Visions commence from Christ's Resurrection For to that end only is the mention of this Day proper to this Prophecy On which he might truly stile himself The First Begotten of the Dead and he that was dead and is alive .. And accordingly we are not to suppose as some do that he received this Prophecy on the Annual Day of the Resurrection but that according to the Decorum to be observed in Visions and Representations the very Numerical Day in which Christ arose was as it were recalled and represented unto him as the Beginning of the Time allotted to the Actions of the whole Representation And from its being said That he was in the Spirit on that Day it may be conjectured seeing that every thing in this Prophecy has a mystical sense which yet is the primary and most proper that the Day of Pentecost on which Christ gave the Gifts of the Spirit was joyned in Vision and Representation with it as the same Day may happen to be the King's Coronation and Birth day too 21 Words of seeing hearing and the like signifie in Scripture the Actions of the Inward Senses as well as of the Outward 11 Saying I 22 am Alpha and Omega the first and the last And what thou seest in this Vision write in a Book for greater security and continuance Job 19.23 24. and send it unto the seven 23 Churches which are in Asia the Less unto Ephesus and unto Smyrna and unto Pergamus and unto Thyatira and unto Sardis and unto Philadelphia and unto Laodicea 22 These solemn Titles of Christ's Divinity are here repeated not only for the greater Assurance of the Certainty of these Visions but to signifie by being placed immediately before the Command to write to the Seven Churches That these Epistles relate to what was to come to pass in the End of Time and that they contain a Succession of Prophecy from the first to the last and the solemn Appearance of Christ which follows and the whole Preface with which this Vision is introduced do make it highly probable that they were designed for more than seven private Churches of no very large Extent or Duration 23 That these Cities were all in being in John's Time is past doubt only it hath been questioned by some whether there were Churches as yet Erected in all of them which yet seems to be a groundless Scruple seeing that the Apostle Paul so long before professes that he had at Ephesus a great Door and an Effectual one opened to him and that the Word of God increased so mightily throughout all Asia that he thought good to tarry amongst them for the space of three years Acts 19.10 20. and 20.18 31. See Archbishop Usher's Treatise concerning the Original of Bishops and Metropolitans and of the Lydian or Proconsular Asia 12 And I turned to see whose the voice was that spake with me And being turned I saw seven golden 24 Candlesticks representing seven Churches 24 Candlesticks are Symbols or visible Hieroglyphicks of Churches taken from the Candlestick with seven Branches and Lamps in it under the Law which was a Type of the Church Exod. 25.31 Numb 8.2 Whereby is signified their Duty of enlightning and instructing by the purity of their Doctrine and Example whereby they become precious as Gold in the fight of God See and compare Psalm 19.10 Matth. 5.14 John 5.35 Rom. 10.15 Philip. 2.15 16. And most especially the Candlestick Zec. 4. gives great Light to the Candlestick in this Vision 13 And in the midst 25 of the seven Candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man i. e. Christ walking in the midst of them to order them as the Priests did the Lamps Exod. 27.20 21. and to protect guide and watch over them Levit 26.12 Matth. 18.20.28 20. 2 Cor. 6.16 cloathed in the High-Priests Vestments with a garment down to the foot Exod. 28 40.39 27. Ezek. 9.2 Dan 10 5. and girt about the Paps with a golden girdle of the Ephod Exod 28 8.29 5. to denoâ—e his Royal Priesthood a golden girdle being also the habit of Kings anciently amongst the Eastern Nations Job 12.18 25 Hence perhaps it was that God commanded Exod 25.37 and Numb 8.2 that the Lamps should be lighted on that part which was towards the midst or middle Branch of the Candlestick signifying thereby Christ to whom we ought all to look for help and from whom we have all our Light and Knowledge See Ainsworth on Numb 8.2 14 His head 26 and his hair were white like Wool as white as Snow noting his Eternal Wisdom and Authority Dan. 7.9 and his eyes were as a Flame of Fire Penetrating all things by his Providence with quickness power and terror Dan. 10.6 Ezek. 1.27 Hebr. 4.12 13. 26 Hence may be proved the Consubstantiality and Equality of the Son with the Father the same Expressions being used in Daniel concerning the Father 15 And his Feet especially when he comes to Judge his Church Isa 53.7 like unto fine 27 brass as if they burned in a furnace i. e. representing the stability power glory and terror of his actions and punishments and that his Servants are to be purified and refined by sufferings Dan. 10 6.12 10. Malach. ch 3. and 4. and his voice as the sound of many Waters i. e. his word was powerful and terrible like that of a raging multitude signified by Waters Dan 10.6 Psal 93.4 27 See Dr. Hammond who seems to have given the true sense of these Words wherein is represented a fiery flaming Appearance in Glory taken from a flaming Fire in which the lower part looks like Amber which we translate Fine Brass and the Flame especially the upper part is of a white colour 16 And he had in his right hand i. e. under his mighty power direction and protection in safety and great honour Psal 18.35 Jeâ—em 22.24 Cant. 8 6. seven Stars i. e. the Angels of the seven Churches ver 20. and out of his Mouth went a sharp two edged Sword i e. his word sharp quick and powerful for the destruction of his Enemies and the defence of his Friends Eph. 6.17 Hebr. 4.12 and his countenance i. e. the manifestation of himself Cant. 5.15 Psal 4 6 was as the Sun shineth in his strength at noon in its greatest height and brightness that is very Glorious and of Majesty 17 And when I saw him in this glorious and terrible appearance I fell at his feet as dead for fear and he laid his right hand of power and support upon me saying unto me fear not I am the first and the last i. e the Eâ—ernal Almighty God who can sustain and strengthen thee Dan. 8 18.10 10 18. 18 I am he that Liveth i. e. the living God the Fountain and Author of Life and was dead for your Sins and behold now I am alive and that for evermore Amen i. e. This is a certain Truth and I have the Keys of 28 Hell i. e. power over the state and place of separated
Souls to call them back or retain them when they are departed out of the Body and of Death it self to keep men from it and therefore fear not for if you were really Dead I could raise you up again All which looks with a Full Eye on that great First Resurrection c. 20. 28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Hammond on Matth. 11. and Bishop Pearson on the Creed 19 And upon this assurance stand up upon thy Feet and be of good Courage and Write in a Book unto the seven Churches as I before commanded thee vers 11. the things which thou hast seen already 29 in the representation of the seven Stars and seven golden Candlesticks vers 12 13 16. and 30 write also the things which are now in being in my present Apostolical Church and the things which shall be hereafter successively to the very end of Time 29 It is manifest from the next Verse that this is the true sense of these Words where it is expresly said that the Seven Stars were Seen by him in his Right Hand which are therefore the things he had Seen and were written with the rest of the Preface in a Book to the seven Churches verse 11. 30 Here he is commanded to write the Epistles to the seven Churches the first of which viz. that to Ephesus as we have there shewn refers to the State of the then Apostolical Church beginning at Christ's Resurrection the others to the following successive States of the Churches to the End of the World 20 Which things present and future are the 31 Mystery or the Prophetical and Mystical sense of the seven Stars which thou sawest in my right hand which are the things thou hast seen and not the Mystery to be written concerning them and write the seven Golden Candlesticks i e. the mystery or mystick sense of them also The seven 32 stars are or signifie and represent Gen. 41.26 the Angels 33 or Pastors of the seven Churches and the seven Candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven Churches or are 34 seven Churches that is Bodies of Christians under their several Pastors as well those which are now as those which shall be successively hereafter 31 These words which are of the Accusative Case and put by way of Apposition plainly refer only to the things which are and shall be which are here said to be the Mystery or mystical meaning of the seven Stars which therefore are not referred to as being not themselves the Mystery but the things which were to be mystically explained in the following Epistles And from hence also we are plainly given to understand that the Subject Matter of these Epistles is Mystical and not barely Literal and that they concern things future as well as the present 32 Here is explained what is meant by Stars and Candlesticks whose further mystical meaning as they relate to Churches then in being and to future Successions of them and their Pastors is largely delivered in the following Epistles 33 The Ministring Spirits which attend on God are called Angels in Scripture from their being employed as Messengers in his Service and therefore by the Angels of the Churches must be meant the Pastors of them which are here clearly distinguished from the Churches themselves from their like Office of delivering God's Messages to the People and putting up their Prayers unto him Upon which Account the Jewish Priest is called The Messenger or Angel of the Lord of Hosts Malach. 2.7 where Angel that I may observe this by the way is evidently taken collectively as Dr. Pocock on the Place confesses for the Succession of the whole Jewish Priesthood comprehended there under the common Name of Levi their Father and spoken of as one Person because they were all of the fame Stock and all separated to the same Function And as they are upon this Account called Angels so are they called Stars from their Office of enlightning or instructing others By Angels therefore in this and the following Chapter is meant the Evangelical Ministry represented by Angels as all other Ministerial Agents are in this Prophecy because the present World is subject to Angels under Christ the Head of them and the Angel of the Covenant Whereas the World to come that is the Kingdom of Christ at his last coming as the Apostle speaks Heb. 2.5 is to be ruled by Christ and his Saints and is not to be in subjection unto Angels 34 It is here said That the seven Candlesticks are or signifie seven Churches for so it is in the Greek not the seven Churches which might seem to have determined them to the seven in Asia The Epistles are indeed to be sent to the seven Churches of Asia ver 11. But the mystical meaning of them is not here said to belong to the Angels or to the Seven Churches of Asia only but to Seven Churches and to the Angels of them from whence it is plain that they are prophetical relating to Seven Successions of the Vniversal Church See Mr. * Book 1. Disc 52. and pag. 905. Doctor Moor's Exposition of the Epistle to the Seven Churches Mede CHAP. II. The Text. UNto the Angel or Evangelical Ministry Chap. 1. 20. of the Church of Ephesus that is now planted there and of that Period 1 of the Church which is mystically represented by it write these things saith he that holdeth the Seven Stars in his Right Hand who walketh in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks i. e. Christ the Light of the World who is more immediately present with them to enlighten guide and support them Chap. 1. 13 16 20. Annotations on CHAP. II. 1 This I shall hereafter endeavour to make out to be the principal if not only drift of these Epistles from such Characters and Arguments as shall arise from the Text it self Very good Interpreters and particularly Grotius on Revel 1.11 have thought that the several Successions of the Church here represented are intimated in their very Names according to a way of Allusion made use of in Scripture as well as in Heathen Authors For thus the God of Ekron whose True Name is thought to have been Baal zebachim or the Lord of Sacrifices is called in derision Baal zebub or the Lord of Flies and Belzebul or the Dunghil God And the Prophet Micah 1.14 15. manifestly alludes to the Names of Cities calling Achzib a Lie as if its Name were derived from Cazab which in Hebrew signifies to Lie and the City Mareshah is threatned to be disinherited in allusion to its Name and Adullam is called the Glory of Israel perhaps says Doctor Pocock on the Place from its Situation its Strength or its Beauty or some other Reason probably taken from its Name as the others are although now unknown And such Paronomasia's or Allusions may be more frequent in Scripture than we think for by reason of our Ignorance in the Premitive Language and of the Story and Circumstances of the Places whose Names are alluded to 2
of Judgment being One of the Lord's Days called frequently the Day of the Lord in Scripture must consist of a Thousand Literal Years and a Thousand Years when spoken of with relation to some mystical Day or Time of the Lord must be accounted as One mystical Day comprehending a Thousand Years of common Account And also he further intimates that the Days of the Lord in which he perfected the Work of the Creation and rested from it being Seven there must consequently pass before the Day of Judgment six Thousand Years or six mystical Days and that the Day of Judgment must accordingly last a Thousand Years which should be a Day of Sabbatism or a Thousand Years of Rest or Peace and of Sanctification or Righteousness in correspondence to Gods resting on the Seventh Day and blessing and sanctifying it And this Interpretation of the place is not only agreeable to the Traditions (a) Mede 's Works pag. 609. Grot. in loc Ainsw on Gen. 1.31 Burnet's Theory B. 3 5.4 3 6. of the Jews to whom the Apostle wrote and to the Sentiments of the Primitive Christians but also may be stongly enforced from the Circumstances of the Text it self For if this were not the sense of the VVords and it contained only this plain Natural Truth that Time is nothing to Eternity why should so solemn an Admonition be prefixed to it VVhich is also a sense nothing proper to the scope of the Apostle who was to answer the Objection of the Scoffers and to comfort the Christians under the delay and long suffering of God and to excite them to look for it and hasten unto it to which end it was no ways proper to tell them that each Natural day of the Year was with the Lord as a Thousand Years which would but have encreased their impatient expectation and would withal not have answered the Objection of the Scoffers because there might be for all the Apostle had asserted many Thousand Years before the Promise of his coming should be fulfilled VVhereas the other Interpretation affords Hope to the Christians that things should not always continue as they were but that this wicked World should be at last destroyed and a New One succeed it wherein they should be found of Christ at his coming in peace that is in a state of rest and peace to their good and prosperity according to what the Apostle Paul had written unto them in his Epistle to the (b) Especially in the 3d and 4th Chapters Hebrews where besides the Rest from the VVorks of the Creation and that promised to the Israelites in the Land of Canaan he makes mention of another Rest which he calls a certain limited Day wherein another kind of Rest is to be expected plainly intimating the Day of Rest in the Times of the Messias or a Sabbatism as the word ought to be translated verse 9. that is a seventh Thousand Years of Peace and Righteousness after six Thousand of Labour Misery and Sin for according to the Key of Mystical Knowledge given by the Apostles Peter and John after a (a) Bp. Fell 's Sermon on 2 Pet. 3.3 Millenary Week the Everlasting Sabbath shall commence And further this Number is to be taken literally because by it is signified a State of Perfection a Year being the perfect Revolution of the Sun and a Thousand being a perfect Number and the perfection both of Time and Numbers concurring in a Thousand Years For a Thousand Years is a Cube (b) For it arises out of the multiplication of Three Tens Two Tens multiplied making 100 Years and 100 Years multiplied by the Third Ten amounting to 1000 Years which is a Cube of Time See Meursii Denar Pythagor and Dr. Moor's Cabbala Oper. Philosoph Tom. 2. pag. 500 501 530 532 557 558 559 561. of Time whose Root is Ten whereby is signified a steddy uninterrupted and permanent State of which a Cube is the Symbol and withal a perfect one to which no other State is to succeed but is to be swallowed up in the perfection of Eternity as the Number Ten is a perfect Number beyond which there is no simple Number and comprehends all simple Numbers in it Whence it is that Man being a sinful and imperfect Creature could never arrive to the Term of a Thousand Years as Jachiades a Jew has observed on Dan. 7.25 the period of a perfect State upon Earth which the First Adam could not reach for if he had he had been probably translated into an Immortal State nor any of the Sons of Adam during the Old World but is proper only to the Sons of the Resurrection in the New World of the Second Adam or the Messias 5 But the 17 rest or remnant of the dead i. e. those who weâ—e slain by the Sword of Christ's Mouth Chap. 19.21 lived 18 not again 19 until the Thousand Years were finished This living again of the Saints and Martyrs 20 is the first Resurrection of Life John 5.29 1 Thes 4.15 16. 17 It is plain from what hath been observed in the foregoing Annotation that the Day of (a) See Mr. Mede pag. 531-537 571-573 577-580 602-619 Ep. 15.2 and Book 5. And Dr. Beverley of the Universal Christian Doctrine of the Day of Judgment Matth. 25.31 34. Luke 19 12-27 Judgment mentioned in the Doctrinal parts of Scripture is the same with the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ Day (b) John 16.26 Heb. 3.8 9. See Mr. Mede in the places quoted and pag. 86. and Mr. Mather de Signo Filii Hominis often signifying in Scripture a long space af Time and not only a single Day And therefore seeing that the Wicked are to be judged as well as the Good they must be here meant by the rest of the Dead who are evidently the same with the Wicked People slain with the Sword of Christ's Mouth Chap. 19.21 the same Expressions being used in both places 18 The Wicked indeed live again when they are raised to Judgment but because they rise only to Shame and Everlasting Contempt as the Prophet Daniel speaks Chap. 12.2 and lye as dead or slain under the condemning power of Christs Gospel the Sword proceeding out of his Mouth and shall never live a Life of Happiness therefore are they represented here as dead (c) See Matth. 8.22 Luke 15.32 1 Tim. 5.6 2 Peter 3.7 Jude 12. Men which lived not again and accordingly they are seldom mentioned in the general Discourses in the (d) Neither in the 15th of the Corinthians nor 1 Thessal 4. New Testament about the Resurrection 19 They are represented during the Thousand Years as in a dead spiritless and unactive State lying under the Judiciary Sentence of Condemnation and the perdition which the day of Judgment shall bring upon ungodly men 2 Pet. 3.7 upon the expiring of which they become active gather to Battle and compass the Camp of the Saints Verse 8 9. 20 This refers to the Resurrection and living again
safely and at rest when they shall be invaded by Gog that is the Heathen Nations out of whose Captivity they are to be brought And in such a Posture may the Saints upon Earth be well presumed to be after the Thousand Years when the Laodicean State as hath been before observed on Chap. 3 14-21 begins in which through a long continuance of Glory and Prosperity the Saints upon Earth began to be less Zealous and did not so ardently desire to be caught up to Christ and be for ever with him as they had before done 10 And the Devil that deceived them or the Deceiver of them and that from the beginning John 4.44 1 John 3.8 was without any Tryal as being taken in the very Fact and having been a notorious Murtherer and Lyar from the beginning and the Father of all Sin and Enmity to Christ's Kingdom cast immediately into the 33 Lake of Fire and Brimstone where the 34 Beast and the False Prophet are who were before cast into it Chap. 19.20 and shall be tormented day aad night for ever and ever i. e. he was adjudged upon undeniable Evidence of Fact to a State of utter inability of acting against God and Christ and to extreme Torments to all Eternity without intermission 33 He and his cheif Agents are condemned to the same punishment having no remains of any Power left no more than there is of a thing which is consumed by Fire for the Devil shall not be only held in Chains as formerly but all his Power and Authority shall be utterly abolished Grotius in locum in Cap. 19,20 34 From hence it appears that Gog and Magog is not Antichrist as some have thought because Antichrist was in the Lake before their Discomfiture and Condemnation 11 And I saw a 35 great white 36 Throne i. e. a Representation of the last and great Act of Judicature in which all Enmity was destroyed and the living remaining Saints were caught up to the Lord to sit with him on his Throne and all which belonged to Christ's Kingdom were fully sanctified and glorified and prepared for Union with God to all Eternity 1 Cor. 15. 1 Thes 4. Rev. 3.21 and him that sat on it i. e. Christ Matth. 25.31 Acts 17.21 from whose 37 Face or Presence upon the Declaration of his Will the 38 New Earth and the 38 New Heaven sled 39 away or disappeared at his Rebuke and Command and there was found no 40 place for them i. e. they were utterly abolished and annihilated Psalm 37.10 Dan. 2.35 Rev. 12.8 35 It was a great Throne because all who had overcome were to sit with Christ in it and the whole World was to be finally Judged at it and it was White to shew the Glory Sanctity and Purity of Christ's Justice and of the State in which the Saints were now to be invested who at this great and last Session are caught up together into the Air to be with Christ for ever after they had Judged the World with him 36 From the Appearance of this Throne and the following Judgment it may be concluded that this was the Laodicean State of the Church according to the importance of the Word which signifies the Judging of the People See on Chap. 3. 37 Face signifies a stedfast Will and Purpose shewn by Gestures or other Signs and Circumstances as the word is taken Luke 9 51-53 38 38 These must be the New Heaven and New Earth whose Description is given in the following Chapter because they fly away after the Expiration of the Thousand Years which is the space of Time allotted to the Duration of the Reign and Kingdom of Christ and of the Holy City prepared as a Bride the New Jerusalem which are to be not in the Old but the New Heaven and Earth as will plainly appear to any one who compares this Chapter with the following wherein as is all along observed are such Descriptions given of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ as can agree to no other but a New Heaven and New Earth in which dwelleth Righteousness 39 This New Earth flies away but the Old One is to be dissolved by Fire of which flying away is not a proper Expression 40 The Psalmist expresseth the Death of a Man by his place knowing him no more Psalm 103.16 But when it is said That no place is found for a thing thereby seems to be denoted its utter annihilation and withal the impossibility of any other thing succeeding in its place because there is no place remaining into which it should succeed Whence it follows that this is the last Heaven and Earth and that no New Ones are to succeed it and that nothing else shall remain after it but the Eternal Kingdom of God All in All in the highest Heavens and the Lake of the Damned 12 And I saw the 41 Dead in Trespasses and Sins who had lain in an unactive State of Infamy during the Thousand Years and were afterwards discomfited by the Fire of God which came down from Heaven Verse 5 9. small 42 and great i. e. all sorts and the whole Race of them Chap. 19.18 stand before God to be judged by him and the 43 Books of God's Omniscience Mens Consciences and the Law were opened i. e. Mens Actions and God's Knowledge of them were made manifest and 44 another Book was opened which is the Book 44 of Life viz. the Lamb's Book of Life from the foundation of the World Chap. 3 5.13 8.17 8 21 27. and the Wicked Dead raised to Condemnation and discomfited by God's severe Judgment and Indignation and now brought all together to receive their final Sentence were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their own wicked Works which were not also found written in the Book of Life Verse 15. 41 Hence it appears that this is the Judgment of the Nations the Gog-Magog who were discomfited Verse 9. because they are called the Dead in Ezekiel and the Slain and Dead in this Prophecy 42 Hence it also appears that these are the Kings and their Armies mentioned Chap. 19.18 19. who are the slain and the all men small and great viz. the whole Race of wicked Men. 43 A Metaphor (a) Dan. 7.10 Esth. 6.1 Isa 65.6 Malach. 3.16 taken from the Rolls and Records of Courts of Judicature and from the Registers kept by the Eastern Kings of the Actions of their Reigns whereby God's exact Justice and the perfect Knowledge which he hath of all Mens Actions is set forth and the evident Conviction which will attend the procedures of that Great Day Matth. 12.36 1 Cor. 4.5 44 44 This is is the Book of Election and Predestination belonging to the Living in the New Jerusalem State which is represented as One single Book because it depends upon One single Decree of God and One single Cause of that Decree viz. the free Grace and Good Pleasure of God in Christ Acts 13.48 Rom. 8.28 c.
THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION PARAPHRASED WITH ANNOTATIONS ON EACH CHAPTER Whereby it is made plain to the meanest Capacity DAN XII 4. Many shall run to and fro and Knowledg shall be increased HAB. II. 2. Write the Vision and make it plain upon Tables that he may run that readeth it LONDON Printed in the Year MDCXCIII THE PREFACE THere is scarce any part of Holy Writ which hath met with a more severe entertainment in the World than this Sacred Book For although it hath evident Characters of its Divine Authority and more Humane Testimony than any other Book of the New Testament yet upon the increase of the Millenary Controversies in the Church it was first called in question and then boldly and impiously rejected by that party whose Sentiments it oppposed until they had found out a way of reconciling it unto them Into such extravagancies will immoderate opposition transport men and a fond Love and heady Zeal for private Fancies and Opinions Neither have those who have endeavoured to illustrate and clear the difficulties of this Mysterious Book met with less gentle usage in these latter ages especially from those of our own Nation but have been commonly represented as Frantick Zealots and Crazed Enthusiasts or where such Characters could not be fastned on them they have been generally depressed in the World if their Sentiments proved contrary to what was most prevailing in it to the great discouragement of inquisitive Persons and to the mighty hindrance of Truth and Knowledg which never thrive better than under a gentle and moderate freedom And therefore I cannot but regret although it be to the Dishonour of my own Nation the hard fate of those two excellent Persons Mr. Potter and Mr. Mede the former of whom although admirably skilled in many abstruse parts of Learning yet lived and dyed in an obscure retirement in a remote corner of the Land whilst the other the Ornament of our Church and of the Age he lived in was never able so much as to keep a Horse for Health not State which was the heighth of his ambition And I wish I could say that we were grown more favourable to such disquisitions that so a considerable person of deep Thought and of great insight into Mysterious Truths upon whose Hypothesis the following Interpretation is chiefly grounded after much doubt and tryal of it might not be permitted to struggle with adversity and lie under the depressing circumstances of Restraint But alas I fear that like the Apostle Peter (a) Luke 9.33 when he desired the continuance of the Glory of Christ's transgfiuration upon this Earth we know not what we say when we wish that such men had met with greater advantages in the World as the present state of it is and that we ought not to seek (b) Jerem 45. great things for our selves or others whilst the Church is in a Sack-cloath State and Condition but that our Souls are to be suited to God's Dispensations and we are not to aim at high things in the times of publick calamities And whosoever makes this use of privacy and adversity may sooner meet with Divine Visitations and comforts in the most obscure corner and with Spiritual Illuminations in a Patmos or a Prison than amidst the greatest affluence of the enjoyments of this World and all the advantages of great Parts many Books and much Learning which too often swell the mind and puff up more than edifie whereas the chief qualifications next to Prayer and the Divine assistance to the attaining to Knowledg in this or any other part of Scripture are Humility Industry and Patience in searching and a ready submission to Convictions although they prove contrary to our former thoughts and our present interest For great application of Mind is necessary to search into the bottom of Mysterious Truths and a man who would understand the Will of God in this Prophecy must during the Study of it renounce Parties and Prejudices and divest himself of his former Principles although never so deeply rooted and never so seemindy rational and closely follow that Sense which appears to be the meaning of the Holy Spirit For God's Thoughts are not as our Thoughts and men of the greatest strength of Reason when they happen upon false Principles and too strictly adhere to them are of all others the most irreclaimable It were easy to shew that Alcasar who spent twenty Years in the Study of this Prophecy Ribera and other very Learned and Judicious Men amongst the Romanists had scarcely missed of many great Truths if they had not been of that Communion and that several truly great and good Men among the Protestants were misled by a too fond respect for some private Principles Such as were the impossibility that so gross an Idolatry and so Universal an Apostasy as is supposed in this Prophecy should ever be permitted to overspread the Face of the Visible Church which yet is supposed should actually come to pass towards the end of the Word by Ribera (a) Viegas Victorinus and most of the Ancient Fathers Alcas pag. 20. and other learned Papists chiefly upon the evidence which this Book afforded them And such also was their opinion of the necessity of an uninterrupted Succession in every Church and the impossibility of deriving it from one which was formally Idolatrous together with a greater Love for the outward Peace Unity and Prosperity of the Church than it is capable of during this imperfect State in which they seem to have rested without expecting one of a different Nature Which seem to be the chief prejudices upon which Grotius Mr. Thorndick Dr. Hammond and others espoused a groundless narrow and inconsistent Hypothesis contrary to the common Doctrine of Protestants and of the Churches of which they were Members and to the Scope and genuine sense of the words of this and other Prophetical Books of Scripture as hath been sufficiently shewn by Dr. Moor Dr. Cressener and several Divines of Foreign Churches Whereas Mr. Mede seems to have been rewarded by God with the best grounded the most consequential and the most comprehensive Hypothesis of any other for his great freedom of Mind impartial Search and universal Charity which were joyned in him with a rare and uncommon mixture of slowness and yet largeness of thought I am not ignorant that many excellent persons who have shaken off the fetters of Prejudice and Education and have too great Souls to he confined within the narrow compass of a Party or a private Interest are yet very a verse to the Writings of those who offer at the Interpretation of Prophetical Scripture if their sentiments seem to look with a too close and threatning Aspect upon the Age they live in because of the frequent falsity of such pretences and the ill influence they may have especially at some times and seasons upon the publick peace of Church and State And indeed they are not to be blamed for being cautious and
p. 47. l. ult r. 1 Cor. 2. p. 55. l. 26. r. Gospels p 64. l. 15. blot out an indifference p. 66. l 23. r. wilt p. 72. l. ult r. compare p. 82. l. 21. r. slain p. 83. l. 30. r. haveing p. 84. l. 30. f. in the Earth r. on p. 85. l. 13. r. 19. l. 23. r and that because l. 30. r. brought in l. 31. r. objects p. 86. l. 20. r. also as well as p. 88. l. 10. f. whence r. where l. 26. f. his r. Gods p. 113. l. 16. f. Psalm r. Palm p. 149. l. 3. r. in a Cave p. 158. l. 3. r. about it p. 170. l. 25. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 174. l. 7. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 191. l. 22. r. much indebted p. 177. l. 14. r. that it l. 15. f. that r. the p. 205. l. 7. f. Times r. Time p. 283. l. 4. r. each of which Heads p. 300. l. 7. r. Σ. p. 344. l. 20. r. were Types p. 402. l. 7. r. the Lord God p. 415. l. 17. insert see thou do it not I am p. 235. blot out these words A.D. 1507. within ten years of p. 236. l. 4. r. 1529. ANNOTATIONS ON THE REVELATION CHAP. I. The Text. 1 THE Revelation of Jesus Christ i.e. the Discovery and Manifestation of Divine Secrets in a Prophetical Vision from Jesus Christ which God the Father gave unto him the Great Prophet and Mediatour to shew or make known by Prophetical Symbols and Representations and actually to * So the word is taken John 5 20.14 8. and in this sense God is said to shew Christ and he to be Revealed when he came into the World exhibit or produce the Effect of every Vision in its proper time unto his Servants i. e. those Eminent and Faithful Christians especially Ministers who dedicate themselves to his Service things which must shortly i. e. suddenly and speedily begin 1 to come to pass one after another and or which †And is here according to the Custom of the Hebrew Language put for the Pronoun Relative which he Christ sent and signified it i. e. made known the Prophetical Visions of this Book by his 2 Angel sometimes one special Angel sent for this purpose and sometimes another unto his Servant John The Annotations 1 Thus Grotius Dr. Hammond and most Interpreters expound these Words this Prophecy containing a Discovery of things which were to come to pass in a Succession of time one after another of which it may be very appositely said That they must come to pass shortly when they are shortly to begin to pass into Event as an Army is said to be coming when only the Van-Guard begins to appear With which Interpretation these Words of Dr. Pocock agree on Joel pag. 145 150. Of those last things which were to be done or in doing to the last of time in this world St. John by reason of the certainty of their being fulfilled in due time saith that they should be fulfilled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or shortly come to pass 2 Michael and Gabriel are employed in Daniel but in this Prophecy several Angels are made use of but none by Name which together with the Humane Subordinate Ministry employed under them are generally called by the Name of Angel in this Book From this Verse we may observe the Order of Divine Revelation which proceeds from God the Father as the Fountain and Original and is committed by him to Christ unto whom all Power is given in the Church by whom it is sent to his Servants especially Ministers by the Ministration of his Angels who are under him as their Head and Lord and his Ministers to whom the Prophecy is principally directed are also stiled Angels from their Ministring to him in this Prophecy together with the Angels See on ver 20. 2 Who bare record i. e. hath testified and declared by his Preaching and Sufferings vers 9. and in this Book of Christ the Word of God John 1.1 Chap. 19.13 and of the Testimony of Jesus Christ i. e. the 3 Gospel 1 Cor. 1.6 and of all things that he saw 4 concerning Christ while he abode on Earth and afterwards in this and the following Visions 3 Called his Testimony because it testified of him declared the Will of God and was testified unto or confirmed by his Miracles 4 Here the Apostle plainly discovers himself to be the Writer of this Book from many Characters peculiar unto himself as that he had given Testimony which is part of the Office of an Apostle in Scripture Acts 1.8 22 c. unto the Gospel of Christ and to the Divinity of the Word of God by his Preaching and by his Sufferings for it and that he had delivered many things concerning Christ of which he had been a peculiar Eye-witness which are now upon Record in his Gospel in the like manner of Speech and way of Assurance John 1 14.19 35. And moreover this being a Preface to the whole Book of Visions he had already seen these Words may very well refer unto them 3 5 Blessed here and here after is he that readeth and expoundeth with diligence and understanding and they that hear with attention the words of this Prophecy and keep in their Minds observe and practise those things which are written therein for the time of their beginning to be successively compleated is at hand and therefore to be regarded and the Consideration of it not to be put off unto a further Day as the Jews were wont to do Ezek. 12 21-28 5 The Divine Authority of the Revelation the Author of the Book and the Subject-matter of it having been delivered in brief in the foregoing Verses St. John here declares the Fruit and Benefit which the Readers and Observers of it shall reap by it and very probably gives an intimation That it ought to be read in publick Assemblies here being mention of one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Reader and of many as it were assembled to hear him Read and Interpret according to the Custom of the Church And without doubt great is the blessing attending the sober Study of this Book and the due Observation of the Correspondence betwixt it and the Events foretold in it must needs be a matter of extraordinary comfort especially to those who shall be so happy as to live near the Times of its full completion as Christ told Daniel chap. 12. 12. And even what is not so fully understood is nevertheless according to the Example of Daniel and of the Blessed Virgin Luke 2.19 50 51. to be pondered upon and kept in our Minds lest we be found wholly ignorant of the great Truths contained in this Book when the Times of their Consummation appear and that thereby God may be wrought upon to make known unto us what we do not understand seeing he hath declared That he that seeketh shall find and to him that knocketh it shall be opened But chiefly the Blessedness here pronounced
their agreement with the Christian Church do fall down in great humility and submission before him that sat on the Throne and worship him that liveth for ever and ever and cast their Crowns before the Throne in token of Subjection and Homage saying 11 Thou art worthy and thou only O Lord to receive the Acknowledgement of Glory and Honour and Power for thou hast created all things by thy Power and for thy pleasure or Will the only Motive to it they are preserved in their Being and were at first created Nehem. 9.6 CHAP. V. The Text. 1 AND I saw in the Right 1 Hand of him that sate on the Throne i. e. of God the Father a 2 Book or Roll Ezek. 2.9 10. written within and on the back-side i. e. containing a long Series of Events 3 sealed with 4 Seven Seals to denote the Obscurity of the Prophecy and the Delay of its Accomplishment Dan. 12.4 Annotations on CHAP. V. 1 God held the Book in his Right Hand to shew his Power and his Readiness to deliver it 2 This Book seems to have consisted of seven several Rolls rolled up into one in the Form of a Cylinder (a) Poli Synops Hammond on Luke 4.17 and on the place Mede pag. 789 790 791. Mori Oper. Theol. pag. 21. ubi formam libri videas according to the Custom of the Antients having seven Labels sealed with seven Seals which being opened in order there appeared in each of them the Seulptures or Hieroglyphicks hereafter mentioned and the back side of the last Roll which is the outermost in rolling was written upon to shew that there was a long series of Events contained in this Book it being not the Custom of the Ancients to write on the back side of the Roll but when the inside could not contain all their Writing We may divide for Order and Memories sake the whole Prophecy of this Book into Two Tomes as Mr. Mede calls them the first of which contained in the foregoing Chapters may be called The (b) See on Chap. 4.1 Church Prophecy wherein Symbols of Churches then in being are used the Second which begins here may be called The Book-Prophecy because its Events are represented by Hieroglyphicks in a Book And both Prophecies are of the same Extent this latter reaching to the End of Time and determining and distinguishing Church Successions and Affairs as well as the former only with this difference that they are represented in the latter by future Occurrences and Circumstances of the Civil State and Empire that so the Times of their Accomplishment might be the better known and taken notice of by the illustrious Events represented in them For as it pleased God to describe and foretel by his Prophets the Fall of Babylon and other Events under several Symbols and Representations for the greater assurance of the Prediction as in Pharaoh's Dream Gen. 41.32 and that the thing might be the more deeply imprinted on Mens Minds by the Variety of the Figures by which they are described so hath the Divine Spirit upon the same account given divers Emblems of one and the same thing in this Prophecy 3 I shall here once for all endeavour to give the true import of Sealing which seems to have these several Acceptations in Scripture 1. It denotes a secret or an hidden Condition as we seal up things which we would keep secret 2. It denotes Security Thus the Stone at the mouth of Daniel's Den and our Saviour's Sepulchre were sealed with Seals 3. It signifies Hindrance and Restraint Thus God Job 37.7 is said to seal up the Hand of every man i. e. to hinder their Work by Storms and wet weather and to seal up the Stars Job 9.7 i. e. to restrain their Influences as Satan is said Rev. 20.3 to be shut up and to have a Seal set upon him to restrain him 4. Propriety is signified by sealing in Scripture from the Custom of sealing Goods and Servants when they were bought thereby to denote their propriety in them and to distinguish them from other Mens Servants Hammond on Eph. 4.30 5. Lastly From these and other Metaphors it often in Prophetical Scripture signifies the Obscurity of a Prophecy and the concealing of it in dark terms from the Generality of the People Isa 8.16 and the stopping or hindring the Events foretold by it so that sealing and writing and sealing and opening are opposed in prophetical Language to one another and signifie as much as concealing and revealing delaying the Accomplishment of a Prophecy and bringing it into effect See the Notes on Chap. 7.2 3 4. 4 With reference to the seven states of Christ's Church which were hindred from coming into event whilst the Book was sealed and were to be by degrees accomplished and discovered upon the gradual opening of each of them 2 And I saw a strong 5 Angel or a mighty one Psalm 103.20 proclaiming with a loud 5 voice after the manner of a Herald Dan. 3.4 who is worthy for Authority and Ability to open 6 the Book and to loose the Seals thereof i. e. to bring into event the things there delivered 5 5 To shew the Weight and Concern of the thing to be delivered as worthy to be heard of all Creatures 6 To open it by unsealing it or when it is unsealed 3 And no 7 man or no creature Isa 41.28 in Heaven i. e. neither Saint nor Angel nor in Earth nor under the Earth i. e. in the State of departed Souls from whence Christ was just come was able to open the Book i. e. to bring to pass the Events of it neither so much as to look thereon if it were opened that is of himself to understand foresee and govern the course of the Prophecy and conduct it into Event 7 Here by a Hebraism consisting in describing the whole by an enumeration of its parts is signified that no Creature whatsoever was able to open the Book or so much as to understand it of himself 4 And I wept * much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the Book neither to look thereon as fearing that I should not be shewn those things that were promised me Chap. 4.1 * This weeping seems to be rather from a Despair that things would not be carried on to the great Kingdom of Redemption as the Two Apostles Luke 24.21 were sorrowful least Christ was not he which should have redeemed Israel and were astonished as Mary also was John 20.13 15. because the Lord could not be found for which she wept For Christ is represented at the sixth Verse as just risen from the dead and therefore in congruity to that appearance what is here said must relate to the time before he appeared as risen which is also a Circumstance that confirms the fixing of the Epocha of this Book at the Resurrection 5 And one or the 8 first and chief of the 9 Elders or Representatives of the Jewish Church Chap. 4.4 saith unto me Weep
lawful for the Gentiles to pray there and therefore it could not properly be said to be given unto them now or to be polluted by them as having been always accounted unclean whereas they were never admitted into the other Courts And by the Court without the Temple is very appositely understood the Visible Christian Worship because the Visible Worship of God was performed in that place under the Law whereas all the Temple-Worship was hid from the People See the Books before quoted and Mr. (b) Pag. 19 20 478 479 480. and Ainsworth on Exod. 40.33 Mede's Works 8 Grotius on the places notes That this is called Extracludere by the Ancient Writers concerning the Limits and measuring of Grounds But the Word also denoting in (c) John 9.34 Acts 7 58 13 50. Grotius in loca Scripture an Ignominious casting out or an Excommunication it may also here signifie the leaving or casting it out of the Sacred Enclosure or Limits as unsacred and polluted as Mr. (d) Pag. 587. Mede speaks 9 So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is of the past Sense and not of the present may be translated whereby is signified that it had been given up or delivered by God before the time in which it was measured although it must be confessed that the past Tense is often used for the present in Scripture 10 By (a) Hammond on Matth. 23.15 Grot. on John 12.20 Acts 21.28 Gentiles or Nations the Jews understand all but themselves and Proselytes of Justice who were circumcised and accounted as Jews which were the Proselytes of the Gates as they call them who had renounced Idolatry but had not embraced the whole Jewish Religion and were permitted to come no further than into the Outer Court called the Court of the Gentiles and were thought to prophane and pollute the Temple if they did as appears from Acts 21 28 29.24 6. But by Gentiles are most commonly meant in Scripture the Heathen Nations round about them who whilst they continued in open Idolatry were not to live amongst them especially those who persecuted them and laid their Country City and Temple waste such as Nebuchadnezzar and Antiochus whose Desolations are bewailed and described in (b) Psalm 74. and 79. Dan. 8.1 Maccab. from Chap. 1. to Ver. 16 of the 6th Scripture and such were also the Four Successive Monarchies of the Assyrians Persians Grecians and Romans whose Times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or appointed Seasons the word made use of by Daniel and Jeremiah Chap. 27.7 are called by our Saviour (c) See Grotius on the place and Mr. Mede's Works pag. 709 753. Luke 21.24 the Times of the Gentiles at the ending of which fort of Times in the Expiration of the Roman Monarchy continued in the Antichristian the Jews are to be restored as our Saviour there plainly asserts and the Holy City is no more to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles Now the like Expressions and some of the Words here made use of being plainly taken from the (a) Psalm 79.1 Dan. 8.10 1 Maccab. 1.37 38 39.3 45 51.4 60. Luke 21.24 Scriptures quoted in the Margin it is manifest that they have an Allusion to them especially to the Story of Antiochus a lively Type of Antichrist who is therefore prophesied of in him as a Type by Daniel and of the Gentile Times and Actions here foretold and therefore the like Actions committed by some Christians must be here referred to called Gentiles for bringing the (b) Mr. Mede's Apostasy of the latter Times Gentile Worship into the Church together with Tyranny and crafty Baits to entice to Idolatry according to the Example of Antiochus the Type of Antichrist and the Paganizing Jews who did after the Ordinances of the Heathens and built a Place of Exercise at Jerusalem according to their Customes and thereby gave a great occasion to the Tyrant to take Jerusalem and to enter proudly into the Sanctuary and pollute it and lay it waste like a Wilderness and to make the City an habitation of Strangers or Gentiles and to become strange to those that were born in it as you may read in the places of the Book of Maccabes before quoted All which agrees plainly to the Apostasy which has introduced a Pagan Christianity into the Church 11 Jerusalem is called so which is the Type of the whole Christian Church whereby is signified a Vniversal Apostasy in the Visible Church the latent or invisible one having been before measured and secured by God 12 A Day is put for a Year in this Book as hath been before shewn on Chap. 2.10 and then by consequence a Month must be put for a Month of prophetical Days consisting of as many common years as a common month doth of days But for the better understanding of the Nature of these prophetical Times and Seasons it will be very convenient to deduce this matter from the very Beginning and Original of it And accordingly it is to be observed that out of the whole space of Time assigned by God to the Transactions of this World which is thought to be about Seven Thousand Years there is a certain part allotted by him for the Times of the Apostasy and the Reign of the Beast called by Daniel Time Times and half a Time Chap. 7 25.12 7. of which it hath been discoursed already on Chap. 10.6 which are reduced into 1260. Days and Forty Two Months in the Revelations Into Days with respect to the Witnesses and the Seed of the Woman in the Wilderness who are the Children of the (a) Mede pag. 481 492. Mori Oper. Theol. pag. 614 616. Gen. 1. Luke 16.8 Acts 26.18 2 Cor. 6.14 Eph. 5.8 1 Thes 5.5 8. 2 Pet. 1.19 Rev. 22 16. See the Notes on Rev. 12.1 Day and into Nights with respect to the Gentiles and the Beast whose Antichristian Deeds are Works of Darkness and they the Children of the Night of which the Moon has the Government And as the Natural Day is divided in Scripture into Evening and Morning so is this Line of Time in proportion to that Distinction divided into Days which answer to the Morning of the Natural Day and into Months which answer to the Evening or Night of it the Days and Months making up one and the same Line of Time as the Evening and Morning make up One Natural Day whence the Time allotted in Daniel Chap. 8.13 14. for the Course of Affairs from Cyrus to the cleansing of the Sanctuary is called Evening-Morning out of which for it principally respects the Apostasy which defiled the Sanctuary this Line is taken the Months out of its Evenings and the Days out of its Mornings which way of Speech is taken from Gen. 1.5 16. where the Light is called Day and the Darkness Night and the Moon is said to rule the one and the Sun the other and the Natural Day is called Evening-Morning the Evening being put before the Morning because the Darkness o◠Night of
constant Attendants of the Lamb in his Heavenly Tabernacle and the first partakers of that exalted State of his Kingdom here Visionally represented by Mount Zion 5 And in their mouth was found no 8 guile i. e. they were not found guilty of the great Lye of Antichristianism and Idolatry for they are without Fault before the 9 Throne of God i. e. they are acquitted and justified by God although they had been condemned and anathematized by Antichrist 8 Idols are called Lyes in (a) Jerem. 16.19 Am. 2.4 Grotius and Mede on the place Scripture and Lying as Grotius observes on the place is a constant Concomitant of Idolatry and hereby this Apostolical Number of Christ's Followers are distinguished from those which belonged to Antichrist whose Religion is but an Image or Counterfeit of Christ's and is thereupon also justly called a Lye 9 Hence it appears that this is the Vision of some exalted State of Christ's Heavenly Kingdom seen as before the Throne of God or the Divine Sanhedrim and Court of Judicature coming down as it were on Mount Zion where the Witnesses who are the 144000. who had been killed by the Beast appear and are as it were adjudged by God as worthy the exalted State they enjoy with Christ and which they had obtained under his Conduct and for his Sake which Appearance shall have also as hath been all along observed a parallel one on Earth in the Philadelphian State of the Church 6 And I saw 10 anoth r Angel or Gospel-Ministry Chap. 1. 1 20 fly in the midst of Heaven to denote the Swift Publick and Universal Public tion of the Gospel of the Kingdom Chap. 8.13 having committed unto him 2 Cor. 5.19 the 11 Everlasting Gospel of the Kingdom spoken by the Mouth of all his Prophets since the World began which was to bring in Everlasting Righ eousne s Dan. 9.24 Acts 3 21-26 Rev. 16.7 to preach unto all them tha dwell on the Earth and to 22 every Nation of Pagan Mahometan and Antichristian Gentiles and Kindred or Tribes of Israeli es and Tongue or the various People of several Languages amongst them and People i. e. to the whole multitude of each 10 There being no Angel mentioned before but only a Voice Verse 2. By another Angel here must also be understood another Voice which Word imports Vtterance of Doctrine as John the Baptist is called The Voice of one crying in the Wilderness And this Voice is here called an Angel because it was pronounced by an Angelical Voice or Speaker who was seen whereas the former was only heard so that this is another or a distinct Voice or Angel from the former Whereby a certain Order of Voices is plainly represented which being also Seven in Number and distinctly reckoned up may very well be accounted the seven Thunders opened into loud and distinct Voices 11 The Gospel of Christ's Glorious Kingdom being the main Subject and Scope of these Visions it must therefore be here referred to which is called Everlasting 1. Because it was the Doctrine or Mystery designed by God from everlasting praefigured in all the Types of the Old Law and preached or spoken by the Mouth of all the Prophets since the World began by which Phrase Eternity is signified in Scripture See Acts 3 21-26 Rom. 16.25 26. 1 Cor. 2.7 Rev. 10.7 2. Because it was to bring in the Everlasting Righteousness mentioned Dan. 9.24 or the way of becoming Righteous in the Account of God by Christ alone which will then be fully manifested to be no New Doctrine as the Apostasy at the Beginning of the Reformation asserted it to be but the way which was from Everlasting and shall be until the End of all Things I think it may not be unfit to observe in this place That the Apostasy that it might be a perfect Antichristian Counterfeit of Christ's Kingdom did pretend to a New Gospel called the (a) Bishop Stillingfleet of Idol Chap. 4. p. 238-246 Eternal Gospel containing many Extravagant and Blasphemous Opinions and asserting that the Scriptures contained not the Gospel of the Kingdom but were to give way to a New Gospel which should take place in A. D. 1260. Six Years after the preaching of it which Gospel was so much favoured by the Popes and the Court of Rome that a Book written against it was burnt by their Order And although they were at last forced to burn the Eternal Gospel also yet it was done secretly and with much unwillingness 12 This is a Pleonasm or a Figure wherein by a Redundant Accumulation of many Particulars is expressed the preaching of the Everlasting Gospel for the bringing in of all Nations whereby Ethnicks or Gentiles of all sorts are meant in Scripture and of all the Tribes of Israel to the Kingdom of Christ according to Hosea 6 1-3 Matth. 24.14 Rom. 11.25 26. which is to be near the End when the Deliverer shall come out of Sion and after Two days in the Third Day which Dr. Pocock on Hosea extends even to the End of the World but others with more Reason to the End of (a) See on Chap. 11. 9 11. Antichristian or Gentile Times when Christ's Kingdom shall appear and they who have known something of Christ's Kingdom shall follow on to know the Lord more fully and perfectly by the preaching of this Everlasting Gospel Hos 6.3 7 Saying with a loud Voice i. e. after a zealous and most powerful manner fear God and not Idols Isaiah 8.12 13. and give Glory to him alone and not to Creatures Angels and Saints for the Hour or precise time and appointed Season of his Judgment Government or 13 Kingdom and of his Judgments on all manner of Idolatry Pagan and Antichristian which he will no longer wink at is come and worship him therefore the Creator of all things that made Heaven 14 and Earth and the Sea and the Fountains of Waters of the Great Deep Gen. 7.11 13 So Judgment often signifies in the Old Testament as Psalm 72.1 2. and in other places of Scripture 14 The Heathens worshipped all the parts of Nature even the Seas Rivers and Fountains as is clearly proved by (b) De Idolatr Vossius which the Antichristian (b) Dr. Moor's Mystery of Iniquity part 2. lib. 1.17 Bishop Stillingfleet's Fourth Conference concerning Idolatry Apostasy also having imitated in appointing Tutelar Saints and Angels to most of the parts of the Creation and in introducing a Worship which is but an Image or a New Model of Paganism Do their Idolatries may be here meant 8 And there followed another 15 Angel or Gospel-Ministry saying i. e. preaching and denouncing this great Truth 16 Babylon i. e. Antichristian or Papal Rome is 17 fallen is fallen i. e. will as certainly fall in a short time as if it were a ready fallen that great City of a large Juri diction and Head of the Roman Empire because she made all Nations drink of the Wine of the 18 wrath
and gather by raising them the clusters of the 38 Vine of the Earth i. e. the Children of the Wicked one Matth. 13.30 38 41 49 50. Joel 3.13 Deut. 32.32 for her Grapes are fully ripe for Destruction 37 It is the Opinion of Dr. Lightfoot That here is an Allusion to a Custom amongst the Jews who were not wont to put in the Sickle until the Priests who sate in the Temple gave Order and Command for it But I presume the Reason given in the Paraphrase to be more apposite 38 The Wicked and the Antichristian Church are represented by an Earthly Vine whose Clusters and Grapes are bitter like the Vine of Sodom and Gomorrah Deut. 32.32 33 as the True Church and the Righteous Members of it are by the Vine of the Lord and of Christ Isaiah 5. Psalm 80. John 15. Now if the Reaping of the Harvest signifies the Gathering of the Saints at the First Resurrection then the Gathering of the Vintage must signifie the Resurrection of the Wicked to whom it is expresly referred by the Prophet Joel Chap. 3.13 Concerning which see what is discoursed on the Three last Chapters 19 And the Angel thrust in his Sickle into the Earth and gathered the Vine of the Earth and cast it into the great Winepress of the Wrath of God i. e. into exquisite Torments 20 And the Winepress was trodden i. e. these Judgments were executed without 39 the City of the New Jerusalem Chap. 21.2 Isa 66.24 in the Valley of Decision Joel 3 2 12 14. Rev. 16.16 and blood came out of the Winepress even to the Horses Bridles i. e. the Destruction was very bloody and apparent to them with Christ on White Horses Rev. 19.14 by the space of a thousand and six 40 hundred furlongs i. e. it was Universal Joel 3.2 Rev. 16.14 30 The New Jerusalem the beloved City the Camp of the Saints which they came to compass Rev. 20.9 but could not enter being discomfited in a place without it called Jehoshaphat by Joel whereby is signified that Gods Judgments shall be executed upon them which is the meaning of the Word Jehoshaphat in the places to which the Wicked shall be confined by God during the Thousand years of the New Jerusalem 40 Four the Square (a) Four times four hundred amount to sixteen hundred Root of 1600 is a Symbol of Vniversality taken from the Four Corners or Winds of Heaven which denote the whole Heaven and the whole Earth in Scripture and perhaps also upon other Pythagorical and Cabbalistical Reasons which may be seen in Dr. Moor's Commentary on this place And here is to be noted what a Learned Friend suggested unto me That Four being a Square Number and Furlongs being the Measure of the Four Square City the New Jerusalem Chap. 21.16 Hereby may be fitly signified that this Vengeance described here as a Four square one if I may so speak coming out of the Four square City was not only Vniversal in the Four Quarters or utmost Corners of the Earth the Seat of the Wicked Nations Revel 20.8 but also Perfect and Regular as a Four-square City is agreeable to God's Holy and Righteous Admensurations of Justice towards All Men the Wicked as well as the Saints CHAP. XV. The Text. 1 AND I saw in Vision another sign or (a) Matth. 16.1 prodigious appearance more 1 wonderful than the former seen Chap. 12.1 in 2 Heaven great and marvellous for the Events signified by it 3 seven Angels the immediate Ministers of this Judgment having in their Vials Verse 7. the seven 4 last plagues or Judgments for in them is filled up or finished the wrath of God and therefore they are the last Annotations on CHAP. XV. 1 For in the former Paganism fell and the Kingdom was only adjudged to Christ but in this Antichristianism falls and the glorious Kingdom of Christ it self appears whereas there was before only an Emblem of it upon Earth which being a State of things more perfect than the former is here called not only a great but a marvellous Portent 2 Three things in this Prophecy are more particularly seen as in Heaven 1. The Divine Court of Judicature or Grand Synedrium Chap. 4. 2. The Downfal of Paganism and the Appearance of the Christian Empire Chap. 12.1 3. The present Judgment upon Antichristianism All of them referring to the Kingdom of Christ in the New Jerusalem but this to an high State of it now approaching 3 The Sabbatick Number of Seven is all along used in this Prophecy to shew that the End and Issue of all things in it is with respect to Christ's Kingdom at the Seventh Thousand Year of the World as hath been before observed 4 Hence we may note 1. That these Plagues relate to the Seventh Trumpet out of which they must issue because they are the last Plagues and that the last We at the first sounding of which the Wrath of God came Chap. 11.18 which is by these Plagues filled up or accomplished 2. That the last Plagues must refer to the last Division of Time in Daniel Chap. 12.12 to wit the last Forty Five Years which being added to the Twelve Hundred and Sixty Years make them up the One Thousand Three Hundred and Thirty Five Days of Years there mentioned 3. That the last Portion of Apocalyptick Time necessarily supposes that there is a constant Order or Connexion of Time in this Book from First to Last viz. from the First Seal to the Seventh and Last Trumpet out of which first the Voices and then the Vials issue which are the Last Plagues after which according to Daniel the Blessed State of Christ's Kingdom in Glory begins until when none could enter the Temple Verse 8. 2 And I saw as it were a Sea of Glass representing the pure State of the Church and Kingdom See on Chap. 4.6 mingled with 5 Fire to denote the Fiery Indignation of God to be poured out of the Vials and them that had gotten the Victory over the Beat and over his Image and over his Mark and over the Number of his Name i. e. who had overcome and escaped out of the Temptations of the Antichristian Profession See Chap. 13 15-18 14 11. stand 6 on the Sea of Glass in a Posture and State of Victory and happy Security from the Vengeance of the Vials having the 7 Harps of God i. e. most Excellent Holy and Heavenly Musick with Joyful and Thankful Hearts 5 This has a reference to the Red Sea through which the Israelites passed being made up as it were of the Christalline Sea Chap. 4.6 and the Red Sea Exod. 14. this Verse and some others in this Chapter containing an Allusion to that Memorable Story 6 As the Israelites Exod. 14.29 30. stood on the shote of the Red Sea in safety viewing the Overthrow of the Aegyptians the Type of the Antichristian Party for to stand on the Sea signifies to stand on the shore of it 1 Kings 4.20 Exod. 15.22 Whereby
an Imperial Roman City It is also observable 1. That this VVoman takes to her self the Colour of the Ornaments of the Tabernacle of God as Grotius also notes which were of (a) Exod 25.4 Purple and Scarlet whereby her Idolatrous Vsurpations of what belongs to God may be set forth And 2. That these Colours are much affected in the Papacy (b) Heidegger in Apocalyps pag. 429 430. Platin. in Vit. Paul secundi Vide Bezae argutum Epigramma in hanc rem that Christ's Priests saith Baronius might be in their Pomp equal to the High Priests amongst the Heathens 12 Such was also wont to be the Attire of Harlots Prov. 17.10 And it is observable that the Papacy has not only excessive Riches and Revenues but that the (c) Rycaut 's Preface to the Lives of the Popes Popes have been so prodigal in procuring Ornaments and Jewels for their own Pontifical Attire and especially their Triple Crown a fatal Counterfeit of Christ's many Crowns Rev. 19.12 that they have often run the Papacy into debt by it which by their Prodigious Pride is loaden with Gold and Jewels and became thereby so heavy that Pope Paul the Second died of an Apoplexy occasioned by the weight of it 13 Babylon her Type is said Jerem. 51.7 to be the Golden Cup that hath made the Earth drunken with her Wine 14 Abominations signifie Images or Idols and the abominable Practises accompanying them 1 King 11.5 7. 2 King 23.24 Jerem. 7 30. â—2 34. 5 And upon her 15 forehead after the impudent manner of a whoreish woman Ezek 23 and 16.30 was a Name 16 written so plainly that it might be read and understood by those who exercise Spiritual Wisdom verse 9. Mystery 17 of iniquity 2 Thes 2.7 18 Babylon the great i.e. the Metropolis of the Fourth or Roman Empire the 19 Mother City and Church of Harlots i. e. of Idolatrous Cities and Churches and abominations i. e. the cheif Author and Promoter of Image Worship and other filthy 20 and unclean Doctrines and Practices of the Earth i. e. of the Apostasy 15 Criticks have observed that Harlots were wont to have their Names written on the Portals of the House where they prostituted themselves and sometimes upon their Foreheads and that hereby is accordingly signified the notorious Impudence of her Idolatry although I presume that this may be rather an allusion to the Title (a) Exod. 28.36 upon the Forefront of the Mitre of the Jewish High Priest which had Holiness to the Lord written upon it and that hereby is intimated that this Apostate Church was of a contrary Temper and Spirit to what God required in his Church and Servants 16 She was not one of those whom God had sealed in the Forehead but had her Crime written upon it her sin being publick and notorious and easily to be discerned by the Mind that hath Wisdom 17 Hereby is evidently signified that this VVoman had compleated and brought forth that Mystery of Iniquity which began to work when the Apostle wrote to the Thessalonians called a Mystery of Iniquity because it undermined Christianity the Mystery of Godliness by the specious pretences of promoting and advancing it as Dr. Moor hath shewn in his Mystery of Inibuity where he hath also plainly proved that this hath been actually done by the Romish Church whose Religion and Worship especially in what belongs to the Mystery of the Mass is so mystical that many Books have been writen to give the significations of it and of the Habits of their Priests and the Ceremoniet and Vestments they make use of And that Papal Rome is hereby meant will appear more evidently from what Scaliger has noted on this place viz. that the Word (a) Heidegger in Apocalyps cap. 17. pag. 160. Downham of Antichrist and Bishop Barlow's Brutum Fulmen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was engraven on the Frontlet of the Pope's Mitre and was changed by Julius the Third when the Protestants began to adapt this Prophecy to the Papacy which is also confessed to be true by Brocardus a Papist in his Notes upon this place who lived in the times of Pope Julius and is but faintly denied by Lessius in his Answer to King James 18 Babylon was the Seat of the Assyrian Monarchy and is confessed (b) Dr. Cressener lib. 1.3 by almost all Interpreters Ancient and Modern Popish as well as Protestant to be a Type of Rome which in here described by the Phrase Nebuchadnezzar made use of when he proudly gloried in Babylon as the seat of his Kingdom from whence it appears that Rome is here meant under the relation of being the seat of the fourth Empire as Babylon was of the first And Rome as the seat of the Fourth Empire under its Antichristian King must be here meant because it is called the Mother of Harlots which is a Phrase peculiar to an Apostate City and Church in Scripture as hath been before observed on numb 4. 19 The cheif of the Idolatrous Churches from whence Idolatry is derived and propagated to all others and on which they depend as members of it in Opposition to the True Jerusalem the mother of us all Gal. 4.26 20 Such as the Denial of Marriage to the Clergy whereby Vncleanness is promoted the toleration and defence of Fornication and other abominable Doctrines and Practises which are Taught or Connived at under the Papacy 6 And I saw the Woman as it were drunken with the Blood of the Saints or holy and pure Christians which she had spilt with an excessive and insatiable greediness and delight and with the Blood of the Martyrs of Jesus i. e. his Special and Faithful Witnesse and when I saw her I wondered 21 with great Admiration what this Vision should mean 21 This shews that Rome Antiehristian must be here understood for it would have been no such strange sight to have seen Pagan Rome defiled with Idolatry and drunk with the blood of Christians 7 And the Angel said unto me wherefore didst thou marvel for the thing when thou understandest it more fully will not seem so strange and therefore I will 22 tell or explain unto thee the mystery or secret meaning and import of the Woman i. e. the City and Church and of the Beast i. e. the Roman Empire that carrieth or supporteth her verse 3. which hath the seven heads and ten horns verse 3 22 Here the Angel contrary to his wonted custom Explains the Vision to him which shews that it is a very remarkable one and upon which the understanding of all the others depend very much 8 The beast or Roman Empire as under its seventh Head the Papacy verse 10 11. which thou sawest carrying the Woman verse 3. was 23 in the sixth head the Pagan Emperours verse 10 and is 23 not as yet risen and arrived to an Antichristian Supremacy See chap. 13. 11 12. and or but shall ascend 23 out of the bottomless Pit and arrive to that
in my Kingdom and thereby putting an end to Prophecy whose main scope and design was with reference unto it See on Chap. 1 8.21 6 14 Blessed 22 in Christ's Kingdom Dan. 12.12 See on Chap. 14.13 are they that (a) The King's M S. reads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is wash their garments do his Commandments i. e. are now found and appear to have kept them that they may have right by virtue of the Covenant of Grace and upon their appearing in the fine (a) The King's M S. reads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is wash their garments white Linnen of Christ's Righteousness See on Chap. 19.7 8. to the Tree of Life i. e. to the incorruptibility of the new Jerusalem State verse 2. and many enter in through the Gates of the City i. e. be admitted into that State See on chap. 21.6 12 21. 15 For without this blessed State in the four corners of the new Earth see on chap. 20.8 are Dogs i. e. the Members of the Antichristian (b) A Dog is thought by the best interpreters to signify a Sodomite Deut. 23.18 Canes qui Supra cap. 21.8 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut Hebrei exponunt id quod est Deut. 23.18 Grot. in Locum Sodom chap. 11.8 and those who are without the Covenant Matt. 15.26 Profane Bruitish and Persecuting Apostates Matt. 7.6 2 Pet. 2.22 and Sorcerers and Whoremongers and Murtherers and Idolaters and whosoever liveth and maketh a Lie i. e. all wicked Persons but especially the Antichristian Party to which these Characters eminently agree see on Chap. 21.8 27. 16 I Jesus have sent my Angel from the beginning (c) Chap. 1.1 of this Prophecy all along to this present conclusion of it to testify unto you John and all my other Servants chap. 1.1 these things in the Churches i. e. in or concerning the seven Successions of my Church see the Notes on chap. 1.4 and on chap. second and third I am the root and the off-spring of David i. e. the Messias proceeding from David as from a root to whom the Kingdom (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was Promised see on chap. 5.5 and the bright and morning Star which only dawned in the Church Succession of Thyatira but now shews in full brightness at the succession of my Kingdom see the Notes on chap. 2.28 17 And the Shirit speaking to and in the several Successions of the Church chap. 2. and 3. and makeing intercession for the Saints Rom. 8.26 27. and the Bride i. e. the Saints chap 19.7 8.21 2 say come Lord Jesus come quickly in thy Kingdom And let him that heareth and obeyeth the words of this Prophecy say joyning as in consort come Lord Jesus And (a) These are Christ's Words and are a kind of Antiphon◠in ths Divine Anthem or Sacred Dialogue wherein Christ in Answer to the Saints says as it were if you so desire my coming I will not be backward in inviting you let him say I that is a thirst come let him that is a thirst for the comforts and refreshments of the new Jerusalem State see on chap. 21.6 come And whosoever will or has a sincere desire for these times of full refreshments let him take the Water of Life freely for the incorruptibility of this State is of my free grace and favour chap. 21 6.22 1. 18 For I Christ verse 20. testify and declare (b) All this is frequently the import of the word Testifie in Scripture openly with the greatest earnestness zeal and holy Asseveration as with an Oath John 13.21 Rom. 1.9 Acts 18.5 unto every man of what (c) Nullo excepto pontifice vel concilio Paraeus in loc quality or dignity soever that heareth the words of the Prophecy of this Book that it is a Book of so great perfection and life that if any man shall (d)(d) Elegans est allusio in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Grot. in Loc. add unto these things contained in this Book of Revelations and by consequence to any other part of Scripture by 22 Traditions and rash (e) Rashly to be the Authority of a false Interpretation of Scripture is to take God's Name in vain in a high degree Mr. Mede This is the last authoritative Prophecy that is likely to come from Heaven to be a rule of Faith to the Church and whosoever shall go about to infuse any other expectations into men than usually are agreeable to these Visions God shall bring on him the Judgments here denounced against his greatest Enemies and so in like manner whosoever shall derogate from the authority of this Prophecy or occasion mens not receiving the admonition of Christ here contained in every part thereof God shall cast him off c. Dr. Hammond's Paraphr or wilfully false Interpretations God shall add unto him besides the retributions of his ordinary Justice and Wrath the dreadful plagues that are written in this Book 22 Here is a change of Persons and John speaks whose words plainly refer to the admittance and entrance of the Saints into the new Jerusalem State and therefore must have respect to the times after the Pouring forth of the Vials when the Wicked were shut out of the City 19 And if any man shall take 23 away as the Antichristian Party hath even the Scriptures themselves from the words or authority of this of Prophecy God shall take away his part and the Book of Life i. e. he shall not be found written in the Book of Life among the Living in the New Jerusalem and out of the Holy City from which he shall be debarred and excommunicated and from the Things promises and blessings which are written in this Baok 23 As the Antichristian Party hath done 20 He which testifies these things i e. Christ who is Truth it self saith surely believe it for it is a certain and infallible Truth I come quickly i. e. all my comings are unexpected and by Surprize I begin very suddenly after the date of this Vision to bring it into effect I hasten all things to an end in the just and due time and am now just upon coming to put an end to this and all other Prophecies being not slack in performing them as some men count slackness 2 Pet. 3.9 Amen saith John the beloved Apostle and Servant of Christ in the Name and Person of Angels and Saints his fellow Servants even so be it come Lord Jesus in thy Kingdom come quickly 21 The 24 Justifying Sanctifying and efficaciously operative Grace Proceeding from the undeserved Love Favour and Assistances of our Lord God Jesus Christ our Saviour and anointed Prophet Priest and King be with you all Churches and Saints to whom this great Prophetical Epistle is Written Amen So be it and so it will certainly be 24 This whole Book of Prophecies being as it were one entire Epistle Monitory to the Church of God throughout all Ages of the World it is concluded as it was begun according to the custom of the Apostles with the usual Form of Valediction in their Epistles AMEN AMEN COME LORD JESUS COME QUICKLY FINIS