Chap. 8. The Apostle Iohn calls Love And so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies Amor as also dilectus amatus which will answer to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Platonists which is the highest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of all Vers. 14. And whose name denotes the nature thereof c. For Laodicea signifies either the Righteousness of the People that is an external popular mode of Righteousness the inward Life and Spirit decaying which is too much the state of Laodicea Or it signifies the judging of the People because in this Interval of the Church namely at the end thereof Christ will come visibly to Judge and Sentence all People to their final doom CHAPTER IV. HItherto reaches the first part of this Book of Prophecies which has this peculiar and distinctly from the other two that follow That as they run altogether upon real Symbols or Iconismes Representations or Images of what is foretold taken from Things this first part did most what run upon Nominal or Paranomastical Iconismes or Images consisting in allusion to Words or Names that signified the condition of things foretold as was obvious to observe in the explication of that first part of this Book The second part now begins and that as high and reaches as far as the first that is it reaches from the beginning of the Christian Church to the end of the world And it is to be observed that as this former part the so far extended Prophecy of the Churches was ushered in by a voice like a Trumpet and the glorious Representation of Christ in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks so here in this sealed Book-Prophecy here is again the voice like a Trumpet and Christ again represented in a glorious manner to shew the parity of these two Prophecies and that they are of the like concern and extent Which will appear more plain in the Interpretation after the Introduction in this Sealed Book-Prophecy which takes up the fourth and fifth Chapters is explained 1. After this I looked and behold a door was opened in Heaven After this Vision of the Seven Churches was past and I come to my self again having occasion to look upwards behold a door seemed to be opened in Heaven And the first voice which I heard was as if it were of a Trumpet talking with me And lo the first voice which I heard before the Vision of the Seven Churches as of a Trumpet talking with me saying Come up hither and I will shew thee the things which must be hereafter that is the Representations or Prefigurations of those future things 2. And immediately I was in the spirit which is a sign he was again come to himself before And behold a Throne was set in Heaven and one sat on the Throne Being thus caught up in Spirit in this Ecstasie I presently saw a Throne set in Heaven and one sitting on that Throne with great Majesty 3. And he that sat was to look upon like a Iasper and a Sardine Stone A Iasper and Sardine Stone the one famous for the firmness thereof denoting the strength or rather the Omnipotency of the Divinity the other for the red fiery colour of it denoting the piercing activity of the Divine Nature or the colour of Fire is here made choice of as being the root of Light to show that he that sits here on the Throne is God the Father Which answers to that appearance of Fire in him that sits on the Throne in Ezechiel's Vision to whom the Rainbow belongs Which is there God the Father with which this Vision has no small affinity as may appear because the Rainbow is seen also here about the Throne in sight like an Emerald that imitates the most pleasing colour of the Rainbow or Halo as it follows in the Text And there was a Rainbow round about the Throne in sight much like unto an Emerald 4. And round about the Throne were four and twenty seats and upon the seats I saw four and twenty Elders sitting cloathed in white rayment and they had on their heads Crowns of Gold Here it also varies from that Vision of Ezechiel as being framed for a Type of the future State of the Church when the New Ierusalem descends from Heaven and the Tabernacle of God is with men And therefore the four and twenty Elders are here said to sit round about the Throne as the Priests and Levites were pitched next the Tabernacle But in that they wear Crowns as well as white Rayment it implies the sanctity of the Kings in that State of the Church which this Type points at those renewed Apostolick Times in the New Ierusalem when the Conversion of the Jews will add the Heads of their twelve Tribes to the number of the twelve Apostles which these twenty four Elders or Princes of Nations may answer to And in that there is no one besides God and the Lamb here that appears to be Supream over them it signifies that in those Times the Popes Pretenses will vanish and that Kings and Princes then of the Christian Profession will know themselves and be acknowledged by all to be in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil within their own Dominions next and immediately under Christ Supream Heads and Governours 5. And out of the Throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices and there were seven Lamps of fire burning before the Throne which are the seven Spirits of God There is also mention of Lamps and Fire and Lightning though no Thundring in the Vision of Ezechiel which is the Representation of the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ which is here again typified but as a State to come of the Church here on Earth And the seven Lamps of Fire are either * all the ministring Angels or all the living and quickening Graces of the Spirit of God 6. And before the Throne there was a sea of glass like unto Crystal This is not found neither in the Vision of Ezechiel but is an Emblem also of the Spiritual Kingdom of Christ it being the pure laver of Regeneration the being baptized with the Holy Ghost and with Fire which the seven Lamps also betoken And in that it is called a sea of glass it may signifie the pure transparent condition of the Church which is a multitude as Sea signifies the fixed purity thereof being ever penetrated by the presence of the seven Lamps of Fire which are the seven Spirits of God And * in the midst of the Throne and round about the Throne were four Beasts full of eyes before and behind These four Beasts full of eyes before and behind have plainly a resemblance of the four Beasts in Ezechiel's Vision but may here more particularly relate to the four Camps of Israel which was a Type of the New Israel of God But in that they are said to be full of eyes before and behind it implies they look backward and forward into the Histories of Times past and unto the Prophecies and Predictions of things to
Iuda were sealed twelve thousand Of the Tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand Of the Tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand The order is much inverted and confounded in this numbring of the twelve Tribes besides that Dan is left out and Ephraims name is suppressed because those two Tribes were the ring-leaders to Idolatry Iudges chap. 17.18 But Iuda is here put before Reuben because Christ was of the Tribe of Iuda but Reuben keeps the second place as by birthright it being fit he should yield to no other especially his courage having been so notable in battles for the Lord Numb 33. and Ios. 4. Gads valour also has purchased him the next place besides that Elias and Iehu the destroyers of Baal and his worship were of the Tribe of Gad. 6. And of the Tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand This Tribe also is notable for the woman of Sarepta that entertained Elias that great Champion against the Baalitish Idolatry and for Anna the Prophetess that gave testimony to Christ when he was presented in the Temple And these are the first four Sons of Leah Of the Tribe of Nephthali were sealed twelve thousand Of the Tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand Nephthali is here placed and Manasses before their Seniours Simeon Levi Issachar and Zabulon the former because that Tribe is so much ennobled by the story of Barac the Conquerour of Sisera and for Capernaum that See as it were of that great Bishop of Souls Jesus Christ whose residence was so much at Capernaum a City of Galilee that belongs to Nephthali insomuch that he was called a Galilean And the later for the feats of Gideon the destroyer of the Altar of Baal who was of the Tribe of Manasses as was also Elisha upon whom the Spirit of Elias rested and who was sent to anoint Iehu King that sore executioner of Iezebel 7. Of the Tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand Of the Tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand Of the Tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand 8. Of the Tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand These four last Sons of Leah were ranked according to their birth there being nothing eximious in them or if there was it being blotted again by some contrary miscarriages so that there was no extraordinary merit to break the order of their birth Of the Tribe of Ioseph were sealed twelve thousand Of the Tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand Which two Tribes nominated from the other two Sons of Rachel as the Tribe of Nephthali and Manasses before from her other two are thrust down into this lowest place and the Tribe of Ioseph here put for the Tribe of Ephraim whose name is here suppressed because of the foul faults of that Tribe of Ephraim in Micha Ieroboam and Ahab all Ephraimites And Benjamin juniour of all is rightly placed last But upon the account of the whole we see the ranking and ordering of the names of the Tribes is so fitted as to represent a company zealous for Christ and as zealous against Antichrist as being that very Virgin Company with the Lamb on Mount Sion Chap. 14. and against Spiritual Whoredom which is Idolatry This pure Apostolick Church did Christ seal and keep safe even during all that dangerous time under the sounding of the first six Trumpets 9. After this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb Namely before that Throne above described in Heaven For Iohn is supposed to see all these Visions in Heaven though they concern things here on Earth Clothed in white robes and palms in their hands This part of the Vision therefore shoots beyond the Pergamenian and Thyatirian Interval of the Church and begins with the Sardian Which enjoyes that promise to him that overcomes that he shall have power over the Nations that is whole Nations Tongues and People are now become open professors of the pure Apostolick Faith this is the effect of their victory and the sign thereof the Palm-branches in their hands They are the same with them that have got the victory over the Beast his Image and his Mark and the number of his Name and sing the Song of Moses and of the Lamb Chap. 15. Which is the commencement also of the Sardian succession which signifies a Song of Joy 10. And it is here said And they cryed with a loud voice saying Salvation unto our God which sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb Namely because he has thus delivered his Israel from the Antichristian bondage and persecution they were under in the Pergamenian and Thyatirian successions 11. And all the Angels stood round about the Throne and about the Elders and four Beasts and fell before the Throne with their fates and worshipped God This may seem to strike further into those Ages of the Church that come near to or are in the Blessed Millennium to those of the Philadelphian Interval which are as it were the Succession and Off-spring of the Apostolick Church that held out in the most persecuting times of Antichrist and are all held as one continued Church but growing and spreading further In which Angelical Times the consent and harmony of Heaven and Earth will be more full and more perfectly united and accorded So that it is no wonder it is said that the Angels joyntly with the Elders and four Beasts did fall before the Throne on their faces and worship God 12. Saying Amen Blessing and glory and wisdome and thanksgiving and honour and power and might by which these happy and heavenly Times are brought upon Earth be unto God for ever and ever Amen 13. And one of the Elders answered saying unto me What are these that are arayed in white Robes and whence came they that is to say how come the true Apostolick Church in these dayes that are here foreseen to be so prosperous and successfull and victorious For to be clothed in white signifies so in the Prophetick stile 14. And I said unto him Sir thou knowest And he said to me These are they which come out of great tribulation and have washed their Robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb that is these times of the Church that are thus prosperous as well as holy it is in vertue of the great tribulation and affliction their predecessors endured under the cruel and bloody persecutions of Antichrist So that they have washed their Robes as it were and made them white in the blood of the Lamb that is the sufferings of Christ in his true and living members under Antichrist were the Instrumental Cause of the splendid and prosperous condition of the blessed Times that are here prefigured in or near the Millennium as the blood of the Lamb in the usual sense is justly deemed the meritorious cause thereof 15. Therefore are they before the Throne of God and serve him day
these plagues belong to that City or Society that is spiritually called Aegypt namely to the Papal or Antichristian Hierarchy that has so long kept the Children of God in bondage and in which the Witnesses have been so often slain Earth therefore here is chiefly repeated to bear a correspondence in the outward Cortex with Sea Rivers and Air as if God would stir up all the Elements or Nature to fight against the Beast and the Antichristian Powers And there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the Beast and upon them which worshipped his Image that is the minds of the Pontifician party were extreamly enraged and exulcerated with fury and envy against the risen Witnesses as an Evil Spirit from the Lord troubled Saul when they beheld them Chap. 11. vers 12. ascending to Heaven that is called up to high places and dignities in Church and State and that the Papal Idolatrous Power and Tyranny was abolished This Cup of Bitterness Wrath Envy and intoxicating Zeal for so foul a Cause was the effusion of the first Vial upon them which did so work upon them and dementate them that they made themselves still more execrable and odious by their impotent and unsuccessful attempts against them that God had thus exalted above their reach In the mean time we see how naturally besides the letting loose Evil Spirits upon them the first Vial follows the rising of the Witnesses accordingly as it is glanced at Chap. 11. vers 18. immediately after their rising and those Triumphant Doxologies for the same those Songs of Joy from whence the Sardian Church has her Name which here commenceth And the Nations 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Heathen were angry c. by which are understood the Antichristian party as by Iews the truly Christian chap. 2.9 in the stile of the Apocalypse 3. And the second Angel poured out his Uial upon the Sea that is upon some parts of the Sea And Sea in the Prophetick stile signifying the gathering together of the People into one Polity or Kingdom it must signifie some parts of this Kingdom or Polity which is here the Jurisdiction or Dominion of the Papacy Of some parts therefore of this Sea it is said And it became as the blood of a dead man and every living soul died in the Sea viz. in these parts of this Sea which were turned into blood there were no live fishes to be caught there any more and fishes dead in the Sea signifie disappointment of hope and that what we expect will not come to pass In such a state was the Papal Hierarchy after the settlement of the Reformation in so many Provinces Principalities and Kingdoms which deadness and hopelesness of his affairs there brought to pass by the good Providence of God was the pouring out the second Vial upon these parts of this Sea or Jurisdiction and turning them into blood and the quite spoiling any further fishing there 4. And the third Angel poured out his Uial upon the Rivers and Fountains of waters and they became blood As Sea signified above Politically so Rivers and Fountains of Waters or Springs must that are the Heads of Rivers and both come from the Sea and return thither again viz. the water of them A Sea therefore here being a Kingdom or Polity the Rivers must be Emissary Powers of the said Kingdom whether Armies or other Agents with those that Head them or Govern them who may be deemed the Spring-heads of them they taking their directions and motions from them and depending on them as Rivers do on their Springs And this plague of turning Rivers into blood being manifestly one of the plagues of Aegypt these Emissaries must be the Emissaries of that City or Polity which is spiritually called Aegypt which is the Papal Hierarchy And the turning these Rivers into blood is the putting to death such Emissaries for their treasonable attempts against Kings or Princes and the setled Religion and Government of the place 5. And I heard the Angel of the Waters say viz. the Prefect of the multitudes of people Thou art Righteous O Lord which art and wast and shall be that is thou art just O Jehovah thou great Judge and King because thou hast judged thus 6. For they have shed the blood of Saints and Prophets namely in the Pergamenial Interval in which thy faithful Martyr Antipas was slain with the sword besides many other bloody butcheries and massacres of the people of God And thou hast given them blood to drink for they are worthy as having shed so much innocent blood 7. And I heard another out of the Altar say that is out of that place of the Temple where the Altar stood and where so many Burnt-offerings were made Even so Lord God Almighty true and righteous are thy judgements For I can witness what a number of Innocent Souls were burnt with fire and fagot in the Thyatirian Interval of the Church because they would not submit to the gross Superstitions and Idolatries and incredible nay impossible figments of the Roman Hierarchy and so were made Burnt-offerings or Sacrifices to their intolerable Avarice Ambition and Tyrannical Cruelty 8. And the fourth Angel poured out his Uial upon the Sun Sun here may have either a Political sense or a Mystical Mystically understood it may be the Word of God which is a Lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths as the great Lamp of the Universe is naturally understood to be The Vial therefore poured upon the Sun are clear convictive explications of the Word of God the Prophetical parts thereof especially whereby manifestly are discovered the unrighteous Mysteries of the Kingdom of Antichrist that men may see in what a foul condition they are how apostatized from God and Christ and how plainly and reproachfully their abominable doings are characterized by the finger of God in Scripture and how lively their most direful and diabolical Image is there described Whence it is no wonder that it immediately is said And power was given unto him to scorch men with fire 9. And men were scorched with great heat and blasphemed the Name of God which hath power over these plagues and they repented not to give him Glory They are so vext that they blaspheme the Name of God and rather vilifie the Scriptures and the Spirit that wrote them than repent them of their sins and give Glory to God by acknowledging the Truth as certainly the true sense of the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse where they are known and acknowledged tend exceeding much to the Glory of God and the illustration of the constancy of his Providence And this may go for the mystical sense of the effusion of the Vial upon the Sun But there may be also a Political one and then Sun is to be understood of the greatest Secular Power within the Papal Jurisdiction which therefore is the German Empire Wherefore if any German Emperour or any