first Subject They say 't is the Kingdom of the Father we pray for i. e. of the Heavenly Paradise the Eternal Kingdom But we need only read what follows in the Lords prayer to be assured that it must be understood of a Kingdom upon earth Thy Name be hallowed Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven That clause on Earth as in Heaven is common to all three Petitions Thy Kingdom come upon Earth as it is already come in Heaven 'T is reasonable to think that God hath reserv'd a time for the Kingdom of grace which hath not yet 12-ken place So great a difficulty have these Gentlemen the Antimillenaries to conceive a Kingdom of God upon earth and for my own part I find as great a one not to conceive it How can we reconcile it to the wisdom and goodness of God to have abandon'd and forsaken the World thorowout all the duration of it without preserving a certain time in that duration for himself and his own Kingdom Now when was it that God did reign in the world by his Kingdom of grace It was not in the first World before the Flood where wickedness prevailed to that degree that obliged him to destroy it by the Deluge It was not in the Time from Noah to Moses for in those Ages Idolatry sprung up increas't and multiplied Much less in those Ages from Moses to Iesus Christ for the Devil reigned every where oftentimes not excepting that little corner of the Earth which God had reserved to himself It is not from the Appearance of Christ to that of Antichrist for saving about one hundred years since the Emperors were Christians Paganism hath always been uppermost and the prevailing Religion It cannot be since the birth of Antichrist for the 1260 years of his reign are the Empire of the Beast and of the Dragon and this will lead us even to the end of the World according to these Gentlemen And the course of the World will be finisht and God and his Kingdom of Grace have found no place in it I confess that in all ages God hath saved some persons but that is not to Reign for Truth and Grace have never yet ruled and been uppermost They never had the Empire the number and the multitude of their side The number of wicked and worldly men hath always carried it How much more reasonable then is it to conceive that God after having abandon'd six periods to the World and the Dragon hath at least reserved one seventh to himself wherein Truth and Grace shall rule and prevail whereas in the other preceding they have been supprest The conversion of the nations and of the Iews shall form the Kingdom of Christ I find nothing more odd and singular than the Hypothesis of these Gentlemen They acknowledge that all the Nations hitherto under Infidelity shall be converted St. Paul hath expresly said it in the eleventh Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans according to them also the Iews are to be converted Behold the fairest Empire of Grace which can be imagined why should we make it fall assoon as it is raised and make the World it self to end soon after Is it not more reasonable to conceive that God will preserve the Church in that glorious state for several ages to injoy as it were the fruit of his Labours and see the Intelligible World compleated and brought to its perfection Since the Iews the fullness of the Gentiles are to be brought in to J. Christ as all the World grants is it not reasonable that in that period of the re-union of all People that they who have been an holy People to whom we owe the Patriarchs and the sacred Oracles for observe it there is no one book of the N. Testament any more then of the Old but was made by a Iew is it not just I say that that Nation should then have the Pre-eminence above all other Nations There is then in my opinion a Kingdom of God to be expected and this Kingdom is that of the Messiah the Kingdom of the Iews The Reign of the Messiah which is not yet come for to speak properly we cannot say that Christ hath hitherto reigned upon Earth His party as yet hath been in no place or part of the World the prevailing ruling Party the wheat hath been always buried in the Tares The Kingdom of the Iews promised by the Prophets so often and in so many different manners And these two Kingdoms that of the Messiah and that of the Iews are to take place at the same time 'T is true we may compute the beginning of Christ's Kingdom from the fall of the Kingdom of Antichrist and 't is manifest that from that point God will reckon the thousand years Nevertheless the Kingdom of Christ cannnot be well said to be come till all Nations shall be converted now the Iews are not to be converted till the last of all People J. Christ hath not yet reigned upon earth in a proper sense Ioseph Mede hath a reflection thereupon which I confess I am pleased with 'T is but a Conjecture but I find it to be very well framed 'T is this that the Conversion of St. Paul a zealous and bigotted Iew in the highest degree is the Type of the future conversion of the whole Nation 1. He was a great zealot for the Law and a furious Persecutor of Christianity The Iews are also very zealous for Moses and irreconcileable enemies to Iesus Christ 2. Paul was converted not as other men The conversion of S. Pauls a type of that of the Iewish nation by the bare preaching of the Gospel and the sight of Miracles but by the glorious appearing of Christ to him from Heaven 'T is likewise very probable that the Conversion of the Iews will not be in an ordinary way as by preaching for the Hearts of that People are under an invincible obduracy So that 't is likely that Christ will convert them by some glorious and surprizing apparition and will appear clothed with those Characters the Prophets have given him that they may no longer be able to disown and refuse him 3. Those who accompanied St. Paul saw indeed the Light but Christ did not appear to them the Gentiles and Christians who shall then be may have some part in that glorious Apparition but it may be shall not see it all 4. Paul was instructed by way of inspiration in all Mysteries assoon as Iesus Christ had appear'd to him The Iews shall have their minds inlightned and the vail which is now on their hearts shall be taken away and on a sudden shall see clearly into the Oracles of their Law and Prophets 5. St. Paul was the last of the Apostles who was converted the Iews will be called the last of all People 6. Paul after Conversion was the most zealous of any the Iews when converted shall be the most affectionate and zealous of all Christians 7. St. Paul
times and half a time are the same poriod times and half a time The 42 months during which the Court must be left to the Gentiles according to what is said in the 11th Chap. The 1260 days during which the two witnesses are to prophecy clothed in sackcloth as 't is fore-told in the same 11th Chapter And lastly the 42. months given to the first beast of the 13th Chapter of the Revel to excercise his power All these different periods I say are one and the same period and signify the duration of the Antichristian Empire This can't be disputed The second principle is this that in that Prophecy the days the years and the months may be taken for natural days months and years or for prophetical ones a day for a year Sometimes the Prophets count the time as other men do This might signify natural days for sometimes the Prophets do so speak they reckon the time as other men do Jeremy reckon'd 70 years for the duration of the captivity and these years are natural ones 'T is certain also that in the period of the thousand years designed for the reign of the Church after the destruction of Antichrist the years are taken for natural years But it is not less certain The Papists cannot deny but that the 1260 days may signify 1260 years Chap. 9. Chap. 4. v. 4.6 that these days and these years may be taken mystically for prophetical days and years 'T is confest that the 70 weeks of Daniel signify 70 weeks of years God said to Ezekiel Thou shalt sleep on thy left side and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it according to the number of the days that thou shalt lye upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity I have appointed thee each day for a year Numb 14.34 God said to the Israelites according to the number of the days in which ye searched the Land even 40 days each day for a year shall you bear your iniquities even 40 years This could not be obscure to the Israelites who were accustom'd to this style and who knew there were weeks of years in their Calendar as well as weeks of days and that a week of years answered to that of days one year for one day The third principle is this that here the number of three years and a half 42 months and 1260 days cannot signify an indefinite time As it sometimes happens The number 1260 must be a definite number not an indefinite one that the Holy Spirit by a determinate number means an undetermin'd one A way that would be extreamly advantagious to the partisans of Rome For when one shall have demonstrated that 't is absolutely impossible that that which is predicted concerning the Antichristian Empire can be fulfilled in the compass of three years and a half it would be very useful for them if they could say we must not take this so strictly in the literal sense that it may signify three times ten three times twenty or more according as the Holy Spirit oftentimes means an indefinite number by a definite one But here that cannot be There are certain numbers by which the Prophets use to describe an indefinite time by reason of a certain priviledge those numbers have As that of three because 't is the first odd number the number of the persons of the Trinity that of seven because of the seven days of the creation that of twelve because of the twelve Patriarchs the twelve Tribes and the twelve Apostles that of 100 and that of 1000 because these are numbers that according to the custome of men are often designed to signify a great undetermin'd quantity But we shall not find any examples of broken numbers as that of three and a half of 42 and 1260 taken for indefinite numbers 'T is true the Revelation speaks of the 144 thousand sealed ones Now the number of 144 is not less a broken one than that of 42. But 't is because 144 is the product of that of 12 multiplied by it self The Holy Spirit takes twelve thousand sealed persons of every Tribe 12 times 12 make 144. Here a reason can't be given why God should choose 1260 days to mark out an indefinite time There is no middle way therefore they must be so many years It must be 1260 years or 1260 days and no more or so many simple days So that when we shall have proved that the course of this Empire is not three years and a half we shall have proved also that 't is 1260 years To prove that 't is not three years and a half we need but run through the History of this Empire according as we find it in the book of the Revelation The first Argument against the three years and half One half of the Revelation would be taken up in giving an account of the events of only three years and a half First of all we must know that according to the greatest part of Interpreters almost the whole Revelation is spent in fore-telling us and setting in order the events that must happen to the Church during this reign of Antichrist At least it is certain that 't is the subject of one half of this book the 11th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th and 19th Chapters contain the birth progress finishing ruin and fall of this Antichristian Kingdom Let any one judge if there be any likelyhood that this only prophetical book which the Apostles have left us for the time of the N. Testament moves but upon three years and a half and hath omitted the events of almost two thousand years So that the general Idea of this Prophecy can't bear this imagination but let us come to particulars Second Argument these three years and a half can't agree with what is said of the first beast in the 13th Chap. of the Revelation Second The 11th Chapt. begins to speak of this Antichristian Empire but because this is but as a general History and an abridgement 't is in this general account that the vision of the three years and a half is hid and 't is from hence it hath been taken Let us see if this can agree with the places where the Prophet enlargeth this short description We have in the 13th Chap. a representation of this Empire under the emblems of two beasts of which one had seven heads and ten horns and the other but one head and two horns We there see in the first place a beast with seven heads and ten horns It hath been confessed to us that this is Antichrist We have proved that the word beast signifies an Empire consisting of a founder and his successors Now see a fine succession and a very considerable time that same of three years and a half to be called an Empire and to be meant by a beast Certainly this beast with seven heads and ten horns is the Roman Empire in its whole extent from its founder Romulus even to Antichrist who
of the future prosperity of the Church upon Earth The 21 and 22. Chap. of the Apocalypse interpreted that in those Chapters the Church is described as victorious upon Earth and not as Triumphant in Heaven Pag. 357 Chap. XXIV The Characters of the Kingdom of the Church Eight are certain and five doubtfull What shall happen after this Kingdom What is meant by Gog and Magog There shall probably be a lesser kind of Antichrist a little before the end of the World. Pag. 375 Chap. XXV An Answer to the reasons of the Anti-millinaries against the Reign of a thousand years Pag. 388 THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE PROPHECIES OR THE Approaching Deliverance of the CHURCH THE FIRST PART Of the Establishment of the Antichristian-Empire its Characters CHAP. I. Of the Seven Epistles to the Seven Churches That in all probability they are not Prophetical The Thoughts of Interpreters thereupon WHen I undertook this Work I had no Design to make a compleat Commentary on that which is Prophetical in the Revelations as did appear in the first Edition However when I observed that without designing it I had explained almost the whole Apocalypse I did believe that as for three or four chapters that remained to be explained I ought not to leave them behind tho they had no respect to the scope of this book which is to find out Antichrist learn when his Empire must end When one sees a system that is very perfect well attended with all the events foretold in this book this will give such a fair aspect of truth to all the parts of it as will be most easily perceived Moreover the publick may have observed that in the pourtraiture of Antichrist I have referred the Reader in many chapters as in the 13th the 17th to my Book of Prejudices Now us I have promised to epitomize the book of Prejudices I thought it would be more proper to bring out of that book into this present work all that respects the Prophecies their Explication on the subject of the description of Antichristianism than to refer a part of this to another Book So that in this second Edition there will be found an explication of all that is prophetical in the book of the Revelation We believe with the learned Joseph Mede that this book is divided into two parts The first is contained in the book sealed with seven seals which is to be seen in the beginning of the 5th Ch. And the second in the book which the Angel gave to St. John in the 10th Ch. The two little books move upon the same time the one the other reach even to the end of the World but they donot say the same thing have not the same object For the first little book that appeareth sealed with seven seals principally respects the affairs the adventures of the first Period of the fourth Monarchy viz. the temporal Roman Empire And the second book contains the destinies of the Church corrupted during the same ages the same duration of time this is what we call the Spiritual Roman Empire I say that the first book contains properly the destinies of the Empire not but that those of the Church are included in it too For that which God foretold should befall the Roman Empire was always with respect to the Church to its Persecutions the great Changes that befall it So that to speak properly the whole work respects the Church But the second little book which reaches from the 10th Chapter to the end respects the Church what was to befall it much more particularly yea more clearly The first thing that appears in the book of the Revelation is the seven Epistles to seven principal Churches of Asia Q. Whether the seven Epistles are Prophetical contained in the three first Chapters T is very much question'd whether these Epistles are Prophetical or not Some maintain that they are with a great deal of heat others deny it As for me I have nothing certain to say upon it So that I would not raise a prejudice against any person or any opinion by my own tho I am much more enclined to believe that there is nothing of prophecy in them but that all that is said in these Epistles refers to things that had happened in those seven Churches It is certain that the Revelation is nothing but an Epistle This is clear by its beginning end Now it was not usuall with the Apostles to direct their Epistles to the Universal Church in generall of all places all times as some would have St. John here to have done The Apostles were wont in their Epistles to rank in the first place what they had which was dogmatical Prophetical to write of afterward came that which respected what was moral This is the method of St. Paul. St. John on the contrary in this Epistle sets that which is moral therein before that which is Prophetical The reason is because he little design'd to stay upon that which is moral his principal aim was to relate the visions which God had given him Therefore he dispatcheth in the beginning that which was to make the least part of his Epistle which was less important that without diversion he might stick to that which he principally intended therein I see but one thing that seems mightily to favour the opinion of those that believe that the seven Epistles are Prophetical Why the H. Spirit wrote but to seven Churches 'T is the number of seven Why did the H. Spirit write to no more than seven Churches Were there not many more in Asia Were these the only ones in which there was any thing to be reproved or to whom the H. Spirit had something to say It seems therefore that the seven Churches are the Universal Church of all Ages divided into seven Periods But this reason doth not appear strong enough to me First because the number of seven is evidently consecrated in the Revelation The holy Spirit useth it in counting up all things the seven Spirits seven Lamps seven Angels c. Surely whatever we understand hereby 't is certain that the number of Spirits of Lamps of Angells is not reduced to the number of seven Not but that oftentimes the number of seven in the Revelation must be taken for a determinate number as in the seven Seals in the seven Trumpets the seven Vialls but that is when the division of time into Periods is treated of Now this is that which is doubtful that by these seven Churches are meant seven Periods And we shall also see hereafter that what is said to these seven Churches doth not at all agree with the events in what manner soever the times be divided So that this only thing that the H. Spirit maketh here seven Churches doth not prove that they are so many Period's of the duration of the Church 'T is probable that by these he means all
Pastors must lift up men from Earth to Heaven fly up towards divine things The Eagle sustains the rays of the Light looks stedfastly on the Sun the Pastors of the Church are called to sustain the sight of the most adorable mysteries These living creatures are called Seraphims i. e. Burning to express the greatness of their Zeal Kerab in the Chaldee signifies to labour the true original of the word Cherubims They are called Cherubims a word that in the Syriack the Chaldee signifies Labourers This name is given them for the same reason as the head of an Ox to represent that they ought to labour in manuring the field of the Lord incessantly They have four wings according to Ezekiel six according to Esay St. John to represent their Vigilance the Swiftness with which they must run to execute the commandments of God. According to Ezekiel when these living Creatures walk they turn not but every one walks to the place with his Face forward This is to signify that the ministers of the Gospel must be far removed from all obliquity that they must go straight in their ways One part of their Wings serves them to cover their Bodies i. e. their less comely parts as Interpreters Understand it 't is the Emblem of that modesty that must rule in all their words actions According to Ezekiel Cap. 1.13 the likenesse of the living Creatures was like burning coals of fire like the appearance of Lamps It went up and down among the living Creatures the fire was bright out of the fire went forth lightning 'T is a description of the Word of Preaching that sheds light abroad spreads knowledg in scattering darkness by the ministry of the Pastors Is not my word as fire Thy word is a Lamp to my feet Chr. 1.21 22. 'T is a fire that sends forth the light of faith communicates the heat of charity In Ezekiel When the living Creatures moved the Wheels also moved when the living Creatures Were lifted up from the Earth the Wheels also were lifted up When those went these went when those stood these stood These Wheels are the People the living Creatures i. e. the pastors are the Spirit of the People The People do not go or stand still or lift up themselves or fall down but by the inspiration of the Pastors In St. John the living Creatures are in the throne round about the throne i. e. immediately near the throne nearer than the Twenty four elders 'T is because the Pastors are the mediators between God the People They are nearest to God the People draw nigh to God by them These living Creatures are full of eyes within 'T is because they inwardly have the Spirit of Penetration Discerning not only like Solomon's Wise Man that hath his Eyes in his Head but they have Eyes in their Heart i. e. they have a clear-sighted mind full of the knowledg of man. They cease not day nor night saying Holy Holy Holy c. 'T is the office of the Ministry to labour without intermission about the sanctification of God's name the establishing his glory When the living Creatures gave Glory honour praise to him that sate on the throne c. the Four and Twenty Elders cast themselves down before him This is the same thing that Ezekiel signified by these Wheels that went when the living Creatures went the people represented by the Twenty Four Elders follow the inspiration of the Pastors represented by the four living creatures When the living Creatures praise God the elders cast themselves down He that will follow these four living Creatures in the Revelation will see that every where they perform the office of Pastors Ministers of the commands of God. The Elders are the Christian people As for the Elders I don't know how it comes to pass that they have not been taken for the Faithful People from the very name of Elders Some would herein find the Pastors of the Church 'T is true the Gospel calls Pastors so But here it should be remembred that the Emblems are borrowed from the Law not from the Gospel 'T is agreed that in this vision the Prophet hath a respect to the distribution which the ancient Law made of its people Now we shall no where find that the Elders signify the Levites Priests On the contrary they are always distinguisht yea they are opposed to the Priests as well in the Old as in the New Testament The Priests the Elders of the people Every where the Elders signified the heads of the Tribes and Families that were consulted with in great affairs they were properly the Representatives of the people So that the Twenty Four Elders are the new people by allusion to ancient people There is twenty four of them because the ancient Israel had twelve Patriarchs twelve Tribes the new Israel hath twelve Apostles which are the twelve Patriarchs Heads of their Tribes The twelve Elders of the Jewish Church joined with the twelve Patriarchs of the new covenant make twenty four in all these twenty four are the whole Church Representative i. e. the whole body of the faithfull people These Elders sit round about the throne as Assessors because the Saints shall judg the World saith St. Paul They are cloathd in white Raiment That is the habit of a Priest And that signifies that the Priesthood is no longer confined to one only Tribe that the eleven tribes are re-entred into their ancient rights For naturally all the first-born of what tribe soever they were were Priests This is what the Holy Spirit means when he calls the faithful ones of the New Testament the first-born Priests a royal Priest-hood These Elders have on their heads crowns of Gold. 'T is because every one of the faithfull people is made not only a Priest but also a King. Wherfore they say in their sâ—ong To him that hath made us Kings Priests This description of the Church by four living Creatures twenty four Elders belongs principally to the Church reigning glorious on the Earth so as it will be described to us in the last Chapters of the Revelation For the only the Pastors the people shall perfectly have the qualities represented by these Aenigma's However 't is reasonable to place them here because the Pastors of all ages of the Church if they have not these qualities represented by the four living Creatures yet at least they are obliged to have them they have them in part tho they have them not in the degree of perfection CHAP. III. The Key of the Revelation This book is no other than a comment on what Daniel saith in the 7th Ch. of his Revelations touching the fourth Beast the fourth Monarchy BEhold the Theater open'd prepared we proceed to view the Visions that are as so many Entrings But I think it
have already done 't is enough to fulfil the Prophecy which saith That God sent them to kill the men of the third part of the Earth i. e. of Europe And the number of the Army of the Horsmen was 200. Thousand Thousand The Turks certainly are originally Scythians Tartars and Nomades people that had nothing but Horsmen in their Armies The formidable Infantry of the Turks which they call the Jannizaries was not instituted till about the year 1300 by Ottoman the Founder of the Empire which at this day possesseth Constantinople Before that their chief strength was in Cavalry The Prophet maketh it prodigious for its number All the World knows the thing happen'd exactly according to the literal sense He also describes them in a hideous manner They that sate on the Horses v. 17. had Breastplates of Fire and of Jacinth and Brimstone That is to say the heads of these Horsemen were like globes of fire whence came forth flame and smoke The heads of the horses were as the heads of Lions out of their mouths issued Fire Smoke Brimstone This Fire this Smoke and this Brimstone seem to be a description of Gun-powder and its effects And this may well signify that the Turks should make their principal desolations in the Empire of the fourth Monarchy after the invention of canons and fire-arms whence come forth lightnings flames sulphur smoke which indeed did come to pass These horses that vomit up flame smoak have also tails like unto Serpents with which they do hurt viz. in spreading their poison And this is common to them with the Locusts of the fifth Trumpet 'T is the venom of the wicked Religion of Mahomet which the Turks have established spread in all places where they have establisht their dominion They that were not Killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands that they should not Worship Devills idols of Gold Silver Brass Stone Wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk Neither repented they of their Murders nor of their Sorceries nor of their Fornication nor of their Thefts This signifies to us that the Periods of the sixth Trumpet and the ravages of the Turks is that of the corruption of the Church in the fourth Monarchy in the Antichristian Kingdom a period during which there reigned Idolatry worshipping of Demons or second Mediatory Gods Images placed in the Temples Oratories depravation of manners by Poisonings Assassinations Sodomies Incests Adulteries and other impurities Thefts Robberies and Violent Dealings And in truth the Roman Church since the tenth Age fell into such shameful Idolatry and such horrible Corruption of Manners that never was any thing like it seen in the History of the World. This point may be seen justified at large in our just Prejudices against Popery CHAP. VIII The Explication of the Tenth Chapter of the Revelation THe ninth Chapter ends the first part of the Revelation and the tenth begins the second wherin is what we seek after viz. Antichrist the time of his continuance and the circumstances of his end This tenth Chapter is properly the preface to the second little book We must explain it here before we proceed And I saw another mighty Angel come down from Heaven clothed with a Cloud v. 1. J. Christ appears a second time for a second vision a Rain-bow was upon his Head his Face was as it were the Sun his Feet as Pillars of Fire 'T is clear by this Pomp that this Angel is Jesus Christ They are very near the same colours wherwith he was described in the first chapter of the book his Countenance was like the Sun his Feet like unto fine Brass This is an Argument that here a new Prophecy begins a second act of this great piece 'T is Jesus Christ the Prophet of Prophets that must cause these Visions to enter The differenes between the first little book of the Revelation the second He had in his hand a little Book open he set his right Foot upon the Sea his left Foot on the Earth See here a little book different from the first which was given to the Lamb in the fifth chapter Another argument that 't is a Revelation wholly new of another order The first book contained the Destinies of the Empire and this contains the Destinies of the Church The first book was Written without within by reason of the multitude of events that were to befall the fourth Monarchy the adventures wherof God would foretel until the coming of the fifth Monarchy that is to say the Kingdom of Jesus Christ The first book was Sealed with seven seals But this later one is a little book opened 'T is because the first part of the Revelation which respects the destinies of the Empire is incomparably more obscure more difficult to be understood than the second The destinies of the Church are more Clearly predicted than those of the Empire In this second part which respects the destinies of the Church Antichrist is very plainly seen all those things that must befall the Antichristian Empire But the first part of the Revelation which contains the destinies of the Empire is so obscure that hardly any thing of it is understood tho at this day all the events are come to pass the prophecies fullfilled Joseph Mede in my opinion is the first that understood any thing of it He set his right foot on the sea his left foot on the Earth This signifies his Empire over the whole terrestrial Globe composed of Earth and water it signifies also that what he was about to fore-tell respected all the men that dwell in the world He set his right foot on the Sea. The Sea in respect to the land of Canaan was on the West this signifies that the West should be the principal Theater of the Adventures of the Antichristian Empire which he was going to describe And he cried with a loud voice as when a Lion roareth v. 3. when he had cried seven Thunders uttered their voices This roaring of a Lion was a presage that that which he was about to predict was terrible As in truth nothing is more fatal to the Church VVhat voices thunders signify in the Revelation especally in the second part than the Empire of Antichrist Seven thunders uttered their voices In this Book Lightnings Thunders Voices always signify the words oracles of God. The seven Thunders of this second little book are exactly the seven Spirits of the former For both the seven Spirits the seven Thunders signify the divine Oracles Spirits because of him that dictates them Thunders because of their efficacy because they beat down to the ground they astonish they shake Seven because of their perfection When Jesus Christ by his roaring had given the presage of Future Events the Oracles were given pronounced concerning those Events
And when the seven Thunders had uttered their Voices v. 4. I was about to write A sealed vision is an obscure vision I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me seal up those things which the seven Thunders uttered write them not A Sealed Book a Writing a Word sealed according to the Style of the Scripture is a word that is not understood 1s 29.11 The Vision of all is saith Esay as a book that is sealed that is to say you shall not understand it God saith to Daniel seal up the vision Dan. 8.26 for it shall be for many Days And in another place O Daniel shut up the words Dan 12.4 seal the book even to the time of the end many shall run to fro knowledg shall be encreased That is to say God will not have the Prophecies be understood till a certain time In like manner the Prophecy that respected Antichrist was Sealed up till an appointed time For above ten whole ages nothing of It was understood or so little that 't is to be reckon'd as nothing And write them not that is to say do not express them in such terms that in them the events may be read at least not very soon V. 5. And the Angel which I saw standing upon the Sea and upon the Earth lifted up his Hand to Heaven V. 6. And sware by him that liveth forever and ever who created Heaven and the things that therein are and the Earth and the things that therein are and the Sea and the things which are therein That there should be Time no longer V. 7 But in the days of the Voice of the seventh Angle when he shall begin to sound the Mystery of God should be finisht as he hath declared to his Servants the Prophets VVhen the last Trumper must sound The Voice of the seventh Trumpet is that which must sound at the moment of the last Fall of the Antichristian Empire when Popery shall be destroyed Then all the Nations shall turn unto God to make up the Kingdom of Jesus Christ that is yet to come as appears by these words The seventh Angel sounded Ch. 11.15 and there were great Voices in Heaven saying The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever Here our Angel swears that in that time that is to say when the Kingdoms shall be reduced to Jesus Christ Time shall be no longer Time in this place is not opposed to Eternity as if the Angel would say that then the World shall end and Eternity begin but his meaning is that the times afforded to Antichrist shall be ended shall be no more It must be remembred that the Holy Spirit as well by the mouth of Daniel as by that of St. John assigns to Antichrist a time times half a time This shall be no more There shall not be neither time nor times nor half a time for Antichrist Time shall be no more for his reign it shall be the time of his total destruction Then the mystery of God shall be finisht as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets viz. The mystery of this glorious reign of Jesus Christ on the Earth which hath been foretold by all the Prophets in so magnificent a manner as we shall shew in the process of this work which Daniel saw so clearly as to mark the time circumstances of it And the voice which I heard from heaven v. 8 spake to me again said Go take the little book which is open in the hand of the Angel which standeth upon the sea upon the Earth And I went unto the Angel v. 9 said unto him give me the little book And he said unto me take it eat it up it shall make thy belly bitter but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as Honey The voice which he heard from Heaven is the same as spoke to him in the beginning of the book I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day heard behind me a great voice as of a Trumpet saying I am Alpha Omega the First the Last And this also shews that this here is a new prophecy not the continuation of the first For the same voice of God the Father that began the First Revelation returns begins the second as the same Jesus Christ also appears again a second time Saint John receives the book from the hand of the Angel that is to say of Jesus Christ because 't is he that sends the Prophets that inspires them by his Spirit This little book is Saveet in Saint John's Mouth because the Spirit of prophecy the glory of being the mouth of God from heaven pleases the inclination of men that love honour But this little book Made his belly bitter because that after having reflected on the events which he was about to fore-tell after having digested consider'd them in his own breast he found them so dreadful that they filled his soul with sorrow And he said unto me v. 11. thou must prophecy again before many people nations tongues Kings These words do no longer leave any cause of doubting whether this be a new prophecy not a continuation of the First Thou must make a Second Prophecy to Kings People Nations wheras what thou hast prophecied to them respected their Temporal state for the future that which thou shalt foretell them respects their Spiritual state the things of Religion CHAP. IX A short System of all the Events of the Church which are noted in the Apocalypse first of all an Epitome of the Chronology The history of the Church is not to be found but in the last eleven Chapters of the Apocalypse WE must not seek for the History of the Church in the First Nine chapters of the Apocalypse Joseph Mede is the first that hath discover'd that the Apocalypse consists of two bodies of Revelations meant by two Books the first of which we find in the beginning of the fifth Chapter v. 1. And I saw in the right hand of him that sate on the throne a book written within on the back side sealed with seven seals The other we find in the 10. Chap. v. 2. And he had in his hand a little book open he set his right foot upon the sea his left foot on the Earth It is plain that these two Books are two bodies of Revelations perfect in their kind different each from the other that both the one the other run through all reach to all the times from the beginning of the Revelation of St. John even to the end of the World. One cannot imagine any thing more reasonable than this that the First Book contains the destinies of the World the Empire the Church also in respect to her Temporal as far as she is
a part of the World. The Second Book contains the destinies of the Church properly taken as a Church distinguisht from the societies of the World. This is a much better notion than that of Mr. de Launay who tells us that the first book contains the History of the Church the second that of the Gospel What can be the adventures of the Gospell distinct from those of the Church How can those Prophecies that respect the Establishment the ruin of Antichrist be applied to the book of the Gospel unless it be in a very indirect manner For these events do directly respect the Church not the book of the Holy Scriptures That which God saith to St. John after he had caused him to swallow the little book of the 10th v. 11. Chapter Thou must prophesy again before many Peoples Nations Tongues Kings These words I say do plainly shew that this is a Prophecy wholly new which doth begin and pass over again all the periods of time This being so that is to say the first book included in the 5. 6. 7. 8. and 9th Chapters containing the destinies of the Roman Empire and the various changes that were to befall it even to the time of its utter ruin by the revolt of the ton Kings it is evident that they are greatly mistaken that endeavour to find the Pope and Anti-christ in the Star of the 8th Chapter called Wormwood It is true that in the 7th Ch. we find the vision of the 144. thousand persons that were Sealed who do belong to the History of the Church For these are they that have not defiled their garments with the Idolatries of Antichrist nor partaken of his fornications These are the same with the two Witnesses of the 11th Chapter that prophesy clothed in sack-cloth for 1260 days during the reign of Anti-Christ Babylon The H. Ghost hath placed these 144 thousand Sealed persons in the destinies of the Empire immediatly after the opening the first six seals before the opening of the seventh because the seventh Seal was to be subdivided into seven Trumpets which do reach even to the end of Antichrist's Empire Trumpets that were to contain the horrible corruption of the Church the Birth and Progress of her Idolatries It was therfore very reasonable to take notice of those whom God intended to exempt from those corruptions before the opening of the seventh Seal which was to bring so many evills on the Church as well as upon the World. This in my opinion being certain that the destinies of the Church do not begin before the 11th Chapter are prosecuted even to the end it will be necessary to consider the Chronology the History of these twelve Chapters from the 10th to the 22th the last As for the Chronology St. Iohn begins his Prophecy concerning the Church either from the beginning of the Christian Aera The Chrustian Church in the Apocalypse must be divided into three Periods i.e. from the birth of the Saviour of the World or at least from the time in which he prophecied which was in the reign of Trajan This duration of the Church from Jesus Christ's time is divided into three general Periods The First is that of the Christian Church in the four first Ages which were those of her purity the second is that of her Corruption Idolatries Antichristianism that was to endure 1260 years at the conclusion whereof an end must be put to the Babylonish Empire The third Period contains the reign of a thousand years during which the Church must have peace after which must follow the last judgment The first of these Periods is the shortest not lasting above 3 or 400 years And therfore St. Iohn doth not stay much upon it This is the Period which he describes in a few words in the beginning of the 11th Ch. And there was given to me a reed like a rod the Angel stood saying rise measure the temple of God the Altar them that worship therin But the court which is without the Temple leave out measure it not for it is given to the Gentiles the holy city shall they tread under foot forty two Months All the world is agreed that the Temple built by Solomon according to the orders of God was an Emblem of the Church This Temple had two Courts an inward and an outward one Here the H. Ghost represents the whole duration of the Christian Church by the extent of this Temple and its Courts Nothing is more proper to shadow forth the extent of time than the extent of place This inward Court that was measured by St. John together with the Altar them that worship therin is the first Period of the Church the Ages which we call the happy times of the Church which reach to the end of the fourth Age about 360 or 380 Years The rest of the Christian Churches duration till the reign of the 1000 years is shadowed forth by the outward Court The inward court is an Emblem of the pure Church the out ward court an Emblem of the corrupted Church which God leaves to the Gentiles to tread under food 42 Monthes This is the Christian Church turn'd Pagan by the admission of secondary Deities mediating Spirits Images Here is one thing that deserves to be carefully taken notice of between the duration of the Church in its purity and in its corruption there is exactly the very same proportion as there between the greatness the extent of the inward Court the outward one Those that have taken the pains to compute the extent of these two Courts according to that description of them that we meet with in the Iewish Authors both sacred prophanc find that the proportion of the inward Court to that without V. Villal-pand in Ezech. is the same with that of one to three a half Now there is the very same proportion between the duration of the Church in its corruption in its purity The corrupt Church lasts 42. Months that is three years a Half according to which the Church in its purity must not have lasted above one prophetique year which contains 360 Days that is to say 360 Years Indeed the Church did continue in its purity just so long About the year 360 the unhappy superstions about Reliques the invocation of Saints began to creep into the Church which quickly degenerated into Idolatry Thus the reign of Anti-Christian Idolatry hath lasted three times a half hath lâ—sted as long as the reign of pure Christianity This is the outward Court that is left out trodden under foot by the Gentiles prophaned by Idolatry which nevertheless is called the Holy City because there God did preserve his elect And they shall tread under foot the Holy City for 42. Months 'T is chiefly upon this Period of 42 Months that the Prophecies of the Apocalypse do turn
More proofs that the Characters of the Antichristian Empire do agree to the Papism A Proof drawn from the fourth Chapter of the first Epistle of St Paul to Timothy The translation of that passage amended SOme persons reading our second just Prejudice against popery have admired that to make up the character of Antichrist we have not among other places of Scripture inserted that Text of St. Paul in his first Epistle to Timothy in the beginning of the fourth Chapter Now the Spirit speaketh expresly that in the later times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lies in hypocrisy having their consciences seared with an hot iron Forbidding to marry and abstaining from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them that believe The reason why this Text was not made use of in the book of Prejudices against Popery 'T is certain this is one of the clearest Oracles of the New Testament and one of the most lively pictures the Holy Spirit gives us of the Antichristian Apostacy But I could not make use of it in drawing my prejudices against the Roman Church because prejudices must be drawn from things either exceeding notorious or confessed and granted My prejudice was not this No Religion that hath Antichrist for its head can be the true Religion Now the Roman Religion hath Antichrist for its head c. If I had formed it thus I had been obliged to bring all the proofs that are to be met with in the H. Scripture to maintain that the Roman Religion is the Antichristian Empire and then I must not have omitted this But I argued otherwise in that prejudice and said I judge not but I prejudge I do not pronounce that the Pope and his religion are Antichrist But I say it is very strange and surprizing that all those places of Scripture where by the consent of Interpreters of all ages and of all parties Antichrist is spoken of may be so easily and so justly applied to the Pope and his religion Though at the bottom popery should not be pure Antichristianism yet there is no likelyhood that God would describe Antichrist and his reign in such equivocal terms that all that that is confessed to be spoken concerning Antichrist may be adopted to him that should be the Vicar of Jesus Christ and to a Society that should be his faithful Spouse 'T is plain that to reason thus I was to look for no other Texts but those that are not contested such as are the second Chapt. of the second Epistle to the Thessalonians the seventh of Daniel the 11 13 17 and 18th of the Revelation whereas the Romish Doctors do dispute about all in the words of St. Paul in the fourth Chapter of his first Epistle to Timothy They dispute about the particular sense and the general scope of it They turn this Oracle off on the Encratites Manichees c. Now that I am not a drawing prejudices but do dispute I must prove and though the proofs are contested yet we must not abandon them in a controversy We must only make them so evident that they may be clear to all reasonable men And this is that which we are about to do in pursuing the History of the Characters of the Antichristian Apostacy by this passage of St. Paul according to that sense of it which the learned Joseph Mede gives us who hath given us abundance of light into the Prophecies but into none of them more or more happily than into this The division of Chapters and Verses in our Bibles is not authentique First of all we must rectify the translation of this passage and in the beginning give notice that the divisions of our Chapters being not altogether authentick and being often times made with little judgment no regard must be given to this that the 4th Ch. of the 1st Epistle of Timothy begins with these words Now the Spirit saith expresly that in the later times c. For in truth the sense begins at the last verse of the foregoing Chap. and we should read thus Without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness God manifest in the flesh justified in the Spirit seen of Angells preached to the Gentiles believed on in the World and received up into Glory But the Spirit saith expresly that in the later times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devills This observation alone is enough to perswade all those that sincerely seek after the truth that the Apostacy which the Apostle speaks of is the Apostacy of Antichrist For he makes so clear an opposition of this apostacy to the Mystery of Godliness that 't is impossible not to discern that he opposes Mystery to mystery religion to religion the mystery of Godliness to the mystery of iniquity of which he himself hath spoken to us in his 2d Ep. to the Thessalonians And as by the mystery of iniquity all the world acknowledges that he means the religion of Antichrist so all the world ought to acknowledg that in this place the Apostacy of the later times opposed to the Mystery of Godliness is the Antichristian Empire and Religion And that the reason why the Apostle hath not here repeated the term of the mystery of iniquity is because he did believe that it would be easily understood It seems natural that after he had said the mystery of Godliness is great he should say but the mystery of iniquity shall publickly appear which shall be an Apostacy from the faith He would without doubt have thus exprest himself were it not that having spoken elsewhere of the Mystery of iniquity any one might easily perceive that in this later place he makes an evident allusion to it and that so it might easily be seen in the Apostacy which he describes Our common translation doth not well represent St. Paul's sense Our version renders the Text of St. Paul thus Now the Spirit saith expresly that in the later times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils speaking lies in hypocrisy having their conscience scared with a hot iron forbidding to marry commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created for them that believe Looking on the Text in this form the first sense that offers it self to our sight is that these Doctrines of Devills are those which he adds in the following words viz. Forbidding of marriage and abstinence from meat Now I confess that ever since I understood how to read and understand I have always suspected this and I did not understand how and why the Apostle St. Paul should characterise those opinions that seem so little criminal as the forbidding of Mariage to certain persons and abstaining from certain meats at certain times by such black names as the Apostacy from the faith and the Doctrines of Devills I did conceive that the law of Celibacy in
The 8th Argument spiritual Babel is represented as a City en riched by a long commerce Eighthly Moreover doth a City become rich in three years and a half What kind of commerce then must that of this Antichristian Empire be that shall make the fortunes of her merchants in so little a time The H. Spirit borrows these figures from what is done and seen inhumane life 'T is seen therein that Cities become rich and powerful by long commerce But never were any of them seen to attain to a surprizing greatness by two or three years commerce Lastly A City and an Empire that are raised and destroyed in three years and a half have not time to gather together voluptuous things The 9th Argument spiritual Babylon is represented as having enjoyed a long peace and to enjoy them It must always fight to conquer to grow greater or to defend it self If the Antichristian Empire lasts but three years and a half this is not too much to establish its greatness by sword and by fire and to repell that force that must destroy it Of necessity Antichrist and his adherents must always be in violent motion in trouble and in war. Whereas the description of spiritual Babylon imports the possession of a long peace during which she must heap together both all the riches and all the pleasures of the World. The 10th Argument the ruin of the Babylonish Empire according to its description in the 19th Ch. cannot be wrought in three years and a half The 19th Chapt. is the last where in the ruin of this Empire is described to us We there see him who is called the faithful and the true and the Word of God i. e. J. Christ that prepares himself for the combat that causes the armies of Heaven to follow him that calls all the birds of Heaven and all the beasts of the Earth to the slaughter that gives battels that obtains the victory that casts the beast and the false Prophet into the lake of fire and brimstone For this alone more is necessary than three years and a half For an Empire so vast so large and so strong as that of Antichrist must be is not destroyed in a few days CHAP. II. The last Argument against the Chimaera of three years and half taken from the time during which the Temple was prophan'd by Antiochus Four quite different times set down for that in Daniels Prophecies An explication and a reconciling of those four times An application of these four times to the Kingdom of Antichrist and the ruin of that Kingdom I Draw my last Argument against this chimerical duration of three years and a half from the most famous of all the types of Antichrist viz. Antiochus Epiphanes 'T is he that persecuted the Church that oppressed it that defiled the Temple that caused the daily sacrifice to cease for the space of three natural years and a half Wherein it is evident that God hath set him as a type of Antichrist who during the space of three prophetical years and a half was in like manner to seize on the Church to fill the Temple of God with Idols and make the pure service of God the continual sacrifices of praises and prayers which God hath reserved for himself alone to cease Now we must remember this maxime which we have already advanced in the fore-going Chapter viz. that types are oenigmatical and short pictures of great events great in their extent as well as in their qualities Types are short pictures in a little This maxime is evident it hath no need of proofs And according to this principle seeing the times must be short as well as the other strokes it is clear that contracted years cannot be better represented than by days not by months for a month is the revolution of the Moon and consequently it can't be proper to represent the revolution of the Sun which is a quite different Star. But the day and the year are the revolutions of the Sun the year is the great revolution the day the little one If one would represent in short the great revolution of the Sun one can't do it better than by the small revolution of the same Star. And thence I conclude that the oppression of the Church by Antiochus who was the type having lasted 1260 little revolutions of the Sun they must represent so many of the great revolutions of the same Star. I spend a Chapter on this last proof because in the duration of the oppression of the Jewish Church by Antiochus Epiphanes there are considerable difficulties which spring from the differences of the Prophecies of Daniel and the events such as the first book of the Macchabees represents them to us I hope that the clearing these difficulties about the duration of the persecution of Antiochus will give us such light into the duration of the Kingdom of Antichrist as will please the curious Four times noted by Daniel for the duration of Antiochus's persecution We must therefore observe that the Prophet Daniel describes the time of the duration of the persecution that was to befall his nation in four different manners First of all he saith in the eighth Chap. after having spoken of Antiochus Epiphanes under the embleme of the little horn C. 8. v. 13. Then I heard one Saint speaking and another Saint said unto that certain Saint that spake How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot And he said unto me unto 2300 days then shall the Sanctuary be cleansed v. 14. Daniel reassuming the affair of Antiochus in the eleventh Chapter and continuing it in the twelfth observes three time Cap. 12. v. 6 7. And one said to the man clothed in linnen which was upon the waters of the river How long shall it be to the end of these wonders And I heard the man clothed in linnen which was on the waters of the river when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven and swore by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time times and a half It is plain this signifies one year two years and half a year three years and a half So then you see the second time The third is observed in the same Chapt. C. 12. v. 11. And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away and the abomination that maketh desolate set up there shall be 1290 days Lastly The fourth time is found in the following verse Blessed is he that waiteth v. 12 and cometh to the 1335 days See then four different numbers Two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings 2300. A time times and half a time 1260. that make three years and a half and days One thousand two hundred fourscore and ten days 1290. And lastly 1335. one thousand three hundred and thirty
the Revelation sets forth the Dragon as broken loose giving his power to the Beast and devouring the whole world Once again this is a blindness which I cannot conceive If there was no other argument against these two Hypotheses this alone would be enough to convince me of their falsity namely the terrible confusion into which these Authors do put the Visions of the Revelation To any one who hath studyed them it is evident that the Prophet hath observed the Order of History at least in the gross of events He had several visions concerning the same thing and in the order of these vision the order of all their circumstances does not alwayes in every thing agree with the order of events and this we have observed and cleared But I say it again the gross is alwayes according to the order of history this order is observed in the Revelation that the birth and progresses of Antichrists Kingdom are laid down before its fall Now the Authors we have spoken do make St Iohn guilty of a Parachronisme of two thousand years After he had finisht the narrative of the ruin of Antichrist and gone through a Period of 1260 years which if we add to them the space from the Incarnation of Christ unto the revelation of the son of perdition make almost two thousand years After this I say they make him on a sudden to go back as far as the beginning of the Christian Church Is there any other instance of such confusion in this book Let them shew it What mean those words After this so the French version which begin the 20 Chapter and denote always not only the succession of visions but of times This work is already large than I intended to make it but notwithstanding I cannot forbear to lay down a few of our arguments there are so many that one might crush the contrary opinion with number but I shall only urge the principal ones I shall open as it were four springs of arguments Four springs of arguments that demonstrate the trath of Christs reign upon earth which I shall leave every man liberty to sound and dive into contenting my self with producing them and drawing from them the principal evidences which clearly discover this future reign of our Lord Iesus Christ The firs spring is the fifth Monarchy promised to the Saints My first spring or source of arguments will be in the Prophecies that speak of a fifth Monarchy reserved for the Saints 'T is impossible to find a rational sense in them without supposing this thousand years reign There are two remarkable ones in the book of Daniel In the 2. Chapter Nebuchadnesar sees a statue whose head was of gold the shoulders of silver the belly of brass the leggs of iron the feet and toes partly of iron and partly of earth The Prophet interprets to him these four metals of the statue that they are four great Monarchies The iron leggs by consent of all signifie the fourth Monarchy which is the Roman The feet and the ten toes partly of iron and partly of earth signifie the ten kings or Kingdoms which were to divide the Roman Empire and weaken it at the same time And wheras thou sawest the feet and the toes Dan. 2. v. 41 42. part of potters clay and part of iron the kingdom shall be divided but there shall be in it of the strength of iron forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixt with miery clay And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken These ten toes are the ten Kings which were to make up the Kingdom of Antichrist and reign together with him in the last Period of the Roman Empire during the 1260 years marked in the Revelation Now hat happens at the end of the reign of these ten Kings and of the fourth Monarchy v. 44. And in the dayes of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed and the Kingdom shall not be left to other people but it shall break in pieces and consume all these Kingdoms and it shall stand for ever Behold a fifth Monarchy different from the ten Kings The Monarchy promised to Christ cannot be placed in the Ages by past which must break them in pieces and must continue after them for ever i.e. untill the end of the world 'T is granted that this Kingdom that shall never be destroyed is that of Iesus Christ But is it not as clear as the day that this Kingdom must not appear untill after that the ten Kings and the ten Kingdoms shall have been broken ' in pieces by this fifth Monarchy I confess I have nothing to say to them who are incapable of beholding this evidence and I do not conceive how it can be said that we must go back beyond the ten Kings that we may place the Monarchy of Iesus Christ before them when the Prophet so plainly placeth it after the ten Kings Is it not expresly said that his fifth Monarchy must break in pieces and destroy these ten Kingdoms How therefore can it go before them or have its duration parallel to theirs In the seventh Chapter of the same Prophecy we have the same four Monarchies under the Images of four Beasts 'T is confessed that the fourth Beast that had ten horns is the Roman Empire all our writers grant that these ten horns that signifie ten Kings are the ten Kingdoms into which the Roman Empire was divided after the time of Valentinian the third and that those ten horns reign together with the little horn which is Antichrist When the Prophet had seen both the fourth Beast and the three first wholly destroyed and their bodies burnt with fire he adds And I saw in the might-visions Chap. 7. v. 13. and behold one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven and came unto the Ancient of dayes and they brought him near before him and there was given him dominion and a glory and a Kingdom that all people nations and languages should serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his Kingdom that which shall not be destroyed And to the same purpose in the explication of the vision v. 24.25 And the tend horns out of this Kingdom are then Kings that shall arise and another shall arise after them and he shall be diverse from the first c. And he shall speak great words against the most high and shall wear out the saints of the most high and think to change times and lawes and they shall be given into his hand untill a time and times and the dividing of times c. All are agreed that Antichrist is here intended and all Protestants grant that this is the Papacy and that its reign is to last 1260 years Now what is to happen after this time and times and a dividing or half
lye so he was their Saviour If the Jews have nothing else to look for but the conversion of some thousands of them who shall not be damned could it be said that the goodness is great that is bestowed upon the house of Israel and that God will deal with them according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses If we compare the whole Nation which for almost two thousand years was to be loft would such a conversion deserve to be counted any thing Above all we must take notice in this 63 Chapter that the six first Verses represent in a magnificent manner the bloody victory of a Conqueror Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Bozrah this that is glorious in his apparel travelling in the greatness of his strength I that speak in righteousness mighty to save Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine-fat I have trodden the wine-press alone and of the people there was none with me for I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments and I will stain all my raiment For the day of vengeance is in my heart and the year of my redeemed is come And I looked and there was none to help and I wondred that there was none to uphold therefore my own arm brought salvation unto me and my fury it upheld me And I will tread down the people in my anger and make them drunk in my fury and I will bring down their strength to the earth Ordinarily this passage is interpreted of the Passion of Jesus Christ and I do not oppose that it should be apply'd to it by a pious allusion The victory over Antichrist fortold in the 63 of Isaiah and in the 19th of the Revelation But I much wonder that none hath discryed its true meaning and that none hath perceived that the same event exactly is fore-told here and in the 19th of the Revelation from the 11th verse to the end 'T is so plainly the same thing that the expressions are in a manner the same 'T is clear that the Holy Ghost alludes to this passage of Isaiah when he saith Revel 19. â—5 And he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. The figures are the same borrowed from war slaughter combats and bloodshed So that without doubt the same thing is signified in both places Namely that great victory that the Lord Jesus must gain over all the enemies of the Church before the period of the thousand years An unbloody victory and which must be gain'd by the sword of his mouth i. e. his Word But 't is represented under the figure of war according to the custome of the Holy Ghost who paints out spiritual victories with colours borrowed from temporal ones Now I would fain know for whom this victory discribed by Isaiah must be gain'd Without doubt 't is on the behalf of the people of the Iews 't is to the Jews that he speaks the year of my Redeemed is come and presently after followeth that which we have cited I will mention the loving-kindnesses of the Lord c. which belongs to the people of the Jews and can't belong to any other 'T is therefore for the Iews and on their behalf that the great battel in the 19th of the Revelation shall be fought 't will be to get a crown for them and to raise them upon a Throne Therefore this Nation is not in so great an error as men have hitherto imagined upon the subject of the nature of the reign of their Messiah It is certain that it must advance their Nation to very great glory But they are mistaken 1. In that they have not own'd the Messiah in his state of Humiliation and will not till his glorious Appearance 2. They doubtless mistake in the nature of their Kingdom fixing thereto too much of what is Temporal whereas it shall be very Spiritual and not at all consist in commanding over Nations to assemble them for War to receive of them Tribute and Subjection It will rather consist in this that this Nation shall be the most glorious of any in the World the most zealous the most Holy which shall give Pastors and it may be Governors to all other People In this we have the true reason why in the book of Revelations there is nothing formally spoken of the Recalling of the Iews It would have been a very surprizing thing that the Holy Ghost should have omitted one of the most considerable events of the Church in a book of Prophecies containing the History of it So our Interpreters would willingly find it every where and really can find it but in very few places The reason is because 't is only to be met with in the 20th Chapter of the Revelations and in the 11th Chapter of that Book The Kingdom of the Messiah and of the Saints which is spoken of in those places is that Kingdom which is to be given to the Holy People according to the Prophecies of Daniel for in the style of the Prophets there is no other Holy People but the People of Israel So that the Iews are to be the principal part of the fifth Monarchy This is the Kingdom that was promised to Jesus Christ by the Angel who fore-told his birth to the B. Virgin. God will give him the Throne of David his Father I would feign know how that Oracle hath been accomplisht The converted Gentiles of whom Jesus Christ hath been King for sixteen hundred years are they the Kingdom of David while the Jews who are Children and Brethren of David are the avowed Enemies of this Kingdom It may well be said that Jesus Christ hath received a Kingdom whereof that of David was the figure but that doth by no means satisfy But what doth the Answer of our Lord Jesus Christ to his Apostles signify They demanded of him I. Christ promis'd his Apostles to re-establish the Kingdom of the Zews Wilt thou at this time restore the Kingdom again to Israel Jesus replyed by remitting them to another time 'T is not for you saith he to know the Times sand Seasons which the Father hath put in his own Power If the Kingdom should never be restored to Israel why doth not our Lord tell them so and why doth he hold them in suspence if the Kingdom of Israel be nothing else than the Calling of the Gentiles and our Christian Church why doth he refer them to a longer time saying that God hath reserved to himself the knowledge of that Time that was a thing should be effected within a few years in their own time before their eyes and by themselves Lastly why hath he commanded us to pray daily Thy Kingdom come since that Kingdom is already come for by that Kingdom cannot be understood the eternal Kingdom of Paradise where Jesus Christ so far as man is only the
is plain the Prophet borrowed his Characters of it from that Happy state of the first Man wherein he was filled with the knowledge of God and his Righteousness And during which the brute Animals were innocent kind and gentle as himself 'T is also undeniable that this Prophecy respects the days of the Messiah But I would fain be told sincerely whether this oracle hath ever yet been accomplisht in what time in what place in what age or generation of the world It will doubtless be answered that it was in the Apostolical Church and in the time of the Apostles for only in that new-born Church could it be said that there was none to hurt or destroy that Wolves and Lions and Bears became Lambs The Prophecies which fortold the great holiness of the Church are not accomplisht Yet even in that new-born Church Wolves and Lions might be found But it cannot be of that Church which the Prophet there speaks because he speaks of a time when the knowledge of the Lord should fill the Earth which then it did not For this great Holiness this admirable union is represented to us only in the Church of Ierusalem Moreover we see not that this lasted for any considerable time There is a great deal of difference between the Church in the first Chapters of the Acts when Believers had but one heart and one soul and the Church we read of towards the end of the same Book where were false zealots who opposed St. Paul for having preached to the Gentiles Besides Isaiah speaks not of the Holiness of some particular persons but of a general Sanctification That a time shall come when Righteousness shall universally cover the societies of men as the waters cover the bottom of the Sea. I know well enough that the Prophets do oftentimes make use of the figure called Hyperbole But in truth the Hyperbole here would be forc't and carried too far and would not be intelligible if the Holy Spirit should so describe the Church of the first Ages where wee some Incestuous some Adulterers some Heretiques Schismaticks Apostates and all sorts of crimes We need but read the writings of St. Cyprian De Lapsis to be assured that in the good days of the Church there were already things very horrid and abominable Every one may think as he shall please but for my own part I expect from this prophecy such an age wherein Holiness shall as much exceed vice as vice now doth exceed and overtop vertue We read also in the same Prophet Chap. 32. v. 15 16. that the Spirit shall be poured from on high upon us and the wilderness be a fruitfull field and the fruitfull field a forrest Judgement shall dwell in the wilderness and Righteousness remain in the fruitfull field The work of Righteousness shall be Peace and the effect of Righteousness quietness and assurance for ever An high way shall be there and a way and it shall be called the way of Holiness the unclean shall not pass over it but it shall be for those the wayfaring men Chap. 35.8 9. though fools shall not err therein No Lion shall be there nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon Chap. 54.13 14. it shall not be found there All thy Children shall be taught of the Lord and great shall be the Peace of thy Children thou shalt be establisht in Righteousness Chap 59.21 22. This is the Covenant I will make with you saith the Lord my Spirit that is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth or out of the mouth of thy seed nor of thy seeds seed saith the Lord from henceforth and for ever And they shall call them Chap. 62.12 the Holy People the redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called sought out a City not forsaken Chap. 31.33 Add to this the Prophecy of Ieremy This shall be the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel I will put my Law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my People and they shall teach no more every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest saith the Lord. These Prophecies speak four things 1. They paint out the State of the Church under the Messiah 2. They describe it by a more then ordinary Holiness that shall every where be poured out 3. By a persevering Holiness to which no return to vice or no apostacy shall succeed For 't is said the Spirit of God shall not depart from them or their seed or seeds seed 4. Lastly This is a Holiness whereof the Jewish Nation is to have the chiefest part For 't is to that People and concerning them that God speaks Now I demand whether any one can show me that age of the Church wherein such an Holiness which answers the Idea given us by these Prophecies can be found where we shall meet with a persevering Holiness If the Church for any time hath been pure that hath not continued from one Generation to another yea let such an Age be named wherein the Israelitish Nation did pertake of this Evangelical Holiness Hath not that People been always obstinate unbelieving Enemies to Christ without faith in respect of men as well as in reference to God we must than open our eyes and confess that there shall be a Kingdom of Holiness such a one as shall fill all Nations and not subject to those unhappy Revolutions that by corruption have changed the face of the Church from year to year Thus far Righteousness and Holiness Next we are to consider the Peace and Prosperity of the Church Glorious Prophecies of the peace of the Church whereof the Prophets speak more largely and in an higher strain because under the Images of Temporal Prosperity they set forth that Spiritual Prosperity which we have spoken of under the names of Holiness and Righteousness Concerning Peace Is 2.4 the Prophet Isaiah saith that they shall beat their swords into Plough-shares and their Spears into pruning-hooks that Nation shall not rise against Nation neither shall they learn war any more Concerning its future Prosperity he saith c. 41.18 19. The eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf shall be unstop't the lame shall leap as the Hart and the tongue of the Dumb shall sing for joy I will open Rivers in high places and Fountains in the midst of Valleys I will make the wilderness a Pool of water and the dry Land springs of water I will plant in the wilderness the Cedar the Pine the Myrtle and the Olive-tree and I will set in the desert the Fir-tree the Pine and the Box-tree together c. 49.10 11. They shall not hunger nor thirst neither shall the heat or Sun smite them for he
't is not that which the H. Ghost would immediately describe because he would that we should be kept ignorant of it So that those Descriptions have an immediate relation to the flourishing State of the Church in the last Period and by analogy they may be transfer'd to the blessings of Paradise 2. Type the Rest after the Babylonish captivity The Captivity of Babylon was doubtless another Type of the Captivity of the Church under Antichrist and therefore the Papacy is called the City of Babylon and after that Captivity the People returned to their own Land and lived peaceably there So doubtless the Church being delivered from the bondage of Antichrist shall return to its rest here on Earth 3. Type the Rest after the persecution under Antiochus The Persecution of Antiochus was also a Type of the Persecution which the Church hath suffered under Antichrist Now after the three years and half of that Persecution the People of the Iews returned to the possession of their Temple and rose to a more flourishing condition than they had ever been in since their coming out of Babylon 4 Type the number seven which is so often mentioned I leave these and many other Types which may be found to insist on one which I find to be very evident and convincing 'T is that which may be found in the number of seven 'T will be granted that this is a mysterious and sacred number and that it signifies perfection 'T is on this account it is mentioned so often in the Apocalypse There are seven Churches seven Stars seven Candlesticks seven Spirits seven Lamps seven Eyes seven Horns of the Lamb seven Plagues seven Trumpets seven Thunders seven Viols So in the Books of Moses the seventh day is Holy and the seventh year was the year of Rest and the seven times seventh year was the great Jubilee The living Creatures entred into the Ark by sevens the first-born of every beast remained seven days with its Dam the male Children were to be seven days old before they were circumcised the Candlestick of the Tabernacle had seven Lamps a Woman after her uncleanness a Leper after he was cured of his leprosy were to be purified for seven days It would be too long to recite all the Examples of this nature which might be mentioned for the number seven is almost every where to be found For what reason is it so who sees not that this number signifies Completion and Perfection and of what can it signify the Perfection if not of the greatest work of God that for which all his other works were wrought that is the Church If then the 7th the be every where sacred why is not the seventh Period reckoning from the creation of the World also sacred and a Period of perfection It will be said the number seven is sacred because of the seventh day which was consecrated to the service of God but why hath God chosen the seventh day to be holy and a day of rest for man is it not plainly to signify that the seventh day or the seventh Period of the Church shall be a time of Holiness Tranquility and Peace The 7th day of the Creation a type of the seventh period of the Church The seventh day they farther tell us was consecrated to Rest and Holiness because God created the World in six days and rested on the seventh Behold now we are at the Spring Head and can rise no higher but here also we shall find an excellent Type of our seventh Period 'T is here I would ask with boldness Wherefore God created the World in six days and rested on the seventh Why did he not imploy five days eight ten or twelve in the work of Creation but precisely seven Certainly the infinite wisdom of God will not permit that he should do any thing without reason Here is this reason because he intended to hold the Church in an imperfect state for six Periods of Time labouring in that great work for which he made all others and causing it successively to pass through seven degrees We must not say that the Sabbath the seventh day on which God rested was the image of that great Rest into which the Church is to be brought after he shall have compleated it upon Earth for the seventh Period ought to bear proportion to the other six whereas Eternity hath none with Time much less with one day So that the seventh Period cannot be the Eternal Rest It must be a Time that bears proportion to the six preceding Periods As then after six days of labour God finisht his work by a day to which he affixt Holiness and Rest as its Characters there must likewise be for the Church after six days of sins and sufferings one last day that is to be distinguisht by those two Seals Peace and Holiness upon Earth Not but that the Sabbath is also a figure of the Eternal Rest but 't is because these thousand years of Peace and Holiness on Earth shall be the image of that perfect Peace and Holiness which the Church shall injoy in Heaven and so 't is a mediate Type of the Eternal Rest These thousand years I confess have no proportion with Eternity but it is not to be a Type in the duration of the Time but in respect of the state of Peace and Holiness Images of the Coelestial Peace So these thousand years may be Types of the Heavenly Glory but the seventh day could not be the immediate Type because of what was said before Because the seventh day of the Creation is a Period of the same nature with the six preceding and which by consequent ought to bear proportion to them It will be said that 'T is easy to make these suppositions hut difficult to prove them But I have a sure Method for the proof of this when the several parts of a System support one another even therein they are proved in an Hypothesis that is false there is alway some part inconsistent with it self Now I will make it evident that the seven days of the Creation do perfectly answer to the seven Periods of the Church that in every one of those days such works were wrought which were exact Emblems of the Events which have happened and of the things which were done in every Period of the Church answering to every day If I make it evident that in the six Periods of the duration of the Church which are past we have seen those things which were painted out by the six days of the Creation so that the first Period contains that which was figur'd by the work of the first day the second Period that of the second and so of the rest if I say I can do this methinks it will then be proved that what was done in the seventh day of the Creation is the image of that which shall be done in our seventh Period of the Church The parts of this System do admirably support one