things throughout the whole Prophecy 2. The setling and appointing of Christ the Lamb newly risen from the Dead to be the Supreme Governour and Director of all the Events which were to come to pass by giving him power to open the Book and loose the Seals of it 3. We have here a Pre-representation as there is upon all suitable occasions of the Thousand Years Kingdom of Christ the chief End of all the Visions given us in Two Doxologies sung by Angels and the Representatives of the Christian and Jewish Church who are as it were a Chorus to this Divine Drama as the Virgins Companions Watchmen and Shepherds are in the Book of Canticles which is a Sacred Dramatick Poem relating to Christ's Kingdom See Dr. Patrick 's Preface on the Song of Solomon and Dr. Beverley's Exposition of it 1 From whence Prophecies are called Visions and Prophets Seers in Scripture Hammond 2 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is put for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here and in other places of Scripture as John 1 15.15 18. 1 John 4.19 and this is the same with the first Voice of a Trumpet cap. 1.10 2 And immediately I was in the Spirit Chap. 1.10 and behold a Throne was set in Heaven i. e. God appeared as King and Judg Isa 6.1 Ezek. 1.26 Dan. 7.9 and one i. e. God the Father Chap. 5.7 sat on the Throne i. e. appeared in Majesty and as in Judgment 3 And he that sat was to look upon or was in appearance 3 and resemblance like a Jasper i. e. Glorious Rev. 20.11 and a Sardine 4 stone i. e. Glorious but Terrible Exod. 24.10 Ezek. 1.27 and there was a Rain-bow i. e. his covenant of mercy and peace and his mindfulness of it Gen. 9 11-16 Isa 54 8-10 Ezek. 1.28 round about the Throne so that it might always be in his remembrance in sight like unto an Emerald 5 denoting the never failing mercies of his Covenant and the most pleasant and precious promises of it and of his Kingdom 3 For he saw not God but only his Glory aâ—d such Appearances as denote his Attributes and Perfections Ezekiel 1.28 4 It is a Blood-coloured or Red Stone like Fire and therefore fit to denote the Justice and fiery Indignation of God Heb. 10.27 5 A Smaragd or Emerauld is a most precious Stone of a very pleasant and never fading Greenness the chief Colour in the Rainbow 4 And 6 round about the Throne were four and twenty Seats or Thrones and upon the Seats I saw the four and twenty 7 Elders i. e. the representatives of the Jewish Church 1 Chron. 24. Isa 24.23 sitting on Thrones as participating in Judgment and Government Dan. 7.9 22 26 27. Rev. 20.4 cloathed in white 8 raiment i. e. Priest's Vestments and they had on their Heads 8 Crowns of Gold i. e. Regal Ornaments Chap. 1 6.5 10.20 6. 6 They encompass the Throne as faithful Ministers and Servants to receive God's Commands and to shew their Nearness and Access unto him who was in the midst of them to protect assist and give his Commands unto them Matth. 18.20 7 The Church of Israel as it shall be advanced by Christ in his Kingdom being plainly called God's Antients or Elders by Isaiah Chap. 24.23 it seems evident to me that the four and Twenty Elders are here put for the Representatives of it in allusion to the Four and Twenty Heads of the Courses of the Priests instituted by David 1 Chron. 24. Elder in its General Notion signifying a Head or Governour amongst the Jews as appears from Gen. 50.7 And this Word Elder being by this time become familiar in the Church to signifie the Pastors or Governours of it why may not a Title used in the Christian Church be put to denote the Governours of the Jewish as on the contrary the Jewish Types are all along in this Prophecy put to denote the Christian Antitypes 8 8 The Jewish Church seems here to be represented 1. by their white Vestments which was the Habit of the Jewish Priests Exod. 28.39 40.39 27. and 2. by their Crowns whereby is denoted that they were a Royal Priesthood as they are called Exod. 19.6 and that they together with the Christian Church should reign with Christ 5 And out of the Throne of God the Father proceeded 9 lightnings and thunderings and voices denoting the Majesty of God and the Terror of his Laws and Judgments and of the appearance of his Kingdom and there were seven Lamps of Fire burning before the Throne which are the Symbols or Hieroglyphicks of the seven Spirits of God i. e. of the perfect warming and enlightning influences and operations of the Holy Ghost towards the Church Exod. 37.23 Ezek. 4.2 See the Notes on Rev. 1.4 12 20. 9 These Words are taken from the Dreadful Appearance of God upon Mount Sinai at the Delivery of the Law Exod. 19. and 20.18 20. and signifie God's Judgments in behalf of and upon his Church and especially the extraordinary breakings forth and signal comings of Christ's Kingdom whereby he shakes not the Earth only but the Heaven as they are set forth in Scripture by Metaphors primarily taken according to the Opinion of the Learned Theorist of the Earth from the last general Conflagration See and diligently com Haggai 2 6-9 Malach. 3.1 Psalm 18.13 Jerem. 25.30 Ezek. 1.13 Heb. 10 27-31 Heb. 12 18-29 6 And before the Throne there was a 10 Sea i. e. a large Vessel or receptacle 1 Kings 7.23 of Glass like unto Christal i. e. pure and transparent as that of the Tabernacle was Exod. 38.8 denoting Baptism and the purity it requires and the Blood of Christ by which we are washed and cleansed from our sins Rev. 7.14 and in the midst 11 of the Throne or just before it Ezek. 1.5 and round 11 about the Throne Numb 2.2 were four Beasts or living 12 Creatures representing the pure Apostolical Church of Christ in all parts of the World full of Eyes before and behind i. e. very circumspect and vigilant and skilled in the past and future state of Christ's Kingdom 10 The Laver or Brazen Vessel in the Temple for the Priests to wash in is called a Sea in Scripture as all Receptacles of Waters are of which see Exod. 30 18.38 8. by which is aptly represented the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Baptismal Lavers of the Antients which were very large 11 11 One of the Beasts might be probably placed before the Throne or in the midst of it and the other Three in just distances round about it probably one behind and two on each side of it in correspondence to the Description of Solomon's Throne 1 Kings 10.19 or according to the pitching of the Tents of the Israelites which are described Numb 2.2 as being over against and round about the Tabernacle that is encompassing it in a Square Figure as the Learned generally agree each of the Four Divisions being placed at the Four Points of it looking towards the Four
belongs to those who practice according to the pure and undefiled Rules of Christian Worship given in this Prophecy 4 John to the Seven 6 Eminent Churches in Asia the Less Grace i. e. the free and undeserved Love and Assistance of God be unto you and 7 Peace i. e. all manner of Prosperity especially Spiritual from 8 him or The which is and which was and which is to come i. e. the Eternal and Immutable God Exod. 3.14 who can therefore reveal and will certainly accomplish all which is here foretold and which belongs unto his Church from the beginning unto the end of Time and from the 9 Seven Spirits i. e. the Holy Ghost or Spirit Zach. 4.2 6. which are before his Throne i. e. is present and of Counsel with him who sits on the Throne working and communicating Graces and Gifts by its Operations according to his supreme Good Pleasure and Determination 6 The Seven Churches particularly mentioned in the 11th Verse were the most eminent and flourishing of those which were under the peculiar Care and Government of John upon which account they might be very well made choice of by the Holy Spirit amongst many others which were then probably planted in Asia Minor now called Natolia Some Travellers particularly the Ingenious Mr. Spoon have remarked several Circumstances of their present Condition answerable to the Judgments denounced against them in the following Epistles which may render it something probable that they were immediately directed unto them although the Arguments brought by Dr. Moor and others seem to me to carry with them a full Conviction of what Grotius confesses that the seven Asiatick Churches are but a Pattern and Example of the sevenfold state and quality successive temper and condition of the Universal Church from the beginning to the end of it of which perhaps for it is not a thing unusual in Scripture there may be some intimation in their Names as Grotius has observed which might probably have been made out more clearly if we had a more particular account of the ancient History and circumstances of those Churches however that they are Mystical and not barely Literal Epistles I shall endeavour to prove by observations drawn from the Text it self in my following Annotations and shall not rest upon extrinsecal and more remote Arguments being sufficiently convinced of the frequent weakness of Reasoning upon such Topicks in these matters But upon an impartial consideration of all circumstances I cannot but be of opinion That these seven Asiatick Churches represent the seven Periods and Successions of the Vniversal Church which in correspondence to the Creation a Type of God's Transactions with his Church is according to the known Tradition of the Jews after six thousand years of Labour and Imperfection to enjoy a seventh of Peace Holiness and Perfection from whence the Pythagoreans whose Philosophy came from the East took their Doctrine of the perfection of this Number which is in Scripture and particularly in this Prophecy often made use of in what relates to Christ and his Kingdom and is a perfect number not upon an Arithmetical account for the Number Six is the first perfect Arithmetical one but upon a Mystical in memory of God's having finished and perfected his Works on the Seventb day and of the Sabbatical Rest of the Church in the Seventh Thousand Year of the World after Six remarkable Periods of it from Christ's Resurrection of which more hereafter on Chap. 20. 5. Howsoever thus much is certain That what is contained in these Epistles ought to be duly considered by all Churches that so they may avoid the Faults therein reprehended and the Punishments threatned in them For what is therein written is written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the World are come 7 Peace especially Spiritual being the greatest of blessings is put in Scripture to denote all manner of Prosperity 8 The That is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jehovah who is Being it self for these Words are an Explication of that Sacred Name See the Interpreters on Exod. 3.14 9 It is the Opinion of Mr. Mede Disc 10. and of Dr. Hammond on the place That by the Seven Spirits are to be understood Seven Angels But besides that as Grotius notes on the place Spirits are distinguished from Angels in the Fifth Chapter and that Chap. 4. 5. they are called the Seven Spirits of God which is a Title not given to Angels in Scripture it is not easily accountable why Angels should be placed in the same rank with the Persons of the Trinity and that before the Son and that Grace should be Prayed and Wished for from them when all good Gifts are said by the Apostle James Chap. 1. 17. to come from above from the Father of Lights and there being no form of a Salutation or Blessing in Scripture in the name of a meer Angel for the Angel Gen. 48.15.6 is Christ and not a created Angel such an Interpretation of these Words would give a greater Encouragement to Creature-Worship than can be imagined to have been given in this Prophecy which is so severe against all Idolatry and in which this very Apostle was twice reprehended for offering to give Worship to an Angel And therefore there being no necessity of interpreting the words in this Sense it is certainly the safest and the truest way in my Opinion to understand them concerning the Holy Spirit represented here by Seven Spirits in respect of his Various but Perfect Operations and Gifts denoted by Seven the Number of Perfection as we have already noted and shall declare more fully hereafter to the Vniversal Church in the Sevenfold successive State of it Whereupon Zach. 4. the Seven Lamps at the 2d Verse are at the 6th Verse said to be by God's Spirit That is from the Plenitude of the Holy Spirit which in those Seven Lamps diffused its Mighty and Perfect Operations But although Angels are not to be placed before Christ yet the Order of the Persons of the Blessed Trinity is not always observed in Scripture not in that very Apostolick Benediction 2 Cor. 13. where the Grace of Christ is placed first and in this Form of Benediction the Holy Ghost is put before Christ because more was to be spoken concerning him afterwards who was therefore more conveniently to be reserved unto the last place 5 And from 10 Jesus Christ who is the Faithful Witness of his Fathers Will and a Prophet worthy to be believed and the first begotten of or first born from the Dead by his being first raised which is a new Birth or a Regeneration Acts 13.33 and the Prince of the Kings of the Earth i. e. the chief Ruler and Disposer of the Kingdoms of Men especially the four Monarchies which shall be broken to Peices and consumed by his Kingdom Dan. 2 44.4 17. unto him that Loved us unto the Death John 15.13 and washed us from our sins in or by his own Blood shed for them 10 Note here the great
Cardinal Points of Heaven 12 For so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ought to be translated as it is Ezek. 1.5 that so they may be the better distinguished from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the Antichristian Beast These Four living Creatures are called Cherubims Ezek. 10.2 By which is meant Active Beings of an Angelical Nature employed in the Ministration of God's Providence as appears from their Description given by Ezekiel Now the Representations here given figuring something analogous to them in the Church they cannot be supposed to signifie any thing more properly than the pure Christian Church represented by the Apostles who were so extraordinarily active in the propagating of the Gospel into the Four Quarters of the World and were Twelve making up Four Ternaries of Living Creatures or Zealous Active Ministers of Christ according to the Number of the Four Ternaries of the Twelve Tribes under the Four Standards in the Wilderness For we are to take notice that this Representation of the Throne of the Majesty of God or this Theatre or Stage of the Apocalyptick Visions as Mr. Mede calls it exactly answers the Encampments of the Israelites God's Throne being here placed in the middle as the Tabernacle was there the Four and Twenty Elders next to answer the Station of the Priests and Levites and the Four Beasts at each Angle Diametrically opposite to each other against the Four Cardinal Points of the Wind representing Christians in the Four Quarters of the World in analogy to the Four Standards of the Camp of the Israelites having in them Figures of these Four Living Creatures taken from the Cherubims of the Chariot or Glorious Throne of Almighty God 1 Chron. 28.18 For which see Mr. * Pag. 437 594 917. Mede Dr. Hammond on the Place Grotius on Numb 10.15 and Mr. Ainsworth on Numb 2. where he has given us the Figure of the Encampments and has discoursed largely on them and Dr. ‖ De legibus Hebraeorum lib. 3. Dissertat 5. Spencer 7 And the first Beast or living creature was like a Lion 13 denoteing the Power and strength of the Gospel and Apostolical Ministry Gen. 49.9 Psal 103.24 and the second Beast like a Calf 14 or Ox denoting their Laboriousness and Usefulness Prov. 14.4 and the third Beast had the face of a Man 15 signifying Reason and Prudence and the fourth Beast was like a flying Eagle 16 noteing their activity and quick-sightedness into the Mysteries of the Gospel 13 This was the Standard of Judah on the East side compared to a Lyon Gen. 49.9 And the Qualities of these Living Creatures do denote the like Gifts and Graces required in the Ministry which were after an extraordinary manner eminent in the Apostles the Representatives of the Christian Church and of its State in the Kingdom of Christ to which this appearance relates 14 The Standard of Ephraim on the West side of the Camp who is resembled to an Ox Deut. 33.17 15 Reuben's Standard on the South side 16 The Standard of Dan on the North side 8 And the four Beasts had each of them six 17 Wings noteing their speed their Reverence in God s Presence and their humble sense of themselves Isa 6.2 about 18 him and they were full of Eyes within 19 to observe themselves as well as to be vigilant over others and they 20 rest not day and night but are constant and incessant in the Worship and Service of God Isa 60 11.62 6. saying Holy 21 Holy Holy i. e. infinitely and superlatively Holy Isa 6.3 Lord God Almighty which was and is and is to come Rev. 1.4 17 With Two they covered their Faces out of Reverence with Two their Feet or Nakedness out of a sense of their own shame and impurity and with Two they flew to execute God's Commands Isa 6.2 18 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 round about them that is perhaps at several Distances on each side as the Israelites are said to encamp 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or round about the Tabernacle that is at distant Points of the several sides of the Square encompassing it So here each of the Living Creatures is said to have Six Wings 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is on each side Three one against another one pair on their Shoulders with which they flew another on each of their Breasts stretched upwards to cover their Faces and the Third about their Hips to cover their less honourable parts or appearances Andreas Caesariensis reads as our common Copies do but if 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be to be joyned to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Grotius and Dr. Hammond think then their Exposition may be consulted as more commmodious 19 The inward Eyes of these Creatures were represented unto John the Figure or Appearance which was perhaps diaphanous being contrived accordingly 20 This was the Practice of the Apostolical Church as appears from Acts 2.42 46.20 31. Luke 2.37 2 Tim. 4.2 21 Here it is acknowledged by the Apostolical Church with the Joynt Consent of the Israelitish Church that God is a Supereminent Being and that he is to be worshipped incommunicably according to his most eminent and unparallell'd Holiness and perhaps the Divine Being in Father Word and Spirit may be intimated in the Threefold Repetition of the Word Holy But howsoever in this First Doxology the Lord God Almighty who is Father Son and Holy Ghost God blessed for ever is only mentioned and not the Lamb to shew that the Belief of One God who created all things is the First Fundamental Principle of Religion Christ as Redeemer the Lamb slain being not acknowledged and worshipped until the Second Doxology after he had appeared before the Throne of the Father and had received his Kingdom acccording to the Original Model of these Visions in the Book of Daniel where Chap. 7. the Son of Man is brought near to the Father and then had Dominion and Glory given him 9 And when soever these Beasts 22 or representatives of the Apostolical pure Church give or shall and are wont to give glory i. e. acknowledgment of God's glorious Majesty and Excellency and Honour to God's Authority and Preheminence and thanks for his bounty and gracious gifts to his Church to him that sat on the Throne who liveth for ever and ever i. e. to the Eternal and Living God not a dead Idol who will open his Kingdom of Eternal Life to all true Christians 22 At the fourth Verse the Twenty four Elders are placed before the Living Creatures to signifie the Primogeniture of the Jewish Church Here they are placed after them to signifie that the Truths here acknowledged were first clearly made known to the Christian Church and shall be at last communicated by them to the Jewish which shall be excited and provoked to Jealousie by them and shall at their Conversion joyn with them in an acknowledgment of these and all other Truths of Christianity 10 The four and twenty Elders or Heads of the pure Jewish Church testifying
Historians have observed the Reformation was remarkably preserved by many strange Accidents amidst the unaccountable Humours of a Cruel and Vain-glorious Prince As by the Intrigues of Woolsey for the Papacy and his missing of it which if he had obtained no doubt says Fox the Authority of that See had never been exterminated out of England By the Sollicitations of the Emperour with the Pope the Easiness of the Pope to grant the Bull and again his Stiffness in denying it but especially by his rash and precipitate Sentence against the King and that contrary to the ordinary Forms of proceeding in his own Courts which if they had observed the Breach betwixt them had been made up the King's Submission arriving at Rome but Two Days after the Sentence given But as our late Ecclesiastical Historian judiciously observes God in his wise and unsearchable Providence had designed to draw other great Ends out of this Rupture and therefore suffered them that were most concerned to hinder it to be the chief Instruments of driving it on The unprosperous proceedings of Q. Mary and the strange Preservations of Q. Elizabeth together with other remarkable Instances of God's Providence in the Times of Persecution are largely insisted upon by our Laborious Martyrologist at the End of his Third Volume which I shall not therefore mention as neither the secret (a) Cardin. Bentivol History of the Wars of Flanders page 6. Correspondencies betwixt Philip the 2d of Spain and the King of France for the Extirpation of Protestantism discovered by William Prince of Orange the Measures (b) Mezeray page 651 653. taken for exterminating it by the Spaniards and French at a Treaty wholly defeated by the sudden Death of Henry the Second the Effect which the French (c) Mezeray page 651 653 957. Massacre met with contrary to the Design of those who contrived it whereby it was turned rather to the strengthening and security of the Protestants than their utter Ruine as it might have done to omit the Defeat in Eighty Eight the Gunpowder Treason and the later Deliverance fresh in our Memories for which I refer the Reader to a Sermon preached by Bishop Burnet before the Queen on July the 16th 1690. 5. The Reformation was an appearance of the Kingdom of Christ as it cleared up the True Notion and Nature of his Spiritual Kingdom in the Souls of Men by instructing them in the Nature of Faith and of Justification by Christ's Merits to which as Mr. Fox (d) Vol. 2. page 80. hath judiciously observed the Success of the Reformation was very much owing those Doctrines having been mightily obscured by a wrong Notion of good Works and the Doctrine of Merits one of the most Fundamental Errors of Popery And it very much also contributed to this End by stripping Religion of much of its vain Pomp and unedifying Ceremonies which do not promote true inward Piety but distract the Mind which being of a limited Capacity cannot well attend at once to two Objects of so different a Nature as sensible and intellectual ones are For the External Pomp of Religion and its gawdy Ornaments are very contrary to the Simplicity of the Gospel in which only Two External Rites and those very plain and simple ones were instituted viz. Baptism and the Lord's Supper Christian Religion consisting chiefly in the heart and Affections and in Externals as they conduce to inward Holiness according to what our Saviour hath told us concerning his Kingdom Luke 17.20 that it cometh not with observation that is is not (a) See Grotius on the place and Hammond attended with Pomp Splendor and Riches but is a Spiritual (b) Rom. 2 19. and 14.17 Kingdom in the Heart and Spirit consisting not in Meats and Drinks but in Righteousness and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost Whereupon the (c) Sleidan page 53. Mezeray page 948 957. Reformation retrenched much of the superfluous Riches of the Church which are apt to corrupt the best mens minds and lessened much of the Secular Grandeur Preheminence and Superiority Titles and Honours of the Clergy whereby the Church becomes too like a worldly Kingdom Whereas Christ plainly declares that his Kingdom is not of this World John 18.36 and (d) Matth. 20 20-28 Luke 22 24-30 forbids his Apostles all secular Jurisdiction and the Affectation at least of Titles of Honour and Authority Lastly It was an appearance of the Kingdom of Christ as it shook and made a breach in that of Antichrist which it is at last utterly to break in pieces consume aed destroy Dan. 2 44.7 26. And this it did after a most signal manner by drawing of many Kingdoms and Princes from the Antichristian Corruptions of Popery But as the Reformation was an Appearance of Christ's Kingdom so it must be confessed that it was but an Imperfect one by reason of the sealing up or putting a stop to those things which the Seven Thunders uttered which would otherwise have produced Christ's Kingdom in Glory and have broken in peices the Kingdom of Antichrist And that such a stop was put to its Efficacy will appear from these Considerations 1. Because the Reformation was not attended with Miracles which our (a) Matth. 12.28 Luke 10 9.11 20. Saviour makes to be a certain Sign of the coming of his Kingdom And if it were the Sign of its first coming have we not reason to expect that it shall be so of its Second But this Gift cannot be expected whilst Antichristianism prevails so mightily in the World whose encrease was the Cause of the Cessation of Miracles in the Church which lasted for a considerable time as hath been shewn by the Learned Mr. Dodwell in his Dissertations on Irenaeus and Cyprian beyond the Infancy of the Gospel and the first propagation of it for which Age therefore they could not only be designed and gradually decreased as the Errors and Corruptions of the Church encreased 2. According to the Parables of our Saviour Matth. 13. concerning his Kingdom the Enemy soon sowed Tares in it whilst men slept which choaked and perverted the Word of the Kingdom at first preached in many things and the Men which it gathered of every kind bad as well as good brought in a mixture of their own sins and infirmities into it For not only (a) Mezeray page 948. Camden Elizab. page 26. Fox 's Martyr Vol. 3. page 105 442 537. Politicians and wicked Worldlings carried on their private Designs which the Reformers here in England complained much of as to the point of Sacriledge but the Good Men who most effectually promoted it had their Weaknesses and Infirmities (b) Sleidan 21 43. passim Luther and (c) Adam Vit. Calv. page 109 See Calvin's Answer to Officium viri pii Calvin although extraordinary Persons and of great Piety were both Men of very warm Tempers and were sometimes too violently transported and the latter is thought to have had a too
others is included Luke 24.49 by the Holy Ghost's coming upon them the knowledge of Times and Seasons was bestowed upon them by God which indeed it was not for them to know before of themselves and without the Spirit which alone knoweth the Secrets of God for which they were rebuked by our Saviour Acts 1 6-8 and not for supposing such a Kingdom and Restauration For in the first Sermon which the Apostle Peter made after the descent of the Holy Ghost Acts 3 19-26 he plainly makes mention of the Times and appointed Seasons of d Restitution or Restauration and Refreshment to Israel determining also the precise Time when this should come to pass viz. at the second Coming of Christ from Heaven foretold by all the Prophets when the sins of the converted Israelites were to be blotted out and they should have great comfort and refreshment from the presence of God by Christ's return referring to the Prophecy of Moses Deut. 18.15 18 19. where it is foretold that at the raising up or coming of Christ the Israelites shall hear or obey him in all things whatsoever he shall say unto them which perfect Obedience hath not been as yet paid unto Christ's Doctrine by them and therefore the Words must refer to some Second Coming when according to the Tenor of that and other places of Scripture the faithful Jews shall be restored comforted and rewarded and the Disobedient shall be destroyed from among the people Lastly The Apostle 1 Cor. 15 24.-29 plainly asserts that Christ shall have such a Distinct and Peculiar Kingdom to himself as that he may be said in the Exercise of it not to be subject to God the Father and God the Father during that Kingdom not to be all in all Which cannot be understood concerning him whilst he was upon Earth because he was then in a State of Humiliation and Sufferings being made lower then the Angels and having taken upon himself the Form of a Servant Phil. 2.7 8. Heb. 2.9 nor concerning him as he is now in Heaven because he is represented in Scripture in his present State as sitting on the Right Hand of God whereby is denoted his enjoying and possessing as the Son (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Acts 3.2 the same word used Acts 1.6 by the Apostles when they proposed this question to our Saviour of Man a Glory and Authority next to that of God the Father and the Exercise of his Regal Office as a Branch of his Mediatorship as in subjection and subordination unto him and as in expectation of having his Enemies subdued by the Father Psalm 110.1 Heb. 10.12 13. Nor can this be understood concerning the Kingdom of Eternity because then God will be All in All And although Christ must Reign in his Humane Nature to all Eternity yet that is not as Mediator but as God-Man (a) John 13 32.17 5 24. glorified with the Glory which he had with the Father before the World was in which State his Humane Nature is not to have a proper and peculiar Glory of it self but one in and with God from him and him alone And therefore this must be understood concerning some State of his Kingdom called 1 Cor. 15.24 The Kingdom in which Christ as Son of Man and Mediators shall appear to Reign so gloriously with such Evidences and Manifestations of Glory in and from himself as that he may be said not to be subject to the Father but to have a distinct Kingdom of his own although communicated from God the Father in which he Reigns freely and absolutely as King and net as a Vice-Roy limited by a Commission and which was not to be One with his Fathers Kingdom until all things become One in him when Christ's Mediatory Kingdom is to cease A Mediator not being a Mediator of One. Now if there be such a Kingdom and that Kingdom be not his Mediatory nor Eternal Kingdom what Kingdom can it be but that Glorious Kingdom we have been treating of which is to begin as the Apostle there intimates and shall be shewn hereafter at the Resurrection and is to end when all things are subdued unto the Son when he shall deliver up his Kingdom in which the Saints had been sanctified by him and prepared for Union with God according to the Tenor of that admirable Prayer of our Saviour John 17. the Pattern of his Intercession Q. E. D 15 It is no where expresly said in Scripture that Christ shall come down upon the Earth at the Day of Judgment but only that he shall appear in the Clouds (a) So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may be rendered compare Rev. 5.10 and Matth. 25.21 See Mr. Mather de Signo Filii Hominis and Dr. Homes Resurrect revealed 2.2 over the Earth in the lowest part of the Heavens into which be descends from the highest Heavens Judging the World and Reigning there with his Saints 1 Thes 4.16 17. 16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Thousand Years which are to be understoood of a definite space of time as appears from the Epocha and Period assigned to this Line of Time which is dated from the binding of the Devil and ends in the loosing of him And the Thousand Years are to be understood Literally and not Prophetically reckoning each Day for a Year because all Prophetical Time will be at an end before the Blessed Millennium begins according to Christ's Oath Rev. 10.6 that Time should be no longer after the expiring of the 1260 Years the Times foretold by the Prophets Now if Propheticall Time be at an end before the Thousand Years enter then they must be Literally and not Prophetically understood in which sense if they were to be taken the Glory of the Divine State in which God is all in all would be deferred to so vast a length of Time as could not rationally be supposed But that this State is to last such a precise Number of Years seems to be plainly asserted by the Apostle Peter 2. Ep. 3.8 who discoursing concerning the Day of Judgment delivers this remarkable Axiom of which he charges those he wrote to to take special notice as of a thing very observable viz. That one Day is with the Lord as a Thousand Years and a Thousand Years as one Day In which place the Apostle answers an Objection which he foresaw would be made by some Scoffers in the last Days against the coming of Christ to dissolve this present World and make a New One and tells the that this should certainly come to pass at the Day of Judgment But least his meaning should be mistaken he says that by the Day of Judgment he does not mean a single ordinary Day but a Day in the mysterious Account and Reckoning of Almighty God who made all things in Number as well as in Weight and Measure and had ordained accordingly that a Day in his Account should be reckoned as a Thousand Years and a Thousand Years as One Day and therefore that the Day
watchful over such Pretenders especially at a time and in a Nation so prone to Enthusiasm and so easily transported into irregular Practises upon any new or unusual Occurrence But although due caution be commendable yet a settled aversion to or a careless neglect of searching into Scripture Prophecies may be of as ill effect to the Publick as the Confidence of false Pretenders to the Interpretation of them or the rashness of the giddy Multitude can possibly be And I cannot see what excuse Learned Men can have for not weighing and considering what is offered from Scripture History and Reason towards the clearing up of that Prophecy to the Study of which the reward of Blessedness is promised in it Rashness and groundless Confidence and pretences to immediate Impulses when not agreeable to Scripture or Reason are indeed to be Despised and it is fit that even those who propagate Truths after a Turbulent and Zelotick manner should be restrained but when things which may seem something strange and uncommon are offered by Men of Piety and Learning although with an Air of some more than ordinary assurance it is very commendable to search into the grounds of them and not wholly to slight them although there may be a mixture of Frailty and Error in them For God doth not now ordinarily assist after an infallible manner and sometimes permitted even his Prophets (a) 1 Sam. 16.6 2 Sam. 7.3 2 Kings 4.27 to Err when their desires were too eager and their approbation even of a good design too hasty and they spake as Men not as Prophets Enthusiasm which arises from an overheated Imagination is indeed a dangerous Disease of the Soul and it is I must confess something difficult for the best and wisest Men to avoid all taint and infection of it whilst they are too intent upon the Study of Prophetical Scripture especially of those parts of it in which God who hath afforded us in Scripture suitable matter for the exercise of all our Intellectual Capacities has condescended to the Fancy and Imagination of Mankind and has entertaired them as he hath done in this Book if I may so speak with a Divine Opera representing the greatest transactions belonging to his Church in Sacred Emblems and Hieroglyphicks Upon which consideration câ—re hath been taken that no interpretation should be inserted into the Paraphrase upon the Text which was not thought to be justly grounded upon the Scriptures quoted in it and bare Imagination hath not been in the least indulged but in the Annotations where it is Lawful to Exspatiate to propose conjectures to the Learned World and to give the raines to Fancy but under the curb and restraints of Reason and Prudence But although Enthusiasm which is a false pretence to extraordinary Impulses and Inspirations from God be very pernicious to the Souls of Private Persons as well as to the Publick yet it is certainly of very ill consequence rashly to reject every thing as Enthusiastick in the performance of which good sober and judicious persons profess themselves to have found sometimes more than ordinary assistance upon the due use of proper means Because it tends to the disparagement of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost encourages Men in a Jejune dry formality of Religion without inward Life and Spirit and robs them of much of that Joy and Comfort they might otherwise find in hearkning what God the Lord will say unto them by bringing natural and revealed Truths into their Minds and by opening and awakening their Ears to Discipline and Instruction for God speaketh once yea twice but man perceiveth it not For let Men of narrow Souls or those who have accustomed themselves only to dry Reasoning think what they will it is evident enough from some Mens Experience and from the very Spirit and Majesty which appears in their Discourses that they are raised sometimes above themselves and are afforded a clearer and larger prospect of useful great and momentous Truths than their Faculties do ordinarily arrive to or could have reached without Divine Assistance And extraordinary Truths are not only to be expected from those who have an happy Concurrence of all the Endowments which compleat a Great Genius but are frequently bestowed upon men of meaner abilities such Oar being often found amidst much Dross and many Imperfections especially of Style and other Ornaments which the World too much values and unreasonably dotes upon God for the Exaltation of free Grace and that men might not Glory in themselves and attribute things to their own Skill sometimes making use of the foolish weak and base things of the World to confound the Wise the Mighty and most valuable things in the esteem of Men. And therefore I hope that men of Wit and Natural Accomplishments will not disdain to look into Authors whose way of management may at first sight promise little much less rashly despise great Truths for not being cloathed in a modish Dress For many men who have true and just Thoughts of things are very unhappy in expressing them and they who much Study the Prophetical Writers whose Style as the ingenious Theorist of the Earth truly observes is rather Bold and Noble than Just will contract a swelling obscure and Metaphorical Style which elevated Minds and even Plato himself could not avoid nor the generality of the first (a) Plutarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philosophers who are observed to have admitted a Divine Principle into their Philosophy the want of which is an unpardonable fault in Aristotle and others as if an uncommon and freer Style were the effect of Noble and Divine Thoughts and a too close and jejune one were the sign of a narrow and an Atheistical Disposition But whatsoever may be thougnt of the Interpreters of this Prophecy the Prophecy it self is certainly worthy the utmost thoughts of all Pious Learned and Ingenious Persons whose pains will be sufficiently rewarded by the pleasure Spiritual Profit and Advantages they will reap from it For what can afford greater pleasure to Pious Minds than to have a view in lively Emblems of the Throne of the Majesty of tne great God and to see his Glory and Goodness pass before them in Mystical representations of his Attributes of the Mystery of our Redemption and the Glorious Kingdom of Christ the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World Who can forbear breaking forth into Praises and Thanksgivings upon reading the Songs of Victory which the blessed Spirits sing before the Throne or God at the several Exaltations and Triumphs of Christ's Kingdom And who is so in Love with this present World as not to wish that he were Dissolved that he might be with Christ in his holy Mount (a) Chap. 14. 1. And that even this Earth and Heavens might meit and pass away although he himself should suffer Loss thereby and be saved but so as by Fire that he might be with Christ and the blessed Saints in a New World wherein Righteousness shall
of the Witnesses especially at the Reformation 1517. 46 This refers to some second space of Repentance afforded the Apostasie before the pouring out of the Vials which may be probably the time allotted to the uttering of the Voices Chap. 14. by which Babylon was called to Repentance 23 And I will kill her Idolatrous Children 47 i. e. her Proselytes and Followers with death i. e. I will certainly and utterly destroy them and by the greatness of the Punishment all the Churches of the World shall know that I am he which 48 searcheth the Râ—iâ—s i. e. the Desires and Hearts i. e. the Thoughts and can discern the Sincerity of them and I will give unto every one of you according to your works and not according to your subtile and fair pretences 47 As the Disciples of the Prophets are called the Sons of the Prophets and as Timothy and Mark are called Paul's Sons in Scripture because they were his Disciples and were converted by him so are the Proselytes of Jezebel called here the Children of her spiritual Whoredom as being brought over to the Apostasie by her subtile Enticements and by the power of those Kings and Princes especially who were of her Communion and thereby had committed Adultery with her 48 From whence it appears that the Apostasie made use of plausible Insinuations to seduce Men to their Communion and an appearance of Piety and Religion 24 But unto you I say and 49 to the rest in Thyatyra that is the Remnant of this Succession which shall continue until I come in my Kingdom Verse 25 26. as many of you I mean as have not held and approved this Idolatrous 50 Doctrine of the Apostasie before-mentioned Verse 20. and which have not known so as to hold and approve the depths 51 of Satan i. e. the Antichristian Mysteries and Policies as 52 they of the pure Church of Thyatira speak or call them I will put upon you no other burthen 53 of Command 49 The Church of Thyatira is distinguished into Two Intervals viz. one before and at the Reformation the other after it which is to last until Christ's Coming in his Kingdom when upon the appearance of that Succession their last works shall be greater than their former The first Interval is denoted here by You that is you who are now in being the second by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Rest or the Remnant See Chap. 3 2.11 13. 50 By 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are meant in Scripture Sentences or Parables and Precepts or Discourses tending to Doctrine and Manners for so the Word is frequently used in the New Testament of which sort there were many false and erroneous ones amongst the Jews as appears from Heb. 13.9 and amongst the Primitive Christians falsly attributed to the Apostles and Apostolical Men. 51 The profound Mysteries such as Transubstantiation and Infallibity and the deep Politick Devices of the Apostasie are called here Satanical Depths in opposition to the Mysteries of Christianity called deep things of God and the Depth Rom. 11.33 1 Cor. 2.10 52 It was the chief Accusation of the Waldenses the pure Christians of this Succession that they called the Papacy Babylon and Antichrist and adapted the Prophecies of this Book to that Church as may be seen in a Treatise put forth by them A. D. 1120. and printed in Perrin's History of them 53 A Phrase taken from Acts 15.28 Where Ordinances or Commandments are called Burthens as they are also Matth. 23.4 And Christ here assures them that he would not charge them with any Injunctions of doing their first Works or repenting as he had done the other Churches but bids them only stick close to what they held and maintained approving thereby their Integrity and Purity 25 But that or those necessary things Acts 15.28 which ye have already believed and held hold fast till I come in my Kingdom 26 And he i. e. that Body of Men or those Persons that overcometh the Corruptions of this State and keepeth my 54 Works or the Precepts and Commandments which I have given them and enabled them to perform unto the end of time when Christ's Kingdom shall come Rev. 10.6 7. to him will I then give power over the 55 Nations or Gentiles that is the Apostasie and their Abettors 54 They are called Christ's Works in opposition to the Depths of Satan which are the Works of the Devil John 8.41 44. And by his Works are meant Holy Worship and Practice and the most vigorous Opposition of the Apostasie 55 As being no better than meer Gentiles by reason of their Idolatry 27 And he or the Saints of this Church-State shall rule them the Antichristian Party and their Abettors with a Rod of Iron that is with just Severity and as the Vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers i. e. their Church-State shall be dissolved easily and irreparably and I will give him power over the Nations even as I received Power of my Father Psalm 2.9 for they shall reign with me 28 And I will give him the 56 Morning-Star i. e. these Witnesses shall first arise and give early Notice of the approaching glorious State of Christ's Kingdom 56 A Phrase made use of by the Holy Ghost in 2 Pet. 1.19 with reference to this very matter where Prophetical Scripture is likened unto a light shining in a dark place which yet notwithstanding its Obscurity was a more sure word then a Private Voice from Heaven and which might be understood notwithstanding the dark state we are in provided they be not interpreted according to our own Natural Vnderstanding called there the VVill of Man nor according to a Private Interpretation but according to the VVill of God speaking in and by the Holy Penmen which is a Publick Interpretation because it is taken from the Common Analogy of Scripture Rom. 12.6 and is agreeable to the VVritings of All the Holy Men of God whose Spiritual Things are to be compared one with another that so we may have a Publick Standard of Interpretation in the Church and because it proceeds although in an ordinary manner from the same (a) 1 Cor. 6-16 12 4. spirit which alone knows the things of God which at first moved the Holy Prophets which is One and agreeable to it self in all its Gifts and Operations and which when it incited them to speak and write gave them not Prophecies of a private Sense as relating only to private and particular persons but which were to be understood in a Publick Sense concerning Christ his Church and Kingdom But although they may be understood by us yet the Apostle tells us that it will not be without great difficulty until the Day shall dawn and the Day Star arise in our Hearts by which the appearance of Christ in his Kingdom is meant who is called Rev. 22.16 the bright and Morning Star the first Dawnings and Approachings of whose Kingdom may be meant by the Morning Star as the Kingdom in its
Kingdom of God Mark 15.43 I will come on thee as a Thief 10 i. e. unexpectedly and thou shalt not know by reason of not watching over the Times and Seasons which God has shewn unto his Servants what hour I will come unto thee in my Kingdom and discover thy Defects and Unsuitableness to it 8 Here they are called upon to look back upon the Model of their First Reformation which they had swerved from and to hold fast those Principles and to repent and amend what was faulty 9 Here is intimated as also in the second Verse that this Church was careless and slow to believe and expect Christ's second coming in his Kingdom before the Day of Judgment 10 This Phrase signifies in Scripture a sudden and a surprising Judgment as Matth. 24.42 43. Luke 22.39 40. 1 Thes 5.2 And here is intimated the sudden coming of the Kingdom of Christ upon this Church to its great surprize and amazement occasioned by its ignorance of the disagreeableness of its own State to it or it 's not knowing that it would have come so soon or that she should have been so entirely removed by its First Appearances 4 Thou hast a few Names 11 or excellent Persons Acts 1.15 even in Sardis although almost dead which have not defiled no not their Garments Jude 23 but have carefully avoided all the Corruptions of this State and have had their Works perfect before God and they shall walk with me in white 12 Garments i. e. be favoured by me and honoured in my Kingdom and be justified and declared righteous for they are in my sight worthy of it as having kept themselves white or undefiled 11 Excellent persons and therefore known by Name as Exod. 33.12 God is said to know Moses by Name that is after a special and particular manner Or it is a Metaphor either from Moses's taking the Names of the Children of Israel Numb 3.40 43.26 53 54. or from the High priests bearing their Names upon the Stones on his Breast-plate which being the Foundation Stones of the New Jerusalem Chap. 21. the Names written on them may be put to signifie Excellent Apostolical Members of the Church But here we are to note that these Excellent and undefiled persons were but a few and therefore it is dangerous to follow the Majority or Multitude of this Church according to what is observed concerning the Sardian (a) Boet. de Gemmis 2. 80. Stone that it hath but a very little of a pale or white colour mixt with its red 12 Or shining Garments Matth. 17.2 which were such as Kings used to wear and bestow upon their Favourites whereby also Chearfulness and Innocence is signified and Purity and Righteousness Eccles 9.8 Rev. 19.8 And from this Verse we may observe That this Church may be Communicated with without sin there being some of its Members although a few who remain in it without being defiled and that the whole Church is spoken to and is said to have those Exellent Names and the undefiled Names are not blamed for having or suffering the corrupt as in Pergamus and Thyatira which are manifest Indications that Sardis is not an Apostatical but a True and a Reformed Church 5 He that overcometh the Corruptions of this State the same shall be clothed in white Raiment Vers 4. Rev. 19.8 and I will not blot 13 out his Name out of the Book of Life i. e. he shall be enrolled amongst the Members of my Kingdom Dan. 12.1 Rev. 13 7.17 8.20 12 15.21 27.22 19. but I will 14 confess his Name before my Father and before his Angels i. e. I will make him be publickly acknowledged and commended at the last day 13 This Phrase occurs Exod. 32.32 Psalm 69.28 and seems to be taken from the Custom recorded Ezra 2.62 63. where we read That the Jews kept Registers of the Genealogies of their Priests in which if a man were not found he was put from the Priesthood as polluted It was also an antient Custom alluded to as some think in this place of Enrolling the Names of Citizens and Blotting them out of the Publick Registers when they had forfeited that Priviledge From whence also came the Custom of blotting Names out of the Diptychs of the Church But from whatsoever Custom the Phrase is taken it plainly relates to the Rewards which will be bestowed upon the Saints of this Church-Interval in Christ's Kingdom 14 Expressions taken from the Day of Judgment noting the Gracious Requital Christ will afford them for confessing his Name in greatest purity Matth. 10.32 Luke 12.8 6 He that hath an Ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches 7 And to the Angel of the Church in 15 Philadelphia write These things saith he that is holy or the Holy who will shortly erect a holy Church and Kingdom and he that is true or The True who will bring to pass what he has promised concerning his Church he that hath the Key 16 of David i. e. full power of disposing all things concerning his Kingdom he that openeth a Door to his People and no man shutteth against them and shutteth against his Enemies and no man openeth i. e. hath Sovereign and irresistible Power and will conduct his People through all Difficulties to such a Church-State as they shall never be deprived of by their Enemies 15 Sardis represents those Churches of the Reformation which have a Repute or Name in the World but want the inward Life and Spirit of the Gospel and Philadelphia seems to be the Type of the Reformed Churches which are low in Outward Strength and Esteem but very strict in observing Christ's Word and Commands which Characters I shall not venture to adapt to any particular Churches but leave them to the impartial consideration of all concerned as they may be gathered from the Text it self Philadelphia is distant about Twenty seven Miles from Sardis a City as Strabo notes never very Populous and Famous because it was subject to Earthquakes which yet withstood the Fury of the (a) Smith de Statu Sept. Eccles Turks with great Constancy and Gallantry when all the rest of Asia had submitted and has now (b) Spoon's Voyages in it Four Churches of Greeks and about Two Thousand Christians which are no contemptible Remarks as to our present purpose and would induce a Man to think that the Divine Wisdom has afforded us some faint Resemblances of the little outward strength or power of this Church-state and of its strict adherence to the Truth and of the Ample Reward God will afford it even in the Fate of the City from which it is denominated And if any thing be to be gathered from the Names of these Churches the Nature and Qualities of this State are plainly discovered in its Name Philadelphia signifying Brotherly Love as if this Church-State were to be established upon that Principle and not upon power outward splendor and superiority Luke 22 24-30 See Grotius on that place and
gained a Line of Time of 430 Years from Solomon's Death to the end of the LXX Years Captivity which is the first of Cyrus which is made out also by Dr. Beverley from a distinct Enumeration of the Reigns of the Kings of Israel and Judah and the fourteen Years assigned to the Visions of Ezekiel's Temple and does not much differ from the Calculations of the latest Chronologers who make this time to amount to 437 or 439 years at furthest although they confess after all their Pains that this Line of Time is very uncertain and obscure for Reasons collected by (a) Introduct Chronol ad Hist Eccles pag. 150-159 Spanhemius And therefore amidst so much doubt and difficulty where can we find a surer rest then in Scripture whose accounts of time will after all be found the most exact and that when Profane History and Chronology is most in the Dark if we take in Prophetical Time as well as Historical And now having settled the beginning of Cyrus's Reign or the Epoch of the Medo-Persian Monarchy we have obtained the beginning of the 2300 years and withal a Line of Time from it to the Cleansing or Justifying of the Sanctuary i. e. of the Christian Church Typified thereby from all Idolatry and Antichristianism when the Holy Place which is now shut will appear open in Heaven Rev. 11.19 Which Account stands thus A. M. 5759 A.D. vulg 1772. From the beginning of the Medo Persian Empire by Cyrus to the cleansing of the Sanctuary Dan. 8.13 14. 2300 Which will end in the 5759th year from the Creation and the 1772 year after Christ according to the common Account From which if you take Daniel's 75 years you come to the end of the 42 Months and the 1260 days and so by a regressive order to the Epoch or beginning of them at A.D. 437 as hath been already shewn on Paragr 5. pag. 210. All which is deduced by particular Accounts and after a most accurate manner by Dr. Beverley in his several Treatises called Scripture Lines of Time and stand as they are proved by him in this Order  Years 1. From Cyrus to Daniel's 70 weeks 75 2. Daniel's Weeks 490 3. The time between the Weeks and the 42 Months 400 4. The 1260 days or 42 Months 1260 5. The 30 and 45 Years of Daniel 75 Which amounts to years 2300 3 And I will give Power i. e. Commission and Ability of Testimony and Prophecy unto my two 13 Witnesses raised and sent on purpose to testify to the Truth and to denounce Judgments against the Apostasy and they shall Prophesie i. e. declare and Preach 14 against it and foretel Judgments a thousand 15 two hundred and threescore days of years cloathed in Sackcloath 16 i. e. in a Despicable Afflicted and Mournful condition 13 To Witness signifies to give Testimony to the Truth against Errors and Corruptions as the word is used Is 55.4 John 18.37 Acts 26.16 and also to pronounce God's Judgments against sinners as the word signifies Malach. 3.5 And the Witnesses are Two because Two Witnesses at least were required under the Law for confirmation Deut. 17.6.19 15. and to shew that a small number but a sufficient one should be made use of to confirm the Truth But chiefly in Correspondence to the Types in the Old Testament where these Witnesses are generally Two and accordingly God here raises up Two Witnesses to Witness and denounce Judgments against the Idolatry of the Christian Church as Moses and Aaron did against the Idolatry of Pharaoh Egypt Balaam and Moab as Elijah and Elisha did against Baal Ahab Jezebel and Ahaziah and as Zerobabel and Joshua were Witnesses in Babylon during the Captivity 14 So the Word Prophesie signifies frequently in the New Testament Although the Proper import of it here seems to be the Foretelling of the Encrease and Ruin of Antichrist and of the Coming of Christ's Kingdom to destroy him which being the Future Events of this Vision the Prophesying or Foretelling here mentioned must relate unto them particularly to the Kingdom of Christ the Chief Subject of all the Prophecies of the Old Testament which being not to begin to come into Event until the Expiration of the 1260 Days it is until then under Prophecy as a Future State And the Witnesses prophesie of it not only in their Discourses and Writings but by the mournful State they are in which is also of it self a signification that Christ's Kingdom is under a Delay a Sealing or a Prophecy which are words of like import 15 These Days begin with the Forty Two Months of the Gentiles and reach to the End of Antichristian Times running parallel along with them God taking care that as soon as Gentilism came into the Church there should be Witnesses raised up to testifie against it and to instruct the people in the contrary Truth by their Preaching and their Sufferings See num 12. 16 This was the Habit of Prophets when they denounced Judgments particularly of Elias one of the Witnesses under the Old Testament 2 Kings 1.8 Zech. 13.3 4. Matth. 3.4 And thus Mattathias and his Sons put on Sackcloth when the Gentiles prophaned the Sanctuary under Antiochus 1 Maccab. 2.14 4 These two Witnesses are or are signified by what in the Anti-type is represented by the two Olive 17 Trees Zach. 4 and the two Candlesticks 18 o◠〈…〉 Rev. 1.20 19 standing before or Ministring unto the 〈…〉 the Earth Zach. 4.14 17 The Types in this Verse are plainly taken from Zech. 4. And the Witnesses are called Olive-Trees upon these Accounts 1. Because they are to be anointed ones Zech. 4.14 or Kings and Priests in Christ's Kingdom 2. Because as the Olive Branches Zech. 4.12 they empty the Golden Oyl out of themselves into the Candlesticks or Churches That is impart to them the Fruit of those Gifts and Graces which they had received from the Spirit of God and were as fully replenished with as an Olive Tree is with Oyl Whereupon Christians are said to be anointed by God and the Holy Spirit and the Effects of it are called The Vnction in Scripture 2 Cor. 1.21 1 John 2.20 27. 3. Because the Witnesses were to perform the same Offices in the Christian and against the Antichristian Church as Joshua and Zerubbabel did for the Jewish and against Babylon the Type of Antichrist who is called a Mountain Zech. 10.4 And according to the Type in Zechariah the Witnesses are two anointed or chosen Servants of God replenished with his Spirit Verse 6. who are to level the Mountain of Antichristianism Verse 7. and to finish establish and build up the pure Church Verse 9. and that out of small things Verse 10. that is small beginnings and a Sackcloth or contemptible and afflicted condition 18 From hence it plainly appears that the Two Witnesses are Two Churches which are signified by Candlesticks in this Prophecy Chap. 1.20 as Grotius hath most appositely remarked on the place And amongst the Candlesticks or Church
See Chap. 2.9 num 19. 22 The Humane Nature of Christ is called in (a) John 1.14 Hebr. 8 2.9 11. Col. 2.9 See Dr. Hammond on John 1.14 Scripture the True Tabarnacle in which the Divinity as it were sojourned here upon Earth And the Church also may be represented by a Tabernacle as it is called Ezek. 23.4 Rev. 21.3 because of its wandring Wilderness-condition in expectation of its Home and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Heaven The (b) See Dr. Moor's Mystery of Iniquity first is blasphemed in the Papacy many ways but especially by the Doctrine of Transubstantiation and the Idolatrous practises consequent upon it the latter by Calumnies Excommunications and Persecutions It is the Opinion of a Learned Man that by Tabernacle is here meant the State of Saints and Angels in Heaven or the Heavenly State in which Christ is said to minister Heb. 8.2 and through which he is said to have passed Heb. 9.11 to the Holy of Holies the very Throne of God which may also be the meaning of Heb. 10.20 And this Interpretation he thinks to be most probable 1. Because the Humane Nature of Christ is it self the Minister of the Tabernacle and not the Tabernacle in which the Ministration is performed 2. Because the Heavenly things themselves are to be purified and anointed Dan. 9.24 Heb. 9.23 and therefore are to be supposed to have been prophaned and blasphemed that is Idolatrously abused and because such an Acceptation of the Word Tabernacle here is more agreeable to what is said in this Vision concerning the Tabernacle of Testimony being opened and the Tabernacle of God being with Men and with Ezekiel's Visional Temple or Tabernacle and with the Divine Tabernacle Chap. 4. the Scene or Apocalyptick Stage of these Visions See Chap. 12 1. 21 3. And lastly because Christ in his Humane Nature may be more significantly comprehended under the (a) John 1.1 18. See Mercer and Pocock on Joel 2.32 and Acts 2.21 Name of God 23 Who are blasphemed by the Idolatrous Worship of them taught and practised in the Church of Rome 7 And it was given to him to make War with the Saints i. e. to oppose excommunicate and persecute the Witnesses Chap. 11 7. and the Seed of the Woman Chap 12.17 and to overcome them Chap. 11.7 and power was given him over all Kindreds and Tongues and Nations i. e. to make Proselytes in all parts of the World and to Rule and Govern the Kings and People of the Antichrian Kingdom Chap. 10.11 8 And all that dwell upon the Earth i. e. the Apostacy shall worship him i. e. obey and honour him as an Infallible Head whose 24 Names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World i. e. except those Living Eminent and Excellent Members of Christ's Church particularly known and designed by him to be effectually saved by his Blood who was crucified in respect of the Divine Decree Appointment and Agreement betwixt the Father and the Son from all Eternity Phil. 4.3 Gen. 3.15 Acts 15.18 Gal. 3.17 24 See on Chap. 3. 4 5. These are the Witnesses Chap. 11. the seed of the Woman Chap. 12.17 and the Sealed ones 9 If any man 25 hath an ear let him hear for what hath been now delivered in a Spiritual and Mystical manner is very remarkable and worthy the most attentive and most serious Observation See Chap. 2.7 25 Hereby as hath been already shewn on Chap. 2.7 is intimated that what has been delivered concerning the Beast in this Chapter after an aenigmatical and parabolical manner this being the Sentence made use of by our Saviour in the close of his Parables is a Truth of the greatest importance against which yet many would shut their Ears And therefore all Christians are called upon seriously to consider and weigh what is here delivered and not to be driven from the profession of the pure Faith by Fear of Punishment nor wrought upon to follow the Beast by the spendid Baits of Greatness Power and Authority or the high and big pretences of Infallibility Success and Vniversality seeing it was foreseen and foretold by the Holy Spirit that the generality of Mankind should be earthly minded and should thereupon follow the Beast and only a few chosen and beloved of God should escape this Vniversal Corruption 10 He that leadeth 26 into Captivity shall go into Captivity he that killeth with the Sword must be killed with the Sword i. e. all Antichrian Enemies shall be dealt with at last as they have dealt with others Chap. 19. 20 21. Here is an occasion for the Exercise of the Patience and Faith of the Saints in bearing their Sufferings and in believing and patiently waiting for their deliverance out of them and the destruction of the Enemies of God and of his Church See on Chap. 14.12 26 Here is a plain reference to the Beast's and the False Prophets being taken Captive and to the slaughter of the Remnant by the Sword Chap. 19. 20 21. For as the Prophets of old were wont to comfort the People of God when in Captivity and under great distress by Denunciations of Ruine and Destruction to their Enemies so does the Holy Spirit here revive the persecuted Saints by telling them that their Persecutions should have an End and that the Apostasy which now domineered and blasphemed the Holy Name of God should at last be abolished and utterly destroyed according to the just and righteous Judgment of Almighty God who recompenses Tribulation to them that trouble his Saints 2 Thes 1.6 7. Isa 33.1 2. Ezek. 39.10 Matth. 7 2.26 52. But yet they are commanded to have Patience for although the Judgment is certain yet it will not be so soon as they might expect Hab. 2.3 4. Matth. 21 19-24 11 And I beheld another 27 Beast i. e. another Persecuting and Idolatrous Body of Men under Superiors coming up silently slowly and by degrees as feet of Clay out of the 28 Earth or Apostasy and he had two 28 Horns Potentacies or Powers like a Lamb 29 i. e. seemingly Christian and he spake as a 30 Dragon i. e. was in his Doctrines Decrees and Practises Antichristianly Idolatrous and Persecuting 27 This Beast is different from the former as appears from his Original Shape and the other Characters here given of him called therefore the other Beast as being a distinct Beast from that whose Succession the Prophecy was describing 28 28 The former Beast rose up out of the Sea that is the Commotions and Divisions of the Empire This rises as things grow out of the Earth silently and by degrees And as by the former Beast the Papacy as Monarchick and Imperial was fitly represented so in this Type there seems to be a signification of the Apostate Hierarchy or of the whole Body of the Ecclesiasticks as Antichristian as appears 1. From the Account here given of its Original viz. that it was out of the Earth by which
their Waters justly turned into Blood for making that Element the Instrument of their Bloody Design against the Israelitish Infants Ex. 1.22 11 And blasphemed 17 the God of Heaven by whose Command these Plagues were inflicted because of their Pains and their Sores or fiery Ulcers and Torment of 17 Mind and Body Verse 2. and repented not of their deeds as being given over to a Reprobate Mind Verse 9. 17 17 The extream Torment they were under affected their Minds and Consciences and made them blaspheme God and gnaw their Tongues as Men in the greatest Rage imaginable For in this Vial there is an Allusion to the thick and palpable Darkness with which God plagued Aegypt Exod. 10 21-23 wherein Men sate still for several Days together in a most disconsolate condition vexed (a) Psalm 78.49 VVisd 17. and tormented with great Terrors from their own affrighted Consciences and the Evil Angels 12 And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River 18 Euphrates and the Waters thereof were dried up i. e. all manner of Impediments were removed Isa 11 15. Jerem. 50 38.51 32 36. Zech. 10.11 that the way of the Kings 19 of the East i. e. of those Living Saints who are to Reign with Christ in his Kingdom Isa 41.26 Rev. 21.24 might be prepared i. e. that all things might be 20 prepared for the Jerusalem State in the New-Earth See the Three last Chapters 18 In this Verse there is an Allusion to the Exploit of Cyrus who dreined the River Euphrates when he took Babylon as had been foretold by the Prophet (b) Chap. 50 38.51 32 36. Vid. Grot. in loc Isaiah 41.26 Jeremiah and to those passages of the (c) Is 15.15 Zech. 10.11 where by the Tongue of the Egyptian Sea is meant the Bay of the Mediterranean Sea which lies next to Egypt and by the River not Euphrates which has not Seven Streams but Nilus which by so many Mouths empties it self into the Mediterranean Prophets where the Return of the Jews into their own Land is described in the like Expressions 19 Here also is an Allusion to Isaiah 41.2 25.46 11. where it is foretold that one should be raised up from the North and come from the Rising of the Sun to call upon or (a) Ezra 1 1 2. proclaim God's Name meaning thereby Cyrus who by his Mother's side was of Media which lies North from Judea and by his Father was a Persian whose Countrey lies exactly Eastward of the Holy Land And although Arabia be sometimes called the East in (b) Judg. 6.3 Job 1 3. Scripture and the Arabs the Children of the East for Job was a King in Arabia as Dr. (c) Itiner Mundi pag. 72 73. Hyde hath fully proved yet it was in respect of (d) Mede 's VVorks pag. 476. Egypt where the Jews had learnt that Form of Speech Arabia lying Southward of Palestine Now Cyrus was a Type of Christ and therefore by the Kings of the East may in proportion be here meant those Saints who as so many Messiahsses or Anointed Kings and Priests by which Name Cyrus is called in Scripture shall Reign with Christ who is expresly said to come from the East Chap. 7.2 20 An Expression used Isaiah 40.3 Malach 3.1 Matth. 3.3 And here it is to be noted that (e) Gen. 2 10-14 Euphrates was one of the Branches into which the River which watered Paradise was divided after it had passed through it It was also the (f) Gen. 15.18 Exod. 23.31 Deut. 1 4.11 24. Josh 1.4 2 Sam. 8.3 1 Kings 4.21 2 Chron. 9.26 Eastern bound of the Land of Promise to which David and Solomon extended their Dominion the Kingdoms thereabouts being Tributary unto them although the Jews never enjoyed a quiet Possession of them as proper Owners for any considerable time God (g) Fuller's Pisgah Sight 1.2 contracting their Borders for their Sins and at last scattering and carrying them Captive beyond this very River into the Dominions of the Assyrian and Babylonish Tyrants So that this River which at first was a Stream flowing out of Paradise became the Fatal Boundary of the Kingdom of the People of God over which they were carried Captive and a Sign of Enmity and Hostility to God's Church Babylon the Type of the Seat of Antichrist being seated on one Branch of it From which Observations we may conclude that by drying up the Waters of Euphrates that the Way of the Kings of the East might be prepared is signified 1. Preparations for removing of all Impediments and Obstacles whatsoever especially from Antichrist which may hinder the Kingdom of Christ whose Dominion is to be extended beyond that River unto the Ends of the Earth as the Psalmist hath plainly foretold Psalm 72.8 2. Here may also be intimated the near Approach of the New Earth described in the Three Last Chapters signified by the drying up that River whereon the Type of the Antichristian City was seated which was an hindrance to the Saints entring into and enjoying the Paradisiacal State of the New Earth of Christ's Kingdom In order to which also according to Dr. (b) Theory of the Earth 3.9 Burnet's Hypothesis the Rivers are to be dryed up that so no stop may be put to the Conflagration which is to burn up the Old Earth 13 And I saw three unclean 21 Spirits of Devils Verse 14 like Frogs 22 come out of the 23 mouth of the Dragon i. e. the Pagan Roe man Powers Chapters 12 and 13. and out of the mouth of the Beast i. e. the Antichristian King Chap. 13. and of the False 24 Prophet i. e. the Antichristian Hierarchy the other Beast Chap. 13.11 21 An Epithet frequently given in Scripture to the Evil Spirits to distinguish them from the Pure and Holy Spirit of God and they are called unclean because they tempt to and take delight in Sin which is Impurity and Vncleanness 22 Like the Frogs of Aegypt Exod. 8 1-14 who went up into the Houses of the Aegyptians and even into the Bed-Chamber of King Pharaoh and his Nobles Psalm 105.30 Whereby is elegantly set forth the Vile Original of the Devil's Angels and Emissaries born as it were out of the unclean Mud and Slime and sent to Negotiate and Solicite of which the Croaking of Frogs is a Symbol the Kings of the Earth into whose Bed Chambers and most private Retirements they insinuate themselves 23 They came out of their Mouths as Embassadours to speak in their Name and interpret their Mind and Designs And these Spirits of Devils came out of the Mouths of the Dragon Beast and False Prophet to shew that Satan had made use of them all along as his principal Agents out of each of whom they came to shew that all their several and distinct Interests were now to be joyned together at this great Battle and decisive Attempt 24 He is called the Other Beast Chap. 13. whilst the Beast was in his Infancy but
Lombards and the Franks were removed by him to make way for his Dominion in Italy VVhich is plainly foretold Dan. 7.8 24. by the coming up of a Little Horn amongst the Ten Horns by whom three of them were humbled subdued and pluckt up by the Roots 8. May not the Pope according to Daniel 7.24 be fitly called a King diverse from all the rest of the Kings which are united with him Is not his Supremacy an Image as it is called Rev. 13.14 of Imperatorial power not a true and real one and does not he subsist meerly by the Will of the Princes and Kingdoms of whom he is the Spiritual Head so that they may according to (b) Dan. 8.24 Prophecy be fitly said to give their power to him and his power to be mighty but not by his own power 9. Antichrist is called the Son of Perdition in Scripture And is it not notorious in all (c) See the Lives of the Popes and the Histories of the Papacy before quoted Foulis of RomishVsurpat Overals Convocat Book lib. 3. Bp. Stillingfl of Idolatry p. 314-337 History that Perdition Mischief Wars and Bloodshed has attended the Rise and Progress of the Papacy For it was founded upon the Perdition and Ruines of the Empire it was raised to a Supremacy by approving the Murther of the Good Emperour Mauritius and advanced it self above the Civil powers and all that is called God by trampling upon Kings and Emperours raising VVars and Seditions against them and by anathematizing persecuting and killing all that opposed it 10. The Times of the Beast are most admirably divided in Scripture into a Time Times and an half Time to de note the several Steps and Advances of it and its Declination in the half Time which being a Division or breaking of Time is an intimation of its broken and divided State as hath been shewn on Chap. 12. Now it is plain from the History of the Papacy that its Power was most considerably broken at the Reformation A. D. 1517 So that we may very well date its half Time from that Year after which so many Nations fell off from it if from that Year we ascend to the beginning of its Two Vnited Times which are 720 Years we arrive at A. D. 797. when his first time ended consisting of 360 Years the half of which is 180 Years and there according to Expectation we find this Man of Sin in the great strength and vigour of Manly Age having conquered all the Obstacles which opposed his Establishment For in that very (a) Zonar Cedren Sigebert Petav. Rationar Tempor Year remarkable for a horrible Darkness for Seventeen Days together the whole Race of Leo Conon called Iconomachus was utterly extinguished by the cruel Empress Irene who had all along opposed the Pope in the Controversie about Images whereby he was freed from his Enemies on all hands his Power in the West being then also setled by the (b) Mezeray pag. 99. It may be observed that the Kings of France were the first Kings that embraced Christian Religion as it was professed at Rome and that they contributed the most of any Kings upon the Earth to the raising and supporting of the Papacy as appears from an Inscription on a Marble-Stone still extant at Ravenna where it is acknowledged that Pepin was the first King who gave example to Posterity how the power of Holy Church was to be amplified and encreased and as they have all along afforded Refuge to Persecuted Popes as Monsieur Mezeray speaks so is it a thing remarkable that France although it hath no great Obligation or dependency upon Rome except with relation to the priviledges of the Gallican Church yet interests her self more warmly in her Affairs and sends more Stately Embassies thither than any other Princes whence it may be observed that it is upon all accounts the chief part of the Decem-principality and that her Kings are the most remarkable of the Ten. Mezeray pag. 15. 223. Rycaut's Preface to the Lives of the Popes Kings of the Franks to whom as we may observe by the way the Popes chiefly owe their Temporal Grandeur And if we ascend again from thence to the beginning of its first Time which must accordingly be A. D. 437. we arrive to a very remarkable Year in which we find the World very busie in setling the Lunar Year as on purpose to point out unto us that the Beast's Months were then just entring in whose Times compared with the Days of the Witnesses there is observed the exact Mathematical proportion betwixt the Motion of the Sun and Moon a thing very (a) See before on Chap. 11. 2. admirable and worthy observation And further not only the beginning and end of the first Time where the Two Times also begin are remarkable for some notable things relating to the Papacy but also the Year 1157 the very Joynt of Time in which the Two Vnited Times meet is very Famous for (b) Baron Heidegger histor Papat cap. 4. Foulis of Romish Vsurpat 4.4 Pope Hadrian's setting up in the Vatican a Picture of the Emperour's Vassalage who was fain to hold the Pope's Stirrup before he could be crowned and for his insolent Letters to him wherein he asserts that he was set up by God to destroy Kingdoms and Countreys and that the Roman Empire was held as a Feif of the Papacy whereby he sufficiently shewed his Antichristian Spirit and his Mouth speaking great things So remarkable is each Joynt of the Beast's Times divided by the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit into a Time Times or Two Times united into One and half a Time to denote the different States of Antichrist and his Kingdom who was the whole first Time in his Growth and Ascent to an Idolatrous Power which he was fully established in at A. D. 797 ten Years after his finishing the Iconoclastick War in the Second Council of Nice and because after that Time until 1517. his Kingdom continually encreased and received no decay and he went on and prospered in one and the same Kingly State therefore are the Two next Times given in One united Line of Time called Times because it was One and the same Kingly State the first Time measuring out a different State from this having a distinct Time to it self and being then ended And his last State beginning at the Reformation A D. 1517. is very appositely measured by half a Time because it was a divided and a broken one Seeing therefore that the Doctrine Name Number Image Place Times and all the other Characters and Notes of Antichrist given in Scripture do all agree to the Papacy and to that alone it will follow that the Papacy is The Antichrist Q E D. But that the Rise Progress and Times of Antichrist may be the better understood I shall give this brief Scheme of them referring to the several places in the Annotations where they are particularly discoursed of 1. Antichrist (a) See
whole space of the Blessed Millennium Rev. 20. 7. The Bodies of the Dead Saints being raised are caught up into the Air and the Saints which come with Christ appear in them together with him in the Heavens and probably continue with him there in Glory during the Thousand Years the Heavens being purged and purified as it were by Fire and the (c) Luke 10.18 Eph. 6.12 Evil Spirits falling down like Lightning from the Air which had been so long possessed by them whereby these High and Heavenly Places are as it were prepared for the Reception of Christ and his Saints For Righteousness must dwell in the New (a) 2 Pet. 3.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.22 23. Heavens as well as the New Earth and the whole Creation groans and waits for this Redemption But this shall be further made out as occasion offers upon the following parts of this Vision 8. The Living Saints will be (b) Malach. 3 1-3 1 Cor. 3 10-16 purged and purified as Gold and Silver and many of them shall be saved at this Day with great Difficulty but all shall be preserved by God who knoweth how to deliver the Godly as he did Lot and the Three Children in the Fiery Furnace which are Types of this Last and Great Deliverance 2 Pet. 2.9 in the general Conflagration and their Bodies being changed they shall Reign with Christ on the New Earth the (c) Rom. 8 19-24 Burnet 's Theory 4 7-9 former being unfit through the Vanity and Corruption it is subject to for such a purpose And this is that State of the Earth which it earnestly expects and groaneth after and for which it was designed by God who seems to declare by the Prophet Isaiah Chap. 45.17 18. that he created it not in vain or to be such a Chaos and subject to so much Vanity Rom. 8.20 as it now is but to be inhabited by the Mystical Israel of all the Earth Isa 45.17 21 22. who shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting Salvation 9. All this will come to pass at the very beginning of Christ's Coming whose Proceedings will be very sudden and swift Malach. 3.5 1 Cor. 15.52 in which (a) Malach. 4 1-4 Psalm 110.1 the Wicked shall be burnt up and trod down and be as Ashes under the Soles of the Feet of the Saints lying at the Footstool of Christ's Throne whilst the Living Saints Reign with him on the New Earth and the Raised Saints in the New Heavens 10. At the End of the Thousand Years upon Christ's withdrawing some of his more immediate Presence and Glory Satan will stir up the Wicked Nations who had been all that while in a State of Contempt and Punishment Malach. 4 1-4 to endeavour to destroy Christ's Kingdom on Earth upon which he will catch up his Saints into the Air and give them incorruptible Bodies and the whole Body of Saints with Christ their Head shall finally Judge the wicked world and the New Heavens and Earth shall disappear and fly away the Son shall deliver up his Kingdom to the Father and the Saints shall remain with him to all Eternity whilst Satan and all the Wicked remain in the Lake for ever which is a place of Punishment represented as a Lake made out of the Liquefaction and Dissolution of the present Earth burnt with Fire And this is a brief Scriptural Account of this great Transaction against (b) See Dr. Beverley's Vniversal Christian Doctrine of the Day of Judgment which although many Objections may be raised yet there are few which may not be as plausibly alledged against the Day of Judgment as it is usually understood by Divines 2 And 5 I John the Apocâ—lyptick Apostle unto whom Christ had sent and signified and shewn things to come thereby testifying that I was a Servant of his and greatly beloved by him Rev. 1 1. Dan. 9 23.10 7 11 19. saw and let it be observed diligently for these words are true and faithful Verse 5. the 6 Holy City or Polity of Saints New Jerusalem above the Mother of us all Gal. 4.26 Heb. 11 10 16.12 22 23. coming down with Christ into the Regions of the Air 1 Thes 4 14-18 See on Chap. 19.7 8 9 14.19.20 4. from God the Father out of Heaven before whose Throne it had hitherto been in various degrees of Exaltation See on Chap. 12 1.14 1. prepared and arrayed in Christ's Righteousness as a Bride adorned for her Husband which is the Lamb Christ that he might present to himself a Glorious Church not having Spot or Wrinkle and at last perfectly unite it to God in his Eternal Kingdom Eph. 5.26 27. Rev. 19.7 8 9 5 He does not say simply as in the former Verse I saw but I John saw by that Emphatical Expression shewing the great Importance of the Vision and likewise more earnestly affirming the Truth of that which was to be of so great use and consolation to the Saints hereby imitating the Beloved Prophet Daniel who frequently makes use of the same Phrase upon the like Occasions 6 From a due compare of this place with the places quoted in the Paraphrase it appears 1. That the Holy City is no other than the Bride or Saints those Armies which come with Christ in the Air to Judgment in his Kingdom the very They who sit in Thrones and Reign with him a Thousand Years Chap. 20.4 as hath been before proved and often observed 2. That this New Jerusalem is in the New Heavens or Heavenly Places of the Air as they are called in Scripture into which the Saints come or descend from Heaven with Christ as hath been before observed and consequently that the New (a) Dr. Burnet 's Theory 4.3 8. Heavens and New Earth are the Seat of the Thousand Years Reign of Christ and the Saints the Inhabitants of it because they are here represented as coming into it as into a place newly prepared for them by God Verse 1. 3. That this New Jerusalem State coming down from God is the Kingdom of Christ in its Highest and most Exalted State which had been hitherto represented in this Vision as before the Throne of God in divers States and Degrees of Exaltation according as Christ's Kingdom increased and his Enemies were subdued by God the Father at whose Right Hand he was to sit in a patient Expectation of this Kingdom until all his Enemies were made his Footstool which being now performed he comes down from God out of Heaven with his Bride or Church purified and perfectly sanctified into his glorious Kingdom in the New Heavens and New Earth the Seat of the Blessed Millennium For thus Heb. 12.22 compared with Rev. 14.1 the Saints first come unto Mount Sion and then unto the City of the Living God the heavenly Jerusalem or the Archetypal State of Christ's Kingdom in Heaven to which there is one always correspondent on Earth the Metropolis of the Christian Worship which had its Original from thence Heb.
12 the New things i. e. Graces and Blessings of my New Kingâ—om under which is comprised all that is really desirable and all the Promises made to the Churches Chapters 2 and 3. and I Christ God-Man 12 will be his God and Father as having begotten him to this New Life Eph. 2.10 and he shall be my Son i. e. the Promises of the New Covenant and the Priviledges of Adoption shall be bestowed upon him in the highest and fullest Sense of them Sâ—e on Verse 3. 12 12 Here is declared that the (a) Rom. 8. Restauration of all things and the Adoption to the Inheritance and Redemption of Bodies will be fully compleated only in the Kingdom of Christ who is the Father of the New World the World to come 8 But all the 13 fearful of the Antichristian State especially who dare not hold fast the Profession of their Faith without wavering but for fear forsake the assembling of themselves drawing back unto Perdition Heb. 12.23 25 38 39. and unbeleiving in the Promises of Christ's Coming because of his long delay and who upon that draw back from the true Faith and scoff at it Heb. 12 35-39 2 Pet. 2 and 3 Chapters the abominable and defiled in their Mind Conscience and Practises and to every good work reprobate Tit. 1.15 16. and murderers especially of the Witnesses and Saints Chap. 18.24 and Whoremongers who practise and advance Doctrines which promote uncleanness Chap 2.6 15 and Sorcerers who bewitch Souls Chap. 18.23 and Idolaters as the Antichristian Party are by way of Eminence and all Liars who belâ—eve and make a Lye especially the great one of Antichristianism Rev. 3.9 2 Thes 2.9 1 Tim. 4.2 shall have their part not in the first Resurrection to Blessedness and Holiness but in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second Death and that Eternal See on Chap. 20.6 10 14 15. 13 All sorts of Sinners are here understood but most especially the Antichristian to whom the Characters agree Antichrist being the Man of Sin and Shinar or Babylon which is Antichristian Rome being the very House and Base of all Wickedness Ezek. 5.8 11. Rev. 18.24 9 And there came unto me 14 one or the first and principal of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials full af the seven last plagues the very same who shewed me the Jâ—dgment of the Great Whore Chap. 17.1 and talked with me saying Come hither I will shew thee the (a) Chap. 19 7-9 Bride the Lamb's Wife i. e. the New Jerusalem State and thou shalt plainly and more distinctly see the Nature of it and the vast difference there is betwixt it and the Antichristian State which I before shewed thâ—e Chap. 17. 14 The same Angel that shewed him the Judgment on the great Whore shews him also the New Jerusalem State to manifest that the Destruction of Antichrist and the pouring forth of the Vials are highly and immediately preparatory to Christ's Kingdom 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit i. e. I was in a Spiritual Extasie and was carried in Vision Chap. 1 10.17 3. to a great and high mountain to denote the State of Christ's Church and Kingdom now become a Mountain Dan. 2.35 established in the Tops of the Mountains and exalted above the Hills and to shew that this was the City seen by Ezekiel when he was set upon a very high Mountain Isa 2.2 Ezek 40.2 and shewed me not the Antichristian City of the Whore Chap. 17.3 but that truly great City the (b) Burnet's Theory 4.9 general Assembly consisting of all true Believers and of the Spirits of all just men made perfect Heb. 12.22 23. the Holy and Heavenly Jerusalem the City of the Living God and not the impure Idolatrous City of the Whore descending out of Heaven i. e. the highest Heavens into the lower Regions of it Verse 2. from God by whom it was built and the Kingdom was set up Dan. 2.44 Heb. 11.10 16. 11 Having the Glory of God i. e. the 15 glorious Presence of Christ and of his Saints Matth. 17 2. John 1.14 Heb 1.3 and her Light (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or that which enlightned her was like unto a Stone most precious even like a Jasper Stone clear as Chrystal i. e. the Presence of Christ was (a) Of which the Jasper is an Emblem See Grot. on Chap. 4.3 and on this Verse firm and lastâ—ng dwelling and abiding in it and it was full of Glory Purity and Holiness See on Chap. 4 3. 15 For this is the most proper Representation of the Divine Glory of which the Glorious Appearances of Fire Light and Bright Clouds the Schekinah under the Old Testament were but faint Images and Types 12 And had a Wall great and high i. e it was under the immediate protection of Divine Omnipotency and those which were without were excluded from it Isaiah 26 1-5 60 18. Zech. 2.5 Rev. 22.15 and had twelve Gates for free access to all true Israelites or Saints and at the Gates Twelve Angels as Cherubims to guard this New Paradise that nothing which had not right to Life might enter therein Gen. 3.24 Ezek. 48.31 and Names written thereon which are the Names of the Twelve 16 Tribes of the children of Israel to shew that none but God's People the true Israelitism had a right to this New Jerusalem State See on Chap. 7 4-10 16 These are the very 14400 who were sealed Chap. 7. 13 On the East three Gates on the North three Gates on the South three Gates and on the West three Gates i. e. there were Twelve Gates answerable to the Twelve Tribes Three on each side of the Four square City towards each Corner of the Heavens to shew that the whole Israel of God or all true Believers from every quarter of the World have a right to the Kingdom of Heaven Luke 13.29 See Ezek. 48 31-35 14 And the Wall of the City which was the Security and Protection of it and excluded every thing which was unclean had Twelve Foundations and in them thâ— Names of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World to shew that the Kingdom and Church of Christ was secured and protected by the Apostolical Doctrine upon which it was built Jesus Christ the Lamb of God whose Blood is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant by which all things are secured unto us ratified and confirmed being the chief Corner-stone Eph. 2 19-22 15 And he that talked with me i. e. the 17 Angel Verse 9. had a golden not a common Reed to shew that this was the glorious pure precious and refined State of the Church of which that measured by Ezekiel with a common Reed was but a Type Ezek. 40.3 to measure the Dimensions and Contents of the Holy 18 City or whole Visible Church which was now rescued out of the hands of the Heathens and Antichristian Enemies and might therefore be measured as being