to be there detained for a certain time but into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone to be there tormented for ever and ever From whence it may be gathered 1. That Satan after this time shall not tempt the Sons of Men any more and consequently as we have before discoursed they shall have no other inward sollicitation to sin then what issueth from the natural pravity of their own hearts which is nothing in comparison of that malignity which is infused into them by the artifice of Satan 2. That the reason why the Beast was formerly thrown into Hell-fire and not Satan also that stirred him up is this because God intended to make no further use of the Beast whereas Satan was a thousand Years after to seduce Gog and Magog Which being done and so the wrathfull Ministery of Satan accomplished he likewise is flung into Hell-fire to be there for ever tormented together with the Beast 3. That Hell-fire for that is the same with the Lake of Fire and Brimstone is already in being and not to be created at the Day of Judgement otherwise how should Satan be thrown thereinto before the coming of that Day 4. That Satan though a Spirit yet is not therefore immaterial otherwise how should a true real and material fire as that of the Lake is seeing the smoke of men therein tormented is said to ascend for ever and ever Chap. 14.11 be capable of working on him For he is no less said to be tormented therein than the Beast and the false Prophet who being both Men as I before proved must needs consist of matter as all will grant As for the place where Hell-fire is we shall see concerning that towards the end of this Chapter Vers 11. And I saw a great white Throne and him that sat on it from whose Face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no Place for them Vers 12. And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works Vers 13. And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every Man according to their Works The Prophecies of the Revelation if we look rightly on them considering them in their own plainness and not as they are disguized and tangled with the far-fetcht Opinions of Men will be found to have been set down in an orderly manner those things being usually delivered first that are first to be accomplished Hence the casting of the Devil into Hell-fire being once dispatcht the universal judgement which was to follow whether in a little or a large distance of time is uncertain cometh here in its own place very fitly to be described God therefore is the supreme Judge is said to sit upon a great white Throne By which words the colour of his Throne which had been hitherto concealed seemeth to be here made known unto us For seeing God as David testifieth hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens for Judgement Psalm 9.7 103.19 and whiteness therein doth for its purity and lustre as well comport with the glory of God if not better than any other colour why should we not believe that the Throne of Judgement whereon God sitteth in the Heavens is as it is here described white But as the glory of God is set out in some measure by the greatness and colour of his Throne so is it infinitely more by the action that is here ascribed to him namely the Annihilation of the heaven and earth For to make them so fly away from before his face as that there is no more place found for them is indeed to reduce them into nothing Otherwise had they any being they would also have a place and be somewhere This reduction of the world into nothing leadeth us to believe the more easily that it was at first created out of nothing For had the matter thereof been from all eternity coexisting with God it would like him be ens necessarium and so likewise of necessity continue for ever with him John having seen the sovereign judge sitting on his throne doth in the next place see them also that stand before him in judgement and they are the dead of all sorts whether they be of high or low degree For that this expression of great and small doth so signifie is evident from Deuteronomy 1.17 Where Moses saith to the Judges of Israel Ye shall not respect persons but ye shall hear the small as well as the great And also from the nineteenth Chapter of this book verse 18. Where an Angel inviteth all the fowls of the heaven to come that they may eat the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great For the trial of the persons aforesaid are opened certain books containing not their actions for the words import the contrary but the laws by which God proceedeth in judging them and consequently they are the books of the Old and New Testament For Paul plainly telleth us that as many as have sinned in or under the law shall be judged by the law Rom. 2.12 And Christ saith John 12.48 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day These therefore must needs be the books and out of the things written in them the dead shall be judged according to their works For the inspection of these books doth presently discover both of what kind the works themselves are and what reward is appointed to them From whence it may be collected that they to whom God never made known his will nor imparted any of those laws recorded in the Old and New Testament but suffered them to walk in their own waies albeit they shall perish for their wickedness yet shall they not undergo any trial And thus much are we taught by the Apostle Paul who saith 2 Thes 1.7 8. That the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that knew not God And Rom. 2.12 As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law That is without having any law proposed whereby they should be tried and cast Moreover that we might have a more full knowledge of the foresaid judgement both the resurrection of the dead which is a preparative thereunto and also the several places from whence the dead come forth are here described For the Sea giveth up the bodies of them that were drowned therein and the Grave giveth up the bodies of them that were buried in the earth For that the Grave is here to be understood by death is evident in that it is a place of the dead distinguished both from the Sea and also from Hell But there is
same person with the Goat himself as the Angel there shews it doth Vers 21. namely Alexander the King of Greece and the first King thereof who subdued Darius the King of the Medes and Persians and so was the Goat that trampled on the Ram with two Horns there spoken of Vers 4. And they worshipped the Dragon which gave Power unto the Beast and they worshipped the Beast saying Who is like unto the Beast who is able to make war with him In this Verse is set forth the marvellous impiety of the whole World in the Reign of the Beast for they shall not stick to worship the Devil for investing the Beast with so vast Authority and also the Beast that is set up by him as judging no King in all the World like to him for greatness nor able to wage war with him Neither is this Worship of the Devil to be esteemed such a sin as that the Nature of Man cannot possibly be induced to commit it otherwise the Devil would not have sollicited our Saviour Christ thereunto telling him that if he would fall down and worship the Devil all the Kingdoms of the World together with the glory thereof should become his Luk. 4 6 7. For certainly the Devil is too subtil to propose such a thing to our Saviour the wisest and strongest Saint that ever was or shall be which is so enormous that no Man though never so gross and wicked is capable of being drawn thereunto I conclude therefore that this detestable wickedness of Worshipping the Devil will be put in practise according to the very Letter during the Reign of the Beast Vers 5. And there was given unto him a Mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue forty and two Moneths These words imply that the Beast though otherwise of himself most impious yet could not utter so great things and blasphemies were he not animated by an extraordinary Power For as it is elsewhere said in the Scripture that none can do such or such an act of Piety unless it be given to him and consequently God doth in mercy enable him by the Power of his Holy Spirit as Christ saith that none could come unto him except it were given him of the Father Joh. 6.65 And Paul saith Phil. 1.29 To you it is given in the behalf of Christ not onely to believe in him but also to suffer for him So the outragious blaspheming of the Name of God here spoken of is so high a strain of impiety that were not the Beast incited and spirited thereunto by the working of Satan he could in no wise reach unto it The same is said of his making war namely with the Saints as you have it Vers 7. and Dan. 7 25. for the space of forty two Moneths For this being a more than ordinary act of Tyranny requireth the assistance of the Devil to stir up and strengthen the Beast to perform it As for the duration of this War with the Saints which the Beast is said to wage for the space of forty two Moneths seeing I have already proved that by the Beast is meant a King neither can any place be alledged out of the Scripture where by Moneths are meant Moneths of Years and not of Days onely I collect that the said War shall last but three Years and an half Vers 6. And he opened his mouth in Blasphemy against God to blaspheme his Name and his Tabernacle and them that dwelt in Heaven What the Beast had by the permission of God received a Power to do he here putteth in execution blaspheming the Name of God and his Tabernacle By which Tabernacle is meant the heavenly Jerusalem the place of Gods abode as appeareth from Chap 21.2 3. For there when that holy City descendeth out of Heaven upon the new Earth a voice is heard from Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he shall dwell with them Which implyeth that the heavenly Jerusalem is the Tabernacle of God wherein he will dwell with men And this City is therefore called a Tabernacle because contrary to the guize of other Cities it removeth from place to place as Tabernacles or Tents are wont to do Neither is the Blasphemy of the Beast terminated in God and his Tabernacle but extendeth it self to all those dwelling in Heaven namely Christ and the holy Angels which fully verifieth what Paul saith of this Beast under the name of the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition namely that he shall exalt himself above every one that is called God 2 Thess 2.4 For this Appellation of God is in the Scripture given both to the Father and to his Son Christ Jesus and also to the holy Angels See Ephes 1.17 The God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory John 20.28 Thomas answered and said unto him namely Jesus Christ My Lord and my God Zech. 12.8 The house of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them Vers 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints and to overcome them and Power was given him over all Kindreds and Tongues and Nations The Beast hath Power given to him not onely to make war with the Saints which by the way implyeth that the Saints oppose him with Arms for it is then rightly termed War when Hostility is openly used on both sides See Chap. 12.7 but also to vanquish them in fight And this is a thing very remarkable giving us to understand that the Saints though fighting in a just Cause against the Beast yet cannot prevail by force of Arms in as much as the Beast is to be defeated by the divine Power of Christ their Captain who will at length appear in the Heaven riding upon a white Horse and by the Sword of his Mouth dissipate the Beast and his Complices See Chap. 19.11 15 20 21. What is here further said of the universal Monarchy of the Beast is of it self very plain and hath been touched before in the Exposition of the first Verse so that I need not add any thing thereunto Vers 8. And all that dwell upon the Earth shall worship him whose Names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World As the Kingdom of the Beast is universal so is the Worship also none amongst all the Inhabitants of the Earth refusing it save they whose Names are written in the Book of Life For they being appointed of God unto Salvation are accordingly preserved by him from committing so great impiety as to worship a King that openly blasphemeth God and was set up by the Devil Furthermore when the Book of Life is here said to be the Lambs it is because God hath prepared it for him for Moses of old testified that God hath written such a Book Exod. 32.32 that he might know on whom to bestow eternal Life For seeing it was the will of God that none should
have eternal Life but they whom he had given unto Christ as Christ himself witnesseth John 17.2 saying of himself to the Father As thou hast given him Power over all Flesh that he should give eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him and it was necessary that God should by some means reveal to him who they were that had been given to him he chose this way of Discovery providing a Book of Life wherein all their Names are written by the inspection whereof Christ might understand who were to be saved Thus Christ attaineth to the knowledge of the Decrees of God touching sundry other matters by opening a Book sealed with seven Seals that was in the Hand of God Chap. 5.1 8 9. And lest any one should think that this is to be taken in a figurative sense let him consult the Prophecy of Daniel where he shall finde an Angel plainly signifying that the Decrees of God are set down in writing for thus he saith to Daniel Chap. 19.21 being about to declare the purpose of God touching the Kingdoms of the World I will shew thee that which is noted in the Scripture of Truth It is further said in that passage of the Revelation that is now under discussion that the Lamb Christ Jesus was slain from the Foundation of the World which must of necessity be understood of the purpose of God touching the Death of Christ for Christ was actually slain in the Reign of Tiberius Caesar as the Scripture elsewhere testifieth Vers 9. If any Man have an Ear let him hear This Acclamation is never added in the Scripture but when there hath preceded some notable thing that requireth a more diligent reflexion to be made upon it But what is more remarkable than this that the constancy of the Saints and their resolute denial to worship the Beast when all the World doth the contrary is at no hand to be ascribed to the Saints themselves as men are apt to do but onely to the Decree of God who had before chosen them to Salvation without which they also as well as others would have committed that great transgression Vers 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity He that killeth with the Sword must be killed with the Sword Here is the patience and the Faith of the Saints The equal Judgement of God is here set forth who usually plagueth Men in the same kinde wherein they had offended so that the punishment carrieth the footsteps and resemblance of their sin For the Beast who had brought many of the Saints into captivity is himself at length taken captive and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone Chap. 19.20 and the ten Kings who had assisted him in killing the Saints Chap. 17.12 13. are themselves slain with the Sword proceeding out of the Mouth of Christ Chap. 19.20 21. And hereby is the Faith and Patience of the Saints made conspicuous whilest they believe and patiently wait for the vengeance of God to be poured forth upon the Enemy in the time appointed Vers 11. And I beheld another Beast coming up out of the Earth and he had two Horns like a Lamb and he spake as a Dragon Now John cometh to the Description of the second Beast whereby is understood a false Prophet for so is he expresly called Chap. 16.13 and Chap. 19.20 And he is seen to ascend up out of the Earth because he ariseth from the Dead who have their place in the lower parts of the Earth Thus when the Witch of Endor had raised up Samuel she said to Saul I saw gods or rather a god as appeareth from the following Verse ascend out of the Earth 1 Sam. 28.13 Now that the Dead are placed in the lower parts of the Earth is evident from sundry Texts of Scripture See Psal 63.9 10. But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the Earth They shall fall by the Sword they shall be a Portion for Foxes See also Ezek. 32. from Verse 18. to the end of the Chapter And this is the reason why the false Prophet together with the Beast who as I shall clearly prove in my Exposition of the 17. Chapter ought also to be raised from the Dead to act all those horrid things that are spoken of him in this Book of the Revelation are not slain in the Battel of Armageddon as all the rest are but taken alive and thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone as having been once dead already When this second Beast is said to have two Horns as a Lamb this argueth that he maketh a shew of Lamb-like meekness and innocency in his outward garb but in his Doctrine hisseth like a Dragon uttering such things as tend to the ruine and destruction of Men as appeareth by the sequel of this Chapter Vers 12. And he exerciseth all the Power of the first Beast before him and causeth the Earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first Beast whose deadly Wound was healed See how this second Beast which in shape of Horns resembleth a Lamb begins to act like a Dragon in exercising all the Power of the first Beast in his presence that he may thereby force the Inhabitants of the Earth to worship the first Beast whose deadly wound was healed Thus Nebuchadnezzer brought all Peoples Nations and Languages to fall down and worship the golden Image which he had set up by threatning to cast Refusers into the midst of a burning fiery Furnace Dan. 3.6 9. Vers 13. And he doth great wonders so that he maketh Fire come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of Men Vers 14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the Earth by the means of those Miracles which he had Power to do in the sight of the Beast saying to them that dwell on the Earth that they should make an Image to the Beast which had the Wound by a Sword and did live As the false Prophet made use of Power to drive Men to the Worship of the Beast so doth he also of subtilty t odraw then to a further degree of impiety inciting them by great Wonders which it is given him to do to erect an Image to the Beast which received a deadly Wound by the Sword but afterward recovered of the same For of all Impostures whereby Men are wont to be seduced to a false Worship there is none so powerful as that of working Miracles Hence Christ saith in the Gospel Matth. 24.24 There shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect And Moses long before in the Law Deut. 13.1 2 3 If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreams and giveth thee a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known
and he that sitteth upon the horse with his Army on the other side Which last clause clearly sheweth that there shall be an Army in the field siding with Christ and having him for their Captain against which the Kings of the earth do directly bend their force as being capable of hurt For it is inconceiveable that all the kings of the earth should draw their Armies together into the land of Israel to fight against the person of Christ in heaven which should it descend from thence as nevertheless it shall not do until the day of the universal judgement would be altogether impassible Neither can it be said that this Army of Christ consisteth of Angels for to omit the difficulty even now mentioned and which hath place in Angels as well as in Christ the Angels are ranged in several Armies as the fourteenth verse of this Chapter signifieth whereas the Army of Christ here mentioned is but one Again the Angels are in the place aforesaid called the Armies in heaven that followed Christ But his implieth that there is some other Army of his upon the earth even that whereof I now dispute and which must needs consist of the Saints as was also before hinted Chap. 17.14 The Issue of the Battel is here set down in this manner namely that the Kings and their Armies are all slain with the Sword of Christs mouth but the Beast and the false Prophet are taken and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone All which is so plain that it needeth no Interpretation Onely let it by the way be observed that from hence it undeniably followeth that the Beast and the false Prophet are two particular Men otherwise how should they be present at the Battel of Armageddon and there be taken and thrown alive into Hell fire Certainly this doth intimate that they are Men who might as well have been slain as others but were not because as I have before evinced they had been once dead already and were restored again to life to act the things in this Book related of them Which if any one should chance to scrupleat as a thing very uncouth although it be altogether unreasonable so to do for as much as I have before out of the Scripture demonstrated the same let him on the contrary confider with himself how suitable it is that they whose actions are prodigiously wicked and such as were never practised in the World before should likewise in an unusual way be raised up to perform them As for those words in the very Close of this Chapter where it is said that all the Fowls were filled with the Flesh of the slain this argueth that a true and real Battel is here to be understood and that the Exposition which I gave upon the 17. and 18. Verses affirming that all manner of ravenous Birds should flock to the Land of Israel to feed upon the Corpses of slaughtered men is firm and certain so that it would be ridiculous to fasten another sense upon the place Chap. 20. Vers 1 2 3. And I saw an Angel come down from Heaven having the Key of the bottomless Pit and a great Chain in his Hand And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand Years And cast him into the bottomless Pit and shut him up and set a Seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more till the thousand Years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season The Exposition SAtan that old Serpent so called and here represented because of his subtilty for the Serpent is in the Scripture noted to be the wisest of all the Beasts that God created Gen. 3.1 had now for many thousand Years abused the World at his pleasure and of late knowing his time to be short had vented more than ordinary malice against the Saints in stirring up the Beast to persecute and kill many of them Yea in conclusion he had with his wiles so inveigled the Kings of the Earth that at his instigation they attempted with joint Forces to cut off the remainder of the Saints from being a People Wherefore to prevent the like mischief in the future and to the end that the Saints may enjoy a long Tranquillity after so hot a Persecution an Angel here descendeth from Heaven and with the Chain that is in his Hand bindeth Satan for a thousand Years that he may no more deceive the Nations till the said term be expired At which time though he be again let loose to seduce and instigate the Nations against the Saints yet shall that seduction continue but a little while as the sequel of this Chapter doth declare Certainly the binding of Satan must needs cause so happy a revolution over all the World that we may rather guess at it than comprehend it For consider how peaceable and glorious the Times must needs prove when Satan the great Incendiary of all those Dissentions Outrages and Cruelties wherewith the World is so much infested shall be kept in Prison for a thousand Years together and Men after the Extinction of that Generation in whom Satan had sown the Seeds of Discord shall have no other inward Incentive to sin than the Disposition of their own Heart which though it be naturally evil from their youth yet may it being alone more easily be resisted nor will without the concurrence of Satan produce so grievous Disorders as now it doth This therefore is the time when that shall truly be fulfilled which God so long ago foretold by the Prophet Micah Chap. 4.3 4. where he saith of the Nations that they shall beat their Swords into Plough-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks Nation shall not rise against Nation neither shall they learn War any more But they shall sit every man under his Vine and under his Fig-tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it But the World now is and hath hither to been so far from enjoying such felicity that I cannot sufficiently wonder how any man who is neither a stranger to the Records of Antiquity nor to the condition of the present times should ever imagine that Satan hath already been bound namely in the Reign of Constantine the Great and so withheld from deceiving the Nations For it is apparent that since the said Emperour ruled as notorious Impostures have been set on foot to delude and blinde the World as are reported to have been hatched in any former Ages Which Impostures we must either confess to have proceeded from Satan and consequently that he hath not yet been bound or most absurdly hold that Men may be as shamefully gulled when Satan hath ceased to seduce them as they were before and so that his labor in this kinde hath hitherto been superfluous Nor need I any difficult reasoning to prove what I even now asserted For to omit others the Mahumetans and Papists
so far from being a Divine by way of excellency for so John of right is styled as that he would not deserve a rank among sober Writers Neither am I a little troubled when I see men thus to dally with the Word of God and make choice of no fitter a subject whereon to vent their follies than this incomparable Prophecy I have the more largely insisted upon the History of the two Witnesses because of the frequent injury offered to that part above all the rest of the Revelation For if some Christian State or Potentate crush any party whatsoever pretending to Religion or some eminent persons of the same then it is presently given out by the favourers of that party that now the the Beast is risen hath slain the Witnesses Thus the sacred Word of God that was given to a far better purpose must interess it self in our private Quarrels and be forced to speak as we stand affected But it will perhaps be here objected that I who am so ready to observe the strange glosses that other men impose on the History of the two Witnesses seem not in the mean time to take notice how uncouth mine own opinion is concerning the Beast that slayeth them whilest I hold him as appeareth by the following Treatise to be such a man as shall arise from the Dead to reign before he embrueth his Hands in the Blood of the said Witnesses To which I answer that though my Tenet be strange as to the Apprehensions that Men generally have touching the Beast yet is it very facile and obvious if you respect the words of the Text it self For seeing the Angel explaining the Mystery of the Beast Chap. 17.9 10 11. plainly telleth us that he is a King when John saith of the two Witnesses Chap. 11.7 that the Beast which ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit shall slay them what other sense can rationally be put upon the words than that the King which is decyphered by the Beast and ariseth from the Dead shall kill the Witnesses And into what Absurdities must he plunge himself that goeth about to fasten another meaning on the place But of this matter I discourse at large in the ensuing Exposition to which I refer the Reader for further satisfaction therein Having thus given a taste of the exotick Interpretations that are usually forced upon the Reve ation I will now open the original Causes from whence they proceed reducing them to three Heads namely that men think the whole Book to be an Allegory and to contain a Prediction of that which shall happen to the Churches in all Ages of the World and to have for its principal scope the discovery of Antichrist To the first of which three Particulars I answer that the Revelation cannot be a meer Allegory seeing it is fraught with Evangelical Precepts Promises and Threats and also with sundry clear and evident passages touching the Exaltation and Government of the Christ the Universal Judgement and the Glorification of the Saints in the new Jerusalem which last being the chiefest point of all the Gospel is no less than three times confirmed by the testimony partly of Angels and partly of God himself which assureth us that the sayings recorded concerning the same are faithful and true Which as I afterwards evince in mine Exposition is no other than if it had been said They are perspicuous and plain and to be taken as the words sound To the second I say that it is presumption for us to devise with our selves how much it is meet for God to discover touching things to come and so to change days into years and years into ages and particular men into a succession of men continued throughout many generations as it hath been the custom of interpreters to do we ought rather to content our selves with what is recorded in the Scripture and to follow the plain doctrine thereof as knowing that if God vouchsafed to foretell but one remarkable event which was to happen in all the intermediate space between the penning of this book and the consummation of the world it was a great favour and which we could not have required of him How much more then doth it become us to rest satisfied and thank Almighty God who hath been pleased to reveal so many choice secrets as are contained in this book touching the state of future times whosever therefore shall consider well the sixth Chapter where the prediction of things to happen after the days of Domitian whose Tyranny had been hinted Chap. 3.10 doth begin and compare it with History shall finde that it reacheth no further than Constantine the great Likewise the things foretold from the beginning of the seventh Chapter to the end of the nineteenth are all save somewhat that shall happen before the death of the Beast and whereof mention is made in the tenth verse of the seventeenth Chapter to be accomplished within the compass of that age wherein he shall rise again from the dead And of this I give a touch in the following exposition So that from the Reign of Constantine unto the age aforesaid is a vast gap without the intimation of any thing that shall intervene To the third I answer that if John in penning the Revelation had intended to detect Antichrist he would no doubt have named him else how could he expect that any man should ever be able to fathome his meaning as to this matter Which reason is the more forceible in that we see him so frequently make mention of Antichrist in his Epistles And would there think ye have been so deep silence concerning him throughout the Revelation had John there designed to paint him out more fully then before But as men have been too quick sighted in spying Antichrist where he was not indeed to be found so have they on the contrary been very purblinde when they came to those places wherein he was exposed to open view Wherefore that we may at length attain to the right notion of Antichrist let us mark in the first place that John did not by Antichrist intend any particular person but many deceivers to which purpose let us hear what he saith 1 Epistle 4.3 4. This is that spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heard that it should come and even now already is it in the world Ye are of God little children and have overcome them The word them as will easily appear by examining the circumstances of the place hath no other antecedent but Antichrist and therefore no single person was meant by him But if this allegation should seem to any one to carry some doubt and uncertainty with it the seventh verse of the second Epistle will soon remove all scruple and clearly prove our assertion For it is there said Many deceivers are come into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh This is the deceiver so the Greek hath it
and let us serve them Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that Prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul Neither can any one justly say that the Wonders to be performed by the false Prophet are onely seeming Miracles and not real ones For besides that neither the Scripture nor the common use of speaking doth by great Wonders understand meer Illusions and Deceptions of the sight the particular Wonder that John allegeth for an instance putteth the matter out of all question for he saith that the false Prophet causeth fire to come down from Heaven before men But if fire coming down from Heaven be not a true Miracle I would fain learn what is Vers 15. And he had power to give life unto the Image of the Beast that the Image of the Beast should both speak and cause that as many as would not worship the Image of the Beast should be killed The false Prophet who had done sundry Miracles to make Men erect an Image to the Beast doth at length cause the Image it self to speak with words tending to this purpose that whosoever refuseth to worship the Image of the Beast shall be put to death Of such a Miracle as this we sometimes read in the Scripture as namely Zech. 10.2 The Idols or Images for so the Hebrew word Teraphim is rendred 1 Sam. 19.13 have spoken vanity Wherefore there is the less reason why any man should in the explication of this place betake himself to a figurative sense and so impose upon the words an uncouth and uncertain Interpretation as men love to do when they comment upon this Book of the Revelation Vers 16. And he causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads Vers 17. And that no man might buy or sell save he that had the Mark or the Name of the Beast or the Number of his Name The false Prophet thinketh he can never sufficiently engage Men to the impious Worship of the Beast and his Image which he hath undertaken to settle to which end he addeth another device causing them of what rank or quality soever they be to receive a Mark upon their right hand or their forehead and permitting none to buy or sell that hath it not Now what this Mark is were it not here set down would easily appear to us by comparing two other passages of this Book the one Chap. 14.11 Whosoever receiveth the Mark of his Name The other Chap. 15.2 over his Mark over the word and set in the English before this second over is not in the Greek the number of his Name Whence it is manifest that by the Mark of the Beast is meant either his Name or the Number of his Name and accordingly those words Chap. 13.17 are to be rendred thus Save he that hath the Mark either not or the Name of the Beast or the Number of his Name Neither is it a new thing in the Scripture that a Mark should be set on the Bodies of Men for Protection Thus God is said to have set a Mark on Cain lest any one finding him should kill him Gen. 4.15 He also caused a Mark to be set on the foreheads of them that sighed and cryed for all the Abominations that were done in Jerusalem that the Destroyers might not come near them when they in the Vision slew all the rest of the Inhabitants of that City Ezek. 9.4 6. Finally we read in this very Book of the Revelation Chap. 7.3 that the Servants of God are by an Angel sealed or marked on the forehead to secure them from the Plague of the Locusts Chap. 9.4 and this Mark is the Name of the Lambs Father Chap. 14 1. We see then by these Allegations out of the Scripture that there is no need to fly to a mystical Interpretation in explaining the Mark of the Beast set upon Men that they may be thereby licensed to buy and sell without molestation especially because this Mark is said to be imprinted upon certain parts of their Body and that as the Devil is wont to be God's Ape in imitation of the Name of God set upon the foreheads of his servants for their security Of which thing no man shall ever be able to render a good account if he once depart from the Letter of the Text. Vers 18. Here is Wisdom Let him that hath understanding count the Number of the Beast for it is the Number of a Man and his Number is is six hundred threescore and six As touching the Number of the Beast that is of the first Beast as this Expression doth in the Revelation perpetually signifie or of his Name to such as are not acquainted with the Greek Tongue wherein the Revelation was written this seemeth very difficult but to those who know that the Greeks in Numbring make not use of Figures but reckon by the Letters of the Alphabet putting the first Letter for one the second for two c. the thing is obvious and easie For when it is said that the Number of the Beast by whom as John himself expounded it a Man is understood is six hundred sixty six it is all one as if it were said Write the Name of this Man in Greek the Language of this Book and then calculate the Letters thereof according to the custome of the Greeks and it will amount to the Number of Six hundred sixty six And this very thing is hinted by expressing the Number of six hundred sixty six in Greek not by words but letters Thus much then God is pleased to make known to us but what the Name it self is he hath concealed reserving the knowledge thereof for them that shall live in the time of the Beast So that besides Irreverence towards God it is also lost labour for us in these times to spend our conjectures upon it Chap. 14 Vers 1. And I looked and so a Lamb slood on the Mount Sion and with him an hundred forty and four thousand having his Fathers Name written in their foreheads The Exposition BY the Lamb here standing on Mount Sion is meant Christ Jesus the Son of God both because the Name of his Father is writ upon the foreheads of the Saints here mentioned and because he is brought in as their Leader and finally because no other person besides him is wont to be designed by the Name of a Lamb. By Mount Sion it self is under slood Jerusalem For though Mount Sion if you speak strictly and properly was but a Castle in Jerusalem taken by David in the beginning of his Reign over all Israel 1 Chron. 11.4,5 yet is it as being the chiefest part of that City frequently in Scripture put for Jerusalem it self as Isai 33.29 Look on Sion the City of our solemnities thine eys shall see Jerusalem a quiet
Wilderness a Name inscribed on her Forehead which lest any one should think it to be that very Name whereby she was commonly known amongst Men hath the word Mystery set before it intimating that the following Name agreed to this Woman not in a proper but in a mystical sense The reason and elegancy of which borrowed Appellation given to Rome for she according to the Angels Interpretation Verse 18. is meant by this Woman I have already discovered in the Exposition of the 14. Chapter to which I send back the Reader for further satisfaction in this point Now Rome is here deserved'y called the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth For it is evident from the testimony of Writers that no City did ever so abound with Whoredom and also other abominable practices as Rome both in those times and ever since Vers 6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus and when I saw her I wondred with great admiration Ver. 7. And the angel said unto me Wherefore didst thou marvel I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carrieth her which hath the seven heads and ten horns Though the filthiness of this woman was very great and her actions abominable above those of all other women yet would not God have poured out his wrath upon her in so signal a maner as is related in the two following chapters had she not above all her other evils defiled her hands with the blood of Saints and Martyrs For this is one of those sins that make the lowdest cry in the ears of God as the History of righteous Abel testifieth Gen. 4.10 11. But this woman had already swallowed and was before her ruine to swallow so much of this precious blood that John here already perceiveth her to be drunk therewith which drunkenness of hers might easily appear to him as he looked upon her but that it was caused by quaffing the blood of Saints and Martyrs the knowledge hereof must needs proceed from Revelation whether of the Angel as it is most likely or of some other heavenly person And here by the way let the difference between the Saints and the Martyrs or witnesses of Jesus be well observed For the Saints are meerly pious men but the Martyrs or Witnesses of Jesus are such as besides their piety have also the Spirit of Prophecy and so become capeable of bearing testimony to Jesus For if as this very Angel asserteth chap. 19.10 the Testimony or Witnessing of Jesus be the Spirit of Prophecy then a Martyr or Witness of Jesus must be such a one as is indued therewith Howbeit though John had received that Spirit yea understood the cause of the womans drunkenness yet as prophesying but in part he could not for all this tell who the woman her self should be And therefore as admiration is wont to proceed from Ignorance he doth exceedingly wonder at her In which wondring condition he was likely to have continued had not the Angel disclosed to him the Mystery of the woman as he doth also that of the Beast with seven heads and ten horns that carried her which description plainly sheweth that this Beast is the same that formerly was seen to arise out of that Sea Chap. 13.1 And therefore he is as formerly simply called the Beast whensoever he is afterwards mentioned As for his carrying of the woman the reason hereof as will further appear from what shall presently be spoken is because the Government of the City which the woman represents did sometimes rest upon him and so he was the support thereof Vers 8. The beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is The Angel beginning to discover somewhat obliquely unto John the Mystery of the Beast whom we shall afterwards finde to be Domitian saith of him that he was and is not Wherby is meant that he was sometimes in power but now at the time of this Vision was not so For that it must not be understood of his being alive is evident from the close of the Verse where it is said of him that he was and is not and yet is The meaning of which words then would be that he was alive and is not alive and yet is alive Which every one seeth to be a flat contradiction But according to the other Interpretation which is indeed that of the Angel himself as may be seen in the 11. Verse the words carry in themselves no contradiction but a marvellous divine elegancy amounting to this sense that though the Beast had formerly been in power and now was not so yet was he still in being But that which exceedeth all imagination of men and would surpass their belief also were it not so plainly delivered both here and Chap. 11 7. is that the Beast shall ascend out of the bottomless Pit Which being spoken of one that was then alive doth imply that he should dy and afterward arise from the Dead to act those stupendious things that are foretold of him in this Book of the Revelation For that the bottomlest Pit is the Mansion of the Dead and so to ascend from thence is to arise from the Dead is evident from that Passage of the Apostle Paul Rom 10.7 where he saith Who shall descend into the deep Greek Abyss or bottomless Pit the same word that is used in the Revelation concerning the Beast that is to bring up Christ from the Dead For what relation would the Descent into the deep or bottomless Pit have to the bringing up of Christ from the Dead if the Dead had not there their abode In the next place mention is made of the Beasts going into perdition which being here set down as a thing that is to follow his Ascent out of the bottomless Pit shall then be fulfilled when he is thrown alive into the Lake burning with fire and brimstone above a thousand years before the Judgement of the great day as may be seen in the 19. and 20. Chap. Which yet new and unusual punishment is to be imputed to the strangeness of his offences afore related in the 13. Chapter which he as shall by and by be proved will perpetrate after he is risen from the Dead Last of all the Angel speaketh of the Admiration wherein all the Inhabitants of the Earth will have the Beast that was and is not and yet is namely when they shall see him after his Resurrection invested with so vast an Empire and cured of his deadly Wound as is expressed in the 13. Chapter For that the things related of the Beast in that Chapter are to be performed by him when he is risen from
the Dead is evident in that the very chief of them came not to pass in the time of his former life as will appear to any one that peruseth what hath been written of him by ancient Authours For where is it said of him in story that he received a deadly Wound and recovered Yea we finde on the contrary that when he had been wounded by one Stephanus he was so far from being cured thereof that he was by others coming in presently after killed outright See Suetonius in the History of Domitian cap. 17. Where that his Image was erected and made to speak that they might be put to death that refused to worship it Where that he did set a Mark upon either the fore-head or the right hand of Men without which none might buy or sell These and sundry other remarkable things recorded of the Beast in the Book of the Revelation were never yet acted by him nor indeed by any other person whatsoever that we read of since this Prophecy was written wherefore if the Beast that was long since slain must do them as this Prophecy plainly testifieth it will unavoidably follow that he must be raised from the Dead to that purpose But though the Inhabitants of the Earth in general shall admire the Beast yet some will refuse to do so namely They whose names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world By which passage it is clear that there is a certain number of men ordained by name to eternal life from the foundation of the world And this Ordination is alledged by the Angel as the true cause why they above others consent not to the epidemical impiety that is committed in admiring the Beast Neither did I ever meet with any man who denying such a particular and peremtory Ordination could give a clear and satisfactory answer to this passage which in my judgement now that I have made a more diligent search thereinto seemeth sufficient to decide the so much agitated controversie about Predestination especially if you add that other invincible argument taken from the Ordination of Christ himself For if Christ were unchangeably Ordained to glory not only from but also before the foundation of the world as the Scripture attesteth and all Christians grant why should not we by like reason affirm the same of his people it being altogether absurd to imagine that the head should be designed and not also the body pertaining thereunto inasmuch as they have a mutual relation the one to the other For whereas some indeavour to decline the dint of the foresaid passage in the Revelation by referring those words from the foundation of the world to the book it self and not to the writing of the names therein this can by no means consist for then to exclude all ambiguity an Article would have been prefixed to them in the Greek and accordingly the words have run thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again I would demand of any man well skilled in that language how the Angel could speak otherwise then he doth were it his intention as I affirm to shew that certain mens names were from the foundation of the world written in the book of life But if he meant to signifie that the Book onely was from the Foundation of the World that as I before shewed might easily have been done by setting an Article agreeing in Greek with the word Book before these words From the Foundation of the World Vers 9. And here is the minde which hath wisdom The seven Heads are seven Mountains on which the Woman sitteth 10. And they are seven Kings five are fallen and one is and the other is not vet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space 11. And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition Here the Angel cometh directly to the matter making way to the discovery that he had promised to John with a so emn Preface whereby he intimateth that the Interpretation which he was about to deliver was so ordered that none but a wise and intelligent man could apprehend it Then beginning to declare the Mystery of the Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns whereon the Woman sitteth he saith that the seven Heads are both seven Mountains whereon the Woman sitteth which Description the wise and learned know denoteth Rome that was built upon seven Mountains and also seven Kings so the Roman Emperours are elsewhere styled in the Scripture for the Jews John 19.15 say We have no King but Caesar And that he here meaneth Roman Kings or Emperours is evident in that they are coupled with the seven Mountains of Rome and represented as they before had been by the seven Heads of the Beast of which Kings five namely Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius are fallen that is are taken away by a violent death Thus David 2 Sam. 4 38. saith to the Israelites concerning Abner whom Joab had slain Know you not that there is a Prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel And God saith to the murmuring Israelites against whom his hand was lifted up to destroy them from among the Host until they were consumed As for you your carcases shall fall in this wilderness Numbers 14.32 but one is namely Vespasian the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue but a little while That is Titus the elder son of Vespasian who Reigning after his Father continued but two years two moneths and twenty days as Suetonius in his life witnesseth And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition This is meant of Domitian the younger son of Vespasian who was the eighth King or Emperour from Claudius if you consider him as reigning after the death of his Father and his elder brother But if you look upon him as Reigning in the absence of his Father who was not yet come out of the eastern parts unto Rome to manage the Empire he was one of the seven Kings from Claudius namely the sixth For that Domitian after the death of Vitellius the Emperour did in the absence of his Father Reign at Rome as Emperour is manifest from the words of Tacitus Hist lib. 3. Cap. ult Domitianum postquam nihil hostile metuebatur ad duces partium progressum Caesarem consalutatum miles frequens utque erat in armis in paternos penates deduxit that is Domitian when no further hostility was feared presented himself to the Captains of the party and being saluted Cesar that is Emperour for this was the Title of all the Roman Emperours after Julius Cesar was brought by the Souldiery in their arms to his Fathers house And lib. 4. cap. 1. Nomen sedemque Caesaris Domitianus acceperat that is Domitian had assumed to himself both the Title and the seat of Cesar ib. cap. 4. Ipsi consulatus cum Tito filio proetura
Domitiano consulare imperium that is to him namely Vespasian with Titus his son the consulship was voted to Domitian the pretorship and consular authority ib. cap. 16. Mox ejurante Frontino Caesar Domitianus praeturam cepit Ejus nomen epistolis edictisque proponebatur Vis penes Mucianum nisi quod pleraque Domitianus instigantibus amicis aut propria lubidine agebat that is Not long after upon the resignation of Frontinus Caesar Domitian took the pretorship his name was prefixt to all Letters and Edicts The power and sway of affairs was in Mucianus save that Domitian either at the instigation of his friends or upon his own pleasure transacted very many things ib. cap. 20. Vespasianus in Italiam resque urbis intentus adversam de Domitiano famam accipit tanquam terminos aetatis concessa filio egrederetur that is Vespasian being intent upon Italy and the affairs of the City heareth an ill report of Domitian as if he had passed the bounds of his age and carried himself with more state then became an Emperours son Suetonius also saith of him in the description of his life Cap. 1. Post victoriam demum progressus Caesar consalutatus honorem praeturae urbanae cum consulari potestate suscepit titulo tenus quam jusdictionem ad collegam proximum transtulit Caeterum omnem vim dominationis tam licenter exercuit ut jam tum qualis futurus esset oslenderet Nec exequar singula contrectatis multorum uxoribus Domitiam Longinam Aelio Lamiae nuptam etiam in matrimonium abduxit atque uno die super viginti urbana officia atque peregrina distribuit mirari se Vespasiano dictitante quod successorem non sibi mitteret that is Domitian after the victory going out and being saluted by the name of Cesar assumed the honour of the City Pretorship with consular authority as to the Title transferring all the jurisdiction to the next Colleague howbeit he did so licenciously exercise all the power of Sovereignty as that he even then shewed what manner of Prince he would afterwards prove For to omit the rest of his actions having abused the wives of many Citizens he took away Domitia Longina that was maried to Aelius Lamia and made her his own wife and distributed in one day above twenty offices belonging either to the City or to foreign parts Vespasian in the mean time ever and anon crying out that he wondred that his son did not also send him a successor ib. chap. 13. Principatum vero adeptus neque in senatu jactare dubitavit patri se fratri imperium dedisse illos sibi reddidisse Pari arrogantiacum procuratorum suorum nomine formalem dictaret epistolam sic coepit Dominus deus noster sic fieri jubet Unde institutum post hac ut ne scripto quidem ac sermone cujusquam appellaretur aliter that is Domitian having obtained the Empire doubted not to boast in the very Senate that he had given the Empire both to his Father and to his Brother whereas they had only restored it unto him with like arrogancy as he endited a formal Letter in the name of his procurators he began thus Our Lord and God commandeth it so to be done whence it was afterwards injoyned that none should either in writing or in speech give him any other Titles This shifting of the Kingly power in Domitian seemeth to be a proof or essay of what shall hereafter happen to him in the same kind For as he was sometimes recalled from a private condition to the Empire so shall he in future ages arise from the dead to be a King as I have before evinced By what the Angel hath here spoken to declare the Mystery of the Beast it is manifest that by the Beast is meant a Man who was alive when this Vision happened to John For the Angel saith expresly Verse 8. that he is It is also manifest that the Beast had already been a King at Rome and should after the decease of his two immediate Predecessours reign there again But who was there in the time of this Vision to whom such a thing doth agree save Domitian about the end of whose Empire Irenaeus saith lib. 5. cap. 3. that this Book of the Revelation was seen Neque enim ante multum temporis so are his words visum est sed paenè sub nostro saeculo ad finem Domitiani imperii Which may be so far true as that perhaps it was not published and commonly known before that time Nevertheless it appeareth from those words of the Angel Five are fallen and one is that it was written in the Reign of Vespasian These things being so I rightly reckon the Kings from Claudius for if you begin either before or after him the words of the Angel will not suit with the truth of the History as it is delivered by sundry grave Writers that lived in or about those times And it is likely that the Angel so ordered the Vision that the computation should begin from Claudius inclusively because he was the first Roman Emperour that imployed his Authority to molest the Christians For Suetonius in the History of his Life cap. 25. telleth us that he expelled the Jews out of Rome as making continual Tumults by the impulsion of Christ whom he as it seemeth doth out of an heathenish malignity call in Latin Chrestus and not Christus as doth also the Authour of that profane Dialogue called Philopatris which is found among the Works of Lucian see Page 1003. of the Salmurian Edition However certain it is out of the sacred story that Claudius expelled the Jews out of Rome by which means Aquila and Priscilla his Wife both believing Jews being forced to quit Rome betook themselves to Corinth Acts 18.2 It is further manifest from what hath been before discoursed that the Beast Domitian is aptly represented with seven Heads because of his relation both to the seven Mountains and also to the seven Kings that were signified by them For he had not onely sometimes reigned in Rome the seven-hilled City but was also born there for so saith Suetonius in the beginning of his Life Domitianus natus est regione urbis sexta ad Malum Punicum that is Domitian was born in the sixth Ward of the City at the Sign of the Pomegranate He was also Son to one of the seven Kings and Brother to another as hath before been shewed Vers 12. And the ten Horns which thou sawest are ten Kings which have received no Kingdom as yet but receive Power as Kings one hour with the Beast 13. These have one minde and shall give their Power and Strength unto the Beast 14. These shall make War with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of lords and King of kings and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful Hitherto the Angel hath spoken concerning the Beast and his seven Heads now he cometh to the
the dead triumph in the Kingdom of heaven is evident from the description there given of them For it is said that they were come out of the great tribulation so it is emphatically expressed in the Greek and therefore intimateth that they weee set free from death the chiefest of all tribulations and also were clothed in white Robes and stood before the throne of God being put into such a condition that they should no more hunger nor thirst because the Lamb should feed them and lead them unto living fountains of water No one of which things agreeth either to men here living on the earth or to the souls of such as are departed this life Now the reason that inciteth these Saints in heaven with loud and redoubled voices to cry Allelujah that is Praise the Lord for so this word originally Hebrew doth signifie see Psal 146.1 is the justice of God who as it is here said had both judged that great Harlot which with the lewdness of her whoredome corrupted the earth whereof we have before spoken in our exposition on the seventeenth Chapter and also had avenged the blood of his servants at her hand and this vengeance is taken in so strange a maner that it is not to be parrallelled in all the holy scripture save in the prediction concerning the judgement of God against Bozrah and the land of Idumea whereof we read Isa 34.6 7 8 9 10. and which is not yet come to pass for though many Cities have been burned with the fire of men yea Sodom and Gomorrah with the fire of God from heaven yet hath it not been known that any City after it was once fired did send up the smoak of her burning for ever and ever as it is here affirmed of Rome Which circumstance alone doth sufficiently prove that the prophecy held forth in this book concerning the destruction of Rome is not yet fulfilled forasmuch as she notwithstanding all the sackings and firings that have since hapned to her is yet standing and that in great state and splendor so far is she from being made a desolation and perpetual burnings Vers 4. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne saying Amen Alleluja The action of the Saints in heaven who give honour and glory to God for executing judgement upon Rome is seconded by the Saints on earth who prostrating themselves before God declare their approbation of what the others had done by saying Amen Alleluja For though the Saints here spoken of are in the vision introduced as being in heaven yet this hinders not but that the true place of their abode is the earth no more then the ascent of John into heaven in a vision and his viewing the things therein contained Chap. 4.1.2 make him in the mean time cease from being a true and real inhabitant of the Isle Patmos for these four and twenty Elders together with the four living creatures I have already proved in mine exposition of the fifteenth Chapter to be the Disciples of Christ in the four quarters of the world Howbeit the four and twenty are both here and else where in the Revelation distinguished from the rest because as the very name of Elders given to them doth import the Pastours of the Church are by them signified And this number of the Elders seemeth to be modelled from the four and twenty Orders of the Priests under the Law 1 Chron. 24.7 8. into whose room the Ministers of the Gospel are come that the people of God might never want some to watch over them in relation to the good of their souls Vers 5. And a voice came out of the throne saying Praise our God all ye his servants and ye that fear him both small and great The praising of God is a thing so comely in the Saints that they are here though upon a new accompt as will appear from that which followeth incited by a voice from the throne to do it again which voice is not to be ascribed to God himself although it proceedeth from his throne but to some other person that is under or about the same and hath him that sitteth on the throne for his God as the voice it self doth intimate when it saith Praise our God all ye his servants If it be further demanded what maner of person the author of the voice should be whether a glorified Saint or an Angel I answer that it rather seemeth to be an Angel because we finde the like exhortation used by an Angel Chap. 14.6 7. As for the Servants of God whom the voice speaketh unto seeing they are distinguished from those that fear God this sufficiently hinteth that they are not meerly pious men but such as besides their piety are imployed by God in the work of the Ministery and in particular bear the office of prophets in the Church for so the servants of God when differenced from them that fear God are elsewhere understood in this book of the Revelation see Chap. 11.18 where it is said That thou shouldest give the reward unto thy servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy name small and great Now that many Prophets will then exist when these things are to be accomplished I have before shewed in the exposition of the fourteenth Chapter Vers 6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thundrings saying Alleluja for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Vers 7. Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready Vers 8. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness of Saints Though the destruction of the wicked be an inducement to praise the name of God and to rejoyce yet is the salvation of the righteous as being in it self a work more excellent and glorious of far greater efficacy to stir up the Saints to the performance of these two things Hence it is that the acclamation here made is more loud and solemn then the others that went before For John saith That he heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thundrings saying Alleluja The reason of which unusual Exultation that I may confirm what I even now asserted is in the first place said to be the Reign of God namely upon the Delivery of the Kingdom into the Hands of the Saints For though God was long before said in the Scripture to be the King of all the Earth Psal 47.7 yet in as much as to reign if you speak properly is to rule and govern by Laws the Reign of God over all the World may in this sense be rightly said to commence with the Kingdom of the Saints And that
it be her demanded how it hapneth that this name should be inscribed on the crowns encompassing the head of Christ and also be seen of John as his words imply in that he is a witness of it and yet neither he nor any other should attain the knowledge thereof I answer this cometh to pass because they cannot read it As it hapned to the wise men of Babylon in the time of Belshazzar none of whom was able to read what the part of the hand sent from God had written upon the Palace-wall Dan. 5.5 8. For whosoever readeth any name doth thereby know it although he arrive not at the sense and signâ—fication thereof But Christ is further said to be clothed with a vesture dipt in blood which is very agreeable to the business in hand For he appearing as the Captain of his people and intending to shed the blood of his and their enemies is aptly represented with a bloody garment Neither is it impertinent hereunto that his name is called the Word of God as will appear when we have made a discussion thereupon For when Christ is stiled the word or rather the speech of God so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used doth truly signifie as Aristotle in the fourth Chapter of his book de interpretatione doth teach us this appellation is given to him either properly or improperly and figuratively not properly for then he would be but an accident seeing the same Aristotle in his Treatise of the Predicaments Chapter the sixth rangeth a speech called by him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word here under debate among the species of discrete quantity which is an accident But Christ by the confession of all is a substance and no accident Wherefore he is called the word or speech of God improperly and figuratively but if so then there must be some resemblance between the speech of God properly so called and Christ Jesus which by searching the Scripture we shall finde to consist in these two respects first because the speech of God properly so taken doth immediately flow from the divine understanding so also did Christ come immediately from the divine Majesty in heaven to publish the Gospel to the world and so was the speech or immediate interpreter of God This is confirmed by that notable passage of John who having in the entrance of the first Chapter of his Gospel given the appellation of the word or speech to Christ seemeth to explain the same in the eighteenth verse thereof saying No man hath seen God at any time the only begotten Son which is or rather was in the bosome of the Father he hath declared him Christ himself also saith in the sixth Chapter of that Gospel verse 38. I came down from heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him that sent me And Chap. 8.42 If God were your Father ye would love me for I proceeded forth and came from God And Chap. 16.27 28. The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out from God I came forth from the Father and am come into the world again I leave the world and go to the Father Secondly because as the speech of God properly so named hath power to effect whatsoever he pleaseth for so God himself testifieth of it Isa 55.10 11. where he saith as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing whither to I sent it In like manner Christ had full power to do whatsoever miracles he pleased as he himself witnesseth John 5.19 20 21. where he saith The Son can do nothing of himself but what he seeth the Father do for what things soever he doth these also doth the Son likewise For the Father loveth the Son and sheweth him all things that he himself doth and he will shew him greater works then these that ye may marvel For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickneth them even so the Son quickneth whom he will These things being so Christ can easily dissipate all his enemies as the event will shew in the close of this 19. Chapter of the Revelation You see then how aptly John saith that the name of Christ is called the word or speech of God when he is brought in as a Captain ready to encounter with the Beast and his complices For this argueth that he can do what mighty works he pleaseth Howbeit the Angels for they are elsewhere in the Scripture meant by the heavenly Armies or Hosts as appeareth from the words of the Prophet Micajah 1 Kings 22.29 I saw the Lord sitting upon his Throne and all the Host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left And also from the words of Luke Chap. 2.13 14 15. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek of the heavenly Host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will towards men And it came to pass as the Angels were gon away from them into heaven c. the Angels I say that here follow Christ though they also ride upon horses because they are Armies and their equipage ought to be some waies answerable to that of Christ their Captain are yet clothed only in fine linen white and clean their usual Priestly weeds as I have before proved in the exposition of the fifteenth Chapter because Christ intendeth not at this time to make use of their ministery in shedding the blood of his enemies but to do it by himself as appeareth from the one and twentieth Verse of this Chapter Whereas Christ on the contrary hath not only a bloody vesture but also a sharp sword not indeed hanging by his side nor held in his hand but as it befitteth the word or speech of God coming out of his mouth wherewith he may smite the Nations and slay them The accomplishment whereof may be seen in the sequel of this Chapter Neither is this disagreeable to what we read elsewhere in the Scripture For if Moses could with the rod in his hand do miracles and plague the land of Egypt See Exod 4.17 why may not Christ aswel smite the Nations with the sword of his mouth For as the rod did not contain in it self the power whereby the miracles were wrought but was only a sign thereof so neither doth the sword which nevertheless is altogether as apt to signifie the divine efficacy of Christ who by meerly speaking the word will slay so many Nations assembled together to fight against him and his people But there is not yet an end of
pressed out of the grapes into the cup is the most rich and delicate wine that can be imagined but the tree of life affordeth to the Nations of them that are saved for only such Nations are here understood as appeareth from the four and twentieth verse of the precedent Chapter it doth I say afford not only meat and drink but medicine also For when any distemper beginneth to creep on the Citizens of the New Jerusalem the leaves of this tree being used do discharge the same By which means they remain for ever free from sickness and death Howbeit the manner how these leaves are used whether they be inwardly taken which is the more probable opinion or outwardly applied is uncertain and so ought to be passed over as also the business of evacuation For there is no mention thereof in the Scripture much less of the maner wherein it should be performed So that it becometh not us to make any further inquiry thereinto But if any shall yet reply and say that what hath been spoken of meat and drink and medicine to be in the New Jerusalem doth make the future happiness of the Saints to appear somewhat gross I answer it is not for us to devise what is suitable for the condition of them that shal inherit the Kingdom of heaven but to restin that which God hath prepared for them He could no doubt have given them such an immortality as needed no outward supply but could have sustained it self upon its own inward principles without either meat or drink or medicine but he hath thought it fit to order the matter otherwise as appeareth by the declaration that he himself hath made thereof in the Scripture And shall we presume to be wiser than he and accuse him as not knowing how to make his people happy in the compleatest manner by imagining such a felicity as is not recorded in his word and wresting that which is there described by our exotick interpretations Certainly seeing the Scripture testifieth that the foolishness of God is wiser then men it becometh us to assent to that which he hath revealed though seeming foolish to us rather then affecting to be wise above what is written to follow the groundless imaginations of our own heart Vers 3. And there shall be no more curse but the Throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him How truly I said even now that the leaves of the tree of life shall keep the Nations of them that are saved free from sickness and death for ever appeareth from the beginning of this verse For when it is there said There shall be no more curse it is the same as if it had been said There shall be no more utter destruction for so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifieth a curse is wont in the Scripture to be taken See Zech. 14.11 from whence these words in the Revelation seem to be borrowed For whereas it is there read in English There shall be no more utter destruction the Greek hath it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That is There shall be no more curse And lest any one should perhaps imagine that there may possibly be a difference in the signification between 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which latter is the word used in the Revelation the collation of Matth. 26.74 with Mark 14.71 in the Greek will soon remove that scruple Though the tree of life be a great benefit to the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem yet is the presence of God a greater as being better then life it self without which indeed life is not lively and therefore it is said that the Throne of God and the Lamb shall be in the New Jerusalem namely that the Saints may enjoy his presence and be thereby inflamed to serve and honour him with the greatest affection But least any one should turn that which is here delivered concerning the Throne of God into an allegory because a Throne is sometimes put for Royal power let us evince both out of the circumstances of the place and also from other passages of the Scripture that God hath in very deed a throne in heaven For first if by the Throne of God should here be only meant Royal power the words would carry no emphasis with them when it is said that the Throne of God shall be in the New Jerusalem seeing the Royal power of God extendeth it self to all places alike 2 The Throne of God is here as properly taken as that of Christ whilest it is said The Throne of God and the Lamb. But Christ being the son of man cannot be denied to sit as a King upon a throne properly so taken Wherefore neither can God likewise Both which are confirmed by that passage of the divine Author to the Hebrews Chap. 12.2 Where it is said That Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God 3. The throne of God hath been seen and so is properly to be understood as those things that fall under the sence are wont to be This is manifest from the first verse of this Chapter where John saith I saw a River of water of life proceeding out of the Throne of God and the Lamb. And also from the eleventh verse of the twentieth Chapter where the very colour of his Throne is also expressed for so John saith I saw a great white Throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away And finally from that notable vision of Micajah 1 Kings 22.19 who saith to Ahab King of Israel Hear thou the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his Throne and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left 4. It is said of Christ as we before cited it out of the Epistle of the Hebrews Chap. 12.2 that Christ sat down on the right hand of the Throne of God which could not be true were the Throne of God any other then a seat 5. God is in the Book of the Revelation frequently known by the appellation of him that sitteth upon the throne See Chap. 5.13 and 6.16 and 7.15 But this would be an impertinent description of God were there in very deed no Throne in heaven whereon he sitteth 6. God is said to have prepared his Throne in the heavens Psalm 103.19 which will not admit any other sence but that he hath made there a Royal seat for himself By all these arguments it appeareth that to say God doth not in very deed sit on a Throne in heaven is to contradict both the Scripture and our very senses Vers 4. And they shall see his face and his name shall be in their foreheads That these words They shall see the face of God are to be taken as they sound I have in effect already proved by evincing out of the Scripture that God doth in very deed sit upon a Throne in
thou hast kept the Word of my Patience I also will keep thee from the Hour of Temptation which shall come upon all the World to try them that dwell upon the Earth Behold I come quickly Now that Christ is said to come when he executeth Judgement on any persons for their Faults is manifest from his own words in sundry places of the Revelation See Chap. 2.5 where he saith to the Angel of the Ephesine Church Remember from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first Works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove the Candlestick out of its place except thou repent And Verse 16. of the same Chapter where he saith to the Angel of the Church in Pergamus Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the Sword of my Mouth And Chap. 3.3 where he saith to the Angel of the Church in Sardis Remember how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent If therefore thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as a Thief and thou shalt not know what Hour I will come upon thee By this we see how appositely Christ subjoyneth after the mention of his speedy Coming that he is happy who keepeth the Sayings of the Prophecy of this Book For whosoever did so should be hid in the Day of Christ's Anger when he executed Judgement upon the Disobedient and Wicked as he promiseth to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia in the fore-quoted place Revel 3.10 Vers 8. And I John saw these things and heard them And when I had heard and seen I fell down to worship before the Feet of the Angel which shewed me these things 9. Then saith he unto me See thou do it not for I am thy Fellow-servant and of thy Brethren the Prophets and of them which keep the Sayings of this Book worship God The things which John had heard and seen by means of this Angel were so superlatively great and glorious and John himself was withall so interessed in them for being one of the Lambs twelve Apostles he saw his own name written on the Wall of the new Jerusalem that being ravished therewith he forgets himself falling down before the feet of the Angel to worship him although he had formerly been checkt for doing so Which action of John though not free from blame hath yet something in it very laudable namely the setting of so high a value on the knowledge of excellent things and consequently on those persons that discover them When I consider this in my minde and withall observe how far Christians generally are from having any certain notion of that happiness which God hath prepared for them that love him embracing meer fancies in the stead thereof I conclude that some respect is likewise due to such as vindicate the holy Scripture where it treateth of this matter from those false Glosses that men have so long imposed on them For the right understanding of the Text in this point is of sovereign use and tendeth much to encourage Christians onto piety as filling their mindes with a more firm and lively apprehension of that glory which they through so many difficulties do aspire unto And therefore Paul doth very wisely intercede with God in the behalf of the Saints at Ephesus that they might know what is the hope of his calling Ephes 1.18 lest having an uncertain knowledge of the Prize they should but faintly run that Race which God had set before them But as we learn from the carriage of John to esteem highly of them that do in a true and accurate manner represent to us the glory of the World to come so should the Example of the Angel direct us to refuse all excessive Honours though given by those whom we have by special favours obliged to us For by this means we shall preserve the Prerogative of God entire which we ought to have continually in our Eye Vers 10. And he saith unto me Seal not the Sayings of the Prophecy of this Book for the time is at hand When the Prophet Daniel had seen certain Visions concerning that which was a long time after to be performed he is commanded to shut them up and seal the Book wherein they should be written Dan. 8.26 Ch. 12.4 But here the Angel doth on the contrary charge John that he seal not the words of the Prophecy of this Book alleging this as the reason thereof Because the time was at hand For the case being so it much concerned the People of God to be acquainted with the Revelation that they might in time prepare themselves by that means avoid a surprisal Yet must we not therefore imagine that all the things foretold in this Book were in a short time to be fulfilled for the very 20. Chapter doth abundantly refute such a conceit there being in it the History of above a thousand years but onely that they should ere long begin to be accomplished as we have before demonstrated in the Exposition of the sixth Verse Vers 11. He that is unjust let him be unjust still and he which is filthy let him be filthy still and he that is righteous let him be righteous still and he that is holy let him be holy still When Christ saith Let him that is unrighteous be unrighteous still and let him that is filthy be filthy This is not a Command otherwise these unjust and filthy persons should do well whilest they went on in their wickedness but a Commination For seeing the means that had already been used for the reclaiming of them from their unjust and filthy courses had taken no effect Christ was now resolved to deliver them over to their own hearts lusts whereby it would come to pass that they would afterwards proceed to a further degree of Injustice and Uncleanness Suitable hereunto is that saying of the Angel to Daniel in the 12. Chapter of his Prophecy Verse 10. The wicked shall do wickedly In like manner when it is said on the contrary Let him that is righteous be righteous still or be jet justified and let him that is holy be holy still or be yet sanctified it is a Promise whereby Christ sheweth that it is his intention to bring those who hearkning to his Word were become righteous and holy unto a greater measure of Justice and Sanctity agreeable to that Oracle of his delivered in the Gospel according to Matthew Chap. 25.29 Unto every one that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance Vers 12. And behold I come quickly and my Reward is with me to give every man according as his Work shall be It was before shewn in the Exposition of the 7. Verse that when Christ saith Behold I come quickly this must not be understood of his coming at the last Day Suitably hereunto neither can the Reward that he here speaketh of be meant of such a Recompense as shall then be rendred unto men but which hath place