to be there detained for a certain time but into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone to be there tormented for ever and ever From whence it may be gathered 1. That Satan after this time shall not tempt the Sons of Men any more and consequently as we have before discoursed they shall have no other inward sollicitation to sin then what issueth from the natural pravity of their own hearts which is nothing in comparison of that malignity which is infused into them by the artifice of Satan 2. That the reason why the Beast was formerly thrown into Hell-fire and not Satan also that stirred him up is this because God intended to make no further use of the Beast whereas Satan was a thousand Years after to seduce Gog and Magog Which being done and so the wrathfull Ministery of Satan accomplished he likewise is flung into Hell-fire to be there for ever tormented together with the Beast 3. That Hell-fire for that is the same with the Lake of Fire and Brimstone is already in being and not to be created at the Day of Judgement otherwise how should Satan be thrown thereinto before the coming of that Day 4. That Satan though a Spirit yet is not therefore immaterial otherwise how should a true real and material fire as that of the Lake is seeing the smoke of men therein tormented is said to ascend for ever and ever Chap. 14.11 be capable of working on him For he is no less said to be tormented therein than the Beast and the false Prophet who being both Men as I before proved must needs consist of matter as all will grant As for the place where Hell-fire is we shall see concerning that towards the end of this Chapter Vers 11. And I saw a great white Throne and him that sat on it from whose Face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no Place for them Vers 12. And I saw the Dead small and great stand before God and the Books were opened and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works Vers 13. And the Sea gave up the Dead which were in it and Death and Hell delivered up the Dead which were in them and they were judged every Man according to their Works The Prophecies of the Revelation if we look rightly on them considering them in their own plainness and not as they are disguized and tangled with the far-fetcht Opinions of Men will be found to have been set down in an orderly manner those things being usually delivered first that are first to be accomplished Hence the casting of the Devil into Hell-fire being once dispatcht the universal judgement which was to follow whether in a little or a large distance of time is uncertain cometh here in its own place very fitly to be described God therefore is the supreme Judge is said to sit upon a great white Throne By which words the colour of his Throne which had been hitherto concealed seemeth to be here made known unto us For seeing God as David testifieth hath prepared his Throne in the Heavens for Judgement Psalm 9.7 103.19 and whiteness therein doth for its purity and lustre as well comport with the glory of God if not better than any other colour why should we not believe that the Throne of Judgement whereon God sitteth in the Heavens is as it is here described white But as the glory of God is set out in some measure by the greatness and colour of his Throne so is it infinitely more by the action that is here ascribed to him namely the Annihilation of the heaven and earth For to make them so fly away from before his face as that there is no more place found for them is indeed to reduce them into nothing Otherwise had they any being they would also have a place and be somewhere This reduction of the world into nothing leadeth us to believe the more easily that it was at first created out of nothing For had the matter thereof been from all eternity coexisting with God it would like him be ens necessarium and so likewise of necessity continue for ever with him John having seen the sovereign judge sitting on his throne doth in the next place see them also that stand before him in judgement and they are the dead of all sorts whether they be of high or low degree For that this expression of great and small doth so signifie is evident from Deuteronomy 1.17 Where Moses saith to the Judges of Israel Ye shall not respect persons but ye shall hear the small as well as the great And also from the nineteenth Chapter of this book verse 18. Where an Angel inviteth all the fowls of the heaven to come that they may eat the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great For the trial of the persons aforesaid are opened certain books containing not their actions for the words import the contrary but the laws by which God proceedeth in judging them and consequently they are the books of the Old and New Testament For Paul plainly telleth us that as many as have sinned in or under the law shall be judged by the law Rom. 2.12 And Christ saith John 12.48 He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day These therefore must needs be the books and out of the things written in them the dead shall be judged according to their works For the inspection of these books doth presently discover both of what kind the works themselves are and what reward is appointed to them From whence it may be collected that they to whom God never made known his will nor imparted any of those laws recorded in the Old and New Testament but suffered them to walk in their own waies albeit they shall perish for their wickedness yet shall they not undergo any trial And thus much are we taught by the Apostle Paul who saith 2 Thes 1.7 8. That the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that knew not God And Rom. 2.12 As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law That is without having any law proposed whereby they should be tried and cast Moreover that we might have a more full knowledge of the foresaid judgement both the resurrection of the dead which is a preparative thereunto and also the several places from whence the dead come forth are here described For the Sea giveth up the bodies of them that were drowned therein and the Grave giveth up the bodies of them that were buried in the earth For that the Grave is here to be understood by death is evident in that it is a place of the dead distinguished both from the Sea and also from Hell But there is
have eternal Life but they whom he had given unto Christ as Christ himself witnesseth John 17.2 saying of himself to the Father As thou hast given him Power over all Flesh that he should give eternal Life to as many as thou hast given him and it was necessary that God should by some means reveal to him who they were that had been given to him he chose this way of Discovery providing a Book of Life wherein all their Names are written by the inspection whereof Christ might understand who were to be saved Thus Christ attaineth to the knowledge of the Decrees of God touching sundry other matters by opening a Book sealed with seven Seals that was in the Hand of God Chap. 5.1 8 9. And lest any one should think that this is to be taken in a figurative sense let him consult the Prophecy of Daniel where he shall finde an Angel plainly signifying that the Decrees of God are set down in writing for thus he saith to Daniel Chap. 19.21 being about to declare the purpose of God touching the Kingdoms of the World I will shew thee that which is noted in the Scripture of Truth It is further said in that passage of the Revelation that is now under discussion that the Lamb Christ Jesus was slain from the Foundation of the World which must of necessity be understood of the purpose of God touching the Death of Christ for Christ was actually slain in the Reign of Tiberius Caesar as the Scripture elsewhere testifieth Vers 9. If any Man have an Ear let him hear This Acclamation is never added in the Scripture but when there hath preceded some notable thing that requireth a more diligent reflexion to be made upon it But what is more remarkable than this that the constancy of the Saints and their resolute denial to worship the Beast when all the World doth the contrary is at no hand to be ascribed to the Saints themselves as men are apt to do but onely to the Decree of God who had before chosen them to Salvation without which they also as well as others would have committed that great transgression Vers 10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity He that killeth with the Sword must be killed with the Sword Here is the patience and the Faith of the Saints The equal Judgement of God is here set forth who usually plagueth Men in the same kinde wherein they had offended so that the punishment carrieth the footsteps and resemblance of their sin For the Beast who had brought many of the Saints into captivity is himself at length taken captive and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone Chap. 19.20 and the ten Kings who had assisted him in killing the Saints Chap. 17.12 13. are themselves slain with the Sword proceeding out of the Mouth of Christ Chap. 19.20 21. And hereby is the Faith and Patience of the Saints made conspicuous whilest they believe and patiently wait for the vengeance of God to be poured forth upon the Enemy in the time appointed Vers 11. And I beheld another Beast coming up out of the Earth and he had two Horns like a Lamb and he spake as a Dragon Now John cometh to the Description of the second Beast whereby is understood a false Prophet for so is he expresly called Chap. 16.13 and Chap. 19.20 And he is seen to ascend up out of the Earth because he ariseth from the Dead who have their place in the lower parts of the Earth Thus when the Witch of Endor had raised up Samuel she said to Saul I saw gods or rather a god as appeareth from the following Verse ascend out of the Earth 1 Sam. 28.13 Now that the Dead are placed in the lower parts of the Earth is evident from sundry Texts of Scripture See Psal 63.9 10. But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the Earth They shall fall by the Sword they shall be a Portion for Foxes See also Ezek. 32. from Verse 18. to the end of the Chapter And this is the reason why the false Prophet together with the Beast who as I shall clearly prove in my Exposition of the 17. Chapter ought also to be raised from the Dead to act all those horrid things that are spoken of him in this Book of the Revelation are not slain in the Battel of Armageddon as all the rest are but taken alive and thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone as having been once dead already When this second Beast is said to have two Horns as a Lamb this argueth that he maketh a shew of Lamb-like meekness and innocency in his outward garb but in his Doctrine hisseth like a Dragon uttering such things as tend to the ruine and destruction of Men as appeareth by the sequel of this Chapter Vers 12. And he exerciseth all the Power of the first Beast before him and causeth the Earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first Beast whose deadly Wound was healed See how this second Beast which in shape of Horns resembleth a Lamb begins to act like a Dragon in exercising all the Power of the first Beast in his presence that he may thereby force the Inhabitants of the Earth to worship the first Beast whose deadly wound was healed Thus Nebuchadnezzer brought all Peoples Nations and Languages to fall down and worship the golden Image which he had set up by threatning to cast Refusers into the midst of a burning fiery Furnace Dan. 3.6 9. Vers 13. And he doth great wonders so that he maketh Fire come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of Men Vers 14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the Earth by the means of those Miracles which he had Power to do in the sight of the Beast saying to them that dwell on the Earth that they should make an Image to the Beast which had the Wound by a Sword and did live As the false Prophet made use of Power to drive Men to the Worship of the Beast so doth he also of subtilty t odraw then to a further degree of impiety inciting them by great Wonders which it is given him to do to erect an Image to the Beast which received a deadly Wound by the Sword but afterward recovered of the same For of all Impostures whereby Men are wont to be seduced to a false Worship there is none so powerful as that of working Miracles Hence Christ saith in the Gospel Matth. 24.24 There shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders in so much that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect And Moses long before in the Law Deut. 13.1 2 3 If there arise among you a Prophet or a dreamer of dreams and giveth thee a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder come to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known
the Dead is evident in that the very chief of them came not to pass in the time of his former life as will appear to any one that peruseth what hath been written of him by ancient Authours For where is it said of him in story that he received a deadly Wound and recovered Yea we finde on the contrary that when he had been wounded by one Stephanus he was so far from being cured thereof that he was by others coming in presently after killed outright See Suetonius in the History of Domitian cap. 17. Where that his Image was erected and made to speak that they might be put to death that refused to worship it Where that he did set a Mark upon either the fore-head or the right hand of Men without which none might buy or sell These and sundry other remarkable things recorded of the Beast in the Book of the Revelation were never yet acted by him nor indeed by any other person whatsoever that we read of since this Prophecy was written wherefore if the Beast that was long since slain must do them as this Prophecy plainly testifieth it will unavoidably follow that he must be raised from the Dead to that purpose But though the Inhabitants of the Earth in general shall admire the Beast yet some will refuse to do so namely They whose names were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world By which passage it is clear that there is a certain number of men ordained by name to eternal life from the foundation of the world And this Ordination is alledged by the Angel as the true cause why they above others consent not to the epidemical impiety that is committed in admiring the Beast Neither did I ever meet with any man who denying such a particular and peremtory Ordination could give a clear and satisfactory answer to this passage which in my judgement now that I have made a more diligent search thereinto seemeth sufficient to decide the so much agitated controversie about Predestination especially if you add that other invincible argument taken from the Ordination of Christ himself For if Christ were unchangeably Ordained to glory not only from but also before the foundation of the world as the Scripture attesteth and all Christians grant why should not we by like reason affirm the same of his people it being altogether absurd to imagine that the head should be designed and not also the body pertaining thereunto inasmuch as they have a mutual relation the one to the other For whereas some indeavour to decline the dint of the foresaid passage in the Revelation by referring those words from the foundation of the world to the book it self and not to the writing of the names therein this can by no means consist for then to exclude all ambiguity an Article would have been prefixed to them in the Greek and accordingly the words have run thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again I would demand of any man well skilled in that language how the Angel could speak otherwise then he doth were it his intention as I affirm to shew that certain mens names were from the foundation of the world written in the book of life But if he meant to signifie that the Book onely was from the Foundation of the World that as I before shewed might easily have been done by setting an Article agreeing in Greek with the word Book before these words From the Foundation of the World Vers 9. And here is the minde which hath wisdom The seven Heads are seven Mountains on which the Woman sitteth 10. And they are seven Kings five are fallen and one is and the other is not vet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space 11. And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition Here the Angel cometh directly to the matter making way to the discovery that he had promised to John with a so emn Preface whereby he intimateth that the Interpretation which he was about to deliver was so ordered that none but a wise and intelligent man could apprehend it Then beginning to declare the Mystery of the Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns whereon the Woman sitteth he saith that the seven Heads are both seven Mountains whereon the Woman sitteth which Description the wise and learned know denoteth Rome that was built upon seven Mountains and also seven Kings so the Roman Emperours are elsewhere styled in the Scripture for the Jews John 19.15 say We have no King but Caesar And that he here meaneth Roman Kings or Emperours is evident in that they are coupled with the seven Mountains of Rome and represented as they before had been by the seven Heads of the Beast of which Kings five namely Claudius Nero Galba Otho Vitellius are fallen that is are taken away by a violent death Thus David 2 Sam. 4 38. saith to the Israelites concerning Abner whom Joab had slain Know you not that there is a Prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel And God saith to the murmuring Israelites against whom his hand was lifted up to destroy them from among the Host until they were consumed As for you your carcases shall fall in this wilderness Numbers 14.32 but one is namely Vespasian the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue but a little while That is Titus the elder son of Vespasian who Reigning after his Father continued but two years two moneths and twenty days as Suetonius in his life witnesseth And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition This is meant of Domitian the younger son of Vespasian who was the eighth King or Emperour from Claudius if you consider him as reigning after the death of his Father and his elder brother But if you look upon him as Reigning in the absence of his Father who was not yet come out of the eastern parts unto Rome to manage the Empire he was one of the seven Kings from Claudius namely the sixth For that Domitian after the death of Vitellius the Emperour did in the absence of his Father Reign at Rome as Emperour is manifest from the words of Tacitus Hist lib. 3. Cap. ult Domitianum postquam nihil hostile metuebatur ad duces partium progressum Caesarem consalutatum miles frequens utque erat in armis in paternos penates deduxit that is Domitian when no further hostility was feared presented himself to the Captains of the party and being saluted Cesar that is Emperour for this was the Title of all the Roman Emperours after Julius Cesar was brought by the Souldiery in their arms to his Fathers house And lib. 4. cap. 1. Nomen sedemque Caesaris Domitianus acceperat that is Domitian had assumed to himself both the Title and the seat of Cesar ib. cap. 4. Ipsi consulatus cum Tito filio proetura
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
Wilderness a Name inscribed on her Forehead which lest any one should think it to be that very Name whereby she was commonly known amongst Men hath the word Mystery set before it intimating that the following Name agreed to this Woman not in a proper but in a mystical sense The reason and elegancy of which borrowed Appellation given to Rome for she according to the Angels Interpretation Verse 18. is meant by this Woman I have already discovered in the Exposition of the 14. Chapter to which I send back the Reader for further satisfaction in this point Now Rome is here deserved'y called the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth For it is evident from the testimony of Writers that no City did ever so abound with Whoredom and also other abominable practices as Rome both in those times and ever since Vers 6. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the Saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus and when I saw her I wondred with great admiration Ver. 7. And the angel said unto me Wherefore didst thou marvel I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carrieth her which hath the seven heads and ten horns Though the filthiness of this woman was very great and her actions abominable above those of all other women yet would not God have poured out his wrath upon her in so signal a maner as is related in the two following chapters had she not above all her other evils defiled her hands with the blood of Saints and Martyrs For this is one of those sins that make the lowdest cry in the ears of God as the History of righteous Abel testifieth Gen. 4.10 11. But this woman had already swallowed and was before her ruine to swallow so much of this precious blood that John here already perceiveth her to be drunk therewith which drunkenness of hers might easily appear to him as he looked upon her but that it was caused by quaffing the blood of Saints and Martyrs the knowledge hereof must needs proceed from Revelation whether of the Angel as it is most likely or of some other heavenly person And here by the way let the difference between the Saints and the Martyrs or witnesses of Jesus be well observed For the Saints are meerly pious men but the Martyrs or Witnesses of Jesus are such as besides their piety have also the Spirit of Prophecy and so become capeable of bearing testimony to Jesus For if as this very Angel asserteth chap. 19.10 the Testimony or Witnessing of Jesus be the Spirit of Prophecy then a Martyr or Witness of Jesus must be such a one as is indued therewith Howbeit though John had received that Spirit yea understood the cause of the womans drunkenness yet as prophesying but in part he could not for all this tell who the woman her self should be And therefore as admiration is wont to proceed from Ignorance he doth exceedingly wonder at her In which wondring condition he was likely to have continued had not the Angel disclosed to him the Mystery of the woman as he doth also that of the Beast with seven heads and ten horns that carried her which description plainly sheweth that this Beast is the same that formerly was seen to arise out of that Sea Chap. 13.1 And therefore he is as formerly simply called the Beast whensoever he is afterwards mentioned As for his carrying of the woman the reason hereof as will further appear from what shall presently be spoken is because the Government of the City which the woman represents did sometimes rest upon him and so he was the support thereof Vers 8. The beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is The Angel beginning to discover somewhat obliquely unto John the Mystery of the Beast whom we shall afterwards finde to be Domitian saith of him that he was and is not Wherby is meant that he was sometimes in power but now at the time of this Vision was not so For that it must not be understood of his being alive is evident from the close of the Verse where it is said of him that he was and is not and yet is The meaning of which words then would be that he was alive and is not alive and yet is alive Which every one seeth to be a flat contradiction But according to the other Interpretation which is indeed that of the Angel himself as may be seen in the 11. Verse the words carry in themselves no contradiction but a marvellous divine elegancy amounting to this sense that though the Beast had formerly been in power and now was not so yet was he still in being But that which exceedeth all imagination of men and would surpass their belief also were it not so plainly delivered both here and Chap. 11 7. is that the Beast shall ascend out of the bottomless Pit Which being spoken of one that was then alive doth imply that he should dy and afterward arise from the Dead to act those stupendious things that are foretold of him in this Book of the Revelation For that the bottomlest Pit is the Mansion of the Dead and so to ascend from thence is to arise from the Dead is evident from that Passage of the Apostle Paul Rom 10.7 where he saith Who shall descend into the deep Greek Abyss or bottomless Pit the same word that is used in the Revelation concerning the Beast that is to bring up Christ from the Dead For what relation would the Descent into the deep or bottomless Pit have to the bringing up of Christ from the Dead if the Dead had not there their abode In the next place mention is made of the Beasts going into perdition which being here set down as a thing that is to follow his Ascent out of the bottomless Pit shall then be fulfilled when he is thrown alive into the Lake burning with fire and brimstone above a thousand years before the Judgement of the great day as may be seen in the 19. and 20. Chap. Which yet new and unusual punishment is to be imputed to the strangeness of his offences afore related in the 13. Chapter which he as shall by and by be proved will perpetrate after he is risen from the Dead Last of all the Angel speaketh of the Admiration wherein all the Inhabitants of the Earth will have the Beast that was and is not and yet is namely when they shall see him after his Resurrection invested with so vast an Empire and cured of his deadly Wound as is expressed in the 13. Chapter For that the things related of the Beast in that Chapter are to be performed by him when he is risen from
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
as to the main Body thereof is said to consist of Jasper which is a stone most precious and casting a most delicate lustre otherwise the Luminary of the City would not have been like to it The Foundations of the Wall being in number twelve consist of twelve different precious Stones which are here particularly named But seeing it is hard if not impossible for us exactly to distinguish and describe the same as the jarring of those that have written of them doth imply nor would the right distinction of them if attained advance our spiritual edification in that it appeareth not from the Text that any Mystery lyeth couched under them I will omit any longer discourse of them and hasten to that which is further related concerning the glory of the heavenly Jerusalem The twelve Gates thereof are said to consist of one intire Pearl a piece and the City it self together with the Street thereof to be of pure Gold transparent as Glass which is of such rarity as neither Nature nor Art is able to effect Otherwise the Vessels that are made of Gold would be of far greater beauty than now they are And though Temples are wont exceedingly to grace the Cities wherein they stand yet is the heavenly Jerusalem so ordered as that having no Temple it is not a whit defective in beauty for that in as much as the Lord God Almighty together with the Lamb supplyeth the place of a Temple adorning the City with his illustrious presence infinitely more than any Temple could do For there is no comparison between the beauty of any Temple though built by God and that of God himself which made the Prophet Zechary to cry out How great is his beauty Chap. 9.17 Accordingly the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 recorded among the proper names of God is by interpretation the beautiful one as being most aptly derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to be beautiful agreeable and comely Moreover as for the beauty of Christ the Lamb of God that is amply set forth in the first Chapter of this Prophecy to which I refer the Reader for further satisfaction herein But as God and Christ supply the place of a Temple in adorning the heavenly Jerusalem so also do they of the Sun and Moon in enlightning of it and so render such kindes of Luminaries altogether useless to that City In which light of the new Jerusalem that streameth from God and Christ and is of a more pure and exhilarating nature than that of the Sun and Moon shall the Nations and Multitudes of them that are saved converse For that the word Nation here used doth elsewhere also in the Scripture sometimes denote no other than a Company or Multitude and not all the People dwelling in the compass of such a Countrey or derived from such an Ancestour is evident from that passage of Peter 1 Epist 2.9 where writing to the believing Jews of the dispersion of Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia he saith Ye are a chosen Generation a royal Priesthood an holy Nation And this passage of John wherein he saith that the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of the new Jerusalem doth plainly put a difference between the Church and her For the Nations of them that are saved are the Church and therefore the new Jerusalem in whose light they walk is the place of their abode and so a City as it is here again and again entituled To render which City yet more glorious it is said that the Kings of the Earth shall bring their glory and honour thereinto For in as much as the virtue of pious Kings both for the difficulty that there is in attaining and exercising the same because of the extraordinary Temptations to which their condition doth expose them and also for the great influence it hath upon the World doth far exceed that of other men hence it is that God who renders to all men according to their Works will at the last Day confer a greater measure of glory and honour upon such Kings and therefore their lustre will in a signal manner adorn the new Jerusalem Howbeit the glory and honour of the Nations that are saved when it also as it is here written shall be brought into the new Jerusalem will add no little splendour thereunto Moreover the Gates of this City shall never be shut For seeing the Gates of Cities are wont to be shut at night onely and here shall be perpetual Day in that the glory of God doth enlighten it without intermission there is no place left for the shutting of the Gates belonging to the new Jerusalem But though the Gates ly continually open yet shall not all persons whatsoever enter thereinto For whosoever having been of a vicious life and addicted either to Debauchery or Lying would by his abode defile that holy place he is debarred entrance thereinto and such onely admitted who have been pure and undefiled in their ways which Purity is here intimated by saying that they are written in the Lambs Book of Life and consequently the Cause why any man attaineth Holiness of Life is the enrolling of his name in the Book of Life to which agreeth that of the Apostle Paul Ephes 1.4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the Foundation of the World that we should be holy and unblameable before him in love The Apostle doth not here say that they were chosen because God foresaw they would be holy but to the end they might be so He also speaketh to the same purpose 2 Tim. 1.9 where he saith God hath saved us and called us with an holy Calling not according to our Works and therefore not of foreseen good Works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the World began Chap. 22 Vers 1. And he shewed me a pure River of Water of Life clear as Crystall proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb. The Exposition JOhn going forward in the description of the new Jerusalem and the things thereto pertaining doth here speak of the Water of Life which God had before promised to give freely unto such as thirsted after it and which causeth eternal Life in the Drinkers of it This Water must needs be properly taken in that all the Circumstances of the place evince the same For first the Angel sheweth to John the River thereof But if it fall under the sight it cannot be mystical Water which is exposed to the apprehension of the understanding onely 2. It is said of this Water that it is clear or shining so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here used signifieth like unto Crystall Wherefore seeing the very colour thereof is here set down it must needs be Water literally so taken 3. It proceedeth out of the Throne of God and the Lamb. But Water mystically understood though it may proceed from him that sitteth on the Throne yet can
Vers 17. And the Spirit and the bride say Come And let him that heareth say Come And let him that is a thirst Come And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely In this verse there are three things remarkable the first whereof is the desire that both the holy Spirit and the Church had to see the coming of Christ before promised inasmuch as it would openly shew both his severity towards the wicked and his goodness towards those that had walked closely with him The second is the command here imposed upon every one that should hear of this coming to wish for it The third is the invitation made to every one that is athirst and earnestly aspireth unto happiness to come and drink of the water of life freely All which are of themselves plain and need no further interpretation Vers 18. For I testifie unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book If any man shall adde unto these things God shall adde unto him all the plagues that are written in this book Vers 19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book Moses in the law enjoyned the children of Israel that they should neither adde to the word which he had commanded nor diminish from it Deut. 4.2 So doth Christ here deal with Christians in relation to the book of this excellent prophecy ratifying his injunction with the greatest penalty that can be imagined Now to add to the words of this book or to diminish from them if perhaps any man be ignorant of so easy a matter is to insert something thereunto which was not written by John or to race out something that was there written by him This being so what will become of them at the last day who have rejected this whole book from the Canon of holy scripture pretending it was written not by that holy Apostle John but by some vile person when in the mean time the name of John is often there expressed as the penman thereof and the divine excellency of the things contained in the book sufficiently demonstrateth that it came originally from God what likewise shall we think of those who have so shamefully abused the book of this prophecy as that they durst to make it subservient to their own passions and worldly interests imposing such glosses on the same as have no hint or footstep in the holy Text and that on purpose to blacken some either person or party with whom they are angry and render them odious in the sight of all men Certainly this is little less then adding to the prophecy and argueth so small reverence to the pure and undefiled word of God at which we ought to tremble and withal bewraieth so great malice towards men as that the fifteenth verse of this very Chapter sheweth that such interpreters will at length be excluded out of the Kingdom of heaven Vers 20. He which testifieth these things saith Surely I come quickly Amen Even so come Lord Jesus The Lord Jesus doth here the third time mention his speedy coming of which we have sufficiently treated and John following the direction that was before given him in the seventeenth verse doth beseech the Lord Jesus that according to his promise he would come Which passage is diligently to be observed as strongly pressing them who dare to deny the invocation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ For it can with no forehead be denied that here is a direct prayer adderssed to him since his ascent into heaven and sitting at the right hand of God Vers 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all Amen As the foregoing verse yielded us a direct prayer made to Christ so this affordeth an oblique one For John here requesteth that the favour of the Lord Jesus might still be put forth towards the Saints that were in Asia to whom he directed the book of this prophecy Wherefore let us after the example of so holy a person pray earnestly that the same Lord Jesus would continue and multiply his favor towards all his Saints that are dispersed through the whole world that he would shelter them under the shadow of his wings against the rage of their enemies and supply them as their several necessities shall require and finally so fill them with the Spirit of grace that they may abound in love towards one another and towards all men FINIS