rideth upon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt and the Idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it Moreover the cloud that Christ sitteth upon is said to be white to set forth the glorious honour of his Majesty like as God intending to make that vision Matth. 17.5 to be the more Illustrious causeth a bright cloud to over-shadow the three Apostles that were with Christ at his transfiguration As for the golden crown upon Christs head it sheweth the Kingly power wherof he is possessed as the sharp sickle doth the severity of his anger against the wicked whom he is ready armed to cut off Vers 15. And another Angel came out of the Temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the Cloud Thrust in thy Sickle and reap for the time is come for thee to reap for the Harvest of the Earth is ripe Vers 16. And he that sat on the Cloud thrust in his Sickle on the Earth and the Earth was reaped An Angel longing to see the vengeance of Christ fall upon the Inhabitants of the Earth that had so openly and outragiously dishonoured God cometh out of the Temple in Heaven for there is the place of that Temple from whence the Angels are wont to issue forth as is apparent from the 17. Verse and cryeth to him aloud desiring him to destroy the wicked whose iniquity was now full with the sharp Sickle of his Wrath which is accordingly performed Vers 17. And another Angel came out of the Temple which is in Heaven he also having a sharp Sickle Vers 18. And another Angel came out from the Altar which had Power over the Fire and cried with a loud Cry to him that had the sharp Sickle saying Thrust in thy sharp Sickle and gather the Clusters of the Vine of the Earth for her Grapes are fully ripe For as much as Christ in executing this great Judgement is not onely himself an Agent but useth also the Ministry of Angels both which things are plainly set forth Chap. 16. 19. where this business is again repeated a Sickle bearing Angel is likewise introduced to whom another Angel cryeth aloud that he should put his Sickle in ure and gather the Vine of the Earth Neither is it without a Mystery that this Angel which cryeth is said to issue forth from the Altar and to have power over the fire thereof For this implyeth that he as being wont to attend at the Altar did perceive that the Prayers of the Saints with which he burned Incense before God were now heard and that God was accordingly resolved to avenge his People of their Enemies wherefore it is evident from this Passage that there is in Heaven a Temple and therein an Altar which Chap. 8.3 is said to be of Gold and to stand before the Throne of God and to have as here an Angel for Priest to burn Incense thereon that the smoke thereof may ascend up together with the Prayers of the Saints Neither can it with reason be affirmed that this Angel is Christ not onely because it is very hard if not altogether impossible to allege any passage of the Scripture where the appellation of an Angel is undoubtedly given unto Christ but also for that this Angel is here plainly differenced from Christ for Christ is said to sit upon a white Cloud having a sharp Sickle in his hand whereas this Angel is said to come out from the Altar which is in Heaven Again this Angel is said to be another Angel and therefore if the two precedent Angels which are also both of them distinguished from Christ be of necessity meer Angels so must this Angel also Which Reason is of force likewise in the 8. Chapter where this Angel is called another Angel in relation to the seven Angels that stand before God and so are meer Angels or ministring Spirits and consequently he being of their Rank is not Christ but a ministring Spirit also Vers 19. And the Angel thrust in his Sickle into the Earth and gathered the Vine of the Earth and cast it into the great Wine-press of the Wrath of God Vers 20. And the Wine-press was trodden without the City and Blood came out of the Winepress even unto the Horse bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred Furlongs These two Verses shew the accomplishment of what the Angel who came out from the Altar in Heaven did desire For the Vine of the Earth is gathered and the Clusters cast into the great Wine-press of Gods wrath and trodden without the City Which figurative Description doth intimate the quashing and utter ruine of the Inhabitants of the Earth that joyn their Forces with the Beast that they may cut off all the Saints at once The fulfilling whereof is set down at large Chap. 19. Now this Wine-press is said to be trodden without the City because this terrible execution shall be made without Megiddo a City belonging to the Tribe of Manasseh Josh 17.11 For thither shall the Kings of the Earth draw their Armies together to make war with Christ and his Saints as is related Chap. 16.16 Of which City I will discourse more largely in my Exposition of that Chapter Now the greatness of the slaughter that Christ shall then make slaying his Enemies with the Sword of his Mouth and so shedding their Blood is notably declared both by the depth of that bloody Stream that issueth out of the Wine-press of Gods wrath which is said to reach up to the Bridles of the Horses and so to be above a Yard from the Ground and also by the length thereof running out for the space of one thousand six hundred Furlongs which is by computation at eight Furlongs to the Mile two hundred Miles Neither will this seem so strange if we consider that all the Kings of the whole World together with their Armies shall then assemble themselves towards the City of Megiddo and there be slain Chap. 15 Vers 1. And I saw another Sign in Heaven great and marvellous seven Angels having the seven last Plagues for in them is filled up the wrath of God The Exposition THis Chapter containeth in it self a Preparative to the pouring out of the Vials of Gods wrath upon the Beast and his Worshippers For John here seeth a great and wonderful Sign of seven Angels having seven Plagues which are therefore called the last Plagues because the Anger of God is accomplished by them so that after them succeedeth the chaining up of Satan and the uninterrupted prosperity of a thousand years through all the World as appeareth from the 20. Chapter Now the reason why the Angels are here sent to plague the Beast and his Worshippers is because all humane means did fail For the Saints who had adventured to oppose him with Arms though they fought in a just Cause were yet subdued and crushed by him as we saw Chap. 13.7 So that now was
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
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
the Congregation because the Cloud abode thereupon and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle And the Priests at the Dedication of Solomon's Temple are said To be unable to enter into the House of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had silled the Lords house 2 Chron. 7.2 So that we ought not to hunt after Mysteries when the Scripture giveth us no intimation of them Chap. 16. Vers 1. And I heard a great Voice out of the Temple saying to the seven Angels Go your ways and pour out the Vials of the Wrath of God upon the Earth The Exposition THe heavenly Priests aforesaid being now furnished by means of the Saints on Earth with the Vials of Gods wrath are commanded by a loud voice out of the Temple in Heaven to pour them out upon the Earth Not that the greatest part of them are not to be poured out upon other parts of the World but by a Figure of Deficiency that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greeks are wont to phrase it the Earth onely is named both because the first is expresly said to be poured out upon the Earth it self and also all the rest of the Vials though poured out upon other places yet have relation to the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof Vers 2. And the first went and poured out his Vial upon the Earth and there fell a noisom and grievous sore upon the Men which had the Mark of the Beast and upon them which worshipped his Image The first Vial as we said before is poured out upon the Earth and the effect thereof is a sore and evil Boil arising on them that had the Mark of the Beast and worshipped his Image In the explaining of which Vial as well as of the rest I see no need of betaking our selves to an Allegory For if Moses and Aaron by sprinkling Ashes of the Furnace towards Heaven caused it to become a Boil breaking out with Blains upon the Egyptians Exod. 9.8 9 10. Why may we not as well conceive that the pouring out of a Vial on the Earth by an Angel may produce the same effect upon the Worshippers of the Beast And how then is this plain Interpretation not to be embraced when we finde in the Scripture that the same Plague did formerly happen to such as had been great Oppressours of Gods people Vers 3. And the second Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sea and it became as the Blood of a dead man and every living soul died in the Sea The wickedness of the Beast and his Worshippers is exceeding great No marvel therefore if their Plagues be not onely the same with those that happened to the wicked of former times but also exceeding them as being purposely suited by God to their impiety Of which sort is this Plague of the second Vial the pouring out of which into the Sea turneth not the third part thereof onely as Chap. 8.8 but all its Waters into Blood so that every living Soul therein perisheth By this means they are debarred of fishing in the Sea which must needs draw with it the ruine of many thousands that depend thereon for their livelihood The same may also be said of their traffiquing by Sea For the Waters thereof becoming Blood like that of a dead man they are not onely unserviceable to those many uses wherein Mariners are wont to imploy them but also by reason of their stench and thickness are altogether unfit to be sailed in this Plague therefore is very great Vers 4. And the third Angel poured out his Vial upon the Rivers and Fountains of Waters and they became Blood 5. And I heard the Angel of the Waters say Thou art righteous O Lord which wast art and shalt be because thou hast judged thus 6. For they have shed the Blood of Saints and Prophets and thou hast given them Blood to drink for they are worthy 7. And I heard another out of the Altar say Even so Lord God Almighty true and righteous are thy Judgements The turning of the Sea into Blood though it be a great Plague is yet insufficient to punish so outragious sinners as the Worshippers of the Beast wherefore the vengeance of God cometh yet closer to them by the pouring out of this third Vial into the Rivers and Fountains of Waters whereby they also become Blood So that now these Wretches can hardly with digging about the Rivers and Fountains get Water for their necessary uses For neither is it suitable to conceive that they were supplied any other way than the Egyptians their Predecessours in cruelty had been in the like calamity See Exod. 7.24 And that they had some such supply is evident by their surviving to undergo the other following Plagues which could not have come to pass had they been deprived of all means to get Water And this Plague is so agreeable to their sin as it had been in former times to that of the Egyptians that the Angel of the Waters who had power to turn them into Blood doth extoll the signal Justice of God herein pronouncing them worthy to have Blood given them to drink who had not spared to shed the Blood of Saints and Prophets And not onely he but also that other Angel which attendeth at the Altar in Heaven For he having formerly desired the Sickle-bearing Angel to make a clean riddance of the wicked whose sin was now ripe Chap. 14.18 must needs rejoyce at the equity of Gods dealing in the pouring out of this Vial which could not but cause many of them to perish But it is not to be passed over without animadversion that when the Worshippers of the Beast are here said to have Blood given them to drink because they had shed the Blood of Saints and Prophets this argueth that the pouring out of this Vial and consequently of the rest there being the same reason of them all happeneth within the compass of the three years and an half that the Tyranny of the Beast lasteth yea towards the latter end of that space in as much as these Plagues have relation to the cruelty that had been before exercised towards the Saints and Prophets and therefore it is likely that the pouring out of these seven Vials taketh not up more time than the smiting of Egypt with the ten Plagues did which were all accomplished within the space of one Year For Moses was eighty years old when he began to speak unto Pharaoh Exod. 7.7 and but an hundred and twenty when he died Deut. 34.7 the last forty years of which term he had spent in leading the Israelites in the Wilderness Deut. 29.5 so that there remaineth but the eightieth year of his Life wherein to inflict those ten Plagues upon Egypt Vers 8. And the fourth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sun and Power was given unto him to scorch Men with Fire 9. And Men were scorched with great Heat and blasphemed the Name of God which hath Power over these Plagues and
they repented not to give him glory The sin of them that worship the Beast and receive his Mark as it is greater than that of evil Men in former times so is it also of a new kince and unheard of in the World before And therefore God provideth here for it a new Plague the like whereof is not to be found in all the Scripture For the fourth Vial being poured out upon the Sun causeth it to scorch Men with fire and that in a very grievous manner But it any one here object that should the Sun the common Luminary of the World but destitute of life and understanding have such a Power given to it the Saints also would not be untouched I answer that the words of the Text imply the contrary saying that such as were scorched by the Sun blasphemed the Name of God and repented not to give him glory whereby it appeareth that none but impenitent sinners do feel this Plague the Sun by the marvellous direction of God sending down fire upon them but casting out a chearing light upon the righteous Thus we read Exod. 14.20 that the cloudy Pillar did at the same time cause darkness to the Egyptians and light to the Israelites We read also Dan. 3.22 27. that the fiery Furnace which killed the Caldeans that did but approach thereunto did not so much as singe an Hair of the three pious Jews that were thrown into the midst thereof And let this consideration be taken along with us in reading the story of all these Plagues that they are so ordered as that no hurt redoundeth to the righteous from them God making a way for their escape As we see it did happen to the Israelites who though dwelling in Egypt were yet untouched with any of the ten Plagues thereof For albeit their immunity be not mentioned till the fourth Plague which was that of Flyes concerning which God saith I will sever in that day the Land of Goshen in which my People dwell that no Swarms of Flies shall be there to the end thou maist know that I am the Lord in the midst of the Earth Exod. 8.22 yet reason sheweth that the same is to be understood in all the foregoing Plagues for as much as they were sent of purpose to punish the Egyptians for their cruelty towards Gods people In like manner though it be not here expresly said that the Sun did not scorch the Saints but onely the wicked yet must it in reason be supposed to have so fallen out and the aforesaid intimation out of the Text sheweth as much Vers 10. And the fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Seat of the Beast and his kingdom was full of darkness and they gnawed their Tongues for pain 11. And blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores and repented not of their deeds As some other of the Plagues that God inflicted upon the Beast and his Worshippers are the same with those that he formerly inflicted upon Pharaoh and his People so also is this For the fifth Angel pouring out his Vial upon the Throne of the Beast which is without question as suitable a means to procure darkness as the stretching out of Moses hand towards Heaven his Kingdom that extendeth it self over the face of the whole Earth is thereupon darkned The extremity of which Plague is such that it causeth Men to gnaw their Tongues for pain For consider how grievous a thing it is to be bound for several days together in chains of thick and palpable darkness for it would be unreasonable to think that this darkness of the Beasts Kingdom should be inferiour either in duration or grosness to that of Egypt so as neither to see one another nor to arise out of their places Howbeit we are not to imagine that the Saints of this time as well as the Israelites heretofore during this dismal Fog that bespreads the face of all the Earth have not light in their dwellings seeing this Plague together with the rest is ordained of God for the punishment of their Adversaries and so ought not to involve both alike And this is sufficiently hinted according to the observation on the pouring out of the fourth Vial by the blasphemies that these Prisoners of darkness are said to vent against God the Authour of this and the other Plagues whereas to blaspheme God is so enormous a crime that it is impossible it should be incident to the Saints Wherefore I may truly bespeak the People of God that shall be in the Reign of the Beast with the words of Isaiah Chap. 60.2 of his Prophecy Behold the Darkness shall cover the Earth and gross Darkness the People but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee Vers 12. And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River Euphrates and the Water thereof was dried up that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared Vers 13. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet Vers 14. For they are the spirits of devils working miracles which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battel of that great day of God Almighty Vers 15. Behold I come as a thief Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Vers 16. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Ar-mageddon By Euphrates must needs here be meant that River which runneth by Babylon properly so called and emptieth it self into the Persian Gulph For this River rising in Armenia and traversing all Mesopotamia and Caldea lyeth as a bar in their way that come out of the eastern Countreyes of Persia Tartaria India and China towards the land of Israel whither the kings here spoken of are to march with their Armies Neither is it a new thing that a river should be dryed up to give way to Princes and their hosts For we read in the scripture that Jordane was turned back to the end Joshua and the Israelites might in a terrible manner go over without interruption into the land aforesaid Jos 3.17 But as the River Euphrates is miraculously dryed up by the Angel for the speedier passage of the eastern Kings so cometh not it to pass without a miracle that they are drawn to undertake so desperate a design as to fight against Christ and his Saints for three unclean spirits do by working miracles incite not onely the foresaid Eastern Kings but also all the Kings of the world to the performance of this exploit And for as much as these are seen to proceed out of the mouth of the Dragon and of the Beast and of the false prophet this argueth that not onely the Dragon but also the Beast to whom the Dragon is said
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
this Notion of Reigning is true and grounded on the Scripture is manifest in that God is then said never to have born rule over the Heathen the Adversaries of his People Isai 63.18 19. which can be no otherwise true than because he had not prescribed them Laws Whereas the Jews on the contrary own God for their King because he had been their Law-giver as may be seen in those Words of the same Prophet Chap. 33.22 The Lord is our Law-giver the Lord is our King he will save us But when upon the Defeat of the Beast who as I have shewed before is the same with the little Horn in the seventh of Daniel The Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the Saints of the most High the World shall be ruled by them according to the Laws of God which he hath given by Christ Jesus and the Laws of all Nations shall for the common good be conformed unto that Standard whereas now they are for the most part subservient to the Lusts and Interests of a certain sort of Men. So that God to whom the Saints are subservient in the Kingdom will then of right be said to reign more perfectly and truly than he had ever done since the World began The second ground here alleged for this Triumphing of the Saints is Because the Marriage of the Lamb was come and his Wife had made her self ready By which Wife of Christ now ready to be married is neither to be understood the Multitude of those Saints that shall be raised in glory at the Judgement of the great Day for that Judgement shaâ—l happen above a thousand Years after this Marriage as appeareth from the following Chapter nor of those Saints that shall be found alive on the Earth when the great things mentioned in this Chapter shall be accomplished for the Saints are not in this World married to Christ but onely espoused as the Words of Paul 2 Cor. 11.2 do intimate who saith of the Corinthian Church I have espoused you to one Husband that I may present you a chaste Virgin unto Christ nor of those Saints that are here brought in shouting rejoycing for they openly distinguish themselves from this Wife of Christ it remaineth therefore that by Her must of necessity be understood those Saints who having suffered Death in the time of the Beast for not worshipping his Image nor receiving his Mark have this Privilege vouchsafed to them above others that being restored to Life they reign with Christ a thousand Years before the rest of the Dead are raised as is expresly declared in the following Chapter And this is sufficiently implyed by the fine Linen wherewith they are arayed for though it be an Emblem of their Righteousness to which they attained in this World as the Words of the Text affirm yet is it indeed the Habit of such as are risen from the Dead and glorified as is evident from Chap. 3.4 where Christ saith to the Angel of the Church in Sardis Thou hast a few Names even in Sardis which have not defiled their Garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy And also from Chap. 7.9 where John saith I beheld and lo a great Multitude which no man could number of all Nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues stood before the Throne and before the Lamb clothed with white Robes and palms in their hands For that these here mentioned are such as had been raised from the dead and glorified I have before proved in the beginning of mine exposition upon this Chapter Vers 9. And he saith unto me Write Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me These are the true Sayings of God Seeing the Angel doth here command John to set down in Writing what he himself was about to deliver this argueth that it was a thing very remarkable and therefore not to be trusted to the memory which is so slippery and fleeting but to remain upon record for ever And this Injunction is like to that of the fourteenth Chap. Verse 13. and conversant about something of the same import For as they are there pronounced happy who should thenceforth die in the Lord namely under the Reign of the Beast and for the confirmation of the Truth as I have in mine Exposition of that place evinced so are such here reckoned to be in the sâ—me blessed condition who have the honour to be invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb who is to be inseparably united in the most intimate and sweet familiarity of love to those very persons when raised from the Dead and glorified For as Marriages are wont to be solemnized with a Feast so also is this of the Lamb and therefore mention is made here of a Wedding Supper which Supper if we consider what Christ himself speaketh of eating and drinking at his Table in his Kingdom Luke 22.30 And how in the 22 Chapter of this Prophecy Verse 14. they are by an Angel termed happy who keep the Commandments of Christ that they may have a right to the Tree of Life will be found to have more literal truth in it than is commonly believed especially if you add what the Angel saith to John in the Close of this Verse namely that these are the true Sayings of God For this as I intend more largely to discourse in mine Exposition on Chap. 21.5 is all one as if it had been said These are the plain and perspicuous Sayings of God which are to be understood as the words sound As for the Guests invited to this Wedding Supper of the Lamb for as much as they cannot be either the Angels who being meer Servants are no where in the Scripture admitted to such familiarity with Christ nor the married persons themselves who would absurdly be said to be invited to their own Marriage they must needs be the Saints that are here brought in exceedingly rejoycing at this Marriage and consequently such as had formerly been raised from the Dead and then reigned with Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven and so were capable of having a part in the Delicacies of this Feast Vers 10. And I fell at his Feet to worship him And he said unto me See thou do it not I am thy fellow Servant and of thy Brethren that have the Testimony of Jesus Worship God for the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy John is so transported with the favour that the Angel had done him in revealing these sublime Mysteries unto him that he is not able to contain himself but falleth down before his feet and worshippeth him Thus Cornelius being admonished in a Vision to send for Peter who should speak such things unto him whereby both he and his House should be saved is ravisht with the sight of Peter coming to him and adores him Which Instances do teach us thus much that we should hold in high esteem
those persons that are imployed by God to convey unto us the knowledge of divine secrets whereas contrariwise we see it come to pass through the stupidity and wickedness of men who love Darkness rather than Light that such rare Discoverers are in stead of Veneration usually rewarded with envy and reproach yea with Death it self Nevertheless though the Reverence that we give to such as instruct us in the abstruse things of God ought to be great yet must it be kept within its bounds and not intrench upon the Prerogative of God wherefore we see the Angel here forbiddeth John to worship him for that he was his fellow Servant and indeed fellow Servants are not wont to give such Honour one to another and willeth him to worship God their common Master to whom Veneration is one And Peter also in the History aforesaid raiseth up Cornelius who was fallen at this Feer and worshipped him which by the way is sufficient to fill that Man of Rome with confusion of face for ever who pretending to be the Successour of Peter though otherwise as he himself is wont to acknowledge inferiour in gifts and personal excellency doth yet suffer himself to be adored of the People as he is carried in a Throne upon mens shoulders through the Streets yea when he is initiated into his Office is set upon the very Altar to be solemnly worshipped which none can with any color deny to be religious and divine Worship especially if he consider that this Honour is given to him as supposed to be the Vicar of Christ But whereas it is objected that contrary to the practice of this Angel appearing to John in the Revelation we finde that other Angels in the Old Testament when they shewed themselves to the Servants of God permitted themselves to be worshipped as the Angel that exhibited himself to the view of Joshuah as may be seen in the fifth Chapter of his History Verses 13 14 15. I answer that when the Angels received Worship they either represented God having his Name in them as that Angel which with two Companions appeared to Abraham Gen. 18.2 who is therefore called the Lord Verse 13. as also that Angel which went before the Israelites in the Pillar of a Cloud Exod. 14.19 Who hath also the Name of the Lord given to him Verse 24. or at least were endued with singular Authority as that Angel whom Joshua worshipped for he telleth Joshua that he was sent a Captain of the Lord's host Whereas the Angel that here cometh to John doth not appear with Authority much less represent God or Christ but onely in his private capacity and therefore styleth himself no other than a fellow Servant of John and of his Brethren that had the Testimony of Jesus This last Expression wherein certain Men are said to have the Testimony of Jesus and which is also used Chap. 12.17 where it is said The Dragon was wroth with the Woman and men to make War with the Remnant of her Seed which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ would have had some difficulty though such as might by a diligent inquiry been overcome but that the Angel is here pleased to explain it openly affirming that the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy and consequently as we touched before in the Exposition on the 17. Chapter where we shewed the difference between a Saint and a Martyr none is a Witness or Martyr of Christ Jesus but he that is a Prophet which is further confirmed by the 11. Chapter where the two Witnesses are expresly called two Prophets Verse 10. Vers 11. And I saw Heaven opened and behold a white Horse and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True and in Righteousness he doth judge and make War 12. His Eys were as a Flame of Fire and on his Head were many Crowns and he had a Name written that no Man knew but he himself 13. And he was clothed with a Vesture dipt in Blood and his Name is called The Word of God 14. And the Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white Horses clothed in fine Linen white and clean 15. And out of his Mouth goeth a sharp Sword that with it he should smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron and he treadeth the Wine-press of the Fierceness and Wrath of Almighty God 16. And he hath on his Vesture and on his Thigh a Name written King of kings and Lord of lords The opening of the Heaven is a necessary Preparative to the seeing of Christ who residing there cannot otherwise be perceived Thus we finde it to have happened when Christ was pleased to afford a sight of himself to his Martyr Stephen Acts 7.56 who accordingly there cryeth out Behold I see the Heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God But inasmuch as Christ doth here intend to shew himself as the Captain of his people he appeareth not as he did to Stephen standing in the heaven but riding on a Horse as Commanders are wont to do And this Horse is said to be white a colour much used in time of joy and triumph to denote the success and victory of Christ over his Enemies according to what we read Chap. 6.2 where it is said I saw and behold a white Horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given to him and he went forth conquering and to conquer But the victories and triumphs of Christ are not procured by such arts of treachery and falshood as Earthly Commanders too often put in ure little regarding unjust the means be so they may attain the end they have proposed to themselves even the conquest of their Enemies For Christ on the contrary is faithful and true neither making use of a wrong sentence in his Judicature nor of an unjust conflict in his warfare but in both behaving himself according to the exact rules of righteousness as will appear by the judgement that he is about to execute upon the Beast and his followers at the battel of Armageddon Nor marvel therefore if so great uprightness be accompanied with suitable glory and power For the eyes of Christ are said to be like a flame of fire and so able to strike a terrour in all them that look upon his face and on his head are many crowns which implieth the greatness of his dominion extending it self over many kingdoms Yea for his greater dignity he hath a name written to wit upon the crowns for it is absurd to imagine it written upon his head inasmuch as it is covered with his crowns which none knoweth but he himself Wherefore it would be presumption in us to use any means for the finding out of this name For besides the reading after that which cannot be attained we should thereby discover an ambition in us to intrench upon the prerogative of Christ which argueth little reverence towards him If
and he that sitteth upon the horse with his Army on the other side Which last clause clearly sheweth that there shall be an Army in the field siding with Christ and having him for their Captain against which the Kings of the earth do directly bend their force as being capable of hurt For it is inconceiveable that all the kings of the earth should draw their Armies together into the land of Israel to fight against the person of Christ in heaven which should it descend from thence as nevertheless it shall not do until the day of the universal judgement would be altogether impassible Neither can it be said that this Army of Christ consisteth of Angels for to omit the difficulty even now mentioned and which hath place in Angels as well as in Christ the Angels are ranged in several Armies as the fourteenth verse of this Chapter signifieth whereas the Army of Christ here mentioned is but one Again the Angels are in the place aforesaid called the Armies in heaven that followed Christ But his implieth that there is some other Army of his upon the earth even that whereof I now dispute and which must needs consist of the Saints as was also before hinted Chap. 17.14 The Issue of the Battel is here set down in this manner namely that the Kings and their Armies are all slain with the Sword of Christs mouth but the Beast and the false Prophet are taken and thrown alive into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone All which is so plain that it needeth no Interpretation Onely let it by the way be observed that from hence it undeniably followeth that the Beast and the false Prophet are two particular Men otherwise how should they be present at the Battel of Armageddon and there be taken and thrown alive into Hell fire Certainly this doth intimate that they are Men who might as well have been slain as others but were not because as I have before evinced they had been once dead already and were restored again to life to act the things in this Book related of them Which if any one should chance to scrupleat as a thing very uncouth although it be altogether unreasonable so to do for as much as I have before out of the Scripture demonstrated the same let him on the contrary confider with himself how suitable it is that they whose actions are prodigiously wicked and such as were never practised in the World before should likewise in an unusual way be raised up to perform them As for those words in the very Close of this Chapter where it is said that all the Fowls were filled with the Flesh of the slain this argueth that a true and real Battel is here to be understood and that the Exposition which I gave upon the 17. and 18. Verses affirming that all manner of ravenous Birds should flock to the Land of Israel to feed upon the Corpses of slaughtered men is firm and certain so that it would be ridiculous to fasten another sense upon the place Chap. 20. Vers 1 2 3. And I saw an Angel come down from Heaven having the Key of the bottomless Pit and a great Chain in his Hand And he laid hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand Years And cast him into the bottomless Pit and shut him up and set a Seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more till the thousand Years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season The Exposition SAtan that old Serpent so called and here represented because of his subtilty for the Serpent is in the Scripture noted to be the wisest of all the Beasts that God created Gen. 3.1 had now for many thousand Years abused the World at his pleasure and of late knowing his time to be short had vented more than ordinary malice against the Saints in stirring up the Beast to persecute and kill many of them Yea in conclusion he had with his wiles so inveigled the Kings of the Earth that at his instigation they attempted with joint Forces to cut off the remainder of the Saints from being a People Wherefore to prevent the like mischief in the future and to the end that the Saints may enjoy a long Tranquillity after so hot a Persecution an Angel here descendeth from Heaven and with the Chain that is in his Hand bindeth Satan for a thousand Years that he may no more deceive the Nations till the said term be expired At which time though he be again let loose to seduce and instigate the Nations against the Saints yet shall that seduction continue but a little while as the sequel of this Chapter doth declare Certainly the binding of Satan must needs cause so happy a revolution over all the World that we may rather guess at it than comprehend it For consider how peaceable and glorious the Times must needs prove when Satan the great Incendiary of all those Dissentions Outrages and Cruelties wherewith the World is so much infested shall be kept in Prison for a thousand Years together and Men after the Extinction of that Generation in whom Satan had sown the Seeds of Discord shall have no other inward Incentive to sin than the Disposition of their own Heart which though it be naturally evil from their youth yet may it being alone more easily be resisted nor will without the concurrence of Satan produce so grievous Disorders as now it doth This therefore is the time when that shall truly be fulfilled which God so long ago foretold by the Prophet Micah Chap. 4.3 4. where he saith of the Nations that they shall beat their Swords into Plough-shares and their Spears into Pruning-hooks Nation shall not rise against Nation neither shall they learn War any more But they shall sit every man under his Vine and under his Fig-tree and none shall make them afraid for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts hath spoken it But the World now is and hath hither to been so far from enjoying such felicity that I cannot sufficiently wonder how any man who is neither a stranger to the Records of Antiquity nor to the condition of the present times should ever imagine that Satan hath already been bound namely in the Reign of Constantine the Great and so withheld from deceiving the Nations For it is apparent that since the said Emperour ruled as notorious Impostures have been set on foot to delude and blinde the World as are reported to have been hatched in any former Ages Which Impostures we must either confess to have proceeded from Satan and consequently that he hath not yet been bound or most absurdly hold that Men may be as shamefully gulled when Satan hath ceased to seduce them as they were before and so that his labor in this kinde hath hitherto been superfluous Nor need I any difficult reasoning to prove what I even now asserted For to omit others the Mahumetans and Papists
will afford us very evident Instances thereof By the cunning of which two prevailing Factions the Light of the Gospel was for many Ages together since the Reign of Constantine almost extinguished but that now in latter times God taking pity on the miserable condition of his Church hath raised up sundry Reformers who have detected many of those Errours wherewith the Truth had before been obscured and so given a good Essay to the restoring of our holy Faith to its primitive lustre The reason why Satan is cast by the Angel into the bottomless Pit rather than into another place is because many of the evil Spirits have ever since their Fall lain there bound in Chains of Darkness as both the words of Peter Epist 2. Chap. 2.4 where it is said God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell and delivered them into Chains of Darkness to be reserved unto Judgement And also of Jude Verse 6. where it is said The Angels which kept not their first Estate but left their own Habitation he hath reserved in everlasting Chains under Darkness unto the Judgement of the great Day do perspicuously intimate And therefore certain of them who were permitted to range up and down the Earth for the executing of Gods Judgements having entred into a Man of Gadara and being commanded by Christ to come out of him besought Christ that he would not send him into the bottomless Pit for so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by Luke in the Relation of this Story and which is translated in English the Deep ought to be rendred as it is in this 20. Chapter of the Revelation Vers 4. And I saw Thrones and they sat upon them and Judgement was given unto them and I saw the Souls of them that were beheaded for the Witness of Jesus and for the Word of God and which had not worshipped the Beast neither his Image neither had received his Mark upon their Foreheads or in their Hands and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand Years 5. But the rest of the Dead lived not again until the thousand Years were finished This is the first Resurrection 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second Death hath no power but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with him a thousand Years That Thrones are the Seats of Kings is evident enough but who they are that shall sit upon the Thrones here mentioned and have Judgement given into their hands is neither of it self evident nor here expressed so that we should be at a great loss to finde it out were it not that Daniel speaking of this matter as I have before in the Exposition of the 17. Chapter of this Prophecy evinced saith that Judgement was given to the Saints of the most High Chap. 7.22 It is the Saints therefore that are invested with the Right of Judicature and placed on the Thrones after the Defeat of the Beast and the Binding of Satan Neither ought this Kingdom to be expected till these two miraculous Events have made way for it Wherefore as they are exceedingly mistaken and fear not to gainsay the plain Words of the Scripture who hold that there shall be no fifth Kingdom or Kingdom of the Saints here on Earth when in the mean time an Angel expresly telleth Daniel Chap. 7.27 that the Kingdom and Dominion and the greatness of the Kingdom under the whole Heaven shall be given to the People of the Saints of the most High So are they no less out of the way who dream of any humane Force to be used in the Erection of this Kingdom For this would be to transform the People of the Saints into a Company of Thieves and Robbers But as the rise and fall of the Beast the binding of Satan and setting up of the Kingdom of the Saints here on Earth are great and marvellous Works falling out in the Age here spoken of so also is the first Resurrection whereof all they shall be Partakers and so reign with Christ in heaven who being either Prophets for none but such have the Testimony of Jesus or meer Saints do suffer Death for refusing to worship the Beast For John plainly testifieth that onely such are raised up from the Dead to reign with Christ the thousand Years as were for their Piety in the Reign of the Beast beheaded or smitten with the Ax as the Greek word signifieth Which Expression doth either intimate that the Beast shall both in Judicature as the Romans his Ancestors were wont to do also in War make use of such a Weapon as an Ax to kill the Saints as we find in the Scripture that Nebuchadnezzar did to slay the Egyptians Jer. 40.22 where it is said The voice thereof that is of Egypt shall go like a Serpent for they shall march with an Army and come against her with Axes as Hewers of Wood or else under the most frequent and noted kinde of slaughter that shall be in use at that time all other ways of inflicting Death upon the Saints are comprehended For what reason can be imagined why those Saints that are put to Death with the Ax should share in the first Resurrection rather than such as are dispatched with some other Instrument of cruelty But lest any one should think this Doctrine of the first Resurrection taken according to the Letter of the holy Text to be strange though to me it seemeth more strange that Christians should scruple at a thing so plainly and punctually set down in the Scripture for they may as well call into question whatsoever is here spoken concerning the Resurrection that is to be afterwards at the last Day and to which this Resurrection is opposed go to let us confirm this precious Truth so much encouraging Christians to lay down their Lives for the Gospel by other passages taken out of this Book of the Revelation where such an anticipated Resurrection is held forth as belonging both to those Saints that suffer Death under the Reign of the Beast and also to those that dy for Christ and the Gospel at any time whatsoever First therefore it is in the 11. Chapter said of the two Witnesses who are expresly there called Prophets and so must needs be two Men since none but Men are in the Scripture termed Prophets that after they had been slain by the Beast and their dead Bodyes lyen unburied three Days and an half in the Streets of Jerusalem for not Rome but Jerusalem is the great City where Christ was slain The Spirit of Life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet From which words it is undeniably manifest that the two Witnesses are raised from the Dead whilest the Beast reigneth What hinders then but that the other Prophets and Saints put to Death by him may likewise be restored to Life presently after his Defeat as this 20. Chapter doth in
that when in the 7. Verse of the 19. Chapter mention had been made of the Lambs Wife it is in the following Verse subjoyned that it was to her granted that she should be arrayed in fine Linen clean and white For the fine Linen is the Righteousness of the Saints So that the Scripture it self thereby directeth us by the Lambs Wife in the said place to understand the Church howbeit not the Church abiding on the Earth of which the Adversaries speak but reigning with Christ in Heaven whereas when in the ninth Verse of this 21. Chapter the Angel promiseth to shew unto John the Lambs Wife he presently after presents to his view a great City descending out of Heaven from God Which doth sufficiently teach us that by the Lambs Wife here is not as formerly meant the Church but a very City wherein the Saints shall hereafter dwell For though the Wife of Christ doth by a more exact Metaphor signifie the Church yet doth not this hinder but that by a less exact one the City also to which the Church hath relation may be signified by the same yea nothing is more usual in the Scripture as I have before proved than to represent Cities under the notion of Women Thus we saw that the polluted and foul City of Rome was called an Harlot Chap. 17. why then may not that holy and undefiled City the new Jerusalem be styled the Lambs Wife By this means we come to the right understanding of that passage Gal. 4.26 The Jerusalem that is above is free which is the Mother of us all For in as much as the heavenly Jerusalem is not onely inseparably annexed to Christ but also at his disposal and so elegantly called his Wife she must needs be the Mother of all Christians who are both regenerated by the proposal thereof and designed to be the Inhabitants of the same In the next place he saith that the Angel carried him away in the spirit to a great and high Mountain from whence a fairer Prospect might be had and shewed him that great City the holy Jerusalem descending out of Heaven from God The beauty and excellency whereof he doth describe first in saying that it had the glory of God And lest any one should think that the glory of God which doth enlighten the new Jerusalem was like to the dazzling and offensive splendour of the Sun upon whom neither are Men able to look nor endure his heat John telleth us that the Luminary thereof so the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth is like unto a stone most precious even a Jasper-stone clear as Crystall which casteth a most chearing light on such as behold it 2. He saith that it hath a great and high Wall wherein are twelve Gates and at the Gates twelve Angels and names written thereon which are those of the twelve Tribes of the Children of Israel Three of which Gates look towards the East and three towards the North three towards the South and three towards the West All which is so plain that it needeth no Interpretation Onely let it be observed how God vouchsafeth to the Israelites especial honour above any other Nation under Heaven as having inscribed the names of the twelve Patriarchs from whom their several Tribes are denominated upon the Gates of the heavenly Jerusalem From whence it may be collected that God ordained those Patriarchs to Salvation from the beginning For it would be ridiculous to imagine that God would write the names of such men on the Gates of the heavenly Jerusalem as were not to have any portion therein And this affordeth another collection whereby that is confirmed which we formerly discoursed upon the 8. Verse of the 17. Chapter that all who are to inherit the heavenly Jerusalem were by name appointed thereunto from the Foundation of the World For what reason is conceivable why God should in this manner design the twelve Patriarchs and not likewise all the rest of the Citizens By such an account all would not be alike beholding to God for their Salvation which is absurd 3. He saith that the Wall of the City hath twelve Foundations whereon are written the names of the Lambs twelve Apostles Here therefore what I even now noted touching the Inscription of mens names upon the Gates of the heavenly Jerusalem doth not onely recurre but is also very much confirmed seeing the Scripture doth elsewhere plainly teach that the Apostles are to be saved For Christ saith unto them Luke 22.28 29. Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations and I appoint unto you a Kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me So that the Doctrine touching the Ordination of a certain number of men by name to eternal life from the Foundation of the World seemeth by these two Instances to be clearly proved Vers 15. And he that talked with me had a golden Reed to measure the City and the Gates thereof and the Wall thereof 16. And the City lieth four-square and the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the City with the Reed twelve thousand Furlongs the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal The Description of the City still goeth on for to the end we might know the dimensions thereof the Angel that here talks with John having a golden Reed in his hand doth measure both the City it self and also the Gates together with the Wall thereof But for as much as the highness of the Gates is not afterwards set down we must needs remain ignorant thereof and ought to content our selves with the measure of the Wall wherein it is contained The City therefore lying four-square for that is the fittest Figure for rest as Roundness best agreeth with Motion is twelve thousand Furlongs broad twelve thousand long and twelve thousand high which after the proportion of eight Furlongs to a Mile maketh fifteen hundred Miles every way and therefore it might well above be called the great City And indeed the compass thereof ought to be very large in that it is to contain all the Faithful that ever were from the beginning of the World to the end thereof As for the Wall it is a hundred forty four Cubits after the Cubit of a Man in whose similitude the Angel here appeareth But the Cubit of an ordinary man from the elbow to the top of the middle finger is accounted half a yard and so the Wall is seventy two yards But in as much as it is not here expressed whether this measure pertaineth to the height or to the thickness thereof for as for the length it must needs be greater than that of the City it self which the Wall doth encompass it will be best to refer it unto both and so to reckon the Wall seventy two yards high and as many broad By which means that will be verified which was before spoken of it namely that it was great and high The matter whereof this Wall is made