And the nations of them which are saved
In distinction from them that will be deceived by Satan, (
Revelation 20:8 ) .
These are not all the nations of the world, which will be
gathered before Christ, the Judge, for all will not be saved,
there is a world that will be condemned; nor the Gentiles only,
which shall come into the church state of the Jews when called,
for that state is not here designed; and besides, all Israel
shall be saved then; nor the living saints at Christ's coming,
who shall have escaped, and are saved from the general
conflagration; for these, with the raised ones, will be caught up
together to Christ, and descend and dwell together on earth, and
make one church state; but all the elect of God, both Jews and
Gentiles, whom God has chosen, Christ has redeemed, and the
Spirit has called out of all the nations of the earth: these are
only saved ones; such are already saved, not only are determined
to be saved, and for whom salvation is wrought out by Christ, and
to whom it is applied at conversion, and who are representatively
set down in heavenly places in Christ, and are already saved by
hope and faith, and with respect to the certainty of salvation;
all which may be said of saints in the present state; but these
will be such, who will be actually and personally saved, will be
in the full possession of salvation, enjoying all the blessings
of it: they will be partakers of the first resurrection, and the
glories of it: the tabernacle of God will be with them, they will
be free from all sorrows and death, and will inherit all things:
the Syriac version reads, "the nations that are saved"; who are
redeemed and saved by Christ: this may teach us how to understand
those phrases, which seem to favour general redemption, as all
men, the world, the whole world; see ( Isaiah 45:20
) ( 66:19
) . These words, "of them which are saved", are left out in the
Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, but are in all the
copies. These nations are the inhabitants of this city, and they
shall walk in the light of it,
which is Christ; they shall enjoy it; they shall have the light
of life, and be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in
light, and that continually: they shall not only come to it, but
continue in it, and walk at it, and by the light of it: the walk
of these will be different from the walk of saints now, who walk
by faith, and not by sight; but these shall walk by sight,
enjoying the beatific vision of God, and the Lamb. The Jews say
F2, that Jerusalem, in time to come,
will be made a lamp to the nations of the world, (hrwal Myklhm Mhw) , "and they shall
walk in its light", or by the light of it, which is the sense of
( Isaiah
60:3 ) "the Gentiles shall come to thy light"; see ( Isaiah 9:1 Isaiah 9:3 )
and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour
into it;
by whom may be meant either mystically all the saints, who will
be kings as well as priests unto God, and will reign as such with
Christ in this state, will cast their crowns at his feet, and
give him all the honour and glory; or literally, the kings of the
earth, who shall have relinquished antichrist, hated the whore,
and burnt her with fire, and who will have been nursing fathers
in the spiritual reign; or rather all good kings that ever have
been in the earth: not that they will be kings of the earth at
this time, for now all rule, authority, and power, will be put
down; nor will any worldly riches, honour, and glory, be brought
by them into this state, nor will they be needed in it; but it is
to be understood of who have been kings on earth, though not of
their having brought earthly riches and grandeur into the
interest and churches of Christ; as David gave much towards the
building of the temple, which was begun and finished by King
Solomon his son, and as Constantine greatly enriched and
aggrandized the church when he became emperor; but the sense
seems to be this, that such who have been Christian kings on
earth will prefer the happiness of this state to all their riches
and greatness here; and that could all the glory of the kings of
the earth be put together, it would not equal, but be greatly
inferior to the glory of the new Jerusalem; Solomon in all his
glory was not arrayed like one of the inhabitants of this place;
see ( Revelation
20:6 ) besides, these shall do all homage, and submit to
Christ the King of kings in the midst of the church, which may be
meant by "glory" and "honour".