A fiery stream issued and came forth from before
him
Or, "a river of fire" F19; which denotes the copious
judgments of God, the abundance of them; the full flow of his
wrath, and the fierceness of it; and also its rapidity, which
cannot be resisted and stopped: thousand thousands
ministered unto him;
attended upon him, waiting his orders, and ready to execute them;
an innumerable company of angels, ( Psalms
103:20 Psalms
103:21 ) : and ten thousand times ten thousand stood
before him;
to be judged by him; the numerous inhabitants of the several
monarchies, with their kings; particularly all the antichristian
states, and the worshippers of the beast, whom the whole world
went after, ( Revelation
13:3 Revelation
13:8 ) ( Revelation
14:10 Revelation
14:11 ) : the judgment was set;
that is, the court was set; the Judge was upon the bench, and all
his assessors and apparitors about him, and that ministered to
him: and the books were opened;
both to take the trial in writing, and to produce evidence
against the criminals; the book of God's purposes and decrees
concerning these beasts; the book of prophecies relating to them;
the book of God's remembrance, and of their own consciences, with
respect to the evils committed by them; and the book of records,
statutes, and laws made in such cases; even the book of the
Scriptures, which contains the revelation of the will of God. In
some things there is a likeness between this and the last and
future judgment, and in other things a disagreement; the Judge in
both is a divine Person, the eternal God, omniscient, omnipotent,
holy, just, and true, which is absolutely necessary for carrying
on such a process; none but God over all is equal to such a work:
in the last judgment, as in this, there will be thrones; the
throne of God and of the Lamb, particularly a great white throne,
a symbol of purity, justice, and equity, on which the Judge
himself will sit, and execute judgment, from whose presence the
earth and heaven will flee away; and besides, there will be other
thrones for the martyrs of Jesus, and true professors of his
name, to sit upon as spectators, witnesses, and approvers of the
solemn procedure, and shall reign with Christ a thousand years:
likewise the number of the persons judged, as here, will be very
great, even innumerable; all, both small and great, as to age or
dignity, will stand before the Judge, to be judged by him, and
receive their sentence from him; and there will be books for that
purpose, as here, even the same, and particularly the book of
life, in which, if a man's name is not written, he will be cast
into the lake of fire; see ( Revelation
20:4 Revelation
20:11 Revelation
20:12 Revelation
20:15 ) , but in other things they differ; here the Judge is
God the Father, the first Person in the Trinity, called the
Ancient of days, distinguished from Christ, said to be like the
Son of man; whereas the last and future judgment will be
committed to the Son of God, the second Person, who is ordained
Judge of quick and dead; and who will come a second time to judge
the world in righteousness; and, though the description of the
Ancient of days will agree well enough with him, he having the
same glorious perfections his Father has, which qualify him for a
Judge; see ( Revelation
1:14 ) , yet it is certain not he, but his divine Father, is
intended: nor in the account of the future judgment is there any
mention of "a fiery stream" issuing forth before him, as here,
for the burning of the body of the beast; unless the lake of fire
may be thought to answer to it, into which will be cast all such
who have no part in the Lamb, nor a name in his book of life:
however, the accounts of both are very awful and striking; and
this may be considered as a type, example, presage, and pledge,
of the future judgment; this will be at the beginning of the
spiritual reign of Christ, when antichrist will be destroyed with
the breath of his mouth, and the brightness of his coming; the
judgment of the saints will be at the beginning of his personal
reign, even of the quick and dead, those that will be found
alive, and those that will be raised from the dead, at his
appearing and kingdom; and the judgment of the wicked will be at
the close of it, or at the end of the Millennium; see ( Revelation
20:5 Revelation
20:6 Revelation
20:12 ) .