Monks nay I found this explication very serviceable I ranked the Monks into three Classis begging not begging and mixt as the Jesuites are who have according to their Statutes no Estates or possessions and yet do not begg as the Custome is 'T is certain that these are unclean spirits for all the corruption of the Christian Religion is come from them they go out to the Kings of the earth to unite them against the true Religion but however exact this notion seems to be I could never find in it the setled rest of a mind which believes that it hath found the truth At last I found that rest and three things by the assistance of God gave me light about this matter the word mouth that of spirit and spirit of the mouth and that of Armageddon these three words have fully perswaded me that these unclean spirits signify papal Laws and the Oracles of the Seat of the Beast armed with excommunications and Curses The three unclean spâ—rits are the Oracles of the Pope as the seven spirits of God are the Divine Oracles First that the term mouth is taken for speech examples are so many that 't is scarce necessary to cite any Put away from thee a froward mouth that is Put away from thee perverse speech A wicked man walketh with a froward mouth The mouth of the just is a fountain of life i. e. the speech of the just The Messiah speaking by the Prophet Isaïah chap. 49.2 he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword i. e. my speech or word this is a figure which is usual in all languages Secondly the term spirit signifies so often word or Oracle that the places cannot be numbred The 7 Spirits are the 7 Oracles Revel 1.4 Chap. 3.1 Chap. 4.5 Chap. 5.6 In the beginning of this book mention is made of seven spirits and from the seven spirits which are before his Throne these things saith he that hath the seven spirits and the seven stars And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven Spirits of God and Christ himself is represented as having seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God seni out into all the earth 'T is certain that these seven spirits are the same thing with the seven thunders of the 10th Chapter i. e. the seven words or Oracles which sound like thunders Now 't is clear that by these seven spirits we ought to understand the Divine Oracles which were inspired into the Prophets and Apostles by the Holy Spirit First because these are joyn'd with the seven stars Ch. 1 2â— he that hath the seven spirits and the seven stars for the seven stars are the Angels of the seven Churches i. e. the seven Pastors and this signifies the seven Oracles which proceed from the seven stars Secondly these seven spirits are called lamps he had seven lamps which are the seven spirits and this is the proper title of the word of God Thy word is a lamp unto my feet Ps 119. And 't is the proper office of the word and Oracles of God to serve as a lamp to enlighten souls and the world Lastly 't is said that these seven spirits of God are sent into all the world This can signify nothing but the sacred Oracles which are sent and preacht by the Apostles through the whole earth 'T is in this sense that our Saint John takes the word spirit in the fifth Chapt. of this first Epistle There are three that bear record on earth the spirit the water and blood By water and blood I cannot doubt but that the two Sacraments of the Church are understood Baptism is the water the Eucharist is the blood and the third or rather the first and principal of these witnesses is the spirit i. e. the word Lastly this is the name which Saint Paul often gives to the Gospel 2 Cor. 3.6 the Letter kills but the Spirit quickens we are Ministers not of the Letter but of the Spirit 'T is certain that the Letter signifies the word of Moses and the Spirit the word of Jesus Christ The three spirits of Antichrist are opposed to the seven spirits of J. Christ I cannot therefore doubt but that the Holy Ghost by these three unclean spirits of the Beast and the false Prophet intends the false and impure Oracles of popery opposed unto the seven Spirits of God who are before his Throne and go forth from him The opposition is so sensible that it cannot but be discerned the Spirits of God are sent out into all the Earth the spirits of the beast likewise go unto the Kings of the Earth The Spirits of God are lamps which being set on some high place do give light but these are like the froggs creatures of the night and of darkness that croak in the night and love the bottoms of waters As therefore the Spirits of God are undoubtedly his Oracles there is no cause to doubt that those unclean spirits of the beast and false Prophet are the false Oracles of Antichrist The spirit coming out of the mouth always signifies word In the third place Spirits coming out of the mouth so clearly denote words that it cannot be enough admired that none hath seen this First every thing which comes out of the mouth in a figurative style See also Ch. 1.16 2.15 Isa 11.4 signifies words 'T is said in the 19. Chapt. v. 15 that out of his mouth came a two-edged sword All know that this signifies the word of God that comes out of the mouth of Jesus Christ Isaiah saith that the Messiah shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of his lips a notable passage for explaining plaining that upon which we now are spirit or breath is there taken in the sense that we lay down the spirit of his lips is the speech of his lips And the rod that comes out of the mouth of the Messiah is also evidently his word or speech This is usual in all languages 't was said that lightnings came out of the mouth of Pericles we say every day there come flames arrows c. out of the mouth of such or such every one understands that this signifies words but above all the spirit of the mouth is never taken in any other sense Saint Paul saith that Jesus Christ will come and destroy that wicked one by the spirit of his mouth we have even now heard Isaiah call the word of the Messiah 2 Thes 2.8 the breath or spirit of his lips Ps 33.6 The Prophet David saith that the Heavens were made by the word of the Lord and all their host by the breath or spirit of his mouth There is none who is not perswaded that the word that formed the heavens and the breath or spirit of the mouth of God are the same thing Besides the figure is so natural and comely that we necessarily fall upon
To find out the mystery of the seven seals the seven Trumpets we must here again bring in that observation which we a little before made in the foregoing Ch. viz. that the Revelation contains enigmatically the Epitomy of the history of the fourth Monarchy that is to say of the Roman Empire a Monarchy which according to Daniel's Prophecy must last till the coming of the Kingdom of J. Christ on the Earth i. e. to the end of the reign of Antichrist It is clear that the Holy Spirit was to insist only on this fourth Monarchy without considering the other states Empires of the world because 't is that only that Daniel spoke of after the three first Beasts whose reign was certainly past in St. John's time Moreover 't is under this fourth Monarchy in the extent of its dominions that the Christian Church hath receiv'd its seat its rule That Christianity that is found beyond the extent of the Roman Empire is almost nothing And therfore 't is that the Counsells which were assembled from the several parts of the Roman Empire are called Oecumenical as representing the Universal Church Now 't is certain that all the Prophecies have a Mediate or an immediate Relation to the Church So that they ought to insist only on those states in which the Church hath been nourisht brought up There is a third Reason why these Prophecies cannot be understood but of the Roman Empire viz. because the reign of Antichrist which is the greatest affair that happens in the Church which must happen there was to make a part a continuation of this Roman Empire For Antichristianism is the Roman Empire continued This principle which I was willing to repeat here because of its importance will serve to answer those that say to us How know you that the Prophecies of the Revelation do not refer to China or Tartary This objection doth not seem to me to be worthy of understanding persons This being supposed that the Revelation enigmatically contains the history of the Roman Empire continued The principal Catastrophes happening in the Roman Empire are istinctly noted in the Revelation it must also be necessarily supposed that principal great Changes that happened in this Empire are described in large Characters with some note of distinction in the Revelation Otherwise the H. Spirit would not act according to his profound wisdom if in making a history of an Empire he should omit to mark the great Catastrophes that are to happen therin or if he should hide them make them to pass without any character of distinction among the other less events We must therfore consider what are the principal events that have happen'd in the Roman Empire See here they are 1. The fall of Paganism when the Roman Emperours became Christians This is so great an affair that 't is impossible to suppose that the Holy Spirit should have taken no notice of it 2. The fall of the Temporal Roman Empire when 't was divided into ten Kingdoms 3. The erecting a new Roman Empire or rather the continuation of the same under the rule of Antichrist 4. The Birth of the Saracen Empire by the Arabians that come to afflict the Roman Empire in its Eastern branch i.e. the Empire of Constantinople 5. The power of the Turks that come to finish the destruction of the Greek branch of the Roman Empire to lay desolate the Latin Empire See the five great events that have changed the face of the word of the Empire Wherefore I am perswaded these must be found in the Revelation with Characters of distinction Let us suppose therefore that in all the places where there is a notable distinction there we must find one of these notable events The First distinction is found at the end of the sixth seal After the opening this seal there happens a great Earthquake the sun is eclypsed the moon becomes red as blood the stars fall Afterwards the vision of the seals is interrupted by a new vision that comes between in which an Angel marks the elect among the twelve Tribes twelve thousand of every Tribe After which the Holy Spirit returns to the seventh seal under which nothing is done besides the distribution of the seven Trumpets to seven Angells that must sound the successively 'T is clear this is an Epocha a point on which the H. Spirit would have our thoughts to dwell This first Character of distinction must to all appearance be affixed to the first distinct event that happens in the Roman Empire that is the fall of Paganism So that in the opening of the sixth seal we must find the fall of the Pagan Religion The Second very observable distinction is found at the fourth Trumpet There the third part of the sun is in like mannereclypsed the moon the stars suffer the like diminution in their light After which the process of the Trumpets is interrupted by a new Vision viz. that of an Angel that flies in the midst of heaven cries three time Wo to the inhabitants of the Earth because of the three last Trumpets which are yet to sound This is an evident distinction this second distinction must signify to us the second distinct event in the Roman Empire viz. its fall division among ten Kings which came to pass after Valentinian the 3d. in the middle of the fifth Age. The making a new Vision a new Angel crying Wo there times go before the sounding the 5th Trumpet is also a mark of distinction for that 5th Trumpet which signifies to us that 't is an event greatly distinguisht in the history of the Roman Empire And this third distinction can't be applied to any thing but the third notable event that befalls the Roman Empire viz. the Birth of the Saracen Empire by Mahomet his Successors that did so cruelly afflict the Roman Empire in the Empire of Constantinople which was the greatest the most noble part of these ten into which this Empire was divided The Empire of the Turks at the bottom is but a branch of the Arabian Saracen Empire Wherfore it doth not deserve so great a distinction as the other great events of which we have just now spoken And yet the H. Spirit is content to distinguish it by a very long description The fifth sixth Trumpet contain an entire Chapter whereas the four first Trumpets were finisht in 6. or 7. verses which signifies that this fifth and sixth Trumpet must be concerning great Affairs and Evils of a long duration As for that great Event which was to happen in the Roman Empire which wereckon'd for the third viz. the Erection of a new Roman Empire or the continuation of the same Empire under the new Name of the Pope and the Roman Church 't is so great an Affair that the Holy Spirit would not bring it into the first part of the Revelation He hath reserved it to make it the Subject
to re-establish the law of Moses that he must set on foot again the Levitical worship How would the Iews receive him for their Messiah if he were so wicked a person as not to believe there were a God To what purpose should he rebuild the Temple of Ierusalem and why should he offer sacrifices to God in it if he made himself to be worshipped as the only God Besides it is clear enough that the Pope causes himself to be adored like a God tho he doth not call himself either the only God or the great God. Germany is not the Roman Empire that must be divided among ten Kings under Antichrist XVI He is not to come till the Roman Empire be entirely destroyed We shall afterwards take an occasion to examin this In the mean time consider what absurdities these men run themselves into According to them the Roman Empire doth yet subsist viz. in the branch of Germany According to them at the end of the World the Roman Empire shall be divided among ten Kings that shall be the Friends the co-temporaries and the supporters of Antichrist That is to say the Empire of Germany shall be divided into ten Kingdoms Those will be notable Kingdoms those ten Kingdoms on the other side the Rheine and do well deserve a place even ten times over in the Prophecies of Daniel and St. Iohn If Antichrist must not come till the Roman Empire be destroyed why did they confess that the little Horn in the 7th Chapt. of Daniel is Antichrist This Horn doth it not play the part of the fourth Beast i.e. of the Roman Empire Why do these Gentlemen agree to this that Antichrist is the seventh Head of the first Beast in the 13th of the Revelation which they together with us acknowledg to be the Roman Empire Why did Bellarmine grant that Antichrist is to be the last Roman Emperour The Roman Empire therfore shall not be destroyed when Antichrist shall come because that Empire shall continue under him Antichrist must come before the end of the World. XVII He is not to come but just at the end of the World. He is not to come till the last times But we shall hereafter examin whether the last times signify the three last years before the day of judgment And when we shall have proved that the 1260 Days of Antichrists reign are so many Years this point will be cleared up The Gospel hath been preached almost throughout the VVorld XVIII Before he comes the Gospel must have been preached throughout all the World. Indeed before the Antichristian Empire did appear and was perceivable the Gospel had been preached in that which they called the whole World from the time of the Apostles in all the extent of the Roman Empire and beyond it in all the then known World in the countries which they knew were inhabited and where they could enter without being hindred by the barbarity of those that dwelt there But this universal preaching throughout all the Earth without Exception must be consequent upon the fall of Antichrist and not a sign of his coming Further this term of Vniversal preaching even then must not be taken in the strictest sense For it may be there will be some Exceptions It is not necessary that Antichrist should be a Magician XIX Lastly Antichrist must be a Magician And that because he must work great signs and miracles by the help of Magick 'T is sufficient for the fulfilling of these Oracles that he doth his signs by illusion and the enchantment of mens senses by cheating and deceit and also by the help of the Devil without his making any compact with the Devil either direct or indirect The false miracles of Popery also are wrought by the cheats of the Priests or purely by lies or by the Devil that makes himself sport with their miserable devotion Seeing all these Characters of the Antichristian Empire are all false we must for the future examin and seek out what are the true Characters of it CHAP. XIII What are the true Characters of the Antichristian Empire They are three Tyranny Idolatry and great corruption of manners That we must not look on Tyranny alone as the sole Character of Antichrist The Antichristian Empire hath three names that note its three Characters WE are seeking after the Characters of the Antichristian Empire I believe we may hope to find them in the names which the Holy Spirit gives it For assuredly names are given by God to signify the nature of things I find that the Holy Spirit gives three names to that Empire He calls it Egypt and Sodom and lastly Babylon Egypt and Sodom in the eleventh of the Revelation where speaking of the death of the two witnesses C. 11.8 he saith their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great City which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt Babylon in as many places of the same book as 't is said in she is fallen she is fallen Babylon the great Come out of Babylon my people These three names signify the three Characters of that Babylonish Empire The name of Egypt signifies the pride Tyranny and Cruelty of Antichrist Egypt is the embleme of Tyranny Pride and Cruelty Of Tyranny because there the Israelites did groan under hard bondage in the chains of Pharaoh who tyrannised over them Of Cruelty because that cruel Prince did vex them sorely with hard labour and the death of their children whom he caused to be drowned in the river Nile Of Pride because this proud Tyrant rebelled against God with an intolerable pride saying Who is the Lord that I should obey his voyce Sodom signifies the great corruption of manners in the Antichristian Empire Sodom signifies the mighty corruption of manners and the reason of it may be easily apprehended It was neither Tyranny nor Cruelty that destroyed Sodom We do not read that she did aspire after the dominion It was not Idolatry at least we have no reason to believe that she was more notorious for it than the other Canaavites round about It was therefore only dissoluteness luxury and debauchery ease and abundance of bread as the Prophets speak Therefore when they would set forth a mighty corruption of manners they borrow an expression from hence and use the names of Sodom nd Gomorrha â—s 1.10 Hear the word of the Lord ye Rulers of Sodom give ear unto the Law of our God ye people of Gomorrha After which Isaiah falls not upon their Idolatry but upon their corrupt manners He reproaches them with nothing but their injustice and violence Babylon signifies the Idolatry of Antichristianism Lastly Babylon signifies Idolatry All do agree that Babylon was the fountain of all sorts of Idolatry From Chaldaea it spread it self over all the Earth That is the fountain and spring of men 't is also of false Gods. As she was the first fountain so she did continue the chief Seat of it
a consequent from what we have said of Antiochus Epiphanes and the duration of the persecution to which the Prophet assigns four times 2300 mornings and evenings that is to say 1150 days Three years and a half that is to say 1260 days 1290 days and 1335 days We have said that the number of 1260 days is that of the time of the duration of the prophanation of the Sanctuary till the time that Judas Macchabaeus having taken out of the Temple the Idol of Jupiter Olympius began the cleansing of the Sanctuary that he was a month in taking away all the impurities wherefore Daniel after the number of 1260 days adds 30 thereunto and saith that it shall be for 1290 days Lastly we have supposed that Judas Macchabaeus spent 45 other days in preparing all things for the dedication of the Temple The order in which the enrite restoration of the Church must be effected That the type may answer the truth if the Empire of the Papism must fall and be abolisht about the year 1710 we may believe the Church shall not be perfectly reformed and cleansed for all that It may be that all Christians although they agree to chase away Idolatry and beat down Tyranny yet they will not agree in every thing So that I suppose 30 years shall pass for the reuniting all Christians in the same communion and that this union shall be effected about the year 1740. This reunion shall be a path-way for the calling the rest of the Pagan and infidel Nations who are yet almost innumerable For we must not hope that Pagans and Infidels shall enter into the Church while they see it divided Into what part of it should they put themselves It shall be the unanimous consent of all Christians in one only Religion that shall overcome the obstinacy of the enemies of Jesus Christ To effect this reunion of all Christians no less than 30 years as I suppose will be necessary and that was figured by the 30 days which Macchabaeus employed in purifying the Temple of Jerusalem After the purgation of the Temple he spent 45 days to prepare the vessels for the dedication I suppose that in like manner when the re-union shall be effected no less than 45 days that is to say 45 years will be requisite to run overall the Earth and convert the Nations that are strangers to the Covenant to prepare them for the last dedication Add 45 to 1740 that will fall on the year 1785 in which shall come the glorious reign of I. Christ on the Earth of which we shall speak afterwards And 't is in these 45 years that the Jews shall be converted and shall finish the conversion of the Infidel Nations their obstinacy shall hold out to the end and shall not be overcome but by an extraordinary event and more extraordinary than the fall of Babel shall be The Empire of Anchrist must be destroyed before J. Christ comes There is no ground to believe that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ shall come in the time that God shall employ in the destruction of the Antichristian Empire For that Empire shall fall with noise wars troubles effusion of blood Now the Spirit of God is not in the wind that breaks the rocks 't is in the thin and gentle one When Jesus Christ shall come there must be a profound peace on the Earth Neither shall he come in the time wherein men shall endeavour the conversion of the Infidel Nations for that shall be a time of contesting and disputings those things must cease when Jesus Christ shall come A type of the time in which images were introduced The number of 2300 evenings and mornings which make 1150 days to me seems to signify precisely the days in which the daily sacrifice was interrupted an interruption that began not till some months after the Sanctuary had began to be prophaned by impure sacrifices added to the daily sacrifice that yet was continued And even the Idol of Jupiter Olympius seems not to have been brought into the Temple till two months after the cessation of the daily sacrifice So that the introduction of the Idol was not till six or seven months after the prophanation of the Temple This seems to me to have a typical relation to that which happened in the Christian Church by the introduction of the adoration of Images They were brought into the Churches in the fifth Age but we do not find that Images were adored and served before the sixth Age from the year 560 to the year 600. Now one may say that then the abomination the Idol of Jupiter Olympius was introduced into the Temple and placed on the Altar one may say that then the daily sacrifice entirely ceased whereas the Divine service had been only polluted by the invocation of Saints it was entirely spoiled by the adoration of Images Compute this cessation of the daily sacrifice that is to say of the service of God from the year 560 or thereabouts add thereunto 1150 years of interruption by the adoration of Images this will fall on the year 1710 or thereabouts the time wherein Images shall be entirely abolisht with Popery Although Antichristianism began in the fifth Age all the Christians of that time were not damned See what I had to say to confirm my notions about the time in which I do believe that the 1260 years of the Antichristian Empire must begin and end Without doubt some Protestants together with all the Papists will judge that I ascend very high and that in placing the birth of this Empire in the Popedom of Leo the first I haye made Antichrists of many good Bishops of Rome to Gregory the great inclusively and all the Christians since that time the subjects of the Antichristian Empire But they that make this objection do not consider that Antichristianism is properly nothing but the corruption of Christianity that all corruptions go gradually and that the first degrees of a corruption are not mortal There was Antichristianism mingled with the Christianity of the Christians of the fourth fifth and sixth Age but it doth not follow that this Antichristianism did from the beginning ruin the salvation of those that did partake of it When the Antichristian corruption was come to its full and became mortal then God by his mercy and the means that are known to him shewed grace to the Elect that were in Babylon so that they did not participate of her mortal idolatries The good Bishops of Rome in the fifth and sixth age were no more Antichrist than the Christians then were Antichristian and if God did tolerate the first beginnings of Antichristianism in the faithfull people he may also as well have born it in the Bishops Before Boniface the third Successor of Gregory the Great no Pope called himself Bishop of Bishops or Vniversal Bishop and so till that time the Bishops of Rome were not Antichrists perfected they were only Antichrists begun Degrees of the
whether the Antichristian Kingdom shall be destroy'd by sword fire and bloodshed I see nothing in the whole Revelation which obliges us to believe so for though in this and several other passages the ruin of popery is painted out in expressions borrowed from war slaughter and bloodshed yea in the most terrible and high expressions nevertheless this may very well be understood figuratively for the destruction of Paganisme is painted out in almost the same expressions by the Prophets though it was brought to pass without bloodshed As the Kingdom of the Beast was formed without war by the sottish complaisance of the Kings of the Earth who suffered their power to be snatcht from them or rather did voluntarily surrender it so this Antichristian Kingdom may perish without weapon by a word of two Letters The Princes of the Earth need onely say NO and the tyranny of Antichrist will fall to the ground And as for Idolatry which is the other part of Antichristianism the word and grace of God must destroy it Nevertheless I am willing to submit to the general consent of Interpreters of both Communions who unanimously hold that in the ruin of the Antichristian Kingdom there shall be a great effusion of blood and that Babylon the capital City of that Kingdom shall be laid in ashes I am willing therefore to believe that there shall be some bloodshed not for any passages in the Revelation but for these two Reasons Rome must be miserably destroyed 1. The first that 't is not probable that the Pope and his Partisans will yield without resistance they will stand out and in defending themselves will attaque in which attaque they shall perish 2. The second it seems agreeable to the Divine justice that the City of Rome that for two thousand years is the Mistress of the World the tyrant of the universe which hath shed so much blood and has bin delug'd with so many impurities should be overwhelmed and the World be avenged Ierusalem who was not guilty of such excess is ruined by a dreadful destiny 'T is not probable that God makes ready a less destruction for the City of Rome Here the last lacking of Rome is fore-told If this be so this passage without doubt is one of those that foretell this bloody Tragedy The City which is spoken of here without the City must be Rome But we have said before and shall hereafter prove that this word ought to be taken only for Rome in conjunction with her Empire Here 't is Rome alone and not her Empire 'T is true but the reason is that when she shall be laid waste in the manner that is mention'd here she shall have no more any Empire all her Provinces shall be revolted she shall be left alone of her whole party so that in this place she ought to appear all alone And the City cannot signify any more then the City of Rome because she shall have no more any dependent Provinces excepting that which is called the patrimony of St. Peter which Joseph Mede believes is meant by these thousand six hundred furlongs For he saith that the Countrey that reaches from the walls of Rome unto the river Po contains 200 Italian miles which make exactly 1600 furlongs If this conjecture be true as 't is probable this signifies that all the forces which the Pope shall be able to get together shall be wholly destroy'd without the City i. e. without Rome in that part of the Country which lyes betwixt Rome and the River Po. CHAP. XII The explication of that part of the eleventh Chapter where the last persecution made by Antichrist is fore-told which is the present persecution in France The death of the two witnesses who shall not be buried by means of the succour brought by the enemies of France THe first Chapter in the Revelation where the ruin of Antichristianism is fore-fold is the eleventh We passed over it for the reasons above mention'd We come again to it at present and place it the last that we may place it according to the order of events We have observed that there is found in it an Epitome or short draught of the whole History of the Church from the resurrection of Jesus Christ untill his coming into the World to erect his Kingdom there The pure Church of the three first ages is hid under these words measure the Temple and the Altar and those that worship therein And the corrupted Antichristian one under the Gentiles who must tread under foot the holy City forty and two months That is the outward Court but the Court that is without the Temple leave out and measure it not for it is given to the Gentiles This outward Court as Vsher hath divinely explain'd it in his Prophecy signifies Christians in appearance whose Religion consists in the performance of some external duties of Christianiâ—y without having the inward life or the true Faith which should unite them to Jesus Christ But those who worship in the Temple and before the Altar are those who sincerely worship God in spirit and truth whose souls are his Temples in which he is adored and honoured with the most inward thoughts of their hearts and who offer unto him a constant sacrifice not onely of their lusts but of their whole selves Thus this holy man speaks and I confess that I see in his words the Character of the spirit of God. These are the true worshippers whom God does measure and whom he makes account of and these are those who possessed the Church during the three or four first ages But afterward the Church became an outward Court was filled with feigned worshippers who made Christianity to consist in an appearance of piety and in external Ceremonies Then God pronounc'd concerning this Court let it be given to the Gentiles for forty and two moneths Then Paganism Idolatry the worship of subordinate Gods Mediators and a thousand heathenish Ceremonies were introduced into Christianity And this outward Court these formal outside worshippers were given up to a spirit of error and superstition to begin Antichristianism and make it continue twelve hundred and sixty years We have also in this Chapter the Church under the Cross persecuted and hid in Babylon in the two Witnesses who prophesied cloathed in sackcloth a thousand two hundred and sixty days We have in it the sound of the last Trumpet and the thousand years reign of Jesus Christ and the Church For at the sound of the seventh Trumpet the Kingdoms of the Earch become Gods and his Christs Lastly we have in it a remarkable event which must come to pass at the end of the reign of Antichristian popery and 't is expressed in these terms V. 7. And when they shall have finisht their testimony the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them V. 8. And their dead bodies shall lye in the street of the great City
Among the considerations laid down by me in the Preface which induce me to believe that this persecution is the last I mention'd the singularities of it I named several such Behold one which in my judgement deserves to be added to the rest 'T is the horrible Edict which commands that the new Converts being sick shall communicate after the popish way This is the worst effect that ever was produced by the spirit of rage and reprobation And 't is not conceivable how a Clergy that will be called Christian can do such horrible actions The Edict ordains that they who will not communicate shall be sent to the Galleys if they recover There is none who is so mortally sick that is sure that he shall dye and fearing to recover he will also fear to go to the Gallies and this affrighting object is able to induce a sick man to communicate without faith and to worship that which he judgeth to be a piece of bread that is to say to commit a horrible sacriledge and an act of Idolatry and consequently to damn himself certainly So that properly this Edict is a trick of the Clergy to procure the damnation of all the new Converts This is perfectly to imitate that Italian who that he might take a compleat vengeance having his enemy in his power promis'd him his life on condition that he would deny God which having done he murther'd both his body and soul Will men never open their eyes to behold such objects as these The Reformation is foretold by three figures signifying three Methods And the spirit of life from God entred into them These words teach us how the Reformation shall be re-establisht in France for in these Prophecies I find three ways by which the Truth is establisht or re-establisht The first is by lightnings voyces and thunders thus after the seventh viol was pour'd on the air the Reformation in the last Age was made by lightnings voyces and thunders i. e. by the preaching of the Divine Oracles And the seventh Angel pour'd out his viol into the air and there were voyces and lightnings and thunders In this Prophecy thunders always signify the Divine Oracles The seven thunders that uttered their voyces in the tenth Chapter are the Oracles of God which ought to be uttered in the sequel Thus the Reformation was made in the last Age in a most sensible manner by the preaching of the word The Reformation shall come into France by way of internal grace But behold a second way of reforming A Spirit of life from God enters again into the dead Witnesses i. e. those who are at this day under oppression shall suddenly rise up again by a secret operation of grace and an extraordinary motion not by the means of preaching the word not by the ministry of some new Preachers but by a heavenly operation that shall open the eyes of them who are as yet in darkness and strengthen again the hearts of those who at this day have fallen through weakness At that time in all appearance the yoke of the Persecutor shall be broken a time of ease shall come and all those who at this day groan under the Captivity of Babylon shall lift up their heads and shall improve that season of calm to repair that which they are now forced to do by violence 'T is these words signify a Spirit of life from God not from any man nor by the ministry of any man but from God entred into them and their zeal was enlivened again But things shall not stay there God is preparing other wonders There is a third Reformation which shall be set on foot by way of Authority by the Royal power and this is expressed in the words that follow And the Witnesses heard a great voyce from heaven saying unto them Come up hither and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them What heaven and lifting up to heaven signify in the Prophecies In the style of the Prophets heaven and lifted up to heaven is the Throne and to be exalted to dignity greatness and power even in the language of heathen Prophets for Apomasar in his Apostelismata insomniorum saith If a King dreams that he sits upon the clouds and is carried where ever he pleaseth this signifies that his enemies shall serve him But if he fancieth that he is carried up to heaven where the stars are this presages that he shall be lift up above all Kings The Prophets of God do also make use of these representations to signify the same thing Isa 14.13 Isaiah describes the exaltation of the King of Babylon by an ascending up into heaven I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my Throne above the stars And Jesus Christ saith of Capernaum that she had been lift up unto heaven but should be brought down unto hell 'T is therefore evident that God does here signify that some time after these three years and a half of death the Reformation shall be lifted up to a great glory but not every where 't is only in that place which is called the street of the great City and is after called the tenth part of the City for the total destruction of the Antichristian Kingdom must not happen untill some years afterward There will shortly be a Reformation in France by the Royal Authority And after These words signify that when the Reformation shall be establisht again in France by way of Divine immediate operation by which the zeal of the Apostates and of others who know the truth but with-hold it in unrighteousness shall be quickned again some space of time shall pass probably some years before France shall wholly throw off the yoke of popery That Kingdom shall not be entirely Reformed by way of Authority immedately after out Reformation shall be again set on foot by way of inspiration and recovering of zeal For and after signifies an interval of time but whether it shall be short or long is not expressed notwithstanding I see no likelihood that it shall be very long nor do I believe so They heard a great voyce from heaven Yet once again Heaven is the Throne 't is the Soveraign dignity which in a State is exactly the same that Heaven is to the Earth in light in lustre in good or bad influences in scituation and in elevation From Heaven i.e. from Authority and the Prince who reigns they heard a voyce they received an order not a small clandestinsilent voyce but a great voyce i.e. a publick command a solemn Edict and this voyce said to them Come up hither Then the Truth shall get up into the Throne and as God hath contrary to all probability given a popish Prince to England so God will give a Protestant Prince to France in spight of all oppositions of the Papists And the ascended up to heaven in a cloud i.e. Their elevation and that of the Reformed Religion shall be made publickly as the
the whole Babylonian Empire we must not imagine that all this great circuit of Countries shall be laid desolate The 19th Chapter is the last in which mention is made of the destruction of Antichrists Kingdom The ten first Verses of this Chapter must not be disjoyned from the fore-going Chapter for they are only the continuation of it The solemn rejoycings of the Elect after the ruin of Babylon and the consummation of the Christian Church here below upon Earth The eleven last Verses of the Chapter contain a wonderful vision wherein Jesus Christ appears sitting upon a white Horse having the titles of faithfull of true of the word of God of King of Kings of Lord of Lords He gathers his armies together to fight against the Beast and against the false Prophet An Angel stands in the Sun and calls to all the fowls of Heaven to come and eat the flesh of those men that must be slain in that great battel which was to be fought On the other side the Beast and the false Prophet gather their forces the battel is fought the Beast and Kings are overcome he is taken with his false Prophet both are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone together with all those who had worshipt the Image of the Beast And this is magnificent and the Figures are lofty But there is nothing new in this and in my judgement 't is nothing but a recapitulation of the fore-going visions concerning the ruin of Antichrists reign The vision of the eleventh Chapter is an Epitome of the visions that follow and this is properly an Epitome of the visions which went before therefore I do not judge it necessary to insist upon it Especially seeing nothing is found of that which we seek for namely the signs and marks by which it may be known when and at what time the reign of Antichrist must end 'T is in the 11 14 and above all in the 16th Chapter that we find the Characters of this end and of the time in which it must come to pass Therefore it was necessary only that we should insist upon those Chaters The slaughter and murthers in the 19th Chapter must nor be understood literally I will only make the observation upon this Chapter which I made upon the fore-going That we must not understand literally the expressions of war and destroying that are used here for example that Iesus Christ must tread the wine-press of the wrath of God that he must give to be eaten by the fowls the flesh of Kings of Captains of mighty men of Horses of free and bond c. These are Metaphors borrowed from war and must be understood surably to the nature of this spiritual war which Jesus Christ must make against Idolatry Superstition Heresies and Tyranny his quarrel is with these and not with men Besides the reasons alledged we have here a convincing one that the Instrument of so many victories and which must make such a slaughter Vers 15. is the sharp sword that comes out of the mouth of him who sitteth upon the white horse And the remnant was slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse and all the folws were filled with their flesh Now all know that this sharp sword that comes out of the mouth of Jesus Christ is the Word of God a spiritual sword which must act only spiritual slaughters and which does not destroy the lives of men but their manners and Idolatries So that I fear lest those are mistaken who hope to render to Babylon that which we have received form her and in the cup which she hath filled to fill to her double i. e. to give her blood for blood torment for torment This is not the spirit of the true Church I have now done with this subject and I think there remains but one thing to do that I may give a clear Idea of our prophecies and that is to Epitomize and rank according to the order of time the various events which relate to the ruin of Antichrists Kingdom which the Holy Ghost displaced and confounded to the end that the prophecies might not be clearer than God did intend they should be As for the seven plagues of the seven viols they are perfectly ranked according to their order and according to their times A commendious Methodizing of the events which must bring Antichrist's Kingdom to its ruin 1. The first plague of the first viol begins about the year of our Lord 900. it lasts almost 150. years and ends under the Popedom of Leo IX about the year 1050. 2. The second and third plagues which are the Croisades begin at the end of the eleventh age and end at the going out of the thirteenth in the year 1270. or 1292. For till then some of the Latins kept possession in Palestine so that they take up the space of about two hundred years 3. The fourth plague begins before the Croisades but if we please we may place its beginning where the foregoing ends This fourth plague is the encrease of the Papal yoke and this Period beginning at the year 1270 shall continue untill the year 1378 when the consequent of the fifth plague begins namely the weakning of the Papal reign by the schism Therefore this Period will contain 108 years 4 The fifth plague is the removing of the Popes to dwell at Avignon and the grand Schism of the West It begins in the year 1305 and lasts untill the year 1440. This Period being a little jointed within the former shall last 130 or 135. years 5. The sixth plague which is the passage of the Turks into Europe and the desolations which they made in the Popes Dominion and in the Latin Church beginning towards the end of the fourteenth Age about the year 1370. and lasting untill the siege of Vienna under Charles the fifth in 1529 this Period will be 150 years 6. The seventh plague beginning about the year 1520 and lasting untill the end of our Age and the beginning of the next must last about 190 years This last Period is longer then the rest because God intended to subdivide it into three other Periods 7. The first Period of this last viol is the harvest which lasted 30 or 40 years from the year 1520 until 1560 when all the Countreys which were to be Reformed had embraced the Reformation 8. The second period of this seventh viol is that season and state of rest and victory which the Papacy regain'd and this period lasts from 1560 or 1570 for since that time Popery hath received no considerable check but rather hath much prevailed it hath made war against the saints had hath overcome them 9. Towards the conclusion of this second period of the seventh viol a sore persecution must happen The Witnesses clothed in Sackcloth i.e. the faithful who are under the Cross shall be oppressed and remain dead in the street of the great City for three years and a half That is the profession