed in the ground until this time now start to spring up and become visible, for they had been simply kept in the earth, so also did it happen at the visitation of the Holy Spirit. All those to whom the teaching of the Lord had been thrown [as seed] began to spring up unto faith. Therefore, it is said with greater accuracy in the Revelation, “the rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.4-8.

CHRIST BAPTIZES THE HOLY PERSON IN THE SPIRIT, THE SINNER IN FIRE. ORIGEN: Jesus baptizes “in the Holy Spirit and in fire,” not the same person “in the Holy Spirit and in fire,” but the holy person “in the Holy Spirit,” while another person, after he has believed, after he has been deemed worthy of the Holy Spirit and after he has sinned again, Jesus washes in fire. So … it is not the same person who is baptized by Jesus in the Holy Spirit and in fire. Blessed, then, is the one who is baptized in the Holy Spirit and does not need the baptism by fire, but three times unhappy is that person who has need to be baptized in fire, though Jesus takes care of both of them. For “a shoot from the stump of Jesse will come forth, and a branch will grow out of the root,” a shoot for those who are punished, a branch for the righteous. So God is a consuming fire and God is light, a consuming fire to sinners, a light to the just and holy ones. And blessed is he “who shares in the first resurrection,” he who has kept the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Who is he who is saved in another resurrection? He who needs the baptism from fire, when he comes before that fire and the fire tests him, and when that fire finds wood, hay and stubble to burn. HOMILIES ON JEREMIAH 2.3.1-3.

THE FIRST RESURRECTION AND THE FINAL RESURRECTION. VICTORINUS OF PETOVIUM: Everyone should know that the “scarlet devil” and all of his rebellious angels are shut up in the Tartarus of Gehenna at the Lord’s coming, and that after one thousand years they are released because of the nations who will have served the antichrist so that they alone might perish and therefore have merited [such a punishment]. Thereupon the universal judgment will occur. Therefore it says, “The dead [who are written in the Book of Life] came to life, and they will reign with Christ a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power.” Concerning this resurrection he says, “And I saw the Lamb standing and with him—that is, standing with him—144,000.” Namely, these are those from among the Jews who will come to believe at the end of time through the preaching of Elijah and who, the Spirit testifies, are chaste not only in body but also in tongue. And therefore, it is mentioned above that the twenty-four elders had said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God, that you have begun to reign, and the nations have become enraged.” At the time of this first resurrection will also be that future, beautiful city that this writing has described. Also Paul spoke in this manner to the church in Macedonia concerning this first resurrection: “For this we declare to you by the word of God, that at the trumpet of God the Lord himself will descend from heaven to arouse [the dead from sleep]. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” We have heard that he speaks of a trumpet. We observe that in another place the apostle mentions another trumpet. He says to the Corinthians, “At the last trumpet the dead will rise”—they become immortal— “and we shall be changed.” He says that the dead will rise immortal in order to suffer their punishments; however, it is clear that we will be changed and clothed in glory. When, therefore, we hear that there is a “last trumpet,” we must understand that there has also been a first trumpet. Now these are the two resurrections. Therefore, however many shall not rise previously in the first resurrection and reign with Christ over the world—over all the nations—they will rise at the last trumpet after the thousand years, that is, at the final resurrection among the impious, the sinners and those guilty in various ways. Rightly, then, does the passage continue by saying, “Blessed and holy is he who shares in the first resurrection; over such the second death has no power.” Now, the second death is damnation in hell. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.1-2.

THOSE WHO RISE FROM SIN AND PERSEVERE IN THEIR NEW LIFE. AUGUSTINE: Anyone who thus participates [in the first resurrection] is one who not only rises from the death of sin but also perseveres in his newfound life. “Over these,” says John, “the second death has no power.” Therefore, it has power over all the others of whom he said above: “The rest of the dead did not come to life till the thousand years were finished.” They may have lived long enough in their bodies, in the period John calls the “thousand years,” but they did not rise from the binding death of their ungodliness. If they had, they would have shared in the first resurrection and thus escaped the power of the second death. CITY OF GOD 20.9.

IN THE SECOND DEATH PAIN AFFLICTS BUT NEVER DESTROYS. AUGUSTINE: Whoever are not liberated from that mass of perdition (brought to pass through the first man) by the one Mediator between God and humankind, they will also rise again, each in his own flesh, but only that they may be punished together with the devil and his angels. Whether these people will rise again with all their faults and deformities, with their diseased and deformed members—is there any reason for us to labor such a question? For obviously the uncertainty about their bodily form and beauty need not weary us, since their damnation is certain and eternal. And let us not be moved to inquire how their body can be incorruptible if it can suffer—or corruptible if it cannot die. For there is no true life unless it be lived in happiness; no true incorruptibility save where health is unscathed by pain. But where an unhappy being is not allowed to die, then death itself, so to say, dies not; and where pain perpetually afflicts but never destroys, corruption goes on endlessly. This state is called, in the Scripture, “the second death.” ENCHIRIDION 92.

THE SAINTS SHALL REIGN IN THE STRENGTH OF THE CROSS. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: He indicates that those over whom the second death has power did not come to life. To be sure, they have been resurrected unto the second death, that is, they have been damned to the lake of fire, even as it is stated in the psalms: “As though living he swallows them as in anger.” Indeed, concerning those over whom the second death has no power, it says, “they shall be priests of God and they shall reign with him a thousand years.” All those who shall have been in the congregation of the saints, shall be called saints, and they shall be priests of Christ our God, and they shall reign with him in the strength of the cross and in the sovereignty of his might. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.6.

A FIRST AND SECOND DEATH, A FIRST AND SECOND RESURRECTION. OECUMENIUS: “This is,” it says, “the first resurrection,” clearly that of faith. For the second resurrection will be the universal resurrection of the body. Therefore, “blessed is he who shares in the first resurrection!” For we will all take part in the second resurrection, even those who are unwilling. Upon those who share in the first resurrection, that is, upon the faithful, “the second death has no power.” What sort of death is this second death? Clearly it is that of sin and of the subsequent punishment. For just as he spoke of a first and a second resurrection, so also is there a first and a second death. The first death is physical and results in the separation of the soul and the body. The second death … is spiritual and is caused by sin. Of this death also the Lord spoke: “Do not fear those who kill the body; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.4-8.

WE RISE IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION THROUGH BAPTISM. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: [The first resurrection] is that by which we rise through baptism. As the apostle says, “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things which are above.” And again he says, “living as [those who have been brought to life] from the dead.” For sin is death, as the apostle says, “when you were dead through trespasses and sins.” Therefore, just as the first death is in this life because of sin, so also the first resurrection is in this life through the remission of sins. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.5, HOMILY 18.

THE FIRST LIFE AND DEATH ARE TEMPORARY; THE SECOND LIFE AND DEATH ARE ETERNAL. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: From the holy Scriptures we are taught that there are two lives and two deaths. The first life, which is after the transgression of the commandment, is temporary and fleshly. The [second] life is eternal and is promised to the saints because of Christ’s obedience to the divine commandments. Likewise, there are two deaths. The first is that of the flesh and is temporary. The other is eternal and is the reward for sins. It occurs in the age to come; this is the Gehenna of fire. We also know a distinction among the dead. There are the accused, of whom Isaiah wrote, “The dead shall not see life.” These are those persons who by their deeds bring upon themselves both stench and death. There are … the praiseworthy, who in Christ put to death the deeds of the body and crucified themselves with Christ and died to the world. The dead who are rejected, who were not buried with Christ and did not rise with him through baptism but who remained in that death which comes through sins, they shall not live with him until the completion of the thousand years, that is, that perfect number that extends from his first appearance until his second, glorious appearance. … Having been born only from the earth and not from the Spirit, these return to the earth. Their death becomes the beginning of the punishment coming to them. However, those who have a portion in the first resurrection, that is, in the rising from thoughts that bring death and from dead works, these are blessed, for the second death, that is, the unending torment, shall have no power over them. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.5-6.

20:6 | They Shall Be Priests of God

AS MEMBERS OF THE ONE PRIEST, ALL CHRISTIANS ARE PRIESTS. AUGUSTINE: Here he is speaking not just of bishops and of presbyters (who are now priests in the church) but of all Christians. For just as we call all of them Christs by reason of their mystical chrism, we call them all priests insomuch as they are members of the one Priest. Peter speaks of them as a “chosen race, a royal priesthood.” Surely, too, this text implies, however briefly and incidentally, that Christ is God. The words “priests of God and Christ” mean priests of the Father and Son, even though it was in his servant form that Christ was both made Son of man and also ordained a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. CITY OF GOD 20.10.

THOSE WHO KEEP THEMSELVES FROM TEMPTATION. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: The Spirit repeats what he had written before, that the church is going to reign a thousand years in this age until the end of the world. It is clear that no one ought doubt about the eternal rule when the saints rule even in this present age. For those are rightly said to reign who with God’s aid govern well both themselves and others in the temptations of the present world. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.6, HOMILY 18.

THOSE WHO NOW REIGN WITH CHRIST. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: [Those who have a portion of the first resurrection] shall serve as priests and shall reign with Christ, as we see, for the thousand years as they are interpreted by us, until Satan is loosed and deceives the nations. Not that these will then be deprived of the kingdom. Rather, they will possess it more certainly and more manifestly with the passing of temporal reality and the arrival of things eternal. For the time between the loosing of the devil and the verdict against him and his punishment in gehenna is short. So, that “they shall be priests of God and of Christ” ought to be regarded as the restoration of former things. … Therefore, since there are two deaths, it is necessary also to accept two resurrections. There is the first, physical death, given as a wage for human disobedience. The second death is eternal punishment. The first resurrection is the giving of life from dead works. The second resurrection is the transformation from the corruption of our bodies into incorruptibility. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.5-6.

GOG AND MAGOG REVELATION 20:7-10

OVERVIEW: During the time of the Lord’s incarnation, the devil’s power was restrained so that the mystery of the incarnation might not be ineffective and without benefit. However, when Christ had ascended into heaven, the devil was once more released to do his customary work of deceiving the nations. In this activity he serves as a sort of athletic trainer for humankind, granting opportunity to the apostles, martyrs, pastors, ascetics and every righteous person to display the strength of their faith (OECUMENIUS). During this period of time the preaching of the gospel will bring in the full and complete harvest of the faithful. After this, the antichrist will come so that unbelievers might be condemned (ANDREW OF CAESAREA), while the saints receive the reality of eternity under the headship of Christ. At this time, too, the nether regions will be freed from the devil who will disappear into eternal perdition (APRINGIUS).

While even now the wicked are hostile to good works (APRINGIUS), at the end of time the devil will gather the nations, Gog and Magog, which are loyal to him to fight against the saints. Although some believe that this has already occurred during the time of the Old Testament or the time of the Maccabees (ANDREW OF CAESAREA), it is clear that this climatic battle will occur at the time of the consummation (OECUMENIUS, ANDREW OF CAESAREA). These nations do not yet exist, or they exist but are given different names in Scripture (OECUMENIUS). It may well be, however, that we should not think of specific tribes or nations. Rather, this last persecution will be against the city of Christ, which exists everywhere in the world. For the city of the devil also is worldwide (AUGUSTINE), and wherever the devil abides in his own people, there a hostile people will emerge out of his arrogance to fight the church (AUGUSTINE, APRINGIUS).

Exalted in their own pride (APRINGIUS, CAESARIUS OF ARLES), the devil and his followers will encompass the church, for they are intermixed and intermingled with it (AUGUSTINE, APRINGIUS). However, the blazing zeal of the saints will torment the ungodly (AUGUSTINE) even as the ungodly are consumed by the fire of their sins. Some of the ungodly may convert to Christ through the fire of the Holy Spirit and be spiritually consumed by the holy church (CAESARIUS OF ARLES). In any case, Satan, that originator of evil, will be thrown into the lake of fire at the end (OECUMENIUS), and the church will remain safe, for not a single angel but many angels surround and protect those who fear God. When Christ comes, he will slay the devil and his followers with the breath of his mouth (ANDREW OF CAESAREA) and hand them over to punishment, which, as the Lord teaches, will be eternal and neverending (AUGUSTINE).

20:7 | Satan Will Be Loosed

THE NETHER REGIONS WILL BE FREED FROM SATAN. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: [We have here a difficulty] for we must inquire how it is that when the thousand years have ended, the enemy is given his freedom and the nations [continue to] live upon the earth within that infinity [which occurs after the end]. For indeed, after the resurrection, when the judgment of the living and the dead has been rendered, all things everlasting are given and those who reign with Christ, namely, the saints, will come with God’s aid to the eternal blessings, that is, to the very reality of eternality itself. Moreover, they will be rewarded with the contemplation of him who is the Beginning, and possessing the presence of a vision of such a majesty they will be established in its bliss. When the rewards of all the blessed have been consummated and perfected, and all things have been brought to the one headship of our Lord Jesus Christ and in him all things are held together, “Satan will be loosed from his prison.” Then the nether regions themselves will be freed from him, at the same time the author of darkness will be dissolved and disappear, “and go out,” into eternal perdition. TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.7.

SATAN SERVES AS AN ATHLETIC TRAINER FOR HUMANKIND. OECUMENIUS: When the Lord completed the economy according to the flesh and ascended into heaven, the devil was to be released from his spiritual chains again to deceive the nations. It was said in an earlier book that the Lord’s manner of life among men destroyed the work of the devil. But when the Lord had ascended into heaven, the devil once more effected that which is proper and customary to him, and the people upon the earth were again subject to his authority, as was their custom. For the devil attempts to lead all astray. Some are persuaded by him, while others are not persuaded and struggle against the evil one. However, perhaps someone might say, “Why is it that when he was restrained and his own assaults were repulsed by the coming of the Lord in the flesh, he was let loose again against us, to lead those on earth astray? Were it not better had he been bound and humankind left free of [further] deception?” To such a person it must be said, Why do you not rather inquire after the existence of the devil at the very beginning? Or, why do you not inquire why he was not utterly destroyed when he first existed and had become a transgressor, so that he would have no access to mankind?

But, O friend, how would athletes continue to receive vigorous exercise were there no one to wrestle against? And how would athletes demonstrate their strength were there no opponent? For those persons who are lazy and subject to pleasures are inherently perverse, whether or not the devil is present and prodding them on. But the people of God who are noble athletes would be wrongly treated were their courage against the passions not put on public display. So, as it happens, the lazy would receive no benefit and the zealous would be very greatly wronged, were there no Satan. In a way, Satan serves as an athletic trainer for humankind, providing for those who contend an opportunity for victories. For as we said, those enamored with sin are in no way harmed, since, even were the devil not present, they would use their own sluggishness in place of him. And so, although unwilling, the devil does good to those [strong athletes], while he harms these not at all, or very little. But for my sake and yours, lest we be further injured by the work of the devil in any manner small or great, you [O friend] were willing that the lovers of sin be left unconstrained [by any discipline] and in a state of defeat and that the patriarchs and the prophets be despoiled of the glory [of their victories], along with the apostles, the Evangelists and those who had remained steadfast even to the point of blood for the witness of Christ and had preserved their nobility for him. Furthermore, you would have the confessors and those pastors who govern the churches well to be deprived of their glory, together with the ascetics, who endure very great hardships, and every righteous person who is perfected by their faith in Christ. “Of none of these is this world worthy.” As a result, those noble and virtuous combatants mitigate to some extent the penalty of sinners who are altogether responsible for their hurts. For one who is upright is honored more by God than are thousands of those who do evil.

Therefore, both of these actions were exceptionally good and inspired, that at the coming of the Lord the impious attacks of the devil were stopped and that after his ascension into heaven the devil was loosed to tempt humankind. For had Satan been allowed to display all of his spiritual power while the Lord sojourned upon the earth, he would not have allowed anyone to become a hearer of the divine teaching. Nor would anyone have learned who is the true God by nature and what is the pure worship of him and what is vice and what is virtue. Rather, [Satan] would have prepared the cross for Christ prematurely, even before the Lord had begun to teach. And had this happened, such a great and admirable mystery as the Lord’s incarnation would have been ineffective and without any benefit. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.4-8.

THE PERIOD OF THE PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: Some interpret the period of a thousand years to be the three and a half years from the baptism of Christ to his ascension into heaven, and they believe that after this the devil is to be loosed. Others say that after the completion of six thousand years the first resurrection of the dead will occur for the saints alone, so that on this very earth on which they endured suffering, they might enjoy temporal largess and glory for a thousand years, and that after this [period] the general resurrection will occur, which will be not only of the righteous but also of the sinners. It is unnecessary to say that the church receives nothing of this.

Rather, we listen to the Lord when he says to the Sadducees that the righteous will be “as the angels in heaven.” We listen also to the apostle who says, “the kingdom of God is not food and drink.” And so we interpret the thousand-year period to be that of the preaching of the gospel. … It is not necessary to think of these thousand years in terms of a number. When it is said in the Song of Songs “everyone was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver,” and again, “Solomon shall have a thousand and they who keep its fruit two hundred,” the precise number is not indicated, but the full and complete harvest. So also here, the harvest of faith in its entirety is meant, after which “the son of perdition, the man of lawlessness” will come “so that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness,” as the apostle says. And the Lord said, “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me; another will come in his own name, him you will receive.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.7-8.

20:8 | Satan Will Deceive the Nations

GOG AND MAGOG ARE THE DEVIL AND HIS PEOPLE. AUGUSTINE: At that time the devil will have a single objective in his deception, namely, to bring on this battle, rather than deceive by the multifarious means of his previous malice. The expression “will go forth” means that his secret hatred will blaze out into open persecution. For this is to be the very last of all persecutions immediately preceding the very last of all judgments—a persecution that Holy church, the worldwide city of Christ, is to suffer at the hands of the worldwide city of the devil, in every place where the two cities will then extend. The peoples John calls Gog and Magog are not to be thought of as some definite barbarians dwelling in a certain part of the earth, such as the Getae and Massagetae (as some have imagined on account of the initial letters), or any other foreign tribes beyond the pale of the Roman Empire. John clearly indicates that they are to be everywhere in the world, “nations that are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog.” Of these names I am told that, literally, Gog means “a roof” and Magog “from the roof.” Thus we may take the words to mean an “abode” and a “person issuing from this abode” and, therefore, “the peoples in whom the devil abides as in an abyss” and “the devil himself, lifting himself up and coming out of them.” They are the “roof,” and he is “from the roof.” If … we apply both names to the peoples (rather than the first to them, the second to the devil), then they are the “roof” because the ancient foe is now shut up and roofed over in them, and they will issue “from the roof” when their concealed hatred bursts forth and is revealed in the open. CITY OF GOD 20.11.

THE WICKED WILL “COME OUT” FROM THE DEVIL’S ARROGANT PRIDE. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: In this passage “to deceive” means to scatter or to spoil, that is, to drag the nations along with him into condemnation, namely, all the wicked whom he has deceived in every part of the earth. And he will cause those who have been gathered together with him in one single condemnation to be delivered over to eternal torments. For Gog means “roof” and Magog means “out of the covering” or “out from the roof.” Everyone whom he has brought out and led to the collapse of his own arrogance, or those whom he supported by the roof of his pride, or those who will be recognized as coming from the same cover and height of his arrogance, all these persons will be taken at the same time in one condemnation and by an eternal fire. When it says, “he will gather them for battle,” it describes as something future what is in the past, for in some manner this battle is the hostility that the wicked have toward good works. And since those who are wicked are many and numerous, he adds, “whose number is like the sand of the sea.” TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.7.

LEADING THE NATIONS AGAINST THE SERVANTS OF CHRIST. OECUMENIUS: The holy prophet Ezekiel also spoke concerning Gog and Magog, relating how evil persons perish in an evil way. These are certain nations that shall lead the nations at the time of the consummation. These nations do not at present exist, or they are certain nations which do at present exist but that are called different names by the divine Scripture. These, therefore, will fight with that God-hated Satan against the servants of Christ. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.8-10.

GOG AND MAGOG WILL ARISE AT THE END OF TIME. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: Satan will be loosed from his prison and will deceive all nations and will entice Gog and Magog to war for the devastation of the world. Some believe that these two are the remote northern people of the Scythians, whom we call the Huns, and, as we see, are the most populous and warlike of any kingdom on earth and are kept from seizing the whole earth until the loosing of the devil by the hand of God alone. … Some interpret on the basis of the Hebrew language and render Gog as “one who gathers” or “that which is gathered” and Magog as “one who is exalted.” In this way, these names signify either the gathering of the nations or their exaltation. We should note that Ezekiel prophesied that these nations would come upon the earth with great power at the end of time, that Israel would fall and for a period of seven years would burn by their arms as though through a great fire. Some interpreters refer this to the fall of the Assyrians under Sennacherib at the time of Hezekiah, which happened a long time prior to the prophecy of Ezekiel. Others refer this to the destruction of the nations that attacked those coming to rebuild Jerusalem after the conquest by the Babylonians, when first Cyrus the Persian and then Darius ordered the governors of Syria to do this. Yet others refer to the forces of Antiochus, which were defeated by the Maccabees. However, it is clear that the arrival of these nations best suits the final times. First of all, it is nowhere written that the nation of the Scythians waged war against the Jews at that time, but only those nations round about them that envied their prosperity. Second, concerning Gog it is written, “He will be prepared from the days of old and will come at the end of time.” Third, in the present Revelation, which foretells future events, it is written that Gog and Magog will come toward the end of this age. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.7-8.

20:9-10 | Fire Consumed Them

BY GOD’S GRACE THE SAINTS WILL PROVE UNCONQUERABLE. AUGUSTINE: [That they encompassed the beloved city] obviously does not mean that they gathered or will gather in some one place where, we must suppose, the camp of the saints and the beloved city is to be. For, of course, this city is Christ’s church, which is spread over the whole world. Wherever his church will be (and it will be among all nations, “over the breadth of the earth”), there is to be the camp of the saints and the beloved city of God. There will she be, surrounded by all her enemies, intermingled with her as they are and will be in every people, girded with the appalling magnitude of that besetting, hemmed in, straitened and encompassed by the pressures of that mighty affliction; but never will [the church] give up her fighting spirit, her “camp,” as John says. [The fire from heaven] must not be taken to indicate that supreme punishment of the ungodly, which is to begin only with the words “Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire.” For it is then that the wicked are to be cast into fire rather than to have fire fall on them. John’s words, “fire from heaven,” can well be interpreted as symbolizing the staunchness of the saints, their refusal to give in and do the bidding of their raging enemies. For the heavens are called a “firmament,” and by its firmness the ungodly will be tormented by blazing zeal, because [they are] powerless to win over Christ’s holy ones to the camp of antichrist. This is the devouring fire, and it is said to come from God because it is by God’s grace that the saints are to be unconquerable, to the great torment of their foes. CITY OF GOD 20.11-12.

THE IMPIOUS ARE LIFTED UP BY THEIR ARROGANCE. APRINGIUS OF BEJA: “And they ascended upon the height of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints.” Lifted up by their arrogance, the impious ascended into the heights, but their earthly arrogance holds them back. They are wise in nothing heavenly, nor do they fear the power of celestial greatness. “They surrounded the camp of the saints.” [This means that] they wished to exist in common with the saints, but of them the prophecy is fulfilled that says, “They shall return at evening and be hungry as a dog and go around about the city.” In the present passage he calls the city “beloved,” saying, “they shall surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city.” TRACTATE ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.8.

SATAN, THE ORIGINATOR OF EVIL, WILL BE PUNISHED FOREVER. OECUMENIUS: “And they surrounded the beloved city,” that is, the church. However, “fire brought from heaven” will destroy all of them, and moreover when the consummation has occurred, Satan, the originator of evil, together with the devil and the antichrist, will be thrown into the lake of fire, that is, Gehenna. Let the one who reads take note that in earlier material the Revelation has transmitted information about three figures: the first was the dragon, who was shown in heaven and who is the originator of evil; the second is the beast who rose from the sea and whom we claimed was second to Satan but prominent among the rest of the demons; and the third was the antichrist, who is also called the false prophet. However, it was stated a little earlier that the second, the devil and the antichrist were “thrown into the lake of fire that burns with brimstone.” But now it speaks of Satan, or the devil, who earlier it had called “dragon.” Therefore, you who read this book know that we have interpreted the phrase “the thousand years,” in which the devil was bound and thrown into the bottomless pit and again loosed, to refer very precisely to the incarnation of the Lord and his life upon the earth, during which the devil’s activity was for a short time impeded. But now it is revealed that his punishment and that of those deceived by him is not a thousand years and then there is a loosing of the evil one. Rather, this punishment is “forever and ever.” COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.8-10.

THOSE WHO PERSECUTE THE CHURCH. CAESARIUS OF ARLES: “And the devil and his people went up into the height of the earth,” that is, in the presumption of their arrogance, and “they surrounded the camp of the saints and the city of the beloved,” that is, the church. This refers to what was earlier said about those assembled at Armageddon. They cannot be gathered into one city from the four corners of the earth. Rather, in every corner [of the earth] each people will be gathered together for opposition to the holy city, that is, for persecution of the church. “And fire shall descend out of heaven from God,” that is, out of the church, “and consume them.” In this passage the fire may be interpreted in two ways. Either they will believe in Christ through the fire of the Holy Spirit, and they will be spiritually consumed by the church, that is, incorporated into the church, or they will be consumed by the fire of their own sins and will perish. EXPOSITION ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.9, HOMILY 18.

MANY ANGELS WILL PROTECT THE CHURCH. ANDREW OF CAESAREA: Just as fierce animals come out of their caves, so, it says, those led by the devil and the demons with him will come from their various locations and spread themselves out over the earth to ravage the camp of the saints, clearly meaning the church, which is established throughout the four corners of the world. But they do not know that it is not only a single angel but many angels who encamp round about them who fear God, as the psalm says. They will come to subdue the new Jerusalem, the beloved city, from which the divine law has gone into all the world through the apostles. Then, they say, the antichrist will seat himself in the temple of God. This refers either to the ancient temple of God among the Jews that was destroyed because of their audacity against Christ and which those Jews who hate God still expect to be rebuilt by him, or it refers to the true temple of God, namely, the catholic church. The antichrist will usurp for himself what does not belong to him and “proclaim himself to be God,” as the apostle says. Not long afterward, it says, fire comes down from heaven. This will be either a physical fire such as that which burned the two groups of fifty at the time of Elijah, or the passage refers to the glorious coming of Christ, who will slay them “by the breath of his mouth” and consume the aforementioned nations and their leader, the devil. Christ will hand them, along with the antichrist and the false prophet, over to the lake of fire, where they will be tormented forever and ever. Christ the Savior has taught us to pray that we enter not into temptation, and so, recognizing our weakness, let us do that earnestly, that we be saved from the trials of that which is prophesied. COMMENTARY ON THE APOCALYPSE 20.9-10.

THE DEVIL WILL BE PUNISHED FOREVER. AUGUSTINE: John goes on to state succinctly the full punishment that is to be meted out in the last judgment to the hostile city and its prince, the devil. … Why has the church been so intolerant with those who defend the view that, however greatly and however long the devil is to be punished, he can be promised ultimately that all will be purged or pardoned? Certainly it is not because so many of the church’s saints and biblical scholars have begrudged the devil and his angels a final cleansing and the beatitude of the kingdom of heaven. Nor is it because of any lack of feeling for so many and such high angels that must suffer such great and enduring pain. This is not a matter of feeling but of fact. The fact is that there is no way of waiving or weakening the words that the Lord has told us that he will pronounce in the last judgment: “Depart from me, accursed ones, into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.” In this way he showed plainly that it is an eternal fire in which the devil and his angels are to burn. Then we have the words of the Apocalypse: “and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” In the one text we have “everlasting,” in the other, “forever and ever.” These are words that have a single meaning in the divine Scripture, namely, of unending duration. CITY OF GOD 20.14; 21.23.