was the First year of Nero's Reign See Bishop Vshers Annal. pag. 668. 670. 671. from whom we may learn that Ephesus was not converted until the Reign of Nero. 10. Suppose it were true that these Churches were converted in the dayes of Claudius yet they could not be converted any long time before his Death and that because he Reigned but thirteeen years and nine moneths in all and either all or the greatest part of that time was spent in converting other Churches as you may read Act. 15 16 17 and 18. Chapters so that they could not be converted any long time before his death yea in his time it was that Paul and Timothy were forbidden to Preach in Asia Act. 16.6 But now the Gospel had been Preached unto them a long time before this Book was written and they were not new converts but old ones and of long standing in the Christian Faith when this Book was written to them as these Texts of Scripture sufficiently declare Rev. 2.2 3 4 5.9.13.19.21 11. If this Book had been written in the ninth year of Claudius Paul would not have gone to Ephesus to Preach the Gospel there at the latter end of his Reign for Paul did not Preach the Gospel where it had been Preached before by others as he himself confesseth Rom. 15.20 21. 2 Cor. 10.13 14 15 16. Now we find that Paul went to Preach the Gospel at Ephesus before it was converted Act. 18.19 and this was at the latter end of Claudius's Reign for his going thither was as Dr. Hammond in his Preface before the Epistle to the Ephesians saith about the one and fiftieth year of Christ and that was at the latter end of Claudius's Reign and therefore this Book was not written then but at some time or other afterward 12. Why was this Book revealed unto John and not rather unto Paul for Paul was the Apostle of the Gentiles and John of the circumcision Gal. 2.9 and Paul had the honour to convert the Gentiles to the Christian Faith not John as you may read in the Acts of the Apostles c. 18.19 and 20. and therefore it is likely that if this Prophecy had been revealed in the days of Paul that it should have been revealed unto him and that Paul should have been the pen-man of it and not John which we know is otherwise and therefore the true cause why this Prophecy was revealed unto John and not to Paul was because Paul was dead and the other Apostles were dead when this Prophecy was revealed and onely John was then alive whom it could be revealed unto 13. This Book was one of the last Books of Scripture that was written if not the last of all as the words Rev. 22.18 do imply but if this Book were written in the ninth year of Claudius the Epistle to the Ephesians and all other of Pauls Epistles had been written after this yea the Gospel of St. Luke the Acts of the Apostles and all other Books of the new Testament except the Gospel by St. Mathew had been written after this and this Book should not have been one of the last much less the last of all but one of the first Books of the new Testament that was written Ob. What Irenaeus affirms concerning John's Vision at the end of Domitian is not of all but particularly of that Vision of the number of the Beast c. 13.18 Thus will Eusebius's words be understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If the name of Antichrist ought to be Proclaimed openly now it would have been declared by him that saw the Revelation for it was not seen any long time ago Where 't is clear that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was seen may belong to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the name of the Beast as before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 declared did And that it not only may but must be so understood appears by the Latine of Irenaeus which only is extant which reads it thus Antichristi nomen per ipsum utique editum fuisset qui Apocalypsin viderat neque enim ante multum temporis visum est sed pene sub nostro seculo ad finem Domitiani imperii The name of Antichrist would have been published by him who saw the Apocalypse for it was not seen any long time since but almost under our age at the end of Domitians Empire Where the word visum in the Neuter seen not visa in the Feminine belongs apparently to the name not to the Apocalypse Ans 1. John saw the Prophecies of the Revelation all together at one time and not at several distant times as shall be proved in the next question and therefore for any man to think that he had the vision of the name of the Beast by it self alone at the end of Domitians Reign and of the rest of the Apocalypse at some other time before is but a meer fancy at the best 2. Irenaeus counted the name of the Beast not worthy to be divulged at large by the Holy Ghost and therefore it is far from his meaning that it was seen by itself alone from the rest of the Apocalypse 3. Irenaeus doth not say nomen viderat that John saw the name of the Beast but Apocalypsin viderat that be saw the Apocalypse and this was seen not any long time ago but almost in our time at the end of Domitians Reign 4. Eusebius brings the Testimony of Irenaeus to prove that John was banished into Patmos at the end of Domittans Reign and therefore he understands Irenaeus as we do and his opinion is that the Apocalypse was seen by John in the Reign of Domitian and not the name of the Beast by itself alone 5. It is a very unlikely thing that John should be banished into Patmos in the Reign of Claudius and see some part of the Revelation there in his time and the name of the Beast elsewhere by itself alone at the end of Domitians Reign which was above fourty years afterwards without the least intimation of any such thing 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not the Nominative case to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was seen as the objection would have it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the Nominative case unto it which I prove thus That which John saw is the Nominative case to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was seen but Eursebius saith that John saw 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Revelation therefore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Revelation is the Nominative case to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was seen 7. Though it be true that in the Latine Copy of Irenaeus the word is visum in the Neuter Gender yet in the Latine Copy of Eusebius the word is visa in the Feminine Gender and in the Margent of one of them I find these words Anno Domini 96. Joannes in Patmon relegatus scripsit Apocalypsin in the year of the Lord 96. John was banished into Patmos and then wrote the Revelation 8. Let the word
time without ceasing or intermission therefore seeing they be equal in duration they contemporate each with other Ans Things presented all at once at one view or at one time may succeed one another witness Nebuchadnezars Image Dan. 2. and the seven heads of the Beast Rev. 17.3.9 10. 2. These Visions were not presented both at once at one view or at one time as Nebuchadnezars Image was eodem tempore simultaneo but successively and immediately one after another as Daniels four Beasts were eodem tempore successivo Dan. 7. and look in what order they were revealed in the same shall they come to pass that is successively and immediately one after another as Daniels four Beasts do Dan. 7.3 c. Object The Womans flight into the Wilderness was presented unto John before the Battail betwixt Michael and the Dragon did begin v. 6. but it shall come to pass afterward as appears v. 14. Ans I deny the Antecedent for the sixth verse shews that the womans flight into the Wilderness was when her Travel ended and she had brought forth her Son and the fourteenth verse also shews that her flight into the Wilderness was when the Battel betwixt Michael and the Dragon ceased and he was cast forth into the earth therefore the womans Travel and the battel betwixt Michael and the Dragon ended both together and were presented unto John both together but could not be set down in writing both together unless it were collaterally as was shewed pag. 118. but successively as it is one after another which is the reason that the womans flight is set down v. 6. after her Travel ended and repeated again v. 14. after the Battel ended 2. Suppose it to be true that the womans flight into the Wilderness was presented unto John before the Battel betwixt Michael and the Dragon did begin if this were so then the sixth verse is meant of the beginning of the womans flight into the Wilderness and the fourteenth verse of the ending of it and if this be so the Battel betwixt Michael and the Dragon is not durante puerperio during the time of the womans Travel but durante fuga during her flight into the Wilderness and if this latter hold good then things are set down in writing as they were revealed and shall come to pass accordingly in such order as they be written in the Book no Book of Scripture equalising it Object Three years and a half may succeed one another but 1260 days mentioned in these two Prophecies be so many years and it is not likely that so many years should succeed one another Ans It is not my opinion only but Piscators in Apocalyp Cap. 12. v. 6. Peter Moulins in his accomplishment of Prophecies pag. 194. 196. and the late Annotators on Daniel c. 7. v. 25. who all of them do understand by these numbers three years and a half and no more Again the Church is in the Wilderness 1260 days together but the Church never was nor ever will be in the Wilderness so many years together 3. The Church is in safety 1260 days but the Church never yet was nor ever will be in safety from the enemy so long a time as 1260 years amount unto 4. When days be put for years in the Scripture it is usually expressed or intimated in the Text as Numb 14.34 Ezek. 4.6 but here is no mention nor intimation of any such thing had not God told Moses and Ezekiel that a day goes for a year neither of them would have so understood it but now in the Revelation God doth not tell us that a day is put for a year therefore we may not so understand it 5. In other Prophecies of Scripture where days are mentioned we do not understand years thereby as Numb 11.19 20. Dan. 8.13 13 14. Jona 3.4 Mat. 12.49 Joh. 2.19 and that because God doth not bid us so then where God doth not bid us by days understand years we may not so understand it but now in the Revelation God doth not bid us by days understand years as he doth in Numbers and Ezekiel therefore we may not so understand it 6.1260 days be no more than time times and half a time and that is no more than three years and a half as the Annotators on Daniel in their first Edition do confess and it may be proved by reason for time is one year times two years and half a time is half a year and seven times in the Book of Daniel is seven years Dan. 4.16 Again it is said in Daniel that he shall wear out the Saints and they shall be given into his hand until a time times and half a time Dan. 7.25 but now the Saints were never wearied out so long together neither were they ever given into the enemies hand so long a time as 1260 years nor ever will be And thirdly there is an Analogical proportion observable in these times for times is double in quantity to time and time is double in quantity to half a time But now if by time we understand a thousand and by times two hundred and by half a time sixty we destroy the proportion for by this reckoning time is more than times which ought to be less by half and half a time is less than half a time which ought to be just so much You will say that there is the like inconvenience in applying this number to 1260 days I answer no for time times and half a time is not 1260 days formally but vertually neither is it so many days divisim but conjunctim my meaning is time is not a thousand days times two hundred days and half a time sixty days but time is a year times two years and half a time is half a year that is three years and a half in the total Now because in three years and a half there be just 1260 days hence it is that these times be even in the total but not in each several part as hath been shewed And fourthly to make these times of Daniel to amount to 1260 years they take a strange course for they turn years into days and days into years again first they turn three years and a half into 1260 days and this they may do for it is all one in the total but this will not content them but when they have so done they turn these days into so many years and say that 1260 days is 1260 years and this they may not do for it is not all one in the total Others take a stranger course and by time times and half a time they understand three years and a half as we do but then by years they mean mystical years and what that is they do not tell us neither can they tell us for if a mystical year be a thousand years two mystical years must be two thousand years and half a mystical year half a thousand years and then we are gone beyond the number but if by a mystical
consider of it but read it in order and without prejudice for that will cloud thine Eyes and thou wilt not see the truth if thou read the Book with prejudice weigh one thing with another as well the series and order of the Prophecies as the words and exposition of them and the Lord who is the Author of the Prophecy and revealed it to John reveal the truth unto thee Farewell A Paraphrase with Questions on the Revelation of the holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Divine from the sixth Chapter to the eighteenth CHAP. VI. The Prophecy of the first Seal 1. AND when Jesus Christ had opened the first Seal I heard the first living Creature say unto me Come and see what shall come to pass hereafter not shortly as the things thou hast seen already shall but a great while hence and that not in Europe but in Asia 2. And I. saw that there should come a man riding on a white Horse which is a sign of conquest and that he should be a King and should have first a Bow and afterwards a Crown and should go forth Conquering and to Conquer but some things should be left unconquered by him The Prophecie of the second Seal 3. And when he had opened the second Seal I heard the second living Creature say unto me Come and see what shall come to pass hereafter not shortly as the things in 〈◊〉 Epistles to the seven Churches shall but a great while here and that not in Europe but in Asia 4. And I saw that there should come another man after the Prophecy of the first Seal is ended riding on a red Horse which is a sign of blood and that he should take peace from off the earth or the place where he lived and should cause that men should kill one another by intestine Wars and that he should have a great Sword to commit a great and mighty slaughter and slay many men therewith The Prophecy of the third Seal 5. And when he had opened the third Seal I heard the third living Creature say unto me Come and see what shall come to pass hereafter not long before the day of Judgment doth begin and that not in Europe or the Isles afar off but in Asia 6. Then I looked and saw that there should come a third man after the Prophecy of the second Seal is ended riding on a Black Horse with a pair of balances in his hand which are a sign of Civil Justice Prov. 16.11 And I heard a voice among the four living Creatures say that in the time of this rider men should not live by rapine as in the time of War 2 King 7.1 but should pay for what they took if any one would have a measure of Wheat he should pay a penny for it and if any one would have a measure of Barley he should pay a penny for it and if any man would have any Oyl or Wine he should pay good money for it and wrong no man therein The Prophecy of the fourth Seal 7. And when he had opened the fourth Seal I heard the forth living Creature say unto me Come and see what shall come to pass hereafter not in Europe but in Asia a little before the day of judgment shall begin 8. And I saw that there should come a fourth man after the Prophecy of the third Seal is ended riding on a pale Horse which is a sign of Death and that should be this riders name because so many people should be killed and destroyed by 7. The Deeds and Doctrine of the Nicolaitans were crept into the Churches before this Book was written by John and he commends the Church of Ephesus for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans Rev. 2.6 and he blames the Church of Pergamus for that they had them amongst them which held the Doctrine of the Nicolaitans Rev. 2.15 but when did these Nicolaitans first begin and when did their Doctrine first creep into the Churches Not in the Reign of Claudius for then other Books of Scripture would have spoken of them especially those which were written at that time but we find nothing of these Nicolaitans in any Book of Scripture save only in the Revelation which shews they were not known in the Reign of Claudius but came up afterward and therefore Baronius and others place them in the Reign of Nero. Baronius Anno Neronis 12. 8. This Book was written after Antipas was slain Rev 2.13 and 't is written and sent to the Angel his successour who ever he were But now History tells us and our Adversaries confess that Antipas was slain not in the days of Claudius but in the days of Domitian the Roman Emperour See Doctor Hammond Page 927. Menolog April 11. Baronii Mâ—â—â—y to 〈◊〉 pag. 249. Baronii Annal. Anno Domitiani 10. And to this Argument they have not any thing to say but that Rev. 2.13 the Preter tense is put for the Future tense Antipas was slain for Antipas will be slain to which I answer 1. That the Preter tense is not usually put for the Future tense except it be in Prophecies but that part of the Epistle to the Church of Pergamus is not a Prophecy but a History of what was done before the Revelation was written 2. The proper names of men be not usually joyned with Verbs of the Preter tense before the thing spoken of be done but in the Future rather as when 't is said of Josiah that he shall burn dead mens Bones upon the Altar 1 King 13.2 it is spoken in the Future tense and not in the Preter tense So when 't is said of Cyrus He is my shepherd and shall perform all my pleasure Esa 44.28 it is spoken in the Future tense and not in the Preter tense 3. The Epistle to the Church of Pergamus is directed and sent to the Angel Antipas his successour Therefore it was written after Antipas was dead 4. Men are not commended in Letters in the Preter tense for what they will do hereafter but for what they have done already but the Angel of the Church of Pergamus is commended for that he had not denied the Faith of Christ even in those dayes wherein Antipas was slain therefore this commendatory letter was written after Antipas was dead and because he was slain in the dayes of Domitian and not in the dayes of Claudius therefore we conclude that this Book was written in the Reign of Domitian and not in the Reign of Claudius 9. This Book was written after the Seven Churches of Asia were converted to the Christian Faith But we cannot find that these Seven Churches were converted to the Faith in the dayes of Claudius but 't is more likely that Ephesus was converted in the dayes of Nero and that because as Doctor Hammond observes pag. 648. the first time that Paul disputed at Ephesus was about Ann. Ch. 51. and it was three years after that before Ephesus was converted and that was Anno Ch. 54. which
to oppose and persecute the Christian Jews and thereupon the Gnosticks compliances and making as if they were Jews to avoid persecution are so oft taken notice of by St. Paul Gal. 6.12 and elsewhere And by all the Epistles both of him and the rest of the Apostles written from about that time of Claudius the Gnosticks are every where touched on as the pests that were creeping into the Churches against which they endeavoured to fortifie the believers and assure them that those persecutions of the Iews should be shortly ended by their destruction that night of sadness far spent and the day of deliverance and refreshment at hand Rom. 13.12 Rom. 16.20 and that then the Gnosticks which were so sollicitous to save their lives should lose them i. e. should perish with them Acordingly to the very same purpose is most of the Vision here that concerned the seven Churches c. 2.2.4.9.14.20 and c. 3.9 10. c. and much of the following Prophecy to assure them that God would take revenge on those impenitent and impure professors and rescue the constant Christians And that makes it very reasonable to believe that this Vision was received about the same time also Ans Did not the unbelieving Jews persecute the Christians before Claudius's time was not the persecutions Act. 8.1 Act. 9.23 before Claudius's time and was not Steven stoned to death before Claudius's time yea did not the unbelieving Iews persecute the Christian in Christs time Ioh. 9.22 and did not many of the Rulers believe in him but because of the Pharisees did not confess him left they should be cast out of the Synagogue Ioh. 12.12 Why do they not say that this Book was written then 2. Did not Christ foretel the destruction of the Iews in his time Mat. 24.2 c. Luk. 21.24 and did not he say unto them When ye see these things begin to come to pass then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth near Luk. 21.28 And if the Revelation were written to comfort the Christians against the Iews and assure them that those persecutions of the Iews should be shortly ended by their destruction as they say it was Why do they not think that it was written then 3. Doth not Paul take notice of the Gnosticks in the Epistle to the Ephesians c. 5.3 4 5 6. not any of Pauls Epistles nor of the other Apostles were written about the ninth year of Claudius but afterward as well as in the Epistle to the Galatians c. 6.12 and were not both these Epistles and many others of his where the Gnosticks are taken notice of written after the days of Claudius and why may not the Revelation be written after his days too 4. Did not the Iews persecute Christians in Domitians time and were there not Gnosticks at that time too Menander Basilides and others and why do they not think that this Book was written then In a word the persecution of the Jews and the complying of the Gnosticks to save themselves from persecution is no good Argument to shew the time when the Revelation was revealed to Iohn but Iohn being in the Isle of Patmos for the word of God and for the Testimony of Jesus Christ is a characteristical note of the time of its revealing Now there were no imperial edicts against the Christians as Christians in the time of Claudius as appears by Gallio's words Act. 18.14 15. and by Pauls appeal to Caesar Act. 25.11 and by Act. 28.31 but in Domitians time there were edicts made against them and 't is the more likely that Iohn was banished then and the scope of the Revelation is not to acquaint the Churches with the destruction of the Jews or Gnosticks but to acquaint them rather with the things that are and the things that shall be hereafter to the end of the World Rev. 1.19 Rev. 20.11 12. Ob. The eight Kings or Emperors c. 17.10 cannot otherwise be made intelligible but by beginning the account from Claudius so that he and Nero Galba Otho Vitellius shall be the five that were fallen and then Vespasian in whose time I suppose these Visions were committed to writing by St. Iohn being the sixth shall be the one is and Titus the seventh that is not yet come and when he comes shall stay but a little while reigning but two years and two months and then the Beast that was and is not and is the eighth and is of the seven and goes to destruction will fall out to be Domitian to whom and to whom onely of all the Emperors nay of all men in any story all those distinctive characters will appertain as that he exercised the office of the Emperor and was called Emperor at Rome when Vespasian was gone into Judaea and after his return became a private man again delivered up the Empire to him and so was and is not and then was the eighth reckoning from Claudius as the first and the Son of one of the seven viz. of Vespasian and should be a bloody persecutor and accordingly punished and so go to destruction Ans It is past my understanding to find a reason why we should begin the account of the eight Kings or Emperors c. 17.10 from Claudius and end it in Domitian and so leave out all the Emperors that were before Claudius and all them that went behind Domitian for the ten first persecutions did not begin in Claudius but in Nero neither did they end in Domitian but in Dioclesian Maximian Galerius and Licinius neither did any remarkable thing happen in the days of Claudius and end in the days of Domitian so as to force us to begin the account in the one and end it in the other 2. It cannot be made intelligible how the Angel could say to Iohn at the Revelation of these Visions Five are fallen meaning thereby Claudius Nero Galba Otho and Vitellius if so be these Visions were revealed to John in the Reign of Claudius for these five were not fallen then but Nero Galba Otho and Vitellius did succeed him in the Throne and were not fallen while he lived 3. It is past my intelligence to make it good that these Visions were received by John in the time of Claudius and not committed to writing till the time of Vespasian who began his Reign fifteen years after Claudius's decease for John did write his Visions presently as soon as he received them as appears Rev. 10.4 and was commanded so to do Rev. 1.19 Rev. 22.10 4. It is past my capacity to conceive that all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the beginning of the sixth Chapter to the end of the ninth besides some of them that follow after were fulfilled before the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian and yet to think as they do that they were committed to writing in the time of Vespasian for then the Revelation should be written and sent to the Churches after most of the Prophecies were past Lastly It cannot be made intelligible unto me
that John should commit these Visions to writing in the time of Vespasian and yet see the name of the Beast as they say he did in the time of Domitian for then he should write these Visions before some of them were revealed See more of this c. 17. q. 2. p. 2. Quest Whether John received the Revelation at several distant times or all at once in one day Ans If any one will say that John received the Revelation not all together at one time but at several distant times as the Prophet Esai did his Visions Esa 1.1 Let me request him to tell us what Visions John received at one time and what Visions at another time for unless he can and will do that why should any one believe him 2. If any one suppose that John received some Visions in the time of Claudius and did defer the writing of them till the time of Domitian or Vespasian when he received more Visions this were to do the Apostle injury who was to write his Visions presently and send them to the Churches presently and not defer them till a long time after Rev. 1.11 Rev. 22.10 and Rev. 10.4 He was about to write presently what the seven thunders had spoken and had so done if he had not been commanded to conceal it 3. If any one shall think that John received some Visions in the Reign of Claudius and did write them then and that he received other Visions in the time of Domitian or Vespasian and did write them then this were to make two Books of the Revelation and one of them is supposed to be written in the time of Claudius and the other in the time of Domitian or Vespasian 4. If any man imagine that John received the Vision of the seven Churches first and did write it presently and send it to the Churches by it self and that afterward he received more Visions at several times and did write them at several distant times as he did receive them this were to make two or more Books of the Revelation as was said before And if it be said that when he had received all he did write the first Visions over again and add the latter to them and put them into one volume this were to make the Apostle do things over and over and write some of his Visions twice and send them to the Churches twice which we cannot find that any of the Apostles did Besides this is a meer imagination and every thing they say in this point is but meer imagination and no more but let them imagine what they will I prove it was not so by this Argument If John were commanded at the first entrance of his Visions to write his Visions all together and send them to the Churches all together then he did not write the first Vision by it self and send it to the Churches by it self without the rest but John was commanded at the first entrance of his Visions to write his Visions all together and send them to the Churches all together therefore he did not write the first Vision by it self and send it to the Churches by it self without the rest The minor is proved Rev. 1.19 VVrite the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter where by the things which he had seen is meant the Vision of the seven Golden Candlesticks mentioned in the first Chapter v. 12 13 14 15 16. by the things which are is meant the things which Christ should reveal unto him concerning the present state of the seven Churches and they are spoken of in the second and third chapters with which some prophecies concerning the future state of the seven Churches are mixt and by the things which shall be hereafter is meant the Prophecies from the fourth Chapter to the end of the Revelation Now had he said at this time which was the first entrance of his Visions VVrite the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and no more he might have written the three first chapters by themselves without the other but in regard he saith at this time which was the first entrance of his Visions VVrite the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter he might not write any one of them by themselves but he was to write them all together and send them to the Churches all together 5. If John received his Visions at several distant times as the Prophet Daniel did his it is likely he would have told us of it as the Prophet Daniel doth who c. 7.1 tells us that the Vision which he then saw was in the first year of Belshasar and c. 8.1 he tells us that the Vision which he then saw was in the third year of Belshasar and 't is likely that if Joâ—n had received his Visions at several distant times he would have told us of it as Daniel doth 6. There be many differences between the Visions of the Prophet Esai and the Visions of the Apostolical Prophet John as The Prophet Esai saith expresly that his Visions were in the days of Vzziah Jotham Ahaz and Hezekiah Kings of Juda Esa 1.1 but John makes no mention of any other day that he received his Visions than on the Lords day Rev. 1.10 2. The Visions as well of Esai as of John were when both of them were in a trance but herein they differ that the trances of Esai were at distant times some in one Kings Reign and some in another Kings Reign as he himself confesseth Esa 1.1 but the trances of John were all of them upon the Lords day and upon no other Rev. 1.10 3. The Visions which the Prophet Esai saw concerning Iuda and Ierusalem were so many Sermons which he Preached to the people at several times far distant one from other and they were so many and so long that he could not preach them all in one day therefore of necessity there was an intermission between his preaching of one Sermon and the preaching of another but the Visions of the Apostolical Prophet Iohn were not preached Sermons but mental Revelations which he was to write and send unto the Churches all at once and they were not so many nor so long but they could be seen and be written by him too all in one day 4. The writings of the Prophet Esai be but the heads of the Sermons which he preached the Sermons for the words were a great deal longer but the Revelation of the Apostolical Prophet Iohn is the full substance of what he saw and heard without diminution of the words 5. The Prophet Esai was at liberty to go and preach unto the people Sermon after Sermon but the Apostolical Prophet Iohn was not at liberty to travel to the Churches and Preach one day to the Church of Ephesus and another day to the Church of Smyrna and other days to the other Churches as he must have done had he
Thunders had uttered their voices I was about to write what the seven Thunders had spoken for they spake things remarkable but I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Conceal the things which the seven Thunders have spoken and write them not for they are too terrible to be revealed 5. And the Angel whom I saw standing with his right foot upon the Sea and with his left foot upon the dry Land lifted up his hand to Heaven as a token that he meant to swear 6. And he sware by the true and ever-living God who made the Heaven with the things which are therein and the earth with the things which are therein and the Sea with the things which are therein that the mystery of God should be delayed no longer 7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel when he shall sound his Trumpet Rom. 11.25 Esa 11.11 12. Esa 14.1 2 3. Esa 27.12 13. Jer. 23.7 8. Jer. 31.27 28. Jer. 32.37 38. Jer. 46.27 28. Eze. 37.16 17. Hos 3.4 5. Joel 3.1 Amos 9.11.14 15. Zach. 8.20 21 22. which after these things now in hand will shortly be the calling conversion and restoring of the Iewish Nation shall be put in execution and not be laid aside until it be brought to full perfection As soon as that Angel shall begin to sound their calling and conversion shall be brought to pass and before that Angel ends the restauration of their Kingdom shall be finished and this joyful news is no new invention but God hath told it his Servants the Prophets in the old Testament long ago 8. And the voice which I heard from Heaven before bidding me seal up the things which the seven Thunders had spoken and write them not spake to me again the second time and said unto me Go take the little Book or Schedule which is wide open in the hand of the Angel which standeth with his right foot upon the Sea and with his left upon the dry Land 9. So I went unto the Angel as the voice commanded me and I said unto him Give me the little Book or Schedule which is wide open in thy right hand and he said unto me Take and eat it and when thou hast so done it shall make thy belly bitter but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as Hony 10. So I took the little Book or Schedule out of the Angels hand and eat it up before him and it was as the Angel said in my mouth as sweet as Hony but when I had eaten it my belly was bitter 11. And he told me the meaning of it and he said unto me Thou must Prophecy again before the sixth Trumpet endeth and thou must tell what shall befal the People of the Iews and what shall befal the Gentiles and their Kings before the seventh Trumpet soundeth and the mystery of God which I told thee of take effect And the first things that thou must Prophecy of will be very sweet and pleasant as Hony to thy mouth but the second will be very bitter as Gall unto thy stomach Disputation VI. 1 Quest Whether the little Book had any Prophecy written in it Answ 1. It is not said in the Text that it had any Prophecy written in it and therefore they which say it had do it upon no ground at all 2. It was wide open and not shut nor sealed therefore there was not any secret thing therein 3. It was but one Schedule or piece of Parchment and that a little one too and therefore too little to contain all the Prophecies from the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter to the end of the Revelation 4. It was far less than the other Book which had seven rolls and seven seals to them But if all the Prophecies from the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter to the end of the Revelation should be comprised in it it would be far bigger than the other Book which had seven rolls and seals to them 5. The other Book which had the seals is commended for its Prophecies Rev. 5.2 3 4 5. But this Book is no where commended for any Prophecy it had 6. The Prophecies in the following Chapters be of higher note and far more excellent and of more concernment than the Prophecies in the former Chapters be and therefore they belong not to this little Book which is no where commended for its Prophecies but to the other Book with seven seals which hath so high a commendation as not any Book the like Rev. 5.3 4 5. 7. There should be by this reckoning two Prophetical Books of the Revelation and the seventh verse of the tenth Chapter should be the last verse of the first Book and the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter should be the first verse of the seeond Book but St. John makes but one Book of all the Revelation and he writes it all in one Volume without division and calls it a Revelation in the singular number and not two Revelations in the plural number Rev. 1.1 8. By this reckoning the Prophecies of the other Book with seven seals should be mingled with the Prophecies of the little Book without seals for they say that all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter to the end of the Revelation belong unto the little Book Now if you look into the eleventh Chapter you shall there find the ending of the sixth Trumpet v. 14. and after that the seventh Trumpet or some part thereof from the fifteenth verse to the end of the Chapter both which belong unto the other Book with seven seals and namely to the seventh seal thereof Rev. 8.2 and after this come in the Prophecies as they say of the little Book again What a mingle mangle have we here of those two Books one in another Surely as St. John eat up the little Book so they make the little Book swallow the Prophecies of the other Book into his Belly 9. The sixth Trumpet doth not end with the seventh verse of the tenth Chapter but goes onward to the fourteenth verse of the eleventh Chapter and there ends and not before so that all that Prophecy in the eleventh Chapter to the fourteenth verse doth belong unto the other look with seven seals and the seventh Trumpet doth not end with the eleventh Chapter for if it did a close would have been put unto it at the end of that Chapter to distinguish it from the Prophecies that follow but there being no period put unto it there as there is to the former Trumpets where they end it is an Argument sufficient that it doth not end there but is to be extended farther even to the twelfth Chapter and to all the Chapters following inclusively until a Period be put unto it which is no where to be found so that the seventh Trumpet hath no end at all nor any close put unto it as the fifth and sixth Trumpets have Rev. 9.12 Rev. 11.14 and seeing the seventh Trumpet
doth belong unto the Book with seven seals the Prophecy of the twelfth Chapter and of all the rest that follow doth belong unto that other Book also 10. If the little Book had the following Prophecies written in it from the eighth verse of this Chapter to the end of the Revelation what 's the reason that the Angel doth acquaint John with them afterward A man would think that after he had taken the Book and eaten it up he should have known what the Prophecies had been which were contained in it without any further help or any further Revelation but we find that in the next Chapter after this the Angel doth acquaint John with the Prophecies of that Chapter and tells him what they be from point to point and therefore the little Book though eaten up by him did not acquaint him with them before nor tell him what they were Ob. But why was John commanded to eat the little Book if it had no Prophecy written in it Ans 1. To acquaint him with the sweetness and the bitterness of the Prophecies which follow for by eating of the Book which was sweet in his mouth and bitter in his belly he thereby knew that the Prophecies which follow should be be sweet in the beginning but bitter afterward 2. To signifie unto him that he had not made an end of Prophecying and in particular that the Prophecy of the sixth Trumpet was not fully ended there was a little more behind not yet revealed to him which he was to add to the former part thereof and therefore it is said thou must Prophecy again not begin a new Prophecy ab ovo from the first Original but Prophecy again that is of the other part behind belonging to the sixth Trumpet which was not spoken of before but what that other part was was not written in the little Book but reported to him by word of mouth and it belongs all of it to the sixth Trumpet and the little Book it self to boot From hence it follows 1. That the whole Prophetical part of the Apocalypse doth not consist of two main Prophecies both of them beginning their race at the same Epoche or terminus à quo of time and concluding together likewise at the same goal or terminus ad quem The first of these as Mr. Mede would have it is prophetia sigillorum reaching from the fourth Chapter unto almost the end of the tenth The second is prophetia libri beginning at the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter and reaching to the end of the Book But herein Mr. Mede is exceedingly out for there is but one Prophetical Book of the Apocalypse as hath been proved in this Question and this Book is Prophetia sigillorum the Prophecy of the seals reaching from the fourth Chapter or rather from the sixth Chapter to the end of the Revelation 2. That the Prophecies of the Revelation shall come to pass in order as they came forth out of the sealed Book seal after seal Trumpet after Trumpet Vial after Vial and so of all the rest in order as they were presented unto Iohn in Vision of which more in the next Question 2 Quest Whether the Prophecies of the Revelation shall come to pass in order as they were revealed to John Ans 1. Things revealed at once and not at several distant times come to pass in order as they be revealed as for instance The Prophecy of the four Monarchiles Dan. 7. was revealed to Daniel all at once and it did and shall come to pass in order as it was revealed so the Prophecy of the Ram and Hee-Goat Dan. 8. was revealed to him all at once and it came to pass in order as it was revealed and so give instance where you will it never failes But now the Prophecies of the Revelation were revealed to Iohn all at once and not at several distant times as was proved at large Disp 1. q. 2. therefore they shall come to pass in order as they were revealed It is otherwise where things are revealed at several distant times here no such order is observed as for instance The Prophecy of the fourth beast Dan. 7. was revealed to him above a year before the Prophecy of the Ram and Hee-Goat mentioned Dan. 8. but yet the Prophecy of the Ram and Hee-Goat came to pass before it In like manner had the Prophecies of the Revelation been revealed to Iohn at several distant times as some of Daniels Prophecies were we could not conclude from thence that they shall come to pass in order as they were revealed but in regard they were revealed to him all at once or at one continued time without ceasing or intermission of his ecstasie we may and must conclude from thence that they shall come to pass in order as they were revealed and presented unto Iohn in Vision 2. The Prophecies of the Revelation were written all of them in one Book and not in two and that was the Book sealed with seven seals c. 5. But as for the little Book c. 10. it had not any Prophecy written in it as was proved at large in the former Question Now had the Prophecies of the Revelation been written in two Books and not in one it might be possible that the Prophecies of these two Books might begin their race at the same Epoche or terminus a quo of time and conclude together likewise at the same goal or terminus ad quem but in regard they were all of them written in one Book and not in two here is no colour at all for such a groundless imagination 3. Histories write of things in order as they come to pass as if a man were to write a Chronicle of the Kings of England he would not put King Henry the eighth and his Reign before King Henry the seventh but set down the Kings in order as they Reigned And no other is the case here the prophetical part of the Revelations is a History of things to come as a Chronicle is a History of things past and therefore it sets down things in order as a Chronicle doth 4. It is acknowledged by Mr. Mede and others of his mind that all the Prophecies in the Revelation except that of the Palm-bearers Rev. 7.9 from the beginning of the sixth Chapter to the middle of the tenth shall come to pass in order as they were Revealed but the grand Question is of those which follow after Now that the Prophecies which follow after from the beginning of the eleventh Chapter to the end of the Revelation shall come to pass in order as they were Revealed shall be proved severally of them all when I come to write on those Chapters see Ch. 11. q. 1. ch 12. q. 1 2. ch 13. q. 1. ch 16. q. 1. First second third fourth c. are all of them ordinal numbers and not cardinal and they are so called because they shew not only the number of things spoken of but the order also Now the Prophecies of
not contemporants therefore here is no Synchronising The third Synchronisin is of the Vials with the sixth Trumpet Answ To which I answer 1. That the seven Vials are the seven last plagues Rev. 15.1 and therefore they do not begin the ruine of the Beast but end it 2. The Kingdom of the Beast is not brought to such a ruine in the sixth Trumpet as to put an end to his forty two Moneths all that is done in that Trumpet is the falling of the tenth part of the City and the loss of seven Thousand men and what is that to the ruine of the Beasts Kingdom or to the ending of his forty two Moneths 3. The Beast shall have a far greater loss than that before any of the Vials be effused for the Harvest Chap. 14. is a far greater loss than that in the sixth Trumpet and the Vintages far greater than the Harvest and both of them shall come upon the Beast before any of the Vials be effused 4. The fifth Vial is poured out upon the Throne of the Beast but that the Beasts Throne is touched in the time of the sixth Trumpet I deny For by the tenth part of the City is not meant the Throne of the Beast but Jerusalem 5. The seventh Vial is a consummating Vial and the seventh Trumpet a consummating Trumpet but this doth not make them to contemporate for the one takes up more time in consummating than the other doth as having more things to consummate than the other hath the one begins Chap. 16. and consummates the things from thence unto the end the other begins Chap. 11. and reaches from thence unto the end of the Revelation The fourth Synchronism is of the thousand years of Satans being bound with the seventh Trumpet or the space from the destruction of the Beast Ans To which I answer that the thousand years of Satans being bound are shorter than the seventh Trumpet both à parte ante and à parte post 1. They are shorter à parte ante for the thousand years begin Rev. 20. 1. but the seventh Trumpet begins Rev. 11. 15. and all the Prophecies between that Chapter and the twentieth belong unto the seventh Trumpet and not unto the little Book which had no Prophecy written in it Again the thousand years expire at the enlargement of the Prisoner Rev. 20.7 but the seventh Trumpet goes beyond it and contains under it not only that enlargement but the insurrection and destruction of Gog and Magog the resurrection of the dead and the final Judgment so that the thousand years are much shorter than the seventh Trumpet both à parte ante on the fore part and à parte post on the hinder part To that which follows in the Synchronism I have no more to say but what has been spoken to already the rest not spoken to I leave to others to answer that have a mind unto it for my opinion is that the Prophecies of the Revelation shall come to pass in order as they were revealed The fifth Synchronism is of the thousand years of the Soveraign Reign of Christ and of the seventh Trumpet or the space from the destruction of the Beast Ans To which I answer that the seventh Trumpet and the space of time which succeeds the destruction of the Beast are not all one for that space begins with the twentieth Chapter but the seventh Trumpet begins before and contains not that space alone but all the Prophecies besides from the eleventh Chapter to the twentieth The rest that follows in that Synchronism I leave to others to answer that be so minded for my opinion is that the Prophecies of the Revelation what ever the meaning of them be shall come to pass in order as they were revealed The sixth Synchronism is of the new Jerusalem the Lambs Bride with the seventh Trumpet or the space from the destruction of the Beast Ans To which I answer 1. In general that the new Jerusalem doth not begin at the destruction of the Beast nor contemporate with the thousand years but succeed them 2. I answer to each Argument in particular To the first I say that the marriage of the Lamb Rev. 19.7 and the marriage Rev. 21.2.9 are not the same The first is the personal marriage of Christ with the spouse in grace the other is the personal marriage of Christ with the spouse in glory To the second I deny that the new Jerusalem is the beloved City which Gog and Magog shall environ after the thousand years are ended Rev. 20.9 for this latter is the Church in the full state of grace but the other is the Church in the full state of glory To the third factum est it is done Rev. 16.17 is not the same factum est with that Rev. 21.6 By the first is meant that the seven last plagues were then expiring that being the last which then was pouring out and the full state of grace was ended and the state of glory was presently to begin The fourth Argument proves no more than this that the new Jerusalem shall succeed the utter exstinction of the Beast and Babylon but that it shall succeed immediately ' I deny The order shall be this Babylon shall be destroyed first the Beast and false Prophet next then shall be the thousand years after them the insurrection and destruction of Gog and Magog after that the last Judgment then the Lake of fire for the cursed and the new Jerusalem for the blessed The seventh Synchronism of the Palm-bearing multitude of the numberless triumphants out of all Nations Tribes People and tongues c. 7. v. 9. with the seventh Trumpet or space of time from struction of the Beast c. 11.15 Ans Two Arguments are brought to prove this the first is to this effect The Palm-bearing multitude immediately succeeds the Company of the Sealed and that company ended with the Beast at the exit of the sixth Trumpet therefore the Palm-bearing multitude followeth both Ans But if you look into the seventh Chapter you shall there find they immediately succeed the time of their Sealing not the race of the Sealed but the time of their Sealing Now their Sealing is in the time of the sixth Seal before any of the Trumpets do begin therefore these Palm-bearers precede the seventh Trumpet and the first to boot The second Argument is that they be Citizens of the new Jerusalem Ans But in the sixth Seal under which they are presented unto John they are not come to that estate at that time their bodies being not then raised from the Grave their Souls being then in Heaven in the state of bliss at such time as the Sealed ones are Sealed on earth Other things there be in these Synchronisms which for brevity sake I omit to speak unto By that which hath been said the Reader may perceive there be no such Synchronisms as he would have except those which belong to one and the same Prophecy as the two Beasts in the thirteenth
preached the Revelation to them the places being far distant one from another therefore he was necessitated to write his Revelation to the Churches and send it all together and his Commission was so to do Rev. 1.11 7. There was not any considerable intermission between one Vision and another excepting onely at the opening of the seventh seal where there was an intermission not of Iohns ecstasie for he was in the Spirit all that while but an intermission of farther Revelations for the space of half an hour and no longer Rev. 8.1 but between the other Visions there was not such an intermission but as soon as one was past the other came immediately without any considerable intermission as you may read Rev. 11.14 8. The Book sealed with seven seals was revealed all at once and not at several times far distant one from other Rev. 5.1 now that Book contained in it all the Prophecies in the Revelation as shall be proved when we come unto the tenth chapter 9. The seven Trumpets were presented to the Apostle all together Rev. 8.2 and so were the seven vials too Rev. 15.7 and he did not see one Trumpet in one year and another Trumpet in 〈◊〉 year nor one Vial in one Kings Reign and another vial in another Kings Reign but he saw them successively all together and because all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the eighth chapter downward do belong to these two therefore they were revealed when they were The Prophecy in the eleventh chapter which concerns the two witnesses doth belong to the sixth Trumpet and was revealed when that Trumpet was Rev. 11.14 the Prophecies in the twelfth thirteenth and fourteenth chapters do belong to the seventh Trumpet and were revealed when that Trumpet was and the Prophecy concerning the fall of Babylon in the seventeenth eighteenth and nineteenth chapters doth belong to the seventh Vial and was revealed when that Vial was Rev. 16.19 and consequently all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the eighth chapter downward were revealed all together not at several distant times but successively one after another without an interval between the Prophecy which immediately goes before and the Prophecy which immediately follows after 10. Iohn received all his Visions when he was in the Spirit and there is no mention that Iohn was in the Spirit any other day than on the Lords day Rev. 1.10 and he saith the Lords day in the singular number and not the Lords days in the plural number 11. If Iohn received the Visions of the Revelation at several distant times some in one Kings Reign and some in another Kings Reign then seeing he returned from exile as they say in Claudius's time I would intreat them to tell me whether every time he received a Vision after Claudius's death he were not carried by the Spirit into Patmos to receive it or else received it elsewhere and seeing he saw the name of the Beast as they say in Domitian's time whether he were not carried by the Spirit into Patmos to see that name 〈◊〉 recarried back again to Ephesus after he had seen it These â—â—â—…tions do not become the Pens of learned men but if they will suppose or invent such things as these and deliver them for truth it becomes not any man to believe such feigned imaginations 12. Iohn received all his Visions in a trance and how many trances was he in if he received them at sundry times and not at once We read but of one trance that he was in and that was in Patmos on the Lords day Rev. 1.9 10. and therefore he received his Visions all at once before he was out of that trance 3. Quest Whether the Prophecies of the Revelation shall come to pass in Asia or in Europe Ans The Prophecies were written unto Asia and not unto Europe Rev. 1.4.11 therefore in all likelyhood they have their accomplishment in Asia chiefly if not in Asia only 2. Iohn was to write both the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter Rev. 1.19 Now by the things which are is meant the things which are in Asia therefore by the things which shall be hereafter is meant the things which shall hereafter be in Asia 3. Christ himself doth make the chief scene of the Prophecies to be Asia Rev. 22.16 I Jesus have sent nine Angels to testifie unto you these things in the Churches so we read in the English but in the Greek 't is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concerning the Churches so that the Churches are the scene of the Prophecies though not the adequate scene of them all yet the scene of many of them and the things he writes to them of are concerning the Churches or which is all one they shall befall the Churches and what is meant by the Churches but the Churches of Asia Rev. 1.4.11 4. To what purpose should he write to Asia the fates and destinies of another Country and not acquaint them with the fates and destinies of their own But if the scene of the Prophecies be Europe what doth he else but acquaint them with the fates and destinies of another Country and neglect to tell them the fates and destinies of their own 5. What be the places which are named in the Prophecies and made the Scene where they shall be acted be they not Ierusalem Sion Babylon the East and the River Euphrates and where shall we find these places but in Asia Rev â—â— 14. Rev. 11.2.8 Rev. 14.1 Rev. 16.12 though not in Asia Minor yet in Asia Major and therefore the Revelation is concerning both Asia's and the things spoken of in the Epistles to the seven Churches are concerning Asia Minor and the Prophecies which follow afterward concerning Asia Major not secluding Asia Minor from having a share in them also 6. That which I drive at in this question is against those which make the chief Scene of the Prophecies to be Europe and will have none of them come to pass in Asia except the Prophecy of the sixth Trumpet concerning the four Angels which were bound at Euphrates Rev. 9.14 when as the chief Scene of the Prophecies is Asia and but very few of them shall come to pass in Europe and those few are such as are common to them both such as is the Prophecy of the Resurrection of the dead of the final Judgment and of the end of the World which concern all persons throughout the World Rev. 20 21 22 23 c. 7. The seat of the Holy War was Iudaeae yet the Soldiers that Warred there against the Turks and Saracens were Europeans and such is the case here the main seat of the Prophecies is Asia yet the Countries near adjoyning may feel the smart of them as Europe felt the smart of the Holy War which was waged in Iudaea 8. The Prophecy of the final Judgment doth concern all the World yet the place where it shall be managed and to which they shall be brought to Judgment is Iudaea
Revelation or the prophetical part thereof may not fitly be divided into two main Prophecies as he would have it whereof the first is Prophetia sigillorum the prophecy of the Seals reaching from the fourth Chapter or rather from the sixth Chapter to almost the end of the tenth the second as he would have it is Prophetia libri the prophecy of the little Book beginning at the eighth Verse of the tenth Chapter and reaching to the end of the Revelation I say that this may not fitly be done because there is but one prophecy of the Revelation and that is Prophetia sigillorum the prophecy of the Seals which begins at the sixth Chapter and reacheth to the end of the Revelation for as for the little Book it had not any prophecy written in it and Mr. Mede should have proved that the little Book had all the prophecies in the Revelation from the eighth Verse of the tenth Chapter to the end of the Book written in it and not have supposed it so to be 3. That because there is but one Book of prophecy and not two therefore the prophecies of the eleventh Chapter and so onwards which are subsequent to the little Book shall not begin their race at the same Epoche that the Seals do and so run along with them ad eandem metam to the same Goal for this were to make two Books of prophecy when there is but one 4. Suppose it to be true as he saith that the Revelation doth consist of too main prophecies and the first of them to be Prophetia sigillorum the prophecy of the Seals reaching from the fourth Chapter to almost the end of the tenth the other to be Prophetia libri the prophecy of the little Book beginning at the eighth Verse of the tenth Chapter and reaching to the end of the Revelation Yet it no way follows that these two prophecies must contemporate or begin their race at the same Epoche of time and conclude together at the same Goal for the latter may begin where the other left for all that 5. Suppose the Book of the Revelation might fitly be divided into two Tomes and the second Tome to begin at the eighth Verse of the tenth Chapter at these Words And the voyce which I heard from Heaven spake unto me again yet by that voyce is not meant the voyce mentioned Chap. 4. vers 1. but the voyce mentioned Chap. 10. vers 4. and by the Words Thou must prophecy again is not meant that he must begin a new prophecy ab ovo from the first Original but rather that he must begin where he left before As if a man were commanded to write a History of the Kings of Israel in two Volumes the first Volume beginning with the Reign of Saul and ending with the Reign of David the other Volume beginning with the Reign of Solomon and ending with the Reign of Zedekiah doth not this last Volume begin where the other left And no other is the case here Suppose the prophecies of the Revelation to consist of two Tomes the one reaching from the fourth or sixth Chapter to the eighth Verse of the tenth Chapter the other from thence to the end of the Book this last tome doth not contemporate with the former but succeeds it and begins to Prophecy where the other left 6. We read not that the voice ch 10. v. 8. was as the sound of a Trumpet and therefore not likely to relate to the voice ch 4. v. 1. but rather to the voice ch 10. v. 4. for that voice ch 4. v. 1. is said to be as the sound of a Trumpet but this not But to what purpose he would have the Reader take notice of this I cannot tell Is this an Index that the Prophecy of the little Book as he calls it doth contemporate with the Prophecy of the Seals No more than the voice ch 4. v. 1. is an Index that the Prophecy of the Seals doth contemporate with the Vision of the seven Churches Rev. 1.10 for both these Rev. 4.1 as well that Rev. 1.10 as that Rev. 4.1 had a voice as of a Trumpet before them yet they do not contemporate each with other Lastly you may be sure that it is not so as he saith that the second Prophecy or the Prophecy of the little Book doth begin at the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter and reach from thence to the end of the Revelation because Ch. 11. you have the Period of the sixth Trumpet and the beginning of the seventh from the fourteenth verse to the end of the Chapter both which belong not unto the little Book but to the Prophecy of the Seals as you may see if you look into his scheme And thus much by way of answer to his Preface I come now to the Synchronisms themselves The first Synchronism which is the principal one is of the seventh Seal so far as the six first Trumpets reach with the ten horned and two horned Beasts and the rest contemporisers Ans To which I answer first in general that the beginning of the Beast doth not contemporate with the beginning of the seventh Seal as he would have it nor the end of the Beast contemporate with the exit of the sixth Trumpet therefore here is no Synchronising 2. I answer to each branch of the Argument in particular and 1. I say that the beginning of the Beast doth not contemporate with the beginning of the seventh Seal but is the off-spring of the seventh Trumpet and comes forth into the World after the seventh Trumpet is begun Rev. 11.15 Rev. 13.1 2. One opposite may be before another witness David and Goliah who were deadly opposites one unto another yet Goliah was the elder and David was the younger and did outlive Goliah so though these Sealed Virgins be opposite to the Beast Reigning yet the Virgins are the elder Company and are Sealed by the Angel before the Beast has a being in the World Opposition implies a partial contemporation not a total 3. In what respect are the Sealed Virgins opposite to the Beast but in respect of Religion and warlike persecution for Religion And how either of these severally or both of them joyntly can cause a total contemporation I am yet to seek For instance The Christians and the Turks are opposites in respect of their Religion and who knows not but that the Christian Religion was before the Turkish And they be also opposite in respect of War and yet this made them not contemporate but come behind the Christians So what if these Virgins be opposite to the Beast in respect of Religion is not their Religion before his And what if difference in Religion produce a War betwixt them doth not this War succeed Religion and the Beast that is raised to begin this War succeed it too 4. If you look into the text you shall find that these Virgins though they be before the Beast in respect of their Sealing yet they actually oppose him
Verse of the eleventh Chapter as they might have done the matter had been more clear perspicuous and evident to the eye than now it is It cannot be denied saith Mr. Mede but the Division of Chapter especially in the New Testament being but Humani instituti is sometimes so ill ordered that it doth much prejudice the Reader in understanding the meaning of the Holy Ghost Remains pag. 5. And if the Contents of this Trumpet had been ordered into one Chapter beginning with the thirteenth Verse of the ninth Chapter and ending with the fourteenth Verse of this eleventh Chapter what man would have doubted but that this Prophecy of the eleventh Chapter to the fourteenth Verse thereof did belong unto the sixth Trumpet as the Prophecy in the ninth Chapter from the thirteenth Verse to the end thereof doth 6. Had it been said in the tenth Chapter at the end of the sixth Verse The second Woe is past here had been an undeniable Argument that the Prophecy of the sixth Trumpet did not reach so far as the eleventh Chapter Or had it been said in the eleventh Chapter The first Vision of the little Book is past and behold the third Woe cometh quickly here had been another Argument that the Prophecy in the eleventh Chapter to the fourteenth Verse did belong unto the little Book and not unto the sixth Trumpet But in regard it is not said in the tenth Chapter The second Woe is past nor in the eleventh Chapter The first Vision of the little Book is past but in the eleventh Chapter vers 14. it was said The second Woe is past and behold the third Woe cometh quickly Here is an irrefragable Argument that the Prophecy in the eleventh Chapter to the fourteenth Verse doth belong unto the sixth Trumpet and not unto the little Book which had no Prophecy written in it Object In the tenth Chapter at the sixth Verse is the end of the sixth Trumpet for there 't is said that Time shall be no more Answ By time is not meant the time of the sixth Trumpet as if the time thereof were past but the meaning is as Brightman well Expounds it Exiguum admodum jam superesse tempus ad consummationem that there is now but a very little time remaining to the seventh Trumpet in which the Mystery of God shall be fulfilled Object In the same Chapter at the seventh Verse comes in the seventh Trumpet which plainly shews that the sixth Trumpet ended at the Verse before Answ But if you look into the Text you shall there find that the seventh Trumpet is then to be expected and 't is there spoken of to signifie so much But in the dayes of the Voyce of the seventh Angel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when he shall be ready to sound Quando futurum est ut clangat saith Brightman when his turn shall come to sound which plainly shews that the time for the seventh Trumpet was not yet come to sound and that the time of the sixth Trumpet was not yet expired but to continue longer even to the fourteenth verse of the eleventh Chapter Ob. The Prophecy of the little Book is no part of the sixth Trumpet but the Prophecy of this eleventh Chapter from the first verse to the fourteenth doth belong unto the little Book therefore c. Ans I deny the Major for a little Book may be the issue or Daughter of a great Book and as out of the seventh Seal came forth seven Trumpets so out of the sixth Trumpet came forth the little Book whether any thing were written therein or no and if there were it doth belong unto the sixth Trumpet and to no other 2. I deny the minor for the little Book had not any Prophecy written in it as hath been shewed in the former Chapter and when the Angel said to John in the former Chapter Thou must Prophecy again his meaning is not that he must begin a new Prophecy ab ovo and so begin a new Book repeating the same times over again as Mr. Mede would have it clavis Apoc. p. 13. Remà ines p. 4 5. but his meaning is that he must go forward with the former Prophecy of the Seals and Trumpets and in particular with the Prophecy of the sixth Trumpet and make known the other part thereof which was yet behind Ob. By 42 months mentioned ver 2. is meant Prophetical months and by 1260 days ver 3. is meant Prophetical days that is 1260 years as appears Numb 14.34 Ezech. 4.6 but it is not likely that the sixth Trumpet should continue half so long Ans Look into the Prophets he that will he shall never find a Prophetical month any more than a natural month and that is thirty natural days and no more and as for the word dayes it is very seldom if ever at all put for years unless it be typically as Numb 14.34 Ezech. 4.6 but not elsewhere 2. What if Numb 14.34 Ezech. 4.6 a day be put for a year Is it therefore so here Or is it so in all other Prophecies of the Scripture beside If it were it is very likely it should be so here but look into the Prophets while you will you shall hardly find it taken for a year in other places therefore not likely it should be so taken in the Revelation 3. Is the same number or the same matter spoken of Numb 14.34 Ezech. 4.6 as is here If it were no doubt they should be taken all alike in all the three places but compare the words together you shall not find the same number nor the same matter spoken of Numb 14.34 Ezech. 4.6 as is here 4. What if I should shew you a Text of Scripture where the self same number that is here used is taken literally for 1260 natural days and no more Is not this a more probable Argument that it is so taken here Look then into the next Chapter following vers 6. and ask Mr. Mede himself and others of our Protestant Divines whether 1260 days be any more than three years and a half Comment Apoc. pag. 174. Moulins Accomplishment of Prophecies pag. 194. 200 201. Piscator in Apoc. cap. 12. v. 6. and then judge of it 5. What if Numb 14.34 Ezek. 4.6 days be not put for years absolutely but typically Read the words and you shall find that to be the meaning After the number of the days in which ye searched the Land even 40 days each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities even forty years be not days here types of years So again Ezech. 4.5 6. According to the number of the days 390 days so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the House of Israel And when thou hast accomplished them lye again on thy right side and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the House of Juda 40 days I have appointed thee each day for a year is not this typically to be understood And if days be not put for years in neither of these places unless it be
Adrians time but we read in some Books of History that Adrian would have built a Church for Christians without Images if some about him had not told him that it would be dishonourable to all the rest of the Gods which was the cause he did it not See Prideaux History pag. 199. 2. The not measuring of the Court which is without the Temple doth imply the not building of it therefore the building of a new City at Jerusalem by Adrian in the place where the outer Court did stand cannot be meant thereby 3. After the building of the Temple and the Altar the outer Court shall be given to the Gentiles and the Holy City shall they tread under Foot 42 months after the Holy places be provided and no longer but since the time of Adrian to this day has been more than 42 months which way soever we take them and Jerusalem has been troden under foot by the Gentiles all this while 4. The two Witnesses be not two Bishops at Jerusalem the one of the Jewish the other of the Gentile Congregations for there was but one Bishop of Jerusalem at one time and there were but fifteen Bishops in all until the destruction of the Jews by Adrian and all of them were Jews whereof the first was James the Brother of the Lord and the last was Judas and after the City was destroyed by him there were no more Bishops of the Jews but of the Gentiles and the first of them was Marcus See Eusebius l. 4. c. 5. l. 5. c. 11. 5. The two witnesses be Prophets extraordinary as appears by their description v. 3 4. and by their miracles v. 5 6. now there were no Prophets extraordinary in the days of Adrian and there were not any that could do such miracles as these had power to do v. 5 6. in Adrians time nor in any time since 6. When the two Witnesses shall have finished their testimony the Beast that cometh out of the bottomless Pit shall make War against them and overcome them and slay them v. 7. Now there was no Beast in Adrians time except Adrian himself and he did not make War against the Christians in Judaea but against the wicked and Rebellious Jews only but they with whom I deal in this question will not allow Adrian to be the Beast here spoken of but one Barchocheba a Rebellious Captain of the Jews in Adrians time Now by the Beast is meant some potent King or other that had ten Kings under him or to joyn with him as appears Rev. 17.12 13.17 but Barchocheba was no King nor had any King under him or to joyn with him 7. After the two Witnesses had been dead three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet v. 11. but there were not any that were raised from death to life in the days of Adrian nor in any time since And if it be said that this is meant of their successours to this I answer 1. That the two Witnesses had no successours for there were no such Prophets in Adrians time nor at any time since and there were not any that could do such miracles as these had power to do v. 5 6. in Adrians time nor in any time since 2. The souls of men after they be dead do not enter into other mens bodies but into their own bodies only now 't is said the Spirit of life that is their Souls entred into them v. 11. therefore this is not meant of their successours but of their own bodies for if the Spirit of life did enter into their successours it did not enter into them but into others and they did not stand upon their feet that is their own feet but upon the feet of others 3. They heard a voice from Heaven saying unto them Come up hither and they ascended up to Heaven in a Cloud and their enemies beheld them v. 12. Now what man did ever ascend to Heaven in successours And what benefit were it to him if he did We read that Christ ascended thither and so did Enoch and Elias but of any that went to Heaven in successours we read not in all the Scripture And if these two Witnesses did ascend to Heaven as were made alive in successours what became of their dead bodies The Text saith they shall lye in the street of the great City and they shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in Graves v. 8 9. but if the Spirit of life did not enter into them what became of their dead bodies afterward Did they lye in the street still Or did the Ravens eat them or the Dogs devour them or were they buried in the earth-quake Or what became of them let them tell me if they can And let them tell me too whether Barchocheba and his complices whom they suppose to be the enemies of the Witnesses here spoken of were not dead before the Christians in Adrians time were advanced to peace and Halcyonian days in Iudaea And if they were how can it be said that their enemies did behold their ascension into Heaven seeing they were dead before And lastly if the Witnesses were made alive in successours why do they not also say that the Widows Son of Naim was made alive in a successour And if they ascended up to Heaven in successours why do they not also say that Enoch and Elias ascended thither in successours Yea why do they not say that Christ himself ascended thither in a successour And why do they not say that all the Texts of Scripture which speak of the Resurrection of the dead be meant of the rising of successours And if they can have Faith to believe that the Texts of Scripture which speak of the Resurrection of the dead be meant of the Resurrection of the same bodies that were dead why can they not have so much Faith as a grain of Mustard Seed to believe that the enlivening of the Witnesses is meant of the enlivening of the same bodies that were dead 8. The same hour that this was done there was a great earthquake v. 13. but we read not of any earth-quake at Ierusalem in Adrians time but in Iulians time there was 9. The tenth part of the City fell v. 13. Now in Adrians time the whole City was destroyed and the Plough passed over it and a new one built by Adrian on its ruines which he called Aelia after his own name Aelius And here we are to take notice that this new City was not built by Adrian before the Rebellion of the Iews began as the Temple and the Altar were v. 1. before the Witnesses began to Preach but this new City was built by him after the Rebellion of the Iews was over Eusebius l. 4. c. 6. Carion Chron. l. 3. p. 229. 10. And in the earth-quake were slain of men seven thousand v. 13. but the Iews that were slain in
ordinary and accustomed when as the literal sense makes it a Prophecy extraordinary and to speak of things not usual nor accustomed such as never were but in the Land of Aegypt and they that were in Aegypt though the same for kind were not so grievous as these Vials are like to be 2. It makes the Scripture a nose of Wax which a man may turn which way he will one may turn it one way and another may turn it another way and there be well nigh as many interpretations of the mystical sense as there be writers on the Revelation 3. It subjects the Scripture to our vain lusts and humours and gives every one liberty to interpret it as his humour leads him 4. It makes the Scripture mean not what it speaks but what men would have it mean 5. It makes men interpret the Revelation of themselves or of their own party and of the times wherein they live and the good things they think are spoken of themselves and the evil things of their enemies 6. It turns the Scripture into nonsense what sense is it to say that by the earth in the first Vial is meant the lowest of the People as if an Ulcer could not fall upon the highest as well as upon the lowest What sense is it to say every living soul died in the Sea that is in the extent and compass of the Papal power and Jurisdiction when as there be five Vials to fall upon some men afterward What sense is it to say that the darkness in the fifth Vial is meant of spiritual darkness as if they were not spiritually dark before that or any other of the Vials did begin What sense is it to understand by the Kings of the East in the sixth Vial the Kings of the West and by the River Euphrates which is a River in the East to understand the Popes revenues in the West and by the drying up of that River to understand the draining away the Popes revenues in the West these and many more absurdities do follow from the mystical interpretation of the Vials Ob. If we take the Earth Sea Rivers and Fountains of waters c. in a literal sense how should a Vial of wrath poured out on these be any wit more prejudicial without a miracle to Gods enemies then his Friends who partake of the benefit of these in common with the other Ans 1. Did not Moses sprinkle the ashes of a Furnace towards Heaven and it became dust upon the Earth and after that a boyl breaking forth with blanes upon man and Beast Exod. 9.10 and was not this more prejudicial to Gods enemies then his Friends Again did not Moses smite the waters in the River Et quaecunque Ioannes discipulus Domini vidit in Apocalypsi inveniet casdom plagas universaliteraccipere gentes quas tunc particulatim accepit Aegyptus Irenaeus adversus Haereses lib. 4. c. 50. and they became blood Exod 7.20 21. and was not this more prejudical to the Aegyptians then to the Israelites So thirdly did not Moses stretch forth his hand toward Heaven and there was a thick darkness in all the Land of Aegypt three days Exod. 10.22 23. and was not this more prejudicial to Gods enemies then his Friends And Lastly did not Moses stretch forth his hand toward Heaven and the Lord rained hail upon the Land of Aegypt Exod. 9.23 and was not this more prejudicial to the Aegyptians then the Israelites And if God could do all this and much more in Aegypt in a literal sense why can he not do the like in other Countries without prejudice to his own People 2. Whereas 't is said without out a miracle we say that God in every one of these Vials works a miracle as he did in Aegypt and we further say that God hath promised to do the like again in other Countries According to the days of thy comming out of the Land of Aegypt will I shew unto him marvellous things the Nations shall see and be confounded c. Micah 7.15 16.3 Whereas 't is said that they partake of the benefit of these in common with the other it is nothing so at this time for the Saints do not live in the Beasts Dominions at this time or in that part of them where the Vials fell for they were either slain or fled out of his Dominions before any of the Vials did begin Rev. 12.6.14 Rev. 13.7 Rev. 16.6 Rev. 18.4 Ob. Did ever Rivers and Fountains of waters literally shed the blood of Saints or did God ever in way of revenge give them blood to drink Ans Did men never read the Book of Exodus Did ever the Rivers and Fountains of Aegypt literally shed the blood of the Israelites Yet God turned them to blood as a Plague on the Aegyptians Exod. 7.17 18 19 20 21. and no other is the meaning here The third Angel poured out his Vial on the Rivers and Fountains of Waters and they became blood v. 4. and wherefore is this done but in way of revenge upon the men that they might not have the benefit of the waters as heretofore they had and that because they that is the men which drank of those waters shed the blood of the Saints and the Prophets and thou hast given them that is the men blood to drink Ob. The Book of Exodus is a History but the Revelation is a Prophecy and therefore may not be compared each with other Ans A Prophecy may be compared with a History in respect of the matter Mat. 2.6.18 Mat. 3.3 Mat. 8.17 Mat. 21.5 though not in respect of the time for the matter of a Prophecy may be the matter of a History when it is fulfilled like as the matter of a History was the matter of a Prophecy before it was fulfilled the difference many times is not in respect of matter but in respect of time A Prophecy is the relating of a thing to come and a History is the relating of a thing past but the thing related may be materially the same in both 2. The Book of Exodus is both a History and a Prophecy for the words in Exodus 7.20 21. are a History of turning the waters into blood but the words v. 17 18. are a Prophecy of it before hand So again the words in Exodus 9 10 11. are a History of the Boyl which fell upon the Aegyptians but the words v. 8 9. are a Prophecy of the Boyl before it came to pass So thirdly the words in Exodus 10.22 are a History of the darkness that was in Aegypt but the words v. 21. are a Prophecy thereof and therefore the comparison in all the three places with the Vials of the Revelation is very fit and suitable each to other Ob. How can a Vial be poured on the Sun and not on the Saines which live under it or how can the Sun torment men with fervent heat and the Saints not be tormented by it Ans 1. The fire which slew
alive and complain of the pain of that sore in the time of the fifth Vial. 6. The last Seal is the longest Seal of all for it contains under it all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the beginning of the eighth Chapter to the end of the Book so the seventh Trumpet is the longest Trumpet and comprehends under it all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the fifteenth verse of the eleventh Chapter to the end of the Book and so thirdly the last Vial is the longest Vial and all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the seventeenth verse of the sixteenth Chapter to the end of the Revelation belong unto it and when I say the Vials are of short continuance it is to be understood of the sik first Vials and of so much only of the seventh as reacheth from the seventeenth verse of this sixteenth Chapter to the beginning of the twentieth CHAP. XVII The Prophecy concerning Babylon and the destruction of it 1. AND one of the seven Angels which had the essusion of the seven Vials in my Vision and shall have the execution of them when they are to be executed came unto me in my Vision and talked with me saying come hither and I will shew thee the destruction of the great Whorish City which at the commencement of this seventh Vial shall rule over many Nations and who they be that shall destroy her 2. With whom the Kings of the earth shall commit Idolatry and the Inhabiters of the same shall be made drunk with her spiritual and also with her corporal Fornication 3. So he took me aside and carried me in a Vision of my mind into the Wilderness where I saw a woman representing not what was then in being but what shall be hereafter sitting upon a Scarlet coloured Beast full of names of Blasphemy many ways committed against God and Jesus Christ and the Beast had seven heads and ten Horns representing what should be hereafter 4. And the woman which I saw was arrayed in costly apparel of Purple and Scarlet colour and decked with Gold and pretious Stones and Pearls and she had a cup of Gold in her hand representing still what should be hereafter full of abominable sins and wickedness and also most grievous and loathsome Fornication 5. And in her forehead she had a name written declaring what manner of City she should be not perspicuously but in a mystery Babylon the great the Mother of Whoredoms and vile abominations of the earth 6 And besides all this I saw the Woman exceeding drunk with the blood of the Saints of God and of the Martyrs of Jesus Christ and when I saw she was such a one I wondred greatly with exceeding admiration what this Woman should mean 7. And as I was thus wondring in my mind the Angel said unto me wherefore didst thou wonder and continue in so doing I will tell thee what is meant by this wicked woman and what is meant by the Beast that beareth her which hath seven heads and ten Horns 8. The Beast which thou sawest is a King which shall have a Crown and loose it and obtain his Crown again and then go into Perdition and never have a being any more he shall have a Crown before the seventh Vial shall commence he shall loose it a little after the commencement of it and obtain the same again and go into Perdition too before this seventh Vial shall be ended and all the Inhabitants of the earth which were not elected to Salvation shall wonder at it when they see the Beast which shall have a Crown and loose it to obtain his Crown again 9. And this is the sense and meaning of the Vision the seven heads be seven Mountains upon which the City shall be built 10. And they do also signifie seven Kings five of them shall fall and be dead and gone before the seventh Vial shall commence the sixth shall be alive at the commencement of that Vial and the seventh is then to be expected and when he cometh to the Crown he shall enjoy it but a little while 11. And the Beast which shall have a Crown and loose it he shall be the eighth King and succeed the seventh and yet be of the number of the seven too and go into Perdition and be no more for ever 12. And the ten Horns which thou sawest the Beast to have do also signifie ten Kings which as yet have not received a Kingdom nor shall have any one before the Beast hath lost his and recovered it again and then they shall receive power to Reign as Kings in one Kingdom one hour with the Beast and this shall be when the seventh Vial shall commence and in the time of it and not before 13. And though they be ten yet they shall have but one mind and adhere unto the Beast with one consent and give their Warlike power and strength to the assistance of the Beast till the rebellious City be destroyed 14. And yet we may not think that they be Christian Kings for after this is done they shall fight against the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them in the War and though they be Kings themselves yet he is a greater King then they even the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and they that be with him and on his side be chosen and better Souldiers then any the ten Kings have and also Faithful to him too 15. And the Angel also told me what is meant by the waters upon which the woman sitteth and he said unto me that they do signifie multitudes of People and Nations of divers Languages 16. And the ten Horns which thou sawest the Beast to have be they which shall hate the Whore not for her Religion but for her Rebellion against the Beast and make her desolate and naked without Inhabitants and slay her People with the Sword and burn her Houses with fire 17. And that which shall make them do it is because God shall put it into their hearts to fulfill his mind and will and agree together to give their Kingdom to the Beast until the City be destroyed and no longer 18. And the woman which thou sawest doth signifie the great imperial City which at the commencement of this seventh Vial shall have Dominion over the Kings and Nations of the earth and then it shall be known by name what this wicked Idolatrous and Blasphemous City is Disputation XII 1 Quest Whether Babylon be the City of Rome Arguments for the Affirmative §. 1. 1. The City which sits on seven Hills is Babylon as appears v. 9. but Rome and no other City in the World sits on seven hills the names of them are these the Capitoline Palatine Caelian Aventine Esquiline Viminal and Quirinal therefore 2. The City which hath seven heads that is seven kinds of Governours successively one after another is the City Babylon ' mentioned in this place v. 10. but Rome and no other City in the World hath seven heads that