things of the greatest importance makes men careless and remiss and destroyes all order and discipline weakens the health of the body and makes the soul incapable of the holy influences of the Spirit of God So necessary a stone therefore for the safety of the City is this Amethyst to be placed in the wall thereof 21. And the twelve Gates were twelve pearls every several Gate was of one pearl which shows plainly the thing cannot be literally understood unless there were Oisters or other Conchae bigger than one of these Gates or Porches But in that the Gates viz. Inletts into the City are said to be Pearles that Gemm sets out the condition of them that are fitted to enter into the City For the colour of the Pearle shows the mild innocent child-like meekness of them that are fit to enter as our Saviour has declared Vnless you be converted and become as one of these Children you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God The Notation of the word also intimates what is requisite to Baptism viz. Repentance For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnio from whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived alludes to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mixture of bitterness which denotes the wholesome cup of Repentance But the whiteness of the Pearles may insinuate also the washing away of the guilt and stain of Sin in the Sacrament of Baptism which Interpreters make these Gates to be a symbol of And the street of the City was pure gold as it were transparent glass The street that is Forum Vrbis as Grotius notes the publick place where they meet and transact businesses It is said to be pure gold like to transparent glass because they converse one with another bonâ fide in pure love and sincerity as if they were transparent to one another and could see one anothers hearts and thoughts 22. And I saw no Temple there No such Temple as was amongst the Jews which together with the Divine Residence supposed in it as being deemed the house of God is properly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Such a Temple as this there was none in the New Ierusalem For the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the Temple of it The eternal Deity is the object of their worship and the Lamb the body of Christ the Holy Catholick Church is the house wherein he resides the same with the City it self which from his presence there is called Iehovah Shammah Ezech. 48.35 God therefore immediately residing by his Spirit in the hearts of his people the Citizens of this New Ierusalem this is instead of the Temple of the Ancient Jews And according to the Prophetick stile Lamb will more naturally though it does not so usually signifie the body of Christ his Church than Christ himself 23. And the City had no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it This may allude to Isai. 60.19 The Sun shall be no more thy light by day c. But the more peculiar sense of the place I conceive according to the Prophetick stile which makes the Sun the highest Power in any Polity and the Moon next to it as an Emperour and an Emperess in an Empire or an Vniversal Patriarch and Emperour as the Popish Interpreters expound the two great Lights the Sun and the Moon the one of the Pope the other of the Emperour the Ecclesiastick Power being the Sun the Secular the Moon the sense I say is this That no man imagine any necessity in those dayes when the Kingdoms of the World shall become the Kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ that there should be any such Oecumenical Patriarch Pope or Bishop over the Church of Christ or any Vniversal Monarch or Emperour over his whole Empire it is expresly said that the City had no need of the Sun neither of the Moon to shine in it no need of any one Vniversal Prelate and Vniversal Monarch as some would fancy the Pope and the Emperour to have been For the Glory of God did lighten it that is the Spirit of God which is compared to the Iasper-stone vers 11. which is said to be the Luminary thereof this is the Sun or Supreme Power thereof which is to hold all together And the Lamb is the light thereof namely by shedding the promised efficacy of his Spirit into it The Kings therefore of those many Kingdoms that in those dayes become the Kingdom of Christ shall have no other Supreme Head over them but Christ himself but be as the four and twenty Crowned Elders before the Throne of the Lamb and have no other Superiour neither Patriarch nor Monarch but he Of those times is said that of Isai. chap. 24.23 Then the Moon shall be confounded and the Sun ashamed all that have born themselves as Universal Monarchs in Church or State hitherto when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Sion and Ierusalem namely in this New Ierusalem and before his Ancients gloriously those Ancients described Chap. 4. as cloathed with white rayment and sitting upon Thrones with golden Crowns on their Heads which signifie the Kings of those Times when Jew and Gentile shall make one Fold and the Church be reduced to her Apostolick purity in the blessed Millennium over whom there will be no Head but God and Christ nor will they have need to be held together in one Universal Kingdom of Christ by any other Tye than his Laws and the Union of his Holy Spirit which will be so abundantly shed forth in their hearts in those days namely in the Philadelphian Succession 24. And the Nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it Extra Ecclesiam nulla est salus is a maxime amongst the Pontificians confining Salvation to a blind implicit Faith in the Infallibility of their Pope and Church But the Iasper-stone the influence of the Holy Spirit which is the Light of this City is that by whose guidance the Nations now walk in the wayes of Salvation And the Kings of the Earth do bring their Glory and Honour into it that is turn Converts to this dispensation of the Spirit where the Word and the Spirit is the Rule not the blind Decrees of both a fallacious and fallible Polity of men that adulterate Doctrine for their worldly interest 25. And the Gates of it shall not be shut at all by day Their prosperity and great knowledge and illumination will not make them proud disdainful or careless of others happiness and salvation but they will be ever ready to embrace and admit by Baptisme all Converts from all quarters of the World upon their sincere Repentance and Conversion For there shall be no night there no Adversity nor Ignorance in this Philadelphian Interval while the Eternal Spirit of Love shines upon them And therefore they will be alwayes ready at every one of their twelve Gates standing open to all the four quarters of the world to admit all single-hearted and sincere Proselytes 26. And they shall
and Thyatiran Successions of the Church it is manifest that Saracens and Turks under the fifth and sixth Trumpets invade the Empire as a Scourge for their Idolatry as plainly appears from Ch. 9. v. 20. where the rest of the men that were not killed by these Plagues are said not to repent them of their worshipping 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Daemons and Idols of Silver and Idols of Gold c. Where Daemons according to the Greek idiom signify either Angels or the Souls of men any Spirits out of Terrestrial bodies the Souls of Saints and Spirits of Angels And lastly in the Opened-Book-Prophecy Chap. II. what is the treading under-foot the outward Court by the Gentiles for fourty two months but the over-running the Empire again with Idolatry and Persecution of which Gentilism or Paganism consists for so many months or Semitimes of months of years And what the 7000. names of men vers 13. but Idolatrous Titles or men of those Titles that belong to the seventh head of the Beast which is an Idolatrous head And Chap. 13. vers 1. the Beast there rising out of the Sea with ten Crowned Horns plainly shows it is the Empire after its division into so many Kingdoms Which therefore is under the seventh head And all the seven heads there are said to have names of Blasphemy upon them that is of Idolatry Besides this Beast is said to be the healed beast and the image of the Dragon that received the deadly wound in his fight with Michael and the Martyrs Which plainly shows that the Empire after Christanity was setled in it became again an Idolatrous persecuting Beast as the old Pagan Empire was And lastly not to number up all we might Chap. 17. the Whore of Babylon with her cup of Fornication that is of Idolatry in her hand as Grotius himself cannot but interpret it and sitting upon a Beast full of Names of Blasphemy that is of Idolatry again even according to Grotius what can this be but the City of Rome and the Roman Empire become Idolatrous But they put it off by saying it is the Pagan Empire and Rome Pagan which is a thing impossible For the Woman here sitting upon the Beast that was is not and yet is which was never true of the Roman Empire till after it had been Christian it cannot be understood of the Roman Empire Pagan And that conceit of Domitian being this Beast it is such a childish trifle or sleight whiffle that it is a wonder to me that any one that had any freeness of judgment or soundness of reason should ever fancy such a thing but having spoken of this in my Preface I will say no more of it here From these few places to omit several others it is abundantly evident that that truely infallible Moderator even the Spirit of God himself has decided the controversie concerning the Idolatry of the Church of Rome and has declared them guilty of that crime and the Protestants guiltless of any crime of Schism in leaving the Communion of that Church Which is a thing seriously to be considered by all the Potentates of Christendom that they may not listen to the voice of the blood-thirsty Iezabel when she shall solicite the Kings of the Earth to the persecution of the Servants of God and Christ because they cannot bow down to stocks and stones with her nor submit to any other of her points of Idolatry Now for any invidious cavils against this firm Protestant Exposition of the Apocalypse I hope Reader thou wilt set as little by them as I do my self For it may be it will be thought by some an high piece of Rudeness and Incivility in that this Protestant Exposition of the seven heads of the Beast makes all the Emperours since the Apostasie of the Church into Idolatry to be part of the seventh head which is one of the heads of Blasphemy though otherwise never so noble and vertuous And the like cavils may be raised touching the Popes of Rome though they be never so Learned and Pious that they will make part of the two Horned Beast that has the Horns of a Lamb but the voice of a Dragon And I must confess the same may be alledged against making those six forms of Pagan Government Kings Consuls Dictators Decemviri Triumviri and Emperours six heads of Blasphemy When amongst the Emperours it is well known what an excellent example of vertue Marcus Antoninus was and that Tully a Roman Consul for Wit Vertue and Eloquence was the glory of the Roman Empire But I can briefly answer for my self that I never since I understood Tully and Marcus Antoninus to be part of those two heads of Blasphemy had in the least the more diminishing thoughts of their Vertues and Perfections I had observed in them before For I knew before they were Pagan Idolaters and that it was the privilege of their nature to bear up so stoutly against the disadvantages of their Religion they were born under And there is the same reason of excellent Emperors and other Princes of the Pontifician Religion The profession of an Idolatrous Religion ought not to derogate from their natural or acquired perfections only all good men will heartily and solicitously wish that their souls were as safe as their personal reputation And I charitably judge of them of the Roman Church who do not stick to call all Protestant Kings and Princes be they never so great or never so good Hereticks and by the punishment they allot to those they call so any one may judge what wretches and vile persons they deem them that they intend notwithstanding no derogation thereby to their personal worth or vertue But here is the great difference that we call them nothing but what the Scripture calls them but they nickname others against all reason and Scripture adding to false and bitter words unjust and barbarous persecutions And what we have said concerning Emperours and Kings the same is to be said of the Popes of Rome No Popes personal perfections and vertues are touched but the Idolatrous and Antichristian constitution and frame of things such as every Pope is to succeed into and which make a Pope a Pope But as for my interpreting the two Horns of the Beast of the Episcopal Mitre that no Protestant Bishop take exceptions the interpretation is not mine but Iosephus Acosta's as Cornelius à Lapide cites him De Tempor Noviss Lib. 2. c. 17. Duo cornua Episcopalis putà Mitrae sive Infulae haec enim est bicornis insigne sunt Videtur ergo quòd hic Pseudopropheta erit Episcopus quispiam Apostata simulator religionis Ecclesiastici honoris proditor qui draconis venenum suis sermonibus populo propinabit So near to the mark is the Interpretation of this Romanist But in the mean time the making the two Horns of the Mitre the two Horns of the Lamb Lamb always signifying in the Apocalypse either Christ himself or his true Church it
the face of the Earth Grace he unto you and peace all favour happiness and prosperity From him which is and which was and which is to come from the Eternal Jehovah who graspeth all past present and to come in the eternity of his Wisdom and Power And from the seven spirits which are before his throne And from all his holy Angels that are assisting at his Throne and in a readiness to be sent upon messages and to minister for the good of his people 5. And from Iesus Christ who is the faithful Witness and the first-begotten of the dead and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth From Jesus Christ that faithful Witness of the Will of his Father when he was upon Earth and the first-begotten of the dead the first-fruits of them that slept to whom is given the right of all the Kingdoms of the Earth to be Prince over them all and to rule them in Righteousness and Peace To him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood That so loved us that he laid down his life for us for a propitiation for our sins and to wash us from all the silth thereof through sincere repentance and mortification of our lusts out of a due and gratefull return of love to him that died for us 6. And hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father namely by this victory over our corruptions through faith in him to offer spiritual sacrifices of Prayers and Thanksgiving with an utter resignation of our selves to the will of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be glory and Dominion for ever and for ever Amen 7. Behold he cometh in the clouds so vast a prospect have the prophecies of this Book and will judge the whole world at the last day And every eye shall see him and they also that pierced him either in his own person or wounded him and killed him in the persecution and murdering of his living members And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him namely all those that have thus outragiously sinned against him Even so Amen This is a certain truth let scoffers and unbelievers say and imagine what they please 8. And that this may not seem strange that his Providence and Power reaches so far as to the very last there is presently added I am Alpha and Omega the Beginning and the Ending saith the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty whose administration therefore of Affairs and the presence of his Power is palpably to be felt and plainly to be discerned from the beginning of the Church to the end of the world He is the Almighty grasping all things in the hand of his All-comprehending Providence 9. I Iohn who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Iesus Christ both which he hath bequeathed to his faithfull followers Was in the Isle that is called Patmos one of the Cyclades so called in the Aegean Sea for the word of God and for the testimony of Iesus Christ thither banished for the preaching the Word of God and bearing witness to the Truths of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 10. And it came to pass in this Island that I was in the spirit on the Lords day actuated and impressed upon in my inward man my mind being vacant from this earthly body and external senses and wholly seised by this Divine and Angelical Power which caused in it the following Visions and Prophetical Impressions but as lively and clear as any objects to the outward or corporeal senses And when I was thus in the Spirit and had as it were left the body in this ecstasie I heard behind me a great voice as of a Trumpet 11. Saying I am Alpha and Omega the first and the last and shall declare unto thee such things as concern the Church continuedly from the first beginning thereof to the end of the world And what therefore thou seest write in a Book and send it unto the Seven Churches which are in Asia unto Ephesus and unto Smyrna and unto Pergamus and unto Thyatira and unto Sardis and Philadelphia and unto Laodicea that is to say send it to the truly Catholick and Apostolick Church dispread upon the face of the Earth and divided into seven successions unto the Ephesine succession and unto the Smyrnean succession and unto the Pergamenian succession and unto the Thyatirian succession and unto the Sardian succession and unto the Philadelphian succession and unto the Laodicean succession Which seven successions one after another fill up the whole time of the Church Universal from the beginning thereof to the end of the world 12. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me to see who it was that spake thus to me And being turned I saw seven golden Candle-sticks 13. And in the midst of the seven golden Candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man the Representation namely of Christ as he is also one with his Church For we are Members of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones They two shall be one flesh This is a great Mystery saith the Apostle but I speak of Christ and his Church Cloathed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the pops with a golden girdle in token that he is our High Priest this habit alluding to the High Priests Vestments 14. His head and his hairs were white like wool as white as snow for the greater venerableness of this High Priests person and in token he is that Christ that the Prophet calls Councellour the Mighty God the Everlasting Father For these are the symbols of his Wisdom and Paternal Authority And his eyes were as a flame of fire to signifie the penetrancy of his Providence and spirit of discerning both in himself and in his Church 15. And his feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace which shews the stability and purity of his wayes in himself and the constancy of his Church in the furnace of affliction and fiery tryals And his voice as the sound of many waters Which plainly discovers that Christ is here represented in union with his Church Waters signifying a Multitude in the prophetick stile as most certainly they do 16. And he had in his right hand seven stars The seven stars according to his own Interpretation are the seven Angels of the seven successions of the Church whom he bears up sustains and strengthens throughout all Ages And out of his mouth went a hard two-edged sword a Symbol of Christ as he is the Living Word of God quick and powerfull and sharper than any two-edged sword And denotes also the powerfull Word of the Gospel preached by the Living Members of his Church And his countenance was as the Sun that shineth in his strength This is spoke in reference to him as he is called the Sun of Righteousness or in reference to
I have not found thy works perfect before God For you do not go on towards perfection nor are ye in a growing state though ye have not yet reached your due stature approvable before God which is a sign you are in a state of languishment and vergency towards death 3. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent Since you profess your selves reformed into a true Apostolick Church remember what you have heard out of the Apostles writings How that I so loved my Church that I gave my self for it that I might sanctifie it that I might make it a glorious Church having neither spot nor wrinkle nor any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish And let not the vain glosses of any faint-hearted hypocrites deceive or discourage you Remember also what ye heard of Antichrist That man of sin that exalts himself above all that is called God and worshipped and for ever abandon that wicked and Idolatrous Communion And take heed of that nauseous and detestable ingratitude of not setting a due value of my redeeming you from that worse than Aegyptian or Babylonian Captivity into the Gospel-liberty And be not imposed upon by the fine words and subtil sophistry of either known enemies or perfidious brethren These and such like things as these taught by my Apostles and repeated again by the first Reformers be sure to hold fast and repent of your slipperiness and remisness of your easiness and inclinableness again to the flesh-pots of Aegypt the carnal entertainments under that mystical Pharaoh at Rome If therefore thou shalt not watch I will come on thée as a thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee These things therefore I strictly command thee and charge thee to do which if thou wilt not carefully and diligently observe and have a due watch over thy wayes I will come on thee of a sudden and surprize thee with some terrible judgement for thy gross ingratitude and thou shalt not know what hour I come upon thee before the storm certainly overtake thee God make the Reformed Churches sensible of this sad commination which is foretold them for no other purpose than that by their timely repentance and carefull watchfulness they may avoid it 4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy There be some few excellent persons and of a true Christian Spirit scattered up and down in the Reformed Churches though the generality be so bad and imperfect who have not defiled their Garments the inward nor outward cloathing of their Soul nor spotted the decency of their conversation by any scandal of the flesh With these innocent and spotless souls not soiled or stained with the filth of the usual tinctures of the flesh will I converse by my spirit whereby they shall be able to walk with me with all innocency and integrity of heart for ever For they are persons meet and fit for such converse 5. He that overcometh the same shall be cloathed in white raiment They that overcome all difficulties inward and outward and persist in purity and true holiness they shall be cloathed in white rayment that is they shall be successfull and prosperous in the affairs of my Kingdom which they endeavour to propagate And I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life that is this sort of men shall continue to the Philadelphian succession and onwards to the end of the world And this Book of Life to them shall be as the Crown of Life to the Smyrnean succession shall be their security from persecution and death That Church which they introduce into the world which is the Philadelphian shall never be brought again under the Subjection Tyranny and Persecution of any Power whatsoever But I will confess his Name before my Father and before his Angels I will in a special manner recommend them to the good Providence of God and the watchful Ministry of his holy Angels 6. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches The Reformed Churches especially let them take particular notice what the Holy Ghost has here delivered That Christ who holds the seven Stars in his right hand and appears thus to the Reformed Churches as he did to the Ephesine or first Apostolick Church is as ready and serious in the renewing and the reforming of his Church as he was then in setting it on foot first in the world And he appears as then walking in the midst of the Golden Candlesticks which signifies his helpfull presence to his Church so here with the succour of his Divine Graces and Ministry and assistance of his holy Angels So that nothing is wanting to rouse us effectually out of this carnal drousiness toward the attainment of the dispensation of the Spirit and Power except our own sincerity and diligent attention to and firm belief of the Oracles of God So that the main success of things hitherto as to the effect of Religion in the Reformed Churches lies at our own doors God give us grace to consider it 7. And to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia write To the Bishops and Pastors especially but together with their Charge of the Philadelphian succession which begins where the Sardian ends and reaches to the fourth Thunder * and discovers its nature and condition in its name write thus These things saith he that is holy and speaks to a Church that willingly listens to such monitions as these Be ye holy for I am holy and Be ye perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect He that is true And will verifie all his glorious promises in the Philadelphian succession or blessed Millennium to all those that trust in his Word He that has the key of David He that is the Chief Minister of State to the Eternal God * whom the Apostle Iohn calls LOVE He that openeth and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth He that when he will can open the door of success to his own and shut it again when he will against his Enemies and so administer all things prosperously 8. I know thy works and designs and highly approve of them I know thou doest nothing out of bitter zeal faction or self-seeking nothing out of vain-glory or any other worldly end but simply out of love of Me and of my Righteousness and out of love to all Mankind for the promoting of whose both present and future happiness thou dost all thy endeavours and therefore Behold I have set before thée an open door and no man can shut it against thee For thou hast a little strength and hast kept my Word and hast not denyed my Name Though thou hadst but a little Force or Army in comparison of the rest of the world yet thou hast been valiant and stood for my Word stoutly and couragiously
also upon a pretense then too lamentably true because they had so wretchedly corrupted the Ancient Apostolick Christianity with many intolerable Superstitions and gross Idolatries adding the persecution of all those that would not submit to them and their wicked Inventions For which gross degeneracy of the Church this scourge of the Turks especially was sent in upon them as is plainly implyed in what follows 20. And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues that is of the Scorpio-Locusts and Euphratean Centaures as I may so speak but were only vexed with them by which is plainly meant the Western part of the Roman Empire which the Turk could never possess himself of yet as he has of the Eastern Yet for all this sad Example of Gods severity for the like crimes this Western part of the Empire repented not of the works of their hands their wicked and impious Inventions whereby they corrupted the Ancient Apostolick Christianity That they should not worship Devils * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Original has it that is Demons or middle invisible Powers betwixt God and Men whether Angels or Souls of men departed And in reference to these Idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and of wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk and yet they lift up their eyes and hands to them and pray before them as if they could see their posture hear what they said and were able to go and bestir themselves to accomplish their requests But in that the mode of their Idolatry here is by Statues not by Pictures this is another insinuation that the Western Church is here understood 21. Neither repented they of their murthers that is of their murtherous persecution of innocent Souls for not submitting to their Idolatrous Rites and Customs nor of their sorceries their imposturous exorcismes and enchantments of several things to holy pretended uses nor of their fornication their unnatural uncleannesses of all sorts upon an Hypocritical profession of a single life nor of their thefts their cunning tricks of cheating the people of their money by setting up Images for them to bring Oblations to their merchandises of hallowed Crosses Beads Medals and the like trumperies and deceits For such like wickednesses as these was the wrath of God poured down upon the Eastern part of the Empire by letting loose the Euphratean Horsemen upon them so as to quite over-run them and vanquish them and yet the Western Church the more the pity did not lay it at all to heart while those Judgments were thundring against the Eastern and these Euphratean Horsemen were let loose upon them Which happened a little before the year 1300 after the Caliphate of Bagdad with which the first Wo expired had in the year 1258 been abolished by the Tartars and the Remainder of the Turks who had Reigned in Persia on the other side of Euphrates were cast out as out of a sling into the parts of the Roman Empire on this side Euphrates by the said Tartars namely in the year 1289 who winning Syria and Palestine and dividing amongst themselves the greater part of Asia minor at last joyning in one Othoman Empire broke also into Europe nor ceased till they took Constantinople and quite abolished the Constantinopolitan Empire and made themselves fully Masters thereof But as for the close of this second Wo-trumpet the most natural extent I discern thereof is the Universal Impenitency of the Western parts of the Roman Empire till some Country or Kingdom appeared converted from such Crimes as the Eastern Empire was destroyed for by these Euphratean Horsemen And so we shall clearly observe with what succession of the Churches this sixth Trumpet or second Wo-Trumpet expires namely it ends with the Thyatirian succession The six Trumpets added to the six Seals reach just so far and no further So that the seventh Trumpet must be contemporary with the Sardian Philadelphian and Laodicean successions and equalize the succession of them all which is worth the remembring for the better understanding what follows NOTES CHAPTER IX Vers. 1. Fallen from Heaven to the Earth c. The Original has it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which though our English Translation renders I saw a Star fall from Heaven as if it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then falling yet I have made bold to translate it according to Grammatical truth fallen from Heaven But I understand it of a fallen Angel according to the warrantable sense of the Cabbalists See my Synopsis Prophetica Book 1. ch 8. sect 14. Vers. 5. The nature of the Scorpion perpetually to attempt to sting c. Semper cauda in ictu est nulloque momento meditari cessat ne quando desit occasioni Plin. Histor. Natur. lib. 11. c. 25. Her taile is alwayes a striking nor ceases she any one moment to endeavour to sting that she may be sure to miss no opportunity Vers. 14. Four Turkish Sultanies or Tetrarchies c. These four Sultanies their number is learnedly and ingeniously made out by M r J. Mede on this Text But besides this if they were not just four and the business is not their Number but their Office what they are to do and when yet by a Prophetick Diorisme they might be called four Four standing for a note of Vniversality in the Cabbalistick Mysteries And D r Hammond on this place would have Four not to signifie just four but indefinitely to be put for the number of the Angels concerned in this affair Which he might the better have adventured on if he had been acquainted with the Cabbalistick stile Vers. 17. Belongs to the times since the Invention of Gunpowder and the use of Guns in War Which Berchtoldus Niger a Franciscan Monk and Alchymist is said first to have divulged to the world about the year 1380 which was after the plague of the Saracens upon the Empire And shews also how vain the attempts of those are who would draw back these Visions to the times of Titus and the besieging of Jerusalem by the Roman Armies Vers. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Original has it c. And this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 has the same signification that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Spirits whether the Souls of Men or Angels and that either good or bad This is certainly the sense of the word in the Greek Language And therefore it is not so justifiably and fitly translated here Devils which none amongst the Pagans themselves are said to worship unless Witches and Magicians and therefore it had been more safe to have retained the Greek word which also the Latines use and called them Demons which signifies as well goods Angels and the souls of good men departed this life as bad Angels or bad Souls or if you will Devils which in all Idolatrous worship are in all likelihood busie Assistants and several times make a show of Miracles and so attract the worship of Idolaters to themselves they worshipping
belongeth the first Resurrection accordingly as here followeth 6. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first Resurrection on such the second death hath no power Namely the Lake of Fire vers 14. into which Hades or the whole Region of Mortality is cast the Earth being all on fire But they that have obtained their glorified body as the Martyrs do in the first Resurrection they are sped already and are safe from this fate But they shall be Priests of God and of Christ that is Holy and Divine Souls cloathed in glorified bodies serving God in his Heavenly Temple And shall reign with him viz. with Christ in the Kingdom of his Father not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the thousand years of the Millennium but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a thousand years symbolically understood which being the Cube of Ten which comprehends all number signifies a steady permanent Reign even to all Eternity 7. But when the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the thousand years of the Millennium are expired that is at the expiration of the Philadelphian Interval and the beginning of the Laodicean Satan shall be loosed out of his prison that is to say the ancient zeal of the Philadelphian Church and strictness of Discipline will be much relaxated and wickedness will get head again namely under the fourth Thunder 8. And he shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog that is the whole rabble of men that are disposed to wickedness and have an enmity against the Holy and Just which are the true Israelites indeed in whom there is no guile And Gog and Magog are those notorious enemies of the People of Israel Ezech. Cap. 38. and 39. who therefore here typifie the enemies of the Holy Christian and Apostolick Church of which Israel was a type To gather them together to battel to fight against Israel the true Church of Christ The number of whom is as the sand of the sea So much had wickedness increased by the not still endeavouring with that wonted vigour the amplification of Christs Kingdom and by relaxation of Discipline in the Laodicean State of the Church though purity of external worship was still retained among them neither had they contaminated themselves with course Superstitions and Idolatries 9. And they went up on the breadth of the Earth which indicates the swarming and the spreading of their Forces and compassed the Camp of the Saints about The Camp wherein there were many Saints and right Philadelphian Spirits but all Saints as to the purity of external worship And the beloved City The mystical Ierusalem or pure Church of Christ and beloved of him for the reasons even now intimated Here is an attempt of bringing again the Righteous under the Power and Tyranny of the wicked which attempts are made toward the latter end of the Laodicean Interval under the fifth Thunder But before they could effect their wicked enterprise the Day of judgement overtakes them And fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them 10. And the Devil that deceived them was cast together with them into the lake of fire and brimstone even that Lake which is afterwards called the second death where the Beast and the false Prophet the whole Antichristian Rabble shall be and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever 11. For I saw a great white Throne for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And does ordinarily signifie for as the sense may require and him that sate on it namely Christ coming to judgement at the end of the Laodicean Interval in the sixth Thunder from whence the Church of Laodicea also has its name From whose face the Earth and the Heaven fled away and there was found no place for them that is the Glory of his Majesty was so great that Heaven and Earth seemed to vanish before him the eyes of the spectators at first being so wholly filled with the brightness of the presence of his Glory 12. And I saw the dead small and great good and bad stand before God This is the General Resurrection which is not till the thousand years of the Millennium be expired but a good while after it though but a little time compared with the thousand years in the latitude of the sense thereof And the Books were opened the Rolls and Records of their actions this is spoken in allusion to Law-proceedings in Courts of Judicature amongst men And another Book was opened which is the Book of Life An auspicious Title signifying that they whose names were found there should be sentenced worthy of Eternal Life and escape the second death And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works As is done in Righteous Courts of Judicature where the Judge gives Sentence according to what is alledged and proved And so it is in this General Assizes none shall be condemned for what he is not guilty of but be judged according to his works 13. And the Sea gave up the dead which were in it The Souls here appear of them that were drown'd in the Sea as being not extinct thereby as some fondly imagine and actuate their bodies And death or pestilence all manner of death by diseases is intimated by it and briefly Hell that is Hades the whole Region of deceased Souls or this sphere of Mortality into which they are congregated at this General Assizes delivered up the dead that were in them that is exhibited them to the view of all And they were judged every man according to their works The Divine Nemesis proportioned punishments or rewards to every one according to their doings Hitherto are the transactions of this General Assizes and the passing of judgement on those that were called to the Bar which takes up the sixth Thunder But in the seventh there is Thundering and Lightening properly so called as is intimated vers 9. And fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them So here 14. And Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire that is this whole Region of Mortality above which the Spirits of Devils and damned Souls cannot emerge but are chained and confined to this caliginous Atmosphere will be set on fire at the last Thunder which together with eruptions from beneath will cause a dreadful Conflagration and turn the Earth as it were into one great lake of fire This is the sense of these words And Death and Hell were cast into the lake of fire Which is a very figurative expression First by a Prosopopoeia making Death and Hell as it were two persons as in Chap. 6. vers 8. and then by an Hypallage casting them into the fire when as the fire is rather cast into them it occupying all this Region of Mortality and putting an end to dying by consuming all the species of mortal Creatures and giving a stop to their propagation This is the second Death As the first
this Sacrament but rather call for it according to that saying of S t Peter Can any one forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we There may be also no mean nor useless mystery in the Inscription of the names of the twelve Tribes of the Children of Israel on the Gates of the City rather than elsewhere For the Jews being a Nation under the Law and the dispensation of the Law being to live under an external Rule though we have not yet arrived to the Spirit of Life it is implied that there is no entrance into this dispensation of the Spirit without endeavouring as well as we can to live up to those external Rules exhibited to us from the Word whereby we break off from all external evil courses and imitate all good and laudable actions as well as we can with all sincerity of heart which is the summe of true Repentance 14. And the wall of the City had twelve Foundations and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb which sheweth the pure Apostolicalness in this constitution of the Church and insinuates the safety of this Apostolicalness For walls are for safety and these are the very Foundations of the walls 15. And he the Angel that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the City and the Gates thereof and the wall thereof Apoc. chap. 11. there the Church was measured by a Man but this new state of things by an Angel That simply with a Reed this with a golden Reed which implies that this new state of things will as much surpass that state of the Church though symmetral to the Reed it was then measured with as Angels do men and a golden Reed an ordinary combustible one as there indeed was in those first four hundred years which are accounted the symmetral Ages of the Church that which was very combustible and ought to be consumed But the pure Word of God and Spirit of Love abide for ever And this is the golden Reed that adequately measures the New Ierusalem For the Word of God abideth for ever and Charity never ceaseth 16. And the City lyeth four square which Figure as well as the Number Four are symbols of Righteousness And the length is as large as the breadth that 's but an explication of the squareness thereof And he measured the City with the Réed twelve thousand furlongs the length and the breadth and the height of it are all equal that is the City is in the form of a Cube which plainly shows it cannot be a City literally understood but a Polity and signifies not walls and houses but men The solid Content therefore of the City is said to be twelve thousand Furlongs to signifie how entirely Apostolical the constitution of things then will be And to show that this City is more peculiarly described in opposition to the Roman Hierarchy the Perimeter of the Cube twelve thousand Furlongs is the circuit of Ierusalem as the Perimeter of the Cube twenty five thousand Furlongs which twenty five is the Root of the number of the Beast is the circuit of Rome But this it may be is a curiosity that might as well have been omitted as I do also for brevity sake omit That to the twelve Gates Angels Tribes Foundations in the New Ierusalem do answer twenty five Gates Pastours Parishes Cardinals c. in the City of Rome 17. And he measured the wall thereof an hundred forty four Cubits according to the measure of a man that is of the Angel in the shape of a man and whose measuring is to be understood humano more by extracting the square Root Now the Root of 144 is Twelve which shows the height and thickness of the wall and being Twelve it denotes again the pure Apostolicalness of the frame thereof and the strength of it from this Apostolical fabrick thereof 18. And the building of the wall of it was of Iasper the Hebrew word which is rendred by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is as much as Ictibus resistens as Grotius Notes which is not to be subdued by the knocks of the hammer but rather so strong that it breaks all that strikes against it In which sense the wall being of Iasper signifies how firm and inexpugnable it is throughout and is a symbol of invincible patience or fortitude without which all the rest of the vertues are in a manner useless especially in the day of tryal And the City was pure gold like unto clear glass Whence it perfectly resembles the Amber in Ezechiel's Vision which is that Divine Element of Regeneration as I elsewhere more fully show But the golden colour is the tincture of the Spirit of Love or Charity which high perfection and the highest that is of the Soul I conceive to be here signified by Gold in this Vision where ever it is mentioned Gold being by far the most Noble of all Metals most pure and most permanent as the Apostle takes notice that Charity is which never fails whatever becomes of other Gifts and Graces And this City is the Philadelphian Interval of the Church whose proper character is Divine Love 19. And the Foundations of the Wall of the City were garnished with all manner of precious stones that is to say the beauty of them was the garnishing but the substance of them the safety of the City which is the end for which walls are built The first foundation was a Iasper That by Iasper more peculiarly was signified the holy Spirit that is said to be the Luminary of this City I have noted above But he is not only the Luminary of this City but the first foundation of the Wall thereof that is the principal ground of their safety Ephes. 3.16 That he would grant you according to the riches of his Glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit c. And a little after That ye being rooted and grounded in Love 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having your foundation in Love c. which is this Spirit of Love the first foundation of the wall of this City And which is such a Spirit as will drive away all evil or foul Spirits such as have their haunts in the ruines of Babylon chap. 18. vers 2. as the Iasper-stone is said in Dionysius Afer to be an Amulet against all Empusa's and other specters And others write of it that it stops the tumults of thoughts and inconstancy of mind arising from the motions of the blood which in an higher sense in the proper office of the Holy Spirit of which the Iasper is a symbol The second a Saphir The Saphir is a stone of the colour of the Heavens which therefore is a fit note of Heavenly-mindedness and is said to be an Amulet against Lust This is another security of their City that they set their mind upon Heavenly things whereby they escape the