And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (Revelation 20:9)
Literally, “ate down.” The form of the Greek verb denotes action completed. The wicked are annihilated. They suffer the “second death” (see on v. 6).
There is no hint here of endless torture in an ever-burning hell (cf. Jude 7).
Fire.
This doubtless refers to literal fire as the means of destruction.
And the beloved city.
Or, “even the beloved city.” The beloved city is the New Jerusalem (ch. 21:10). Some scholars distinguish between the camp and the city. This much seems clear, however, that the saints are inside the city during the siege (see EW 292, 293). The fact that the “beloved city” is being surrounded shows clearly that it has descended, although the actual descent is not described until ch. 21:1, 9, 10. One of the significant events following the close of the 1000 years is the descent of Christ, the saints, and the Holy City. The narrative is told with extreme brevity, but the sequence of events is clear when the entire context is examined.
Camp.
Gr. parembolē, “camp,” a compound of para, “beside,” and ballo, “to put,”“to place,”“to cast.”Parembolē is used of a soldiers’ barracks or fort (Acts 21:34, 37), of armies in battle array (Heb. 11:34), of an encampment of people (Heb. 13:11, 13). Here parembolē describes the New Jerusalem.
Compassed.
That is, “encircled.”
Breadth of the earth.
Compare a similar expression in Hab. 1:6. The wicked, under the leadership of Satan, march against the camp of the righteous.