Verse 10
And the devil - was cast onto the lake - Before Satan was bound, that is, his power was curtailed and restrained; now, he is cast into the lake of fire, his power being totally taken away.
Verse 11
A great white throne - Refulgent with glorious majesty.
Him that sat on it - The indescribable Jehovah.
From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away - Even the brightness of his countenance dissolved the universe, and annihilated the laws by which it was governed. This is a very majestic figure, and finely expressed.
There was found no place for them - The glorious majesty of God filling all things, and being all in all.
Verse 12
The dead, small and great - All ranks, degrees, and conditions of men. This description seems to refer to [Dan 7:9], [Dan 7:10].
And the books were opened - See [Dan 12:1]. "Rab. Jehuda said: All the actions of men, whether good or bad, are written in a book, and of all they shall give account." - Sohar Gen., fol. 79, col. 298. "How careful should men be to shun vice, and to act uprightly before the holy blessed God, seeing there are so many which go throughout the earth, see the works of men, testify of them, and write them in a book!" - Ibid., fol. 105, col. 417. "In the first day of the new year the holy blessed God sits that he may judge the world; and all men, without exception, give an account of themselves; and the books of the living and the dead are opened."
Sohar Chadash, fol. 19, 1.
The books mentioned here were the books of the living and the dead, or the book of life and the book of death: that is, the account of the good and evil actions of men; the former leading to life, the latter to death. St. John evidently alludes here to [Dan 7:10], on which the rabbinical account of the books appears to be founded. The expressions are figurative in both.
According to their works - And according to their faith also, for their works would be the proof whether their faith were true or false; but faith exclusively could be no rule in such a procedure.
Verse 13
The sea gave up the dead - Those who had been drowned in it, and those millions slain in naval contests, who had no other grave.
And death - All who died by any kind of disease. Death is here personified, and represented as a keeper of defunct human beings; probably no more than earth or the grave is meant, as properly belonging to the empire of death.
And hell - Ἁιδης, Hades, the place of separate spirits. The sea and death have the bodies of all human beings; hades has their spirits. That they may be judged, and punished or rewarded according to their works, their bodies and souls must be reunited; hades, therefore, gives up the spirits; and the sea and the earth give up the bodies.
Verse 14
And death and hell were cast into the lake - Death himself is now abolished, and the place for separate spirits no longer needful. All dead bodies and separated souls being rejoined, and no more separation of bodies and souls by death to take place, consequently the existence of these things is no farther necessary.
This is the second death - The first death consisted in the separation of the soul from the body for a season; the second death in the separation of body and soul from God for ever. The first death is that from which there may be a resurrection; the second death is that from which there can be no recovery. By the first the body is destroyed during time; by the second, body and soul are destroyed through eternity.
Verse 15
Written in the book of life - Only those who had continued faithful unto death were taken to heaven. All whose names were not found in the public registers, who either were not citizens, or whose names had been erased from those registers because of crimes against the state, could claim none of those emoluments or privileges which belong to the citizens; so those who either did not belong to the new and spiritual Jerusalem, or who had forfeited their rights and privileges by sin, and had died in that state, were cast into the lake of fire.
This is the way in which God, at the day of judgment, will proceed with sinners and apostates. Reader, see that thy name be written in the sacred register; and, if written in, see that it never be blotted out.
Introduction
The new heaven and the new earth, [Rev 21:1]. The new Jerusalem, [Rev 21:2]. God dwells with men; the happy state of his followers, [Rev 21:3-7]. The wretched state of the ungodly, [Rev 21:8]. An angel shows John the holy city, the New Jerusalem, [Rev 21:9], [Rev 21:10]. Her light, wall, gates, and foundations, described, [Rev 21:11-21]. God and the Lamb are the temple and light of it, [Rev 21:22], [Rev 21:23]. The nations and kings of the earth bring their glory and honor to it; the gates shall never be shut, nor shall any defilement enter into it, [Rev 21:24-27].
Verse 1
A new heaven and a new earth - See the notes on [2Pet 3:13] : The ancient Jews believed that God would renew the heavens and the earth at the end of seven thousand years. The general supposition they founded on [Isa 65:17].
There was no more sea - The sea no more appeared than did the first heaven and earth. All was made new; and probably the new sea occupied a different position and was differently distributed, from that of the old sea.
However, with respect to these subjects as they stand in this most figurative book, I must express myself in the words of Calmet: Vouloir dire quels seront ce nouveau ciel, et cette nouvelle terre, quels seront leurs ornamens et leur qualite, c'est a mon avis la plus grande de toutes les presomptions. En general, ces manieres de parler marquent de tres grands changemens dans l'univers. "To pretend to say what is meant by this new heaven and new earth, and what are their ornaments and qualities, is in my opinion the greatest of all presumptions. In general these figures of speech point out great alternations in the universe."
Verse 2
And I John - The writer of this book; whether the evangelist and apostle, or John the Ephesian presbyter, has been long doubted in the Church.
New Jerusalem - See the notes on [Gal 4:24-27] (note). This doubtless means the Christian Church in a state of great prosperity and purity; but some think eternal blessedness is intended.
Coming down from God - It is a maxim of the ancient Jews that both the tabernacle, and the temple, and Jerusalem itself, came down from heaven. And in Midrash Hanaalem, Sohar Gen. fol. 69, col. 271, Rab. Jeremias said, "The holy blessed God shall renew the world, and build Jerusalem, and shall cause it to descend from heaven." Their opinion is, that there is a spiritual temple, a spiritual tabernacle, and a spiritual Jerusalem; and that none of these can be destroyed, because they subsist in their spiritual representatives. See Schoettgen.
Verse 3
The tabernacle of God is with men - God, in the most especial manner, dwells among his followers, diffusing his light and life everywhere.
Verse 4
There shall be no more death - Because there shall be a general resurrection. And this is the inference which St Paul makes from his doctrine of a general resurrection, [1Cor 15:26], where he says, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." But death cannot be destroyed by there being simply no farther death; death can only be destroyed and annihilated by a general resurrection; if there be no general resurrection, it is most evident that death will still retain his empire. Therefore, the fact that there shall be no more death assures the fact that there shall be a general resurrection; and this also is a proof that, after the resurrection, there shall be no more death. See the whole of the note on [1Cor 15:27].
Verse 5
Behold, I make all things new - As the creation of the world at the beginning was the work of God alone, so this new creation.
These words are true and faithful - Truth refers to the promise of these changes; faithfulness, to the fulfillment of these promises.
Verse 6
It is done - All is determined, and shall be fulfilled in due time. The great drama is finished, and what was intended is now completed; referring to the period alluded to by the angel.
I am Alpha and Omega - See on [Rev 1:8] (note).
The fountain of the water of life - See on [Joh 4:10] (note), [Joh 4:14] (note); [Joh 7:37] (note), etc.
The rabbins consider the fountain of the world to come as one of the particular blessings of a future state. In Sanhedrim, Aboth R. Nathan, c. 31, it is said, "He will show them the excellency of the fountain of the future world, that they may accurately see and consider, and say, Wo to us! what good have we lost! and our race is cut off from the face of the earth."