On the East three Gates on the North three Gates on the South three Gates and on the West three Gates In the description of this City we have every thing that is rich and precious all signifies its great Holiness excellent Vertues and perfect Peace for they are the substantial Goods and real Treasures of the Church It had a great high Wall by that is meant Divine Protection which shows also that 't is the Church upon Earth which is spoken of for the Church in Heaven hath no need of walls being out of the reach of Enemies And had twelve Gates We have observed before that the number Twelve is frequently to be met with in this description and that it is a sacred number because of the twelve Patriarchs the twelve Tribes and the twelve Apostles the Gates are the entries into this City and so denote the recalling of the Iews according to their twelve Tribes from that great dispersion they are now under The recalling of the Jews foretold That these twelve Gates have a particular relation to the People of the Iews is plain by what follows That on the twelve Gates were written the names of the twelve Tribes of Israel For by those Tribes of Israel we may not understand the Church of the converted Gentiles they have a distinct place in what remains of the description of the new Ierusalem So the twelve Gates at the four Cardinal points of the World East North South West are to the same effect as what God had said in another place I will call my Sons from far and my Daughters from the ends of the Earth I will say unto the North give up and to the South keep not back At every one of those twelve Gates are twelve Angels These are the twelve Apostles called Angels or Pastors who whether they shall be raised from the dead or no shall by their preaching and Doctrine guide the Iews to enter again into the Church and open the gate unto them For they are here described as Keepers of the Gates who both open and shut them V. 14. And the Wall of the City had twelve Foundations and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. The protection safety and the Wall of the Church depends on the foundations whereon she shall be built Those foundations are Articles of Faith and Christian Verities according to the Idea of St. Paul who saith there is but one Foundation which is Jesus Christ but on this foundation some build Hay and Stubble but others Gold and precious Stones â— Cor. 3. These precious Stones and this Gold signify Pure Doctrine as the Apostle doth sufficiently explain it These are the foundations of the Church which is built upon Truth The Prophet gives twelve for the number of these foundations because of the twelve Articles of Faith contained in the Creed on these foundations were written the names of the twelve Apostles because they were the persons who publisht the Gospel and maintained those Articles of faith by their preaching and by their blood The Holy Ghost in what follows describes these foundations and assigns a precious Stone to each of ' em V. 19. And the foundations of the Wall of the City were garnished with all manner of precious Stones the first foundation was Iasper the second Saphire the third a Chalcedony the fourth and Emerald V. 20. The fifth a Sardonyx the sixth Sardius the seventh Chrysolite the eighth Beryl the ninth a Topaz the tenth a Chrysoprasus the eleventh a Iacinth the twelfth an Amethist If we had leasure and time to spare we might compare the twelve Articles of the Christian Creed to those twelve Stones and see wherein every Article of Faith might symbolize with every Stone Supposing that the Holy Spirit had regard to the order in which the Church hath plac't the twelve Articles But I fear lest we should herein go beyond the intention of the Holy Ghost and deliver things rather curious than solid for the true design and scope of Figures and Mysteries is lost by stretching them too far I suppose the design of the Holy Spirit is only to show us in general how valuable and precious are the Christian Verities They who let go those Truths unto Hereticks and reckon the Secinian Heresies to be tolerable are far from esteeming them thus precious and do not sufficiently understand the worth and excellence of Truth I now return-to the description of the Heavenly Ierusalem i. e. of the Church in its last Period here on Earth V. 15. And he that talked with me had a golden Reed to measure the City and the Gates thereof and the Wall thereof V. 16. And the City lyeth foursquare and the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the City with a Reed twelve thousand furlongs the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal V. 17. And he measured the Wall thereof 144 cubits according to the measure of a man that is of the Angel. V. 18. And the building of the Wall of it was of Iasper and the City was pure Gold like unto clear Glass What it is to measure in a prophetical sense To measure is to make account of to esteem to reckon among things that are considerable Wherefore in the eleventh Chapt. St. Iohn was ordered to measure only the Temple and the Altar and those who worshipped there Not to value or make account of any but true Believers But for the outer Court it was said unto him Measure it not I have left it unto the Gentiles As to the outward part of the Church make no account of it for the Paganism of Antichrist and Popery shall be there establisht and shall reign for the space of 42. Prophetic moneths i. e. 1260 years Here the H. Spirit measures the Holy Ierusalem throughout not only the Temple and the Altar but the Court that was before abandon'd to the New Pagans and not only the Court but the whole City to measure the City the Gates thereof and the wall thereof 'T is to signifie that in this last Christian Church of the last Period every thing therin shall be Great and Good worthy to be esteemed and measured and reckon'd as things of value and consideration Men do not measure waste and barren Heaths sands and rubbish 't is not worth the while but Palaces and fruitfull grounds vineyards and orchards and the buildings of a City This is the mystery of the measure But observe the difference between the Circumstances of the first measure in the 11th Chap. and those of this second here besides those we have already taken notice of 1. That the first measure reacheth only to the Court and the Altar that was the Christian Church for the 3 first ages as hath been said but here the measure extends to All and even to the City which denotes the Primitive Christian Church to be very inconsiderable compared with the Church of this last Period 2.
was given to him a great sword 'T is clear that this signifies a great Slaughter a great effusion of Blood. The 2d Horse signifies the Empire of Trajan Adrian Empire of Trajan his successor Adrian Never was there a greater effusion of blood the Jews revolted almost in all places whither the were dispersed in Libya in Cyrene in Egypt in Cyprus in Mesopotamia in Palestine it self in all the East under the conduct of their false Messiah Barchocheva In the beginning they made such a horrible slaughter of the Greeks Romans that they are made to amount to above six hundred thousaud persons Dion reports Osorius Dion Lyber Juchasin that their fury proceeded so far as to eat the flesh of men They did tear in pieces their entrails with their teeth They flead them made Garments of their skins They anointed themselves with their blood But they were fully requited History reports that Adrian put to death 12 hundred thousand in the whole extent of the Empire The Jews themselves confess that this civil war cost the Jews above twice the number of persons that went out of Egypt So that under the reign of these two Trajan Adrian there were more than two millions of souls that died a violent death Never was the like slaughter seen before nor since till the Crusado's This could not be better represented than by a Red Horse 't is the colour of Blood or than by a Great Sword the greater it is the better it signifies that the slaughter shall be great or than by Mens killing one another that signifies civil wars Now 't is in civil wars that there is the greatest effusion of blood This second horse comes out of the Western quarter Trajan was a Native of Spain which was the Western part of the Roman Empire At the opening the third seal there comes forth out of the South at the voice of the third living creature A Black Horse v. 5. he that sate on him had a pair of Balances in his hand v. 6. And I heard a voice in the mid of the four beasts say A measure of wheat for a penny three measures of barly for a penny see thou hurt not the Oylnor the Wine This certainly signifies an Empire that hath something of severity sadness The 3d. horse is the Empire of Septimius Severui Alexander the son of Mammaa by reason of the Black Horse But this doth not signify slaughter as the Red horse of the second living Creature This signifies also a reign of justice where every thing is done in weight measure according to the Balance Lastly this signifies a reign of plenty wherin by the care of the Prince Wheat Barley Oyl Wine do abound This the Character of the reign of Septimius Severus of Alexander the son of Mammaea Septimius Severus was an African of the Province of Tripoli Wherfore the living Creature of the southern quarter calls him Both of them were severe protectors of justice Both of them especially Alexander were sworn enemies to all Thieves publick private known or secret to all people that behaved themselves ill were unfaithfull in their offices They made exact strict searches after them Aurelius Spartianus Lampridius Septimius apud Lampridium severely punisht them Alexander made even his souldiers live in so great discipline that they dared not take away a Hen or an Apple from a Peasant or if that did happen he oftentimes punish'd them to the greatest extremity Lastly both of them both Septimius Severus Alexander the son of Mammaea gave admirable Orders for the distributing Corn Wine Oyl to the end all the World might have them there might be no want This is what Historians do expresly observe And when he had open'd the fourth seal v. 7. c. And I looked behold a Pale Horse v. 8. his name that sate on him was Death hell followed him power was given to them over the fourth part of the Earth to kill with Sword with Hunger with Death with the Beasts of the Earth The fourth Horseman is the Empire of Maximin his successors Behold visibly a reign sad black loaden with all sorts of Calamities Massacrees Effusions of Blood Plague War Famin Tyranny Violence 'T is the Character of the reign of Maximin his successors to Aurelian The fourth living Creature calls this Tyrant from the North Thence 't was that Maximin came who was a native of Thrace in the North of the Roman Empire This Maximin deserved to bear the name of Death for he was the most cruell of all Tyrants they gave him the name of Cyclops Busiris Scyron Phalaris Typhon Gyges He made men be flead crucified alive buried living men in the bodies of beasts massacred beat persons to death without distinction of sex age or condition He destroyed many thousands of men by all sorts of punishments Julius Capitolin us Trebellius Pollio de 30 Tyrannis in vitâ Gallieni Gallienus that is included in the Period here meant made himself remarkable also by his cruelty Oftentimes he made the throats of 3 or 4000. be cut in a day In this time reign'd a plague of fifteen years that began in Ethiopia Zosimus Lipsius de Constantia 2. 23. Euseb Hist l. 7. c. 17. ran throughout the Empire Lipsius acknowledgeth history speaks not of any that comes near it There was also a very great a very universall famin The Barbarians in the East made havok of the Empire horrible desolations therin At last there rose up near thirty tyrants in the whole extent of the Empire One may judg what desolation that caused Here end the four living Creatures the four horsemen about the end of the third Age. And when he had open'd the fifth seal v. 9. I saw under the Altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God for the testimony which they held And they cried with a loud voice v. 10. saying How long O Lord Holy true dost thou not judg avenge our blood on them that dwell on the Earth The fifth seal is Dioclesian's persecution See here what clearly signifies a Period in which the Church suffers a cruel persecution 't is that which was caused by Dioclesian his successors the most bloody that ever was longer more cruell than the nine others taken together Sulpitius Severus Orosius Scaliger de Emendat Temp. l. 5. For saith Orosius during ten years they ceased not to burn the Churches to proscribe the innocent to make Martyrs by Massacres Punishments In Egypt alone were Massacred 144 thousand men 70 thousand were banished Thence comes the name of Aera Diocletiana Aera Martyrum an Epocha famous in the history of the Church After this comes the sixth seal under which we have
very little importance to know by what Spirit this hath been expresly said by that of the Prophets or that of St. Paul seeing it is the same Spirit And besides this we shall have occasion to say something o fit in one of the following Chapters CHAP. XXII The Characters of Antichrist in the Papism confirm'd by the great type of Antichrist Antiochus Epiphanes That which is spoken literally of this Antiochus agrees mystically to the Pope and the Papism THere is but one spring more whence I would draw the Characters of the Antichristian Empire viz. those Chapters of the Revelation of the Prophet Daniel where the most famous of the persecutors of the Jewish Nation is literally spoken of and the most fatal persecution that Nation endured The first Text of this prophecy is found in the 28th verse of the 11th Chapter to the end In the 28th verse of the 11th Cha of Daniel Antinchus Epiphanes is found according to the letter 28. Then shall he return into his Land with great riches and his heart shall be against the holy covenant and he shall do exploits and return to his own Land. 29. At the time appointed he shall return and come toward the south but it shall not be as the former or as the later 30. For the Ships of Chittim shall come against him Therefore he shall be grieved and return and have indignation against the holy covenant so shall he do he shall even return and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant 31. And arms shall stand on his part and they shall pollute the Sanctuary of strength and shall take away the daily sacrifice and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate 32. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits 33. And they that understand among the people shall instruct many yet they shall fall by the sword and by the flame and by captivity and by spoil many days 34. Now when they shall fall they shall be holpen with a little help but many shall cleave to them with flatteries 35. And some of them understanding shall fall to try them and to purge and to make them white even to the time of the and because it is yet for a time appointed 36. And the King shall do according to his will and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above very God and shall speak mà rvellous things against the God of Gods and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished for that that is determined shall be done 37. Neither shall he regard the God of his Father nor the desire of Women nor regardany God for he shall magnify himself above all 38. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces and a God whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold and silver and with precious stones and pleasant things 39. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange God whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory and he shall cause them to rule over many and shall divide the land for gain 40. And at the time of the end shall the King of the South push at him and the King of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with any Ships and he shall enter into the Countries and shall overflow and pass over 41. He shall enter also into the glorious Land and many Countreys shall be overthrown but these shall escape out of his hand even Edom and Moab and the chief of the children of Ammon 42. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the Countries and the Land of Egypt shall not escape 43. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver and over all the precious things of Egypt and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps 44. But tidings out of the East and out of the North shall trouble him Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many 45. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas and in the glorious holy mountain yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him I find a pretty great agreement among Interpreters on this Chapter and the Verses which we have just now read By those of both communions it is agreed that 't is Antiochus called Epiphanes one of Alexander's successors that is here literally spoken of It is the very same that the other Prophecy respects in the eighth Chap. where the H. Spirit having represented to Daniel in a vision the Empire of the Medes and Pèrsians under the Emblem of a Ram with two horns he describes the Empire of the Greeks under the Emblem of a he-goat that had at first only one horn in the middle of his fore-head which being broken four other horns less than the first came in its place Afterwards from one of these four horns comes forth a little horn of which the prophecy thus speaks C. 8. v. 9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn which waxed exceeding great toward the South and toward the East and toward the pleasant land v. 10. And it waxed great even to the host of Heaven and it cast down some of the host and of the stars to the ground and stamped upon them 11. Yea he magnified himself even to the Prince of the host and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away and the place of his sanctuary was cast down 12. And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression and it cast down the truth to the ground and it practised and prospered 13. Then I heard one Saint speaking and another Saint said unto that certain Saint which spake How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice and the transgression of desolation to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot 14. And he said unto me unto two thousand and 300. days then shall the sanctuary be cleansed 'T is also to the same Antiochus that we must refer the whole 12th Chapt. of the same book of Daniel C. 12. v. 1. And at that time shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a Nation even to that same time and at that time shall thy people be deliver'd every one that shall be found written in the book 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the Earth shall wake some to everlasting life and some to everlasting shame and contempt 3. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firnament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever 4. But thou O Daniel shut up the words and seal the book even
a very bad smell which hath reacht even to us it formed a most frightfull object upon which the adorers of the Pope and of the so called holy seat cannot even now adays reflect without horror and indignation This plague fell upon the Earth i. e. upon the globe or whole mass of the Antichristian world For the members and the head the whole and the parts were cover'd over with this dismal corruption This corruption was and is 20 this day a terrible blow to Popery And further it cannot be express'd how great a plague how sore a blow this See received from hence For this gave occasion to the Emperors to meddle with the affairs of Rome and its Bishops The Successors of Charlemaine having let go this fair patrimony kept themselves in Germany during which time the Popes got strength and made themselves Masters But the excesses of the Court of Rome obliged the Otho's Emperors of Germany to march into Italy there they corrected and deposed some Popes and chose others to their mind They revived the ancient right which the Emperors had of confirming Popes after their election which was a very sore mortification of which they did not recover untill Gregory the VII And besides this corruption rendred the See of Rome contemptible to all nations In some Countries men took liberty to write very bitter invectives against it some of which are come to our hands This is a wound that bleeds even at this day and affords us a very strong argument against the pretentions of infallibility and supremacy challeng'd by the Church of Rome For we will never cease to object and very rationally that God is too good and too wise to suffer the Seat of his Vicar and of an infallible Vicar to be infected with so dismal a corruption These considerations let us see that none ought to object against us that we make one of the plagues of the Antichristian Empire to be that corruption which is one of its Characters The same thing we shall see in the fourth plague where we will make it appear that the tyranny of the Antichristian Kingdom which is one of its Characters is notwithstanding become one of its plagues When these Characters are risen to an immoderate height they become sensible they discover Antichristianism and by discovering it they destroy it for its safety consists in being a mystery it is a mystery of iniquity This is the first plague and the first period of Antichrists declining this period lasted above a 150 years for this corruption continued for a good space of the eleventh Age. The second and third plagues are thus set down v. 3. And the second Angel pour'd out his viol upon the sea and it become as the blood of a dead man and every living soul dyed in the sea v. 4. And the third Angel pour'd out his viol upon the rivers and fountains of waters and they became blood Waters signify people the sea of blood the Croisades Observe that the sea and waters in Prophetick visions signify people or nations this is so well known that it needs not to be proved And supposing that this Emblem is not common in other Prophets it is most evidently so in St. John. Come saith the Angel to him Chap. 17. v. 15. I will shew thee the judgement of the great whore which sits upon many waters The waters which thou sawest where the whore sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages The first viol was pour'd out upon the earth i. e. upon the whole Globe for earth contains both dry and moist The corruption of manners was spread over the head and the members over the papal Seat and all its subjects But this second viol is pour'd only upon the waters the sea and the rivers i.e. upon the people of the Antichristian Empire or upon the different Nations Tribes and Languages as the Spirit does express it it falls not upon the Head and the Seat on the contrary it is the Seat of the Beast which contributes to this Plague The waters of the sea were turn'd into blood and every living soul dyed What more native and lively representation could have been made of the Rage of the Croisades In all languages and in all sorts of style a sea of blood rivers of blood streams of blood signify a very great slaughter Now the proper Character of the Croisades is slaughter murther which falls not upon the head of the Antichristian Empire but upon the people all was there turn'd into blood Never was there such a prodigious effusion of blood in the sea i. e. among the peoples In the first Croisade there dyed more then two millions of men in three or four year 'T is evident that God did lead these wretched creatures as it were to the shambles that they should find the punishment of their crimes the took away so great a quantity of blood that he might cure the Ulcers of Christendom For that he might purge it of that vast rabble he permitted the Devil to inspire them either with such a sottish superstition or an extravagant ambition that they must go and deliver the holy Land or go and conquer Kingdoms in the East This plague lighted only on the sea not at all on the dry land upon the subjects of the Popedom not at all upon the Popes On the contrary the Popes improved that evasion to greaten their power to plunder whole Countries to make Generals of Armies to act as soveraign Monarchs and to lay a heavier yoke upon Kings whom they order'd to march and sent them as their slaves into the East and during their absence plundred their Kingdoms We must not imagine that all the plagues laid down by St. John must tend to the ruin of the See of Rome or to the diminution of its power for some are to light upon the head of that Empire to crush it others upon the people to punish them because they worship the Beast the plague of blood and slaughter is for the people This plague of the Croisades is divided into two plagues because of its long duration for it lasted 200 years from the end of the eleventh Age untill the end of the thirteenth The third viol which makes the third plague fell only upon rivers i. e. upon lesser waters because after a hundred years the fury abated there was no more marching of the whole West unto the East only that of some particular nations as of the Freneh among others under the conduct of St. Lewis and consequently the effusion of blood was much less there were only rivers of blood whereas the former Croisades had made a sea I shall add this explication which I have given does exactly agree with the Genius and Emblems of the Prophets The Prophet Ezec. 32.6 says to Egypt I will water with thy blood the land wherein thou swimmest even to the mountains There must be no less then a sea of blood to overflow a Countrey
Constantinople against the Turks But they leapt over this barriere and spread themselves as far as the Euxine Sea and the Bosphorus and the Aegean Sea or the Archipelago The Croisades about the end of the eleventh Age drove them back took from them Nice and a part of the lesser Asia But afterwards they came again and wasting the Grecian Empire they took all away from it as far as the Sea called Bosphorus and as far as the Archipelago Behold these are the Kings of the East which appear again in our sixth viol behold the Euphrates which again comes upon the stage But what is this Euphrates Here Euphrates is the Thracian Bosphorus the second barriere of the Turks In this Prophecy whatever serves as a barriere to the Turks is called Euphrates because this River was the first barriere which did seperate that people from Christendom After the Turks had got over that River they find another Euphrates viz. the Bosphorus This in their last irruptions was the same that Euphrates had been in their first namely a barriere that for a little while stopt their course though at last they leapt over it This figure is very ordinary in Orators and consequently there is ground to seek it in Prophets whose style is much more figurative Thus one will say Here are my Herculis's pillars meaning here I will bound my conquests another will say Here are my East-Indies meaning here I will bound my longest voyages A third says This is my Louure meaning this is my Palace or residence So it might be said of the Turks stopt behind the Bosphorus This was their Euphrates therefore the Sea call'd Archipel and the Bosphorus of Thrace in the thirteenth age were the barriere that parted the remainder of the Greek Empire and the Empire of the Turks But at the end of the 14th age the Turks under the conduct of the proud Bajazet and by means of the treachery of the Genuese who let their Gallies to them they passed the Bosphorus made themselves masters of all Thrace fixed the Seat of their Empire at Adrianople and plundred all Greece insomuch that the Greek Emperor had scarce any thing left besides the City of Constantinople Tamerlain tamed the pride of Bajazet and for a while stopt the fury of this torrent But the Children and Successors of Bajazet soon after carried on their conquests and 50 years after quite ruin'd the remainder of the Greek Empire Mahomet II. took Constantinople in the year 1452. After which the Turks overflowed as a torrent conquer'd all Greece Macedonia Albania Slavonia Croatia Bulgaria Hungary and extended the bounds of their Empire even unto the borders of Germany Here therefore the Archipel and the Bosphorus which is joyn'd to it are called Euphrates because this Sea served as a barriere against the Turks as Euphrates formerly had done this was the Euphrates of that time and the Holy Ghost kept the name of Euphrates in this second barriere that we might in this Text the more certainly discern the Turks who had passed over Euphrates when they first invaded the Greek Empire and Christendom The Latin Church suffered infinitely by the passage of the Turks into Europe This is the sixth plague which may be well called the plague upon the Kingdom of the Beast for that Kingdom did infinitely suffer by it 'T is true the first desolations fell upon the Greek Empire but as I have already remarkt the great Idolatries which reigned in the Greek Church had made it become a Province of the Antichristian Empire it was indeed separated by a schisme from the Latin Church notwithstanding it was a Province Besides this the Latin Church the Kingdom of the beast was infinitely a loser How many fair Provinces and brave Kingdoms were rent off from the West by the Turks How often have the Turks vexed Italy nay even Christian Princes have used them to mortify the Popes besides what they have already done we know not what they must do hereafter The Holy Ghost seems to intimate that God hath placed them there for some greater work than that which they have already performed for the Spirit saith that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared without telling us what work they are to do and the reason is because their greatest work must not be done under the sixth plague but at the end of the seventh God hath thought it sufficient to tell us that he hath placed them on this side the Bosphorus and brought them even to the borders of Germany to be the instruments of his great work at least this is the opinion of many who are taken with the Prophecies of Drabicius They are perswaded that the Turk must destroy Rome The present state of his affairs does not promise this for since the Ottoman Empire was founded he was never brought so low But I confess that this is far from weakning my opinion that the Turk must be the Instrument of the vengeance of God against Rome for 't is this that does confirm me in it for I look on this year 1685 as a Critical year in this great affair God hath brought low the Protestants and the Turks at the same time that he may raise them up at the same time and make them the Instruments of his vengeance against the Babylonian Empire Notwithstanding as I do not found my predictions upon the visions of Drabicius but upon those of Saint John and he saith nothing that does determine me I am in suspence whether the Turks have been placed so nigh the Kingdom of the Beast to bear a part in destroying him or to be honoured with the blessing of conversion upon the sight of that great work of God. I am perswaded that a few years will inform us which of these is the truth From 1390 until 1526. The duration of this period is about 125 or 130 years In the year 1529 the Turks came and besieged Vienna Charles the fifth made them raise teir siege Since that time they have not made any great progress into the Kingdom of the Beast And this sixth plague exactly brings that Kingdom unto the time of Luthers preaching of which the consequences are fore-told in the seventh plague as I hope a Parenthesis of a great depth and obscurity V. 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the Dragon and out of the mouth of the Beast and out of the mouth of the false Prophet V. 14. For they are the spirits of Devils working miracles which go forth unto the Kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battel of that great day of God Almighty V. 15. Behold I come as a thief c. V. 16. And he gathers them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armegeddon Behold great affairs untill now finding nothing better I was contented with the conjecture of those who by these three unclean spirits understand the
appearance will be the last And as Peter de Lune after he had been deposed by the Council of Constance went and held his Seat in the mountains of Arragon where he continued a Schism ten or twelve years so 't is probable that the Popes being driven out of the rest of Europe will shelter themselves among the Spaniards from whose hearts it will be a hard matter to pull popery away Lastly it must be observed that 't is true the harvest does spoil the Earth of a part of her fruits but it doth not of all it remains to be a fair and pleasant season the Autumn which follows hath its beauties its profits and advantages it is a second Spring the medows are crown'd with an after-growth the trees put forth new flowers But the vintage makes all waste A lively Emblem in harvest and vintage of what hath happen'd and shall happen in the ruin of popery it spoils the Earth of the very remainders of its fruits and beauty and immediately Winter comes that puts on the Earth the very complexion of death and destruction This is an Emblem of what fell out in the first destruction of popery and of what shall in the second The Reformation cut down several fair Countries in the last age but notwithstanding many were left to it nay it had great success massacred an infinite number of the faithful procured to it self the confirmation of a famous Council engaged those Kings who were its vassals to double their endeavours for the preservation of its Worship and Doctrines It hath gain'd ground in the East in China in the Indies in the West in America by the conquests of the Spaniard and Portuguese It hath sent Missions even to the end of the World hath made an infinite number of false Christians it hath regain'd on one side as much as it had lost on the other and hath made its worship and Idolatry to reign as much as ever For Spain and Italy were never more deeply plunged in Idolatry then since the Reformation It hath strengthned its tyranny for the Popes since the Council of Trent have domineer'd and acted as Soveraigns over Kings and as Superiors over Councils In the reforming of the Calender Gregory XIII did an act of an Vniversal Monarch which the Popes had never done in the ages of their greatest insolence They have deposed Kings of England and in France Henry III. and Henry IV. They have laid an Interdict upon the Common-wealth of Venice and the Kingdom of Portugal In a word Popery hath had great prosperities that have comforted it under its disgraces But as for the blow or stroke which God is ready presently to give it it will be a dispatching blow it will be a vintage that shall spoil it of all its fruits and utterly take away all its beauty the Winter shall come upon it and its desolation shall be irrecoverable This is the substance of the vision let us view the circumstances And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sate like unto the Son of man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle J. Christ himself often appears in the visions of the Revelation This personage like unto a man is probably the Son of God found in fashion as a man on the account of his Incarnation the golden crown which he wears on his head does prove that 't is he though he executes his judgements by his Angels notwithstanding he often himself appears on the scene of the World in the book of the Revelation He is probably the Heroe in the sixth Chapter who appeared sitting on a white horse Chap. 6.2 and had a bow and a crown was given him and he went forth conquering and to conquer He is the same who appears again in the 19 Chapter sitting a second time upon a white horse and was called faithful and true and in righteousness doth he judge and make war. He always sits upon something that is white sometimes upon a white horse sometimes upon a white cloud White is the symbol of innocence and mercy A white cloud is a throne of mercy a red cloud is that of justice But mark it must be some grand work for which Jesus Christ himself comes for the Holy Ghost does not bring him upon the stage for some mean matter Now since the Apostles age no work had been done so great as that of the last age He had a sharp sickle in his hand He comes upon a white cloud intending favour to his children but with a sickle for his enemies 'T was a great mercy to his own when he took them out of Bahylon the last age But 't was a terrible stroke of a sickle to Antichrist And another Angel came out of the Temple crying with a loud voyce to him that sate on the cloud Thrust in thy sickle and reap for the time is come for thee to reap for the harvest of the Earth is ripe He who sits upon the cloud gives out orders to the Angels and receives none from them but he recieves from his Father and the Angels may be charged to carry these orders to the Son. Thus the Angel who here gives orders to Jesus Christ speaks not in his own name but in the name of him that sent him The time to reap is come Their iniquity is come to its height Their measure is full Another Angel came out of Heaven he also having a sharp sickle This is the destroying Angel who went through Egypt the executioner of the judgements of God this Angel comes onely as a second for he who sits upon the white cloud disappears not he is the Master and 't is under his direction that this second Angel gives the last blow to popery Another Angel came out from the Altar which had power over fire and cryed with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle c. Here mention is made of an Angel who hath power over fire and in the 16. Chapter we find the Angel of the waters Shall we conclude that every Element hath its Angel who presides over it and the events which fall out by its means so that one Angel presides over the Sea and shipwracks another over fire and burnings This seems very probable to me for the providence of God makes the winds his Angels and a flame of fire his Ministers The Angel of the fire comes out from the altar which popery had prophaned by its prophane sacrifices and false worship And 't is the Angel of the fire who is here employ'd to signify that now the fire shall consume the Antichristian Kingdom without any hopes of recovery 'T is not necessary that the Kingdom of Antichrist should be destroyed with great shedding of blood The wine-press was trodden without the City and blood came out of the wine-press even unto the horses bridles by the space of a thousand six hundred furlongs 'T is a great question
a time v. 26. But the judgment shall sit and they shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end Behold the destruction of Antichrists Kingdom Immediately after the Prophet adds And the Kingdom and dominion v. 27. and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High whose Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him Behold the reign and Kingdom of the Saints and a reign which succeeds to that of Antichrist In truth we must give the lye to the Holy Spirit if we suppose that we must go back two thousand years before the end of Antichrists reign to place the beginning of this reign of the Saints and of Jesus Christ Here we have the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven after that the four Beasts i. e. the four Empires have been broken to pieces to receive the Kingdom from the hand of God his Father and reign for ever untill the end of the world We must speak without any judgment The fifth Monarchy cannot be understood of the Kingdom of glory after the day of judgment if we say that this everlasting Kingdom of Jesus Christ is to be understood of the heavenly reign after the end of the world and the last judgment For the Apostle St Paul saith in plain terms that Jesus Christ shall then reign no longer and that he shall deliver up the Kingdom to God even the Father Besides Daniel speaks of a Kingdom that is to be under the Heavens and not of one that is above them Further 't is a meer triffling to mingle eternal things with temporal and bring down the Heavenly Kingdom of Paradise into the rank of earthly and temporal Monarchies by making it to be a fifth Monarchy Thus 't is plain that the Prophet treats here of a Kingdom that indeed is heavenly on the account of its purity but is earthly on the account of its Seat and because it must be upon earth I am willing to joyn unto these Prophecies only that in this 20th Chapter of the Revelation which is so clear that it needs not any commentary The Prophet saith expresly After this so the first verse is rendred in the French i.e. after the last victory over the Beast and his false Prophet the Devil shall be bound and the Saints shall live and reign with Christ a thousand years But 't will be objected that this passage is too plain and this very thing makes our sense of it suspicious The Prophets are not wont to express future things so clearly But if this reason holds the Iews are not to be blamed for rejecting our Oracles concerning Iesus Christ for example this A Virgin shall conceive a Son and this other And thou Bethelehem out of thee shall come a Ruler c. and the whole 53. Chapter of Isaiah and that Prophecy of Daniel that Messiah must be cut off but not for himself And that very clear Oracle he shall make his soul an offering for sin For 't is evident that these Oracles are not less plain in speaking of Christ and the circumstances of his birth his life and his death than those in Daniel and the Revelation which speak of the thousand years reign Others instead of confessing that this Text is too clear to be understood in the literal sense say that it is too obscure and must be explain'd by others that are more clear Truly I do not conceive how men can speak at this rat 'T is obscure because it saith the contrary to that which these Gentlemen imagin and because 't is inconstant with their Hyphotheses CHAP. XVII The second spring of Arguments to prove the thousand years reign is the reign promised to the Iews The promises made to them have not been fulfilled but must be The conversion of St. Paul is a Type of that of the whole Nation THe second spring of my Arguments shall be the Prophecies and Oracles which promise unto the Iews extraordinary blessings a reign upon Earth a prosperity that shall be visible to all Nations yea an elevation to a Kingdom unto which all Nations must pay homage These Oracles are without number we must only produce some of them Isal 2.2 3 4. Sacred Oracles that promise great prosperities to the nation of the Jews And it shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lords house shall be establisht in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all Nations shall flow unto it 3. 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 Iacob and he will teach us of is ways amp c. And he shall judge among the Nations and rebuke many people And in Chapter 25 v. 8. He will swallow up death in victory and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth for the Lord hath spoken it And in the beginning of the 32 Chapter Behold a King shall reign in righteousness and Princes shall rule in judgement And a man shall be a hiding place from the storm and a covert from the tempest And in the 41 Chapter v. 8. But thou Israel art my servant Jacob whom I have chosen the seed of Abraham my friend c. v. 10. Fear not for I am with thee be not dismay'd for I am thy God I will strengthen thee yea I will help thee yea I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness v. 12 Thou shalt seek them and shalt not find them even the men that contended with thee c. v. 15. Behold I will make thee a new sharp threshing Instrument having teeth thou shalt thresh the mountains and shalt make the hills as chaff In the 43. Chapter vers 1 2 3 c. But now thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob and he that formed thee O Israel Fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by name When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee For I am the Lord thy God the holy one of Israel thy Saviour Fear not for I am with thee I will bring thy seed from the East and gather thee from the West I will say to the North Give up and to the South keep not back bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the Earth And in the 44 Chap. v. 2 3. Thus saith the Lord that made thee and formed thee from the womb who will help thee Fear not O Jacob my servant for I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine Off-spring And in the 45 Chap. v.