Whereas if a first and particular Resurrection be supposed a good account may be given of the forementioned texts For then the Saints that come with Christ will be those holy Persons who for their constancy in Suffering Death for the sake of God were Honoured with the peculiar favour of a more early admission into the Kingdom of Heaven Thus this opinion of the Millennial Reign of the Martyrs is not without some fair appearance of probability and is very agreeable to the Gospel Oeconomy If a figurative Interpretation were to be admitted the Living of the Beheaded and their reigning with Christ a Thousand years would signifie the Rising of the Church from a dead estate and its enjoyment of peace and tranquility to which sence most that I meet with incline But this notion of a Metaphorical Resurrection is encumbred with several difficulties which I cannot overcome For First every one that hath part in this first Resurrection is pronounced Blessed and holy and secure from the Power of the second Death that is the miseries of the other World But shall every member of the Church in the Millennial State be eternally blessed Secondly The state of the Church before the Millennium shall be very quiet and peaceable in reference to oppression and persecution For the Beasts Power of making war with the Saints is contemporary with the mournful Prophecy of the two Witnesses which ends with the sixth Trumpet And the last act of hostility committed by the Beast will be the slaughter of the witnesses who revive and are exalted on high before the seventh Angel sounded Rev. 11. 11 12. And from that time to the final destruction of the Beast under the seventh Vial the Saints will live secure from the violence of Persecution To understand therefore the first Resurrection of the rising of the Church from an oppressed and persecuted state is not agreeable to the condition of the times immediately preceding These and some other reasons prevail with me to reject this opinion and to interpret this vision according to the proper meaning of the words CHAP. III. Of the New Heaven and the New Earth AND I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea Rev. 21. 1. The Vision of a New World immediatly following that of the general Judgment seems to signifie the Production of a new and more glorious Earth after the Destruction of the old by Fire for the Seat and Habitation of the Blessed But this is a Mystery past my understanding All that is signified by it is a more flourishing and prosperous State of things In the Prophetick Style great Changes are expressed by a New Heaven and a New Earth which in the Language of the Hebrews signifies a new World and was used by them according to the present Notion of it among us to denote a new Face and Condition of Things This new Creation God foretold by the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 65. 17. Behold I create new Heavens and a new Earth and the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind What follows in that Chapter does unfold the meaning of this Creation Be you glad and rejoyce in that which I create for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoycing and her People a joy vers 18. And I will rejoyce in Jerusalem and joy in my People and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the voice of crying vers 19. They shall build Houses and inhabit them and they shall plant Vineyards and eat the fruit of them vers 21. The Wolf and the Lamb shall feed together and the Lion shall eat Straw like the Bullock and Dust shall be the Serpents Meat They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my Holy Mountain saith the Lord vers 25. This Mountain is the Church or Kingdom of Christ Isa 22. And the joyful secure and peaceable condition of it is that New Heaven and Earth which God promises to create This new World this happy State of the Church hath not yet been seen Nevertheless we according to this promise look for New Heavens and a New Earth wherein dwelleth righteousness 2 Peter 3. 13. In the fore-going Verses St. Peter speaks of the melting of the Elements of the burning of the Earth and the Dissolution of all things And then it follows nevertheless we according to his Promise look for New Heavens and a New Earth Whence some have concluded that this New World must succeed the Conflagration which is a great mistake For St. Peter's New Heaven and Earth is no other than that promised Isaiah 65. 17. And the New World in Isaiah doth clearly belong to the Kingdom of Christ which must conclude with the Resurrection and last Judgment 1 Corinth 15. 25 26 28. He must Reign till he hath put all Enemies under his Feet The last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death And when all things shall be subdued unto him then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all in all If therefore the New Heaven and New Earth must be before the Conclusion and Surrender of Christ's Kingdom then must it of necessity be before the Conflagration of the World which will not begin 'till the Judgment is concluded And though there are no certain Characters in the Revelation by which the precise time of this Vision may be found out yet from that place in Isaiah it may be concluded to belong to the Kingdom of Christ and particularly to the last Scene of it under the Millennium when the State of Things will be vastly different from what they are or have hitherto been as has been fully proved in the first Chapter And so great will be the prosperity of the Millennial State that there will be no longer need of Ships for War or Foreign Commerce and Traffick which the present condition of things requires which I take to be the meaning of what is added by St. John and there was no more Sea CHAP. IV. Of the new Jerusalem And I John saw the holy City the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven prepared as a Bride adorned for her Husband And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying behold the Tabernacle of God is with Men and He will dwell with them and they shall be His People and God himself shall be with them and be their God Rev 21. 2 3 Concerning the New Jerusalem here are three things to be inquired What is meant 1 By the New Jerusalem 2 By its coming down from Heaven 3. By the walking of the Nations in the light of it ver 21. These I take to be the most material Points the resolution whereof will give us a clear understanding of this Mystery 1. By the New Jerusalem or the Lambs Wife ver 9 10. Is meant the People of the Jews converted to the Faith of Christ Upon the ruin of Babylon
Eclectical Chiliasm OR A DISCOURSE Concerning the State of THINGS FROM THE Beginning of the MILLENNIUM To the end of the WORLD LONDON Printed for the Author and Sold by C. Brome at the Gun at the West End of St. Pauls Church-yard 1700. TO Sir Thomas Barnardidiston Baronet THIS Discourse is humbly Dedicated by T. F. TO THE READER I Have here attempted an Exposition of the Prophetick Visions contained in the Twentieth and One and Twentieth Chapters of the Revelation A Book which on pretence of its Mysteriousness is too much neglected This as well as the rest of the Bible was undoubtedly Written for our Learning and to encourage our Industry and Study a Blessing is promised to them that Read and Hear and Keep the Words of this Prophecy and the things which are Written therein Chap. 1. 3. which supposeth that the Knowledge of these Mysteries is attainable I am far from pretending to understand all the Visions of this Obscure and Mysterious Book Nay I dare not boast of an intimate and thorough Acquaintance with those I have undertaken to explain Yet I hope I am not a perfect Stranger to them nor wholly mistaken in the meaning of any One Vision I know they are differently interpreted by the Learned Hammond Grotius and other Modern Expositors But their way of interpreting has been solidly evinced to be none of the best by the Learned Author of the Mystery of Godliness so that my hopes are not much shaken with the Authority of these great Men. As to what concerns the Subject of the following Discourse the Millennium is by them made to begin at Constantine which is sufficiently confuted by the State of things from that Epocha to the end of the Thousand Years And consequently all Interpretations pursuant to that Hypothesis fall to the ground Besides how unsatisfactory is their Exposition of Gog and Magog and what little affinity between the Vision and the Event that is applied to it For Gog and Magog come from the Four Quarters of the Earth and perish in their attempt against the Camp of the Saints and the beloved City But the Turks came only from the North Parts succeeded in their Enterprize against the Christians took Constantinople and have been in Possession of it very near Two Hundred and Fifty Years But I decline this invidious Argument and for the Readers better satisfaction shall acquaint him with the grounds on which I proceed The Hypothesis to which my Interpretation is framed is that of the Learned Mr. Mede which has been fully vindicated by Dr. Hen. More in his Book even now mentioned The Visions I dispose agreeably to the Order of Time in which they are fulfilled And having framed my Exposition according to the most obvious sense of the words I consider whether the supposed Event hath been foretold by any Prophetick Writer And upon Enquiry I find a most wonderful agreement between these Visions and several Prophecies in the Old Testament And if any of them seem to relate to things already past and to have received their accomplishment this doth not hinder the accommodation of them to the Millennial Reign For the same Prophecy may very well respect different and far distant events of which several Instances might be given But I am perswaded most of these Prophecies were never yet fulfill'd particularly those concerning the peaceable State of Christ's Kingdom the Return and Incorporation of the Twelve Tribes the Army of Gog and that we are yet to expect the. Accomplishment of them in the last Times of the World But I am not much concerned what become of this Opinion For if this support from the Predictions of the Prophets fail the whole Fabrick of my Exposition will stand unshaken being grounded upon the manifest meaning of the Visions confirmed and strengthened by express Texts of the New Testament and very probable Reasons Eclectical Chiliasm OR A Discourse concerning the State of Things from the Beginning of the Millennium to the end of the World The Introduction THE most Judicious Expositor of the Revelation is the eminently Learned Mr. Joseph Mede of Pious Memory to whose Labours next to Divine Assistance the slender knowledge I have in Prophetick Mysteries is chiefly owing His Method of interpreting the Apocalyptick Visions is grounded on his Scheme of Synchronisms that most happy discovery and only safe Rule of Interpretation and must be acknowledged to be the most natural and unconstrained most agreeable to the style of the Prophets and likewise to History and Event His large Commentary on the Apocalypse ends with Ch. 14. On the rest he has only published some short Specimens or Essays intending as the Writer of his Life tells us to go over them again and then to perfect his thoughts and as fully to inlarge himself upon them as he had done upon the foregoing Chapters Besides his Essay on Ch. 20. c. contains some peculiar Sentiments which even among his greatest Friends and Admirers have not found equal acceptance with the rest of his elaborate Commentary The defence of these Notions is very pleasing and surprizing How learnedly does he expound the Prophecy of St. Peter concerning the Day of Christ's second coming in favour of his Opinion of the Conflagration and Renovation of the World His conceit of the great Day of Judgment and of the Reign of the Saints on Earth is not without some fair probabilities How ingenious is his Conjecture of Gog and Magog And there is an agreeable Beauty of thought in his distinction of the state of the New Jerusalem and the state of the Nations which shall walk in the light thereof And yet I do not find that he hath made many Proselytes to his perswasion concerning these Points As touching the Visions relating to these Mysteries they are in my opinion capable of a more satisfactory Exposition which is here attemped I shall discourse them in the same order they are accomplished To the Millennial state belong First The binding and confinement of Satan Secondly The Resurrection and Reign of the Saints Thirdly The new Heavens and the new Earth Fourthly The new Jerusalem The thousand years expired ' Gog and Magog invade the Camp of the Saints And to this Expedition succeeds the general Judgment and End of the World CHAP. I. Of Satan 's Confinement THE preparation to the Millennial happiness is the binding the Devil and shutting him up in the bottomless pit ch 20. 1 2 3. I saw an Angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit and a great Chain in his Hand And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled All which signifies no more than the close restraint of the Devil and the retrenchment of that liberty which hitherto for
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
being spread over the World Christian Princes pour in their treasures into the Holy Land and contribute their assistances towards the rebuilding Jerusalem and the rest of the waste and desolate Cities The Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of the New Jerusalem and the Kings of the Earth do bring their Glory and Honour into it Rev 21. 24. Upon the return from Babylon the building of the Temple and City met with great opposition and obstructions from the envy and malice of the adversaries of Judah But now there will be no Rehums or Sanballats to obstruct their proceedings the work will be vigorously carried on by the united forces and joint endeavours of Jews and Gentiles This assistance of the Gentiles Isaiah speaks of Chap. 60. 10 11. The Sons of strangers shall build up thy Walls and their Kings shall minister unto thee for in my wrath I smote thee but in my favour have I had mercy on thee Therefore thy Gates shall be open continually they shall not be shut day nor night that Men may bring unto thee the forces or wealth of the Gentiles And again Chap. 61. 4 5 6. They shall build the old wastes they shall raise up the former desolations and they shall repair the waste Cities the desolations of many generations And strangers shall stand and feed your Flocks and the Sons of the Alien shall be your Plowmen and your Vine-dressers But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord Men shall call you the Ministers of our God ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles and in their Glory shall you boast your selves But their greatest Glory will be the profession and establishment of true Christian Religion among them with the knowledge whereof God will wonderfully inlighten their minds for a Pattern to all the Gentile Nations professing Christianity who shall now conform to the Standard of the Jewish Church And this I take to be the meaning of the Nations walking in the light of the New Jerusalem and to be the full accomplishment of these words in Isaiah the Gentiles shall come to thy light and Kings to the brightness of thy rising Chap. 60. 3. CHAP. V. Of Gog and Magog 's attempt against the Camp of the Saints THE Jews being replanted in the promised land shall enjoy an uninterrupted course of prosperity for several ages But when the Thousand years of Satans confinement are expired he shall be loosed out of his Prison And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four Quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to battel the number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea Rev 20. 7 8. At whose instigation They went up saith St. John on the breadth of the Earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about and the beloved City But this attempt ended in the total overthrow and destruction of that numerous Army For fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them vers 9. A terrible Expedition this and no less astonishing than the issue And that which encreases the Wonder is the common opinion concerning the Amplitude of Christs Kingdom which long ere this may be presumed to be arrived at its full extent For if all the Nations under Heaven have of a long time received and professed the faith of Christ as this opinion supposes 't is very strange that such a prodigious number of Christians from the four Quarters of the Earth should all on a sudden conspire to invade Judea and to destroy the Jews professing the same Religion and whom their late reestablishment proclaims to be in a more peculiar manner the favourites of Heaven The present limits of the Church no doubt will be greatly enlarged by the accession of many Nations now sitting in darkness and the shadow of Death And this enlargement whatever encrease it may receive in the mean time of which there is little prospect may reasonably be expected at the time of the Jews Conversion from which no less then from their Infidelity the Gentile world will receive great advantages If the fall of them be the riches of the World and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles how much more their fulness Rom. 11. 12. That is upon the coming in of the body of the Jewish Nation to the Church of Christ the Gospel will be farther propagated among the Gentiles which is all that can be concluded from that Text. 'T is true there are several places of Scripture which seem to extend the Kingdom of Christ over all Nations of the Earth and to foretell the reception of the Gospel by all People in all places of the World Thus it is foretold of Christ that there should be given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom that all People Nations and Languages should serve him and that all Dominions should serve and obey him Dan. 7. 14 27. And thus of the stone cut out without Hands by which all agree is meant the Kingdom of Christ it is said that it became a great mountain and filled the whole Earth Dan. 2. 34 35. But these and the like Prophecies signifie no more than the vast extent and largeness of the Christian Church in opposition to the straitness of the Church of the Jews which was confined within the narrow limits of a small Countrey That these notes of Universality All Whole are to be interpreted in a limited and restrained sense is evident from other Prophecies in this Book of Daniel concerning the extent of the Grecian and Roman Empires For thus it is foretold of the third Kingdom that it should bear Rule over all the Earth Chap. 2. 39. And of the fourth Kingdom that it should devour the whole Earth Dan. 7. 23. And yet neither the Greeks nor Romans could pretend to an universal Conquest of the whole World There were several Nations never visited by the Roman Eagle and where the Name of Alexander was never heard of although 't is said he was so vain as to weep for want of more Worlds to conquer And thus a great part of the World will never be actually subject to Christ nor under the government of his laws For as the Greeks and Romans bearing Rule over and devouring all the Earth signifies no more than the greatness of their Conquests and the largeness of their Dominions So by the obedience of all Nations to Christ and his Kingdoms filling the whole Earth can be meant no more than the worship and acknowledgment of Christ by the greater part of the World And it is observable that Isaiah Prophesying of the establishment of the Mountain of the Lords House on the top of the Mountains and the exaltation of it above the Hills and the Confluence of all Nations unto it Chap. 2. 2. In the next verse the universal is changed into a particular proposition And many People shall go and say Come ye and let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to
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