And they went up on the {b} breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and {17} fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

(b) As if he said, in so much that the whole face of the earth, however great it is, was filled.

(17) The wrath of God, consuming the adversaries, and overthrowing all their enterprises; He 10:27. This is the second part mentioned see Geneva Re 20:7, in the overthrow of Satan.

People's New Testament

20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth. They spread over it.

Compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. Assailed the true Church and sought to destroy it. How the Church shall be assailed cannot now be told, but there will be a determined attempt to extirpate it. The beloved city, the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church, shall be surrounded, but in the day of her extremity the Lord will hear her cry for help. Fire from heaven will descend on her enemies. Christ shall come. As the lightning flashes from the east unto the west, so shall the coming of the Son of man be (Mt 24:27). Then shall the Lord consume the wicked with the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming (2Th 2:8). The day of the Lord shall come, when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and all its works shall be burned up (2Pe 3:10).

Fire came down from heaven, and devoured them. For a comment on this read 2Th 1:7-10. They shall come in flashing fire to destroy his enemies. The time will have come for the arm of the Lord to be revealed in might.

Wesley's Notes

20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, or the land - Filling the whole breadth of it. And surrounded the camp of the saints - Perhaps the gentile church, dwelling round about Jerusalem. And the beloved city - So termed, likewise, Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 11.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. on the breadth of the earth-so as completely to overspread it. Perhaps we ought to translate, ". of the [holy] land."

the camp of the saints and the beloved city-the camp of the saints encircling the beloved city, Jerusalem (Ecclesiasticus 24:11). Contrast "hateful" in Babylon (Re 18:2; De 32:15, Septuagint). Ezekiel's prophecy of Gog and Magog (Eze 38:1-39:29) refers to the attack made by Antichrist on Israel before the millennium: but this attack is made after the millennium, so that "Gog and Magog" are mystical names representing the final adversaries led by Satan in person. Ezekiel's Gog and Magog come from the north, but those here come "from the four corners of the earth." Gog is by some connected with a Hebrew root, "covered."

from God-so B, Vulgate, Syriac, Coptic, and Andreas. But A omits the words. Even during the millennium there is a separation between heaven and earth, transfigured humanity and humanity in the flesh. Hence it is possible that an apostasy should take place at its close. In the judgment on this apostasy the world of nature is destroyed and renewed, as the world of history was before the millennial kingdom; it is only then that the new heaven and new earth are realized in final perfection. The millennial new heaven and earth are but a foretaste of this everlasting state when the upper and lower congregations shall be no longer separate, though connected as in the millennium, and when new Jerusalem shall descend from God out of heaven. The inherited sinfulness of our nature shall be the only influence during the millennium to prevent the power of the transfigured Church saving all souls. When this time of grace shall end, no other shall succeed. For what can move him in whom the visible glory of the Church, while the influence of evil is restrained, evokes no longing for communion with the Church's King? As the history of the world of nations ended with the manifestation of the Church in visible glory, so that of mankind in general shall end with the great separation of the just from the wicked (Re 20:12) [Auberlen].

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:7-10 While this world lasts, Satan's power in it will not be wholly destroyed, though it may be limited and lessened. No sooner is Satan let loose, than he again begins deceiving the nations, and stirring them up to make war with the saints and servants of God. It would be well if the servants and ministers of Christ were as active and persevering in doing good, as his enemies in doing mischief. God will fight this last and decisive battle for his people, that the victory may be complete, and the glory be to himself.