the God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob was not the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ. This was the reason why Irenaeus maintained it in his book Contra omnes Haereses and Tertullian against the Marcionites Eusebius who found out one Gaius to father it upon Cerinthus deserves no credit he was a party and one of those which did his best to undermine the authority of the Apocalypse Nor did any know of any such Gaius but from his relation And if there were any such he should seem to be one of the Hereticks called Alogi who denied both S. Iohn's Gospel and Apocalypse as is testified in Epiphanius and their time jumps with the Age which Eusebius assigns to Gaius Yet I deny not but some might maintain very carnal and intolerable conceits about this Regnum of a thousand years as the Mahumetans do about their Paradise But these are not to be imputed unto those Primitive Fathers and Orthodox Christians S. Hierom was a chief Champion to cry down this Opinion and according to his wont a most unequal relator of the Opinion of his Adversaries What credit he deserves in this may appear by some Fragments of those Authors still remaining whom he charged with an Opinion directly contrary to that which they expresly affirmed And yet when he had stated it so as it must needs be Heresie and Blasphemy whosoever should hold it he is found to say he durst not damn it because multi virorum Ecclesiasticorum Martyrum ista dixerunt Comment in Ierem. 19. 10. many Eccleâ—astical persons and Martyrs affirm'd the same In a word I cannot chuse but agree so far with them That these 1000 years are yet to come This I hold with Alstedius But what shall be the modus and condition of that Kingdom that is what it means it may be I have some singular conceit differing from them both I am sure from Alstedius Piscator and others of that opinion But I were better speak nothing thereof than too little and to speak fully would require in a manner the Interpretation of the whole Apocalypse In a word I will reveal thus much viz. That the Seventh Trumpet and the Thousand years contained therein is that Magnus dies Domini and Magnus dies Iudicii or Dies magni Iudicii The Great Day of the Lord The Great Day of Iudgment The Day of the Great Iudgment so much celebrated amongst the Iews in all their Writings and from them taken up by our Saviour and his Apostles Not a Day of a few hours as we commonly suppose but continuatum multorum annorum intervallum a continued space of many Years wherein Christ shall destroy all his Enemies and at length Death it self beginning with Antichrist by his revelation from heaven in flaming fire and ending with the Vniversal Resurrection during which space of time shall be the Kingdom of the Saints in the New Ierusalem This I can affirm with the most That Antichrist shall not be finally destroyed till the Day of Christ's appearing unto Iudgment and yet not fall into that which some charge the Chiliasts with That this Reign should be after the Day of Iudgment For I give a third time in or durante magno Die Iudicii in or during the Great Day of Iudgment I. M. CHAP. XII A Censure by way of Correction returned to a Friend concerning an Exposition of his of the 20. Chapter of the Apocalypse somewhat exorbitant 1. THat the Reign of Christ here described is after the Times of Antichrist if either the Beast or the False-prophet be he is apparent without interpretation both because all those Times the old Dragon Satan was not tied up but at liberty to seduce the Nations and because verse 4. one sort of those who should reign with Christ a thousand years are said to be such as had not worshipped the Beast neither his Image nor had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands which necessarily presupposeth The Beast His Image and Marking to have already been 2. What the Quality of this Reign should be which is so singularly differenced from the Reign of Christ hitherto is neither easie nor safe to determine farther then That it should be the Reign of our Saviour's Victory over his Enemies wherein Satan being bound up from deceiving the Nations any more till the time of his Reign be fulfilled the Church should consequently enjoy a most blissful peace and happy security from the heretical Apostasies and calamitous sufferings of former times But here if any where the known shipwrecks of those who have been too venturous should make us most wary and careful that we admit nothing into our imaginations which may cross or impeach any Catholick Tenet of the Christian Faith as also to beware of gross and carnal conceits of an Epicurean happiness misbeseeming the Spiritual purity of Saints If we conceit any Deliciae let them be Spirituales which S. Austine confesseth to be Opinio tolerabilis se hoc opinatum fuisse aliquando Lib. 20. De Civit. Dei cap. 7. a tolerable Opinion and that he also was sometime of the same judgment 3. The Presence of Christ in this Kingdom shall no doubt be glorious and evident yet I dare not so much as imagine which some Ancients seem to have thought that it should be a Visible Converse upon earth For the Kingdom of Christ ever hath been and shall be Regnum Coelorum A Kingdom whose Throne and Kingly Residence is in Heaven There he was installed when he sate down on the right hand of the Majesty on high Heb. 1. and there as in his proper Temple is continually to appear in the presence of his Father to make intercession for us Rom. 8. 34. with Heb. 9. 24. Yet may we grant he shall appear and be visibly revealed from Heaven especially for the Calling and gathering of his ancient People for whom in the days of old he did so many wonders This S. Iohn in this Book as our Saviour in the Gospel â— seems to intimate by joyning those two Prophetical passages of Daniel and Zachary in one expression Behold he cometh in the clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him The first part which our Saviour expresses more fully by the Sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven c. is Daniel's in a Vision of this Kingdom we speak of Behold saith he one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven And there was given him Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom that all People Nations and Languages should serve him The other part is out of Zachary prophesying of the Re-calling of the Iews And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Ierusalem the spirit of grace and supplication and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced Though these words of Zachary are not in our Saviour's expression but in stead thereof that which immediately
a creature and of so despicable a beginning to such a power as to grapple with the Enemy and overcome him But behold there is yet something more admirable namely that this should not be done by the strength of his Arm but by the breath and power of his Mouth Out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings thou hast ordained strength because of thine Enemies c. What Enemies Thine saith the Psalmist and such too as are Vltores Avengers the Enemies of both God and Mankind And who are those but Satan and his Angels those Principalities and Powers of the Air those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and Rulers of the Darkness of this world as S. Paul speaks For when Mankind is the one party what can the other be but some Power that is not of Mankind Besides who are the Enemies both of God and Mankind but these and of mankind especially I will put Enmity saith God to the Serpent between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed hence he is called Satan the Adversary or Fiend and the Enemy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold I give you power saith our Saviour to the seventy Disciples Luke 10. 19. to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the Enemy Your Adversary the Devil saith S. Peter And this is he as I conceive who is here called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Enemy and the Avenger man's tormentor which words being found again in the 44. Psalm v. 16. may for ought I know by warrant of this place be taken for the same Enemy and the usual distinction altered and the place read thus By reason of the Enemy and the Avenger all this to wit the Calamity and confusion he spake of before is come upon us that is by the malice of Satan Now that such Enemies as these should be subducd by an Arm yea by a Mouth of flesh is a thing which might justly make the Prophet cry out Lord what is man c. Now that this which I have given is the true meaning of this place may be gathered from S. Paul's inculcating the word Enemy when 1 Cor. 15. 24. c. he demonstrates out of this Psalm that Christ before the end shall abolish 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all rule and all authority and power For he must reign saith he till he hath put all Enemies under his feet The last Enemy which shall be destroyed is Death and then he alledges for his proof that Corollary in this Psalm For he hath put all things under his feet But in all this Psalm there is no mention of Enemies or subduing them but only in the Verse I have in hand which unless it be thus expounded S. Paul's allegation from hence will be too narrow to prove what he intendeth HAVING thus cleared the words I chose for my Theme I shall not need spend much time to shew you how directly and literally the purport of them was fulfilled in our Blessed Saviour's Incarnation You have in part heard such Scriptures already as do evince it The sum is this The Devil by sin brought mankind under thraldom and became the Prince of this world himself with his Angels being worshipped and served every where as Gods and the service and honour due to the great God the Creator of heaven and earth cast off and abandoned and all this to receive at last for reward eternal woe and everlasting death To vanquish and exterminate this Enemy and redeem the world from this miserable thraldom the Son of God took upon him not the nature of Angels which might have been the Enemies matches but the nature of weak and despicable Man that grows from a babe and suckling Who saith Esay in that famous Prophecy of Messiah hath believed our report and to whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed namely that works such powerful things by weak means For he shall grow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a tender plant or sucker it is the very word here used in my Text for a sucking child and translated by the Seventy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and as a root out of a dry ground that is a small and little one This is that whereof S. Paul discourses so divinely in the Epistle to the Hebrews To which of the Angels said he at any time Sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool For unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak but unto him of whom it is said What is man that thou art mindâ—ul of him c Again We see Iesus who was made little lower than the Angels that is was made man that 's the meaning for the suffering of death crowned with Glory and Honour what can be so plain as this It is the Son of man by whom in part we are and more fully shall be delivered out of the hands of our enemies that we might serve the true God without fear as Zachary sayes in his Benedictus It is the Son of man that delivered us from the power of darkness Col. 1. 13. The Son of man that spoiled Principalities and Powers and made a shew of them openly Col. 2. 15. It was no Angel that did all this but the Son of man even as was prophesied from the beginning when the Devil first got his Dominion that the Seed of the Woman should break the Serpent's head Nor is this all For this Son of man enables also other Sons of men his Disciples and Ministers to do the like in his name The seventy Disciples in the Gospel returned with joy saying Lord even the Devils are subject to us through thy name Yea not these only but as many as fight under his Banner against these Enemies have promise they shall at length quell and utterly subdue them yea at that great Day shall sit with their Lord and Master to judge and condemn them Do ye not know saith S. Paul that the Saints shall judge the world know ye not that we shall judge Angels Lastly This victory as for the event so for the manner of atchieving it is agreeable to our Prophecy Forasmuch as Christ our General nor fights nor conquers by force of Arms but by the power of his Word and Spirit which is the power of his Mouth according to my Text Out of the mouth of Babes c. Hence in the Apocalyps Christ appears with a sword going out of his mouth In the 2 Thess. 2. 8. it is said He shall consume that wicked one that is Antichrist with the Spirit of his mouth Esay prophesies Chap. 11. 4. that the Branch of Iesse should smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips should slay the wicked that is he does all nutu verbo by his word and command as God made the world By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the Hoast
these heavens As the War was long so the Victory was not gotten all at once but by certain degrees as it were beginning with Constantine Anno 300. and ending in Theodosius about as I said the year 390. And though it be hard to pitch the time of this Trophee exactly yet I doubt not but it falleth in some part of the time included in the foresaid limits Thus then have we seen the Truth and Power of God in fulfilling of this Prophecy for so much as is already past and may say with David Psal. 48. 8. As we have heard so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts in the city of our God God will establish it for ever But who would have believed this at the time when the words were spoken when the worshippers of the most high God were at so low an ebbe Hence therefore must we learn to believe the Promises of God be they never so unlikely to humane Reason For he it is that says Esay 46. 11. I have spoken and I will bring it to pass It is he that says Ier. 32. 27. I am the God of all flesh and there is nothing too hard for me Though Abraham be never so old and Sarah's womb be dead yet if the Lord says it he shall be Father of many Though Nations Gideon be the least of the house of Manasses yet if the Lord says it by him shall Israel be delivered from the Midianites Though David follow the sheep yet if God promise he shall be King of Israel Be the famine in Samaria never so extreme that women eat their own children yet if God say it within twenty four hours shall corn be so cheap that a measure of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gates of Samaria Let us take heed therefore we say not with him on whose hand the King leaned If God would make windows in heaven it could not be nor with the Israelites when the spies brought them news of the strength of the Inhabitants of Canaan of chariots of iron and the giant-like sons of Anak let us not say with them we shall not enter For that Lord who set humane reason against the Word and Promise of God never eat of the abundance of Samaria and the Iews which distrusted God never entred the land of Canaan But let us know for a conclusion that God is faithful and true and his Promises yea and amen HITHER TO we have spoken of the accomplishment of this Prophecy for so much as is already past now let us see What that is which we expect as yet to come For though in regard of former times when Ethnicisme was so large and the worshippers of the living God so small a scantling the Extent of the Church be now at this day a goodly and large portion of the world yet if we consider the numbers of nations yet Pagans or not Christians it will seem to scant as yet to be the accomplishment of this and other Prophecies concerning the Largeness of Christ's Kingdom before the end of the world For one hath well observed That Christianity at this day is not above the sixth part of the known world whereas the Mahumetans have a fifth and all the rest are Ethnicks and Pagans So that if we divide the World into thirty parts Christianity is but as five in thirty Mahumetanism as six and Ethnicism as nineteen and so is Christianity the least part of all and plain Heathenism hath far above the one half of the known world and the better part of the other is also Mahumetans And though Christianity hath been embraced in former times where now it is not yet it is now spred in those places where in those times it was not And therefore all laid together we may account Christianity at this day as large I think as ever it was since the Apostles time But that this is not that Vniversal Kingdom of Christ that flourishing and glorious estate of the Church which yet we expect and hope for my Reasons are these First Those frequent places of Scripture which intimate that the Lord should subdue all people all kingdoms all nations and all the ends of the earth unto himself and that all these should one day worship and acknowledge him Psal. 22. 27. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him for the Kingdom is the Lord's and he is governour among the nations And Psal. 47. 1. 2 3. Clap your hands all ye people for the Lord is a great King over all the earth He shall subdue the people under us and the nations under our feet And again v. 7 8. God is King of all the earth and reigneth over the Heathen Psal. â—6 1 c. Make a joyful noise unto God all ye lands Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee All the earth shall worship thee and sing of thee they shall sing unto thy Name The whole 67. Psalm which we read every day is as it were a Prophecy and Prayer for this great Kingdom That the may of God may be known upon earth and his saving health among all nations Let the people praise thee O God let all the people praise thee Then shall the earth yield her increase c. God shall bless us and all the ends of the earth shall fear him And Psal. 86. 9 10. All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee O Lord and shall glorifie thy Name For thou art great and dost wondrous things Thou art God alone And Esay 2. 18. which is a Prophecy of Christ's kingdom it is said that the Idols the Lord shall utterly abolish or as some read the Idols shall utterly pass away So Esay 54. 5. speaking of the Amplitude of the Church of the Gentiles Thy Redeemer saith the Prophet the holy One of Israel the God of the whole earth shall he be called Certainly this constant style of Vniversality implies more than this scantling which yet is it being but one of the least parts of the whole earth Secondly The same conclusion may be gathered from 1 Cor. 15. 25 26. compared with Heb. 2. 8. Christ must reign saith S. Paul in the first place quoted till he hath put all his enemies under his feet The last enemy which shall be destroyed is death Hence it follows that Christ shall subdue all his enemies whereof the Prince of this world is the chief before the last rising of the dead For the subduing of death that is the rising of the dead shall not be afore the rest shall be done the vanquishing of death being the last act of Christ's reigning which done he shall yield up the Kingdom unto his Father In the other place Heb. 2. 8. the Apostle speaking of the same thing alledgeth that
a more divine way namely by the power of the Word and Spirit as we see it hath done My Kingdom saith our Saviour is not of this world that is not from this world or to be set up by worldly means as other kingdoms are For if my Kingdom saith he were of or from this world then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered unto the Iews but now my Kingdom is not from hence Iohn 18. 36. Armies and Swords are not fit means to conquer the Souls of men and therefore Christ was to perform his conquests by a more divine and invisible way And as he conquered them so he governs and keeps them in their allegiance to him not by Garrisons and Armed Troops but by the power of the same Word and Spirit Lastly as he governs his subjects so he fights against his enemies not as the Kings of the earth do but by a divine and heavenly working by divine and heavenly ministers by the ministery of Angels who are all at his command For the Enemies of his Church and Kingdom are chiefly Spiritual namely those Spiritual powers those rulers of darkness the Devil and all his troops of Fiends which cannot be dealt withal nor resisted after a corporal manner but by Spiritual means and Spiritual ministers And though the Arms of flesh and bloud are also lift up against the Kingdom of Christ yet is it always by the instigation and under the conduct of those invisible Fiends As for the men employed in such service they are but the horses in the Devil's battels the Devil and his Angels are the riders and therefore to be repelled by a power and forces suitable unto them In a word the whole world by sin was become the kingdom of the Devil Christ came to recover it from him and to erect the Kingdom of God in place thereof Such a kingdom therefore as the one was such must the other be else it should not match it as by the tenor of â—â—e first Gospel it was to do which saith The seed of the Woman should break the Serpent's head I must add one thing more for the understanding of this Kingdom namely That this Kingdom of Christ which I have hitherto described hath a Two-fold state The one Militant consisting in a perpetual warfare and manifold sufferings which is the present state begun at his First coming when he ascended up into heaven to sit at the right hand of God The Second state is a Triumphant state which shall be at his Second appearing in glory in the clouds of heaven at what time he shall put down all authority power and rule and subdue all his enemies under his feet even death it self as S. Paul tells us 1 Cor. 15. 24. and in that great Assizes of the quick and dead shall render everlasting vengeance to his enemies and those who believed not his Gospel and give rewards of glory to his servants who have kept their faith and allegiance to him And that once done and so his Conquest finished he shall surrender up his Kingdom into the hands of his Father that being subject to him who put all things under his feet God may be all in all as S. Paul tells us In both which estates how fitly this Kingdom is called the Kingdom of Heaven or of God appears in three respects 1. Because the King thereof hath his seat and throne in heaven where he sits at the right hand of God 2. Because the beginning thereof is from heaven and not from earth or by earthly means 3. and lastly Because it is governed and administred by the power of heaven and not by earthly power Is not such a Kingdom rightly and truly called The Kingdom of heaven Thus much I thought good to speak for the explication of this speech The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven because this term is so frequent in the Gospel and not always or perhaps not rightly understood Henceforth let him that readeth understand NOW I come to the Second point namely What was the Time designed and prefixed for the coming and beginning of this Kingdom which our Saviour saith here was fulfilled The time saith he is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand The Time of this Kingdom was by the Prophet Daniel two ways foretold first generally and at large secondly more precisely and punctually The general time designed was That it should begin under and during the Fourth Kingdom or Roman Monarchy which at length it should utterly ruin and destroy For Nebuchadnezzar the King of Babel had a Vision of an Image of four differing metals The head of Gold the arms and breast of silver the belly and thighs of Brass the legs and feet of Iron but the feet mingled with clay While he beheld this Image and surveyed it from head to foot he saw a Stone hewen out of the mountain without hands which Stone smote the Image not upon the head or breast or belly but upon the Iron and Clayie feet whereby the Image and all his other metals being mingled with the Iron vanished away and became as chaff before the wind Then the Stone which smote the Image upon the feet became a great mountain and filled the whole earth This Vision Daniel expounded of four Gentile Kingdoms which should succeed one another in order with great extent of dominion The first compared to Gold was the Babylonian which then reigned The second resembled to Silver should be the Empire of the Medes and Persians which subdued that of Babylon The third figured by the Brazen belly and thighs was the Greek which subdued the Persian The Iron legs the fourth and last was the Roman which subdued the Greek and so became possessed of the riches and glory of all the former three During this last Kingdom was the Stone hewn out of the mountain and smote the Iron feet This Stone saith Daniel was the Kingdom of the God of heaven which should be set up before the days of these four Gentile kingdoms should expire namely under the last of them In the days of these Kingdoms saith he that is while these times of the Gentiles dominions yet lasted the God of heaven shall set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed nor lest unto another people as each of the other were but shall break in pieces and consume all those kingdoms namely in the last in which the other three were incorporated as it were and it self shall stand for ever Forasmuch as thou sawest saith he unto the King that the Stone was cut out of the mountain without hands that is without any earthly means and that it break in pieces the iron and the Brass the Silver and Gold mingled with it Now the Roman Empire during which this Prophecy was to be accomplished was in our Saviour's tâ—me come to the height and highest pitch and so next door to a declination and downfall But this
as one Day This is the Day of the great Assises beginning with the Seventh Trumpet Apocal. 11. 15. wherein Christ shall give reward unto his Servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear his Name and shall destroy them that destroy the earth vers 18. The Process of this wonderful Day S. Iohn describes by a twofold Iudgment and a twofold Resurrection and the glorious Reign of the Saints between them The morning Iudgment shall be of Antichrist and all his partakers whom Christ shall destroy at the appearing of his coming 2 Thess. 2. 8. and then shall be the first and particular Resurrection The evening Iudgment shall be upon the remainder of the living enemies of Christ Gog and Magog and conclude with the last and universal Resurrection of the dead and so the last enemy Death being now wholly vanquished he shall surrender his Kingdom into the hands of his Father that God may be all in all 1 Cor. 15. 24 c. Nor ought it to seem strange that the name Day should signifie so long a time as a Thousand years The Iews who first imposed it understood it so And in the end of S. Peter we shall find yet a longer Day even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dies AEternitatis a Day of Eternity 2 Pet. 3. 18. The Prophets have many such long Days when they say In Die illo Vide. The whole time of Christ's first coming is called a Day Ioh. 16. 26. 2 Cor. 6. 2. The whole time of the Iews fourty years abode in the wilderness is called a Day Heb. 3. 8 9. Their first Captivity of seventy years a Day Vide Prophetas Their last and long Captivity a Day as Deut. 32. 35. alibi apud Prophetas And what if in our daily prayer Give us this day our daily bread Day be to be taken for the whole time of our life For in stead of S. Matthew's This day speaking after the Hebrew notion S. Luke hath in the same Petition 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is every day So S. Paul Heb. 3. 13. Exhort one another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every day whilest it is called To Day Doth not Day here include many days Now if the Thousand years of the Reign of Christ be the Day of Iudgment then it will follow that though we may know by the fulfilling of things to be fulfilled whether it be nearer or farther off yet the precise time of the coming thereof cannot be known because it is to come upon the world unawares as a Thief in the night II. Nevertheless it is true that the Primitive Fathers especially those who believed the Chiliad conceived the World should last and the Church therein labour 6000 years and that the Seventh thousand should be the Day of Iudgment and Sabbath in which the Saints should reign with Christ their Lord. So Irenaeus Lib. 5. c. 28. Quotquot diebus hic factus est mundus tot Millenis consummatur Si enim Dies Domini quasi Mille anni in Sex autem diebus consummata sunt quae facta sunt manifestum est quoniam consummatio ipsorum Sextus millesimus annus est Idem eodem Libro cap. 30. Cùm vastaverit Antichristus hic omnia in mundo regnans annis tribus mensibus sex tunc veniet Dominus de coelis in nubibus in gloriae Patris illum quidem obedientes ei in stagnum ignis mittens adducens autenâ— justis Regni tempora hoc est requietionem i. Sabbatum septimam diem sanctificatam restituens Abrahae promissionem haereditatis c. Iustinus Martyr Dialogo cum Tryphone Iudaeo loquens de Mellennio Regni Christi Novimus inquit dictum illud quòd Dies Domini sit sicut mille anni huc pertinere Cyprianus Lib. de Exhortatione Martyrii Primi in dispositione Divina Septem dies annorum Septem millia continent ut consummatio legitima impleatur Lactantius de Divino praemio Lib. 7. c. 14. Quoniam Sex diebus cuncta Dei opera perfecta sunt per secula Sex id est annorum Sex millia manere in hoc statu mundum necesse est Dies enim magnus Dei Mille annorum circulo terminatur Et ut Deus Sex illos dies in tantis rebus fabricandis laboravit ità religio ejus veritas in his Sex millibus annorum laborare necesse est malitiâ praevalente dominaute Et rurius Quoniam perfectis operibus requievit die Septimo eúmque benedixit necesse est ut in fine Sexti millesimi anni malitia omnis aboleatur è terra regnet annos Mille Iustitia sitque tranquillitas requies à laboribus quos mundus jamdiu perpessus est III. The ancient Iews also had a Tradition to the same purpose as appears by these testimonies recorded in the Gemara or Glosse of their Talmud Cod. Sanhedrim cap. Kol Iisrael For there concerning that of Esay chap. 2. Exaltabitur Dominus solus die illo thus speaks the Talmudical Gloss. Dixit Rabbi Ketâ—â—a Sex annorum millibus stat Mundus uno Millenario vastabitur de quo dicitur AT QUE EXALTAEITUR DOMINUS SOLUS DIE ILLO Note By Vastabitur they mean the Vastation of the world by Fire in the Day of Iudgment whereby it shall become New or a New Heaven and New Earth Sequitur Traditio adstipulatur R. Ketinae nempe ista Sicut ex septenis annis Septimus quisque Annus Remissionis est ità septem millibus annorum mundi Septimus Millenarius Millenarius Remissionis erit ut Dominus solus exaltetur in die illo Dicitur enim Psal. 92. Psalmus Canticum de Die Sabbati id est de eo Die qui totus Quies est Note they understand this Psalm of the Great day of Iudgment and the Sabbath mentioned in the Title of the great Sabbath of a Thousand years Dicitur item Psal. 90 Nam mille anni in oculis tuis velut dies hesternus Sequitur Traditio Domûs Eliae Sex mille annos durat mundus Bis mille annis Inanitas bis mille annis Lex denique bis mille annis Dies Christi At verò propter peccata nostra plurima enormia abierunt ex his qui abierunt These last words Petrus Galatinus proves to be added to this Tradition by the later Iews And surely this Elias lived under the second Temple and before the birth of Christ. And though there be no mention here of the Seventh thousand years yet that this R. Elias acknowledged it as well as the rest appears by a former place of the same Gemara Talmudica which is this Traditio Domûs Eliae Iusti quos resuscitabit Deus c. IV. The concinnity of this conceit hath made me I confess sometimes inquisitive whether it could be brought to accord with the received computation of the Age of the World and with our experience of the beginning and continuance of the times of Antichrist now revealed But the