of the natural Moon and Stars it is their proper place when they shine to give light in the night But I have spoken more of the Moon in The interpretation of the Eleventh of the Revelation therefore I shall speak no more of it here Onely this to remind the Seed of Faith what great judgements did ensue upon the sounding of this fourth Angel Persecution of the Gospel persecution of the Law and destruction of the Jews which were the Stars These things were at the sounding of the fourth Angel You whose understandings are inlightned may see what hath followed upon the sounding of the Trumpet of these four Angels And how this fourth Angel it sounded half upon the Law of Moses and half upon the Gospel of Jesus So that now there is three Angels more to sound and great woes will follow upon it As it is said in the last verse of this chapter Woe woe woe to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of the Trumpets of the three Angels that are yet to sound So that there will follow a great woe upon the sounding of these three Angels Which I shall unfold in order as they follow in the next chapter So I shall say no more of this I having given the interpretation in short of all the chief things of concernment in the eighth chapter CHAP. XXVI CHapter the nineth At the sounding of the fifth Angel in the first verse John saw a Star fall from heaven unto the earth and to him was given the Key of the bottomless pit Now this Star that fell from heaven unto the earth it was that beast or king that did arise out of the Sea which is spoken of Revel the 13 chapter and the first verse This beast was one of Herods the Dragons sons and the next beast that did arise after him And this beast he was like a Leopard and he had seven heads and ten horns and the Dragon gave him his power and authority And this beast had Crowns upon his ten horns And upon his heads the name of blasphemy So that he was furnished with the Dragons power and authority and his blasphemy to despise the living God and to persecute the Saints as his father the Dragon did when he persecuted Christ at his birth and made war with the remnant of his seed So that this beast which arose out of the Sea he may be said to be a Star that fell from heaven unto the earth because he was one of the Dragons sons For John saith he saw a wonder in heaven a great red Dragon that persecuted the woman which red Dragon was no other but Herod And this Star which fell from heaven unto the earth it was Herods first-born son therefore called a Star that fell from heaven unto the earth It is said to fall from heaven because this Star was of the same seed or nature as the Dragon was of For it is said by John that he saw a wonder in heaven a great red Dragon this red Dragon is said to be in heaven Because he had the spirit or seed of the fallen Angel in him in a great and extraordinary measure Which Angel was first in heaven he being created an Angel of light but was thrown down unto this earth when he deceived Eve Neither did that Angel that deceived her ever ascend up into heaven again to this day nor never shall But Herod and his sons and all wicked kings and rulers they being of the fallen Angels seed they may be said to fall from heaven And they being of his seed they may be called a Dragon and Satan a Serpent a Devil and Stars Though they act several ways yet all from one root that is from one seed even from the spirit or seed of the fallen Angel as aforesaid Therefore if any Head-magistrate or man doth act after the manner of a Dragon he may be said to be a Dragon as Herod And if any man act after the manner of a subtile serpent as those Jews did that tempted Christ they may be called Serpents And if any man act the part of a devil as Judas did he may be called a devil And if any king doth act as a Star that burneth like a Lamp or more worse this Star did that fell at the sounding of the fifth angel they may be called Stars that fal from heaven unto the earth Because as I said before the original or father of all wickedness even the fallen Angel he was thrown down from heaven unto this earth And the Dragon Serpent Devil and Stars they being of his seed they may be said by the Revelation of John to fall from heaven unto this earth For when the Angel was thrown down from heaven unto this earth his seed was all thrown down unto this earth with him And this earth hath and is the devils kingdom ever since and will be to the end of the world And in this sense it may be said that this Star fell from heaven unto the earth and to him that is unto this Star was given the Key of the bottomless pit And in the second verse it is said And he opened the bottomless pit and there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace and the Sun and the Air were darkned by reason of the smoke of the pit This bottomless pit here spoken of it is the imagination of reason in man for the imagination of mans heart is continually evil or bottomless or topless That is the imagination of Reason cannot finde out what God is nor where he is nor what the devil is nor where he is notwithstanding he is the devil himself That is the spirit of Reason which is the soul of man is the devil and the imaginations that proceeds from it is that bottomless pit the Scriptures speaketh of It is bottomless because it is eteenal for that which is eternal hath no end therefore no bottom so called by the Spirit A bottomless pit and he that had the key of the bottomless pit was the Star aforesaid The meaning is this He may be said to open the bottomless pit in that he had power given him to command the dark reason and imaginations of the idolatrous peoples hearts to come forth to fight for his Crown and Dignity and for the Image and Worship which he did set up Now he had power given him of the Angel of the bottomless pit that is from the fallen Angel aforesaid He being the Angel of the bottomless pit as it is said in the eleventh verse of this Chapter And they had a King over them which is the Angel of the bottomless pit whose name is Abaddon c. Now I would have the Reader to understand that from this king the Angel of the bottomless pit did Herod the Dragon receive his power He being that beast that did ascend out of the bottomless pit which is spoken of in the eleventh Chapter of the Revelation which
which Land there is the light of Faith whereby they may see the way to that eternal light of Glory where no sad or melancholly thought shall arise to darken the light of peace joy and everlasting glory So on the contrary the Land of Egypt it signifies that hell and darkness of the minde So that all those who know not the true God nor his true Worship they are in that spiritual darkness in their mindes as the Egyptians were who gnawed their tongues for pain Even so will it be with all those wicked beasts who have and do set up Images and Idols of gold wood and stone or any false worship whatsoever contrary to Moses the Apostles and the two Witnesses of the Spirit I say all those that worship contrary to these three Commissions they are in that spiritual Egyptian darkness in their mindes whilest they are here in this world And this darkness in their spirits it will lead them to that eternal dark night when as no light shall appear for ever That is no motion of peace or hope of deliverance shall arise in their mindes for ever and ever And then shall this Beast and all that received his mark name or number of his name gnaw their tongues for pain to eternity For this Vial or Plague is poured out upon the seat of the beast then of necessity it will follow that all that worship according to his command will have the Vial of darkness poured out upon them also So much for the interpretation of the fifth Vial and of the tenth Verse CHAP. LI. I Shall pass by the eleventh and come to the twelfth verse And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great river Euphrates and the waters thereof was dried up that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared This great river Euphrates was in the Land of Canaan where those four Angels was bound as I shewed before And as those four Angels were loosed at the sounding of the Trumpet of the sixth Angel so at the pouring out of the sixth Vial this great river Euphrates must be dryed up Now this great river Euphrates it signifies all the rivers and fountains of waters in the whole world in the natural That is to say at the end of the world God will pour out his vial of wrath upon all rivers and fountains of waters so that they shall be dryed up so that the thirst of man and beast shall not be quenched this will God do in the natural Also God will pour out his vial of wrath upon the spiritual estate of man even upon the great spiritual river Euphrates that is upon all the souls and consciences of wicked idolatrous persecuting men and women all the world over That is the waters of their souls shall be dryed up so that no motion of peace shall arise or spring from their souls to quench the thirst of sin then no more then there did to Dives the rich man who being in hell wanted one drop of cold water to cool his tongue But the river of his soul that did run with motions of peace in his natural life it was now dryed up so that no drop of cold water could be had That is not one motion of peace or hope could arise in his spirit it being dryed up by the wrath of God being poured out upon the river of his soul So that the souls or spirits of all wicked persecuting idolatrous people all the world over maybe called in the spiritual the great river Euphrates and the vial of Gods wrath being poured out upon the spirits of those people aforesaid it doth dry up all the waters of their souls That is all their peace so that no hope of eternal happiness can arise in them For all hope is dryed up so that there is no motion of peace can arise in their souls to quench the fire of hell in them for all the waters are dryed up in their souls and this is that great spiritual river Euphrates spoken of by John Whose waters thereof are dryed up for the peace of the minde of man is called in Scriptures Water as Christ saith He that believes in me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water So likewise Christ said to the woman of Samaria if thou hadst asked me I would have given thee water of Life and it should be in thee a well springing up unto eternal life So that there is spiritual waters that doth spring out of the soul of man as there is natural waters that doth spring out of the earth or out of the rocks And these spiritual waters doth satisfie the spirit of man in its kinde as the natural waters doth in its kinde And as there is a spiritual water that doth proceed from the Seed of Faith so likewise there is a spiritual water that doth proceed from the seed of reason in man And this water that doth proceed or arise from the seed of reason it doth give great satisfaction to the minde of man Now these spiritual waters that doth arise from the seed of reason are called by the spirit the great river Euphrates And this is that river Euphrates that the sixth Angel poured out his vial upon and dryed up all the waters as aforesaid Not but that the natural river Euphrates which signifies all the rivers in the world will be dryed up also Onely this book of the Revelation of John it hath generally a two fold meaning that is to say a spiritual meaning and a temporal meaning So that both the great river Euphrates in the temporal and the great river Euphrates in the spiritual the waters of them both will be dryed up at the end of time which thing will be unexpressible sad to all those who have no water of Life in their souls to drink It is said by the spirit of John that this great river Euphrates was dryed up that the way of the Kings of the east might be prepared Now what these Kings of the east are is very necessary to know These Kings of the East I declare they are all good Kings further I declare that Christ the King of Heaven is said to come out of the East as you may read Math. 2.2 3 verses Where the wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying where is he that is born King of the Jews for we have seen his Star in the East and are come to worship him So that this Jesus the King of the Jews he is called the King of the East because his Star in the East directed the wise men to finde him out that they might worship him Now this is to be minded by the Reader that Prophets Apostles and Saints they are called by the Spirit Kings and Priests unto God as the Scripture saith So that all Prophets Apostles and true Believers may be called Kings And seeing the King of Kings came out of the East these all following him in the same steps of faith and
patience they are called by the Spirit Kings of the east So that Christ his Prophets Apostles and Saints are those Kings of the East who have the aforesaid waters dryed up that the way for these Kings of the East might be prepared That is there is no natural rivers upon earth that shall hinder or keep from being dryed up neither temporal nor spiritual For the vial of Gods wrath it will dry up all the rivers of waters upon earth natural and all rivers of waters spiritual when Christ shall come in the clouds of heaven with all his Saints the Kings of the East to put an end to this bloody persecuting unbelieving world And to dry up all the waters of peace in mens souls And the Kings of the East by their faith and patience shall walk upon the waters of wicked persecuting mens souls as upon dry ground That is the Kings of the East shall rejoyce in the eternal destruction of their enemies even as their enemies did over them when they persecuted and put them to death So that the way that is the hearts of the Saints enemies may be as a way for the Kings of the East to tread and trample upon all that joy peace and comfort that the Dragon beast and false prophet had when they persecuted the Saints Which Saints are the Kings of the East and that faith and patience the Saints had it prepared themselves to suffer with chearfulness the persecution and death it self So that the waters of the great river Euphrates even the waters of their persecutors souls was dryed up that the Kings of the East that is the Saints might be prepared to fight that good fight of Faith as the Saints did in the time of the Ten Persecutions So much for the interpretation of the twelfth verse CHAP. LII VErse the thirteenth And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs came out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet These three unclean spirits like frogs they are said to come out of the mouthes of three several persons to wit the Dragon beast and false prophet yet these three proceed all from one spirit even the spirit of the fallen Angel or as I may say the spirit of Cain that Dragon-devil who was the first murderer And the spirit of Cain remaining in the seed it bringeth forth many Dragon-devils like himself So that all Dragon-devils make up but one Dragon and so all wicked beasts make up but one wicked beast so all false prophets and false priests or false speakers they make up but one false prophet Now they are called three unclean spirits like frogs in regard of the threefold operations and workings of them For they proceeded from that one spirit of reason the devil Onely this one spirit of reason it doth work three several ways and by three several persons yet all three of them were like frogs They were all alike for wicked idolatry and persecution of the Saints and to deceive the people 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 as in the 14 verse of this chapter So that these three spirits like frogs that came out of the Dragons mouth and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet They were to go forth to all the Kings of the earth and not onely so but to all great men in the whole world to invite them to persecute and to fight against the Saints with a sword of steel and with other cruel deaths When as the Saints had no other weapons of war but those that were spiritual to wit the sword of the spirit the shield of faith the helmet of salvation these and such like weapons of war the Saints do fight withal But the Dragon beast and false prophet they by their councel power and authority did invite all the kings of the earth and of the whole world to fight against the Lord Jesus and the remnant of the Seed of Faith who are the Saints With persecution and death as aforesaid with carnal weapons and inventions of cruel deaths as the Scriptures and History doth make mention of But the Revelation of John gave him to see that the last battel that will be fought between God Almighty and the dragon beast and false prophet it will be at the end of the world That is Jesus Christ he is God Almighty he and his Saints and Angels shall fight with the dragon beast and false prophet and with all the Kings of the whole world And he and his Saints shall give them an utter overthrow that is an eternal overthrow so that the dragon beast and false prophet with all the adherents unto them shall be destroyed with a second death which shall burn as a lake of fire for even and ever CHAP. LIII IT will be necessary to open something more of the dragon beast and false prophet and of those three unclean spirits like frogs that came out of their mouths The Reader may remember that I shewed before that there was many dragons since Cain yet all counted by the spirit but one dragon and so of the beast and false prophet all are included into one Now this dragon spoken of he is meant the same great red dragon spoken of in the 12. of the Revelation who persecuted the woman namely Herod though there was many dragons after him yet it is called all but one dragon they being all partakers of the same spirit and acted in the same persecution of the Saints So likewise that beast that did arise out of the Sea with seven heads and ten horns as in the thirteenth chapter verse the first Is that beast spoken of here by the spirit though there was divers other beasts after him yet they acting by the same spirit of persecution of the Saints they are all called by the spirit but one beast So likewise the false prophet is meant that government of worship that was established upon the Chief or High-priests of the nations so that there was a spiritual government of worship which did belong to those Images and Idols that was set up by the Power and Authority of the Beast As all Forms of Worships let them be true or false there must be some particular Head as Aaron was High-priest of the Worship of the Law and Christ the Head of the Gospel Worship yet there was many more High-priests besides Aaron yet all called but Aaron the High-priest Even so it was with the false prophet the same spirit of idolatry and persecution for conscience sake for not submitting to worship the beast and his image it did run thorow the spirits of all the false priests as it did in him that was the chief who was set up by the power of the beast at the
sense upon the words of this Prophecy even what their imaginations doth dictate unto them they being uncertain in themselves that what they say to be true So that who ever doth take upon him to be a Minister of the Gospel to interprete the Scriptures without a Commission from God or that knowledge aforesaid I say such men as those may be said to add unto the words of the Prophecy of this Book of the Revelation and not only so but to the whole Book of the Scriptures For all men that do undertake to be Ministers and Preachers of Christ without a Commission from him they not being sent by him these men onely are those that do add unto the Prophecy of this Book that is they add their own vain thoughts and conceivings of their own imaginations unto the truths of God So that in stead of the true meaning of the Scriptures the people have nothing else but the Preachers thoughts and conceivings of the Scriptures and so are altogether unsatisfied in their spirits and these are those men that do add unto the Prophecy of this Book of the Revelation and to the Book of the Scriptures So in like manner will God add unto him or them the plagues that are written in this Book Now what these plagues are they are spoken of in this Book The plagues that shall be added unto them are spiritual that is to say spiritual darkness upon the minde here and the fear of the second death so that the soul of man shall possess the second death which shall burn as a lake of fire and brimstone in utter darkness where is weeping and gnashing of teeth to eternity These are those spiritual plagues that God will add to all those men that go to be Preachers of his Gospel and were not sent by him for they onely do add unto the Prophecy of this Book So that the Reader may see what a dangerous thing it is for a man to take upon him to prophesie preach or teach as a Messenger of Christ without a Commission from him For who ever doth so he doth add his own vain thoughts and imaginations in the Scriptures of those Heavenly Secrets Mysteries and Visions declared by holy men who were inspired by the holy Ghost or the revelation of Faith to write those things aforesaid yet men by their own imaginations by the gift of Learning and by the natural wisdom of Reason will undertake to interprete Scriptures and to be Preachers to others without a Commission from God and without any true knowledge of God And so these men do come to add other Interpretations of their own conceivings unto the Scriptures which is contrary to the mind of that Spirit that writ them and so they become capable to receive of those plagues that are written in this Book as aforesaid CHAP. LXXXII ALso I would have the Reader to know that the same men that do add their conceivings unto this book the same sort of men do take away from the words of this Book of this Prophecy They may be said to take away from it in that they will not suffer any true Interpreter to expound the meaning of the words of the Prophecy of that Book of the Revelation or any other Scriptures onely this some mens mindes are acted out one way and some another some men so they may be suffered to speak their own phantasies upon the Scriptures so as to please themselves and their Hearers that is they care not how much they add to this Book not minding to take any thing from it It is not their principles to take any thing from the Scriptures but their delight is altogether to add their vain conceptions conceiving the meaning thus and thus But he that taketh away from this Book is such a one that will not suffer the true Interpretation of the Scriptures nor of this Book of the Revelation because the true Interpretation of the Scriptures overthroweth all the Principles of Religion in the world So that if truth should be suffered to have freedom in the world then all the old Principles of Religion that have been received in the world so many hundred years by the Pope and others they would quite fall to the ground So that there is a necessity that there should be a number of men to add unto this Book and a number of men to take away from it For true revelation always had some to add to it and some to take from it so that he that taketh from it God will take his part out of the Book of Life and out of the holy City and from the things which are written in this Book The meaning is this that as they would not suffer no true Interpretation of the Scriptures to abide in the world but would take it quite away both the Interpretation and the Interpreter also So in like manner God will take his part out of the Book of Life and out of the holy City so that he shall have no part in that glory and everlasting life which is written of in this Book of the Revelation That is he thought by taking away from the words of this book that is by his persecuting the true Interpretation of it that he did God good service even as he did that added to it for he that adds unto it as aforesaid doth think he doth God good service So in like manner he that taketh from it as aforesaid that persecutes true Revelation and true Interpretation he doth think he doth God good service in so doing and so he thinks to have a part in the Book of Life and to be one of the members of the holy City and to have a right to that glory and happiness that is written in this Book when as alas alas he is one of them that hath taken away from the Prophecy of this Book by persecuting the true Interpretation of it so that God hath taken away that part he thought he had in the Book of Life and that confidence he had in being a member of the holy City and of the glory hereafter I say all these things will God take away from those men that doth take away from the words of the Prophecy of this book of the Scriptures and more especially this book of the Revelation of Saint John This is the true meaning of the Spirit in adding and taking away from this Book of Johns Revelation Oh where is there a man hardly to be found but he is guilty of one of these two either to add or to take away from this mysterious book of the Revelation of John So that the Reader may see what the Spirit doth mean by adding and taking away and who they are that doth this for this is to be considered that no man can interpret the Scriptures truly but he that is chosen and sent of God as Moses and Aaron Peter and Paul and us the Witnesses of the Spirit Also none can interpret the Scriptures truly but those that have the same Spirit as those had that spake the Scriptures that spirit can trace the steps of God Almighty in those three paths which God hath walked in Those three parths are Gods three Commissions or three Records on earth to wit the Water Blood and Spirit so that no Commissionated man of God can be said either to add to or diminish from the word of God for he is chosen of God to reveal the mysteries of the kingdom unto his chosen ones which mysteries are hidden in that letter So that the messengers of God they shall be punished of God if they will not go forth to declare the mysteries of his kingdom but on the contrary if men go are not sent of God they are punished of God for going before they were sent and in going before they are sent they do add and take away from the Scriptures and from this book of the Revelation for they being not chosen nor sent of God they do not know the true meaning of the Scriptures so they not knowing the truth of them they add their own conceits and senses upon them and diminish and take away the true Interpreter by persecution and will not suffer it to abide in the world lâ—st their own principles should fall by it and this is the true meaning of the Spirit and what is meant by adding and taking away from the words of the prophecy of this book of the Revelation of St. John I thought it something necessary to open these two verses because it hath been a thing common in most peoples mouths when they have heard the interpretation of Scriptures with many deep Secrets opened and many heavenly Mysteries revealed which never was revealed before or that hath not been commonly known amongst Religious people they have seemed hard sayings So that men have cryed out O Blasphemy or else say I have added to the word of God or if the interpretation doth differ from the common received opinion or interpretation Then they will say I take away from the word of God yet they know not what it is to add or to take away from it therefore I have opened these two verses in the last chapter and the last verses but one of the Revelation of St. John that the Seed of Faith may know what it is and who they are that add and diminish the words of the prophecy of this book aforesaid and who it is that doth not add nor diminish but doth give the true interpretation of all the deep secrets and hidden mysteries of the whole book of the Revelation And now last of all what it is to add and take away with the joy and glory of them that doth not add nor diminish thereunto with the plagues shame and misery of all those that doth add thereunto or diminish there from So much for the Interpretation of all the chief Head and hard sayings in the whole book of the Revelation of St. John and the conclusion of this Epistle Lodowick Muggleton FINIS
A TRUE INTERPRETATION OF All the Chief TEXTS and Mysteriouâ— SAYINGS and VISIONS opened of the whole Book of the REVELATION of St. JOHN Whereby is unfolded and plainly declared those wonderful deep Mysteries and Visions interpreted concerning the true God the Alpha and Omega With variety of other Heavenly Secrets which hath never been opened nor revealed to any man since the Creation of the World to this day until now By Lodowick Muggleton one of the 〈◊〉 last Commissionated Witnesses Prophetâ— of the onely high immortal glorious God CHRIST JESUS Printed in the Year of our Lord 1665. for the Author 〈◊〉 Muggleton in Great Trinity-Lane London near the Sigâ— of the Lyon and Lamb. The Epistle to the Reader I Had thoughts when I writ The Interpretation of the eleventh of the Revelation to have written no more Books thinking in my self that there was sufficient mysteries written to have satisfied the spirit of any man as well as my self who came to understand the mysteries of the true God and the right devil as I my self did And because those heavenly things there treated upon were so strange neither did I ever finde or read such a kinde of language not in all the ancient Fathers writings and all who have undertaken to interpret the Scriptures and especially this book of the Barâ—â—â—tion of Saint John In all my zeal in religion which was very great I found no satisfaction neither in their writings nor in their preaching which 〈◊〉 an evident sign to me that those Preachers and Writers were not sent of God For certainly if they had I should have found rest there and so would many more but I see all our preachers and teachers of all opinions in religion they did and do come short of the glory of God in that none of them hath or can declare unto the people neither by writing nor speaking what the true God is in his form and nature nor the right devil his form and nature not with all their wisdom of reason and great learning and study of the Scriptures When as to know God is life eternal so that I know now by experience that there is a great deal of difference between knowledge and thinking I know For true knowledge it gives satisfaction to the spirit of man and who ever knoweth the true God must needs know the right devilâ— And can a man be more satisfied in his minde then he that knâ—â—â— the true God and the right devil for by this knowledge the spirit of man hath peace with God Also he knowing the devil where he is and what he is he i◠〈◊〉 afraid of him for the great trouble that lieth almost upon all 〈◊〉 and womens spirits is they know not God therefore they do not love God but fear his anger they do not know And as for the devil they fear him to be some spirit flying in the air even a fiction of their own brain The imagination of reason thorow its ignorance hath created such a devil to it self that the fear of it hath caused many men and women to looseÌ„ their wits When as indeed and in truth there is no devil but men and women neither doth any devil commit fornication neither temporal nor spiritual with idols but men and women neither doth any devil persecute and kill the Saints or others but men and women so that there is no other devil to be damned to eternity but men women So that this is to be minded that all the Scriptures as they were spoken by the holy Prophets and Apostles they were spoken to men and women that is to Saint and devil for the Scriptures were spoken to none but to these two And these two are men both Saint and devil and yet all the Interpreters of Scriptures cannot find what the devil is nor where he is And if they were well examined they would hardly find where and who are Saints And all this ignorance that lieth upon the spirits of men and women that produceth the trouble of mind or that non-satisfaction it is because the teachers of the people are ignorant and blind themselves in the knowedge of the true God and the right devil and of the true interpretation of the Scriptures So the mysteries of the Kingdom of eternal Glory is hid from their eyes so that they have not satisfaction in themselves nor the people that hear them so that whilst they preach to others they themselves are cast-aways or as Christ saith The blind leads the blind and both fall into the ditch of eternal perdition Yet I confess they cannot help it for it is the instinct of nature for the spirit of reason in man to go to preach before he be sent And it is the instinct and nature of the Spirit of Faith not to be willing to go on Gods Messages when he is sent of God This I can experience to be truth in my self for I was the unwillingest man in the world to be publick either in temporal things or in spiritual matters so that I was forced by a curse from the Lord if I would not go But now I see the same curse did God lay upon all Prophets and Messengers whom he had chose if they should not obey to go where God would send them witness Moses Jeremiah and divers other Prophets and as the Witnesses of the Spirit So that I would have the Reader to understand thus much thaâ— where a true Minister is he is sent of God and the doctrine he doth bring it giveth satisfaction unto himself and to all those that doth truly receive it So on the contrary that Minister that is not sent of God his Doctrine doth neither satisfie himself nor him that receives him tâ—â—â— most peoples experience can witness unto Else as Samuel said to Saul What meaneth the lowing of the â—â—en and the bleating of the sheep in mine ears So in like manner if men were true Messengers of Christ what meaneth the horror and torment of Conscience and the fear of eternal damnation in the souls both of Minister and people This many a Minister and hearer of them can witness unto And all is because they were not sent of God for it is counted as great a sin to run before a man is sent of God as it is not to go when he is sent which sin is called rebellion which is as bad as the sin of witchcraft I speak this onely that the Reader the Seed of Faith may see the difference between those Messengers that are not sent of God and their Doctrine from those that are sent of God and their Doctrine and see which will satisfie the spirit best for I know some hath tasted of both therefore they can tell best For this is to be minded that every true Prophet or Messenger of Christ can trace the footsteps of God in the Scriptures for the Scriptures are the paths for Gods Spirit to walk in and the paths of God are but three paths to
wit the three Records in earth Water Blood and Spirit That is to say the Commission of Moses the Commission of Jesus and the Apostles and the Commission of the Spirit these are the three paths which God doth walk thorow which every Commissionated Prophet could finde out God in that path he walked in Thus when Gods Spirit walked thorow the Law of Moses that being the path for Gods Spirit to walk in the Prophets afterwards did finde him out in that worship of the Law So likewise when Gods Spirit did walk in the path of the Gospel the Apostles did finde him out in the Gospel and could trace his â—tep in the paths of the Law So that the Apostles found God out in those two paths aforesaid Thirdly The Witnesses of the Spirit have found God out in all his three paths as thus 1. The Prophets kept close to the worship of the Law of Moses and therein they found God 2. The Apostles kept close to the worship of the Gospel and therein they found God 3. The Witnesses of the Spirit keeps close to the worship of God in Spirit and truth These three Records on earth are the three paths for God to walk in and who ever doth walk in them shall finde him Onely I would have the Seed of Faith to minde what advantage one Commission hath over another the Commission of the Gospel had great advantage of those in the Law In that the Apostles knew the path of the Law and the path of the Gospel also so that they had proofs from Moses and the Prophets that they were chosen to bear witness unto Jesus and that worship set up by them when as Moses had no books to proof he was chosen of God but he had the power of miracles to prove he was sent of God and the Prophets after him had his writings to prove that God had appeared to Moses so that the Prophets could go no further then Moses and he that could trace the steps of God until he came to Moses he was sure to finde God there but if any man went any further he could never finde God at all So that the Apostles advantage was great in that they had two paths to walk in when as the Prophets had but one for the Prophets in their time did see that God would become flesh and the Apostles did see that God is become flesh so that their advantage was great Thirdly The Commission of the Spirit hath advantage above them both in this respect in that the worship of the Spirit is spiritual without any outward ordinances so that the Spirit of Faith or revelation can walk thorow the path of the Law and can finde that God was there but he is not there now Secondly This Commission of the Spirit can walk thorow the worship of the Apostles and do finde that God was there but he is not there now Thirdly So that God is walking now in the third path or third record on earth even the Commission of the Spirit and there is no 〈◊〉 for any man to finde God but there for there is the knowledge of the true God and the true Interpretation of the Scriptures so that this Commission of the Spirit it hath a great advantage of the other two aforesaid in that the knowledge of the Spirit is a higher knowledge then that of the Prophets and Apostles and the Interpretation of Scripture more abundant then either Prophet or Apostle and more especially the interpretation of heavenly visions For this the Seed of Faith may minde that heavenly visions are hard to utter by those men that see them but it is more hard for a man to interpret that which he never saw for any mans reason would tell him that it was more easie for Pharaoh and Beltesâ—azzar to tell their dreams and visions on their heads then it was for Joseph and Dauid to interpret their dreams Yet this gift was given them of God so to do So likewise God hath given us the chosen Witnesses of the Spirit more knowledge in the Scriptures then all the men in the world at this day and not onely so but God hath given me the gift of Râ—â—â—lation and Interpretation of many Visions and Revelations in the â—â—â—â—ptures of truth and more especially in this Book of the Revelation of Saint John Which book doth consist of little else but heavenly Revelation and spiritual will be which if the Seed of Faith doth but minde they will finde in this Treatise all the most considerable Revelations and Visions and mystical sayings in the Book of Johns Revelation opened and interpreted So that who ever doth truly understand the interpretation of them may receive much satisfaction as to discourse in the Scripture language with any learned man in the world that speaks the English tongue And not onely so but much satisfaction will arise from the true understanding of it to their eternal peace joy and glory hereafter And though I had thoughts as aforesaid to write no more Books after the 〈◊〉 â—â—tion of the eleventh of the Revelation yet I 〈◊〉 written two 〈◊〉 onâ— the Quakers did extort out of â—e by their writing unto me but this the Revelation in â—pâ—â—â—g many places of this Book of the Revelation of John it came so powerfully 〈◊〉 that I thought it was better to break covenant with my self theâ— to 〈◊〉 those 〈◊〉 â—â—ly mysteries and divine secrets with my self And being importuned by some to let it be publick I did apply my selfe the in â—â—â—rious unto it so that I am not glad I did perfect 〈◊〉 thing for noâ— others will have it as well as my self so that I make no question but many will receive benefit by it which shall last to the end of their liveâ—â— and not onely so but the knowledge and benefit of this Book of the Interpretation of all thâ— chief mysterious sayings and visions in the Book of Johns Revelation it shall remain in some to the end of the world and happy will those be in whom it doth remain and miserable will those â—e who despise and reject it though I be laid in the dust so I shall leave the issue to my God my King and my Redeemer the Lord Jesus Christ God and Man in one singular person who is distinct of himself from Angels and men and conclude this Epistle Written by Lodowick Muggleton one of the last Witnesses of the spirit unto the High and Mighty God the Man Christ Jesus in Gâ—â— To my Worthy Friend Mr. LODOWICK MVGGLETON UPON HIS Interpretation of the Book of the Revelations 〈◊〉 Honored It was my great good happiness to see Part of this your â—â—vailed Mystery â—re to the censure of thâ— world it â—s 〈◊〉 And in that part we thought I did descry 〈…〉 and discerning ey◠〈…〉 which hidden were Enjoy those sweet Râ—vâ—â—s 〈◊〉 For they to us are truly now mad◠〈◊〉 To 〈…〉 wiâ—â—â—n And when at first this 〈…〉 view Like a Prospective glass it
in his right hand And no man in heaven nor in earth could open it nor read it There was cause enough for John to weep because that Book was the Book of Life And many thousands and millions of souls were written in that Book As he afterwards maketh mention of and many that had suffered persecution unto the death which were slain under the altar who suffered for the testimony of Jesus whose names were written in the Book of Life And if this Book should not have been opened the condition of the Saints would have been sad which suffered all those things for the name of Jesus who loved not their lives unto death who had their names recorded in the Book of Life That at the general day of Gods Account when he shall make up his Jewels their names being written in the Book of Life They may have that blessed reward which God did promise and they did faithfully believe and expect But if none could have opened the book neither in heaven nor in earth what benefit would they have had for all their faith and sufferings This was enough to make John and all other Prophets and Believers to weep also if there should be none found neither in heaven nor in earth that can open the Book of Life But in the 5 verse one of the Elders said unto John in the vision Weep not behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David hath prevailed to open the Book and to loose the seven Seals thereof One of the Elders puts John in good comfort again for there is one found now that can open the Book and read it also This is that Lion as Jacob prophesied of Gen. 59. ver 9 as I have spoken of before This Lion hath prevailed to open the book He openeth the Book as he is God the Son And as he became a Son he is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah and as he is God the Son he is called a Lamb. And as he was God the Son he suffered death to redeem his people And as he is a Redeemer he hath prevailed to open the Book and to loose the seven Seals thereof That is as he is the Redeemer he hath power to raise every one of them again that are written in the Book of Life That is all the Seed of Faith which are elected in the secret decree and councel of God as he was the Creator And as he is the Redeemer he hath power to give life everlasting to every one of the Seed of Faith who were written in the Book of Life And when John saw there was one found in heaven that could open the book he gave over weeping For one of the Elders had shewed him in the vision one that could open the Book and looâ—e the seven Seals thereof For in the 6 verse John beheld and lo in the midst of the Throne and of the four beasts and in the midst of the Elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth This Lamb which John saw in the vision in the midst of the four beasts and the Elders it was Christ This I suppose all men that profess the Scriptures will confess it Now observe that this Lamb which stood as it had been slain it was no other then God himself For this Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes now these seven horns which the Lamb had it was the faith and patience which the seven Churches of Asia had which did inable them to go thorow their sufferings with cheerfulness For when a man doth suffer for his Faith in God patiently and willingly he destroyeth his enemy more in submitting unto suffering or death it self than if he should resist his enemy And this doth become a horn to push the persecutors soul Thus it was with the seven Churches of Asia they were by their faith and patience made able to suffer persecution and death it self Which became as seven horns to push and gall the souls of their persecutors For though the horns of a Lamb doth but little harm to the outward flesh yet when they get within the flesh they will gall very much That is when the horn of suffering for righteousness gets into the minde and soul of the persecutor it doth gall his soul exceedingly with the fear of eternal damnation This I think experience will shew the truth of it For the Quakers and others which suffer for a lye yet they think they suffer for truth and the persecutors knows no other but that they do suffer for truth Therefore the sufferings of the Quakers cannot chuse but push and gall the persecutors Consciences The Quakers being so stedfast and confident in their way which do not fear their lives unto the death This suffering of theirs doth trouble and molest the mindes of the Civil Powers which doth shew that suffering in innocency though for a lye it will be a horn to push and gall the souls of the persecutors Then how much more would they push and gall if they suffered for Truth That is if their Ministery which provoke them to meet contrary to the Parliaments Order were true as the Ministery of the seven Churches of Asia were But it is not therefore they suffer for a lye yet the persecutor not knowing it he is and will be pushed and galled in his soul with the fear of eternal death for doing it CHAP. XIII NOw it is to observed that this Lamb that was slain had the seven horns and the seven eyes Now these seven horns as I said before which the Lamb had they were the sufferings of the seven Churches of Asia in the ten Persecutions According to that saying of Johns Revelation the second and the 10th he giving an exhortation to the Church in Smirna that they should fear none of those things which they should suffer Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tryed and ye shall have tribulation ten days Now this devil that shall cast some of them in prison I shall shew what he is hereafter But as for the ten days tribulation which the Saints should suffer it was spoken with relation to the ten Persecutions And they are called by the revelation of the spirit but ten days When as it was at times a matter of three hundred years that their tribulation did last which was the ten Persecutions yet called by the spirit but ten days tribulation And the faith and patience which these seven Churches of Asia had being made able to suffer with chearfulness those ten days tribulation it being the ten Persecutions aforesaid They are called the seven horns which the Lamb had For they by their sufferings did push and gall the souls of the persecutors as the Lamb himself did when he did suffer death For he did procure no less then eternal damnation to his persecutors by his suffering
of the Spirit a good Beast good King or good Angel So on the contrary if the power and authority of the Head-Magistrate doth act it self forth in unrighteousness and injustice and idolatry and persecution for conscience sake he is called by the spirit an evil Beast a Serpent a Devil a Dragon So that when the spirit or seed of Reason doth act in the Head-Magistrate like a Dragon that King or Head-Magistrate may be said to be a Dragon as Herod And when a Head-Magistrate doth act as a subtile Serpent he may be called a Serpent as did those Jews in Christs and the Apostles time And when a Head-Magistrate doth act as a devil he may be called a devil as murdering Cain in point of wâ—â—â—ip slew his brother Abel and so the Jews did by Christ in point of worship Therefore Christ calls those Jews which were Head-Magistrates as the high Priests and Levites he calls them serpents devils saying they were of their father the devil for he was a murderer and a liar from the beginning Now Cain was the first liar and murderer and so the first devil in the state of mortality And those Jews that would have killed Christ were the children of Cain therefore called devils because they did the same works as Cains their father had done For they had persecuted and killed Prophets and righteous men and so they did Christ himself as Peter doth relate in the Acts of the Apostles So that they walked in the way of their father Cain therefore called devils Onely this I would have the Reader to understand that when the Spirit of Reason doth act in the Head-Magistrate as a Serpent or as a devils or as a Dragon or any other way that the Scriptures doth brand for wickedness it is all acted in this world though John doth say he saw it in heaven But it is by way of vision but the wickedness is acted in this earth for the spirit of reason which is the devil is become mortal and so he exercises his cruelties and murthers upon mortals like himself But it is said to be in heaven because the first original of reason came from heaven The fallen angels nature being the spirit of reason fallen it became mortal and so hath run thorow the seed of mortality and so acts in the state of mortality as a serpent devil or dragon And is said by the Revelation of John to be seen in heaven because the spirit of reason the devil the original of it came from heaven but the things acted by it is acted in this earth c. CHAP. XXXV NOw the spirit of reason in this beast that did arise out of the sea to whom the Dragon gave his power seat and authority unto he is said to be like unto a leopard Now a leopards a speckled or spotted creature Now this beast is said to be like unto a leopard in regard of the policy which he did exercise to gain the people to fight for him and his image For he seemed to the people to be very religious and zealous in worship but it was to images of wood and stone Yet this form of worship and command he gave to the people to worship the Image they were as white spots of righteousness And his threatning of those that would not bow down to worship the Image these were his black spots So that he in this regard may be said to be like a leopard that is spotted black and white Black to the Saints but white to those that received the mark of the beast in his right hand or in his forehead and in this regard he may be said to be like a leopard Secondly He is said to have feet as it were the feet of a Bear that is he acted as a Bear doth with his feet That is to claw and break the bones of that in pieces which he hath power over for the strength and mischief of a Bear it lieth most in his feet So was it with the beast he by his Command to worship the Image which he did set up claw and break the bones of those Saints that would not fall down and worship the Image by persecution imprisonment and death it self And in this regard he may be said to have feet as it were the feet of a Bear Thirdly It is said And his mouth was as the mouth of a Lyon the meaning is this he acted with his mouth as the mouth of a Lyon doth That is as the mouth of a Lyon doth roar with such an exceeding great and terrible noise that the beasts of the forrests exceedingly fear and tremble at the noise of the Lyon that cometh out of his mouth So likewise the roaring noise that came out of this beasts mouth made all the Saints in Asia at that time to fear and tremble For there was gone out of this beasts mouth great blasphemy as in the fifth verse And a Command went out of his mouth that they should worship the Dragon who gave his power seat and authority unto this beast And in regard the Dragons power seat and authority was given and established upon this beast there went a Command out of this beasts mouth that all people should worship the beast as they did the dragon as in the fourth verse of this chapter So that the mouth of this beast may be said to be like the mouth of a Lyon For these his Commands to worship devils and blasphemies against the living God proceeded out of the beasts mouth even as the floods of water did out of the dragons mouth And in this regard the beast may be said to have a mouth like the mouth of a Lyon Now it is to be observed that this beast had one of his heads as it were wounded unto death Now it is to be minded that it was but as it were nor was thought unto death but his head were not quite dead if he had he would have done no more mischief to the Saints But his deadly wound was healed so that the world did the more wonder after him saying Who is like unto the beast Who is able to make war with him Now I would have the Seed of Faith to minde who it was that did give this beast that deadly wound in his head and yet was healed again It was the faith and patience of the Saints that did give him this deadly wound in that they would not worship the beast nor his image but did suffer persecution unto the death joyfully So that this beast was sick with torment of soul in that he could not bring them from the faith of Jesus to worship devils nor to submit to his will so that he was wounded almost to death So that he was weary of persecuting the Saints his Conscience being so wounded he gave over persecuting for a season until his Conscience was healed again And though it be said that he had a wound by a sword and did live it was no other sword but the
first So that though there were many priests that succeeded him and many that did officiate the priests Office besides yet they being all of one and the same spirit they are called by the Spirit in John but one false prophet For priests are called by the Spirit many times prophets as Baal had four hundred false prophets did belong to him that is they were four hundred false priests Now this I would have the Reader to minde that these three spirits like frogs that came out of the dragons mouth and the beasts mouth and the false prophets mouth I would not have the Reader to think that these three spirits like frogs did cease in the time of the ten Persecutions neither would I have him to think that there is no dragon nor beast nor false prophet now though there was then Although I confess the main drift of Johns Revelation had relation chiefly to those wonderful strange actions that was acted by the dragon beast and false prophet unto the Saints in the time of that Commission of the Gospel But this is for certain that the spirit of the dragon and the spirit of the beast and the spirit of the false prophet remains in its seed to this day and will do to the end of the world So that the spirit of the dragon beast and false prophet these three unclean spirits do send forth their spirits like frogs to the Kings of the earth to encourage them all to fight against Truth and against true Worship and to make the Saints to submit to their idolatrous worship For as I said before all Forms of Worship that are set up by men who have no Commission from God is a false worship and who ever is the chief Minister in that worship so set up he may be said to be a false prophet And by this rule all Opinions in Religion and Forms of Religion or Worship that is set up in the world at this day by several sorts of people they are all false because the Ministers are false and so they may be all called but one false prophet even from the first Pope to the last Quaker their Ministery being all false even one as well as the other CHAP. LIV. AGain I shall give the Reader a little distinction of the several operations of these three spirits and yet they all joyn together to fight against God Almighty And yet cozen and cheat one another and cheat the people of the world also So that very few in the whole world doth escape being deceived by one or more of these three unclean spirits like frogs that cometh out of the dragon beast and false prophets mouthes First the unclean spirit of the Dragon it seeketh after natural wisdom as Natural Philosophy Astrology Magick and so becomes a Physician or a Doctor of Physick to cure diseases The wisdom of the Dragon it doth pry into the knowledge of the Stars and the influence of them as the Magicians of Egypt did that they may be counted wise men Likewise this spirit of the Dragon it doth pry into the nature of Herbs Plants with the spirits of all Vegetable and all things of curious Arts so that the spirit of the Dragon comes to be wiser in things of nature than all other men So that all other men that are not skill'd in this wisdom of Nature they are subverted and deceived by this spirit and do honor him as a God thinking that God hath given him more wisdom in this kinde than to all other men So that this knowledge of Natural Philosophy Astrology and by sick makes men become honorable in the sight of all people Also it makes the people to part with their silver freely also it clothes the Physician in rich Velvet so that people may know what he is by his Vesture All this honor and much more than I can relate doth the spirit of the Dragon procure by that unclean spirit that cometh out of his mouth For all those wise Magicians Astrologers Natural Philosophers Doctors of Physick are those Frogs that came out of the Dragons mouth For these afore-mentioned they are a great multitude and do swarm as the Frogs in a warm day and do deceive multitudes both of their health and of their silver under pretence of doing them good This is the proper work and operation of the spirit or wisdom of Reason that cometh out of the Dragons mouth CHAP. LV. SEcondly The unclean spirit that cometh out of the Beasts mouth it is those persons that studies the Laws of the Land In as much as the Beast is the Head of the Law it is he that doth authorize men to be Expounders and Interpreters of the Law he doth authorize some to be Judges some Councellers some Attorneys with many other Titles that Lawyers have So that this unclean spirit that cometh out of the Beasts mouth it is the multitude of Lawyers that are authorized by him and these Lawyers they may be said to come out of his mouth because without his power and authority they can do nothing That is they cannot cheat and deceive the people as they do so that the Lawyers who practice Cases of Law they are so numerous that they can hardly be numbred Also they are clothed with fine scarlet with deceiving the people yet the Lawyers are but the sproutings forth of the unclean spirit that cometh out of the Beasts mouth And it is the proper work of the spirit of the Beast to clothe these Lawyers in scarlet even as the spirit of the Dragon did the Doctors of Physick clothe them in Velvet yet notwithstanding they are in their natures no other but Frogs sent forth by these two spirits aforesaid to deceive them that dwell upon the earth CHAP. LVI THirdly The other unclean spirit it came out of the mouth of the false prophet This false prophet signifies the Chief and Head-Governor of Spiritual Worship as the Pope or any Head-Minister of any Religion whatsoever but more especially of that Head-Minister or Head-Priest that is upheld by the Beast or the Civil Power For there is a spiritual Power invested upon the false prophet by the Beast or Civil Power so that none shall exercise or officiate the Office of a Minister but such as the false prophet shall send forth So that those men this false prophet or chief priest doth send forth to preach these are sent forth from that unclean spirit that cometh out of the false prophets mouth For the false prophet hath full power to ordain and send forth men to preach to deceive the people in a way of false worship as the Dragon had to the Physician and as the Beast had to the Lawyer And as the Doctor of Physick by his deceit came to be clothed in Velvet and the Lawyer by his deceit came to be clothed in Scarlet so likewise the Preachers ordained by the false prophet they come by their deceit to be clothed in sheeps clothing made of the finest wooll
upon men any more to eternity For that voice John heard out of the temple in heaven from the throne it was from no other but from God himself saying It is done And immediately upon that voice there were other voices and thunders and lightnings and there was a great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth so mighty an earthquake and so great as you may see verse 18. This 18 19 20 21. verses have all of them relation to the end of the world which thing will be done in the pouring out of the vial of the seventh Angel which seventh Angel is now pouring out his vial of wrath upon the men of this world For as the seventh and last Anti-Angel namely the Quakers ministery doth sound and hath sounded neer upon twenty years so likewise the seventh vial hath been poured out this twenty years also And it will last pouring out to the end of time even as the seventh Anti-angels ministery will last to the end of the world as aforesaid And as I said before much like unto those Plagues that Moses brought unto Egypt God will bring upon the earth upon the sea upon the sun and upon the air at the end of the world And as there was a great hail in Egypt so that the Egyptians blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail Even so will it be in the end of the world when those great voices of the four and twenty Elders the four beasts the holy Angels and Saints shall utter their voice in Allelujahs unto God their King and Redeemer it will be as the voice of thunders and lightnings and will cause a mighty great hail every stone the weight of a talent That is God will rain down fire and brimstone upon the earth and sea sun and air so that none of these four which is the life of all creatures shall yield refreshment to the mind of man but it shall rain stones of fire mingled with brimstone which cannot be dissolved So that men shall blaspheme God eternally because of the hail it being exceeding great It must needs be exceeding great because it is eternal it being the last plague or last vial of Gods wrath it being the end of all time there being now nothing but eternal misery to remain For there will fall upon every wicked mans soul whose names are not written in the book of Life such an hail-stone of fire and brimstone that shall weigh a talent That is it shall weigh so heavy upon his heart that it shall press his soul down into the second death which is eternal So much for the interpretation of the chief matters in the sixteenth chapter of Johns Revelation CHAP. LVIII IN the sixteenth chapter of Johns Revelation it doth prophesie of the seven last plagues that God will pour out upon this wicked unbelieving idolatrous world Much like unto those plagues Moses poured out upon Egypt at the beginning of his Commission So likewise will God pour out the vials of his wrath upon the earth at the end of the world Which will be at the end of the Commission of the Spirit Now what these seven vials are I have opened in the 16 chapter Now this 17th chapter it doth contain a prophesie of the downfall of the spiritual Babylon or mystery Babylon It is compared by the spirit in John to a woman arrayed in scarlet to an adulterous woman to a whore to a great city Now this is to be minded by the Reader that there is two Babylons spoken of in Scripture two sorts of whores two sorts of fornication two sorts of Cities two sorts of Vials of Gods wrath to be poured out upon the earth That is there is a temporal Babylon and a spiritual Babylon or Babylon in the History and Babylon in the Mystery or a natural fornication of the flesh with woman and a spiritual fornication in the soul and minde of man with idols And so the one is called a whore or an adulterous woman in the temporal and the other is called a whore in the spiritual So that there is two sorts of whores and two sorts of fornications likewise there is two sorts of Cities that is a temporal City and a spiritual City The temporal City is that which the reason of man hath built for its own glory of wood and stone guilded with Silver and Gold the spiritual City is that which God hath built which is the body of man Therefore it is said in Scripture Your bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost so likewise the believing Jews and Gentiles they are called by the Spirit the holy City so that there is a spiritual holy City and there is a spiritual unholy City That is there is true worshippers of God and false worshippers of God a mystery Babylon a mystery of Gods temporal Plagues and spiritual Plagues To sum up all the meaning of Johns Revelation is this that all the true Believers both Jews and Gentiles that doth worship God according to the tennor of that Commission they are under whether it be the worship of the Law of Moses or the worship of the Gospel of Jesus set up by his Apostles or the worship of the Spirit set up by the Witnesses of the Spirit These three being all Commissionated of God so that who ever doth truly believe in these three Commissions in their time and place when they were in being upon the earth I say they are all counted by the Spirit but one City or one woman as Revel 12.1 A woman clothed with the sun c. So on the contrary all false worship that is set up by non-commissionated men who doth resemble or imitate the true worship set up by true commissionated men I say those men having no Commission from God so to do their worship is meer idolatry and all those people who joyn in that worship so set up they are all idolatrous people And so counted by the Spirit in John that great City Babylon in opposition to the holy City of God as aforesaid So that this is to be minded by the Reader that there is but two Cities that is to say the City of Saints and the great city of devils That is all true worshippers are called the holy City and all false worshippers are called by the Spirit the great City Babylon as aforesaid So likewise they are all called but one woman or one whore So that you that have any true light in your understandings you may see that all the messengers of idolatry and all idolatrous people they are called by the Spirit but one whore or one fornication So that look what worship hath been set up by a non-commissionated man at the first In that they did imitate Moses in his worship and so afterwards did imitate the Apostles worship without a Commission from God I say that the first brothers or imitators of Moses and the Apostles worship with all the adherents thereunto and the multitudes
of people that are deceived by them who were the first brothers of this idolatrous worship set up by non-commissionated men I say they are all counted by the spirit but a whore in that they and all people who doth joyn in worship with them they do commit fornication in their spirits with idols So that who ever doth worship false gods by the instigation of the false prophet or false priest he doth commit fornication or whoredom with idols So that this is to be minded that all opinions in worship that people are in who hath not a true Commission from God to be a Minister or Preacher he and they do all commit fornication with idols For every opinion in religion that doth not worship the true God they do commit fornication with idols Neither can they do otherways because their teachers are false like priest like people Also this is to be observed by the Reader that the Revelation of the Spirit it hath onely relation to those peoples that do profess and confess the Scriptures So that Johns Revelation hath relation to all those that confess the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Gospel of Jesus and the Apostles and not relating to the heathen who never heard of the Scriptures So that all those false worshippers under the Law of Moses and all those false worshippers under the Gospel of Jesus they are called by the spirit that great City Babylon or mystery Babylon or a scarlet whore It is called mystery Babylon in relation to the mystery of God as aforesaid Likewise it may be called mystery Babylon in relation to that Babel that men would have built that should have reached up to heaven after Noahs flood in respect of the confusion there was in the building of it so that it all came to utter confusion and destruction So likewise there is such a confusion in all false worship and worshippers that at the last that Babylon they have built with idols thinking to reach in that superstitious way up to heaven But they shall be confused in their understandings and in the true knowledge and worship of the true God So that they shall be utterly destroyed both them and their Babel that is their worship with an eternal destruction But this is to be minded that the first mention of this temporal Babel Genes 11.4 where the sons of Noah said Go to let us build us a City and a Tower whose top may reach unto heaven And in the seventh verse God consumed this tower by confounding their language So likewise the first rise of this mystery Babylon it was amongst the Jews That is when the Jews would worship other gods besides that God which Moses did declare unto them even the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob to wit the God of Israel yet nevertheless those Jews who were the seed of the serpent they would have other gods as the Amorites and the heathen had to go before them Therefore they would have a Calf to be their God to worship as Exodus chapter 32.1 this Calf was the first false god the people of the Jews did worship Though they murmured against God and Moses many times before yet they never fell to worship idols as Gods before So that this was the first beginning of the setting up or the building of a false worship in opposition to that worship that Moses set up which was but a little before So that as soon as ever God did set up his worship by the hand of Moses that the people might come to know the true God I say the spirit of reason which is the devil in man he doth set up his worship in like manner to worship gods of his own imagination even the works of his own hands even a Calf For this Calf doth signifie all idols or false worship whatsoever For though the idols of men are many and their forms of worship many yet they all being false not worshipping the true God they do but worship a calf in stead of God And as these Jews who made this calf for a God were the first that began to build up a Babel of false worship this spirit of idolatry it did run thorow the line of the seed of the serpent until it got great power For after Moses and Joshua were gone the seed of the serpent grew in great power and did punish those that would not bow down to Baal For Baal signifies all false worship or all false gods so that when the serpents seed got power to set up his worship as Moses had power to set up the worship of God And as Moses did plague and punish those serpents for making that calf and worshipping it or any other idols in that many of them were destroyed by death So hath the false worshippers served the Prophets and Saints ever since that would not bow down to their false worship witness Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin and Ahab Manasses with divers other wicked kings and rulers and head-magistrates in the time of the Law who persecuted the Prophets and put them to death For telling them of their forsaking of the worship of the Law of Moses and worshipping of idols And the same spirit of reason the devil it continued in that nation of the Jews until Christ came according to that prophesie of Jacob the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come So that there was a Scepter of Government that did remain upon the people of the Jews though they had no Jews kings a long time before So that a matter of forty years after Christs death in the destruction of Jerusalem the Scepter did depart from Judah That is from that nation of the Jews so that they are ever since a scattered people in many parts of the earth So that the Scepter that is the Government is departed from them indeed and the same spirit of persecution and idolatry it doth run along in the seed of reason the devil in the Gentiles So that the Gentile Kings and Head magistrates have been given mightily to idolatry imitating the worship of the Gospel And hath persecuted and put to death many Saints for not bowing down to that worship set up by these Gentile-Kings or Head-magistrates ever since the destruction of Jerusalem even to this day So that this is to be minded by the Reader that this mystery Babylon or great city or whore who hath committed fornication with the Kings of the earth The meaning of the Spirit is this that all Kings and Head-magistrates in the time of the Law and in the time of the Gospel who profess the Scriptures even to the end of the world That have or shall set up a false worship or idols by their power and cause the people to do the same they may be said to commit fornication with idols So that whoever doth worship false gods let it be in what form or manner it will it is all counted by the spirit but
is the nature of Faith to rejoyce and not onely so but the holy Apostles and Prophets shall and will certainly rejoyce that God hath avenged them on her This is in like manner as the Kings and Merchants aforesaid did stand afar off and lament the downfal and destruction of this great City Babylon The one is required to rejoyce at her destruction and the other is said to stand afar off and doth lament her destruction Yet neither of them both doth see it visible but it is in the nature of one to rejoyce eternally over her destruction they beinâ— in eternal happiness and it is in the nature of the other to lamenâ— eternally for her destruction because their condition will be eternally sad with her So that the Spirit doth speak what things shall be though 〈◊〉 at the present time Likewise the Heavens are bid to rejoyce over her The Reader is not to understand that the starry Heaven or Element is to rejoyce over her but the Heaven doth imp oy those creatures that are in Heaven as the holy Angels who desired to pry into the mystery of Salvation by Christ So these holy Angels are capable to rejoyce with the Apostâ—es and Prophets over the destruction of this great City Babybon c. CHAP. LXX VErse the 21. And a mighty Angel took up a stone like a great milstone and cast it into the sea saying Thus with violence shall that great City Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all Here the Reader may see that the lamentation of the Kings and the Merchants and the rejoycing of the Heaven and the holy Apostles and Prophets are set before the downfal of this City Babylon so that which must be first is last and that which must be last first This is that which puzzles all the wise men in reason but the Spirit of Faith can trace the steps of God and finde him out where ever he goeth For the Scriptures the Law and the Prophets and the Gospel have been the pathes for Gods Spirit to walk in but there hath been many turnings and windings in these two beaten pathes I may say beaten by the seed of Reason the seed of Reason Non commissionated men have travelled thorow these two pathes these many hundred years but never could finde out those narrow pathes where Gods Spirit use to go Neither could they finde him for if they could have found him they would have known him and many other heavenly Mysteries which is of absolute necessity for man to know but it is hid from their eyes and revealed to mean and inferior men in the sight of the world So that all Commissionated Prophets and Apostles and true Witnesses of the Spirit can trace the narrow pathes where God goeth nay though God seem to hide himself yet the Spirit of Revelation will finde him out Did not the Prophets finde out the meaning of Moses and so came to know the God of Israel Did not the Apostles finde out the Spirit of God in the Prophets writings Hath not God given us the Witnesses of the Spirit to finde out the meaning of the Prophets and of the Apostles And so we have found the true God in all those narrow pathes he hath walked in by his Spirit in the Law and in the Gospel Nay and in this Book of the Revelation of John God hath as it were hid himself more obscure than in most places of the Bible yet the revelation of Faith hath found him out as will be seen by the eye of Faith in this Treatise But the Reader may know that the latter part of this Chapter from the twentieth verse to the end is onely the Spirits rehearsing of the destruction of this spiritual Babylon And of the ransacking of that great City by the Angels who poured out the vials of Gods wrath upon her even as an Army doth ransack a City when they are overcome by their enemies As in the 22 23 24 verses And the voice of Harpers and Musicians Pipers and Trumpetters shall be heard no more at all in her That is all pleasant musick whatsoever shall be ransacked and taken from her so that no pleasure or delight shall be found Neither shall there be any crafts-man or milstone to grinde any more in thee That is no man shall use any Trade or grinde any corn any more in thee And the light of a Candle shall shine no more in thee and the voice of the Bridegroom and of the Bride shall be heard â—o more at all in thee That is all lights whatsoever shall be taken from her and that joy of marrying and giving in marriage shall be taken away These things afore-mentioned doth include all the glory and comfort that can be had or that men have had in this world The wrath of God hath ransacked this City of all and in the ransacking of this City there God doth finde the blood of Prophets and of Saints and of all that were slain upon the earth as you may see in the last verse of this Chapter So that God will ransack this City Babylon even as the King of Babylon did Jerusalem as Jer. 25.10 So Jer. 7.34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride for the land shall be desolate c. That destruction of Jerusalem was much like unto this onely that was but for a time and that a short time too but this is for eternity So much for the interpretation of the chief things in the eighteenth Chapter CHAP. LXXI IN the eighteenth Chapter Johns revelation and vision did treat onely upon the utter downfal and destruction of the spiritual Babylon and this nineteenth Chapter doth set forth the joy and glory and triumph the Saints and Angels have in the destruction of this great City For now doth begin their eternal glory and not before neither is the one nor the other not as yet But as John saw in the vision the downfal of the Whore so in his vision he saw the rejoycing of the Saints and Angels in heaven after her destruction which things will be as certain as if at present therefore it is that John doth say he saw these things as if they were performed and done already For it is a usual course of the Spirit to speak of things to come as if they were in present being because the Seed of Faith can patiently stay Gods time for the accomplishment of his promise And are contented onely with the assurance of faith in themselves that they shall rejoyce in heaven that God hath avenged their blood upon this wicked city Babylon who killed the Prophets Apostles Saints and Martyrs of Jesus Chapter nineteen And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying Allelujah salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord
many of them yea they killed Christ himself So that now as these men did eat the flesh of the Saints and drink their blood in that they were pleased in their mindes that they had shed the blood of Saints and the blood of Prophets and Apostles for that is called by the Spirit eating and drinking So likewise now the great God hath by the sword that goeth out of his mouth destroyed with a final and eternal destruction those Kings Captains and great Men aforesaid Now the great God and all his Army of Saints who are the fowls of heaven shall sup with the flesh of these men aforesaid That is they shall eat their flesh not with their teeth but their spirits shall feed upon their eternal damnation with joy delight so that their souls shall be satisfied or filled with their flesh For the fowls of heaven shall feed upon their eternal damnation in their mindes even as men do upon the tendrest flesh that is with their teeth and their spirits will be as well satisfied with their destruction as mens hungry stomachs are with sweet flesh So that there is a spiritual eating of the flesh of Kings and Captains and the flesh of mighty men in their destruction as there is a spiritual eating of the flesh of Christ and drinking his blood to their eternal joy and happiness And this kinde of Supper are the Saints invited unto that they may sup with the great God for they shall have the same flesh to eat as he hath as he is satisfied in eating their flesh so shall they CHAP. LXXVIII VErse 19. And I saw the Beast and the Kings of the earth and their Armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his Army This nineteenth verse signifies the same things as the eighteenth verse doth onely John saw the Beast and those Kings muster up their Army together to fight with him upon the horse and against his Army But he that sate upon the horse was Christ and his Army that followed him were the Saints and his horse was a white horse and all his Army sate upon white horses also as I shewed before But he that sate upon the horse was too hard for the Beast and the Kings of the earth so that the Beast was taken as in verse 20. And the Beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the Beast and them that worshipped his image These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone This Beast and false prophet signifie the Civil Power and the Ecclesiastical or Spiritual Power for the beast signifies the temporal Power and the false prophet signifies the Spiritual Power For these two always committed fornication together and in all Ages they joyned together to persecute the Prophets Apostles Saints and Christ himself and so they will do to the end of time And John seeing by the eye of Faith and Revelation the end of the world he saw also the Beast and the false prophet taken That is he saw the whole temporal Power of this world and the whole spiritual Power of this world who joyned together in false worship and in persecuting the Saints John saw them both taken they were both cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone So that this spirit of the Beast shall remain in its seed to the end of the world and the spirit of the false prophet shall remain in its seed to the end of the world so that they may both be cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone with all those that received the mark of the Beast and that did worship his image Verse 21. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh The remnant that were slain signifies all those that were of the Beasts and false prophets minde yet did not gather themselves together to the Beasts Army but they were as it were a remnant left behinde as a Reserve as it is a custom for Generals of Armies to leave a remnant behinde as a Reserve but if the Generals Army be beaten and he taken the remnant will quickly be destroyed by him that overcometh So it is with Christ when he hath taken the Beast and false prophet and cast them alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone and when he had spoiled the Kings of the earth and the Captains and the mighty men of war and all the common soldiers who had received the mark of the Beast in the fore-head or in the right hand it was an easie matter for him that sat upon upon the horse to slay the remnant with the sword that goeth out of his mouth In fine the slaying of the remnant with the sword it was to cast the remnant and the Kings and Captains and mighty men and all both great and small into a lake of fire burning with brimstone with the Beast and the false prophet So that all the Saints which are called by the Spirit the fowls of heaven they were all filled with their flesh so that the Saints shall nâ—ver hunger or thirst more but shal be fully satisfied in their damnation who alwayes made the Saints to hunger and thirst after peace and quietness And to reign with God their King and Redeemer in that eternal felicâ—ty joy and glory where is all satisfaction that can be had where there will be no hunger nor thirst but a continual increase of new joys for evermore So much for the interpretation of this Nineteenth Chapter CHAP. LXXIX WHen I had gone thorow this Book of the Revelation of St. John I found many things in it exceeding mysterious even as a sealed Book as it were impossible for any one to interprete yet through the assistance of the revelation of the Spirit of Faith I having the knowledge of those two Foundations the Scritures standeth upon before to wit the knowledge of the true God and the right devil so that from these two Foundations all the chief and great mysteries and hard sayings in that Book hath bin opened unto me and I have given the interpretation of all the chief matters of concernment in that Book first and last yet but very short considering the variety of mystical sayings in that Book of Johns Revelation But when I had seriously considered and understood the height and depth of these heavenly sayings of John concerning the true God the Alpha and Omega the first and the last that was dead and a alive and behold he liveth forevermore With many other heavenly mysteries which was in my heart which I understood but I had not words in my self to set it forth and to declare it to others that they might understand these mysteries also yet nevertheless I thought it was better to
is so that this is to be understood that this Satan the devil shall deceive the nations in all the four quarters of the earth to their eternal perdition Also it is to be minded that there is a principle of persecution for religion worship even in Gog and Magog that is to say in all the heathen as there is in those that profess and confess the Scriptures For if Gog and Magog doth but hear of any man or people that doth worship any other God besides his God he will persecute him to death especially if he be a native under his dominions and so is it with all professors of Religion who know not the true God nor his true worship So that Satan the devil he hath gone forth unto all the four quarters of the earth and hath deceived the nations therein with false worships and imagining of false gods this many hundred years have they been deceived and not onely so but there is a spirit of persecution that doth run thorow the nations in all the four quarters of the earth even amongst professors of the Scriptures as there doth in the heathen So that all the four quarters of the earth they fight against God and compass the Camp of the Saints about and the beloved City The Saints are called by the Spirit the beloved City so that this beloved City must needs be compassed about because the Saints doth live in the four quarters of the earth and the nations of the four quarters of the earth being deceived by Satan they persecute the Saints every where So that they by their persecution they have and do and will to the end of the world compass the Camp of the Saints about who is the beloved City I say these aforesaid will compass the Camp of the Saints with persecution until fire come down from God out of heaven and devour them this fire that cometh down from heaven it is meant that eternal fire of Gods wrath upon his enemies as you may see in the 10 verse And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever The meaning is this that Gog and Magog with all the nations of the four quarters of the earth who were deceived by the spirit of reason the devil to worship false gods and to persecute the Saints in all parts of the earth They shall at the end of the world as aforesaid they shall be cast into the same lake of fire and brimstone as the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented for ever and ever as aforesaid So that at the end of the world that spirit of reason which men received from the lost Angel with all its wisdom whereby it hath deceived all the nations of the earth and hath always persecuted and killed the Saints the beloved City of God from the beginning of the world even from the righteous Abel to the end of the world I say this spirit of reason which is called by the Spirit Satan a devil this Spirit who hath caused Gog and Magog and all the nations of the earth to persecute the Saints This devil with all the seed who hath fought under his banner though in several forms and manner he and they with the beast and false prophet with all their adherents shal be cast into a lake of fire and brimstone where they shall be tormented for ever and ever and this fire and brimstone is that wrath of God that cometh down from heaven which is called by the Spirit fire that came down from God out of heaven and devoured them c. So that this chapter is but a rehearsal of what was said before in the 18 and 19 chapters both of the destruction of mystery Babylon and of the glory of the Saints Yet I thought it something necessary to open the meaning of Gog and Magog because I have not met with those words before neither have spoken of them in that book aforesaid But as for the rest of the matter in this 20 chapter I have said as much as need be said of it in one place or other in this Treatise and in The interpretation of the eleventh of the Revelation and to repeat one thing twice over would be needless and as for the chief heads contained in the 21 22 chapters I have opened them in the said Interpretation of the eleventh of the Revelation So that I shall interpret a little what is meant by those words of Johns Revelation the 22 chapter 18 19 verses and so conclude this Epistle CHAP. LXXXI THese words of John hath been an occasion of many persecuting and ignorant men and womens spirits to persecute and rail against the purest truth that ever was declared and against the true Messengers whom God hath chosen and sent Whom he hath endued with the spirit of Revelation and Interpretation of Scriptures more then all the men in the world besides in that when things have been declared and Scriptures interpreted beyond the common sense that learned men have declared and interpreted they have said with great anger and zeal that we have either added to the word of God or else we have diminished from it Therefore to satisfie the Reader I shall open how a man may be said to add unto the prophesie of this Book of Johns Revelation and how he may be said to diminish or take away the words of this prophesie of this Book The words of John are these verse 18. For I testifie unto every man that heareth the words of the prophesie of this book if any man shall adde unto these things God shall adde unto him the plagues that are written in this book Verse 19. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophesie 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 I would have the Reader to minde and he may know whether a man doth adde unto this Book or take from it for this is to be minded that who ever doth undertake to be a Minister of Christ without a Commission from him or shall undertake to give the interpretation of the Scriptures without having the gift of Interpretation which gift he cannot have except he have a Commission from God or from him that did receive it from God For how is it possible that any man should give true interpretations of the Scriptures and of that Book of the Revelation of Saint John and yet not know the true God nor the right devil Therefore it is for certain that all Non-commissionated Ministers and Speakers whatsoever in all the seven Churches in Europe I say it is they onely that do add unto this Book and they onely that do take from it They may be said to add to it because they give this and that