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
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
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
the fourth universal Empire it was the City to which all Nations were subject and whither they were wont continually to resort Vers 16. And the ten Horns which thou sawest upon the Beast these shall hate the Whore and shall make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with Fire 17. For God hath put in their Hearts to fulfill his Will and to agree and give their Kingdom unto the Beast until the Words of God shall be fulfilled Here the Angel declareth what the ten Kings aforesaid should do to Rome namely that they should sack and burn it with fire But for as much as that City is here described according to the manner of the Scripture as an Harlot it is therefore suitably said that they shall make her naked and eat her flesh both which are done by pillaging the place and slaying the Inhabitants thereof Thus God saith of Jerusalem under the name of Aholibah the Harlot Ezek. 23.29 They shall deal with thee hatefully and shall take away all thy labour and shall leave thee naked and bare And David saith of his enemies that they came upon him to eat up his flesh namely with the mouth of the Sword Psal 27.2 But the reason why so many Kings otherwise at variance amongst themselves should yet agree herein and give their Kingdom to the Beast which two things here concurring to the destruction of Rome do by the way clearly intimate that it is the Beast who setteth the Kings upon this Work is because God putteth the same into their hearts to the end he may accomplish his words that he to wit had spoken touching the fall of Rome Chap. 14.8 wherefore in as much as the Angels words are so perspicuous concerning this matter they must needs be exceedingly mistaken who expect that Rome shall be destroyed either by other persons than the ten Kings aforesaid or at another time than after the seven Vials of Gods wrath have been poured out upon the Earth during the space of three years and an half that the Tyranny of the Beast over the Saints shall continue But neither is the Beast yet risen nor the ten Kings his Confederates nor those prodigious things come to pass that are mentioned in the 13. Chapter nor so much as one of the Vials poured out as will easily appear to any man who being acquainted with the Histories of former Times and finding no such occurrences there recorded had rather adhere to the plainness of the Scripture it self than follow the obscure and uncertain imaginations of men Vers 18. And the Woman which thou sawest is that great City which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth This is the Close of the Interpretation which the Angel vouchsafeth unto John wherein he discovereth who the Woman is whom John saw in the Wilderness namely the great City that reigned over the Kings of the Earth which all that are skilled in the History of those Times wherein John wrote this Prophecy know to be Rome For she commanding over the whole World must needs reign over those Kings that governed in any part of the same A Proof confirming the Truth of this matter may be seen in Tacitus who in the second Book and twenty third Chapter of his History saith Accessere cum regno Sohemus haud spernendis viribus Antiochus vetustis opibus ingens inservientium regum ditissimus Mox per occultos suorum nuncios excitus ab urbe Agrippa ignaro adhuc Vitellio celeri navigatione properaverat That is Sohemus who was a King of considerable Forces and Antiochus who was mighty for his ancient wealth and of all the subject Kings the richest sided with that party namely to make Vespasian Emperour Agrippa also upon secret Messages of his Friends quitted the City unawares to Vitellius and speedily sailed thither Thus much for the Key here given by the Angel to unlock the Mystery of the Beast which if our men had rather chosen to use than vainly attempted to break up this divine Cabinet with their own forced Interpretations neither had they so much wrested this excellent Prophecy of John nor exposed the Religion of Protestants to the contempt and scorn of her Adversaries who in likelihood measure what Protestants speak in other Points of Religion by the Standard of their Expositions concerning the Beast I should now proceed to the Explication of the eighteenth Chapter But that being onely a Relation touching the manner how Rome shall be destroyed and containing in it self little or no difficulty I judge it better to pass it by and hasten to the nineteenth Chapter wherewith the History of the Beast endeth Chap. 19. Vers 1. And after these things I heard a great Voice of much People in Heaven saying Alleluja Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power unto the Lord our God Vers 2. For true and righteous are his Judgements for he hath judged the great Whore which did corrupt the Earth with her Fornication and hath avenged the Blood of his Servants at her hand Vers 3. And again they said Alleluja And her smoke rose up for ever and ever The Exposition NO sooner is Rome sackt and burnt by the ten Kings aforesaid but this Judgement is entertained with a great shout from Heaven where a vast multitude cry Alleluja ascribing Salvation and glory and honour and power unto the Lord their God Of what persons this Multitude consisteth whither of Angels or of Men though it be not here expressed yet may it by a diligent disquisition be found out For first of all they cannot be Angels because the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be rendred here in English a Multitude is never used in the Scripture to design a great company of Angels but is on the contrary peculiar to Men as may be seen Chap. 17.15 where Multitudes in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are ranked with Peoples and Nations But all will confess that Peoples and Nations consist of Men onely Secondly this Multitude doth attribute Salvation unto God which the Angels are not any where found to do For they being by the perfection of their nature exempted from death or any other tribulation whatsoever are thereby also incapable of sharing in the salvation of God and accordingly use no such form of praising him Whence it followeth that they be men Not holy men upon the earth for they are denoted by the four and twenty elders and the four living creatures mentioned afterwards in the fourth verse of this Chapter it remaineth therefore that the multitude aforesaid consists of holy men already raised from the dead and glorified in the Kingdom of heaven when Rome is destroyed and so differ from them who after that destruction shall be made partakers of the same anticipated resurrection as may be seen in the twentieth Chapter of this prophecy and consequently are that great multitude of Saints afore mentioned in the seventh Chapter verse 9. For that those Saints are such as being risen from
whereof is in the beginning of that verse affirmed but that John would have them to persist in the belief of Christ It is also said in the 22 Chapter of this Prophecy verse the 3. that the Throne of God shall be in the New Jerusalem when nevertheless the ministery of Christ in the heavenly Tabernacle which I have before proved to be the same with the New Jerusalem as he sitteth at the right hand of the Throne of God doth undeniably shew that the Throne of God is already in that City and consequently that the aforesaid passage doth onely imply the continuance of it there Thus have I asserted the doctrine of the first resurrection and shown that the Saints who are raised from the dead after the binding of Satan do reign with Christ in heaven a thousand years From whence it doth necessarily follow that they have knowledge of all the things in the world as Christ hath otherwise how could they be partakers with him in ordering and disposing them But as they are Kings so also Priests of God and Christ and accordingly do serve them both in heaven what by giving honour and glory to them what by interceding with them for the Saints who are in the mean time reigning on the earth For so the pattern of Christ the high priest who doth himself appear before the face of God and make intercession for the Saints seemeth to require Nor need we to fear least the Papists should take any advantage from this doctrine to palliate their superstitious conceits about the Saints for I do not suppose that the Saints who are dead and as Isaiah testifieth are ignorant of us Chap. 63.16 and as Solomon Eccles 9.5 6. averreth know not any thing nor have any more a portion for ever in that which is done under the Sun do pray for them that are here abiding on the earth but only such Saints as are raised from the dead and translated into heaven becoming there not only kings but also Priests of God and Christ No marvel therefore if these persons who thus rise a thousand Years before the rest of the Dead are here pronounced both holy and happy holy for that without holiness it would have been impossible for them to have seen God much less to appear before his face for others and happy because all of them are endued with eternal Life whereas many of them that are raised after the thousand Years are expired are under the Power of the second Death as the sequel of this Chapter will shew I may add as a further accession to their happiness that they have the Privilege of Reigning with Christ over the Nations whereas they that are not raised up till the last Day thereby become incapable of such a Kingdom for as much as Christ shall then put down all Rule and all Authority and Power 1 Cor. 15.24 Vers 7. And when the thousand Years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his Prison 8. And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four Quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to Battel the Number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea 9. And they went up on the Breadth of the Earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about and the beloved City and Fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them No sooner is Satan loosed out of Prison upon the Expiration of the thousand Years but that profound Tranquillity wherein the World had so long been husht is presently disturbed and Men again embroiled in new Troubles and Commotions For Satan by his cunning Suggestions inciteth the Nations abiding in the four Corners of the World and here comprised under the name of Gog and Magog to levy a great and terrible War Of which Expedition there are two Chapters in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel namely the 38. and 39. that do discourse at large so as that what is wanting in the Revelation to the full description thereof may from thence be supplyed It appeareth therefore from the Relation of Ezekiel that Gog of which name we finde also a certain Reubenite to have sometimes been 1 Chron. 5.4 is a Prince that shall be in those Times when Satan is loosed out of his Prison and who shall issue out of the Northern parts bringing with him an innumerable Multitude of armed Men into the Land of Israel in hope of a great Booty the Israelites by reason of their former long prosperity being grown exceeding wealthy and dwelling securely without Walls Bars or Gates and having passed through the rest of the Countrey they at length sit down before Jerusalem which is therefore styled the beloved City because the City of the great King and more dear to him than all the dwellings of Jacob so encompass both her and the Army of the Saints there encamped But as it happened formerly at the Battel of Armageddon that the Saints when set in aray against the Enemies had no need to fight it being their strength to sit still and wait for the Salvation of the Lord so fareth it with them here for after a great Earthquake which is wont to be a forerunner of such miraculous Defeats See 1 Sam. 14.15 God causeth the Enemies to smite one another and not only so but also raineth Fire and Brimstone upon them out of Heaven and devoureth them The greatness of which Northern Army doth appear by two notable effects that ensue upon the destruction thereof For the House of Israel is seven Moneths burying them and seven Years burning up the Weapons wherewith they were armed so that they have no need to take any Fewel either out of the Wood or out of the Field during that time But who did ever hear or read that so prodigious an Invasion hath been made by the Northern Nations upon the Land of Israel or indeed by any Nation upon any Land whatsoever since the Book of Ezekiel was written to this very day wherefore the accomplishment of this Prophecy touching Gog and Magog is yet to be expected and consequently when it is said in the beginning of the Revelation that the time is at hand we must not thereupon conclude that whatsoever is related afterwards in that Book was shortly to be performed for this very Chapter of it whereon we now comment containeth the History of above a thousand Years but onely that they should ere long begin to be fulfilled as will easily appear to him that rightly apprehends what the opening of the Seals that are mentioned in the sixth Chapter doth intimate Vers 10. And the Devil that deceived them was call into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where the Beast and the false Prophet are and shall be tormented Day and Night for ever and ever When Gog and Magog are once destroyed Satan who had deceived and incited them to make so terrible a War upon the Saints without just cause is for his labour cast not into the bottomless Pit
no other receptacle of the dead besides these twain save only the Grave Thus we finde that Job doth by death understand the Grave Chap. 27.15 When he saith of the wicked man that those that remain of him shall be buried in death and his widows shall not weep Finally Hell not Hell-fire giveth up the souls both of them that were drowned in the Sea under which name all waters are comprehended and also of them that were buried in the earth For that Hell is designed to be the mansion of separated Souls appeareth from the words of Peter Acts 2.31 Who speaking out of the Psalms concerning the resurrection of Christ saith that his soul was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption And also from that passage of David Psalm 30.3 O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from Hell thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down into the pit For that I have rightly rendred the words in saying from hell and not from the Grave is manifest both from the Greek version which here hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and also from the Hebrew original not using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is proper to denote a Grave or Sepulchre See Gen. 23.6 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby Hell is wont to be expressed and which lieth in the lower parts of the earth See the Hebrew context of Numb 16.30.33 Besides it is apparent to common sense that not the souls but only the bodies of men are laid in the grave Vers 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire This is the second death Vers 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire What the second death is and consequently those words mean which we read in the second clause of the sixth verse foregoing as also those Chap. 2.11 where it is said He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death is here by John explained for he expresly telleth us that the lake of fire and brimstone is the second death So that to be cast into that lake and to be under the power of the second death or hurt of it are expressions of the same import Thus had we the testimony of Jesus expounded to us in the nineteenth Chapter Nevertheless how Death and Hell being both of them places and receptacles of the dead should be cast into the said lake is hard to comprehend Yea were it not for a certain passage in the sixth Chapter of this prophecy I should be inclineable to think that this was a mystery which God would not have us pry into as we have above shewn that sundry such mysteries are to be met withal in the Book of the Revelation But forasmuch as in the Chapter aforesaid verse 8. Death is brought in riding upon a pale horse and Hell following him and consequently both of them are represented in the similitude of persons we may from thence rationally collect that in the passage here under debate the Holy Ghost intending to intimate that after the universal Judgement there shall be neither burial nor separation of the soul from the body doth exhibit two persons representing Death and Hell which are thrown into the lake of fire as resigning up their Office to it and being swallowed up therein according to that of the Prophet Hosea Chap. 15.14 O death I will be thy plague O Hell so it is in the Hebrew and not Grave I will be thy destruction Besides the books of the Old and New Testament which are the rule by which the actions of men that have had some form of Religion delivered by God shall at length be examined there is yet another Book opened in the day of judgement to wit the Book of life wherein whosoever have not their names written are said to be cast into the Lake of fire From whence it may be rightly concluded that as the want of being enrolled in that Book was above in the thirteenth and also in the seventeenth Chapters alleged as the Cause why so many erred most grosly in admiring and worshipping the Beast so is it here why so many are thrown into the Lake of Fire in that it is altogether impossible for such persons to attain that piety to which the Promise of eternal Life is annexed As for the place of the Lake of Fire that is here so much spoken of were it part of the World it would of necessity perish with the World which as we have before evinced is to be abolished Wherefore seeing it abideth for ever we ought in reason to conceive that it is without the compass of the World in the Description of which the Scripture doth perpetually omit it And hence it seemeth to be called by Christ the outer Darkness Matth. 22.13 as being without the Verge of Heaven and Earth Chap. 21. Vers 1. And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea The Exposition WHat I before said touching the orderly course held by John in setting down his Prophecies is here worthy again to be observed For having in the precedent Chapter described the abolition of Heaven and Earth he now mentioneth the new Heaven and the new Earth that are to succeed in their place And he therefore affirmeth that he had seen this new Heaven and this new Earth though to this very day the old ones still continue because they were represented to him in a Vision Thus Christ saith to his Disciples Matth. 16.28 There be some of them that are standing here who shall not taste of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Not that any of them were to remain alive to the end of the World for both the Scripture and the Ecclesiastical History testifie the contrary but because about eight days after he vouchsafed to three of them a sight of that glory wherein he shall come as King to judge the World Luke 9.27 28 29 30. But for as much as many endeavour to obscure this passage of the Revelation with their forced Allegories let us confirm the plain and literal meaning thereof by what the Scripture elsewhere speaketh concerning this matter The Apostle Peter describing the Day of Judgement and the alteration that shall happen to the World thereby telleth the pious Jews to whom he directeth his Letters that the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the Works therein shall be burnt up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent