be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy Angels and before the Lamb and that to all eternity for if the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and ever as the Angel plainly affirmeth it is necessary that the torment it self from whence the smoke ariseth should also continue as long and if the torment then also the tormented So that it ought at no hand to be denyed that the worshippers of the Beast shall live for ever in the torments of hell fire Neither is it to be feared least any one should thence argue that by this account they may be truly said to have Eternal life For Eternal life according to the true and usual notion of the Scripture doth not signifie a bare living for ever but a living for ever in joy and in the favour of God And therefore Eternal life Matth. 25.46 is opposed to Eternal punishment when it is said These shall go away into everlasting punishment which implyeth that they remain alive for ever otherwise how are they capable of being punished for ever all punishment supposing the existence of the subject that is punished But the righteous into life eternal And to the abiding of Gods wrath upon men John 3.36 When it is said He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him and to damnation John 5.29 when it is said They that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life but they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation These things being so such interpreters are not to be heard as go about to impose a figurative sense upon what is here in the Revelation clearly spoken concerning the everlasting torment prepared for the worshippers of the Beast for they not onely weaken the force of the Angels commination which all must needs confess to be far more efficacious to deterr men from committing so great wickedness if the words be plainly and properly taken but also open a way to evacuate all other passages of the Scripture where mention is made of the everlasting torment of Hell fire But perhaps some one will object that these tormented ones are said to have no rest day and night and consequently their torment is to be restrained to such a duration where there is a vicissitude of day and night which ceaseth together with the world and so is not properly and truly everlasting To which I answer that this expression of having no rest day and night inasmuch as it followeth those words wherein it is said that the smoak of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever is used to shew that they shall at no time have any respiration from their torment and not that there shall be an end thereof namely when day and night shall cease For seeing all the time of men in this world is part either of the day or of the night that which cometh not to pass in either of them is not at all hence it is that the Angel intending to shew that the worshippers of the Beast shall be tormented without intermission saith that they have no rest day and night Thus is it said of the four living creatures in Heaven with six wings apeice Chap. 4.8 That they have no rest day and night saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty though there be no vicissitude of day and night in Heaven namely to signifie that they never cease at any time whatsoever to praise God in that maner To conclude therefore As those words He shall be tormented for ever and ever import that there shall be no end of their torment so these They have no rest day and night imply that there shall be no intermission of them Vers 12. Here is the patience of the saints here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus This acclamation of the Angel doth intimate that during the tyranny of the Beast the patience of the Saints will have a most ample occasion to shew it self there having never been before so furious a monster that did so openly set his mouth against the Heavens and bend all his forces to extirpate the Religion of Christ So that then it will appear more then in any former age how admirable the constancy of the Saints is who notwithstanding all the Machinations whether of force or fraud that Satan and his instruments can contrive to wrest the crown of piety out of their hands do in the midst of a general Apostacy still adhere to the Commandments of God and firmly believe in Jesus Christ Vers 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth Yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them Here John relates a certain voice which he heard out of Heaven pronouncing them happy in particular that should from thenceforth die namely under the tyranny of the Beast which particular happiness of them as we are taught Chap. 20.4 consists herein that they shall be partakers of the first Resurrection For that resurrection is there appropriated to them that suffer death for the testimony of Christ and for the word of God in the time of the Beast And the more to incourage the Saints to die for the truth of Christ in those perillous times the holy spirit doth second that voice from Heaven and render the reason thereof namely because they rest from their labors and their works follow them and therefore since their works have been more eminent then those of former times no marvel if their reward be so also Vers 14. And I looked and behold a white cloud and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man having on his head a golden crown and in his hand a sharp sickle This vision together with that other in the 17 18. verses do like the two dreams of Pharaoh Gen. 41.25 26. tend to the same effect and so are indeed but one intimating that the time was now at hand when Christ should execute judgement on the inhabitants of the earth because their sins denoted by the ripe fruits of the earth were come to maturity And that this interpretation is true and certain appeareth from that passage Joel 3.12 13. from whence these two visions of John seem to be modelled where it is said Let the Heathen be wakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat For there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe come get you down for the press is full the fats overflow for their wickedness is great Now forasmuch as Christ is to be a principal agent in the execution of this judgement he is therefore brought in sitting upon a cloud as God in like cases was wont to be in the Old Testament See Isay 19.1 Behold the Lord
AN ESSAY To the Explaining of the REVELATION WHEREIN Amongst other things of great moment is clearly proved that by the Beast is meant an Universal Monarch which shall hereafter arise out of the Roman Empire That there shall be a Fifth Kingdom upon the Earth namely that of the Saints together with the manner thereof And that the New Jerusalem is a City properly so called which God hath reserved in Heaven for the Saints Revel 1.3 Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy and keep those things which are written therein Prov. 30.5 6. Every word of God is pure Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a Liar LONDON Printed by Henry Hills and are to be sold by George Sawbridge dwelling on Ludgate-hill at the Sign of the Bible 1661. A PREFACE TO THE READER THe Revelation is the most excellent of the P rophetick Books contained in the Scripture as being the Abstract of them all and therefore as the best things are most liable to abuse it hath been shamefully intreated by the greatest part of those that have undertaken to explain the same For it seemeth by their Expositions that they imagine this to be such a Portion of holy Writ whereon men are onely to exercise their Fancies and to suspend the use of Reason whilest they inquire into the sense thereof Neither did I ever finde such monstrous Interpretations imposed on any other Book whether sacred or profane For instance when John doth in the first Chapter wish Grace and Peace to the seven Churches of Asia from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne of God by these say they is meant the holy Spirit who is said to be seven either because of his manifold operations or because he wrought in the seven Churches But by what instance taken out of any Authour either sacred or profane can they avouch such an Interpretation Who ever heard that a single person as the holy Spirit is should either for his many Works or for his working in sundry places be termed Seven And how should any man ever reach the meaning of our word if took to our selves the liberty of speaking thus Again when it is in the 11. Chapter spoken of two Witnesses these say they are the Old and New Testament or Magistracy and Ministry But where in the Scripture are two Witnesses that prophesie or two Prophets for so the Witnesses are there in the 10. Verse expresly styled put otherwise than for two men endued with a prophâ—tick spirit Yea can it without the greatest absurdity be said of any but two men that they prophesie clad in Sackcloth that if any one goeth about to hurt them Fire issueth out of their Mouths and devoureth their Adversaries that they have Power to shut Heaven and turn the Waters into Blood and smite the Earth with every Plague as often as they please that when they have finished their Testimony they are killed and their dead Bodies lie three Days and an half in the Street of a certain City In fine that after the three Days and an half the Spirit of Life from God enters into them so that they stand upon their Feet and afterwards ascend up into Heaven in a Cloud whilest their Adversaries stand looking on them Is it possible for the wit of man with any congruity to Reason and to the words of the Text to draw these things either to the Old and New Testament or to the Magistracy and Ministry Grant once that we may with our mystical Interpretations evade the literal Truth of things so plainly delivered in the Scripture I would fain know what certainty is to be had there or how any thing should ever be proved from thence Likewise we are told in the History of the two Witnesses that they shall prophesie a thousand two hundred and sixty Days This term of time say they signifieth a thousand two hundred and sixty Years a Day according to the usage of the Prophets being put for a Year to which purpose they allege Numb 14.3 34. where it is said Your Children shall wander in the Wilderness forty Years and bear your Whoredoms untill your Carcases be wasted in the Wilderness After the number of the Days in the which ye searched the Land even forty Days each Day for a Year shall ye bear your iniqu ties even forty Years And Ezek. 4.5 6. where it is said I have laid upon thee the Years of their iniquity according to the number of the Days three hundred and ninety Days so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the House of Israel And when thou hast accomplished them lie again on thy right side and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the House of Judah forty Days I have appointed thee each Day for a Year But in neither of these two places are Days to be drawn out into Years Otherwise when it is said in Numbers that the Israelites were forty Days a searching the Land of Canaan we must understand that they spent forty Years about it which every one seeth to be absurd Likewise when Ezekiel lay upon his left side three hundred and ninety Days for the iniquity of Israel and on his right side forty Days for the iniquity of Judah by this reckoning he would have lien on his sides four hundred and thirty Years Wherefore the words in Numbers import no more than that whereas the Israelites had spent forty Days in searching the Land their Children should answerably thereunto wander forty Years in the Wilderness So also doth the passage in Ezekiel signifie that forasmuch as Israel and Judah had now gone a whoring from God for the space of four hundred and thirty Years the Prophet should accordingly lie four hundred and thirty Days upon his sides to bear their iniquity I conclude therefore that it is contrary both to Scripture and Reason to understand by the thousand two hundred and sixty Days that the Witnesses shall prophesie any other than such Days as are properly so called consisting of four and twenty Hours a piece Finally it is said of the Carcases of the two Witnesses that they shall he unburied three Days and an half in the Street of the great City where our Lord was slain which is the most evident description of Jerusalem that can be given this City say they is meant of Rome because our Lord was put to death by the Roman Power 'T is true indeed that a Deputy of the Roman Emperour did crucifie our Saviour Christ but may it therefore be affirmed that he was crucified at Rome Are we wont to say that a thing is done at such a place when it is done onely by the Authority of him that hath his imperial Seat there What man that was in his wits did ever express things in this manner Certainly did the Revelation speak at such a rate as these men imagine it would be the most ridiculous piece that ever was penned and the Authour thereof
same person with the Goat himself as the Angel there shews it doth Vers 21. namely Alexander the King of Greece and the first King thereof who subdued Darius the King of the Medes and Persians and so was the Goat that trampled on the Ram with two Horns there spoken of Vers 4. And they worshipped the Dragon which gave Power unto the Beast and they worshipped the Beast saying Who is like unto the Beast who is able to make war with him In this Verse is set forth the marvellous impiety of the whole World in the Reign of the Beast for they shall not stick to worship the Devil for investing the Beast with so vast Authority and also the Beast that is set up by him as judging no King in all the World like to him for greatness nor able to wage war with him Neither is this Worship of the Devil to be esteemed such a sin as that the Nature of Man cannot possibly be induced to commit it otherwise the Devil would not have sollicited our Saviour Christ thereunto telling him that if he would fall down and worship the Devil all the Kingdoms of the World together with the glory thereof should become his Luk. 4 6 7. For certainly the Devil is too subtil to propose such a thing to our Saviour the wisest and strongest Saint that ever was or shall be which is so enormous that no Man though never so gross and wicked is capable of being drawn thereunto I conclude therefore that this detestable wickedness of Worshipping the Devil will be put in practise according to the very Letter during the Reign of the Beast Vers 5. And there was given unto him a Mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue forty and two Moneths These words imply that the Beast though otherwise of himself most impious yet could not utter so great things and blasphemies were he not animated by an extraordinary Power For as it is elsewhere said in the Scripture that none can do such or such an act of Piety unless it be given to him and consequently God doth in mercy enable him by the Power of his Holy Spirit as Christ saith that none could come unto him except it were given him of the Father Joh. 6.65 And Paul saith Phil. 1.29 To you it is given in the behalf of Christ not onely to believe in him but also to suffer for him So the outragious blaspheming of the Name of God here spoken of is so high a strain of impiety that were not the Beast incited and spirited thereunto by the working of Satan he could in no wise reach unto it The same is said of his making war namely with the Saints as you have it Vers 7. and Dan. 7 25. for the space of forty two Moneths For this being a more than ordinary act of Tyranny requireth the assistance of the Devil to stir up and strengthen the Beast to perform it As for the duration of this War with the Saints which the Beast is said to wage for the space of forty two Moneths seeing I have already proved that by the Beast is meant a King neither can any place be alledged out of the Scripture where by Moneths are meant Moneths of Years and not of Days onely I collect that the said War shall last but three Years and an half Vers 6. And he opened his mouth in Blasphemy against God to blaspheme his Name and his Tabernacle and them that dwelt in Heaven What the Beast had by the permission of God received a Power to do he here putteth in execution blaspheming the Name of God and his Tabernacle By which Tabernacle is meant the heavenly Jerusalem the place of Gods abode as appeareth from Chap 21.2 3. For there when that holy City descendeth out of Heaven upon the new Earth a voice is heard from Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he shall dwell with them Which implyeth that the heavenly Jerusalem is the Tabernacle of God wherein he will dwell with men And this City is therefore called a Tabernacle because contrary to the guize of other Cities it removeth from place to place as Tabernacles or Tents are wont to do Neither is the Blasphemy of the Beast terminated in God and his Tabernacle but extendeth it self to all those dwelling in Heaven namely Christ and the holy Angels which fully verifieth what Paul saith of this Beast under the name of the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition namely that he shall exalt himself above every one that is called God 2 Thess 2.4 For this Appellation of God is in the Scripture given both to the Father and to his Son Christ Jesus and also to the holy Angels See Ephes 1.17 The God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory John 20.28 Thomas answered and said unto him namely Jesus Christ My Lord and my God Zech. 12.8 The house of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them Vers 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints and to overcome them and Power was given him over all Kindreds and Tongues and Nations The Beast hath Power given to him not onely to make war with the Saints which by the way implyeth that the Saints oppose him with Arms for it is then rightly termed War when Hostility is openly used on both sides See Chap. 12.7 but also to vanquish them in fight And this is a thing very remarkable giving us to understand that the Saints though fighting in a just Cause against the Beast yet cannot prevail by force of Arms in as much as the Beast is to be defeated by the divine Power of Christ their Captain who will at length appear in the Heaven riding upon a white Horse and by the Sword of his Mouth dissipate the Beast and his Complices See Chap. 19.11 15 20 21. What is here further said of the universal Monarchy of the Beast is of it self very plain and hath been touched before in the Exposition of the first Verse so that I need not add any thing thereunto Vers 8. And all that dwell upon the Earth shall worship him whose Names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World As the Kingdom of the Beast is universal so is the Worship also none amongst all the Inhabitants of the Earth refusing it save they whose Names are written in the Book of Life For they being appointed of God unto Salvation are accordingly preserved by him from committing so great impiety as to worship a King that openly blasphemeth God and was set up by the Devil Furthermore when the Book of Life is here said to be the Lambs it is because God hath prepared it for him for Moses of old testified that God hath written such a Book Exod. 32.32 that he might know on whom to bestow eternal Life For seeing it was the will of God that none should
habitation And Chap. 37.32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and they that escape out of Mount Sion And Chap. 52.1 Awake awake put on thy strength O Sion put on thy beautiful garments O Jerusalem Howbeit this standing of Christ upon Mount Sion with so great a company attending him doth not argue that he shall ever reign there by his personal presence no more than his standing by Paul in Jerusalem Acts 23.11 doth evince that he did then reign there after such a manner but onely intimate that those Saints shall perfectly follow the direction of Christ no otherwise than if he were personally present with them in Jerusalem as the fourth Verse of this Chapter explaineth it saying These are they that follow the Lamb whither soever he goeth Finally by the hundred forty four thousand upon whose forehead the name of the Lambs Father was imprinted are meant those Servants of God that were sealed out of all the Tribes of Israel Chap. 7.4 For both their number and their abode and the place of their body wherein they are sealed or marked exactly agree Whence by the way it appeareth that the Sealing mentioned in the said seventh Chapter shall happen in the Age wherein the Beast shall arise and consequently the general conversion of the Jews shall precede his coming otherwise those sealed ones would not thus be inserted into the History of the Beast Vers 2. And I heard a voice from Heaven as the voice of many Waters and as the voice of a great thunder and I heard the voice of Harpers harping with their Harps Vers 3. And they sung as it were a new Song before the Throne and before the four Beasts and the Elders and no Man could learn that Song but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the Earth Vers 4. These are they which were not defiled with Women for they are Virgins these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth these were redeemed from among Men being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb. Vers 5. And in their Mouth was found no Guile for they are without Fault before the Throne of God Whether the voice out of Heaven resembling the noise of many Waters and the noise of great Thunder did utter any words and what those words are is not expressed or hinted so that we must of necessity remain ignorant thereof neither is it said who those Harpers are onely it is likely they are the Saints in Heaven who are thus brought in speaking aloud from thence Chap. 12.10 As little is it told us what the new Song is which they play upon their Harps yea we are on the contrary assured that none but those hundred forty four thousand can learn it and therefore the knowledge thereof belongeth not to us or any others but is reserved for them onely which argueth that there is something extraordinary in those godly persons of the Jewish Nation above those of any other Nation whatsoever For though it be common to them with other Saints to be redeemed or rather bought as the Greek word signifieth See Chap. 5.8 9. from among men namely with the Blood of the Lamb and so to be a first-fruits unto God and the Lamb as being theirs in a special manner no otherwise than the first-fruits were the Lord 's under the Law See Num. 18.12 13. yet is it peculiar to them above the multitude of Believers in any other Nation First to be the Servants of God that is Prophets for so this Appellation is expounded Chap. 11.18 And to give a Reward to thy Servants the Prophets And therefore no marvel if these persons being endued with the Spirit of Prophecy know the new Song that is sung in Heaven whilest other godly persons in the mean time are ignorant of the same Secondly to be Virgins and therefore such as have not been defiled with Women For it evidently follows that if they be Virgins and so never had to do with Women they could not possibly be defiled with them Thirdly to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth which implyeth that they strayed not from the way wherein Christ Jesus did lead them but yielded up themselves to his guidance in all things Fourthly to have no Guile in their Mouth and therefore to be without Fault before the Throne of God which last words before the Throne of God are emphatical for it is all one as if it had been said before the Judgement-Seat of God because as David testifieth Psalm 9.7 the Lord hath prepared his Throne for Judgement Behold then the Dignity of the Jerwish Nation to which the Lord will advance them in the time of the Beast above any other Nation under the whole Heaven namely that there shall be of the People of the Jews at the same time an hundred forty four thousand Prophets all of them Virgins perfectly following the guidance of Christ and having no guile or blame before God Wherefore I may truly say with Moses when he reflected on the peculiar favour that God had vouchsafed to Israel in another kinde Ask now of the days that are past which were before thee since the day that God created Man upon the Earth and ask from one side of the Heaven to the other whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is or hath been heard like it Deut. 4.32 Vers 6. And I saw another Angel fly in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth and to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and People Vers 7. Saying with a loud voice Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgement is come and worship him that made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and the Fountains of Waters The first part of the Angels Message for so the Greek word ought no be rendred See 2 Sam. 18.20 in Greek neither is the Article prefixt as it is wont to be when the Gospel is meant is to excite men to fear God and give glory to his Name because the time of his Judgement is come namely when he will judge both the Beast and his Worshippers partly by the Vials of Gods wrath to be poured out upon them whereof see Chap. 16. partly by the utter Defeat of them at the great Battel of Armageddon Chap. 19. For indeed the Judgements of God are so terrible that even the Prophets when they only denounced them were wont to be seized with a great horrour Thus Esay after a grievous Vision had been declared to him Chap. 21.2 presently cryeth out in the following Verse Therefore are my loins filled with pain pangs have taken hold upon me as the pangs of a woman that travaileth I was bowed down at the hearing of it I was dismayed at the hearing of it How much more then ought they to breed a fear of God in the hearts of such as see them put in execution But as the terrour of Gods
the time for God to take the business into his own hands and to put forth the power of his Wrath by heavenly Instruments for as much as the earthly ones had proved ineffectual Which Observation is of good use teaching us to depend upon God for the avenging of his People even when all humane ability to perform it is quite vanished Vers 2. And I saw as it were a Sea of Glass mingled with Fire and them that had gotten the victory over the Beast and over his Image and over his Mark and over the Number of his Name stand on the Sea of Glass having the Harps of God The prosecution of the Preparative aforesaid is interrupted by a Representation of their glorious Estate who chose rather to suffer Death than to worship the Beast and his Image and to receive his Mark. For all that so suffer shall have a part in the first Resurrection as I have before touched in the Exposition of the 14. Chapter Now the place where the glorified Saints do stand to praise God is said to be a glassy Sea mingled that is filled with fire Of which Sea we read Chap. 4.6 Where John saith that before the Throne was a Sea of Glass like to Crystall Wherefore the Sea here mentioned is a large transparent Vessel made of a glassie or crystalline matter and set before the Throne of God in Heaven not having Water in it as that of Solomon's Temple 2 Chron. 4.6 which was made after the Patern of this Sea in Heaven but filled with fire And the Use is that the glorified Saints standing not upon as the English Translation hath it but by it may sing the Praises of God with Harps And in likelihood it is filled with fire to set off the terrible Majesty of God and the fire of his Jealousie wherewith he is wont to consume his Enemies according to that Description of him Psalm 50.3 Our God shall come and shall not keep silence a fire shall devour before him and burnup his Enemies round about Finally that they which are said to have gotten the victory of the Beast are rightly by me interpreted to be such as suffered death rather than they would yield to him is evident from the notion of overcoming or getting the victory elsewhere found in the Revelation Thus is it said by the Saints triumphant in Heaven concerning their deceased Brethren Chap. 12.11 that they overcame him that is Satan by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony and loved not their Lives unto Death And Christ himself saith Chap. 3.21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my Throne even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his Throne But it is certain that our Lord Christ overcame by suffering Death for the Truth Vers 3. And they sing the Song of Moses the Servant of God and the Song of the Lamb saying Great and marvellous are thy works Lord God Almighty just and true are thy ways thou King of Saints Vers 4. Who shall not fear thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name for thou onely art holy for all Nations shall come and worship before thee for thy Judgements are made manifest The Song which these heavenly Harpers sing is called the song of Moses and of the Lamb not that they ever used the very words thereof as far as we can judge by what is recorded of them in the Scripture but because it is conformable to the doctrine of them both Howbeit were the Hymn extant with Christ according to the prophecie that went before concerning him did sing in the midst of the Church Heb. 2.12 as well as the song of Moses Exod. 15. we should no doubt perceive that the song here set down was in effect the same with that of Christ as it apparently is with that of Moses Now the contents of this song are first the great and wonderful works of God shewing themselves in nothing more then in the preservation of these Saints from the worship of the Beast when all the world ran headlong to that impiety Secondly the righteousness and truth of his ways in making these Saints according to his promise partakers of the first resurrection because they had for him and his Gospel hated their lives in this world And this God whose ways are so righteous and so true is very significantly here stiled the King of the saints because to reign is properly to govern by Laws But there not are any that submit to the laws of God given by the hands of Christ and so are governed by them but the Saints all others being either ignorant of them or disobedient to them Thirdly It is intimated that it would be altogether unreasonable for any particular man to refuse to fear God and glorifie his name when there are so many notable arguments compelling thereunto as in the first place the unparallelled holiness of God For seeing he is holy of himself and all others by the participation of his holiness he is rightly here said to be holy alone Again the example of all Nations who come and worship before God is another inducement to the performance of the duties aforesaid Lastly the righteous deeds of God are alledged to this purpose partly shewed forth in the glorification of his Saints that died for his sake of which we spake before and partly in the destruction of the Beast and his followers Vers 5. And after that I looked and behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened After that notable digression touching the Saints that are to be partakers of the first resurrection John returneth to the great wonderful sign aforesaid which is ushered in with the opening of the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in Heaven By which words it appeareth not only that there is a temple in Heaven whereof mention was made formerly Chap. 14.17 but also a tabernacle containing it and a testimony therein This tabernacle I have already proved in the exposition of Chap. 13.6 to be the holy City the Heavenly Jerusalem Wherefore the temple belonging to it must needs be a more Sacred portion thereof where the glorified Saints do serve God according to that passage Chap. 7.15 Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple Now lest any one should put off what is here said concerning a Tabernacle and Temple in Heaven by turning it into an allegory as men are too apt to do when they expound the book of the Revelation we ought to consider that even the Author to the Hebrews who uttereth neither Prophecies nor Parables but plainly delivereth the Doctrine of the Gospel doth also make mention of a tabernacle in Heaven stiling it The true tabernacle yea of a Sanctuary or Holy of Holyes which he in like maner calleth the true Sanctuary For thus he saith Chap. 8.1 2. We have such an high Priest who is set down
the fifth Kingdom upon the defeat of the Beast and all the Kings of the earth that side with him For in this sense is the like removal understood Chap. 6.14 After this earthquake and the dire effects thereof cometh another Judgement very terrible namely that of Hail which is wont to be bred in the Air the place into which this seventh vial is poured and thereof God himself saith to Job Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble against the day of battel and war Job 38.22 23. Accordingly we read not onely that this was one of the ten plagues of Egypt Exod. 9.23 24 25. but also that God did cast down great Hailstones from Heaven upon the Amorites at the battel of Gibeon so that more died with the Hail-stones then they whom the Children of Israel slew with the sword Josh 10.5 11. Nevertheless it is likely that neither the Hail-stones of Egypt nor those of Canaan were equal in bigness to them that fall down from Heaven upon the worshippers of the Beast For they are said to be about a talent apiece Now though we cannot certainly tell how much a talent weighed yet are we sure that the weight thereof was very great inasmuch as the branched Candlestick of the tabernacle and all the vessels thereof are by the appointment of God to be made of one talent of Gold Exod. 25.31 39. But this plague worketh no better effect upon men then the former ones did For they are so enraged with the greatness thereof that they cannot forbear to vent Blasphemies against God himself Which sheweth that the end of these Plagues is not to reform those on whom they are sent for undoubtedly such as are come to that height of impiety as to worship the Beast yea the Dragon himself are altogether incurable but onely to punish and torment them for their wickedness and so to set off the Riches of Gods grace towards the Righteous whom he hath appointed to Salvation Chap. 17. Vers 1 2. And there came one of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials and talked with me saying unto me Come hither I will shew unto thee the Judgement of the great Whore that sitteth upon many Waters 2. With whom the Kings of the Earth have committed Fornication and the Inhabiters of the Earth have been made drunk with the Wine of her Fornication The Exposition FOr as much as upon the pouring out of the seventh Vial Great Babylon is said to come in remembrance before God that he might give her the Cup of the Wine of his fierce Wrath and this was a thing of great importance to be clearly known for we finde by experience how much hurt the inadvertency of the time and persons appointed of God for the inflicting of this punishment hath done to Christians one of the seven Angels aforesaid cometh to John profering to shew him the Judgement of that great City which according to the usage of the Scripture elsewhere as Isai 1.21 23.15 16 17. Ezek. 16.2 3 35 he calleth an Harlot with whom the Kings of the Earth have had to do and been intoxicated with the Wine of her Fornication The meaning of which Allegory I will unfold when I come to the fourth Verse Vers 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the Wilderness and I saw a Woman sit upon a Scarlet coloured Beast full of Names of Blasphemy having seven Heads and ten Horns When the Angel is here said to carry John away in the Spirit into the Wilderness this argueth that his Body continued where he was before and that he was onely in the Spirit of his minde hurried away Thus Paul writing to the Colossians Chap. 2.5 saith Though I he absent in the flesh yet I am with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order and the stedfastness of four Faith in Christ Not that in the substance of his Spirit he was not as well absent from them as in his body otherwise how could he indite that Epistle but because that in the cogitation of his Spirit he was present with them and beheld their Christian behaviour God revealing the same unto him as it here hapned to John to see this wonderful Vision in the Wilderness where as it seemeth the Judgement of Rome was represented unto him rather than in the place of his personal abode because that City is described both in this and also in the following Chapter as ready to become a Wilderness and Habitation of Devils and an Hold of every unclean Spirit and a Cage of every unclean and hateful Bird. All which Creatures are noted in the Scripture to haunt desolate places See Isai 13.20 21 22. 34.13 14. Jer. 50.39 Matth. 12.43 It is further very suitable to represent this City by the name and feature of a Woman because in the Prophets of old whose Language and Descriptions the Revelation every where followeth nothing is more usual Thus Samaria and Jerusalem are brought in as two Women Ezek. 23.1 2 3 4 Who the Scarlet Beast is on whom the Woman sitteth and which is depainted with that colour either for the abundance of Blood which he was to shed or for his kingly Dignity or for both is afterwards declared by the Angel together with the meaning of his seven Heads and ten Horns But for the names of Blasphemy whereof he is full it is neither here nor elsewhere so much as intimated what they be wherefore it would be no less than impudency in us to undertake a description of them Vers 4. And the Woman was arayed in Purple and Scarlet colour and decked with Gold and precious Stone and Pearls having a golden Cup in her Hand full of Abominations and filthiness of her Fornication No marvel if this Woman which sitteth on the Scarlet Beast be so richly and royally attired for Rome decyphered by her being the Seat of the Empire and receiving both the Spoils and Tributes of all the Nations in the World must needs be infinitely rich which was indeed the cause of her corruption in point of manners making her now reach out the golden Cup of her Abominations and whorish filthiness as she had done that of her whorish wrath before Chap. 14.8 For whereas she had in the times of her strict Discipline by her valour and marvellous cunning brought all Nations under her yoke being now on the contrary grown extremely loose and vicious all manner of debauchery and lewdness did distill from her as from the Head into the Body of the whole Universe so that she is in the following Verse styled The Mother of the Abominations of the Earth Vers 5. And upon her Forehead was a Name written Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth As the Servants of God had his Name written on their Foreheads and the Inhabitants of the Earth that of the Beast so also hath the stately Woman that John saw in the
no other receptacle of the dead besides these twain save only the Grave Thus we finde that Job doth by death understand the Grave Chap. 27.15 When he saith of the wicked man that those that remain of him shall be buried in death and his widows shall not weep Finally Hell not Hell-fire giveth up the souls both of them that were drowned in the Sea under which name all waters are comprehended and also of them that were buried in the earth For that Hell is designed to be the mansion of separated Souls appeareth from the words of Peter Acts 2.31 Who speaking out of the Psalms concerning the resurrection of Christ saith that his soul was not left in hell neither did his flesh see corruption And also from that passage of David Psalm 30.3 O Lord thou hast brought up my soul from Hell thou hast kept me alive that I should not go down into the pit For that I have rightly rendred the words in saying from hell and not from the Grave is manifest both from the Greek version which here hath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and also from the Hebrew original not using the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is proper to denote a Grave or Sepulchre See Gen. 23.6 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby Hell is wont to be expressed and which lieth in the lower parts of the earth See the Hebrew context of Numb 16.30.33 Besides it is apparent to common sense that not the souls but only the bodies of men are laid in the grave Vers 14. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire This is the second death Vers 15. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire What the second death is and consequently those words mean which we read in the second clause of the sixth verse foregoing as also those Chap. 2.11 where it is said He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death is here by John explained for he expresly telleth us that the lake of fire and brimstone is the second death So that to be cast into that lake and to be under the power of the second death or hurt of it are expressions of the same import Thus had we the testimony of Jesus expounded to us in the nineteenth Chapter Nevertheless how Death and Hell being both of them places and receptacles of the dead should be cast into the said lake is hard to comprehend Yea were it not for a certain passage in the sixth Chapter of this prophecy I should be inclineable to think that this was a mystery which God would not have us pry into as we have above shewn that sundry such mysteries are to be met withal in the Book of the Revelation But forasmuch as in the Chapter aforesaid verse 8. Death is brought in riding upon a pale horse and Hell following him and consequently both of them are represented in the similitude of persons we may from thence rationally collect that in the passage here under debate the Holy Ghost intending to intimate that after the universal Judgement there shall be neither burial nor separation of the soul from the body doth exhibit two persons representing Death and Hell which are thrown into the lake of fire as resigning up their Office to it and being swallowed up therein according to that of the Prophet Hosea Chap. 15.14 O death I will be thy plague O Hell so it is in the Hebrew and not Grave I will be thy destruction Besides the books of the Old and New Testament which are the rule by which the actions of men that have had some form of Religion delivered by God shall at length be examined there is yet another Book opened in the day of judgement to wit the Book of life wherein whosoever have not their names written are said to be cast into the Lake of fire From whence it may be rightly concluded that as the want of being enrolled in that Book was above in the thirteenth and also in the seventeenth Chapters alleged as the Cause why so many erred most grosly in admiring and worshipping the Beast so is it here why so many are thrown into the Lake of Fire in that it is altogether impossible for such persons to attain that piety to which the Promise of eternal Life is annexed As for the place of the Lake of Fire that is here so much spoken of were it part of the World it would of necessity perish with the World which as we have before evinced is to be abolished Wherefore seeing it abideth for ever we ought in reason to conceive that it is without the compass of the World in the Description of which the Scripture doth perpetually omit it And hence it seemeth to be called by Christ the outer Darkness Matth. 22.13 as being without the Verge of Heaven and Earth Chap. 21. Vers 1. And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away and there was no more Sea The Exposition WHat I before said touching the orderly course held by John in setting down his Prophecies is here worthy again to be observed For having in the precedent Chapter described the abolition of Heaven and Earth he now mentioneth the new Heaven and the new Earth that are to succeed in their place And he therefore affirmeth that he had seen this new Heaven and this new Earth though to this very day the old ones still continue because they were represented to him in a Vision Thus Christ saith to his Disciples Matth. 16.28 There be some of them that are standing here who shall not taste of Death till they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom Not that any of them were to remain alive to the end of the World for both the Scripture and the Ecclesiastical History testifie the contrary but because about eight days after he vouchsafed to three of them a sight of that glory wherein he shall come as King to judge the World Luke 9.27 28 29 30. But for as much as many endeavour to obscure this passage of the Revelation with their forced Allegories let us confirm the plain and literal meaning thereof by what the Scripture elsewhere speaketh concerning this matter The Apostle Peter describing the Day of Judgement and the alteration that shall happen to the World thereby telleth the pious Jews to whom he directeth his Letters that the Day of the Lord will come as a Thief in the Night in the which the Heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat the Earth also and the Works therein shall be burnt up Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of God wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent