the House of the God of Jacob Intimating the reception of the Gospel by a great part of mankind and the continuance of the rest of the World in the state of Heathenism And now the wonder of this Invasion ceases For 't is easy to imagine the Camp of the Saints encompassed by an army of Infidels excited or provoked thereto by the Devil But there is some difficulty in conceiving how this army should be drawn together from so remote and distant places of the World For the Nations of which it is composed are said to be in the four Quarters of the Earth But it hath been observed by a learned Man that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in many places of the New Testament hath a Critical signification and does peculiarly refer to the Land of Judea And in this notion it is here to be understood as signifying not the whole World but that Part or Portion of it which by God was given to the Posterity of Abraham and which is here distinguished by a new Name the Camp of the Saints in allusion to their incamping in the Wilderness And then the Nations in the four Quarters or corners of the Land will be some people seated in the Countries not far distant from Judea whom we may easily conceive entring into a Confederacy against the Jews and uniting their forces for the destruction of these Saints of the most High And thus the greatest difficulties relating to this vision are removed And the plain meaning and signification of it appears to be the Invasion of Judea by some of the neighbouring Nations Which event if it were foretold by the Prophets there can be no reason to question or doubt of the truth of this Exposition Now concerning this Invasion there are several Prophecies but the most remarkable and express is that in Ezekiel between which and this vision there is an exact and admirable agreement Ezekiel's Prophecy Chap. 30. In the latter days thou viz. Gog shalt come into the Land that is brought back from the Sword and is gathered out of many People against the Mountains of Israel Invasurus montes Israelis Junius ver 8. Thou shalt ascend and come like a Storm thou shalt be like a Cloud to cover the Land thou and all thy Bands and many People with thee ver 9. And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the Land of Israel saith the Lord God that my Fury shall come up in my Face And I will plead against him with Pestilence and with Blood and I will Rain upon him and his Bands and upon the many People that are with him an overflowing Rain and great Hail-stones Fire and Brimstone vers 18 22. St. John's Vision Rev. 20. And when the Thousand Years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his Prison ver 7. And shall go out to deceive the Nations Gog and Magog to gather them together to Battel the number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea verse 8. And they went up and compassed about the Camp of the Saints and the beloved City vers 9. And Fire came down from God out of Heaven devoured them vers 9. And whereas it is objected that Gog in Ezekiel comes out of the North parts vers 15. whereas God and Magog in the Revelation are said to be Nations which are in the four Quarters of the Earth this seeming difference admits of an easy Solution For although Gog with the People of Magog came out of the North parts yet the rest of the people of which his army consists come from other parts Some from Persia some from Ethiopia and Lybia and others from the North Quarters of the lesser Asia viz. Gomer and Togarmah vers 5 6. So that here are several Nations in Confederacy against the Jews and these lying against the four Corners of their Land But whereas God and Magog are chief in this Expedition therefore they only are mentioned by St. John And for the same Reason the judgment of God against this Army is in Ezekiel denounced particularly against Gog. So that here is no difference but a most exact harmony and consent between the Prophet and the Divine But there is a farther Correspondence as to the time of this Invasion very remarkable and which abundantly confirms my Interpretation This in the Revelation is about a Thousand years after the Jews Conversion and repossession of their native Land And that in Ezekiel succeeds the Restauration of the Jewish Nation and their Subjection to Christ For in the seven and thirtieth Chapter is foretold the Return of the whole House of Israel vers 11 12. The Reunion of the two Kingdoms after this Return vers 21 22. And the perpetual government of David or Christ over them vers 25. And then follows in the next Chapter the Prophecy of Gogs invading the people of Israel in the latter days or towards the End of the World Chap. 38. 16. CHAP. VI. Of the general judgment and end of the World THE last vision is that of the general Judgment which is the concluding Scene and ends with the Conflagration of the World And I saw a great White Throne and him that sat on it from whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no place for them And I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were Written in the Books according to their works And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead which were in them And they were judged every Man according to his works And Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second Death And whosoever was not found Written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of Fire Rev 20. 11 12 13 14 15. What St. John here saith of the dead standing before the Throne of God and their being judged according to their works needs not much explication The right of judging belongs to none but God nor is any besides a God qualified for so mighty a performance But we are assured from Scripture that this judgment shall be administred by God Incarnate in the Person of Jesus Christ who is ordained the Judge of quick and Dead Act 10. 42. For the Father judgeth no Man but hath committed all judgment to the Son and that for this reason as Our Saviour himself tells us because he is the Son of Man that is truly and really Man as well as God John 5. 27. For of the three Persons in the Blessed Trinity the Son only is personally united to Human nature And therefore being God-man is the most proper Judge of Men who must be judged in their Bodies The consequents of this judgment are not so clear and obvious For as for the casting Death and Hell into the lake
seed are the Children of the Kingdom but the tares are the Children of the wicked One. The enemy that sowed them is the Devil Whence it appears that 't is the Devil that sows these tares of Heretics and Schismatics that overrun the field of the Church and infuses into their minds false and corrupt doctrines And thus that Floud of Arrianism that well nigh overwhelmed the Primitive Church is said to have proceeded out of the mouth of the old Serpent Rev. 12. 15. And the Corruption of the Christian faith in the latter times is attributed to the Devil by the Apostle Tim. 4. 1. In the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing Spirits and doctrines of Devils that is doctrines Suggested by Evil Spirits So that when the Devil shall be restrained from sowing his tares and corrupting the minds of Men with false notions of things there will doubtless follow greater consent in matters of Religion Truth will prevail and Flourish and bear down all opposite Errors which will find no patrons to maintain and propagate them This Conclusion is grounded not only on reason but Prophecy For this Zechary prophesied should come to pass in the days of the Messias ch 13. 2. It shall come to pass in that day saith the Lord of hosts that I will cut off the names of the Idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembred And also I will cause the prophets viz that speak lies and the unclean Spirit to pass out of the Land Satan hath had his Ministers false Teachers in every age of the Church but the time will come when these lying Prophets shall cease and be removed out of it They shall have no place in the new Jerusalem For out of it shall be excluded them that make a lie Rev. 21. 27. And such are false Apostles those deceitful workers that transform themselves into the Apostles of Christ and with fair speeches deceive the Hearts of the Simple II. A great encrease of Piety will follow this confinement of Satan The design of the Gospel is to restrain Men from all impiety and to oblige them to the practice of universal goodness And considering the nature of the laws the Gospel prescribes their agreeableness to the best reason of mankind and their tendency to promote both our eternal and temporal happiness 't is strange Mens actions are not more conformable to them It is true human nature by the Fall of our first Parents is very much corrupted and tainted with evil Inclinations And this inbred Corruption doth at once indispose us to Goodness and betray us to many sinful practices agreeable to our depraved appetites But I cannot think Men would arrive at such heights of wickedness and villainy as we see many do unless they were pusht forward by the Instigation of some wicked Spirits who as the Scripture tells us work in act and inspire the Children of disobedience great and notorious Sinners over whom they have a more immediate influence and power Eph. 2. 2. Nor is the Devil wanting to insnare and allure even good Men into forbidden courses Hence he hath the title of the Tempter because he makes it his great business and employment to seduce Men to Sin So that the greatest part of the wickedness that is committed in the World is owing to the Temptations of evil Spirits who by presenting to Men the oppertunities and occasions of sin and infusing into them evil motions excite and actuate that Corruption which is inherent in our nature When therefore the Devil shall be shut up in the Abysse and restrained from tempting Men without doubt immorality and wickedness will decline and there will be a general and more exact conformity to the dictates of Reason and the laws of Religion And this flourishing state of Religion is clear from express texts of Scripture For thus Righteousness is said to dwell in the new Heavens and new Earth 2 Pet. 3. 13. And St. John saith that nothing that defileth shall enter into the new Jerusalem Rev 21. 27. Which plainly signifies a great encrease of Piety and Vertue in the Millennial State of the Church CHAP. II. Of the Resurrection and Reign of the Saints I Saw Thrones and they sat upon them and judgment was given unto them And I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God and which had not Worshipped the Beast neither his Image neither had received his Mark upon their foreheads or in their hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a Thousand years Rev 20. 4. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished This is the first Resurrection Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection On such the second Death hath no power ver 5. 6. Here are two things to be considered 1 The judgment given to them that sat on Thrones 2 The Living of the Beheaded and their reigning with Christ The meaning of the First is clear from a parallel place Dan. 7. 22. Judgment was given to the Saints of the most High That both the One and the Other belong to the same thing is evident because they begin from the same Term viz the destruction of the fourth Beast That in Daniel when the Beast then ruling in the wicked Horn was slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame ver 11 21 22. This in the Apocalypse when the Beast and the false Prophet the wicked Horn in Daniel were taken and both cast alive into a lake of Fire burning with Brimstone Rev. 19. 20 21 c. vid Mede Ep. 15 They therefore whom St. John saw sitting on Thrones are the Saints of the most High that is the Jews the holy People as they are called Dan. 8. 24. 12. 7. And to them Judgment was given i. e. Dominion or Empire For so it follows in the place even now cited The Saints possessed the Kingdom ch 7. 22. When the Course of the four Monarchies is finished by the destruction of the Fourth Beast the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled And from thenceforth the â—â—ngdom and Dominion and greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High Daniel 7. 27. And thus of the new Jerusalem it is said That the Kings of the Earth do bring their Glory and Honour into it Rev. 21. 24. Of this see a more ful and particular account in the fourth chapter As for the other part of this vision I find no Key to it in the Prophets In defect whereof I think it safest to attend to the plain literal sense of the words And if it be interpreted by this Rule the thing signified must be the Resurrection and Reign of the Martyrs The Resurrection of the dead is a fundamental Article of Christian Faith built on clear and express texts of Scripture But in what order the
of Fire with all whose names are not found Written in the Book of Life and the flying away of the Earth and the Heaven from the face of him that sits on the Throne these are somwhat obscure expressions and not so easily understood 1. St. Paul tells us that the last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death 1 Cor 15. 26. Which destruction is here expressed by casting Death and Hell or Hades the place of separate Souls into the lake of Fire And signifies that there shall be no more seperation of Soul and Body but that Men arise to an immortal and endless Life But whether this immortality and endless duration be common to all Men or peculiar only to the Blessed is made matter of dispute That good Men shall live for ever in a State of unspeakable happiness is a privilege beyond the merit of the most perfect virtue But eternal Life is a gift very becoming the infinite Goodness of God to bestow And no Man ever Quarrel'd with God on this Score for promising to reward the imperfect Services of Men with Eternal Happiness But by some it is thought very Hard and no way consistent with the laws of justice to punish the sins of a short life with an eternity of Torment that Men who sin but a few years must live for ever in insupportable Misery there being no proportion between Time and Eternity This indeed is a very great difficulty and hath inforced some Men to put a period to the miseries of the Damned as not knowing how to reconcile the Divine Justice to the Eternity of Hell Torments Whatever is necessary for the preservation of Government and securing obedience to laws must be allowed to be just and lawful Which justifies the severity of God in denouncing everlasting misery against impenitent sinners because nothing less would be a sufficient restraint upon most Men from breaking the laws of God For if the generality of Men despise these Terrors of the Lord what regard would they have for menaces less severe But that God should execute these threats according to the strictest sense of them there is no necessity For tho Promises oblige to a performance yet Threats do not induce any obligation nor does justice require the Execution of them And therefore God if he pleases may deal with Sinners more mercifully than he hath threatned But whether he will shew them favour and abate any thing of the utmost he has denounced I cannot tell This is most certain that no Man shall suffer beyond the just desert of his actions But who dare say that God cannot in justice inflict Eternal punishment For any Man upon such a presumption to harden himself against the clear and express threats of endless Misery is the height of madness For if at last the Torments of a future state are Eternal how sad and deplorable will his Condition be And if they prove finite and end in his final destruction yet what an amazing and insupportable thought is this for a Man to suffer the pains of Hell so long as the Divine justice can inflict them and at last with all sense of farther sufferings to lose his Being for ever This indeed is the mildest fate the Sinner can expect but a much more severe may be his doom II. This punishment of wicked Men is exprest by being cast into the lake of Fire Which some interpret according to the literal sense of Torment by real fire Others understand this to be a Metaphorical description of the unknown miseries of the Damned The truth seems divided between these two opinions For first it is clear from St. Peter that the Heavens and the Earth which are now are reserved unto fire against the day of judgment 2 Ep. 3. 7. And whatever operation this fire may have upon the Apostate Spirits it will doubtless affect the bodies of wicked Men with most painful impressions But secondly This seems only the Prologue to a more tragical state which they must enter upon when this Conflagration is ended and of which a lake of fire and Brimstone is only a representation The miseries of Hell are described in Scripture by the most sensible and painful things And because the most dreadful Idea of pain the mind can form is the suffering by a raging and devouring fire therefore this Metaphor of fire is most frequently used And as for the lake of Fire and Brimstone so often mentioned in the Revelation it relates to the lake Asphaltites or the Dead Sea the lasting Monument of those showrs of Fire and Brimstone wherewith the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed These and the like descriptions are lively Images and Representations of Hell Torments and signifie them to be intolerable great but they do not express the true nature of them This indeed is in a great measure unknown to us and the most affrighted imagination cannot reach the truth and terror of them For who can tell or conceive what evils and Miseries the wrath of God and his vengeance on the ungodly comprehends III. By the Earth and the Heaven flying away from the face of him that sits on the Throne I understand the destruction of their present frame I see no reason from this or any other place of Scripture to conclude the utter Abolition or Annihilation of the World The matter and Substance of the Earth and the rest of the Mosaic Creation will doubtless continue the same but they will receive a new form or rather be rudis indigestaque moles an indigested heap without form or order This Dissolution of things St. Peter speaks of and tells us that this wonderful Metamorphosis shall be effected by Fire 2 Pet. 3. Some are apt to fancy that this Conflagration of the World is in order to its refining and that the Heavens and Earth being purged by Fire God will erect a new World out of the old Materials for the seat and habitation of the Blessed But this is a mere Imagination and is directly contrary to Scripture which teaches us that the Kingdom which the Righteous must inherit was prepared for them from the foundation of the World Matt. 25. 24. And as for the New Heavens and the New Earth which St. John and St. Peter speak of I have shewed that they do not signifie the Creation of a New World after the day of Judgment but a New state of things in the old Others think this Conflagaation to be perpetual and to be designed for the punishment of the wicked who shall live and suffer in this Fire to Eternnl Ages This seems to have some foundation in Scripture which speaks of the condemnation of the wicked to everlasting Fire But this fire to which wicked Men will be condemned is the same with that prepared for the Devil and his Angels which cannot be a Real One. For the evil Angels are spiritual Substances and have no sense of Material Impressinns If then the punishment of the Devil and wicked Men be of