Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head - The Final Test Conclusion

 The number of those who join Satan in his revolt will be  "as the sand of the sea." How many is that? There is no foreordained number. (Compare Joshua 11:4; Judges 7:12) The final total number of rebels will depend on how each individual reacts to Satan deceptive wiles. Doubtless, though, there will be a considerable number, since they will feel strong enough to overcome "the camp of the holy ones and the beloved city." 

"The beloved city" must be the city that is spoken of by the glorified Jesus Christ to his followers at Revelation 3:12 and that he calls "the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which descends out of heaven from my God." Since this is a heavenly organization, how could those earthly forces 'encircle it'? In that they encircle "the camp of the holy ones." A camp is outside a city; therefore, "the camp of the holy ones" must represent those on earth outside the heavenly location of New Jerusalem who loyally support Jehovah's governmental arrangement. When the rebels under Satan attack the holy ones, the Lord Jesus regards it as an assault on him. (Matthew25:40, 45) "Those nations" will try to wipe out all that the heavenly Jerusalem has accomplished in making earth a paradise. So, in attacking "the camp of the holy ones," they are also attacking "the beloved city." 

Next time: Chapter Forty/Crushing the Serpent's Head -The Lake of Fire and Sulfur 

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