25 is most admirably applicable to the Antichristian Roman State it being the only Conspicuous and Remarkable number in that Hierarchy describing the Papacy in its most Essential Parts that Church having been Fatally led to lay its very Foundations upon it it having at first Five and Twenty Cardinals and its Creed consisting of Five and Twenty Articles as the Apostles doth of Twelve as Mr. Potter hath accurately shewn in these and many other Particulars 7. It may be observed That as the Number 666. can by no means be made out of 12 whatsoever Number you multiply it by so neither can the Antichristian State any way arise out of the Apostles Doctrine Lastly The Number 666. consisting of the same number in all its places from Vnits to Hundreds is upon that account as Grotius observes on the place very Remarkable according to the Opinion of the Wise Pagans who made their Vows in the same proportion And because it consists of an entire (a) Poli Synops in locum Senary of numbers arising by degrees from Vnits to Tens and from thence to Hundreds and that in a proportion very agreeable by the multiplication of 6 by 10 so as that 6 are found 10 times in 60 and 60 10 times in 600 it may from thence be thought to signifie the seeming Comeliness and Proportion of the Antichristian State which is so great that it is apt to deceive those who do not exercise Wisdom to discern things it being at first sight a Number more proportionable than 144 the Number of Christ's Kingdom So necessary is it to count numbers and to extract the Roots of them by stripping things of their Outward seeming Appearances although never so Comely and searching into the very intimate nature and Essence of them CHAP. XIV The Text. 1 AND I looked or was in Vision and lo a Lamb i. e. Christ stood to import his settlement in his Government and his Rule and Defence of his people Psalm 2.6 Mic. 5.4 on the Mount 1 Zion i. e. appeared in an exalted and an established State in his Kingdom Psalm 48. Mic. 4.1 Heb. 12.22 and with him an 2 Hundred Forty and Four Thousand i. e. a Body of Apostolical Pure Christians Chap. 7.4 having his i. e. Christ's Fathers Name 3 written in their Foreheads i. e. openly adjudged by God and professing themselves to be the true Followers of Christ See on Chap. 7.3 Annotations on CHAP. XIV 1 Zion (a) Josh 15.63 2 Sam. 5 1-10 1 Chron. 11 1-9 2 Chron. 3.1 Psalm 48.2 was the Mountain or upper part of Jerusalem on one side of which stood the House or Palace of David as the Temple did on the North side of it called Mount Moriah which was reckoned as a part of Mount Zion This Mountain was taken by David from the Jebusites whom the Children of Judah were not able to drive out because of their Vnbelief and was the first Exploit undertaken by him after his being anointed King over all Israel upon the Submission paid unto him by all the Tribes of Israel and their acknowledgment of their being his Bone and his Flesh wherein they were Types of the Obedience that all Nations are to pay to Christ and of their becoming Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones Ephes 5.30 David took it when he began to (a) 2 Sam. 5.4 Luke 3.22 23. Reign being Thirty Years old according to the Age when our Saviour began to preach gather Members for his Kingdom and cast out Devils as David also dispossessed the (b) 2 Sam. 5 6-8 Gregories Observat Chap. 7. Jebusites and cast out their Tutelary Idols the Hatred of his Soul called by him and his Followers by way of Sarcasm and Contempt the Blind and the Lame as having Eyes but seeing not and Feet but walking not according to the like Expression used by him Psalm 115. When he had taken it he fortified the Strong Hold of it and afterwards built there and made a Beautiful City calling it the City of David In all which he was a Type of Christ as that Mountain Strong Hold and City were of the Strength Stability and Beauty of Christ's Kingdom especially as it shall appear at last in a most glorious manner triumphing over all Heathen and Antichristian Idols when the Lord shall set his King upon his Holy Hill of Zion and Christ shall stand and feed his People and be great unto the Ends of the Earth Psalm 2.6 Micah 5.4 Only here it may be observed 1. That as the taking of this Mountain was the first Atchievement of David after he came to the Kingdom before he was fully established in it and had built his City so may this Appearance of Christ be some Preparatory State of his Kingdom called the Kingdom of David in Scripture rising (a) Micah 4.1 2. to the Tops of the Mountains and exalting it self above the Hills that so the Everlasting Gospel might be heard and People might flow unto it but somewhat different from the State of its full Establishment when his Kingdom shall appear in its utmost Glory as in the Description of it given Heb. 12.22 they first come unto Mount Sion before they come unto the City of the Living God and the Heavenly Jerusalem as is more fully shewn on the Three last Chapters where this whole matter is largely considered 2. That here is represented some Exalted State of the Heavenly Tabernacle it self typified by Mount Sion which was not yet of so high and so exalted a Nature as that which it shall afterwards arrive to when it shall appear as in the highest Heavens or in its Heavenly State it being probable that there are Exaltations of Christ's Kingdom in the Archetype of it in the Heavenly Places of which the several Advances it receives here on Earth are the Counterpart Patterns and Example according to what hath been already discoursed on Chap. 12.1 and will be shewn more largely hereafter it being very difficult to give Account of many things in this Prophecy without this Supposition 2 As this Vision relates to the State of Christ's Kingdom upon Earth there is hereby signified a Body of Apostolical pure Christians appearing in a State of open and publick profession of Christ's pure Religion but as it refers to the State of things in the Heavenly Places hereby is denoted an appearance of the very 144000. mentioned in the seventh Chapter who are the Saints and Witnesses departed in the Lord. 3 They were before sealed and in a hidden and invisible State but now they have a Name written that is appearing legible upon their Foreheads and that the Name of God whereby may be understood some Approbation of them and Declaration on God's part before whose Throne they are Verse 5. as to be judged and approved by him that they were Holiness unto the Lord in allusion to the Inscription on the High-Priest's Frontlet Exod. 20.36 and that they were worthy of the Exalted State they now
Souls to call them back or retain them when they are departed out of the Body and of Death it self to keep men from it and therefore fear not for if you were really Dead I could raise you up again All which looks with a Full Eye on that great First Resurrection c. 20. 28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Hammond on Matth. 11. and Bishop Pearson on the Creed 19 And upon this assurance stand up upon thy Feet and be of good Courage and Write in a Book unto the seven Churches as I before commanded thee vers 11. the things which thou hast seen already 29 in the representation of the seven Stars and seven golden Candlesticks vers 12 13 16. and 30 write also the things which are now in being in my present Apostolical Church and the things which shall be hereafter successively to the very end of Time 29 It is manifest from the next Verse that this is the true sense of these Words where it is expresly said that the Seven Stars were Seen by him in his Right Hand which are therefore the things he had Seen and were written with the rest of the Preface in a Book to the seven Churches verse 11. 30 Here he is commanded to write the Epistles to the seven Churches the first of which viz. that to Ephesus as we have there shewn refers to the State of the then Apostolical Church beginning at Christ's Resurrection the others to the following successive States of the Churches to the End of the World 20 Which things present and future are the 31 Mystery or the Prophetical and Mystical sense of the seven Stars which thou sawest in my right hand which are the things thou hast seen and not the Mystery to be written concerning them and write the seven Golden Candlesticks i e. the mystery or mystick sense of them also The seven 32 stars are or signifie and represent Gen. 41.26 the Angels 33 or Pastors of the seven Churches and the seven Candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven Churches or are 34 seven Churches that is Bodies of Christians under their several Pastors as well those which are now as those which shall be successively hereafter 31 These words which are of the Accusative Case and put by way of Apposition plainly refer only to the things which are and shall be which are here said to be the Mystery or mystical meaning of the seven Stars which therefore are not referred to as being not themselves the Mystery but the things which were to be mystically explained in the following Epistles And from hence also we are plainly given to understand that the Subject Matter of these Epistles is Mystical and not barely Literal and that they concern things future as well as the present 32 Here is explained what is meant by Stars and Candlesticks whose further mystical meaning as they relate to Churches then in being and to future Successions of them and their Pastors is largely delivered in the following Epistles 33 The Ministring Spirits which attend on God are called Angels in Scripture from their being employed as Messengers in his Service and therefore by the Angels of the Churches must be meant the Pastors of them which are here clearly distinguished from the Churches themselves from their like Office of delivering God's Messages to the People and putting up their Prayers unto him Upon which Account the Jewish Priest is called The Messenger or Angel of the Lord of Hosts Malach. 2.7 where Angel that I may observe this by the way is evidently taken collectively as Dr. Pocock on the Place confesses for the Succession of the whole Jewish Priesthood comprehended there under the common Name of Levi their Father and spoken of as one Person because they were all of the fame Stock and all separated to the same Function And as they are upon this Account called Angels so are they called Stars from their Office of enlightning or instructing others By Angels therefore in this and the following Chapter is meant the Evangelical Ministry represented by Angels as all other Ministerial Agents are in this Prophecy because the present World is subject to Angels under Christ the Head of them and the Angel of the Covenant Whereas the World to come that is the Kingdom of Christ at his last coming as the Apostle speaks Heb. 2.5 is to be ruled by Christ and his Saints and is not to be in subjection unto Angels 34 It is here said That the seven Candlesticks are or signifie seven Churches for so it is in the Greek not the seven Churches which might seem to have determined them to the seven in Asia The Epistles are indeed to be sent to the seven Churches of Asia ver 11. But the mystical meaning of them is not here said to belong to the Angels or to the Seven Churches of Asia only but to Seven Churches and to the Angels of them from whence it is plain that they are prophetical relating to Seven Successions of the Vniversal Church See Mr. * Book 1. Disc 52. and pag. 905. Doctor Moor's Exposition of the Epistle to the Seven Churches Mede CHAP. II. The Text. UNto the Angel or Evangelical Ministry Chap. 1. 20. of the Church of Ephesus that is now planted there and of that Period 1 of the Church which is mystically represented by it write these things saith he that holdeth the Seven Stars in his Right Hand who walketh in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks i. e. Christ the Light of the World who is more immediately present with them to enlighten guide and support them Chap. 1. 13 16 20. Annotations on CHAP. II. 1 This I shall hereafter endeavour to make out to be the principal if not only drift of these Epistles from such Characters and Arguments as shall arise from the Text it self Very good Interpreters and particularly Grotius on Revel 1.11 have thought that the several Successions of the Church here represented are intimated in their very Names according to a way of Allusion made use of in Scripture as well as in Heathen Authors For thus the God of Ekron whose True Name is thought to have been Baal zebachim or the Lord of Sacrifices is called in derision Baal zebub or the Lord of Flies and Belzebul or the Dunghil God And the Prophet Micah 1.14 15. manifestly alludes to the Names of Cities calling Achzib a Lie as if its Name were derived from Cazab which in Hebrew signifies to Lie and the City Mareshah is threatned to be disinherited in allusion to its Name and Adullam is called the Glory of Israel perhaps says Doctor Pocock on the Place from its Situation its Strength or its Beauty or some other Reason probably taken from its Name as the others are although now unknown And such Paronomasia's or Allusions may be more frequent in Scripture than we think for by reason of our Ignorance in the Premitive Language and of the Story and Circumstances of the Places whose Names are alluded to 2
And from hence it appears as also from the solemn words Verse 17. It is done which are plainly taken from the same passage in Ezekiel that the Judgments upon those wicked Nations are here referred to and this may probably be that signal Vengeance which shall fall upon them upon the passing away of the Old Earth by which as by a mighty Tempest of Thunder Lightning and prodigious Hailstones reserved by God against this time of Trouble and this day of Battel and War as Job speaks Chap 38.22 23. in the same Words used in this Chapter and by Daniel Chap. 12.1 they shall be scattered into the Four Corners of the Earth where they are to remain under the Effects of God's Wrath often set forth in Scripture by such Tempests until the expiring of the Thousand Years CHAP. XVII The Text. 1 AND there came with Authority and Commission from God one i. e. the first Chap. 16.2 of the seven Angels which 1 had the seven Vials and talked with me after a more familiar manner saying unto me Come hither i. e. nearer unto me to receive more clear and intimate communications of Knowledge and I will shew or point out and demonstrate unto thee the Judgment i. e. the foul 3 guilt Sentence and Destruction of the great 4 Whore i. e. the gteat Idolatrous City and Church that 5 sitteth upon many Waters that is ruleth over much people Verse 15 18. Annotations on CHAP. XVII 1 To shew that this Woman was one of the Enemies of Christ's Kingdom upon whom the Vials are to be poured and withal the chief of them with whom all the others were to fall 2 As being now about to give him a more clear description of the Beast than he had as yet received 3 So the Word signifies sometimes in Scripture as Ezek 7.23 Rom. 5.16 1 Tim. 5.12 4 The People Cities and Churches which Apostatize from the True God to Idolatry are called Whores in (a) Isa 1.21 Nahum 3.4 Ezek. 23. Rev. 2.20 Scripture for breaking their Covenant with God to whom they were thereby espoused from whence it is evident that a Christian City must be meant in this Chapter and not a Pagan which cannot be said to be a Whore or an Apostate City because Pagan Cities having never acknowledged the True God or been espoused unto him cannot be said to Apostatize from him And we may observe that there is here a Double Article in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to shew that this City was Eminent for Idolatry and that she had been before noted for it in this Prophecy that she had continued in it for a long time that her sin was great in it self and had been propagated through the large Extent of her Dominions whence she is called The Great Whore and The Whore as being the Chief and Metropolitan of the Idolatrous Cities and Churches the impudent Whorish Woman according to Ezek. 16.30 and Chap. 23. and the Jezebel Rev. 2.20 5 In Allusion to the situation of her Type Babylon which is called The Great City Dan. 4.3 and is described Jerem. 51.13 as dwelling upon many Waters that is situaated upon Euphrates which encompassed it and ran through it and the adjacent Countrey in Cuts and Rivulets 2 With whom i. e. by 6 whose sollicitations and example the ten Kings of the Earth verse 12. have committed spiritual fornication which is Idolatry Isa 23.17 and all the inhabitants or meaner people of the Earth i. e. of the Apostate Roman Empire have been drunk i. e. madly zealous and sottish y doteing Jerem. 51.7 with the wine of her Fornication i.e. her pleasing and intoxicating allurements to Idolatry 6 Or hereby may be signified that they Idolized her by worshipping her and calling her the Mother and Mistress of all Churches and attributing Infallibility to her as the Phrase is taken Jerem. 3.9 Ezek. 16 17.23 37. 3 So he i. e. the Angel carried me away in the Spirit chap. 1. 10. into the Wilderness 7 where the Woman the true Church was chap. 12. 6. and I saw a 8 Woman i. e. a City verse 18. and Church * sit on high and in an exalted state verse 9. upon a scarlet 9 coloured Beast i. e. the Roman Empire full of names or kinds of Blasphemies i.e. of all 10 manner of Idols and Idolatries and Idolatrous Titles and Offices having seven heads or successive forms of Government verse 9 10. and ten horns i. e. Kings verse 12. 7 The Wilderness was a proper place for him to see this Vision in 1. Because places of Retirement and Solitude are fittest for the Reception of Divine Illuminations and for Meditation and to signifie that a clear and distinct View of the Apostasy could not be taken but by one who had retired at some distance from it and from its bewitching pleasures and the Hurry and Noise which attended its City Church and Court 2. Because the Woman the pure Church being in the Wilderness he could best compare them and distinguish the one from the other 8 Churches and Cities are represented by Women in Prophecy (a) Isa 54.6 Jerrm 6.2 Ezek 16 30. and 23d Chap. as they are also in ancient Coyns and Pictures And although a City be here chiefly signified as is plain from Verse 18. yet because the Church is in the City and the foul and loathsome Crime of the City here reprehended is with relation to Church-Corruptions therefore that is to be understood and included in it * She sitteth on high on the Beast by which she is born up or exalted as Imperial Cities are by the Empires of which they are the Chief Seat 9 Scarlet Colour denotes Royal Authority as appears from Dan. 5. Matth. 27.28 and the Military Robe of the Roman Emperours was also of that Colour whereby is appositely signified the Tyrannical Cruelty of the Beast and that this Woman or City was seated in the Roman Empire and was the Imperial City of it 10 All which may be included in (a) See Chap. 2 9. 11 13. numb 45. Names of Blasphemies and is plainly fulfilled in the Numerous kinds of Idolatry and Idolatrous Offices in use under the Roman Antichristian Jurisdiction no other Beast being proper to carry a Whore or an Apostate Church but an Apostate one 4 And the Woman i. e. the Romish City and Church was arrayed in Purple 11 and Scarlet Colour i. e. arrogated to her self Imperial Power and Majesty and decked 12 with Gold and precious stones and Pearls i. e. was a pompous and worldly Church full of Pride and Riches having a golden Cup 13 in her hand i. e. tempting Baits and powerful motives ready at hand to entice worldly minds full of abomination 14 and filthiness of her fornication i. e. of abominable and loathsome Idolatry 11 Scarlet was the Habit of the Romans in VVar and Purple the Habit of the Emperours and Senate in Times of Peace as Grotius observes on the place whereby is signified that this was
Rev. 17.12 And therefore about half of that space seems here to be signified by about half an hour which will reach from 395 unto 437 which is about the half of this whole Line of Time and falls upon that Time when the Barbarous Nations who had been before often successfully repulsed began to make their most Furious Impressions upon the Roman Provinces on all sides under the weak Government of a Woman Placidia the Empress and her Son Valentinian who was a Child when he began to Reign insomuch that Genserick came then to be so powerful as that he severely persecuted the Orthodox from the very Year (b) Ricciol Chronol 437. unto 476. when he died And furthermore it is very remarkable that about 430 and odd the Apostasy which began in Image-Worship about 360. palpably increased as Mr. (c) Pag. 589. Mede has observed So that the Year 437. is very remarkable on all Hands as being about the middle Point or about half of the whole Hour or Aera reaching from the entire Defeat of Heathenism to the entire Fall of the Western Empire and because it may be justly accounted the Exact Year from which the actual sounding of the Trumpets are to be reckoned which were but in preparation from 395. until that time and also because it may be with great Reason thought to be the beginning of the Antichristian Apostasy which from that time generally increased until it gained a Kingdom with the Ten Kings arising out of the Ruines of the Roman Empire A.D. 476. and that at One Hour that is One entire Hour made up of Two Halves the first reaching from 395 to 437. the latter at the End of which this Kingdom began from thence to 476. See on Chap. 11 2.13.5.17 12. 12 The Fourth Kingdom which is the Roman Empire is called Dan. 7.23 The Kingdom upon the Earth to distinguish it from Christ's Kingdom the Heavenly and Everlasting Kingdom and Luke 2.1 it is called all the World or Earth because most of the then Known World was subject to it 13 It is the Opinion of Mr. Mede that by the Fourth of the Earth Chap. 6.8 is meant almost all the Roman Empire which upon due Compute says Dr. Moor was then one third part of the Earth upon which account they take the Third part to be the Symbolical and Cabbalistical Character of the Roman Empire according to the Genius of this Mystical Book and the Custom of the Ancient Eastern Nations who gave Characters from Numbers and Proportions But to interpose a Conjecture not altogether groundless I am apt to imagine that as the Roman Empire is called the Fourth Chap. 6.8 whilst it had its Imperial Seat fixed at Rome the Head then of the Fourth Kingdom So that after Constantine removed the Seat of the Western Empire to Constantinople it is called the Third because its Imperial Seat was then in the Greek or Eastern part of the Roman Empire which was the Third Kingdom of the Earth in Daniel From which time Constantinople or New Rome became the Chief Seat of the Civil Empire Old Rome being abandoned to the New Ecclesiastical Empire of the Pope the Western Emperours seldom coming at it and by degrees leaving it to them So that even the Western Empire may be Charactered by the Third because that Old Rome the Chief Seat of it and of the Transactions of this Vision had lost its Civil Imperialism over the Fourth part of the Earth and was now forced to truckle to the third part or Constantinopolitan Roman Empire where the Chief Majesty of the Empire was seated Old Rome being never able to gain its Preheminence and the Ruin of its Civil Jurisdiction being owing to this Action of Constantine which will appear also the more probable if we consider that the Rise and Fall of Empires is dated in Prophecy from the like Fate of the Imperial Seats of them See Chap. 9 15.12 4. 14 This is taken from Exod. 9.25 where we read that the Thunder Storm of Hail smote every Herb of the Field and broke every Tree of the Field By which is here signified all the Members and People of the Roman Empire denoted by Metaphors taken from those things which suffer most by Storms And Trees here according to the Prophetical Scheme of Speech signifie the Great Ones and Grass by the like Analogy signifies the Common People 8 And the second Angel sounded and as it were a great 15 Mountain or City Jerem. 51.25 burning with fire was cast into the Sea and the third part of the Sea i. e. the Roman Empire became Blood 16 i. e. was ravaged with bloody Wars Exod. 7.17 18. 15 This Type is taken from Jerem. 51.25 where it is used concerning Babylon by which all along in this Book Rome is understood A Mountain denotes a Kingdom or a City from its Strength and Lofty Edifices and Towers as Annotators have observed on Isa 13.2 Jerem. 51.25 Zechar. 4.7 And the Sea signifies a Body Politick because Seas are in Scripture-Phrase a gathering together of Waters which in this Book are put to denote People and Multitudes as appears from Chap. 18.15 And therefore by the Type in this Verse the Confusions and Desolations represented by the Psalmist Psalm 46.2 by Mountains carried into the midst of the Sea which the State and City of Rome then lay under may be fitly signified it being at this time as a great Mountain burning in the Sea but not actually burnt that is in a consuming Condition but not utterly destroyed For 1. (a) Zosim Oros August Civit. 5. 23. Radagaisus was entirely defeated by Stilicho and he himself and almost his whole Army was destroyed by Sword or Famine Stilicho being made an Instrument by God of preserving the Empire when he designed nothing but his own Interest and the usurping of it which appeared also in another Memorable Instance when he (b) Zosim Oros Hieron Rubeus Hist Raven lib. 2. saved the Empire from total ruine by succouring Saul the General of the Army under him at the very time that he was put to flight by Alarick 2. When (a) Oros lib 7. Socrat. 7.10 Sozom. 9 6-9 Jornand Cap. 30. Alarick took Rome he sackt indeed and rifled it but burnt only some part of it and that contrary to the wonted Custom of the Goths as Jornandes hath particularly observed and left the large Church of Peter entire for an Asylum for the Christians 3. When Athaulphus the Goth not long after had pillaged Rome and was resolved entirely to root out the whole Roman Power he was opportunely diverted by Placidia the Emperour's Sister and perswaded to make a (b) Petav. Ration Temp. lib. 6. Peace and retire into Spain where he married her A. D. 414. 4 Attila the Hun and Genserick the Vandal were both hindered from firing and destroying Rome by the Eloquence and Prudent Behaviour of Leo the Great And (c) Procop. pag 359 360 398 474. ex ed.
in which it may please God to correct the Errors of Men Which says he met together with fit Occasions and Instruments which knew how to make use of them in the time of Leo. For although Men's Minds were then disposed for a Reformation by Reason of the Scandalous Lives Ignorance and Tyranny of the Clergy yet this Effect could not have been produced singly from these Occasions if the Times ordained by God's Infinite Wisdom had not conspired with them And what less than Divine Assistance could give Life and Success to a single unassisted Person so as to enable (a) Basnage ubi supra him to convert a whole Town by one single Sermon and to break through all manner of difficulties with an invincible Courage notwithstanding the utmost Oppositions made against him by that Great Emperour Charles the Fifth and the United Forces and Counsels of the Pope and his Party So great Reason had (b) Calvin 2 Disc c. Westfal Opuscul fol. 785. 787. ibid. 137 141. Calvin to stile Luther the Trumpet or rather the Thunder which raised the World out of its Lethargy and to say That it was not Luther that spoke but God that thundered by his Mouth Neither were the forementioned Circumstances only observable in the Lutheran Reformation but in that begun in Switzerland and Geneva For (c) Sleidan passim pag. 48 70 76. vita ejus per Melchior Adam Zuinglius was the only Person which appeared at first amongst the Helvetians And although he met with great Opposition from the Popish Cantons and from his own people for endeavouring to disswade them from being Mercenary in the Wars of Forreign Princes yet he broke through all Obstacles and propagated his Doctrine in a few years in very many parts of that and the Neighbouring Countries The like to which appears in the Reformation of (d) See Mr. Spoon's History of Geneva Geneva begun A. D. 1532. only by Two Ministers of Piedmont who taking Occasion from some Divisions amongst the People upon some Protestant Theses being set up by a few young Men in several Corners of the Street propagated the Truth in a short time very successfully the Common people hearing them gladly For it was not until afterwards A.D. 1536. that Mr. Calvin that great Instrument for the promoting the Truth Power and Simplicity of Religion came to that City whose setling there was no less Providential and unexpected then his Success For he intended only to take it in his way to Basil or Strasburg in one of which places he designed to continue for some time and when he was perswaded by Monsieur Farel to tarry there he met with so great Opposition that he was banished the City and yet upon his Return prevailed so far as to settle his Doctrine and Discipline there although it were utterly contrary to the Looseness of their Manners where it hath ever since been exercised with great Vigour that small State and City flourishing according to the wise Observation of Mr. Spon with which he shuts up his History of that City whilst other Cities have perished and mighty States have been overturned which God often permits by his admirable Providence to let great and small States know that their Subsistence or Ruine depends not on their own Strength or Weakness but that they are all in his hand and their Happiness and misery come only from him But his Doctrine and Discipline did not contain it self within the Narrow Bounds of that City but that small Leaven leavened many Kingdoms and Countries viz. France Poland Germany Scotland the Netherlands and Hungary and hath maintained it self chiefly by the Severity of the Manners of its Followers and the Strictness of their Discipline as the Judicious French (a) Mezeray's History pag. 951. See the Synodicon of the Reformed Churches of France lately Printed in English Historian hath observed which is so great that Henry (b) Perefixes Life of Henry 4th ad an 1587. the Fourth himself altho he was then King of Navarr and Chief of their Party was forced by the Consistory of Rochel to make Reparation for a Scandal he had given by his Looseness 4. The Reformation which (c) Vita ejus per Melchior Adam pag 122. Luther foretold should never be extinguished hath been also miraculously preserved as the Kingdom of Christ hath always been amidst the Convulsions of States and Empires and hath been many times rescued from imminent Destructions by extraordinary Means and unforeseen Accidents Whereby it appears that it is a Plant planted by our Heavenly Father else it had been before now rooted up The Troubles were so great which the First Reformers encountred with that good (a) Sleidan pag. 140. Melancthon was very much dejected at them and even Luther himself although of an undaunted Spirit was sometimes oppressed with disconsolate Thoughts about the State of Things and had gone back if he had not been extraordinarily assisted When his Cause was in great danger as Fox (b) Vol. 2. pag. 49 50. remarks the marvellous Providence of God who had this matter in guiding poovided a Remedy where the Power of Man did fail and stirred up the whole Vniversity of Wittenberg to petition Duke Frederick in his behalf when he was upon the Point of Banishment Whereupon the Duke began to consider his Doctrine and to favour him Several times did God preserve this tender plant notwithstanding the many Wars Leagues and Consultations to root it out as upon the Death of (c) Sleidan 250. George of Saxony the many Successes of the Emperour but especially that (d) Sleidan 375 Mezeray pag. 620 624 632 633 954. Melch. Adam Vita Calvin pag. 80. Summum Religionis discrimen c. remarkable one when the Elector of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse were Prisoners when the Reformation in Germany had been entirely destroyed if God had not ordered Matters otherwise by a strange turn of Affairs whereby the Emperour was at last forced to grant the Edict of (a) Tbuan Hist Tome 1. pag. 503. Mezeray 954. Passau which is still the Security of the Reformation in those parts and the True Foundation of the Liberty of the Protestants as Monsieur Mezeray observes which was done for fear of a War which threatned him on both sides from the French and the Turks by which means Protestantism was generally preserved in Germany during the Reign of Charles the Fifth And yet to see the admirable Care of Divine Providence over the Vine which he had planted for when (b) Sleidan pag. 463. the Reformation was at its lowest Ebb in Germany by the forementioned occasion it went on very vigorously in England the Mass being abolished there at that very Critical Conjuncture whereby the Protestants were kept in heart and its future increase was provided for In England as (c) Fox Vol. 2. page 273 370. Vol. 3. page 386 792 800. Bishop Burnet's History of the Reformation part 1. page 135 136.
lawful for the Gentiles to pray there and therefore it could not properly be said to be given unto them now or to be polluted by them as having been always accounted unclean whereas they were never admitted into the other Courts And by the Court without the Temple is very appositely understood the Visible Christian Worship because the Visible Worship of God was performed in that place under the Law whereas all the Temple-Worship was hid from the People See the Books before quoted and Mr. (b) Pag. 19 20 478 479 480. and Ainsworth on Exod. 40.33 Mede's Works 8 Grotius on the places notes That this is called Extracludere by the Ancient Writers concerning the Limits and measuring of Grounds But the Word also denoting in (c) John 9.34 Acts 7 58 13 50. Grotius in loca Scripture an Ignominious casting out or an Excommunication it may also here signifie the leaving or casting it out of the Sacred Enclosure or Limits as unsacred and polluted as Mr. (d) Pag. 587. Mede speaks 9 So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is of the past Sense and not of the present may be translated whereby is signified that it had been given up or delivered by God before the time in which it was measured although it must be confessed that the past Tense is often used for the present in Scripture 10 By (a) Hammond on Matth. 23.15 Grot. on John 12.20 Acts 21.28 Gentiles or Nations the Jews understand all but themselves and Proselytes of Justice who were circumcised and accounted as Jews which were the Proselytes of the Gates as they call them who had renounced Idolatry but had not embraced the whole Jewish Religion and were permitted to come no further than into the Outer Court called the Court of the Gentiles and were thought to prophane and pollute the Temple if they did as appears from Acts 21 28 29.24 6. But by Gentiles are most commonly meant in Scripture the Heathen Nations round about them who whilst they continued in open Idolatry were not to live amongst them especially those who persecuted them and laid their Country City and Temple waste such as Nebuchadnezzar and Antiochus whose Desolations are bewailed and described in (b) Psalm 74. and 79. Dan. 8.1 Maccab. from Chap. 1. to Ver. 16 of the 6th Scripture and such were also the Four Successive Monarchies of the Assyrians Persians Grecians and Romans whose Times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or appointed Seasons the word made use of by Daniel and Jeremiah Chap. 27.7 are called by our Saviour (c) See Grotius on the place and Mr. Mede's Works pag. 709 753. Luke 21.24 the Times of the Gentiles at the ending of which fort of Times in the Expiration of the Roman Monarchy continued in the Antichristian the Jews are to be restored as our Saviour there plainly asserts and the Holy City is no more to be trodden under foot by the Gentiles Now the like Expressions and some of the Words here made use of being plainly taken from the (a) Psalm 79.1 Dan. 8.10 1 Maccab. 1.37 38 39.3 45 51.4 60. Luke 21.24 Scriptures quoted in the Margin it is manifest that they have an Allusion to them especially to the Story of Antiochus a lively Type of Antichrist who is therefore prophesied of in him as a Type by Daniel and of the Gentile Times and Actions here foretold and therefore the like Actions committed by some Christians must be here referred to called Gentiles for bringing the (b) Mr. Mede's Apostasy of the latter Times Gentile Worship into the Church together with Tyranny and crafty Baits to entice to Idolatry according to the Example of Antiochus the Type of Antichrist and the Paganizing Jews who did after the Ordinances of the Heathens and built a Place of Exercise at Jerusalem according to their Customes and thereby gave a great occasion to the Tyrant to take Jerusalem and to enter proudly into the Sanctuary and pollute it and lay it waste like a Wilderness and to make the City an habitation of Strangers or Gentiles and to become strange to those that were born in it as you may read in the places of the Book of Maccabes before quoted All which agrees plainly to the Apostasy which has introduced a Pagan Christianity into the Church 11 Jerusalem is called so which is the Type of the whole Christian Church whereby is signified a Vniversal Apostasy in the Visible Church the latent or invisible one having been before measured and secured by God 12 A Day is put for a Year in this Book as hath been before shewn on Chap. 2.10 and then by consequence a Month must be put for a Month of prophetical Days consisting of as many common years as a common month doth of days But for the better understanding of the Nature of these prophetical Times and Seasons it will be very convenient to deduce this matter from the very Beginning and Original of it And accordingly it is to be observed that out of the whole space of Time assigned by God to the Transactions of this World which is thought to be about Seven Thousand Years there is a certain part allotted by him for the Times of the Apostasy and the Reign of the Beast called by Daniel Time Times and half a Time Chap. 7 25.12 7. of which it hath been discoursed already on Chap. 10.6 which are reduced into 1260. Days and Forty Two Months in the Revelations Into Days with respect to the Witnesses and the Seed of the Woman in the Wilderness who are the Children of the (a) Mede pag. 481 492. Mori Oper. Theol. pag. 614 616. Gen. 1. Luke 16.8 Acts 26.18 2 Cor. 6.14 Eph. 5.8 1 Thes 5.5 8. 2 Pet. 1.19 Rev. 22 16. See the Notes on Rev. 12.1 Day and into Nights with respect to the Gentiles and the Beast whose Antichristian Deeds are Works of Darkness and they the Children of the Night of which the Moon has the Government And as the Natural Day is divided in Scripture into Evening and Morning so is this Line of Time in proportion to that Distinction divided into Days which answer to the Morning of the Natural Day and into Months which answer to the Evening or Night of it the Days and Months making up one and the same Line of Time as the Evening and Morning make up One Natural Day whence the Time allotted in Daniel Chap. 8.13 14. for the Course of Affairs from Cyrus to the cleansing of the Sanctuary is called Evening-Morning out of which for it principally respects the Apostasy which defiled the Sanctuary this Line is taken the Months out of its Evenings and the Days out of its Mornings which way of Speech is taken from Gen. 1.5 16. where the Light is called Day and the Darkness Night and the Moon is said to rule the one and the Sun the other and the Natural Day is called Evening-Morning the Evening being put before the Morning because the Darkness o◠Night of
the Chaos preceded the first appearance of Light which made the Day as the Darkness of the Apostasy according to the Course and Order of Nature which proceeds from Privation to Form preceeds the Morning-Star and bright Day of Christ's Kingdom whereupon the Months of the Gentiles are mentioned before the Days of the Witnesses because the Gentile Apostasy must be in Nature and Time before the Witnesses could prophesie against it although they both commence from the same Day or Year Now a Day is taken in this Prophecy for a Coelestial Solar Year consisting of Three hundred and sixty days in round Numbers according to the Custom of Scripture and according to the degrees of a Circle and of the Sun's passage through the Ecliptick by which the Year is made as appears from Three (a) 360 360 360 180 1260 Times or Years and a half being made equal to Twelve hundred and sixty days and therefore in proportion by a montb must be meant not a month in Civil Accounts which are Arbitrary according to the divers Customs and Reckonings of Cities and Nations but a Caelestial Natural Month depending upon the Moon by whose Motion from one Conjunction with the Sun to another the Month is made According to which Motion a Month consists of something above Twenty Nine days and a Lunar Year of 354 days not reckoning the Odd Hours and Fractions neither in this nor the Solar Accounts which is six Days above Twenty Nine Days to each Month of the Year by which reckoning (a) 354 354 354 177 1239 Forty Two months of years at 354 each year amount to 1239 years and at (b) 29 42 58 116 1218 Twenty-Nine Days each Month to 1218 years But because in the 1260 Days there are five Days taken from each Solar Year which indeed consists of 365 Days therefore also in the Lunar Years of the Forty Two Months there must be Five days taken from each that they may bear proportion to the Solar Years which are indeed only properly and naturally Years the Lunar Year being no otherwise a Year than as it is determined by the Annual Course of the Sun and being altogether uncertain and arbitrary but as it is adjusted unto and brought into accord with its Motion According to which Substraction each Lunar Year will amount to 349 Days and the whole Forty Two Months of Years to (c) 349 349 349 174 ½ 1221 ½ about 1222 Years (d) 1218 3 ½ 1221 ½ exceeding the Total of the Months at Twenty Nine Days each by about Four Days which because Fractions are neglected in these Accounts we are to reckon full 1222 Years (e) 1222 38 1260 Thirty Eight Years less than the Twelve hundred and sixty Days of Years of the Witnesses according to the proportion betwixt the Motion of the Sun and Moon the latter of which exceeding the former by about (a) 11 Days 3 ½ Years of Years 38 Eleven Days in a year or a Thirty Third part the Encrease in Twelve hundred and sixty years or Three years and a half of years amounts to Thirty Eight years or twice Nineteen years that is two Cycles (b) Bevereg Instit Chronol lib. 2.4 6 7 of the Moon or Golden Number which being grounded upon the Period of Meton a Famous Athenian Astronomer who flourished Four hundred and thirty years before Christ was first brought into the Kalendar by the First General Council of Nice A. D. 325. to settle the Paschal or Easter Feast about which so great Contentions had been in the Church which Rule and Decree is Religiously observed as Dr. Beveridge speaks in the Church of England And thus having settled the True Notion of a Month and the Extent of it we are next to find out where the Beginning of these Forty Two Months and of the Twelve hundred and sixty Days which are parallel to them is to be fixed the Holy Spirit having not been pleased to give the precise Epocha or Beginning of them but having left it to be searched out by the Industry of those who consider Times and Seasons We are to take Notice then that (c) See Mr. Mede's Apostasy Gentilism consisting in the Practice of Pagan and Idolatrous Customs was come to a great heighth about A. D. 400. and that there is great Reason to fix upon A. D. 437. for the precise Year from whence the Lord of Times and Seasons thought good to date the Beginning of its Times or Reign may be made more than probable from these following Considerations 1. Because it is the precise Year in which the Churches Purity ended it being the Year which compleats the last Half Time of the Churches Purity weighed in the Two Scales of the Ballance which appeared under the Third Seal as hath been shewn on Chap. 6.5 2. Because it is the very Year from which the Time Times and Half Time are to be reckoned as hath been already proved on Chap. 10. vers 7. numb 13. Which being made equal to 1260 days Chap. 12.6 14. the beginning of the Date of the one must be the beginning of the Date of the other and consequently of the Forty Two Months of the Gentiles which run parallel to the 1260 days of the Witnesses and of the Woman in the Wilderness Of which the Reformation beginning A. D. 1517. just at the Entrance of Half Time is an illustrious Proof as hath been observed on Chap. 10. 3. Because it is the middle Point betwixt the two remarkable Half Hours made up into One Hour at the Ten Kings receiving power with the Beast Concerning which see what hath been largely discoursed on Chap. 8. 4. If the beginning of the Gentiles Months and of the 1260 Days of the Witnesses be fixed at 437. there will be found to be a wonderful Congruity according to the strictest Mathematical Proportion betwixt the Days of the Witnesses the Gentiles Months and the Months of the Beast who as is evident from Rev. 17.10 11 12. receiv'd not his power until he came to be the Eighth King which was not until the End of A. D. 475. or the beginning of A.D. 476. upon the Fall of the Western Emperour Now if the Gentiles Months begin (a) 437 1222 1659 38 1697 A. D. 437. then they must end they amounting in the whole as hath been shewn to 1222. Years at A. D. 1659 sooner by Thirty Eight Years then the 1260 Days End which is the Exact Astronomical Proportion betwixt Solar and Lunar Time as hath been before observed and if the Beasts Months begin at (b) 476 1222 1697 476. then they will end at 1697. together with the Days of the Witnesses and will carry on the Times of the Apostasy from (c) 1659 38 1697 the End of the Gentiles Months to the End of all Antichristian Time by the same Astronomical Proportion consisting of Two Cycles of the Moon or Golden Numbers For it is to be observed that the Church was Paganized before the
Men to reduce the several Divisions of the Roman Empire into Ten are not so successful as could be wisht Mr. Mede being forced to make the Greeks one of then and the Author of the Book de Excidio Antichristi confining them within the Rhine and the Danube So that I cannot but think upon further consideration that the True Account of this Division is with relation to the Image in Daniel the Book of the Revelations being nothing but a more full illustration by various Emblems of what is but briefly delivered in that Prophecy See the Annot. on Chap. 11 13. 12 3. 33 To wit at One Hour or Season made up of Two Half Hours beginning at A. D. 476. as hath been already fully discoursed on Chap. 8. 7. 13 These have 34 mind as to matters of Religion and shall give their power or Force and strength or Authority to the Beast to wit in Religious Matters and their Assistance and Arms on other occasions 34 Here is plainly foretold the strict Vnion there is betwixt the Papacy and the Popish Kings or Kingdoms and Governments and the Support Assistance and Authority they afford it which the Northern Nations were very Famous for at their first Settlement and Conversion 14 These shall make War with i. e. oppose and persecute the 35 Lamb i. e. Christ in his true Members and Faithful Witnesses Psalm 2 Acts 4.27 28. 9 4 and the Lamb shall overcome them by the high and powerful preaching of his Gospel Chap. 14 for he is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and therefore able to vanquish them and erect his Kingdom Dan. Chap. 2. and 7. Psal 2. and they that are with him i. e his Followers when he comes to his Kingdom Chap. 14. 1. are called and chosen by his Grace to this Service and were his faithful Witnesses Servants and Soldiers unto Death 35 Hence it appears that these are Antichristian Kings or Powers there having been no Persecution in the Roman Empire by Pagan Powers since the Division of it by the Northern Nations 15 And he i. e. the Angel saith unto me i. e. instructed me in the further knowledge of the Mystery I had seen The Waters which thou sawest Verse 1. where the Whore sitteth are i. e. signifie 36 Peoples and Multitudes and Nations and Tongues i. e. the People of the Roman Empire Dan. 4.1 36 Here is shewn the Amplitude and vast Extent of the Jurisdiction of the Papacy a thing she so much boasts of 16 And the Ten Horns or Kings which thou sawest upon the Seventh Head of the Beast even these Kings shall at last hate the 37 Whore whom they had before loved and admired and shall make her desolate by forsaking her Communion and naked by stripping her of her Ornaments Verse 4. and Authority and by exposing her to shame Chap. 16. 15. and shall 38 eat her Flesh i. e. consume and devour her very Substance and Revenues Dan. 7.5 Psalm 27.2 and burn 39 her with fire i. e. destroy what is left of her 37 A Metaphor taken from the Vsage which Harlots often meet with from those who have been misled and abused by them who are wont at first to entertain a dislike of them then to hate them afterwards to take from them the Gifts they had bestowed on them and at last revenge themselves upon them by their utter Ruin From this Verse it may be observed 1. That no one of the Kingdoms or Principalities in Union with the Papacy shall be able to arrive to an Vniversal Monarchy but as all such Attempts have been hitherto vain so shall they still be so Because as they were at first Many Independent Soveraignties said to be Ten in allusion to the Ten Toes of the Image and Ten Horns of the Beast when they at first gave thei Power to the Beast Verse 13. So are they to remain so until they forsake her it being expresly here affirmed that the Ten Horns shall hate the Whore 2. That the Whore or Idolatrous Church of Rome shall fall by those very States and Kingdoms which had all along upheld her Which is to come to pass as is plainly asserted in the next Verse when the Words of God shall be fulfilled that is the Promises of God concerning the expiring of the Beast's Times shall be compleated according to what hath been already observed on Chap. 10. 6 7. When the Ten Kings which support the City and Church of Rome which sits on them withdrawing themselves from her the Tenth of that great City or the City and Jurisdiction consisting in the Account of Prophecy of Ten Principalities must needs fall too From whence also it plainly appears that the Fall of the Tenth part of the City mentioned Chap. 21. 23. refers to the Ten Kings deserting and forsaking her 38 A Phrase taken from Dan. 7.5 Psalm 27.2 signifying their taking away her very Substance Revenues and Dominions and converting what they had bestowed upon her to their own Use as Grotius interprets the place 39 A Phrase taken from Levit. 21.9 where it is commanded That the Daughter of a Priest guilty of Wheredom should be burnt with Fire 17 For God hath put in their willfully wicked hearts Rom. 1.26 2 Thes 2.10 to fullfil his Will and to agree Verse 13 and give their Kingdom and its power and strength unto the Beast by submitting unto him and being governed by him until the words of God by his Prophets and by his Apostle in this Vision Chap. 13. 5. shall be fullfilled i. e. until the Promises made by God concerning the Expiring of the Times of the Beast and the following Approach of Christ's Kingdom shall be fullfilled Dan. Chapters 2. and 7. and 12.7 See on Chap. 10.5 6.11 13. and Verse 16. of this Chapter num 37. 18 And the Woman which thou sawest is or signifies that remarkable great City which now 40 reigneth over the Kings of the Earth 40 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Regnant Imperial City now actually having and exercising at this present time Soveraignty over the Kings of the Earth Which is a plain and evident Character that Rome is here meant no other City being in Exercise of such Power at the Time when the Apostle saw this Vision It may not be unuseful to add here in the Close of this Chapter this short Digression concerning Antichrist that the Reader might have in one View the chief of what concerns him in Scripture especially the more plain and Doctrinal parts of it In order to which it may be observed 1. That about Two Years after Ezekiel's (a) Ezek. 40 c. Dan. 2. Lightf Works Tom. 1. pag. 132 133. Vision of the Temple and Throne the Babylonian Monarchy began upon the Conquest of Aegypt by Nebuchadnezzar which was the only Kingdom that opposed him Which Vision contained a Type of Christ's Glorious Church and Kingdom which was then to have come into Succession in place of the Jewish Temple and City then in
the Commentators on this Verse Servants being comprehended under those Two Words Dr. Moor also thinks that Souls in Purgatory may be here meant the redeeming of which is a great part of the Traffick of the Romish Church 14 And the 17 Fruits that thy Soul lusted after i. e. the delicious advantages and great Harvest of Gain thou hast so passionately pursued and longed for are departed from thee and all things which were dainty to taste and goodly to sight i. e. which might entice and allure Gen. 3.6 are departed from thee and thou shalt find thom no more at all i. e. all manner of hopes of thy former advantages and delights shall be utterly cast off for ever 17 Or the Harvest of the Desire of thy Soul 15 The Merchants I say of these things Goods or Merchandise which were made rich by her by buying and selling shall stand afar off for the Fear of her Torment which they also expect to feel weeping and wailing 16 And saying alas alas that great City that was cloathed in fine Linen and Purple and Scarlet and decked with Gold and precious Stones and Pearls i. e. that Rich Proud and Luxurious Church and City Chap. 17.4 Luke 16.19 For in one hour so great Riches is come to nought i. e. that Rich and Pompous City and Church is on a sudden utterly destroyed 17 And every 18 Shipmaster and all the Company in Ships and Sailers and as many as trade by Sea i. e. the several Superiour and Inferiour Orders of Men who made Proselytes for and got their Living by the Romish (a) A Church is frequently likened to a Ship by the Ecclesiastical Writers who give a Rationale of the Names of its several parts Church especially those who brought Riches into her Treasury from her Foreign Dominions stood afar off 18 This is taken from Ezek. 27 25-36 And by Shipmasters may be meant those who Imported her Forreign Revenue and whatsoever contributed to her Greatness Idolatry and Superstition as by Merchants in the former Verses may be particularly and precisely understood those who Exported such like Traffick or traded within the Territories of Rome the Churches Patrimony 18 And cryed when they saw the smoak of her burning saying what City is like unto this great destroyed City i. e. there never was any City and Church like it nor any desolation like hers Ezek. 27.32 19 And they cast dust on their heads in token of Sorrow Ezek 27.30 and cryed weeping and wailing saying Alas alas that great City wherein were made Rich all that had Ships in the Sea i. e. all that traded and trafficked with her importing what might serve and advantage her and gaining Proselytes to her by reason of her costliness i. e. out of her Rich Treasure and large Revenues for in one hour she is made desolate 20 But although they weep and wail yet Rejoice over her saith the Voice from Heaven Verse 4 thou Heaven i. e. thou Heavenly Sanctuary and Kingdom of Christ and ye Holy Apopostles and Prophets or Witnesses who are the Members of it Chap. 11.3 for God hath avenged you of her and therefore it becometh you to rejoyce to shew your approbation of God's Justice on your behalf 21 And a mighty Angel or a very powerful Minister of God's Vengeance took up a Stone like a great 19 Mill-stone to shew the greatness and it recoverableness of her Downfall Exod. 15.10 Nehem. 9.11 Jerem. 51.63 64. and cast it into the Sea in which her Merchants and Ship-masters had traded saying thus or after this manner in token of its Downfall with Vioence that it may never rise again shall that great City Babylon or Antichristian Rome be thrown down and shall be found no more at all i. e. she shall be utterly destroyed with everlasting Desolations Jerem. 51.26 19 There are several Falls of Babylon in this Prophecy as 1. When the Ten Kings give their Power no longer to the Beast but hate the Whore whereupon the Whore that is the Idolatrous City and Church must needs fall when the Beast who carries and supports her has his Power withdrawn from him upon which the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Decem-Principality falls as in an Earthquake Chap. 11. 13. 2. It seems to be plain that the Antichristian City shall be destroyed and that by Fire by the Ten Kings Chap. 17. 16. But 3. Besides these Punishments to be inflicted on the very City of Rome which I take to be most particularly meant by Babylon here and not the whole Jurisdiction there seems to be in this place as Dr. (a) Theory 3.10 Burnet hath observed ome intimations of a more dreadful Fate that will attend it namely to be absâ—â—â—t 〈◊〉 swallowed up in a Lake Fire and Brimstone after thâ—â—â—nner of Sodom and Gomorrah so as totally to disappear which he takes to he a punishment distinct from its exterior burning to come to pass at the Conflagration and to be here meant See more on Chap. 19. It is remarkable that Babylon the Type was according to Prophecy Isa 13 19-22 Jerem. 50.13 26. utterly destroyed so as never to be inhabited and built again For after it had been taken by Alexander it by degrees decayed first by reason of the Neighbourhood of Seleucia built by Seleucus Nicator on the River Tygris about 293 years before Christ then by Ctesiphon's becoming the Seat of the Parthian Empire built by them on the other side of the River Tigris to exhaust Seleucia and by the building of Bagdad on the same River by the Saracens A. D. 766 when it was finished And although these Cities especially Bagdad are called Babylon in Authors yet it was certainly a distinct City from them the Ancient Babylon of the Chaldees being situate on the River Euphrates about Three Days Journey from Bagdad and being now only an heap of Ruins her Kings having first deserted her as the Kings of the Antichristian Babylon will and then the People who transplanted themselves at different times to other places and built a City in Aegypt of the same Name by the permission of the Ptolemees from which place Bp. (a) See Pearson Oper. Posthum de Succession Rom. Episc Dissert 1.8 Pearson supposes that the Apostle Peter dated his second Epistle 22 And the 20 Voice of Harpers and Musicians and of Pipers and Trumpeters shall he heard no more at all in thee i. e. nothing which tends to Pleasure shall be any more heard in thee and no Craftsman of whatsoever Craft he be shall be found any more in thee and the sound of Mill-stone to grind Corn shall be â—eard no more at all in thee i. e. it shall never be again City and Society which cannot subsist without Necessaries signified by Trade and Bread 20 Here and in the following Verses by several Exaggerations according to the custom of the Prophets from whom they are taken is set forth the utter desolation of the Antichristian City 23 And the light of a
Eph. 1. VVhereas the Books of Reprobation are many because that depends upon the many Evil Actions of Men which Justice particularly weighs and considers and upon the Multitude and Diversity of Sinners which are to be convicted and condemned according to the Sins each of them had particularly committed So that there is to be a◠it were a particular Book of Conscience for each of them And it is Another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Book or a Book of another sort or kind to shew that the Elect shall be justified and saved by Free Grace and not for their VVorks nor even according to their own VVorks but those which Christ had wrought in them 13 And or for the Sea 45 gave up or had before given up to Death 46 and Hell the Dead which were in it viz. at the beginning of the Day of Judgment when the Dead Wicked were raised to Condemnation and Death and Hell i. e. the common Receptacle of the Wicked where they were under Confinement and Punishment during the Thousand Years delivered up now at this last Act of Judicature the Dead which were in them i. e. all the Wicked which had been under their Confinement and they i. e. the Dead Wicked were judged every man according to their Works 47 which were not found written in the Book of Life and which they had lately done against the Camp and City of God as well as for all their other wicked Deeds which they had done whilst they were in the Flesh in this present World 45 Grotius and Piscator render the VVord had given up which must refer to the rising of the Dead Wicked at the beginning of the Thousand Years when because there was to be No Sea in the New Earth the Sea gave up its Dead 46 For the Dead Wicked were condemned at first to the Four Corners of the Earth which were as a kind of Hades or Common Receptacle of the Dead answerable to the Hamonah or City of Dead Carcases in Ezekiel Chap. 38 and 39. See on Verse 8. and Mr. Mede pag. 57 1. and Bishop Vshers Answer to the Jesuites Challenge concerning Limbus Patrum 47 Their Works in the former Verse are represented as written in Books because being committed long before they were thereby to be put in remembrance of them and therefore the Books are opened unto them But here being no mention of Books opened it may well be concluded that these Works were those which they had newly committed against the beloved City Verse 9. which being fresh in their Memories there needed not any writing of them in Books in order to their conviction 14 And Death 48 and Hell or the Grave the last Enemies to be destroyed 1 Cor. 15.26 55. were cast into the Lake of fire i. e. Mortality and all Places of Punishment except that designed for the Eternal Torment of the Wicked were annihilated there being now no further use of them and they having delivered up the Dead which were in them This casting into the Lake is the 49 second Death i. e. Death Eternal Matth. 10.28 See on Verse 6. 48 These are the Enemies of Christ which according to Doctrinal Scripture in full concurrence with Prophetical are to be destroyed by him at last just before the delivery of his Kingdom up to the Father 1 Cor. 15.25 26 54 55 56. 49 As that Expression Verse 5. this is the first Resurrection seems to denote that it was to be at the beginning of Christs Kingdom so does this parallel Expression intimate that this Second Death was to be at the End and last Appearance of it These Two being as it were solemn Inscriptions on Two Pillars shewing the Two Bounds of Christ's Kingdom beginning in a First Resurrection of Saints and a First Death of the Wicked and ending in a Second Resurrection to Glory of the former and a Second Death of the latter as Absolute Final and Immutable as the Life of the former 15 And 50 whosoever was not found written in the Lamb 's Book of Life i. e. whosoever was not a Living Member of Christ's Kingdom during the Thousand Years of Life and Blessedness was cast into the Lake of Fire i. e. was punished with Eternal Torments 50 The Reprobate are not only judged according to the Rules of Justice by their own works but the Book of absolute soveraign and free Grace is looked into when they are condemned to shew the Agreement there is betwixt God's Decrees and the proceedings of his Rectoral Justice in condemning Sinners according to their own demerits there being none left out of the Book of Life and Grace who shall not be shewn to have justly deserved to be condemned for their own sins And hitherto hath been a Description of the Wicked their City in the four Corners of the Earth their Actions and Final Condemnation There follows now in the next Chapters a Description of the City of the Saints and of their Final Reward in the Eternal Kingdom of God All in All. CHAP. XXI The Text. 1 1 AND I saw a New 2 Heaven and a New Earth i. e. the Seat of the Kingdom of Christ wherein the Saints Reign with him a Thousand Years Chap. 20.4 6. 2 Pet. 3. Isa 65 17.66 22. Matth. 19.28 Acts 3.19 for the first Heaven and 2 the first Earth i e. the Heavens and the Earth which are now 2 Pet. 3.7 were 3 passed away with a great Noise burnt up and dissolved by Fire 2 Pet. 3.10 11 12. and there was no more 4 Sea Annotations on CHAP. XXI 1 Here according to the custom of the Sacred Writers a particular Account is given of the Generations as the Scripture speaks Gen. 2.4 of the New Heaven and New Earth which he had before Chap. 20 11. seen fly away at the Consummation and End of all things when Christ shall deliver up his Kingdom to the Father 1 Cor. 15.24 28. it being usual as appears from Gen. 2. for the holy Penmen to give a particular Description afterwards of what they had before either briefly hinted or only described in general who are wont also to pursue the matter they have in hand quite throughout before they resume its more particular consideration as appears from the former Chapter where the duration of the Kingdom of Christ is continued from its beginning in the Resurrection of the Saints to its End in the Destruction of Death his last Enemy and to the flying away of the very New Heavens and Earth when Christ's Mediatory Kingdom being at an end the Eternal Kingdom of God All in All is to succeed 2 The preceding Vision plainly relating to the Resurrection and the last Day of Judgment the New Heavens and Earth here described must accordingly be understood concerning those mentioned by the Apostle Peter 1 Ep. 3.13 which are to succeed the general Conflagration of the present Heavens and Earth to be dissolved at the very first Appearance of Christ at his second Coming who is to be manifested or