Chapter do otherwise the Prophecies succeed one another and shall come to pass in order not as they be written but as they were revealed and this is a sure rule to go by and gives great Light to the Exposition of the Prophecies for such an Exposition must be put on each Prophecy as to make it succeed the Prophecy that went before and precede the Prophecie which follows after the same order to be observed in Execution as was in Revelation And here the Reader may take notice 1. That every one of these Synchronisms is to be understood of a total not of a partical Contemporation for some of them are true of a partial Contemporation as that the sealed Virgins do contemporate with the Beast but none of them of a total 2. That for the most part things are set down in writing in such order as they were revealed and there be but very few things that be set down otherwise and they be such as belong to one and the same Prophecy and were presented to John both together but could not be set down in writing both together but immediately one after another As for instance the Travel of the Woman with Child Chap. 12. and the watching of the Dragon to devour her Child as soon as it was born were presented unto John both together and shall come to pass both together but he could not set them down in writing both together but immediately one after another So the watching of the Dragon and the Battail of Michael with him were presented to John both together and shall come to pass both together but could not be set down in writing both together but immediately one after another unless it were in Colums in this manner And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven a Woman cloathed with the Sun and the Moon under her Feet and upon her Head a Crown of twelve Stars And she being with child cryed travelling in birth and pained to be delivered Rev. 12.1 2. And there appeared another wonder in Heaven and behold a great Red Dragon having seven Heads and ten Hornes and seven Crowns upon his Heads And his Tail drew the third part of the Stars of Heaven and did cast them to the Earth and the Dragon stood before the VVoman which was ready to be Delivered for to devour her Child as soon as it was born Vers 3 4. And there was War in Heaven Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon and the Dragon fought with his Angels and prevailed not neither was them place found any more in Heaven And the great Red Dragon was cast out that Old Serpent called the Devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world he was cast out into the Earth and his Angels were cast out with him Vers 7 8 9. Unless it be in this manner these things could not be set down in writing together but one behind another and in such a case as this things are not set down in writing in some places in such order as they were revealed and they are such as belong to one and the same Prophecy but in other cases where Prophecies are distinct one from another and concern different matters they are set down in writing in such order as they were revealed and shall come to pass in the same order as they were revealed not any thing of another nature or belonging to another Prophecy coming between See more of these Synchronisms Chap. 11. q. 1. Chap. 12. q. 2. Chap. 13. q. 1. Chap. 14. q. 1. Chap. 16. q. 1. CHAP. XI The conclusion of the second Trumpet or the second part thereof 1. ANd there was put into my hand a Reed like unto a Rod to measure withal and the Angel that gave it me stood by and said unto me Arise Ezek. 4.3 5 6 8 9 13 c. Ezek. 41.5 13. and measure the Temple and the inner Court and them that worship therein whereby I knew that a Temple and an inner Court should be built at the Execution of this Prophecy at Jerusalem for the people of the Jews to worship in 2. But the Court which is without the Temple said he unto me leave out and measure not whereby I knew that it should not be built and the reason of it is because it shall be given to the Gentiles to inhabit and Jerusalem shall be trodden under Foot by the Gentiles three years and an half after the Temple and inner Court shall be finished 3. And as soon as the Temple and the inner Court shall be built I will give them to my two Witnesses whom I will raise up of the Jewish Nation 2 King 1.18 Mat 3.4 Esa 20.2 Zach. 13 4. and they shall Prophesie therein by immediate Inspiration three years and a half with good success cloathed in Priestly Garments as Eliah's and John Baptist 's were made Sack-cloath 4. These be two anointed ones as Josua and Zerubbabel were and they be also two Candlesticks standing for or before the God of the earth to receive Commandments from him and impart them to the People and they be also so called to signifie the good success of their Ministry which is to lay the Foundation of the Jews Conversion Zach. 4.2 3.6 7.9.10.14 which shall be brought to pass not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord. 5. And if any one will hurt them or do them any harm before the three years and a half allotted to their Prophecying shall be ended they shall call for fire from Heaven as Eliah did and it shall presently fall upon them and devour them And I say again 2 King 1.10.12 Luk. 9.54 if any one will hurt them or do them any harm before the three years and a half allotted to their Prophecying be expired in such a manner as was said before shall he be killed 6. These have power to shut Heaven as Eliah had that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy for three years and a half 1 King 17.1 Luk. 4.25 Jam. 5.17 as it did not in the days of his they have also power over waters to turn them into blood as Moses did in Egypt and to smite the earth with all manner of earthly Plagues so often as they will 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony which they were to do in three years and a half the Scarlet coloured Beast which shall arise out of the bottomless Pit shall make War against them and overcome them and slay them which not any one could do before their Prophecy was ended 8. And their bodies after they be slain shall lye in the open Street of the great City which in a mystical sense is called Sodom and Egypt for the excessive wickedness that is therein at this time Uncleanness Blood Murther and other abominable sins and wickedness committed by the Gentiles which shall be therein but yet neither of these be in a literal sense the place where the witnesses shall be slain but
shall receive is nothing else but the name of the first Beast or the number of his name imprinted on him 18. Now here is the mystery of the business here is wisdom to be seen in him that can unfold this riddle let him that hath skill in the art of numeration count the number of the first Beast for it is a number or a computation that is used by man and may be found out by the art of man and the number he must count to find out The other number which is the true mark and name of the first Beast is 666 and he that will count this number as it ought to be must not think to do it by addition or subtraction for here is no other number which this number can be added to or subtracted from neither may he think to do it by multiplication or division for here is no other number which this number 666 can be multiplied or divided by but it must be done by extracting of the root thereof and he that can perform this work as it ought to be and compare it with the mark which the second Beast shall cause men to take shall thereby know who the first great Beast is and his name to boot this cannot be done before the Beast be come into the World and his mark be imprinted on his loyal Subjects and then is the time to perform this work and not before Disputation IX 1 Quest Whether this Prophecy shall contempor te with the Prophecy in the former Chapter or succeed it Ans 1. Prosperity cannot contemporate with adversity nor the Church in safety with the Church in danger but the woman in the former Chapter is in prosperity or at least in safety in the Wilderness as appears v. 6.14 15 16. and the Dragon cannot hurt her in that place but in this Prophecy the Church is in adversity and the Beast is in prosperity and doth War with her and overcome her 42 months together v. 5.7 2. The Beast is not raised by the Dragon till he went to make War with the remnant of the womans seed and he went not from the Wilderness to make War with the remnant of her seed till his attempts against the woman in the Wilderness proved frustrate and succesless Rev. 12.17 3. The true order of the Prophecy is this 1. The woman falls in Travel and the Dragon stands before her to devour her child as soon as it was born v. 2 3 4. 2. Michael and his Angels fight against the Dragon and cast him forth of Heaven to the earth that he might not hinder the Nativity of the Child v. 7 8 9. 3. The woman bringeth forth and the Dragon persecutes the woman and she flies into the Wilderness v. 5 6.13 14. 4. The Dragon sends a flood of Water after her to drown her in the Wilderness or drive her out from thence and the earth opens her mouth and swallows up the flood of water v. 15 16. 5. the Dragon is angry with the woman and goes away from the Wilderness to the Sea with an intent to make War with the remnant of her seed v. 17 18. 6. The Dragon raiseth up the Beast mentioned in this thirteenth Chapter to be his Captain General in this War v. 1. 7. The War begins and the Saints are overcome 42 months v. 5.7 8. After this the Beast prevails no more but decays every day more and more until he come unto his end ch 14.16 and 19. this is the order of the Prophecy and it is to be admired at that men should set their wits against it 4. They which hold this Prophecy to contemporate with the former think that by the remnant of the womans seed whom the Dragon Warreth with is meant the Children which she bringeth forth in the Wilderness but this cannot be so for the woman in the Wilderness is in safety as appears v. 14. and the Dragon cannot War with her nor her Children in that desolate place and therefore by the remnant of her seed is not meant the Children which she bringeth forth in the Wilderness but the Children which were left behind and were not fled into the Wilderness with the woman and these be they whom the Dragon Warreth with but the other are in safety Ob. The 1260 days of the woman and the 42 months of the Beast are all one Ans 30 days in April and 30 days in June are all one in quantity yet they succeed one another so the 1260 days in the former Chapter and the 42 months in this Chapter be all one in quantity yet they succeed one another as June succeedeth April Ob. 1260 Days be so many years and 42 months be so many years too and it is not likely that times of so long continuance should succeed one another Ans This objection hath been answered twice already first ch 11. and secondly ch 12. and now I will answer it the third time and say something else unto it 1. I might say that theologia symbolica non est argumentativa mystical Theology is no sufficient Argument to build our Faith upon and if men have nothing else to say for themselves but mystical expositions of the Scriptures it is a sign that their cause is very bad 2. Times of equal length may succeed one another as appears in the months of the year So put the case that these 42 months and the 1260 days be so many years yet 't is possible they may succeed one another though not in whole yet in part as Solomon and David reigned fourty years a piece yet some part of Solomons Reign was with David his Father before his death and the other part after his death 3. Where shall we find in all the Scripture that a month is put for thirty years I find in many places where 't is put for thirty days as Jam. 5.17 Heb. 11.23 Luk. 1.56 but for thirty years never 4. The Revelation it self doth put a difference between a day a month and a year Rev. 9.15 which were prepared for an hour a day a month and a year where a day is less than a month and a month is less than a year 5. These 42 months is the time of the Beasts prosperity and of the Churches great adversity but the Church never was nor ever will be in adversity so long and the strongest Beast that ever was was never in prosperity so many years together nor ever will be 6. By this interpretation of 42 months one may find out the day of Judgment and some men have been very bold in this point for they make these 42 months to last unto the day of Judgment so that by this reckoning the Church will be in a sad and calamitous condition until the day of Judgment and if they can but tell us one thing more and that is when these 42 months begin we may easily calculate the day when Christ shall come to Judgment which no modest man will adventure once to do seeing
was made known to John the one was in the time of Vespasian the other in the time of Domitian 2. John knew of the destruction of the Jews before he was banished into Patmos but he knew not of the Revelation till after he was there 3. Christ had sufficiently foretold his Disciples of the destruction of the Jews in his life-time Mat. 24. Mark 13. Luk. 21. and therefore there needed not a second Revelation of the same thing to John again 4. There is not one Syllable of the destruction of the Jews by Vespasian in all the Revelation That Prophecy Rev. 11.13 is not 〈◊〉 of the destruction of the Iews but of the Gentiles rather and is not yet fulfilled 5. There is not one Syllable of consolation to the Churches taken from the destruction of the Jews near approaching 6. The Epistles to the seven Churches are not spent in consolations taken from the destruction of the Jews near approaching but in reproofs and menaces for their fins threatning them with their own destruction unless they did amend as you may see Rev. 2.4 5 14 16 20 22 23. Rev. 3.2 3 15 16. 7. The destruction of the Jews did not terminate the persecution of the Christians but they were persecuted afterward more than they were before and there was but one general persecution before the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian and that was in the Reign of Nero but there were nine general persecutions afterward 8. If any will extend the destruction of the Jews to the time of Adrian this will not terminate the persecutions of the Christians neither for there were but three persecutions before his time the fourth was in his Reign and there were six persecutions afterward Disputation II. 1. Quest Whether the six first Seals were fulfilled in Judaea at and before the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian Ans No prophecy is fulfilled before it be revealed but these six first Seals were revealed to Iohn in the Reign of Domitian and therefore not fulfilled at and before the destruction of Jerusalem by Vespasian 2. No man was ever cast into a trance to behold things which he was told of before but Iohn was told by Christ in his life-time the things which should happen in Iudaea at and before the destruction of Ierusalem by Vespasian therefore he was not cast into a trance for such a Revelation 3. No man did write the Prophecies of the Revelation except Iohn but if the six first Seals be meant of the things which shall happen in Iudaea at and before the destruction of Ierusalem by Vespasian Mathew Mark and Luke did write thereof as well as Iohn and that more copiously and plainly than is here delivered see Mat. 24. Mark 13. Luk. 21. 4. No Prophecy is of things useless or needless but if the six first Seals be meant of the affairs of Iudaea at and before the destruction of Ierusatem by Vespasian this Prophecy might very well have been spared for it was well known before and Iohn might have said unto the Angel which shewed him these things Why am I cast into a trance and made believe that I should see things which no man ever saw before and of such concernment as no man in Heaven or in the earth or under the earth was counted worthy to reveal save Christ alone and now I have seen the six first Seals opened of this so highly praised commended magnified and extolled prophetical Book as no Book ever was the like alas what am I the better for it I have seen no more than I knew before 5. Let us take a view of the several Seals in order and we shall find that not any one of them was fulfilled in Iudaea at or before the destruction of Ierusalem by Vespasian as some would make us believe they were Begin we with the first Seal which is a Prophecy of a white Horse and he that sate thereon had a Bow and a Crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering and to conquer but no such thing was fulfilled in Judaea at or before the destruction of Jerusalem in a literal sense which is the cause they fly unto a mystical and understand the Prophecy of the conquest of the Gospel but it will not serve their turn for the Scene of the Gospel is the World and not the narrow confines of Judaea from whence it was removed before this Prophecy was revealed Mat. 21.43 Act. 13.46 To which may be added that the first Seal ends before the second Seal begins but the Gospel shall continue to the Worlds end The second Seal is a Prophecy of a red Horse and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth and that they should kill one another and there was given unto him a great Sword but when was this Tragedy acted in Judaea The intestine slaughters of Jews among themselves will not amount unto a War and if they would yet they were not such noted ones nor so numerous as these shall be to which may be added that the rider on this Red Horse was to take peace from the earth which word is too large to be confined to the narrow compass of Jerusalem where the Zelots slew their Brethren not on Horse-back but on Foot and the Sicarii had not great Swords as this Rider had but short Pocket Daggers to slay men with a weapon fitter for Thieves and Robbers than such noted Warriers as this Prophecy aimeth at The third Seal is a Prophecy of a Black Horse and he that sate on him had a pair of balances in his hand And I heard a voice in the midst of the four Beasts say A measure of Wheat for a penny and three measures of Barley for a penny c. which words are either meant of Famine or of civil Justice but the broiles and tumults in Judaea would not suffer civil Justice to be used And if we understand this Prophecy of Famine where shall we find a noted Famine in Judaea except that which Agabus spake of Act. 11.28 or that which happened in the City in the time of the Siege but neither of these can be meant in this place not the first because the adequate Scene of that Famine was not Judaea but the World and the time when it happened was in the second year of Claudius which was before Iohns banishment into Patmos as themselves confess and not the second for the like reason because it came to pass at the Siege of the City by Vespasian which was before the Prophecy was revealed to Iohn which was in the Reign of Domitian To which may be added that this third Seal begins when the second Seal doth end but the slaughters which the Zelots committed in the City were not ended when the Famine did begin but the Famine was the occasion that they slew the people which denied them bread Add we further that a Chaenix was no Iewish measure and therefore the Prophecy was not fulfilled in
of those signs unto the day of Judgment is but a short time as our Saviour also saith Mat. 24.33 therefore all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the sixth Seal to the nineteenth chapter v. 11. where the day of Judgment doth commence are to continue but a short time and consequently it is a long time before the four first Seals do end and for ought we know it is a long time before any of them shall begin 5. The opposition between the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things that must shortly come to pass Rev. 1. â— and the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things that must be done hereafter Rev. 4.1 intimate so much The first are a Preface to the things spoken of in the Epistles to the seven Churches and shew they were to begin shortly after Johns time the second are a Preface to the Prophecies in this chapter and in the chapters following and shew they were not to begin so soon but a long time after 6. The conjectural expositions of these Prophecies signifie as much for time is the best interpreter of Prophecies and if these Prophecies were fulfilled already men would not speak upon conjecture nor write so variously and uncertainly of the meaning of these Prophecies as they do CHAP. VII The Prophecy of the Sealed which were to be secured from suffering 1. ANd after these doleful sights were over I saw farther what should come to pass in the time of this Prophecy before the seventh Prophecy should begin to wit that four Angels should stand upon the four corners of the earth upon each corner one which should have power over the four winds that be in the earth to let them loose Mat. 24.31 or to keep them in that they should not blow upon the earth nor upon the Sea nor upon the Trees but as they pleased 2. And I saw that another Angel should then come with a Commission from the East and bring the Seal of the living God along with him and that he should cry with a loud voice to the four Angels which had power to hurt the earth and the Sea 3. Saying That they should not hurt the earth Ezeck 9.4 5 6. nor the Sea nor the Trees until we have sealed the Servants of God in their fore-heads 4. And I heard the number of them which were to be Sealed and they were a hundred and fourty and four thousand young men of the Iewish Nation which are to be reckoned in this manner 5. Of the young men of the tribe of Iuda shall be sealed twelve thousand of the young men of the tribe of Reuben shall be sealed twelve thousand of the young men of the tribe of Gad shall be sealed twelve thousand 6. Of the young men of the tribe of Aser shall be sealed twelve thousand of the young men of the tribe of Naphthali shall be sealed twelve thousand of the young men of the tribe of Manasse shall be sealed twelve thousand 7. Of the young men of the tribe of Simeon shall be sealed twelve thousand of the young men of the tribe of Levi shall be sealed twelve thousand of the young men of the tribe of Issachar shall be sealed twelve thousand 8. Of the young men of the tribe of Zabulon shall be sealed twelve thousand of the young men of the tribe of Ephraim shall be sealed twelve thousand of the young men of the tribe of Benjamin shall be sealed twelve thousand The Prophecy of the blessedness of the not sealed Martyrs after death 9. But lest any should be discouraged from suffering for the cause of Christ because they be not sealed and secured from suffering as the other were there was presented unto me the great felicity and transcendent bliss which the Martyrs should enjoy in Heaven at the same time that the sealed ones should be secured on earth and I saw they should be more in number than the other were to wit an exceeding great multitude which no man could number of all Nations and kindreds and people and tongues which should stand before tâ—e Throne of God and before the Lamb in white robes of Glory and Palms of triumph in their hands 10. Where they shall laud and praise the Lord for that Heavenly Glory and felicity which they shall be in at this time acknowledging and saying Salvation proceedeth from the Lord our God which sits upon the Throne and from Jesus Christ the Holy Lamb and to them be it ascribed for evermore 11. And not only they themselves but also all the Holy Angels which are in Heaven shall laud and praise the Lord for that Heavenly bliss and happiness which the Martyrs shall have in Heaven at that time when the sealed ones are sealed on earth 12. Saying Amen Blessing and Glory and Wisdom and Thanks and Honor and Power and Might be ascribed to the Lord our God for evermore 13. And that I might understand the meaning of the Vision one of the four and twenty Elders asked of me saying What be these comely persons whom thou seest arrayed in white robes of Glory and Palms of triumph in their hands and from whence came they to that blessed State and transcendent degree of happiness which thou seest them now to have 14. And I said Ah Sir thou knowest who they are and I would learn of thee who they be and from whence they came to that blessed State and transcendent degree of happiness which I see them in at this time and what it was that brought them hither Then he said unto me These be the Holy Martyrs of the Church which were in great affliction in the World and suffered death for the cause of Jesus Christ and shed their blood for professing of his Gospel for this cause it is that they be now in white robes of Glory which were made so by his blood and are given them as a reward for their suffering for him 15. For this cause it is that they be now before the Throne of God and serve him in the Church Triumphant as in their life-time they did in the Church Militant and God shall dwell with them and be their God 16. They suffered hunger heretofore but now they suffer it no more they suffered thirst heretofore but now they shall suffer it no more they suffered persecution heretofore but they shall suffer it no more 17. For Jesus Christ shall feed them with his Heavenly Food and give them drink of his Heavenly Well and God shall wipe all tears from off their eyes so that no sorrow shall come near them Disputation III. 1 Quest Whether the sealed ones be the Jews and they only Ans 1. The tribes of the Children of Israel be usually the Jews only as Gen. 49 16.28 Exed 24.4 and so in other places but the sealed ones here mentioned are one hundred fourty and four thousand of all the tribes of the Children of Israel v. 4. 2. Where the tribes of Israel are distinctly reckoned by their names there
same Request again and their fellow Servants and their Brethren joyn with them therein and the Angel offers Incense upon the Altar at the same time 4. And the Incense which the Angel offered was added to the prayers of the Saints so that the prayers of the Saints which were under the Altar did not ascend alone but the smoke of the Incense which the Angels offered ascended with them and both of them made a sweet perfume before Almighty God 5. And when the Incense was consumed the Angel took the fire which remained upon the Altar and filled the Censer with it and cast it to the ground in token that the Offering of the Incense with the prayers of the Saints was ended and presently after that there was a great Noise of Thundering and Lightning and a very great Earth-quake denoting God's heavy Judgments which were now to fall upon the World for the wrong they did to his Saints and for the bloud of his Saints which they had shed till this time and many Years before The Prophecy of the first Trumpet 6. Then the seven Angels prepared themselves to sound their Trumpets successively one after another 7. So the first Angel sounded and the Prophecy of his Trumpet was Exod. 9.22 23 24 25. that it should rain Hail and Fire Ps 105.32 33. and Blood upon the Land of Asia as heretofore there rained Hail and Fire upon the Land of Egypt so that the third part of Trees should be burnt up and all the green Grass should be burnt up and this is to be done not in Europe but in Asia The Prophecy of the second Trumpet 8. And after the first Angel the second Angel sounded and the Prophecy of his Trumpet was that a Sulphureous Mountain burning with Fire should be cast into the Sea of Asia Exod. 7.19 20 21. and the third part of that Sea should be turned into Blood as the Waters of Egypt sometimes were 9. And thereupon the third part of the fish that shall be in the Sea shall die and the third part of the Ships shall be destroyed The Prophecie of the third Trumpet 10. And after him the third Angel sounded and the Prophecy of his Trumpet was that a great blazing Star should fall from Heaven burning and flaming like a Torch and that in burning it should part asunder and fall into the third part of the Rivers and into the third part of the Springs of waters throughout the Land of Asia 11. And the Name of the Star from that day forward shall be called Worm-wood and the third part of the waters shall be as the juyce of Worm-wood and many men shall die by drinking of the Waters Exod. 15.23 because they be made exceeding bitter as the juyce of Worm-wood is and as the waters of Marah were The Prophecy of the fourth Trumpet 12. And the fourth Angel sounded and the Prophecy of his Trumpet was that the third part of the Sun should be smitten with darkness and the third part of the Moon and the third part of the Stars and the day should want the third part of that Light it had before and the Night likewise 13. And before the fifth Angel sounded I saw an Angel flying through the midst of Heaven and I heard him say as he fled along Wo wo wo to the Inhabitants of the Land of Asia by reason of the plagues of the three other Angels which are yet to sound their Trumpets more grievous and calamitous than any of the former were Disputation IV. Quest 1. Whether the four first Trumpets were fulfilled in Judaea before the Siege of Jerusalem by Vespasian and be meant of the Seditions and Slaughters that were there Answ 1. No Prophecy is fulfilled before it be revealed but these four Trumpets were revealed to John in the Reign of Domitian therefore not fulfilled in Judaea before the Siege of Jerusalem by Vespasian 2. No Prophecy is fulfilled before it be written by the Prophet and made known unto the people for then it is a History and not a Prophecy but these Visions in their Opinion were written in the Reign of Vespasian therefore not fulfilled before the siege of Jerusalem which began in the Reign of Nero. 3. The seventh Seal is not fulfilled before the sixth but if these four Trumpets be meant of the seditions and slaughters in Judaea before the siege of Jerusalem a good part of the seventh Seal even so much of it as is comprized in the four Trumpets will be fulfilled before the sixth for the sixth Seal in their opinion is a Prophecy of the siege of it self and by the Kings and the great Men and the rich Men which hid themselves in Dens they understand the men that hid themselves in Caves at the taking of the City 4. If these Trumpets be meant of the seditions and slaughters of the Jews before the siege of Jerusalem what is the difference between these Trumpets and the second Seal For they say the second Seal is meant of the slaughters and seditions of the Jews by one another before the siege of Jerusalem and if these Trumpets be meant of them too what difference is between them 5. If these Trumpets be a Prophecy of the seditions of the Jewes why do they not tell us what sedition is meant by the first Trumpet what sedition by the second and what sedition by the third And if it be said that they are meant of the seditions of the Jews in grosse what is this but to make a Chaos of the Revelation To which may be added that they told us before Chap. 6. vers 1. that the things which Christ foretold concerning the Jews Mat. 24. are set down in gross in the sixth Chapter and more particularly as they have their Execution in the Chapters following and now I am come to the eighth Chapter here be no particulars neither but the seditions of the Jews in gross what is this but to gain-say here what they said before 6. The Angels be not the Authors or Executioners of sedition but four Angels be the Authors or Executioners of the four first Trumpets and the prime Agents under God whereby they come to pass as appears not only vers 7.8.10 but also Rev. 7.2 3. 7. Where shall we find in all the Scripture that by Fire is meant sedition I find it sometimes taken for affliction persecution and temptation Psal 66.12 Zach. 13.9 Mal. 3.2 1 Pet. 4.12 but for fedition never 8. If by Fire in these Trumpets be meant sedition what is meant by Hail in the first Trumpet is that sedition too where have they a president for that How is it that men interpret Scripture and have no Scripture for what they say To which may be added that Fire is hot and dry but Hail is cold and moist and how can these two be symbols of the same thing in one and the same Prophecy surely if the Fire be sedition the Hail must be some other thing 9. If
God for the fulfilling of the Trumpets also CHAP. IX The Prophecy of the fifth Trumpet 1. AND the fifth Angel sounded and the Prophecy of his Trumpet was that an Angel shall descend from Heaven to the earth Rev. 20.1 and the Key of the bottomless Pit shall be given into his hand 2. And he shall open the bottomless Pit and upon the opening of it shall come a great smoak out of the bottom of the Pit like the smoak of a great Furnace and the air shall be darkned with the smoak and it shall be so thick that the Sun shall not be able to break through to give light upon the Earth 3. And out of the smoke shall come Locusts into the Land of Asia Wisd 11.18 of a most horrid shape and form never the like seen before and they shall have power to sting the Inhabiters of that Land as the Scorpions of the earth have power 4. And it shall be given them in charge that they shall not hurt the Grass of the Field Rev. 7.3 nor any green Herb nor any vegetable Tree but sting the Men only which shall not have the Seal of God in their Forehead 5. And their Commission shall be not to kill the Men outright but torment them only five Months and no more Luk. 1.24 and the pain of these Men shall be as grievous as the pain that cometh of a Scorpion when he hath stung a Man 6. And all the time of these five Months shall Men wish for Death thinking to end their pains thereby but shall not find it and shall desire to die rather than to live in such woful pain and torment but Death shall flee away from them 7. And the bodies of these Locusts shall be in shape like to Horses prepared unto Battail and they shall have on their Heads the shapes of Crowns like Crowns of Gold and their Faces shall be in shape like the Faces of Men but the matter of them shall be such as insects have 8. And the hair which they shall have shall be in shape like the hair of Women and the teeth which they shall have shall be in shape like the teeth of Lyons but the matter shall be such as insects have 9. And the Brest-plates they shall have shall be in shape like Brest-plates made of Iron and the dreadful noise of their Wings shall be as the noise of Chariots drawn with many Horses running furiously unto Battail 10. And the tayles which they shall have shall be like the tayles of Scorpions and they shall have stings in their tayles like the stings of Scorpions and their Commission shall be to sting the Men of Asia five Months literally to be understood 11. And they shall have a King or Ruler over them to guide them and direct them in this Work Gen. 19.13 Exod. 12.23 2 King 19.35 so that they shall not sting every one they meet but whom the Angel of or over the bottomeless Pit will have them Mat 13.41 42 49 50. 1 Cor. 10.10 Hcb. 11.28 and this Angel is not an evil Angel but a good Angel of the Lord whose Name in Hebrew is Abaddon in Greek Apollyon and in English a Destroyer not of the Saints and People of God but of the Enemies of God and of his Church 12. The first Woe is past when these things shall be fulfilled and behold there be two Woes yet to come after these things are ended The Prophecy of the sixth Trumpet reaching from the thirteenth Verse of this Chapter to the fourteenth Verse of the eleventh Chapter or the first part thereof 13. And the sixth Angel sounded and the Prophecy of his Trumpet was Rev. 8.2 that a Command should come from God from the four Corners of the Altar upon which the Angel offered Incense before the Throne of God 14. Saying to the sixth Angel which did sound the sixth Trumpet that he should go and loose the four Angels which should be then bound or restrained from doing Hurt at the great River of Asia called Euphrates but now they should be loosed to execute God's Judgments on the people that dwell there 15. Then the sixth Angel shall go and loose the four Angels which before were bound at Euphrates but ready upon Command to slay the third part of Men that shall be dwelling there and that in as little time as an hour or in as sittle time as a day or in as little time as a month or in as little time as a year waiting for a Command to put their power in Execution 16. And the number of the Army of Horse that under these four Angels shall be imployed in this Work shall be two Hundred thousand thousand for the number of them was related unto me 17. But these Horses shall not be usual Horses nor their Riders Men properly so called but either Angels or strange kind of Creatures Wisd 11.18 19. newly created for this purpose and never known in the World before and thus I saw the Horses in the Vision and they that sat on them what ever they be shall have Corslets of a fiery colour and of a blew jacinth colour and of a pale Brimstone colour and the heads of their Horses shall be in shape like the Heads of Lyons and out of the mouths of every one of them shall come forth fire smoak and brimstone literally to be understood 18. Of these three shall the third part of Men be killed which shall be dwelling at Euphrates at that time some shall be killed by the fire and some by the smoak and others by the brimstone which shall come out of the Horses mouths 19. For the power of these strange Beasts shall be in their mouths and which is yet the more strange they shall have mouths in their tayles for their tayles shall be like a Serpents body and have Heads at the end of them and in their Heads a mouth with which they slay the third part of Men which be dwelling at Euphrates at the Execution of the Prophecy 20. And the two other parts of Men which shall escape from these Plagues and not be killed by them shall not for all this repent of their former wickedness that they should not worship Devils nor Idols which are the work of Mens hands and are made of Gold and of Silver and of Brass and of Stone and of Wood and are such stupid Figments that they neither see what Men do unto them nor hear what they pray unto them for nor do them any good at all 21. Neither shall they for all this repent of their other sins which before these Plagues they committee as of their Murthers nor of their Sorceries nor of their Fornication nor 〈◊〉 their Thefts but persist in them as they did before Disputation V. 1 Quest Whether the Locusts in the Prophecy of the Fifth Trumpet be literally to be understood Answ 1. All the reasons in the former Chapter Quest 2. may be reduced
they had tayles like to Scorpions and there were stings in their tayles and with these stings did they torment Men 〈◊〉 and the pain that came of these Torments was like the path that cometh of a Scorpion when he hath stung a Man v. 5. and this was a way of torturing which the Zelots could not use nor did the Saracens Goths and Vandals nor any other men for they have not stings in their bodies to torment men with as the Locusts have 2 Quest Whether the Angel of the bottomless Pit whose Name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek Apollyon be a good Angel or a bad Answ 1. The Angel shall come from Heaven at the Execution of the Prophecy so shall not Satan at that time for he was never there since his Fall nor ever shall be 2. The Angel shall come from Heaven in the likeness of a Star but Satan fell from thence at the beginning of the world in the likeness of a Devil 3. The Angel shall come from Heaven willingly but Satan fell from thence against his will it is true he sinned willingly and that in Heaven too but he was driven forth of Heaven against his will 2 Pet. 2.4 4. The Angel hath Commission from God to do what he doth at this time but Satan when he acts his Wickedness goes without Commission to act what he doth 5. The Angel hath the Key of the bottomless Pit committed to him v. 1. but that Key is not committed unto Satan but to a good Angel only Rev. 20.1 2 3. 6. The Angel hath power to open the bottomless Pit which it seems was shut before v. 2. but Satan is to be a Prisoner in that Pit and hath no power to open it at all Rev. 20.3.7 7. The Angel hath command over the bottomless Pit and he is therefore called the Angel of the bottomless Pit because he hath command over it as the Angel of the Waters is so called because he hath command over them Rev. 16.5 but Satan is to be a Prisoner in that Pit and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more command over it than a Fettered Prisoner hath over a Jail 8. The Angel is called a destroyer v. 11. but where shall we find Satan called by that name I deny not but he is such a one for he destroyed Jobs Children Job 1.19 and he is called a murtherer Job 8.44 but he is never called a destroyer in direct terms as the Angel is here 9. Suppose Satan be called a destroyer in direct terms be not the good Angels called so too Were not the Angels that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah good Angels Gen. 19.13 was not the Angel that destroyed Israel with the Pestilence a good Angel 2 Sam. 24.15 16 and was not the Angel that destroyed Sennacheribs Army a good Angel 2 King 19.35 and is not a good Angel called a destroyer Exod. 12.23 1 Cor. 10.10 And if every one of these were good Angels why should any one think that the Angel the destroyer in the fifth Trumpet is not a good Angel but a bad 10. Is there not a grand difference between a spiritual destroyer of the souls of men and a corporal destroyer of the body only Now Satan is a Spiritual destroyer of the souls of men by infecting them with sin but the Angel here spoken of is a Corporal destroyer of the body only as appears v. 4 5. 11. Is there not also a great difference between a destroyer of good men and a destroyer of wicked men Now Satan is a main destroyer of good men as when he moveth Tyrants to persecute the Church of God his aim is to destroy good men and them only and if it were in his power he would not leave a good man alive upon the earth his malice is so great as appears Rev. 12 and 13. but the Angel here spoken of is a destroyer not of good men for serving God but of wicked men only for their sins v. 4 5.20 12. Is there not a vast difference between a destroyer ex Officio out of Office and Duty towards God and a destroyer ex Malitia out of Malice both to God and man Now Satan is a destroyer in the latter sense and is therefore alled a Murtherer because he destroyes men out of malice Jah 8.44 but the Angel here mentioned is a destroyer ex Officio out of Office and Duty towards God v. 1 2. 3 Quest Whether the sixth Trumpet be a Prophecy of Vespasians Army marching to besiege Jerusalem Ans 1. We have already proved that John received the Revelation not in the Reign of Claudius but in the Reign of Domitian the Roman Emperor Disp 1. Q. 1. therefore this is not a Prophecy of Vespasians Army marching to besiege Jerusalem which was past some years before the revealing of the Prophecy 2. They that be of this mind do hold withal that these Visions were written by St. John in the Reign of Vespasian therefore this Prophecy is not meant of the marching of his Army to besiege Jerusalem which was before his Reign began 3. The fifth Trumpet is before the sixth as appears v. 12. but the fifth Trumpet in their opinion is a Prophecy of what the Zelots did in the time of the siege therefore the sixth Trumpet which follows after it both in Vision and Execution is not meant of the marching of Vespasian and his Army to begin the siege 4. To what purpose should our Saviour shew John in this Vision the besieging or destruction of Jerusalem which was so plainly told him before Mat. 24.2 Luk. 19.43 44 5. Here is no mention nor intimation of the besieging of Jerusalem nor of besieging any other City but of killing the third part of men without besieging of them 6. The Army here spoken of came from Euphrates v. 14. which is a River in Asia but Vespasians Army came from Rome which is a City in Europe 7. The Army here Prophesied of were two hundred thousand thousand but Vespasians Army were nothing near so many 8. The Army here meant be only Horse and no Foot v. 16. but Vespasians Army were Foot as well as Horse 9. The Army here spoken of did slay men with Fire Smoak and Brimstone but Vespasians Army slew the Jews in Jerusalem with the Sword according to our Saviors Prophecy Luk. 21.24 10. The Army here spoken of slew the third part of men and no more but Vespasians Army slew well nigh all the Jews in Jerusalem and they that escaped were but few to the number of the slain 11. They that escaped and were not slain by these plagues repented not of the works of their own hands that they should not worship Devils and Idols of Gold c. v. 20. But the Jewes that lived in Vespasian's time and were not killed by him were not guilty of these sins for they never worshipped Idols neither they nor their Fathers since their Transportation into Babylon 12. There is no express nor implicite mention of Jerusalem in all this Prophecy
6. The Angels can make use of living bodies that were before created and leave them when they have done as Satan made use of the Serpent to beguile the woman Gen. 3.1 2. and the good Angel made use of Balaams Ass to speak unto his Master Numb 22.28 and the Angel in the former Trumpet made use of the Locusts to torment men with their stings so the Angels in this Trumpet may make use of these Creatures to destroy the third part of men though they assume them not 7. If we read the fifteenth verse we shall there find that the Angels have a special hand in this business for they were prepared to slay the third part of men which this Army were to slay and therefore we have reason for to think that either these Horse-men be Angels or else had the guidance of the Angel in this work and we need not say that there were as many Angels imployed in this work as there be Horse-men mentioned v. 16. but four Angels besides the Angel that did sound this Trumpet may suffice to guide these Creatures in this work as one Angel did suffice to guide the Locusts in the former Trumpet 8. The Book sealed with seven seals of which this Prophecy is a part was such a special Book of Prophecy as no man in Heaven or on earth or under the earth was counted worthy to open the Book and look into it but Jesus Christ Rev. 5.3 therefore we may not think that this Book of Prophecy containeth only things ordinary usual or accustomed such as Church Heresies and Turkish Wars are which though they be grievous and calamitous while they last and continue yet they be common usual and accustomed things which the World and Church of God is well acquainted with We must rather look that in this Book of Prophecy should be things extraordinary unusual rare and unaccustomed such as the plagues of Egypt were which were never known before nor since and such as the Locusts were in the former Trumpet and the Horses and Horse-men in this sixth 9. The Horses be not usual Horses such as men use in War and therefore they that sit on them be not men for how should men come by such Horses as be here described and what men will adventure for to ride them in case they could come by them First it is said that they had heads as the heads of Lions and out of their mouths issued Fire Smoak and Brimstone v. 17. 2. They had tailes like to Serpents bodies v. 19. 3. They had heads behind at the end of their tailes 4. They had mouths in their heads so that they had two mouths as well as two heads one before and another behind and the head before was like a Lions head v. 17. and the head behind in the tail like a Serpents head v. 19. 5. Out of both their mouths issued Fire Smoak and Brimstone 6. By this Fire Smoak and Brimstone were the third part of men slain v. 18. Never any men did ride such Horses as these were nor ever will do 10. The Army here spoken of was two hundred thousand thousand but the Turkish Armies never were so many at one time nor ever will be They say Bajazet the Turk was once in the Field with five hundred thousand and Tamerlan the Tartar with thirteen hundred thousand but what be all these to two hundred thousand thousand There never was such an Army in the Field at one time nor ever will be 11. The Turkish Armies do consist of Foot as well as Horse though most of them be Horse but the Army here spoken of be only Horse and no Foot 12. The Army here spoken of did fend Fire Smoak and Brimstone out of their Horses mouths and slay the third part of men therewith this the Turks never did nor ever will or can do And as for those who think that this is meant of Gunpowder in which there is Fire Smoak and Brimstone when they shoot I think it fit to tell them that Guns and Gunpowder were not invented by the Turks but by Bertholdus Niger alias Swart a German Alchymist and a Franciscan Monk about the year of Christ 1380. And Guns and Gunpowder are used not only by the Turks but by other Nations in their Wars all the World over And 't is not the Gunpowder which doth slay men of it self but the Bullet which it driveth forth And the Turks shoot not Gunpowder out of their Horses mouths and tails but out of their Iron and their Brasen Guns and that at one end only so that Guns and Gunpowder are not intended in this Prophecy but Fire Smoak and Brimstone to kill the third part of men therewith and that without either Gunpowder Guns or Bullet 13. By this Army were the third part of men slain which were dwelling at Euphrates Now the Turks be the men which dwell there and therefore it is likely that the Turks be the men which shall be slain by this Army and not the Army which shall slay the third part of men so that the Turks be intended in this Prophecy not as Agents but as Patients not as killing others but as killed by others and God hath shewed in this Prophecy how the third part of Turks shall be destroyed not by Jews nor by Tartars nor by any other men but by Angels in a searful manner and yet not by them alone but by strange kind of Horses newly created for this purpose and never known in the World before and by Fire Smoak and Brimstone which proceed out of their mouths and the wonders that be in these Prophecies so wonderful and strange and unaccustomed that men will not believe them nor-think upon them in a literal sense because they do not see them but what said Christ to Thomas in a matter as hard to be believed as this Be not faithless but believe John 20.27 and such things as these or very like them in some kind or other or at least in some degree or other have been done already if we believe the Book of Wisdom c. 11. v. 18 19. CHAP. X. The continuation of the sixth Trumpet or a preparation to the second part thereof 1. AND I saw another Angel of special dignity among them come down from Heaven in a cloud having a Rain-bow over his head to denote a glorious apparition and his face was as the Sun for beauty and his feet as Pillars of fire 2. And he had in his right hand a little Book or Schedule not sealed as the other was before Rev. 5.1 but wide open in the Angels hand have nothing written in it and he set his right foot upon the Sea and his left foot upon the dry Land 3. And he cryed with a loud and dreadful voice as when a Lion roareth after his prey and is in sight of it and upon this cry of his as upon a call seven claps of Thunder uttered their voices in my hearing 4. And when the seven
Thunders had uttered their voices I was about to write what the seven Thunders had spoken for they spake things remarkable but I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Conceal the things which the seven Thunders have spoken and write them not for they are too terrible to be revealed 5. And the Angel whom I saw standing with his right foot upon the Sea and with his left foot upon the dry Land lifted up his hand to Heaven as a token that he meant to swear 6. And he sware by the true and ever-living God who made the Heaven with the things which are therein and the earth with the things which are therein and the Sea with the things which are therein that the mystery of God should be delayed no longer 7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel when he shall sound his Trumpet Rom. 11.25 Esa 11.11 12. Esa 14.1 2 3. Esa 27.12 13. Jer. 23.7 8. Jer. 31.27 28. Jer. 32.37 38. Jer. 46.27 28. Eze. 37.16 17. Hos 3.4 5. Joel 3.1 Amos 9.11.14 15. Zach. 8.20 21 22. which after these things now in hand will shortly be the calling conversion and restoring of the Iewish Nation shall be put in execution and not be laid aside until it be brought to full perfection As soon as that Angel shall begin to sound their calling and conversion shall be brought to pass and before that Angel ends the restauration of their Kingdom shall be finished and this joyful news is no new invention but God hath told it his Servants the Prophets in the old Testament long ago 8. And the voice which I heard from Heaven before bidding me seal up the things which the seven Thunders had spoken and write them not spake to me again the second time and said unto me Go take the little Book or Schedule which is wide open in the hand of the Angel which standeth with his right foot upon the Sea and with his left upon the dry Land 9. So I went unto the Angel as the voice commanded me and I said unto him Give me the little Book or Schedule which is wide open in thy right hand and he said unto me Take and eat it and when thou hast so done it shall make thy belly bitter but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as Hony 10. So I took the little Book or Schedule out of the Angels hand and eat it up before him and it was as the Angel said in my mouth as sweet as Hony but when I had eaten it my belly was bitter 11. And he told me the meaning of it and he said unto me Thou must Prophecy again before the sixth Trumpet endeth and thou must tell what shall befal the People of the Iews and what shall befal the Gentiles and their Kings before the seventh Trumpet soundeth and the mystery of God which I told thee of take effect And the first things that thou must Prophecy of will be very sweet and pleasant as Hony to thy mouth but the second will be very bitter as Gall unto thy stomach Disputation VI. 1 Quest Whether the little Book had any Prophecy written in it Answ 1. It is not said in the Text that it had any Prophecy written in it and therefore they which say it had do it upon no ground at all 2. It was wide open and not shut nor sealed therefore there was not any secret thing therein 3. It was but one Schedule or piece of Parchment and that a little one too and therefore too little to contain all the Prophecies from the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter to the end of the Revelation 4. It was far less than the other Book which had seven rolls and seven seals to them But if all the Prophecies from the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter to the end of the Revelation should be comprised in it it would be far bigger than the other Book which had seven rolls and seals to them 5. The other Book which had the seals is commended for its Prophecies Rev. 5.2 3 4 5. But this Book is no where commended for any Prophecy it had 6. The Prophecies in the following Chapters be of higher note and far more excellent and of more concernment than the Prophecies in the former Chapters be and therefore they belong not to this little Book which is no where commended for its Prophecies but to the other Book with seven seals which hath so high a commendation as not any Book the like Rev. 5.3 4 5. 7. There should be by this reckoning two Prophetical Books of the Revelation and the seventh verse of the tenth Chapter should be the last verse of the first Book and the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter should be the first verse of the seeond Book but St. John makes but one Book of all the Revelation and he writes it all in one Volume without division and calls it a Revelation in the singular number and not two Revelations in the plural number Rev. 1.1 8. By this reckoning the Prophecies of the other Book with seven seals should be mingled with the Prophecies of the little Book without seals for they say that all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the eighth verse of the tenth Chapter to the end of the Revelation belong unto the little Book Now if you look into the eleventh Chapter you shall there find the ending of the sixth Trumpet v. 14. and after that the seventh Trumpet or some part thereof from the fifteenth verse to the end of the Chapter both which belong unto the other Book with seven seals and namely to the seventh seal thereof Rev. 8.2 and after this come in the Prophecies as they say of the little Book again What a mingle mangle have we here of those two Books one in another Surely as St. John eat up the little Book so they make the little Book swallow the Prophecies of the other Book into his Belly 9. The sixth Trumpet doth not end with the seventh verse of the tenth Chapter but goes onward to the fourteenth verse of the eleventh Chapter and there ends and not before so that all that Prophecy in the eleventh Chapter to the fourteenth verse doth belong unto the other look with seven seals and the seventh Trumpet doth not end with the eleventh Chapter for if it did a close would have been put unto it at the end of that Chapter to distinguish it from the Prophecies that follow but there being no period put unto it there as there is to the former Trumpets where they end it is an Argument sufficient that it doth not end there but is to be extended farther even to the twelfth Chapter and to all the Chapters following inclusively until a Period be put unto it which is no where to be found so that the seventh Trumpet hath no end at all nor any close put unto it as the fifth and sixth Trumpets have Rev. 9.12 Rev. 11.14 and seeing the seventh Trumpet
that you may know what that City is indeed without any mystical sense at all it is the City where our Lord himself was crucified 9. And the Soldiers or strangers of divers People Tribes Tongues and Nations that shall be sent to Jerusalem by the Beast to make War and slay these two Witnesses shall behold and see their dead bodies in the open Street of the City three days and a half day by day one after another and all that while shall not suffer their dead bodies to be buried and this is done not out of favour or disfavour unto them but only that men might know and see that they be dead and relate it unto others * This was the reason that the body of Campson Gaurus was by command of Selimus laid forth in an open place for all men to behold that such as believed him to be alive might know that he was dead See Turkish History pag. 532. See the like Story in Graftons Chronicle pag. 705. where he relates that the dead bodies of the Earl of Warwick and the Marquess his Brother by the space of three days lay open visaged in the Church to the intent that all men might evidently perceive that they unfeignedly were dead And for no other reason be the two witnesses left unburied three days and a half that men might behold and see that they be dead 10. And the Inhabitants of the place City or Country thereabout shall rejoyce over these men and make Feasts and be merry and send presents from their Tables one unto another because these two Prophets of the Lord are dead who by their Preaching and Miracles and Plagues tormented the Inhabitants of the Land when they were alive 11. But after they have been dead three days and a half their souls shall enter into them again and they shall stand upon their Feet and be alive again in their bodies and great fear shall fall upon all them that shall behold it 12. And they shall hear a voice from Heaven saying unto them Come up hither and they shall presently ascend to Heaven in a Cloud as Christ himself did and this shall be done not in their successours but in their own bodies Act. 1.10 11. and their enemies shall behold them and see them ascending into Heaven as Christs Disciple did behold and see him when he ascended thither 13. And the same hour that this is done shall be a great earth-quake at Jerusalem and the tenth part of the City fall and be thrown down unto the ground and seven thousand men be slain by the earth-quake and the rest that shall escape shall be afraid and glorifie God for their deliverance 14. The second wo is past when these things shall be fulfilled and there is but one wo more to come when these things are ended and that wo shall come quickly The Prophecy of the seventh Trumpet or the inchoation of it 15. And the seventh Angel sounded his Trumpet and presently upon the sound thereof there were voices of joy exultation and ovation in Heaven saying The Kingdoms of the World shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ and he shall Reign for evermore and the time is now at hand in which it shall be done 16. And upon this joyful acclamation the four and twenty Elders rose up from their seats and fell prostrate on their faces and worshipped God because the time was come that the Lord and his Christ should Reign 17. Saying We give thee thanks Lord God Almighty the Monarch of Heaven and Earth the Ruler and Governor of all things therein and that not only now but heretofore in all ages past and throughout all ages for time to come because thou wilt receive thy great power and might and put thy Kingdom in execution 18. And the heathen shall be angry and thy wrath shall come and is now approaching and the time of the dead that Judgment be given to them and reward be given unto thy Servants whom thou shalt imploy to Preach thy Gospel and to thy Saints which be not Preachers but believers of thy Gospel and to all that fear thee both small and great and that thou shouldest destroy and root the Heathen out which corrupt and defile the earth where thou intendest to Reign and set up thy Kingdom 19. And the secret Closet of God shall be opened in Heaven and there shall be seen in his Closet the Ark of his Covenant Jer. 31.31 32 33 34. Heb. 8.8 9 10 11 12. which he made with the Jewish Nation that they should be converted to the Faith of Christ which at this time is to be put in Execution according to the Prophecy of the Angel in the tenth Chapter but before it commence or take effect there shall be Lightnings and Thundrings and a terrible Earthquake to usher it in Disputation VII 1. Quest Whether the Prophecy in the eleventh Chapter from the first Verse to the end of the fourteenth doth belong to the sixth Trumpet and be a part thereof Answ 1. The sixth Trumpet doth not end with the ninth Chapter nor at the sixth Verse of the tenth Chapter but reacheth onward to the fourteenth Verse of the eleventh Chapter and there ends and not before as appears from the words of that Verse The second Woe is past and behold the third Woe cometh quickly 2. The close of the sixth Trumpet is not set down at the end of the ninth Chapter nor at the sixth or seventh Verse of the tenth Chapter but at the fourteenth Verse of the eleventh Chapter Therefore whatever comes between the seventh Verse of the tenth Chapter and the fourteenth Verse of the eleventh Chapter doth belong unto the sixth Trumpet and is a part thereof 3. Look into the former Trumpet and you shall not find any thing interposed between the end of that Trumpet and the close thereof and why should any Man think that so large a Prophecy as is contained between the seventh Verse of the tenth Chapter and the fourteenth Verse of the eleventh Chapter is interposed here 4. Of all the six Trumpets none have a remarkable close added to them but the fifth and the sixth Trumpets only and wherefore were these closes added to them but that we might exactly know as well where they end as where they do begin Now the fifth Trumpet ends where the close thereof is set and that is Rev. 9.12 and therefore also the sixth Trumpet ends where the close thereof is set and that is Rev. 11.14 and not before 5. St. John when he wrote the Revelation did not distinguish it into Chapters and Verses as now it is but did set down the sixth Trumpet and all the rest of the Revelation joyntly together without any such Partition or Division and if they which did at first distinguish the Revelation into Chapters and Verses had made but one Chapter of the sixth Trumpet beginning with the thirteenth Verse of the ninth Chapter and ending with the fourteenth
Christ saith of it Of that day and hour knoweth no man no not the Angels of Heaven but my Father only Mat. 24.30 And yet such inconveniences do follow from this interpretation 7. Will you know the truth of this matter and be no more deceived with mystical expositions then take it briefly thus These 42 months be three years and a half and no more and all this time the Beast is in prosperity and makes War against the Church of Israel with good success but as soon as this is over the Beasts adversity doth begin and in the fourteenth Chapter the Angels make a slaughter of him and in the sixteenth Chapter the Vials of Gods wrath fall upon him in his own Dominions and in the nineteenth Chapter Christ comes himself in person and destroyes him and makes a final end of him v. 20 21. Ob. The sixth Trumpet is before the seventh but the Beast here spoken of doth War against the Witnesses in the sixth Trumpet before the Prophecy of the Woman and the Dragon doth begin therefore he is not raised in the seventh Trumpet after the Prophecy of the Woman and the Dragon have an end Ans This objection were something if the Beast that Wars against the Witnesses ch 11. and the Beast spoken of in this Chapter were the same but what if they be not the same what 's become of the objection then Now that these Beasts be not the same may be proved by these reasons 1. That Beast ch 11. ascends out of the bottomless Pit Rev. 11.7 but this in the thirteenth Chapter out of the Sea v. 1. and the bottomless Pit in the Revelation is never taken for the Sea or the element of Water but for a deep hole in the element of the earth Rev. 9.1 2.11 Rev. 20.1.3 2. That Beast hath seven heads and five of them fall and never rise again Rev. 17.10 and this Beast hath seven heads too and but one of them is wounded and that wound is healed again Rev. 13.3.3 That Beast hath ten horns but no Crowns upon them Rev. 17.3 and this Beast hath ten horns too and ten Crowns upon them which the other hath not Rev. 13.1 4. That Beast hath a woman riding on him Rev. 17.3 but this Beast arose out of the Sea but no woman riding on him Rev. 13.1 5. This Beast hath another Beast with two horns to assist him Rev. 13.11 12. but that Beast hath no other Beast that we read of to assist him 6. That Beast is red of a Scarlet colour all the body over Rev. 17.3 but the body of this Beast is speckled like a Leopard the feet like a Bears feet and the mouth like a Lyons mouth Rev. 13.2 7. That Beast is raised twice Rev. 17.8 but this Beast though wounded yet doth rise but once Rev. 13.1 8. The Throne of that Beast is Babylon Rev. 17.5 but the Throne of this Beast is some other place as may appear if we compare Rev. 16.10.19 9. This Beast hath a puissant Army and that immediately after Babylon is destroyed Rev. 19. 19 20. which cannot well be if the Babylonish Beast and this Beast be all one 10. That Beast hath an eighth head which in some respects is to succeed the seventh Rev. 17.11 but this Beast hath no such eighth head which in any wise is to succeed the seventh Compare we these things together and it may very well be questioned whether the Beasts be the same or no. 2. Suppose the Beast be the same in both places yet unless the head be the same too the objection fails in that respect also for the Beast hath seven heads in all and one of them may War against the Witnesses in the sixth Trumpet and another head be raised in the seventh Trumpet Yea let us go a little further and suppose the head be the same too in both places yet this will not prevail neither for that head may be deposed in the sixth Trumpet before the Prophecy of the woman and the Dragon doth begin and be raised again in the seventh Trumpet to War against the womans seed after the Prophecy in the former Chapter hath an end Look into ch 17. v. 8. and you shall find the Beast is raised twice The Beast which thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless Pit and go into perdition Here you see is a time in which the Beast was and this time may be the sixth Trumpet Here is next a time in which the Beast is not and this time may be at the beginning of the seventh or at the exit of the sixth before the Prophecy of the woman and the Dragon doth begin Here is thirdly a time when the Beast shall ascend out of the bottomless Pit and be again and this may be the time spoken of in this chapter after the Prophecy in the former chapter hath an end Now of these two answers the Reader hath his liberty to choose which he liketh best but were I to choose my self I would choose the first before the second and that for that very reason which is urged in the objection for the Beast hath a being and doth War against the Witnesses in the sixth Trumpet therefore he is not raised or begins to be in the seventh So that it doth not follow that the Prophecies shall not come to pass in order as they were revealed or that the Prophecy of this chapter shall not succeed the Prophecy in the former chapter but it rather follows that the Beasts be not the same as was said before Ob. The Kingdom of the Beast hath a final end with the sixth Trumpet Rev. 11.14 and therefore the Prophecies shall not come to pass in order as they were revealed nor the Prophecy of this Chapter succeed the Prophecy of the former Chapter Ans 1. It may be questioned whether this Beast and that in ch 11. be the same as was said before 2. Whether they be the same or no I deny the Kingdom of the beast hath a final end with the sixth Trumpet and that for these reasons 1. Because we read of his Acts afterward ch 17. 2. Because Babylon is not destroyed till then 3. Because the City spoken of ch 11. is not Babylon but Jerusalem it is not the seat of the beast but of the two Witnesses 4. The tenth part of the City falls and no more Rev. 11.13 5. Seven thousand men are slain and no more and what is that to a final destruction of the beast 6. It is not said that the beast was among them 7. Suppose he were among them and also slain with them yet all this will not put an end to the Kingdom of the beast but to one head only for the beast hath seven heads in all and put the case that one of them doth die in the time of the sixth Trumpet yet another may succeed him in the seventh there being some interval between I mean between the death of the one and the
Dan. 7.21 22.25 Now who are meant by the Saints in Daniel but the Jews 4. VVe read in the same Book that Daniels people shall be in great troubles such as never was since there was a Nation Dan. 12.1 Now from whom shall they have this trouble if not from the Beast here spoken of 5. VVe read in the Prophet Micah According to the days of thy coming out of the Land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things the Nations shall see and be confounded c. Micah 7.15 16. Now the plagues which shall fall upon the Beast are many of them the very same for kind with the plagues of Egypt therefore as the plagues of Egypt fell upon them for the wrong they did unto the Jews so the plagues which shall light upon the Beast shall fall upon him and his people for the persecution of that Nation 6. After the parturition of the woman in the former Chapter v. 12. the Devil knows he hath but a short time and therefore the Beast who is raised by him afterward has but a short time too Now if we look upon the Beasts which are in the world at this time whether Turks or any other they have continued a long time and therefore this prophecy is not meant of any of them but remains to be expected upon the Jews Conversion 7. The Beasts which now are in the world came to their height and eminency by long and tedious wars and by the ruines of other Nations but this Beast is raised on a sudden by the Devils art and policy as you may read v. 2.4 and there are such strange courses taken such witchcraft and inchantment used such signs and wonders shewed such cunning and deceitful tricks invented and such a strange mark imposed by the second Beast to make men adhere unto the first Beast as you may read v. 12 13 14 15 16 17. as never yet was known take them all together at the rising of any Beast since the world began to this very day nor will be till the Jews Conversion and the rising of this enemy of theirs the Beast here spoken of The conclusion therefore is The Antichrist of St. John St. Pauls Man of sin and the Beast here spoken of be not all one The Antichrists of St. John be the false Christs that our Saviour speaks of in the Gospel Mat. 24.24 which should start up before and after the destruction of Jerusalem 1 Joh. 2.18.22 and 4.3.2 Joh. 7. The Man of sin spoken of by St. Paul is avouched by some and denied by others to be the Pope of Rome of which see those that have written on that subject But the first Beast here spoken of is a Heathen King or Emperour raised by the Devil to war against the Jews after their Conversion and the second Beast is a Witch as Balaam was raised by the Devil and imployed by the first Beast as Balaam was by Balak to help him and assist him and do mighty things for him and for his settlement in his Kingdom v. 12 13 14 15 16 17. and for the ruine of the Jewish Nation Chap. 16.13 14. CHAP. XIV The Prophecy of the Virgin Company 1. THen was presented unto me in a Vision what shall come to pass after the three days and a half allotted to the Beasts prosperity shall be ended and I saw a Lamb representing Jesus Christ stand on Mount Sion and with him an hundred forty and four thousand of the Jewish Nation spoken of before but to another purpose in the seventh Chapter who notwithstanding the power and prevalency of the Beast shall boldly profess the Name of Christ and have it and his Fathers Name besides legibly written in their Foreheads 2. And I heard a voice out of Heaven as the sound of many Waters and as the sound of a great and mighty Thunder and after that the voice of Harpers making pleasant Melody with their Harps 3. And they sung a new Song before the Throne of God and before the four living Creatures and before the four and twenty Elders which Song shall be sung by none that be upon the earth but by the one hundred forty and four thousand which shall be redeemed from the rest that be upon the earth 4. These be they which shall not be defiled with Women for they shall be Virgins and unmarried Persons these be they which shall wait and attend upon the Lamb as a Lifeguard doth upon their Prince whithersoever he shall go these shall be redeemed from the rest of men as being the first Fruits to God and to the Lamb of the Jewish Nation 5. These be they which shall be without guile fraud and deceit and without stain of hainous sin in the sight of God The Prolcamation of the first Angel 6. And I saw an Angel flie in the midst between the Heaven and the Earth with a commission to preach proclaim and make known and publish the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of Judaea and to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and People that shall be therein 7. Saying and proclaiming with a loud voice as he shall flie along Fear God and give him Glory for the hour of his Judgment is come and will shortly fall on all that fear not him worship not the Beast nor yeild obeisance unto him in the way that he goeth in opposition to the Gospel of Jesus Christ but worship him alone that made the Heaven and the Earth and the Sea and the Fountains of Waters The Proclamation of the second Angel 8. And another Angel followed after him proclaiming and saying Babylon is fallen is fallen meaning thereby that she shall shortly fall and come to nought because she made all Nations drink of the bitter Wine of her spiritual Fornication The Proclamation of the third Angel 9. And the third Angel followed after them proclaiming and saying with a loud voice If any worship the first Beast or his carved Image or take an Oath to be true and faithful unto him and receive a mark in their right hand or in their Foreheads in token that they have so done 10. The same shall drink of the bitter VVine of the wrath of God without mixing any thing therein to allay the sharpness of it and shall be tormented with Fire and Brimstone in the sight and presence of the Holy Angels and in the sight and presence of the Lamb. 11. And the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and never have an end and they shall be tormented Day and Night without ceasing or intermission which worship the first Beast or his carved Image or take an engagement to be true and faithful unto him and receive the print of his Name in token that they have so done 12. Here will be the tryal of the patience of the Saints which are living in Judaea when the Beasts engagement comes among them then it will be known who they be which keep the Commandments of the Lord