his to dwell in he would cease spoiling of the Country Honorius not knowing how to recover France and Spain from the Suevians Vandals c. giveth Alaricus Power to go into France confirmed this Grant with an Oath Alaricus steering his Course towards France Stiâ—ico against the Covenant followeth him and made a great slaughter Alaricus not the least suspecting it before Hereupon the Goths snatching up their Arms and Alaricus exasperated by this injury and violation of Covenant turned back into Italy wasâ—ing with Fire and Sword and at last Rome it self was taken by him Socrat. 1. 7. c. 10. Cent. 5. c. 16. Funccâ—â—â— And whereas some grant that the sixth Head of Emperours was wounded and would have the Popes obtaining Headship to be the healing I confess I understand not how a wound in one Head should be healed by the rising up of another I think the wound is never healed unless the same Head that was wounded recovereth again But this is a granting the thing for it is not a Head of the Dragon but a Head of the Beast that is wounded Rev. 13. 3. One of his Heads and therefore if it be the sixth Head of Emperours that is wounded then that first Beast is not the Roman State under the seventh Head but under the sixth Head of Emperours 4. The first Beast is the Whore-ridden Beast Rev. 17. 3. I saw a Woman sit upon a Scarlet-coloured Beast v. 4. 5. Rev. 13. 1. Now the Pope is rather carried by the Whore than the Beast that carrieth her and therefore this Beast is not the Pope Nor is the Turk this first Beast for this Whore doth not ride upon the Turk nor is Constantinople the City which in the days of John reigned over the Kings of the Earth nor did the Turk arise the same hour with the Crowning of the Horns as Rev. 17. 12. but hundreds of years after yet I deny not that the Turk may belong to the Beast after he obtained some Territories belonging to the Horns of the Beast It is therefore a Civil State of the Roman Empire 5. The Beast is both an eighth King and of the seven Heads Rev. 13. 1. And Rev. 17. 3 11. The Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and 〈◊〉 the seven There were but six when the 〈◊〉 did arise and the wound was of the sixth 〈◊〉 as I have proved and so must the eiâ—â—th be some distinct new kind of Government and if the 〈◊〉 Beast Rev. 13. 1. were Popes and the sevâ—â—th Head at his first rising then the Beast could not be the eighth and of the seven For I ask what distinct kind of Government or State of the Empire came after Popes to make an eighth King If it be said the Christian Emperours before the rising of the Beast I add that it was the same State of Government under Pagan and Christian Emperours though the qualifications and Actions of Governours were different both were Emperours And seeing after the sixth Head of Emperours two Beasts so different each from other are mentioned Rev. 13. 1 11. It is to me a wonder that men should not seek a way how the other six might by these two Beasts be made up eight Kings Thus the first Beast Rev. 13. 1. hath Ten Crowns upon the Horns or Kingly Government there which made a different sort of Government from the other six and so may be deemed a seventh King or sort of Government or an eighth if we will count it after Popes who maketh another as 2 Pet. 2. 5. God saved Noah the eighth Person the meaning is that there were seven saved besides Noah he was not the last of them in order but did make up that number So Rev. 17. 11. The Beast is the eighth that is there are seven besides seven others and so with him there are eight The Beast is the eighth in number not necessarily that he is eighth or last in order Hence he aâ—deth and of the seven he doth not say he is the seventh so warily doth the Apostle speak here It is said of this Beast it was is not and yet is Rev. 17. 8 11. was in its Ten Horns crowned before the deadly Wound is not in respect of perfect Headship when wounded for the Head is said to be wounded as it were unto death Rev. 13. 3. and yet is when the Wound was healed Rev. 13. 3. 6. The Pope obtained not any Civil Supremacy over the Empire till hundreds of years after the Horns were crowned and so after the first Beast was â—â— therefore the first Beast Rev. 13. 1. is not the Pope or seventh Head For the crowning of the Horns or their receiving Power as Kings is the same hour or the first hour with the Beast Rev. 17. 12. All the former Heads were Civil Heads as Kings Consuls c. and therefore so must the seventh be also And indeed how is it possible that Popes should be reckoned a Head of the Roman State or Civil Monarchy or succeed and come in the place and stead of the sixth Head of Emperors which was a Civil Head until they obtain a Civil Supremacy as Emperors and others had â—hocas his constituting Boniface the third Universal Bishop Anno 606. is evidence enough that the Bishop of Rome had not then obtained a Civil Supremacy but was under the Head of Emperors still seeing he was beholden to them even for his Ecclesiastical Supremacy and yet the first Ten Horned Crowned Beast was up long before this Indeed there is evidence that a long time after the crowning of the Horns yet Emperors were the Supream Head and the Popes of Rome subordinate or subject to them Bonifacius writing to Honorius saith God hath given you the Regiment of worldly things and the Priesthood to me Even the Councils for spiritual matters were called by the command of Emperors many years after as Phil. Morney Knight in his Mystery of Iniquity hath largely proved And claiming Supremacy or aspiring after Civil Headship is no obtaining it any more than John Bishop of Constantinople his claiming and assuming the Title of Universal Bishop about Anno 590. did make him Ecclesiastical Head over the Bishop of Rome in that day The Temporal Supremacy of the Pope cannot be proved until a long time after and so he could not be the first Beast And to say that his Ecclesiastical Power made him the first Beast and his Temporal the second is to invert the Order of Rev. 13. 17. which ascribeth that to him as a second Beast 7. All the other Characters of the first Beast agree to the Civil State of the Empire with ten Horns crowned persecuting and so the complex body of them or as headed by Emperours make that Beast Rev. 13. v. 3 4. When the Wound was healed then all the World wondred after the Beast Charles was called the Great because then he was so much admired And they worshipped the Beast To worship him is eidem
issue as to the Dragon is Rev. 20. That he is bound 1000 Years i e. restrained from former Persecutions and at last is utterly destroyed v. 10. CHAP. II. Of the Ten Horned Crowned Beast Rev. 13. 1. IT is impossible to regulate our Knowledge in these Prophetical Matters or our ensuing Practice without rectified Apprehensions in what state the Roman Empire must be considered when it became a Beast I cannot concur with an eminent Writer in thinking the first â—east Rev. 13. 1. to be the Roman Catholick Visible Church For I cannot find that the claim of Universal Churchship was first before the claim of Universal Supremacy or Headship to make a second Beast Nor do the other Characters v. 3. 5 7. agree to that If that were the first Beast then who is the Whore that rideth upon the Beast Rev. 17. 3 7. Surely that is the pretended Roman Catholick Church and so that cannot be the Beast that is ridden upon Nor is the Church one of the eight Kings or seven Heads v. 11. and so cannot be the first Beast Nor is this first Beast Rome as under Pagan Emperours For then it had but seven Crowns and these upon the Heads Rev. 12. 3. Whereas this first Beast hath Ten Crowns and these upon the Horns Rev. 13. â— Because the Ten Horns assumed a Supremacy and Soveraignty which Crowns are Emblems of to themselves And this Beast is the Dragons Successor v. 2. and received a deadly wound in one of his Heads v. 3. Whereas although â—aganism was wounded by Constâ—â—â—â—ne the Great yet the sixth Head of Emperours was not wounded much less unto Death during the Dragon or Pagan State it was 〈…〉 this Beast nor wounded until the 〈…〉 were upon the Horns nor did Pagan Emperours continue forty two Months as this Beast doth Rev. 13. 5. Nor is the Pope the first Beast I am perswaded that the accounting him so hath caused divers mistakes in the matters of the Revelation as seeking the Eâ—ocha of the Prophetical days in him which should be found in another as this first Beast I grant that the Pope is the second two Horned Beast Rev. 13. 11 12. and Antichristian but I humbly conceive that there was a first Antichristian persecuting Beast up above two hundred years before the second Beast arose and so before the Pope became the two horned Beast and seventh Head Take my Notion under this Rule Rule 2. That the first ten horned Crowned Beast is a Civil State of the Roman Empire as broken or divided into ten persecuting Kingdoms For 1. The first Beast is distinct from the two horned Beast or these are two distinct Beasts and not barely a double Power Temporal and Ecclesiastical of the same Beast Here are many Notes of Distinction They have a different manner of rising One out of the Sea Rev. 13. 1. the Other out of the Earth v. 11. the former is wounded in one of his Heads v. 3. the latter is another Beast v. 1. 11 14. they are differing in Shape the first hath ten Horns Crowned v. 1. the second hath two Horns v. 11. Nay the second Beast exerciseth all the Power of the first Beast and that before him i. e. before the first Beast and therefore they are distinct yet some part of the time exist together i. e. the second Beast is up before the first is down else it could not be before him And hence it cannot be the same Beast considered as wounded as the first Beast and as healed as the second Beast For how could the second Beast as healed exercise the Power of the first Beast before him as wounded Seeing the wounded State as well as that before the wound is past when the healing time cometh and so it could not be before him if after the second Beast were up the first were not up also How can one act before another if both be not up together as distinct each from other even still in some respects And hence it is evident that it cannot be limited only to a double Power of the same Beast seeing whatsoever Power the first Beast hath the same the second hath also and so the first is in some degree subjected to the second if the first Beast did exercise Temporal Power then so did the second also for the second exerciseth not only some but all the Power of the first Beast v. 12. From all which it is evident that they are two distinct Beasts and that therefore the first Beast cannot be the Pope or seventh Head For there are but seven Heads in all Rev. 13. 1. Chap 17. 3 9. And if the Pope be the first Beast and seventh Head how can another distinct Beast come after and exercise all the Power of the first without making eight Heads And who should that second Beast be after Popes or seventh Head if the Pope be the first Beast 2. He to whom the Dragon resigned or gave his Power Throne and great Authority about the time of Crowning the Horns he is the first Beast Rev. 13. 1. Vpon his Horns ten Crowns And v. 2. The Dragon gave him his Power and his Seat and great Authority Now the Pope had not from the Dragon i. e. from Pagan Rome his Throne Power or Military Forces nor great Authority he had the same Seat before and at Crowning the Horns and therefore the Pope is not the first Beast but the Crowned Horns who had these as Alaricus 3. That which was Head of the Roman Empire after the rising of the first Beast received a deadly wound which afterward was healed Rev. 13. 1 2 3. I saw one of his i. e. of the Beasts Heads wounded as it were unto Death It was then one of the first Beasts Heads that was wounded and so in his time after he was up And therefore the Pope cannot be the first Beast or the seventh Head then for the Head of â—opes as it was not up so early as the Crowning of the Horns so did not receive a deadly wound he was rather in a rising than a falling posture thence forward But there was a manifest wound in the sixth Head of Emperours by Alaricus about Ann. 410. and others afterwards till about Ann. 475. in Augustulus that wound was so great that there were no Emperours in the West or at Rome till Charles the Great about Ann. 800. when the wound was after a sort healed again yet it had not the extent of the former Empire The manner and occasion take thus Alaricus took Rome and set up a Mock Emperour that he might bring the Majesty of the Imperial Scepter into Contempt and Derision he proclaimed Emperour One whose Name was Attalus and the same day they carried him up and down the Streets in the habit of an Emperour and the next day they made him serve as a Slave It 's said to be occasioned thus Alaricus having over-run many places sent Messengers to Honorius declaring that if Lands were granted to him and
most corrupt in those days â—b lib. 28. c. 8. Yea they over-ran those parts even to the Suburbs of Constantinople and besieged that but at last were repulsed Sccrat lib. 4. c. 31. and others 2. When the Body of the Roman Empire was changed from its Ancient form of Provinces into the form and shape of Crowned Horns then the Beast was up For it 's said in the days of John Rev. 17. 17. They have received no Kingdom as yet but receive power as Kings one hour or the first hour with the Beast The rising then of the Beast and the crowning of the Horns are about the same time This Beast is differenced thus from the Dragon that he the Beast hath his Crowns Emblems of Soveraignty upon his Horns Rev. 13. 1. and from the two Horned Beast that he hath more than two even Ten and upon his Horns Ten Crowns Not that they must all be up first so as the rising of the tenth Horn should give the first date to the Beast For they are all Horns of the Beast and therefore speak a Beast up for them to grow upon and they receive Power as Kings One hour with the Beast Rev. 17. v. 12. Not the Beast one hour with them intimating the Beast to be first in order rather than otherwise But as the Dragon is said to have seven Heads Rev. 12. 3. When as the seventh Head of Popes was not up till Dragon Pagan Power was down so as well may this be called a Ten Horned Crowned Beast Rev. 13. 1. Before all the ten were Crowned because there were to be so many principal ones and ten may not be taken precisely neither more nor fewer but indefinitely for many as Numb 14. 22. Job 19. 3. Gen. 31. 7. Now before Ann. 400. diverse Horns were Crowned see an Elaborate book Entituled Antichrists Excidium which proveth the riseing of the Kingdom of the Alemanes Ann. 356. the Ostrogoths Ann. 377. the Visogoths Ann. 378. the Hunns Ann. 378. and others even ten about Ann. 410. Therefore then the Beast was up 3. When the Dragon gave unto Crowned Horns in the Roman Empire his Power Throne and great Authority then the Beast was up For it is the Beast he gave these to Rev. 13. 2. the Dragon gave him i. e. the Beast his power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 strength or force distinguished from authority and so it is outward strength or military power his Throne i. e. the City of Rome or a Government there and great Authority so as to become a lawful ruler within the Roman Empire Now all this was given before or soon after Ann. 400. For Crowned Horns had power such military power as they did wage War with the Emperours as the Goths and others and after the death of Valens they over-run Thracia and spread themselves even to the Suburbs of Constantinople and besieged that Am. Marcell l. 31. c. 14. 15 16 17. Alaricus King of the Goths occupyeth Thracia Graecia Athens Corinth and other Cities c. Returneth to Italy Calvis Ann 395. The Hunns destroyed Armenia and other Countries of the East Socrat. l. 6. c. 1. By Armenia brake into Asia and besieged Antioch Calvis Ann. 395. Gainas with an Army of Goths over-ran the Eastern Empire and Constantinople was in great danger Socrat. l. â— c. 6. Gildo usurped Africa Magd. Cent. 5. C. 16. And his Throne the City of Rome was given to crowned Horns for Alaricus King of the Goths took it about Ann. 410. It is true this was a little after Ann. 400. But it proveth the Beast to be up before having such great power as aforesaid It is true Alaricus then did not keep Rome long but then he took possession of the Throne And it is not said the Beast kept the Throne but that the Dragon gave it to him and afterward also Gensericus King of the Vandals sacked Rome And after the Goths reigned over Italy about 70 years Yea Crowned Horns obtained in the Roman Empire great Authority for before Ann. 400. Valentinian the Emperour made a league with Macrianus King of the Alemanes and ratified it by â—ath about Ann. 374. Am. Marcell lib. 30. c. 4. Afterwards Valens granted some Countries in Thracia to the King of the Goths about Ann. 376. and so he became a crowned Horn. ib. lib. 31. c. 4. Socrat. Diacon and consider whether this was not the birth-day of the Beast this being the first crowned Horn that received not only Power but Authority in the Roman Empire I might mention other Leagues as between the Emperour Honorius and the Goths and so with Theodosius and others All this argueth that the Beast was up before Ann. 400. 4. When the deadly wound was given to one of the Heads then the Beast was up For it was a Head of the Ten-Horned Beast that was wounded as it were unto death Rev. 13. v. 1 2. And so the Beast must then exist and be up to receive the wound Now this deadly wound was made when Alaricus sacked Rome and perfected at Augustulus Indeed this act was after Ann. 400. but it presupposeth the Beast to be up and so we may reckon that he did rise before Ann. 400. And here note 1. It is not the Pope but this ten Horned Beast who in respect of his first State is said to continue a short space Rev. 17. 10. For it is not said the seventh Head but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another i. e. another of the eight Kings with whom the word agreeth not another Head There were eight Kings and but seven Heads this was another King or State of Government when the Empire was so broken and changed from its antient form and shape of Provinces into crowned Horns and this was but a short time before it was wounded even unto death Whereas the seventh Head the Pope hath continued a longer time than any of the other Heads if compared with them And further to confirm this he immediately addeth the different States of the first Beast v. 11. was and is not and yet is as before v. 9. and so was is before wounding this short space is not is when wounded yet is is after healed 2. If the first Beast be the man of sin 2 Thes 2. 6 7. Then the lett which hindred not meerly his rising but his revelation must be imperial power which was removed by the aforementioned breakings and woundings of it But if it be the second Beast then the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is their Imperial Authority and it was removed when Popes over-topped and assumed power over Emperours as Hildebrand and others Rule 6. That the Eastern parts belong to the first Ten-Horned Beast as well as the Western This is denyed by some but seeing it conduceth to the clearing up of truths and some material points I shall give these grounds of it 1. The same Dominion which the Dragon i. e. Pagan Emperours had the same the Beast hath Compare Rev. 12. 2. and 13. v. 2.
and the Saints possessed the Kingdom i. e. until the Seventh Trumpet And further to confirm this after the time times and half it is added Dan. 12. 7. and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the Power of the holy People all these things shall be finished viz. Daniel's People the Jews shall be delivered v. 1. So then the accomplishing to scatter the Power of the holy People is after the time times and half are expired And seeing we read not of any new scattering of the Jews and this belongeth to the Fourth Monarchy and is a Gentile Number it may possibly refer to Gentile Christians and be in part expressive of the way of slaying the Witnesses by a scattering them and their Church-Assemblies after these times or 1260 days are expired Also John in the Revelation clearly placeth what concerneth the Death of the Witnesses after the 1260 days are ended Revel 11. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when they have finished their Testimony then and not before doth the Witness-killing War begin I had rather render it so in the time past being in the Aorist than when they are about to finish And their Testimony was not finished till the 1260 days of their Prophesying expired seeing the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophesie Rev. 19. 10. so long as they Prophesie though in Sackcloth it is not finished either for time or work And not only the import of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the Nature of the thing maketh that War and Death subsequent For during the 1260 days of their prophesying the Witnesses are Overcomers and their Enemies are killed Rev. 11. 5 6. if any Man will hurt them fire proceedeth out of their Mouth and devoureth their Enemies and he must in this manner be killed and this in the days of their Prophesie Whereas the issue of this War is the Witnesses are overcome and killed v. 7. the Beast shall overcome and kill them Rev. 13. 7. Yea the Prophesying state in the very mentioning of it is inconsistent with the Death-state and the Death far worse than the Prophesying though in Sackcloth so long as they Prophesie they are alive not dead Neither do the Witnesses in the time of their lying dead torment the Earth-dwellers as they do in the time of their Prophesying v. 5 6 10. The Conclusion then is that the finishing of the Testimony however the Witness-killing War and the Death of the Witnesses are after the 42 Months and 1260 days are expired and at an end For the further discovering who are the Witnesses and what their Death how where and when they are to be Slain taken Seven Propositions Prop. I. That the Two Witnesses are faithful Ministers and pure Professors or Beast-opposing Churches For they are two Candlesticks Rev. 11. 4. which are interpreted Churches Rev. 1. 20 the seven Candlesticks are seven Churches and they are two Olive Trees which is but an Allusion to Zech. 4. 3 11 14. and cannot be confined to Magistrates and Ministers seeing they are never called a Candlestick and pure Professors and Churches are anointed ones Rom. 11. 17 18 19 20. 1 John 2. 20. 1 Pet. 2. 9. Yea these are such as Prophecy 1 Cor. 14. 24 31. Rev. 19. 10. and that 1260 Rev. 11. 3. not only making a Profession at large but bearing and finishing a Testimony for Christ and his Kingdom against the Beast as v. 7. so as he becometh their Enemy and maketh War with them The Two Testaments are their Testimony and so cannot be the Witnesses however it cometh to the same in Effect for if these or Magistrates and Ministers lye dead then so will such pure Professors and Churches also and so are to be deemed Witnesses Prop. II. That the Death of the Witnesses is an Extremity of Suffering Or it consisteth in an unparallell'd Cessation of Testimony and Deprivation of Means and Comforts of Life The various Phrases of overcoming and killing them may intimate its being attended with much Bloodshed but it is not chiefly a corporal Death for then such must be the resurrection or recovery out of it and that under the sixth Trumpet Rev. 11 11. 14. whereas the corporal resurrection is not until the seventh Trumpet v. 18. And their Enemies behold them with pleasure three Prophetical days or years and half which they could not do if it were a corporal Death It must then be a metaphorical Death by the Churches being in a state and condition full of Extremity of Affliction and Suffering which often is called a Death 2 Cor. 1. 10. and 11. v. 23. Psal 71. 20. and 80. 18. Isai 26. 19. Ezek. 37. 10. 35. Rom. 11. 15. It will not only be a civil death by deprivation of Publick Ministration and Employment as to the exercise of office but also a spiritual Death by an unparallelled Cessation of Testimony for they dye not meerly as Men but as Witnesses they lose much of their witnessing Spirit Rev 11. 7. Their state is far worse than in their prophesying time possibly by military Men having Power over v. 9 10. and forcibly disabling of them for former actual witnessing work and thus it will be not only their Sin but their Suffering that there is a failing of their Testimony And although Spiritual Life it self will not utterly fail yet they will in an extraordinary unpresidented way be cut short of external means for the support of it so as they are deemed as dead Corps v. 8 9. and their restauration or recovery is by the Spirit of Life from God entring into them which importeth a precedent want of it As the dead-state of the Jews or Israelites Ezek. 37. importeth not only the ruin of their City destruction of their Temple despoiling of them of outward Comforts Houses Lands Relations Accommodations but the Profaning of the solemn Worship of God the trampling under foot his Ordinances the casting down from Church-state or work and subjecting them to the wills of merciless Men and their own drawing up despairing Conclusions v. 11. our hope is lost we are cut off for our parts and the restoring of them is a recovery out of this condition v. 8. to 15. So the Death of the Witnesses importeth the like an unparallelled unwonted loss of a witnessing Spirit deprivation of the external Worship and Ordinances of Christ and Church-state by scattering loss of Communion and all aggravated with the triumphant Blasphemies of Enemies and Insultations over them Rev. 11. 10. and their own despairing Conclusions from their seeing no visible possibility of coming into a better condition afterward all which will be attended with a variety of other Afflictions and Sufferings rendring their conditions so deplorable as is hardly to be pre-conceived of before experienced Prop. III. That it is by a latter Victorious War of the First Beast that the Witnesses are slain Rev. 11. 7. The Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit shall make War against them and shall overcome and kill
them Where note It was not by the Dragon i. e. not by any of the Ten Persecutions in the First three hundred Years after Christ under Pagan Emperours but by the Beast who was the Dragon's Successor he is the slayer of the Witnesses and not the second Beast the Pope though it may be by his Instigation but by the first Civil Persecuting Ten-horned Crowned Whore-ridden Beast for it is by him which ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit Compare Rev. 17. v. 3 7 8. with Rev. 13. 1 2. and 11. 7. And it is by a War not a meer worldly literal War but a Spiritual Mystical War by a difference stated between the Witnesses and the Bestians and so not where the power of the Beast hath wholly prevailed but where Christ hath a potent party to make opposition And not any War soon after the rising of the Ten-Horned Beast or during the 1260 days but when the Witnesses have finished their testimony as to time and work and are overcome and the War ended and hence this Death of the Witnesses was not by any National distresses and calamities which equally betide Bestians and the true Witnesses nor could the Death of the Witnesses be before or at the Smalcaldian War nor at the Council of Trent Ann. 1546. nor at the Massacre at Paris Ann. 1572. for from the rising of the Horns to those times the 1260 days could not be ended or testimony finished and so the Witness-killing War was not then so much as begun Prop. IV. That it is in an open place of Mystical Babylon that the Witnesses lie dead How long this Witness-killing War lasteth the Scripture doth not determine but the event must but it leaveth Spiritless Lifeless Rev. 11. 8. their dead bodies shall lye in the Street of the great City which Spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was Crucified This great City is Mystical Babylon see Rev. 14. 8. and 16. v. 19. and 17. v. 18. and 18. v. 10 16 18 19 21. and the description agreeth to that for it is Spiritually i. e. not literally but mystically called Sodom for spiritual Whoredom and Idolatry Rev. 17. 5. and Egypt for tyranny and cruelty Rev 17. 6. where our Lord was Crucified which was under Pontius Pilate a Roman Deputy and in that Jurisdiction It cannot be literally Jerusalem for that was not a great City in the days of John nor ever after till the New Jerusalem Rev. 21. 10. after which there will be no more sorrow or death v. 4. Zâ—ph 3. 15. Zâ—ch 9. 8. Amos 9. 14 15. Ezekiel's measuring is after restauration not before Ezek. 40. 17 19 20. and 48. 15 16. and therefore that is under the Seventh Trumpet after which they will not lye dead and therefore that is not the same nor at the same time with Johns measuring for that and the death of the Witnesses is before the end of the Sixth Trumpet Rev. 11. 1 7 14. They lye dead in the great City the Roman dominion not in the whole compass of it but in a Street thereof where some eminent testimony was held for Christ and his Kingdom against the Beast not in Streets Yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though distinguished from City as being only a part thereof Luk. 10. 10. and 14. 21. noteth a publick broad and open place in opposition to what is private as Mat. 6. 5. and 7. 13. wide is the Gate Rev. 21. 21. and 22. 3. So that the Witnesses shall lye dead in the Street i. e. in a most open place of Mystical Babylon exposed to the view of all even of Enemies The openness of it is such as v. 9. they of the People Kindreds Tongues and Nations shall see their dead bodies and not suffer them to be put in the Grave Denying Burial to the Dead generally soundeth disfavour and being barbarous Am. 8. 3. Psal 79. 2 3. Jer. 16. 4 6. and 22. 19. and 25. 33. but if it be an act of favour here securing them from utter destruction yet it is a very publick business the sadness of their condition is notoriously known to those of various Nations and Kingdoms by the dead Witnesses being personally present there And so either they are slain in diverse Nations and Kingdoms or else after dead they are transported exiled banished and by flight dispersed and driven for refuge thither and finding welcome there by their kindness are sheltred and secured from burial from utter ruin and destruction Or else as some think military men of all gatherings of several Nations Kindreds and Tongues will have power over them and hold them under their death and the Bestians are expressed under the same notions Rev. 13. 7 8. and the Earth-dwellers rejoice over them Rev. 11. 10 and to be sure these are Enemies Prop. 5. That when the Witnesses have lain dead three years and half they shall be eminently revived and advanced Rev. 11. 11 12. After three days and half the Spirit of life from God entred into them and they heard a voice from Heaven saying unto them Come up hither It is a determinate time else it might have been said as well after three or four days if only a short uncertain time had been intended whereas it is three days and half and so twice mentioned Nor can they be Natural days for the Earth-dwellers could not so congratulate one another at a distance in three natural days and half Nor are they the same with the 1260 days For who can imagine that so many days should signifie no more than three days and half in the same breath And besides they are different states the one of Sackcloth the other of Death Neither are they dead when they begin their testimony as that would have it nor till they finish it It remaineth then that the time of the Witnesses lying dead is three years and half not to be counted from the first beginning of trouble that is longer for the witness-killing War bringeth trouble but from the end of the War when it can be said Now the Witnesses are overcome and killed are able to make no more considerable opposition against the Bestians but are Spiritless their power is gone thence begin those days And hence where the Witnesses remain in the same deplorable and sad condition or go into a worse a longer space as four or six years that is not the time of the Witnesses lying dead For it is said After three days and half the Spirit of life from God entred into them Rev. 11. 11. Some extraordinary if not immediate hand of God beyond all expectation before the fourth year is come giveth some reviving removeth that wherein the Death of the Witnesses did consist And they stood upon their feet they were fallen down but now are recovered into a better posture to the affrightment and astonishment of Spectators Great fear fell upon them which saw them This second step followeth not long after their reviving a resurrection Afterwards they
Rev. 11. 13. and so their rising cannot be under the fourth or fifth or seventh Vials for then they repented not but blasphemed God Rev. 16. 9 11 21. Their Resurrection and Ascension then must be under the sixth Vial. It must be before the seventh Vial at Armageddon For at the seventh Vial the whole fourth Kingdom of the Beast falleth whereas at the rising of the Witnesses it is but a tenth part that falleth and that upon an Earth-quake under the sixth Trumpet Rev. 11. 13. after which there is another and the greatest Earthquake under the seventh Trumpet v. 19. Whereas the seventh Vial is the last of the last Plagues and bringeth the greatest Earth-quake Rev. 16. 18. and so cannot be that at the rising of the Witnesses for that is not the last nor greatest And further after the destruction of the Whore there is an interval for the lamentation of some of her friends which survive Rev. 18. 9 10. and for the rejoycing of others her Enemies and making themselves ready Rev. 19. 8 9. when the great supper at Armageddon by the seventh Vial is to come ver 19 20. Only we must distinguish between the destruction of Babylon at Rome which is at the Earth-quake near the rising of the Witnesses under the sixth Vial Rev. 11. 13. and the Perdition of Babylon as extending into the Nations or the whole compass of the Roman Dominion which is not till the Earth-quake at the seventh Trumpet Rev. 11. 9. and at the seventh Vial when the Cities of the Nations fall Rev. 16. 19. and then great Babylon cometh into remembrance to give her the fiercest wrath but Babylon at Rome was destroyed before Rev. 18. Some not observing this distinction run upon mistakes either to think that Rev. 18. belongeth to the seventh Vial which is the last wrath whereas that Rev. 19. 19 20 cometh after Or else say that the Turks and Constantinople are the Babylon mentioned under the seventh Vial which I dare not think they being no where called Babylon in the Apocalyps but rather belong to the Beast or Dragon And it is untrue for the Ten-Horned Beast carrieth the Whore of Babylon Rev. 17. 3 5 7. whereas the Ten-Horned Beast never carried the Turks nor did the corrupt Church of Rome Ride upon the Turks neither was Constantinople the great City which in the days of John did Reign over the Kings of the Earth v. 18. but Rome was that City and stretching into the Nations so it is the Babylon mentioned in the seventh Vial. And here observe that this slaying or lying dead of the Witnesses three days and half cannot be successively in one Kingdom after another For at their Resurrection or Ascension the tenth part of the City falleth Rev. 11. 13. the sixth Trumpet passeth v. 14. and soon the seventh Trumpet soundeth v. 15. that notion would make divers slaughters resurrections and falls whereas the Scripture maketh but one slaughter one resurrection one Earth-quake one fall of the Tenth part neither can the sixth Trumpet pass or the seventh sound in one Kingdom after another for when that soundeth not onely one Kingdom but the Kingdoms of the World become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ v. 15. Prop. VII That the Death of the Witnesses Ann. 1680. was not past but to come There are various thoughts among learned Men whether this black and dismal day of the Witnesses Death be past or yet to come I think it is near approaching not only because the days of their Sackcloth in all probability are finished and the Warring time seemeth near at an end but because the sixth Trumpet hath sounded a long time above 200 years if it began when the Turk obtained Constantinople Ann 1453. therefore the conclusion of it cannot be far off I do not think the Church to be the proper subject which the Trumpets sound judgment against but the Civil State of the Roman Empire and clearly the seventh bloweth good to the Church Rev. 11. 15. I shall refer the Reader to Mr. Mede and others to see how and when the several Trumpets sounded All things concerning the sixth agree to the Turk and if the hour day month and year Rev. 9. 15. notifie the time allotted to the Turkish Tyranny then the end of his work is hastening for the time must be counted not from the time of their being prepared but of their being loosed to do the work of slaying the third part of Men v. 14 15. This loosing of four Angels or Sultans seemeth to be before Ann. 1300. for then they fell into one Ottoman Family however taking a day for a year as elfewhere the time for that Woe will expire within a few years which is after the Witnesses Resurrection and Ascension But my opinion is that the Death of the Witnesses is yet to come 1680 I should be glad herein to be mistaken my grounds are these I. Vntil the 1260 days and the Warring State be at an end their death-state is not come for it is after finishing their Testimony that the Beast maketh War with them and killeth them Rev. 11. 7. So long as their Testimony is not finished and the War not ended so long they are not Dead nor the three days and half begun And therefore Ann. 1680. their Death was yet to come It 's true in the time of their Death there may be Edicts or Acts as after the Death of Christ Sealing the Tomb to hinder the Witnesses Resurrection but till there be a suppression of their Testimony they are not dead II. The Condition of the Witnesses since finishing of their testimony hath not been for three years and half far worse than it was before by a greater suppression of Testimony and other unparallelled sufferings therefore Ann. 1680. their Death was not past but to come The consequence is clear because the Death-state is far worse than the Sack-cloth-state as death is far worse than life though in a mournful condition this hath been proved before Prop. 2. III. Whatever the Death of the Witnesses consisteth in some recovery out of that is the immediate issue of the three days and half For else they must be longer dead whereas Rev. 11. 11. after three days and half the Spirit of life from God entred into them c. This life standeth in opposition to the Death and no medium between them no moment wherein they are not either dead or alive at the expiration of these days before the fourth day they live If their Death consisteth in an unparallell'd cessation of Testimony then there is some recovering into witnessing work again before four years be expired and so whatever else their Death may be placed in But no such recovery out of that which is their Death or no removal of that wherein it doth consist hath been the immediate issue of three years and half of any supposed time for their death already past and so that is yet to come I see no Scripture
evidence for a gradual reviving or resurrection yet there may be a gradual Ascension IV. There hath not been such a triumphant state of Earth-dwellers for freedom from former Torments which they felt by the Witnesses Prophesying as answereth Rev. 11. 10. They that dwell upon the Earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall send gifts one to another because these two Prophets tormented them It was by their Prophesying and Praying as Elias did that they tormented the Bestians Carnal Earthly minded Men and whilst the Witnesses lye dead the Earth-dwellers are in a very prosperous flourishing condition keep a Jubilee with more than ordinary signs of joy as the variety of Expressions intimates and this for freedom from their former Torments But no such triumphant State of Earth-dwellers hath been experienced in the time past since finishing their Testimony Therefore their Death is yet to come The like might be said of the Nations Kindreds and Tongues not seeing their dead Bodies so as to hinder their Burial v. 9. 5. Immediately after the reviving of the Witnesses from their Death-state there is such a restitution to their former Posture as is to the great affrightment of Spectators Rev. 11. 11 12. Great fear fell upon them which saw them But this is not yet experienced by Friends or Enemies and so their Death-state is not past but yet to come 6. There hath not been Ann. 1680. such a great Earthquake or Commotion as ushers in the Consequents of the Witnesses resurrection And so it is not past but yet to come Rev. 11. 13. The same Hour there was a great Earthquake There is not yet a fall of that famous Tenth part of the City nor the Slaughter of 7000. a vast number of Men of Name nor the Repentance of a Remnant so as to give Glory to God nor is the Turkish Wo yet past as v. 14. Therefore the Death Resurrection and Ascention of the Witnesses cannot be yet past but to come 7. The seventh Trumpet hath not yet sounded Therefore the Witnesses are not yet ascended For then that cometh quickly Rev. 11. 14 15. though not the same moment with their Resurrection yet very speedily after their Ascension and so their Death could not be at the time many fix upon as at the Council of Trent which are past above 100 years past It 's true the great Reformation about the time of Luther hath its place in the words of this Book so as one of the seven Vials I think the fourth Vial was then eminently poured out but that was not the sounding of the seventh Trumpet There are invincible Arguments to prove that the seventh Trumpet hath not yet sounded For when that doth begin to sound the Mystery of God is finished Rev. 10 7. as he hath declared to his Servants the Prophets And what can this be or is called so in Scripture that it can be applied to but the Conversion of the Jews Rom. 11. 25 26 And it is evident the Jews are not yet converted and saved And further the second Turkish Wo is not yet past they do not yet cease to be a Wo to the Roman Idolaters which must be before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet Rev. 11. 14 15. And there is a Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet Rev. 11. 11 12 15. after which it can never be proved that they shall pass under a Death any more or such an extremity of Suffering as they are under at this day in France and elsewhere And once more immediately after the sounding of the seventh Trumpet not only a Jewish Nation but the Kingdoms of this World become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ Rev. 11. 15. and that so as he reigneth for ever and ever And therefore after the sounding of the seventh Trumpet Antichrist shall never recover to regain any of the Kingdoms to submit to him again as he hath done since the Reformation Therefore the seventh Trumpet hath not yet sounded and consequently the Witnesses are not yet ascended I have wondred that this seventh Trumpet beginneth thus and not with terrible Dispensations but possibly the aforementioned great Earthquake Rev. 11. 13. did much of the first destructive work so as to usher in this triumph v. 15 16 17. and so the first sounding of it is with Praises and much of the Wo of the Trumpet is reserved to the latter part of it v. 18 19. CHAP. VIII Of the seven Vials and that they are not all under the seventh Trumpet AS the seven Seals were several degrees of Judgment upon Rome Dragon or Pagan and the seven Trumpets sounded an Alarm of Judgment upon the Civil State of the Empire so the seven Vials are several degrees of Judgment coming upon it after its Papal State and also upon other Enemies of Jesus Christ at last Rev. 14 relateth to the time of the Vials For there is the Song of the Lamb v. 1. which answereth Rev. 15. 1. It referreth to a time of visible Separation from Antichristian Pollutions and Victory over the Beast and his mark Rev. 14. 1 4 9. So the Vials Rev. 15. 1 2 6. It relateth to the time of witnessing against and crying down Babylon Rev. 14. 8 9 10. Babylon is fallen if any Man worship the Beast he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God and it is under the Vials that there is this Victory over the Beast Rev. 15. 1 2. It concerneth a time wherein an Angel hath Power over fire Rev. 14. 8. and this is the Angel of the fourth Vial Rev. 16. 8. And it mentioneth a Harvest and Vintage Rev. 14. v. 15. to the end which must relate to the latter Vials Rev. 16. 19. and 19. v. 15. And so Rev. 14. declareth the work of the Angels or how they pour out the Vials as well as the Condition of the Church under them As to Rev. 15. I take it to be no Prophesie of what shall be accomplished before the Vials begin to be poured out but it giveth a Compendium or general view of Matters relating to the Vials from the beginning to the end like the Contents of a Chapter set before it and it discovereth the State and Condition of the Church and People of God during the time of the Vials in a general way It containeth a Description of the Virgin Saints v. 2 3 4 5. by their Conquest over the Beast and triumphant Song for that Victory and a subsequent Privilege The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Heaven was opened v. 5. i. e. not before but after Vial Judgments v. 4. And the Vial Angels more particularly are described v. 5. 6 7 8. by their place from which they come not out of the World but the Church out of the Temple v. 6. by their Qualifications clothed in pure and white Linnen by the Instruments given them v. 7. golden Vials by the Persons from whom they receive these Vials v. 7.
grounds as 1. From the number of Vials already poured out indeed the accomplishments of foregoing Prophesies are indications of what events are next to follow and a sure guiding thread for our direction to discover where we are 2. The state and condition of the Turks when the Turks cease to be a woe to the Roman Idolaters to scourge whom they were raised up Rev. 9. 13. to the end then the second Woe passeth Rev. 11. 14. and then the next revolution will be the Jews will appear and v. 15. the Kingdoms of the World will become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ this must be either by a Peace with the Turk which may delay the work or else by losing much of his Dominion and if Rev. 9. 15. denote his time of prevailing a month in the Revelation being 30 days then if we begin their Empire with Oguzians Ann. 1294. then his time allotted to slay the third part of men expired Ann. 1685. since which time he hath been losing ground and it is hopeful his further fall may be approaching Leonicus Chalcoconditos 3. Especially the death of the Witnesses by the darkness and dreadfulness of it together with their Resurrection and the consequences thereof are the most sure prognosticks and most signal marks of the approaching glorious state Rev. 11. 7. to 16. And if any should inquire whether the death of the Witnesses be yet past I answer if remarkable occurrences since Ann. 1680. by Persecutions in Germany Hungary England Scotland and Ireland and especially in Savoy and in France in the unparallell'd sufferings of the Protestants there did not amount to the Death of the Witnesses then that fatal black and gloomy day is yet to come No preceding time which men have fixed upon can answer the character of it but when I consider the marvelous and almost miraculous return of the Vandois to their places together with the wonderful liberty here established in England by Law and else where with some other matters I have some hopes that it is past and that the Resurrection of the Witnesses is begun until I see to the contrary Neither doth the darkness of some present dispensations altogether dash my hopes for Luke 18. when the Son of Man cometh there will be distress of Nations so as it will be hard to find Faith without fainting on the Earth I have now answered the desire of friends in publishing these sheets and if any will be contentious I think not to reply without great necessity if this may put others upon enquiring further into these prophesies to the encreasing a knowledge of the times and the encouraging the faith of Christians I have my design and they may lift up their heads for the redemption draweth near FINIS ADVERTISEMENT * ⎠* THE Life and Death of that Old Disciple of Jesus Christ and Eminent Minister of the Gospel Mr. HANSERD KNOLLYS Who Died in the Ninety Third year of his Age. Written with his own Hand to the Year 1672. and continued in General in an Epistle by Mr. William Kiffin To which is added his last Legacy to the Church Price Stitcht 6 d. or bound 8 d. Errata Corrigenda IN the Preface Pag. 15. Marg. Lin. 7 8. read P. 103 104. P. 24. l. 7. r. been P. 53. l. 11. r. his P. 60. l. 26. r. Roast P. 62. l. 8. r. Man In the Contents Pag. 5. Lin. 8 9. read Schecinah In the Book Pag. 3. Marg. Lin. 18. dele sine P. 17. l. 4. r. as are not P. 35. Marg. l. 22. r. caviâ— P. 50. l. 25. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 P. 58. l. 3. del of P. 70. l. 20. r. prevails P. 75. Marg. l. 25. r. Baptizari in P. 80. l. 14. r. Harmoniously P. 91. l. 3. del fore and in the same line r. offered for P. 92. â— 27. r. were P. 93. Marg. l. 4 5. r. 48. 53. P. 94. Marg. l. 3. r. 46 47. P. 100. Marg. â— 4. r. 94. P. 120. Marg. l. 16. r. instituto P. â—27 l. ult r. Antipaedobaptistic P. 133 l. 3 4. r. Obstacle P. 136. l. 21. del they P. 138. l. 15. del the