In flaming fire
Which may either refer to Christ, who will be revealed from
heaven in such a manner; and whose coming will be as the
lightning, not only sudden, but glorious, illustrious, and
visible; he will be seen and easily discerned; there will be such
a light and flaming fire about him, which, as it will serve to
make him visible, will greatly add to the majesty of his
appearance, and strike terror to his enemies, and burn them up
round about; see ( Daniel 7:7 Daniel 7:9 Daniel 7:10 ) (
Psalms 97:3
Psalms 97:4 )
or else it may refer to the angels, who shall descend in fiery
forms, which is agreeably to their nature, ( Psalms 104:4
) and so they appeared in the forms of horses of fire, and
chariots of fire, when Elijah was carried up to heaven. And it is
a tradition of the Jews F26, that the angel Gabriel descended
(avad abwhlvb) , "in a
flame of fire", to burn Moses, as he was in the inn, when upon
his journey from Midian to Egypt: or this clause may be read in
construction with the following, as it is in the Vulgate Latin
and Syriac versions, "in flaming fire taking vengeance"; and so
expresses the manner in which vengeance will be taken on the
wicked by Christ, the Judge of all, to whom it belongs: and the
punishment of ungodly men is often signified by fire, and flames
of fire, by the fire of hell, and a lake which burns with fire
and brimstone, by a furnace of fire, everlasting fire, and fire
that cannot be quenched, to set forth the endless torture and
inconceivable misery of the damned; and it may be, some regard is
had to the general conflagration, which will be at the coming of
Christ, when the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, the
elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth, and all
that is in it, shall be burnt up, when the bodies of the wicked,
then living, will be consumed in flames of fire, and their souls
feel the wrath of the Almighty. The persons who will then be
punished, and on whom vengeance will be taken, are described as
follows,
on them that know not God;
which is a periphrasis, or common character of the Gentiles, (
1
Thessalonians 4:5 ) who know not the one, true, and living
God; or know him not so as to glorify him as God, and be thankful
to him for the mercies they receive from him, and still less know
him in Christ Jesus; which ignorance of theirs is not without
sin, nor will it excuse from punishment; for though vengeance
will not be taken on them, because they have not a spiritual
saving knowledge of God, in the Mediator Jesus Christ, who never
was revealed to them; yet forasmuch as they had the light and law
of nature, by which the being of God, and the invisible
perfections of his nature might be seen and understood, and much
of his will, with respect to moral good and evil, be known,
against both which they have rebelled, and having sinned, will
perish without law: though it may also include all such persons,
who having been favoured with an external revelation, have
professed to know God, and yet in works have denied him:
and that obey not the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ;
of which Christ is the author, was the preacher, and is the sum
and substance; which is good news and glad tidings of the grace
of, God, of peace, pardon, righteousness, life, and salvation by
Christ; which may be said to be obeyed, when it is received and
embraced by faith, with and from the heart, and confession is
made of it with the mouth, and the ordinances of it are submitted
to; and which is called the obedience of faith, because faith
without obedience is not right, and obedience without faith is of
no avail: but all that hear the Gospel do not obey it; there are
some that disbelieve and reject the doctrines and ordinances of
it, and others that, do profess it, and do not yield a cordial
and cheerful obedience to it; both may be reckoned among the
disobeyers of it: and though the unbelieving Jews may be chiefly
designed here, yet deists of every age and place, where the
Gospel revelation has come, and carnal professors, and profane
despisers everywhere, may be included; whose condemnation will be
aggravated by the external light which has shone around them, and
they have hated; the severest punishment will be inflicted on
them; it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, Sodom and
Gomorrah, than for such persons; see ( 1 Peter 4:17
) .