Name of any one particular man as Bellarmine doth in the Names of some Protestant Divines Whereas to speak properly the Name of the Beast is the Name of a Tyrannical State or Government Secondly they also do depart far from the Truth that will have the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be the Name of the Beast And though indeed the Name doth make 666 according to the Numeral Letters in the Greek Alphabet this cannot be the sense For though the Turks make a Tyrannical Empire and have greatly afflicted the Church yet the scopâ—… of the Spirit is here mainly to speak of a Roman Tyrannical State in the last edition and this is clear from the scope of the whole Prophecy Princ. 2. The Name of the Beast his Mark Image and the Number of his Name ought so to be expounded that all these may have mutual relation each to other This is proved from the Text Chap. 13. ver 15 16 17 18. Chap. 14. ver 9 10 11. For there the persons who did worship the Image of the Beast are also said to receive his Mark in their Forehead and in their Right-hand Now how is it possible that they could receive the Mark but they must also receive the Name sith it is called The Mark of the Name And how can they receive the Name but they must receive the Number seeing it is styled The Number of the Name All these are Homogeneal and have near relation each to other And therefore when Iohn did behold that company that stood upon the glassie Sea mingled with fire and did sing the triumphal Song in honor to the Lamb they are said to overcome the Beast his Image Mark and the Number of his Name Therefore all these have a neer affinity and correspondence each with other From whence we may convince those Interpreters of error who do distinguish the Subjects of the Beast into divers kindes into those that worship the Image into others that receive the Mark into a third sort that have the Number of the Name Whereas according to the Text the same persons that worship the Image receive the Mark and the Number thereof Secondly those Expositors are too blame which do not ground their Demonstration upon these things but do immediately proceed to calculate the Number Mr. Potter in his Treatise endeavoreth to finde out the Number in six things in the Hierarchy of the Church of Rome as they stand opposite to six things in the New Ierusalem But in my apprehension he doth not lay a right foundation for the Number which he is to calculate is the Number of the Name of the Beast and the Number is answerable to the Mark. Therefore the proper work which he hath to do is to handle these matters and not six things in the Hierarchy of the Church of Rome immediately opposed to six things in the description of the New Ierusalem Princ. 3. The Name of the Beast his Mark and Number must necessarily begin at the first Visible Constitution of his Dominion and continue in all times to the end thereof For the first Visible Constitution we reade That as soon as the second Beast came up out of the Earth he made an Image to the Beast and caused all to worship the Image and to receive a Mark in their Forehead Chap. 13. ver 14 15 16 17. Now this was not done onely at the time of the beginning but in all the times of that Kingdome from the beginning to the end For the Vials were poured out upon them that worshipped the Beast and received the Mark Chap. 16. ver 2. And at the ending of the Beasts Kingdome when the eternal Gospel is preached to every Kindred Tongue and Nation then are the threatnings denounced against all those that worship the Beast and receive the Mark Chap. 14. ver 9 10 11. From whence we gather That the Name Mark and Image must be in all the times of the Kingdome of the Beast According to this Rule how can Iunius apply the Number of the Beast to the Canon-Law How can he make it appear that this Law hath been in force all the times of that Kingdome Mr. Potter also when he doth apply this Number to the Cardinals Gates and other circumstances in the City of Rome how can he prove that these have been in all the times of that Kingdom He doth mainly stand upon it That the Cardinals are the very Essence of the Papacy so nearly united to the Pope that they make one Body containing and representing all Ecelesiastical Iurisdiction Well be it so but how proveth he this Colledge to have been in all the times of the Beasts Kingdome I do willingly yield to that solid determination of his I conceive saith he the second Beast mentioned Rev. 13. ver 11. to be that unlawful Ecclesiastical Power which these latter times have setled upon the Pope And I believe that he is the Great Anti-Christ not as Bishop or Archbishop or Patriarch but as he pretends himself Pope and Vicar of Christ having such a transcendent Ecclesiastical Power as is incommunicable to any other upon Earth pag. 55. This Testimony I take to be a plain Scripture-truth and for my part I do believe Though the Mystery of Iniquity was long in working the Bishop of Rome did not begin to be the solemn Antichrist and the two-horned Beast did not rise up out of the earth till the times of the Universal Headship In this I do fully agree with the Author aforenamed But yet with submission to a better judgement I cannot understand how the Colledge of Cardinals or the other five particular Circumstances applied to the Hierarchy of Rome how these began at the time of the declaration of the Universal Headship or how they have continued in all the times of the Beasts Kingdome from the beginning to the end thereof Now it is apparently evident That the Name and the Mark have been applicable to the Kingdome of the Beast in all the times thereof Princ. 4. In submitting to in worshipping the Image and in receiving the Mark the Name and the Number of the Name hath been the great sin of the world in departing from Christ. This may be proved from the whole scope of the Prophecy the great deceiving of the Nations in all Antichristian times hath been in the matter of the worship of the Image and receiving the Mark Chap. 20. ver 1 2 3. Chap. 13. ver 15 16 17 18. From whence I further argue That the Number 25 cannot be proved to be the Number of the Name of the Beast neither hath the Apostacy of the world consisted in the frequent and superstitious use of this Number For how doth a State sin when they use such a particular Number as this The Philistims were a people given to superstitious observations yet I cannot see how they did sin in the observation of the Number 5 when they did send five Golden Emerods and five Golden Mice 1 Sam. 6. 4.
be deluded by the power of Satan What shall we think of the Oracles among the Heathen of the answer of the Gentile gods of the power which the Devil hath in those Countries that lye wholly under gross Idolatries There is no doubt to be made but that Satan had great power to deceive the world by wonders See August in his Book Of the City of God Lib. 10. Cap. 16. The Scripture also is very plain to the same purpose If there arise among you a Prophet or a Dreamer of Dreams and giveth thee a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder cometh to pass whereof he spake unto thee saying Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known and let us serve them Thou shalt not hearken to the words of that Prophet or Dreamer of Dreams for the Lord your God proveth you to know whether you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul Deut. 13. ver 1 2 3. In which words it is plain That the Truth may be set up in the Church of God according to the written Word and yet for the tryal of the sincerity of men God may suffer seducers to arise to do great things We have a large experience of this in all the times of the Beasts Kingdome For when our Saviour saith There shall arise false Christs and false Prophets and shall shew great signs and wonders insomuch that if it were possible they shall deceive the very elect Mat. 24. 24. these things are specially spoken of the times of the Kingdome of Anti-Christ when the Devil by the permission of God had great power given to him to deceive the world by wonders and signs and great variety of Revelations From hence I am induced to believe That the answer given by the Crucifix at Winchester was reall and it was done by more then an ordinary power Let us consider the meaning of that place in the Prophecy of Zachary Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give showers of rain to every one grass in the field For the Idols have spoken vanity and the Diviners have seen a lie and have told false dreams Chap. 10. ver 1 2. Here I demand How could the Idols speak vanity The word in the Original is Teraphim Idols made after the similitude of a Man With these Idolaters did usually consult in matters of great difficulty And Mr. Pemble upon the place saith It is very probable thâ—…t the Devil used the like feats to cozen the Iews as he did to the Greeks and other simple Gentiles And we may say the same touching the answer of the Rood God in his just judgement might suffer apostatizing Christians to be deceived by the immediate delusions of Satan because they did not receive the truth in the love of it that they might be saved But of all others that place of the Apostle is most proper to the purpose The Spirit speaketh expresly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of Devils speaking lies in hypocrisie having their Consciences seared with a hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving 1 Tim. 4. 1 2 3. Seeing the Apostle doth here so plainly speak of the Apostacy of the latter times and of the Prohibition of Marriage Meats and other lawful things all do agree in it That he pointeth to the times of Antichrists Kingdome Onely the great Question lieth here Why the Prohibition of Marriage is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Doctrine of Devils Mr. Mede in his learned Treatise concerning the Apostacy of the later times thinketh that this is Genitivus materiae a Genitive case of the matter because Daemons and the Souls departed are so much worshipped in the Papal Kingdome Though it is true in the general That Daemon-worship as he saith is used in that Kingdome yet it is not the meaning of this Text For here is plainly Genitivus efficientis a Genitive case of the efficient cause for the Doctrine of the Prohibition of Marriage is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Doctrine of Devils because it was brought into the Church by the suggestions of those impure Spirits to cast miserable mortals upon all occasions of sin If therefore we do determine the case that the Devil in the Rood did utter this voice touching the Marriage of Ministers God forbid it should be so it doth singularly agree with the words of the Apostle when he speaketh of the Prohibition of Marriage in Antichristian times that it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Doctrine of Devils For to say truly The Prohibition of Marriage as it did continue for many hundred years together so it had its immediate original from the delusion of Satan Now for the fall of the house at Cleve or Calne we may probably believe That God might suffer the Devil to do great wonders for so Spondanus calls it mirandum to deceive the world What else should be the meaning of that place Rev. 20 He layed hold on the Dragon that old Serpent which is the Devil and Satan and bound him a thousand years and cast him into the Bottomless Pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he should deceive the Nations no more ver 2 3. By this he doth tacitely imply That the whole time of the Beasts Kingdome was a time of the loosing of Satan in which God was preased to give him leave to do great wonders to deceive the world and therefore in the two last Verses of the former Chapter these words are expressed And the Beast was taken and with him the false Prophet that wrought Miracles before him with which he deceived them who had received the Mark of the Beast and them that worshipped his Image These both were cast alive into a Lake of fire burning with brimstone ver 20. When this was done an Angel came down from Heaven with a great Chain in his hand and bound the Dragon the old Serpent that he should deceive the Nations no more All this plainly declareth That in Antichristian times the Devil had freedome to do great wonders to deceive the Nations If therefore at the fall of the house they who stood against the Marriage of Ministers were marvellously delivered and those that stood for it were slain out-right or sorely bruised we must not wonder at these things The Devil can do great things to deceive them who forsake the Scriptures and the known Will of God to hang upon Visions Dreams and Revelations There was a time when the Devil could not touch a hair of Iobs head Thou hast made an hedge about him and his substance is increased in the Land yet we see when God did give leave the Devil could cause fire to come down from heaven to devour his sheep he could blow down
Story of the Gospel and particularly the entrance of Christ into his Ministery he hath these words In the fifteenth year of the Reign of Tiberius Caesar Pontius Pilate being Governor of Iudea and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee and his Brother Philip Tetrarch of Iturea and of the Region of Trachonitis and Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene the Word of the Lord came to Iohn the Son of Zacharias in the Wilderness Luk. 3. 1 2 3. Here I demand What hath the Evangelist to do with the times of the Romans being a Government so alien to the affairs of the Church I Answer There be Two Reasons wherefore he Numbreth the times according to the Roman accompt The First is To shew the Truth of Daniel's Prophecie in the Image of Persecuting States For there it is expresly said That in the dayes of these Kingdoms shall the God of Heaven raise up a Kingdom that never shall be destroyed Dan. 2. 44. Now the Evangelist expoundeth this to be the Kingdom of Christ and that the Roman in particular is the Metal-Kingdom in whose times the Kingdom of Christ did begin And he doth leave it upon Record That the Lord Christ had a solemn Inauguration into his Office in that part of time when Tiberius was Emperor in the fifteenth year of his Reign when Pontius Pilate was Governor of Iudea c. Now if it be the scope of the Evangelist to shew That the Lord did begin his Office in Preaching the Gospel when the Romans did beaâ—… Rule there must be a particular instant of time also when all in Iudea fell under the Dominion of that People and that in the sense of the Gospel must be the Epocha or term of the Roman Kingdom Secondly The Evangelist doth so punctually Number the times according to the Roman Government because then Iudea where the Gospel began to be Preached was under the Command of the People of Rome And the Evangelist doth no more in the times of the New Testament than what the Prophets and ancient Writers had done in the times of the Old As for Ensample Those Prophets that lived in the times of the Kings of Iudah and Israel as Isaiah Ieremy Hosea dated their Prophecies from the Reign of those Kings And from that time that the Kings of the Line of David were taken away it was the use to reckon by the times of the Four Monarchical States So Daniel and Hezâ—…kiel who lived in the times of the Babylonian Empire do reckon their Visions by the times of the Babylonian Kings And after them Ezrah Nehemiah Haggie and Zachary who lived in the times of the Persian Monarchy dated their times by the Reigns of the Kings of Persia. And as for those Ecclesiastical Writers that lived in the times of the Graecian Kingdom as the Author of the Book of the Macchabees they accounted by the years of the Kingdom of the Greeks In like manner the Evangelists living in the times of the Romans date the Story of the Gospel by the Roman account In all which they do secretly imply That the Roman is the Fourth Metal-Kingdom and it began so to be when the Church of the Jews became subject to the People of Rome So long the Stories of the Church were Numerable by the Roman account But let us adde another Testimony out of the same Evangelist where he telleth us chap. 2. vers 2. A Decree went forth from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed 〈◊〉 this taxing was first made when Cyreneus was Governor of Syria Now whereas he saith That all the world should be taxed this is meant only of the world under the Roman obedience And here we Affirm When Iudea and the Countries near Bordering became Members of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Roman world then did the Roman begin as the Fourth of Daniel's Kingdoms The Evangelist being to speak of the Birth of the Kinâ—… of the Jews his special purpose is to shew how that particular Continent was under the sovereign Power of Augustus Caesar at that time Object 1. But here it may be Objected How could Augustus tax Iudea when it was under the Power of Herod the King Sol. This matter is solidly Disputed by the learned Spanhemius in his Dubia Evangelica part 2. dub 2. pa. 157. The sum of that which he doth deliver cometh to this issue Though Herod was King he had not jus summum the supreme Dominion he had only jus subalternum a Right and a Power meerly by the courtesie of Augustus And therefore he citeth a passage out of Appianus That as Darius was the King of Pontus and Polemon of Cilicia so Herod was King of the Jews that is meerly by favour and courtesie Secondly He sheweth That there were often Appeals from Herod to the Romans and therefore he was compelled to pleÌ„ad for himself before Antonius at Laodicea and before Augustus after the Battel of Actium at Rhodes Many more Arguments he brought to prove that his Government was meerly Precatious and at the will of the Romans Now for that particular time when the Romans began to have the sovereignty over the People of the Jews this was at the times of Pompey the Great These are the Authors own words pag. 160 At a sane erat conditio populi Iudaici tempore Macchabaeorum qu indo à Iudâ Macchabaeo foedus primò cum Romanis initum ubi Iudaeâ—… vocantur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 populi Romani rescripto Sena us ad Deâ—…ctrium à quo premebantur 1 Mac. 8. Sed quamâ—…rimum à Pompeio Magno subacti fuere societatis nomen in servitutem abâ—…r illi aequè ac aliae gentes dâ—…victae Romanis vectigales facti eorum imperio accessêre Ab eâ—… tempore Iudaeorum gens in Clientelâ Romanorum fuit à quâ—…bus Reges pro arbitrio instituebantur vel destituebantur tales quidem quibus precarium limitatum erat imperium à nutu eorum suspensum qui Romae rerum potâ—…ebantur In these words of his he doth plainly distinguish what the People of the Jews were before the Conquest of Judea by Pompey and what they were after Before the Conquest they were Friends Allies and Auxiliaries and after that their society was turned into servitude and as other Conquered Nations so the Jews were made Tributaries to the Empire From that time the Nation of the Jews was alwayes under the Dominion of the Romans by whom their Kings were either set up or plucked down at pleasure And for the manner of their Rule it was meerly limited hanging upon the good will of them that had the supreme Command at Rome Now if this be so I leave it to any man to judge when the Roman did begin as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom According to these Principles he must needs begin at the times of Pompey when the Church was brought under the Power of the Romans Object 2. Why is it said That the taxing was when Cyreneus was Governor of Syria and not rather
doth intend them in such or such a particular Scripture Now that this may appear to be a right Interpretation we will compare it with every Circumstance in the Text. These are the words that follow And he causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to Receive a Mark in their right hand and in their forehead and that no man might buy or sell save he that had the Mark or the Name of the Beast or the Number of the Name Here is Wisdom Let him that hath Understanding â—…ount the Number of the Beast for it is the Number of a Man and his Number is six hundred threescore and six In these words we are to Note Four Particulars 1. The matter of the Law which the Beast doth impose he causeth all men to receive a Mark in their right Hand and in their Forehead and that they have the Name of the Beast and the Number of it 2. The maker of the Law soil The Beast with Two Horns He causeth men to receive the Mark by his coercive power 3. The Persons on whom he doth impose the Law He causeth all both small and great bond and free rich and poor to receive a Mark. For though there is great difference in civil Relations between poor-men and rich bondmen and free yet in this matter none are exempted All must receive the Mark one as well as the other there is no difference of Condition 4. The Penalty inflicted on him that will not submit to the Law He must have no civil Commerce with men he must not buy nor sell that hath not these Three Things First The Mark Secondly The Name Thirdly The Number of the Name Now that men might rightly conceive what is meant by these things the same Spirit doth exhort them to Calculate the Number the Point that we are now upon For the Calculation of the Number these Four Particulars also ought to be Observed First The Person exhorted who it is that must make the Discovery And this is every such one as hath a mind given him of God more accurately to search into the meaning of the Prophecies The matter is not easio to be understood at the first sight there must be some Wisdom used to the Discovery thereof Secondly The manner It must be by the way of Reckoning or Numbering Let him that hath Wisdom reckon the Number of the Beast Thirdly The Rule and Method of Account There is some way of Reckoning called The Number of a Man by and through which the Calculation is to be made Fourthly The particular Number it self and in this Method or way of Account it is 666. These are the Natural distributions of the words of the text Now according to this Pattern or Platform let us proceed to shew the truth of our Interpretation and what apt coherence it hath with the Circumstances and with the Natural scope of the text To begin therefore with the matter of the Law It is expresly said That the Beast did cause all to receive a Mark to have the Name and the Number of the Name For the Mark we are not to take it for a material Character but it is the publick Profession of the Faith of a Roman Catholick by and through which he doth publickly acknowledg his subjection and Allegeance to the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome For as in the words immediately following when Iohn saw the Lamb stand upon Mount Sion and with him 144000 having their Father's Name written in their Forehead We do not take the Name of the Father written in the Forehead for a literal Character but for the visibility of their Profession that yield subjection to the Commands of God the Father as their Sovereign Lord So on the other side The followers of the Beast the Mark in their Forehead and in their right hand is not a visible brand or print-mark consisting of Letters and syllables but it sheweth the visibility of their Profession that do own the Bishop of Rome's Universal Headship over all Churches and that they are in Conscience bound to be subject to his Laws as to another Christ. Paraeus upon the place speaketh to the same effect Unde secundò liquet cum Bestia Antichristiana sit Papa Romanus exuviis Romani Imperii tunicâ Christi indutus Characterem Bestiae esse Professionem Papistici cultus sicut supra Character Christi non fuit nota materialis sed professio Christiani cultus But that in this matter we may not altogether depend upon Authority we will prove by many Arguments that the publick Profession of the Catholicism or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome is the Mark in the Forehead and in the right Hand First This agreeth omni to every Subject in the Beast's Kingdom He causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a Mark. And such a Mark is the Profession of the Faith of a Roman Catholick And though all are not Cardinals all are not Archbishops all are not Bishops yet all are Roman Catholicks all agree in this To profess the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome This is Nota maximè communis Secondly The Mark agreeth Soli only to such a one as is a Subject of the Beast's Kingdom For as Princes have Marks and Cognizances to distinguish their Servants and Subjects So the Beast hath a peculiar Character to discern between those that are his and those that are none of his Now if you apply this to the Profession of a Roman Catholick all that whole Society and Body of men as they are one among themselves in their publick Profession So in this they are distinguished from all other kinds of men in the whole world Here is nota maximè propria Thirdly The Mark agreeth to the Subjects of the Beast's Kingdom at all times For not only at the first beginning of the spiritual Monarchy he caused every man to receive a Mark but in all the times of his Kingdom he did impose this Law upon his Subjects And therefore we reade in the latter end of his Dominion That the first Vial was poured out upon them that had the Mark of the Beast and worshipped his Image chap. 16. vers 2. And those Souls that lived again to Reign with Christ 1000 years were such as were beheaded in all the times of the Beast's Kingdom because they had not worshipped the Image nor received the Mark. The receiving of the Mark in the Forehead it must be semper in all the times of the Beast's Kingdom Now such a Mark is the Profession of a Roman Catholick This hath been received in all times There are some things received by that Society of men which are not much more ancient than the Council of Trent which were not established de fide till that time And though in the dayes of Queen Mary the Critical Question was What say you to the Sacrament of the Altar Yet it is well known That Transubstantiation
give them a Mark as if the intent of the Beast were by this that they should give testimony that they are his They are also said to receive a Mark Chap. 14. To have the Mark Chap. 16. Now then we are sure that to give receive or have the Mark of the Beast is no other but that Act by which the Consciences of men are obliged to the Authority of the Pope and his Church When also they do prosess That by their Swords Wits Goods Lives and by all that they have they will maintain the Decrees and Laws made by that Authority The Mark in the Forehead is the publick Profession of the Universal Headship in the view of men and the Mark in the Right-hand is the solemn Resolution and Obligation to defend and maintain the Authority of the Beast against all that do oppose it And truly the event of things doth notably answer the prediction For we see by plain experience That the Papists such is their zeal to the Catholick Cause do out-strip us by many degrees The Jesuiâ—…es are never idle they compass Sea and Land they â—…urn themselves into all forms and are still animating of Princes and People against the Protestant Cause Yea they have so wrought that almost no man among them seemeth to spare either Labour Wealth Counsel or Life it self to uphold the Name and Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome God grant that one day they do not rise up in Judgment against us for we do not come near them in the least degree in promoting the Kingdom of Christ or in setting up the Gospel as the Regent-Law among the Nations But the Papists will not hear that they are enemies or that they go against the Lord and his Word They hold That the Bishop of Rome is the Vicar of Christ and that he hath all his Authority by delegation from him These are specious shews But in deed and in truth they are real enemies against Christ For the Scriptures and the words of the Gospel they can do nothing but meerly as the Pope and the Church of Rome do give life vigour and authority to them and as they do interpret them which always they do to their own advantage There is no truth more clearly delivered in Scripture then the Doctrine of Justification by Faith in Christ and yet the Pope saith on the contrary That there is a Purgatory after this life and that the souls there detained are freed by Masses Indulgences Pardons and such like means God and his Word say Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him onely shalt thou serve The Pope on the contrary saith Thou shalt worship Saints Images Crosses Reliques and the like God and Christ have commanded all men to search the Scriptures and to try the Spirits of what nature they be Now the Pope on the contrary commandeth that men should forbear the doing of this and that they should depend upon him alone God and Christ say Marriage is honourable amongst all men and the bed undefiled The Pope on the contrary forbiddeth Marriage to the Ministry By these and sundry such-like instances it is apparent That the Name and Soveraignty of the Beast is every way contrary to the Name and Soveraignty of the Lamb. For what the Lamb doth command the Beast doth countermand for the most part From hence it is clear then say the Papists what they will when they leave Christ to follow the Laws of the Pope in sense and substance they make him their Christ their Spiritual King Head and Governour and so in effect are no true Christians Now on the contrary seeing the Lord Christ is given as a Leader and Commander to his people they who refuse the Laws of the Pope to yield subjection to Christ in the times of the greatest persecution are every where mentioned in the Revelation to have the Name of the Father written in their Forehead Chap. 14. ver 15. To be the remnant of the seed of the woman that keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Iesus Christ Chap. 12. ver 17. The Papists then in receiving the Doctrines and Decrees of the Bishop of Rome under that formality as they do believe him Universal Head of the Church are positively directly and immediately Antichristian This Truth being laid down a stream of excellent Uses do naturally flow from it First We may here contemplate and behold the truth and infinite Wisdome of God speaking in the Scriptures It is now above 1500 years since that Iohn wrote the Revelation in which he spake of the Beast his Name Mark Image and the Number of his Name Now if we go to experience What have all ages for this thousand years last past but verified and fulfilled the truth of that which he spake of long before He that shall diligently reade the present Treatise will finde it to be true as we have said Secondly here is matter for our prayers and tears yea for our bowels to yern over those great Countries Kingdomes and Commonweals which do as yet own the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome They do continue in a great sin against the Kingly Office of Christ their profession is no other but Apostacy from the true Head of the Church and unless they repent they will one day feel the great Plagues contained in the words of the Prophecy Thirdly here is cause for the Protestant Churches to be thankful to the Lord For did they rightly understand it he hath delivered them from a bondage and slavery which far surpasseth the bondage of Egypt or Babylon For in the present case if men under this Government refuse to Worship the Beast and to receive his Mark the penalty is that they shall have no liberty to buy nor sell they shall be killed with the Sword they shall have their blood spilt they shall be subjected to sundry kindes of death On the contrary if they do worship the Beast and receive his Mark the Lord Christ doth threaten on the other side that they shall be tormented day and night and the smoke of their burning shall ascend for ever and ever Rev. Chap. 14. ver 7 8 9 10. The day of the deliverance of the Churches from Romish Tyranny was a day of deliverance from a Tyranny over their Souls over their Consciences over their Bodies over their Estates But all Treatises are full of Uses of this kinde We will proceed â—…o that which is Antichristian by Analogie and Reduction for this is more immediate to our purpose CHAP. XIII Concerning that which is Antichristian by Analogie and 〈◊〉 IN the progress of the Discourse we have shewed That the formality of Antichristianism is in the Headship of the Beast By this Standard of the Market we may prove all other things that do more remotely symbolize and agree with the Great Anti-Christ First the power of the Magistrate when it hath no bounds or limits but he doth all by his Will and Prerogative in
I have bestowed the more pains to try the force of their Arguments for either we or they must greatly mistake in the Point However let it be true as they affirm that not the Roman but the Seleucian is the fourth last Metal-Kingdome then all the Metal-Kingdomes must necessarily determine and expireat the destruction of the Seleucian And so according to the tenor of this Doctrine we shall have that which will singularly agree with our way of Calculation For if the account be made from the end of all four Metal-Kingdomes from the terminus ad quem in the same series and method of Computation there will be 666 years to the setting up of the Name or Headship of the Bishop of Rome And so we shall concord with the Principles of Iunius and as to the Point in hand he and we shall facere paria This is in brief the understanding which I have both of the Name of the Beast and the Number thereof Now if any shall ask What proof or what evidence I have to hold forth the truth of the thing I answer The process of the Demonstration is by Conglobation and by a full Induction of Singulars and it is this in effect Where there is a true correspondence with all the Circumstances of the Text the most remarkable Passages of the Prophesie and the Event of things that is a true Interpretation But the present is such Ergo c. All the burthen of proof will rest upon the Assumption I have to this purpose applied it then to all the Circumstances of the Text Chap. 13. I have compared it with the main drift and scope of the Spirit Chap. 17. I have examined it by the tenor of the Apostles Doctrine 2 Thess. 2. And last of all I have shewed how it doth agree with the several passages in the body of the Prophesie and with the event of things And now Reader whosoever thou art that hast a minde given thee rightly to calculate the Number of the Beast I leave it to thee to reade to meditate to examine and to judge of the things that I have written If I have anywhere deviated from the Truth I desire thy brotherly Admonition And if anywhere it shall please the Lord to make this Treatise an Instrument of light to thy understanding know That thou hast this Treasure brought to thee in an earthen Vessel that the praise may be of God alone And so I rest Thine in the LORD N. S. THE CONTENTS of the CHAPTERS Of the ensuing TREATISE CHAP. I. COncerning the Profitableness and the Use of the Discovery Pag. 1 CHAP. II. Concerning the Possibility of the Discovery and how that there are certain demonstrative Principles to bring the Truth to light pag. 12 CHAP. III. That the Name of the Beast is not the word Lateinos or any other Grammatical word but the Name is The Universal Power and Headship of the Beast immediately opposed to the Power Dominion and Headship of the Lamb pag. 18 CHAP. IV. Concerning the Number of the Name of the Beast where it is shewed That the Name or Universal Headship began publickly to he Established under the Emperor Phocas 666 years from the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdome pag. 36 CHAP. V. That the Roman is the Fourth and Last Metal-Kingdome in Daniels Image and the truth of this is proved against the Positions of Junius Broughton Piscator Dr. Willet and others pag. 46 CHAP. VI. That the Beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdome is not from the time of Julius or Augustus Caesar or from any other â—…ulgar 〈◊〉 but precisely from that instant when the 〈◊〉 oâ—… God came under the Dominion of the Romans 60 years before the Birth of the Lord and 666 before the going â—…orth of the Decâ—…ee That the Bishop of Rome should be Head oâ—…r all the Churches pag. 116 CHAP. VII The whole process of the Discourse is repeated That there are 666 years from the Beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdome to the setting up of the Name or Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome And that this is the meaning of the Spirit in the Revelation when he speaketh of the Name of the Beast and of the Number of the Name pag. 158 CHAP. VIII The Truth of the Interpretation is proved from the remarkable Circumstances of the Text it self Revel 13. 16 17 18. pag. 165 CHAP. IX The Truth of the Interpretation is further Confirmed from the scope of the Seventeenth Chapter of the Revelation pag. 212 CHAP. X. A List of Fifteen Principles drawn from the main sense of the Prophecy concerning the Beast his Name Mark and Number by the Position of which the present Interpretation is established Also the several Expositions of Mr. Potter and other Writers are brought to Tryal pag. 219 CHAP. XI A brief Description of the Doctrine of S. Paul 2 Thess. 2. And how he doth fully agree with the present Interpretation pag. 238 CHAP. XII The Application of the whole Where mention is made first of those things that are directly Antichristian pag. 247 CHAP. XIII Concerning that which is Antichristian by Analogie and Reduction pag. 251 CHAP. XIV What these things are which are Antichristian onely by the Position of some Circumstances as they are truly Christian by the Position of others The Conclusion of the whole pag. 277 CHAP. XV. Concerning those things which are not Antichristian but are onely falsly so called by the Separation pag. 291 There are divers faults to be amended some are lesser which we leave to the courtesie of the Reader to pass by others there are that do more notably mar and deface the sense which we do desire that he will amend Page Line For Reade 94 3 briefly fully 135 23 be brought be there brought 142 11 in the fourth is the fourth ibid. 27 secret sacred 185 29 seventh Angel seven Angels 193 20 typical proof topical proof 216 21 Augustus Angulus 229 12 to that Government in that Government Some Hebrew words are not right printed pag. 51 101 118 153. The terms in the Conclusion of the first Argument pag. 117. are misplaced And so are the words in another expression pag. 57. lin 17 18. A plain EXPOSITION OF THE Number of the Name of the Beast Revel 13. vers 18. CHAP. I. Concerning the Profitableness and the Use of the Discovery BEfore I come positively to set down the meaning of the Number and what the Holy Spirit doth hereby particularly intend it shall be profitable to speak Two things First Concerning the Use of the Discovery Secondly Concerning the Possibility thereof For the Use It is a matter of some Concernment that I should treat of this in the beginning first out of respect to that Common Maxime Let all things be done to Edification I shall therefore endeavour to let it appear to the Christian Reader how he may be builded up in the Faith and how in this Argument he may have matter of Correction
the great Sin of the Christian world for many Ages hath been in worshipping the Image and receiving the Mark. Thirdly The grievous Judgements of God denounced against men for these things Fourthly The Cause of the Martyrs Sufferings because they would not worship the Beast nor receive his Mark. Fifthly The object of the Vials they are poured out upon a People distinguished by these Characters Sixthly The deceiving of the Nations in the matter of the Mark of the Beast and the worship of his Image Seventhly The Reign of Christ upon the Earth which will be the more demonstratively understood by the right Stating of the Reign of the Beast â—…ver those that worship the Image and receive the Mark All these Considerations laid together plainly shew the Use and Profitableness of the Discovery Now let us proceed to the second Point to the Possibility thereof CHAP. II. Concerning the Possibility of the Discovery and how that there are certain Demonstrative Principles to bring the Truth to light THere are now living in these times many who think that there is no medling with this Prophecie especially in the matter of the Beast and the Number of his Name But I would entreat all such seriously to ponder in their own hearts Whether by this Opinion of theirs they do not secretly accuse the Lord Christ either for want of Truth or want of Wisdom For what man of Truth will call that a Revelation which is no Revelation at all And what man of Wisdom will say Blessed is he that readeth and keepeth the words of the Prophecie when there is no possibility to reade it so as to understand And particularly Shall the Lord Jesus give serious warning to his Church and People shall he shew them so long before-hand the great sin of the world which shall consist in the worship of the Beast and in receiving of his Mark and when all comes to all shall it be presumption to shew what is the meaning of Christ in these things To what end were they Revealed if there be no use of the Revelation at all and there is no use if it be so difficult that it cannot possibly be understood It was a special part of Love in Christ to send and signifie to his Servants things that must come shortly to pass But what part of Love is it to signifie it in that manner that they cannot possibly understand what he meaneth You will say It was revealed to some Select ones I grant that some of the Servants of Christ have a peculiar Gift to understand the Typical Expressions in this Prophecie as every Member in the Church hath his peculiar Gift dispensed to the edification of the whole Body and therefore they are bound to lay out their Talent this way for the common good But what shall we say of them that account it curiosity in any whosoever to meddle with these studies and are absolutely for the concealing of these things from the People But if it be alledged That Experience sheweth how they have been deceived who have bestowed their pains in this kind of study I Answer The same Experience plainly sheweth That they who have come with a sincere mind to finde out the Truth to study the whole Body of the Prophecie to compare Time with Time Vision with Vision and the Prophecies with the Stories have had a good return of their Labours I may say without prejudice to those that went before That Bullinger in his time Brightman in his time Grasserus in his time Mede in his time each of these have made their several and respective Additions to the clearing of the Prophecie If we endeavour to carry on the Work where they left it at least with the same Industry and Fidelity we may by the blessing of God be the instruments of bringing those Mysteries to light that were not discerned in former Ages And for my part I do firmly believe That God will not cease to raise up such in the times following as shall clear the things that have layen dark in the Prophecies and do yet remain hid to us But for the present because many think that the Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name are unsearchable Mysteries let me lay down some Reasons to prove the Possibility and the Evidence of the Discovery First The Name of the Beast and the Number of his Name are the Essential Characters of a State or Government obvious to the view of men It is said of the Writings of S. Paul that there are many things in them hard to be understood 2 Pet. 3. 16. There may be good Reason given for this to wit The sublimity and the spiritualness of the matter for a Natural man that hath no Experience in his own heart how can he judge of the meaning of the Apostle when he speaketh of the Life of the Spirit of the leading of the Spirit of the Comfort of the Spirit of the putting off of the Old man and the putting on of the New When a man hath no experience how can he understand these things that are so largely spoken of in the Epistle to the Romans Now it is not so with the Name of the Beast and his Mark these are the Badges of a Government obvious to the Senses of all men If there be any difficulty it lieth only in the typical and figurative way of expression Secondly The Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name are the essential Characters of a State or Government which the Church hath had long experience of for many Ages For the Monarchical Kingdom of Christ that shall be over Jews and Gentiles in the latter times though there are many things spoken in the Scriptures concerning this Dominion yet there are sundry passages hard to be determined because the event hath not yet shewed the meaning of the Prophecie Now there is nothing wanting so far as it concerneth the event to make known to the Church what is meant by the Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name Thirdly The Name of the Beast and the Number of the Name are such Characters that the Church in Being hath the present Experience of Many things are dark in the Old Prophets because the Stories of those times are lost to us The Jews could better understand the meaning of some Prophecies than we can And I believe the greatest Knot in Expounding the 70 weeks of Daniel lieth principally in this To shew precisely and determinately where that Number of Time doth begin There is an excellent agreement between the Greek Historians about the respective times of the Kings of Persia But the Knot lyeth in this Rightly to determine who that Darius was in whose times the Temple was built and the City repaired This thing was better known to the ancient Jews than it is to us But now for the Name of the Beast the Mark and the Number of the Name there is not the like Reason of darkness in these because they
Blasphemy against God And so the matter is expounded Rev. 13. He opened his mouth in Blasphemies against God to Blaspheme his Name his Tabernacle and them that dwell in Heaven These and the like places laid together do plainly shew that the scope of the text must circumscribe and limit the signification of the phrase so often used in this Prophecie Now if it be so according to this tenor we may say That the Name of the Beast must be expounded according to the Analogie of the text His Name then can be no other but his Universal Headship as a Counter-Christ emulous of the Dignity of Christ. But to go to further Instances we do reade that the deluded Kings were all gathered together into a place called in the Hebrew Harmageddon Rev. 16. 16. Much ado is made by Expositors about the meaning of the word Some take it for the Mountain of Delights Some for the Hill of the Gospel Some think there is an Allusion to the slaughter of Iosiah in the valley of Megiddo And there is a great Difference among them But for my part I do believe there can be no other meaning but this to wit The destruction of a Troope or Company and my Reasons are these First It is expresly said That the Name of the place in the Hebrew is called Harmageddon that is The destruction of a Troope and this Exposition is given by Grasserus and others Secondly That which moveth me so to think is the subject matter of the text For the unclean Spirits like Frogs did gather the deluded Kings to Battel and they brought them into a place called Harmageddon which in the event proved the place of their destruction It is well known That it is the manner of the Hebrews to give Names to several places in testimony of some famous Actions that have been done in them And it is as evident that the Spirit in this Prophecie doth perpetually follow the Hebrew stile As in the times of the fifth Trumpet when the Locusts came out of the bottomless pit they had a King over them whose Name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon and in the Greek is Apollyon chap. 9. Now this Trumper Mr Brightman and Mr Mede do rightly apply to the times of the Sarazens And because they did in great multitudes everywhere overspread the Territories of the Church they are therefore compared to Locusts Now for the Name of their King in the Greek or Hebrew tongues we are not here so much to look to Letters and syllables as to the sense of the figurative expression Mr Mede then in his Commentary upon the Revelation doth seem to me to be too Cabalistical when he doth descant upon the Names of some Kings formerly amongst the Arabians We are not to trouble our selves with Letters and syllables Mahomet is the Head or King of these Locusts or rather the Devil acting in and by him And too sad experience doth shew that his Name is called in the Hebrew Abaddon and in the Greek Apollyox For what is Mahometism but the waster and destroyer of the Christian Faith The Name doth answer the nature In the times of the third Trumpet we reade That a great star fell into the third part of the Rivers and the Name of the star is called Wormwood Interpreters upon the place do not look so much to a literal star but it is so called Effectivè from the Effect or Operation By these and many other places it is evident when the Spirit speaketh of a Name Thing Person or State he doth not aim so much at the bare formality of Letters and syllables as at the scope of the text Upon these grounds if the Beast be a King or Potentate his Name is not a Grammatical Name but according to the scope of the place it must necessarily denote his Kingly Power and Headship Let us come to a place mentioned in the Old Testament which hath been greatly mistaken by the Jewish Rabbins and by some others the words are these The Lord said to Moses I appeared to Abraham Isaac and Iacob by the Name of God Almighty but by the Name Iehovah I was not known unto them Exod. 6. 3. Here great ado is made by the Rabbins aforementioned they speak much of nomen Tetragrammatum of the word of four Letters of the difficulty to pronounce that Name and of bables more than too many And what is the reason of all this they look superficially upon the outward Letter and neglect the main sense and scope of the place The main sense is this That God appeared to Moses by the Name Iehovah by and through which he did give Existence and Being to his Promises And yet we are not to take it absolutely as though the Lord did no way appear to Abraham Isaac and Iacob by that Name This cannot be We are therefore to take the words in a restrictive meaning in respect to that particular Promise that he would give the Land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed for a Possession Gâ—…n 15. 13 14. Now in this particular sense God did not appear to Abraham Isaac and Iacob by the Name Iehovah they never lived so long to see the performance of this promise They did not see the end of the 400 years Bondage not the Deliverance out of Egypt as Moses did The Lord only did appear to them by the Name of God Alsufficient they might believe that he was able to perform what he promised In special relation then to this particular Promise the Lord saith to Moses By my Name Iehovah was I not made known to them If this be so what a wild race have they run who have looked only after a Name consisting of Letters and syllables and have not observed the Truth of God in the performance of his Word What is this but to make a Fable of the most important and comfortable Promises that be to neglect the substance and to catch at a shadow And the ground of all this is chiefly from hence they look to the out-side and shell of a figurative expression and neglect the natural sense of the text which in this case should principally rule In like manner they who are for the word Lateinos or for any such like Name must needs digress as much from the Truth For it is not to be imagined that the Name of the Beast is meerly a Name consisting of Letters and syllables neither can the Mark of the Beast be the Mark of such a Name according to the sense of the text and the Analogie of the Prophecie The Name of the Beast therefore must be his Universal Power and Headship and the Mark of the Name must be the publick Profession of subjection allegeance and devotion to that Name or Headship And this is clear from the several Instances fore-alledged where the Name of a person of a state of a thing is alwayes taken with correspondence to the text But if it be alledged That it may be so taken
times must consume the Roman Kingdom in the Antichristian state thereof as it is cleer by the whole Book of the Revelation Object But whereas Piscator doth alledge That the Kingdom of Christ did begin to fill the whole Earth when the Gentiles far and neer were brought to the Faith by the Preachiâ—…g of the Apostles Sol. I do not Deny but that the Kingdom of Christ in the Apostles time did then begin to fill the Earth For the bounds of his Spiritual Kingdom were much enlarged by their travel But what is this to the purpose The text speaketh plainly of a Monarchical Kingdom of such a Kingdom opposed to the Four Monarchies that shall subdue and fill the whole Earth The Apostles Preached the Gospel among all Nations and by name Saint Paul filled all places from Ierusalem to Illyricum with the Gospel of Christ. Yet nevertheless for all this large spreading of the Gospel there was no destruction of the Roman Kingdom In those times the Romans continued their Power and Tyranny though the Gospel of Christ was Preached everywhere But when the stone shall become a Mountain and fill the whole Earth before this can be done the Stone must strike the Image upon the Feet and Toes thereof The Tyranny of the Roman Kingdom must be broken by the Power of the Gospel before the Kingdom of Christ can be set up in the Throne Now if we apply these things to the times we shall find that the Church was in perpetual conflict with the Empire of the Romans for 300 yearâ—… together in all the times of the Ten first Persecutions Now it is said of the Primitive Mareyrs That they overcame him to wit The Persecuting Empire by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their Testimony and they loved not their lives unto the death Rev. 12. 11. By the scope of the place it is clear That the Lord Christ by his Power and his Martyrs by their Sufferings both together did break the Tyranny of that Persecuting Empire It is said of them That they overcame him to wit the Dragon with Seven Heads and Ten Horns The Saints by their Sufferings did overcome him and so the Gospel was set up as the regent Law The Woman brought forth a Man-Child that should Rule all Nations with a Rod of Iron This is meant of the Reign of Christ upon the Earth and there were some beginnings thereof in the times of Constantine the Great as appears by the scope of the text vers 9 10 11. Now whereas it came to pass afterwards That the Christian Empire was broken to pieces by the coming down of the barbarous Nations out of the North and Ten Kings rose out of the Ruines of the Empire aforesaid Then also according to the Prophecies a New Persecuting Empire was Erected to try the Faith and Patience of the Saints This in the whole Prophecie is called The Antichristian Empire or The Roman Kingdom in the last Edition thereof Now this Kingdom also shall be broken in pieces by the Preaching of the eternal Gospel the Nations shall be undeceived and the Gospel shall be set up as the regent Law as it began to be set up in the times of Constantine the Great but was hiâ—…dered afterward But now it shall be far otherwise The Kingdom of Christ shall be so set up after the breaking in pieces of the Toes and Feet of the Image after the wearing out of the Antichristian Tyranny that he shall Reign 1000 years From all that hath been said it is clear That we must look after the Monarchical beginning of the Kingdom of Christ according to the Prophecies Of this we shall have some occasion to speak more largely afterward Now let us consider what is Alledged by Polanus Polanus The Scope of Daniel is To speak of those great Empires only that should stand up one after another till Christ in those Territories where the Babylonian began Now the Roman had nothing that the Babylonian had but only Syria and Egypt He had nothing that the Persian had more than the Babylonian but Asia the Less Therefore the Roman is not to be accounted one of the Four Empires Answer It is true that the Roman went no further Eastward than the River Euphrates neither did he possess many of those Eastern Countries which were formerly under the Babylonian and Persian Monarchies But what of all this It is enough for our purpose That he possessed all those Countries on this side Euphrates which were the Continent of the Church In the Churches Continent the Roman was the Successor of the Babylonian Persian and Graecian Empires For look what Monarchy the Babylonian began over the People of the Jews the same was continued by the Romans when their time came to have the Monarchy over the Church If this be a truth we may quickly Answer the Objection of Dr Willet which is much to the same effect These are his words This Vision of an humane Image signified one united Body consisting of divers Kingdoms one succeeding another as the parts of the Body do joyn one to another the Beginning and Head of which was Babylon And then he addeth The Roman Monarchy being distant at least 1200 miles could not make one united Body with it Therefore that Monarchy cannot here fitly be understood By the same Reason he might Argue The Graecian Kingdom being distant many miles from the Babylonian and Persian therefore it cannot be compacted into the same Image of Persecuting Empires But this is not the Point which we are on For we are not to measure the Monarchies by the Longitude Latitude and Distance of place but by the same Succession of Monarchical Dominion over the Churches Territories In this sense the Roman may be placed in the same Image of Monarchical Empires as long as he did continue the same Sovereignty over the Church which the Babylonian began And therefore when the Scriptures do call the City of Rome by the Name of Babylon it is a very proper Expression for she did continue the same Tyranny over the Saints which the Babylonians began And it is clear also That the same Empire did Devolve and Descend upon the Romans in the Fourth Alteration and Change of State But let us proceed Polanus At the Coming of Christ the Kingdom represented by the Feet and Toes was ruined but so was not the Kingdom of the Romans which was not compleat till the time of Trajan Therefore the Roman is not the Fourth Kingdom Answer I have already touched this Point in my Answer to Piscator but because I see many Excellent Expositors build upon this Principle That the Kingdom of Christ Beginneth at the Dissolution of all Four Metal-Kingdoms and that this Dissolution was at his Incarnation Because they build strongly upon this we will bestow the more pains to enquire into the matter To the clearing of this let us look to that which the text naturally affordeth and then let us make Application From
Kings and reigned in the same row with Antiochus Magnus and Antiochus Theos Yet we cannot say that he came to reign with them for when he began they had no Being at all This is true in all successions when he that cometh after beginneth to Reign then they that go before cease to be But it is otherwise spoken of the little Horn he came up among them to wit among the Ten Horns he broke three of them in pieces and for the residue they had their Existence and Being together at one and the same time You will say That this is but a similitude and similitudes are not to be pressed in every particular I Answer That Types and Similitudes used by the Holy Ghost ought to be pressed so far as he intendeth If therefore by ten Horns he did intend a lineal succession of Kings why did he not keep the same method which he used to do in the description of such Successions In the former verses he speaketh of the rising of Four Beasts out of the Sea the first like a Lyon the second like a Bear the third like a Leopard the fourth was diverse from the former All these are said to come up out of the Sea one after another by which it is clear That there are so many successions of Monarchy But when he cometh to describe the Ten Horns there is nothing to prove such a subalternation or succession of one Horn after another but rather the contrary The Ten Horns are Ten Kings that shall arise and after them a little Horn shall arise and so all shall exist together But when the Babylonian-Lyon rose up out of the Sea and after that the Persian-Bear and Graecian-Pard it is no where said That these Beasts did arise up inter se invicem and that they had an existence at one and the same time For this were to confound that order succession and subalternation of the Four Monarchies which the holy Spirit intendeth But Dr Willet doth make this Reply The Beast in the Revelation is called a Beast with seven Heads which signifie so many forms of Government in a lineal Succession So the Beast may be called a Beast with ten Horns to wit so many Kings succeeding one another Answer If he could shew as good Reason wherefore the ten Horns are ten Kings in a lineal succession as the seven Heads of the Beast are so many successive forms of Roman Government we would yield up the Cause For it is expresly said There are Seven Kings five are fallen one is and the other is not yet come chap. 17. vers 10. Now there is not the least iota word or apex in Dan. 7. to prove such a succession but rather the contrary To me therefore it is very strange That the holy Spirit should depart from his usual method in Typical and Periodical Prophecies that he should speak of ten Kings lineally succeeding and yet leave no Character or Mark in the text to know the succession I may say It is not ordinary with him so to do Now take the ten Horns for the ten Kings of the Roman Empire it is clear That these had Existence with the Papacie or little Horn. The Angel thus speaketh concerning the ten Horns These have no Kingdom as yet but receive a Kingdom one hour with the Beast vers 12. Both Scriptures plainly shew That the ten Kings are of one and the same time though in order of succession the little Horn came up after the ten Querie 4. If the ten Horns be ten Kings and the little Horn be the tenth why is it said That only three of the former were plucked up by the roots This implyeth That there was no eradication of the residue of Horns but they had some being with the little Horn. You will say That only three were plucked up by the roots because the little Horn did actually subdue and humble three as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth signifie Well be it so still the Question is which three of the former ten were they that the little Horn did eradicate Dr Willet and other Interpreters of his way take it for a granted truth That he did pluck up Three Kings that Reigned immediately before But now do they prove this from the text The words are without any restriction or limitation He shall subdue three Kings vers 24. Before whom three of the first Horns were plucked up by the roots ver 8. Therefore to my understanding when the Scripture saith That the little Horn came up among the Ten and did subdue Three only this is to me an Argument That the residue of Horns were not brought in subjection but had an existence as Kings in the times of the little Horn. Secondly It is said of the little Horn that he shall be diverse from the first and shall subdue three Kings If you take the Three Kings for Three lineally Reigning how could the taking away of such a Number of Kings make the little Horn more powerful than the former In the corrupted State of the Ten Tribes we read somtimes That he that came after did take away the life of the Prince that went before yet this was never judged as a cause of greater power and strength to come to the Kingdom by such Usurpation 2 King 9. 3. Hos. 1. 4. On the contrary If you take the Ten Horns for Ten States or Realms into which the Fourth Monarchy became divided here will be a clear Reason why the little Horn became unlike to any of the former because he brought Three Kingdoms under his Dominion We read that Alexander's Dominion was plucked up by the roots and this was the cause of the greatness of the King of the South and the King of the North Dan. 11. 4 5 6. So in the present case the eradication of Three States or Dynasties before the little Horn is the cause of the greatness of his Dominion Thirdly Let us come to particulars what Three Kings were they whom Antiochus did subdue They say Ptolomaeus Philopater the King of Egypt Seleucus the Brother of Antiochus and Demetrius But it is mentioned Dâ—…n 11. 21. that he shall come peaceably into the Province Now what peaceable coming is this when he shall begin with the extirpation of Three Kings Again how can Ptolomaeus Philopater be one of the Ten Kings of the Seleucian line No Historian did ever reckon Ptolomaeus Philopater among the Seleucians And for his over-running of Syria this doth no more make him one of that Succession than Tamerlains over-running the Turkish Empire doth make him one of the Ottoman line Now on the contrary let us take the little Horn in that sense as the text naturally requireth all these difficulties will be avoided The Beast with Ten Horns is the Roman as divided into Ten lesser Kingdoms The little Horn is the Papacie Now to give elbow-room to this in Italy Three of the Ten Kings lately raised out of the Ruines of the Empire were all
received some hints of the Four Metals of Daniel's Image when he spake of the Golden Age under Saturn and of the Silver Age under Iupiter c. We must not think whatsoever is spoken by this Poet to be altogether a Fable That which he saith concerning Deucalion's Flood in many particulars it was a Fable of his own making yet in the general ground we all know that it is a Scripture-Truth that there was a Deluge to drown the world So he speaketh of the Gyants and of their heaping of Pelion upon Ossa we may conceive that in this he had some respect to the Gyants before the Flood and to the building of the Tower of Babel So in the present case when he spoke of the Four Ages of the world of the Golden the Silver the Brass and the Iron-Ages though in this matter to use the Apostles Expression he turned the Truth of God into a Lye yet in the ground it is true That the times of the Church are divided into Four Ages and these Ages are figured by so many Metals of the Image In after times they that lived in the Church and had the right Experience of things did expound the Babylonian to be the Head of Gold the Mede-Persian to be the Silver the Graecian to be the Brass and the Roman to be the Iron This is a true Exposition in the main but in some particulars they have gone too much after Ovid in his Metamorphosis It is true that the Babylonian Monarchy is represented by the Golden-Metal but it is a common Error in the Ancients and now generally among the Historians Chronologers and Writers to begin the Babylonian Monarchy at Ninus Upon the front of many Chronological Tables you shall find That Ninus is Pictured as the Founder of the Babylonian Cyrus of the Persian Alexander of the Graecian Iulius Caesar of the Roman Monarchy This distribution though it may take in a greater compass of time yet it doth not agree with the sense of the Holy Ghost in some chief Circumstances For the beginning of the Babylonian at Ninus Historians have taken this out of thâ—…ir own Heads and not out of the Word of God And from hence Bodin in his Method of History ch p. 7. hath taken occasion to Dispute against the Scriptures and to strike out the Truth because some have mingled their own Inventions with the Word of God He hath taken this Advantage upon the private Errors of some who have stood for the Truth in the main But the latter Expositors do decline this Error of Ninus and do pitch upon this That Nebuchadnezzar is the Head of Gold and that the Babylonian Kingdom doth begin from his Monarchy They find by Experience That the Scriptures do chiefly point to those several Empires that were to stand in fulness of Power one after another in those Countries where somtimes the Kings of the Lineage of David did bear Rule These are the most approved Interpreters which I so call because they go according to the minde of the Scriptures Now according to their grounds it followeth by necessary consequence That the Roman must begin as the Fourth Kingdom in the time of their Free-state when the Church and all the Countries adjoyning came under the Lordship and Dominion of the People of Rome And whereas in the Chronographical Tables Iulius Caesar is set forth as the Founder of the Roman Empire this is as false an imagination as that of Ninus First It is clear That every Metal-Kingdom did rise and encrease by the destruction of the Empire that went before Now what part or parcel of the Graecian Empire did Iulius Caesar bring under the Power of the Romans Secondly What part or parcel of the Nations about the Borders of the Church did he bring under the Roman Obedience If we speak in a Latitude Caesar did change the Free-state into the Government by One yet to speak accurately The Roman did not begin then as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom but in the times of Pompey when the Jewish Church came under the Obedience of that Nation And so our Argument is Founded upon the Principles of the best Expositors for the true beginning of the Roman Kingdom Now then to gather all into one sum we may conclude the Roman to begin as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom when the Church came under the Dominion of that People This is demonstrated First By the Analogie of the Three former Metal-Kingdoms which did begin each one as the Church came under their Dominion Secondly By the end of the Graecian Kingdom typed by the Brass-Metal Where the Graecian endeth there the Roman beginneth Thirdly By that which is necessary to the Being of the Fourth Metal-Kingdom which began to be applicable to the Roman in the time aforementioned Fourthly By the Testimony of the Evangelist S. Luke which doth insinuate such a Beginning Fifthly By the Principles of the latter and most Approved Interpreters which being rightly laid do necessarily prove such a Beginning also Having thus laid the Foundation I should now proceed to the Building But there are some few Objections that yet remain to be Answered Object 1. Mr Mede standeth upon it That the Roman came up by the same degrees as the Graecian went down Therefore there can be no determinate and set time of the Beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom Sol. What he speaketh in his Apostacy of the latter-times concerning the gradual encrease of the greatness of the Romans we do yield to be a truth in the main But we here speak of the beginning of the Roman in a more strict sense in that acception as it is in the Fourth Metal-Kingdom And here as there was a determinate time of the beginning of the Babylonian Persian and Graecian Empires So there must be a determinate beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom Secondly Daniel saw in the Vision the Four Beasts come up out of the Sea one after another and the Fourth Beast last of all There must then be some determinate time of the beginning of the Fourth Empire Thirdly It is the plot of the Spirit by the Four Empires to decypher so many periods of time According to this Rule If there be no certain beginning of the Fourth Metal-Kingdom there will be a Chasme There will be some part of time which will be long to no Metal of the Image For as Mr Mede himself doth allow The Image doth comprehend Four great Revolutions of time to begin one after another in an orderly succession These are his own words Apost pag. 69. For the true account of the times in Scripture we must have recourse to that Secret Kalendar and Great Almanack of Prophecie The Four Kingdoms of Daniel which are a Prophetical Chronologie of times measured by the Succession of Four Principal Kingdoms from the beginning of the Captivity of Israel until the Mysterie of God should be finished A course of time during which the Church and the Nation of the Iews together
by the Persians and Daniel mourned for it full three weeks together the Angel to comfort him telleth him plainly Dan. 10. 20. I will return to fight with the Prince of Persia and then the King of Graecia shall come in The meaning of which words is this That the power of the Empire of the Persians should be overthrown by the Graecians and then he cometh to particulars to speak of the expedition of Xerxes into Greece how that the Fourth King of the Persians should raise up great multitudes of People against the Graecians These are the words of the text for speaking of Darius the Mede he saith In the first year of Darius the Mede I stood up to strengthen him chap. 11. vers 1. And then he addeth I will shew thee the truth behold there shall stand up three Kings in Persia to wit Cyrus Cambyses Darius And the Fourth meaning Xerxes shall be richer than they all and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the Realm of Graecia vers 2 3. If we will go to the true Reason wherefore the Graecians were so couragious at the Straits of Thermopylae and wherefore they did prevail against the Persians the true cause doth lie in these words I will fight against the Prince of Persia and then the Kingdom of Graecia shall come in It was the secret and invisible hand of the Lord that was the cause of the declining of the Power of the Persians in the East and the rising of the Graecian in the West It is true That the He-goat passed from West to East upon the face of the whole Earth and yet it is as true That the Ram of Persia did push to the three several Coasts Westward Northward and Southward chap. 8. vers 4. By these words it is plain If the Victories of the Graecians did pass from West to East then è converso it is as true That the Victories of the Persians did pass from East to West Let us hear the words of the Prophet Isaiah to put all out of question for speaking of Cyrus thus he saith I have called a ravenous Bird out of the East the man of my Counsel from a far Country chap. 46. 11. From hence it is plain When God will Conquerors shall come out of the East And in Allusion to this Story those Kings that shall deliver the Mystical Israel out of the Captivity of Western Babylon are called the Kings of the East in a Figure Rev. 16. 12. It is not in the Climate in the Hemisphere in the temper of the Heavens in the better exercise of Military Discipline in the experience of old Souldiers in the success of fortunate Generals or any other inferiour cause but in the immediate Dispensation of God Therefore to adde the words of the Psalmist as an Epiphonema Lift not up your Horn on high speak not with a stiff neck for promotion cometh not from the East not from the West but God is judge he putteth down one and setteth up another Psal. 75. 5 6 7. I have staid the longer upon this digression because I set that States-men Souldiers and others of deepest wisdom look to these subtilties Hereupon they trust in an Arm of Flesh oppose the Gospel perfecute the Saints bear themselves more high over those that are made subject to them Make no Conscience of Honesty Truth or Religion when they have the Law in their own hands They should as well look to the invisible and spiritual causes of the Changes of Empire to the Providence of God to the Revelations in the Word to the Angels fighting against the Kingdoms of this world to the power of the Saints Prayers that are offered upon the golden Altar There is nothing more divine nothing more spiritual and nothing more apt to carry up the Soul into an high contemplation of the manifold wisdom power truth and Fidelity of God then to behold in the Prophecie of Daniel and in the Book of the Revelation as in a Map the several Empires of the world where the Church should be seated their times their changes and their causes of the change and this many hundred years before these Empires come to be set up They that read the VVord together with the Stories of the times may see the Fidelity of God and may by this come to know him by the Name Iehovah But so much by the way touching the sudden growth of the Graecian Empire from VVest to East Now we come to the Romans and in the times of their Dominion they must also have the strength of Iron to subdue the whole Earth and break it in pieces And though great Nations and mighty Princes should rise against him as Pyrrhus Hannibal Perseus Iugurtha Sertorius Methridates Tigranes c. yet in their times the Romans must be too hard for them all and break them all in pieces And therefore when Dionysius Halicarnassaeus Cicero and others boast of the Roman Greatness it may be said to them as somtimes it was to Cyrus I have girded thee with strength though thou knowest not me Isa. 45. 1 2. This was the true though the invisible cause why the Romans grew so Great and their Dominion reached to the ends of the Earth But now it is high time to return from whence we have made a digression to shew when the Roman began as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom Some think it was when that Nation was the most prevailing Nation upon the Earth But this cannot be For in the times of Antiochus the Great but more specially in the times of Antiochus Epiphanes they were the more prevailing People yet they did not begin in those times as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom in Daniel's Image You will say then VVhere shall we set the beginning of the Fourth Kingdom I Answer In this case we must distinguish between the Latitude of the Roman Dominion more absolutely considered and the Latitude of the Dominion in and about the Borders of the Church If you speak of the Latitude of Dominion in a more absolute consideration then the Roman began as the more prevailing Dominion when it became more mighty than any other Empire of the world But if you speak in a more strict sense it began then to be the Fourth Metal-Kingdom in Daniel's Image when it did begin to take in the greatest Amplitude and largeness of Rule in and about the Confines of the Church And this is to our purpose Object 3. Others perhaps may Alledge That we cannot begin the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom when the Iewish Church came under the Dominion of that People For say they it is foretoll in the Prophecie of Jacob The Scepter shall not depart from Iudah nor a Law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come Gen. 49. 10. Sol. I Answer We must so expound the meaning of one that it may not dash against the main sense of another Scripture Now it is the manifest scope of other Scriptures to shew That the Four
the Kings that make one Catholick Communion under the Pope their Head Rev. 13. and chap. 17. In these Particulars he doth not touch us in his Disputation but them only who do maintain the Truth with some mixtures of their own Secondly For the Points wherein we differ He standeth hard upon this That the Roman cannot be called the Iron-Metal seeing in these latter Ages Learning Civility Religion Discoveries by Navigation have been raised to a higher perfection and therefore the Roman cannot be set forth by a more worthless Metal than the other Kingdoms Sol. But in this matter he doth not Dispute so much against us as against the Scripture it self and the scope of the Spirit For is it not the scope of the Spirit to compare the Fourth Kingdom to Iron because of the strength cruelty and power to break all things in pieces in and about the Borders of the Church What good will Learning Civility Navigation and other such things do when the Church of God is under Persecution But yet further to Convince the Consciences of men That the Four Metal-Kingdoms in Daniel's Image are no nice speculation I would willingly put it to men to Resolve me this Question The Faithful that lived in the Iewish Church some years before the coming of Christ whether was it not their practise and some way their duty to search after the time of his coming These are the words of Peter Of which Salvation the Prophets have enquired and searched diligently who Prophesied of the Grace that should come unto you searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signifie when it testified before-hand the Sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow 1 Pet. 1. 10 11. Out of these words Three Points no necessarily issue First The coming of Christ his Sufferings and the glory that followed this was revealed to the Church of the Jews Secondly It was revealed to them in what period of time Christ should come Thirdly They did diligently search the several periods and changes of time to come to that particular season when the Son of Man should come in the flesh The words in the Original are very Emphatical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piscator hath it Scrutantes inquem cujusmodi temporis articulum Beza In quem aut qualem temporis articulum But I think the words are more naturally rendered Scrutantes ad quam aut qualem temporis periodum Searching to which or to what kind of period of time the Spirit should point as with a finger when he spake of the coming of Christ in the flesh But let the Translation be what it will be all is to this sense That the Believers of the Antient Church did diligently search the periods of time to the coming of Christ in the flesh And our Saviour doth blame the Jews for it That they could discern the face of the skie and yet could not understand the signs of the times that is The signs of the times of his coming in the flesh Matt. 16. 1 2 3. Now for the periods of time to the coming of the Son of Man in the flesh there are none more clear demonstrative in the whole Old Testament than those two in the Prophecie of Daniel The first is that of the Four Metal-Kingdoms chap. 2. and the Second is that of the 70 weeks chap. 9. By these Two the Saints and Prophets in the Old Testament might periodically come to the times of the Messiah and so might discover his coming in the flesh à priori Our Saviour therefore doth blame them that by the changes of State in Iudea First From the Babylonians to the Persians Secondly From the Persians to the Graecians Thirdly From the Graecians to the Romans that by these several Alterations of time they did not discern the signs of his coming nor the beginning of his Kingdom which should be set up when the Image should come to the last and lowest Region to the Fourth and the last Metal-Kingdom In the times of this Kingdom the God of Heaven shall set up a Kingdom that never shall be destroyed Dan. 2. 44. Therefore when the times of the Romans were come the Fourth and the last Monarchical People the Jews by the course of Daniel's periods might easily understand that they were not far from the times of the Messiah And to put all out of doubt if they had Numbred 490 years or 70 weeks of years from the building of the City and Temple in the dayes of Ezra and Nehemiah by this period also they might have come to the time of the cutting off of the Messiah and to the preaching of the Gospel among all Nations By the Collation and Parallel of these two periods the Saints in the Jewish Church might have found out in what Article or what period of time the Son of man should come in the flesh And shall we then say That the Four periods of time in Daniel's Image is a Scholastical and nice speculation Thus I have largely insisted upon the Point where Two things are made good First That the Roman doth begin as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom when the Church and the Continent of the Church came under the Dominion of that People Secondly That the Number of years are 666 to the setting up of the Universal Headship of the Bishop of Rome under the Emperor Phocas if the account be made from the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom I have proved also That this Method of Account is no nice speculation but a true Scripture-way to calculate and Number the Prophetical times Let us now proceed to the next Chapter to shew the issue of the Discourse CHAP. VII The whole Process of the Discourse is repeated That there are 666 years from the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom to the setting up of the Name or Vniversal Headship of the Bishop of Rome And that this is the meaning of the Spirit in the Revelation when he speaketh of the Name of the Beast and of the Number of the Name FOR the cleerer Demonstration of the Truth it is necessary that I should Repeat the sum of that which I have formerly delivered that we may see the whole Process of the Disputation First I have shewed That the Name of the Beast is not the word Lateinos nor any other Grammatical Name whatsoever but in the Apocalyptical stile it noteth his Universal Headship or Power standing in immediate Opposition to the Name or Headship of the Lamb. Secondly For the time of the beginning of this Universal Headship I have shewed That it had not only a determinate beginning but it began after the Fall of the Empire and not only so but it began after the Fall of the Empire in such a time when the Universal Headship was ascribed to the Bishop of Rome Now this I have proved out of the Stories to begin under the Emperor Phocas when the Decree went forth That the
fitly applied to Rome Antichristian which is truly and properly called the Whore of Babylon in the figure But now a little to draw nearer to the Point When was it that the Whore did begin to ride the Beast and where shall we set the date of her Dominion For so the Angel doth expound the words The Waters where the Whore sitteth are Kindreds and People and Multitudes and Nations and Languages ver 17. Her sitting upon the Beast and upon many Waters doth not onely imply an ordinary sitting but a sitting in the way of Lordship Dominion and Supreme Command Such a kinde of sitting we must look after if we will truly know the time when the Whore began to ride the Beast And here I say at that time when the Bishop of Rome did begin to be the second Beast or Universal Head under the Emperor Phocas then at the same time did the Roman Church begin to be the Mother of all Churches or rather the Great Whore that rideth the Beast the Mother of all the Fornications and the Idolatries of the Earth Let us therefore more distinctly consider the times as the Angel doth give the true delineation of them And therefore speaking of the Ten Kings that should carry the Whore that should be wholly at her devotion he doth expresly speak of them They have no Kingdome as yet but receive a Kingdome as Kings one hour with the Beast ver 12. Therefore the fall of the Empire and the rising of the Kings must needs anticipate or go before the Jurisdiction and Dominion of the Great Whore And lest there should be any mistake in the time the Angel doth plainly shew That there must be eight Revolutions of State in the City of Rome and that seven of them must fall before the time cometh that the Whore shall ride the Beast These are his words There are seven Kings five are fallen one is and the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space And the Beast that was and is not he is the eighth and is of the seventh and goeth into Perdition ver 10 11. From whence it is manifest That the Ten Kings must arise and seven Forms of Government must fall in the City of Rome before the times of the Great Whore can begin But here is a hard question to be decided by the way How can the Beast be said to be the eighth King and yet one of the seven Heads I will the more willingly take it into Consideration because I have been heretofore much puzled with the question And I finde also that the very best and most approved Interpreters do not give a certain sound To let pass how far Brightman and Paraeus have gone aside in the matter Mr. Forbes makes the Kings and Heads of the Beast to be co incident terms but in this he is greatly mistaken For the Beast in the order of Kings is expreslâ—… said to be the eighth King and in the order of Heads he is onely one of the seventh Therefore we may certainly conclude That these are not equivalent terms but that necessarily some distinction must be made betwixt the Heads and the Kings Mr. Mede therefore keeps himself in doubtful terms for speaking of the seventh Change of State to wit The Christian Caesars he saith That this Potentate because he should be of short continuance shall seem to be Dynastes alius another Ruler sed revera non alius in deed and in truth not another So likewise concerning the Beast in which State he should carry the Whore This Beast saith he in respect of the Change of the Caesars seemeth to be the eighth but revera non nisi septimus in deed and in truth no other but the seventh In which words of his so far as I apprehend there are two passages which seem to me to differ from the scope of the Text For when he speaketh of the Change of the Caesareate from the Pagan to the Christian Caesars how can he call that of the Christian Caesars Dynasten quasi alium revera tamen non alium The words of the Text are plain Five are fallen one is to wit that of the Pagan Caesars when Iohn wrote the Revelation and the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that of the Christian Caesars is not yet come It is clear then that the Governments of the City of Rome are eight in all and not eight in appearance onely and the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another in reality and truth and not another in shew onely as Mr. Mede will have it So likewise for the Beast it is strange that he should affirm him to be quasi octavum Dynasten as it were the eighth Potentate sed revera non nisi septimum but in deed and in truth no other but the seventh The words of the Text are express The Beast that was and is not he is octavus the eighth in reality and in truth and not the eighth in appearance only Therefore the Exposition of Mr. Mede doth contradict the words of the Text and the knot remains Upon much debate I finde that we must go another way to work and here we must distinguish the Roman Governments as they are simply so called from the Roman Governments as they are Heads of the Beast If you look upon the Roman Governments as so many Policies and Forms of Dominion then it is clear That there are eight Forms of Regency to wit The Kings the Consuls the Decemvirs the Dictators the Tribunes the Pagan Caesars the Christian Caesars and after all these seven cometh the Beast as octavus Dynastes the eighth Potentate Now on the other side if you reckon the Heads of the Beast there can be but seven Heads and therefore the Beast must needs be the particular seventh seeing the Christian Caesars from Constantine to Augustus cannot be called an Head of the Beast at all unless we will go against the scope of Scripture For it is not the manner of the Scripture to call Christian Governments by the Title of a Beast or the Head of a Beast This Character doth properly appertain to the Kingdomes and States of this World that persecute the Church and are contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom of Christ. Upon this account the Christian Caesars do indeed make a distinct Dynasty or Policy and yet are no part or Head of the Beast The words of the Text are clear for when the Spirit speaketh of the other that should come to wit the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars he doth not say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another Head but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another King which sheweth plainly That the Christian Casars are a distinct Form of Government but no Head of the Beast So likewise the Beast of the last edition is not termed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the eighth Head but he is simply called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the eighth King Touching the Kings it is spoken
of them Five are fallen one is and the other is not yet come and the Beast that cometh out of the Bottomless Pit he is the eighth To satisfie the doubt we do pitch upon this sense that the Beast is both the eighth Dynasty and the seventh Head For if you reckon by the order of Kings the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars being included he must needs be the eighth But if you reckon by the Heads of the Beast which are Pagan and Idolatrous Forms of Government then that of the Christian Caesars must be Status exâ—…resimus or exemptilis a State exempted and put out of the Kalendar From whence it comes to pass That the Beast if you reckon him among the Kings his place is to be the eighth but yet among the Heads he is but the seventh And so these words The Beast that was and is not he is the eighth and is one of the seventh are plain as I take it and the knot is untied But leaving this scruple I finde That all solid Interpreters do agree in the general sense of the Text to wit That the Antichristian times begin at the fall of the Empire and the rising of the Ten Kings The words of the Angel are so clear for speaking of the Roman Dominion and the Ten Horns of that Beast he expresly saith These have no Kingdome as yet but shall receive a Kingdome one hour with the Beast which plainly sheweth That their times shall be when the Roman Dominion shall come to the last and Antichristian edition of State The fall of the old Empire and the rising of the Ten Kings is an infallible Character of the beginning of the Antichristian times And this no man can rationally deny that doth look upon the true scope of the Angels Interpretation But our question is concerning the times of the Great Whore when was it that she did begin to ride the Beast We cannot say That it was at that time when the Kings did rise out of the ruines of the Empire For then the Kings of the Earth did not dogmatically and conscientiously acknowledge the Church of Rome the Mother of all Churches To the resolution of the case we will consider what Expositors do say to this purpose For in the 17th Chapter though there is mention made of the Beast with Ten Horns yet there is not the least word of the two-horned Beast Now the reason ordinarily given is very solid and it doth agree with the scope of the Scripture For it is plain That the description under the resemblance of a Beast with two Horns Chap. 13. is again repeated under the similitude and type of a Great Whore Chap. 17. Both Scriptures speak of one and the same matter in substance though in a different manner And if need should require we have many Arguments to prove the Parallel Now then in the present case seeing Iohn speaks of the City of Rome that in his days was the great City that ruled over the Kings of the Earth it is to our purpose to inquire when the Church came within the verge of the Dominion oâ—… that great City And here I say if we calculate the times aright and reckon 666 years from that time when that great City came to have Dominion over the Church we shall precisely come to that point and instant of time when the Church of Rome was made the Catholick and the General Mother of all other Churches The Church first came under the Dominion of the City of Rome and then 666 years after â—…hat Church her self was declared Universal Mother of all Churches And here then our Interpretation is one and the same in substance in both Scriptures And whereas the Woman hath this Inscription on her Forehead Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth The Name then on the Forehead of the Woman is not a Grammatical word consisting of Letters and Syllables but it signifieth her Universal Maternity or Motherhood when she began to be declared Universal Mother over all other Churches Now if you apply this to the times it came to pass in the 666th year from that time when the Church and the Territories of the Church came under the obedience of the City of Rome And this is the Number of her Maternity or general Motherhood or of the Name written in the Forehead of the Woman If we apply this to the two-horned Beast in the 13 Chapter his Name is no other but his Paternity or Universal Headship and the Number of his Name is no other but the Number of his Universal Headship from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdome And so the sense of one Chapter is clear by the scope and drift of the other But we go on CHAP. X. A List of Fifteen Principles drawn from the main sense of the Prophecy concerning the Beast his Name Mark and Number by the Position of which the present Interpretation is established Also the several Expositions of Mr. Potter and other Writers are brought to Tryall FOr the more full proof of the Point we must take the same method to prove the truth of our Interpretation as Divines do when they would prove the Pope to be Anti-Christ They do infallibly determine him to be so because all the Properties of the Beast do punctually pitch upon that Seat or Succession So in the present case we may say That 666 is such a Number of years to the setting up of the Name or Universal Headship of the Beast And this we take to be an infallible and undoubted Truth because all the Principles of the Prophecy do pitch and mainly centre upon such an Interpretation We can prove the truth thereof by the accumulation of Notes Wâ—… may further take in the words of the Jesuite Suarez for he himself well obserueth That it is not sufficient to decypher Antichrist by one two or three Notes but by the Concurrence of all the Properties that do appertain to him So I may say for a tight Exposition of the Name of the Beast and the Number thereof we must not rest in a few Circumstances for so many have been brought for the name Lateinos And M. Pâ—…tters Interpretation also seemeth to be very fair But this is that which I mainly stand upon That their several Interpretations will not agree with many Principles The same course then that we take to prove the Truth shall be to disprove their Error But now to the Principles in order Princ. 1. The Name of the Beast his Mark and Number do all agree to the Papall Tyranny by a special application This is proved from the whole scope of the Text. For the Beast is a Tyrannical Empire or Government and not onely so but also a Roman Tyrannical Empire in the last edition thereof Therefore these Characters are specially applicable to that Government and to the Hierarchy thereof and not to any other They erre therefore that seek after the Number in the
Dead and the taking up of those that should remain to meet the Lord in the air Hereupon certain among the Thessalonians mistaking the meaning of the Apostle did conclude That the Day of Judgement and the general Assembly of the Saints was then at hand Now to diminish this opinion the Apostle doth exhort them in these words I beseech you Brethren 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the cause of the coming of Christ to Iudgement 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the matter or cause of our gathering together unto him that ye be not soon shaken in minde nor be troubled either by Spirit by word or by letter as from us as that the day of Christ is at hand This sheweth plainly That they did mistake the Apostle in his former Epistle and did understand his words as though Christ should come presently to Judgement Now for their better information he proceedeth Vers. 3. Let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and the Man of Sin be revealed the Son of Perdition He plainly sheweth what things should precede the coming of Christ to wit A general defection from the Faith and the revelation of the Man of Sin And this I take it doth fully open the meaning of our Saviours words in the Gospel concerning the woful state of the Church in the latter times He speaketh plainly that many false Christs shall arise and shall deceive if it were possible the very Elect Matth. 24. 5 23 24. Now to what times can we better refer this then to the times of Antichrist to the times of the Apostacy in which men shall depart from the Faith and shall give heed to the Doctrine of Devils 1 Tim. 4. 1. Now whereas the Apostle saith That there shall come a falling away first Some of the Ancients as Hierom did understand this of the defection from the Roman Empire Though this be a truth yet it is not the meaning of the Text For the falling away here meant is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a falling away from the true Faith or from the pure Worship of God So the word is used commonly in the New Testament and the sense of the Text doth plainly shew That God gave men up to delusions to believe lies because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved The words then do not intend a Civil but a Spiritual apostacy or falling away Further whereas it is said And the Man of Sin shall be revealed the Son of Perdition Here is a great question Whether the times of the Apostacy and the Revelation of the Man of Sin do begin all at one instant Some will have this to be a Figure which the Rhetoricians call Hendyadys But they are deceived for the words are plain that a falling away from the Faith should be by degrees and when this Apostacy should come to some ripeness and maturity then the Man of Sin should be revealed For how is it possible that the Christian Church should degenerate so far from Christ to take Antichrist for her Head but she must be moulded prepared and wrought by degrees for such a rebellion And for that expression The Man of Sin whereas the Romish Interpreters and Hugo Grotius in his Tract de Antichristo do take this for one individual Man herein they are monstrous absurd For if he be one Man as they suppose then the Apostle tells us That he was secretly conceived in those first times the Mystery of Iniquity did then begin to work And he further addeth that he shall continue till the last times whom the Lord shall consume with the word of his mouth and shall abolish with the brightness of his coming Upon these grounds if the Man of Sin be one individual Man he must needs be very long-lived he must live in a manner from the first to the second coming of Christ. But leaving them to make good their own conceits to speak positively The Man of Sin meant in the Text is A State or a Succession of Men in a State or Government for Iohn in the Revlation doth call this Tyrannical Empire by the Title of a Beast which all do know in the sense of the Prophets doth intend an Idolatrous or a persecuting Empire He is called The Man of Sin by a singular Emphasis as being exceeding sinful and the cause of sin to others for so it is said in the Scriptures Ieroboam the son of Nebat that made Israel to sin And if he be the Man of Sin it is no hard matter to render a reason why he should be called The childe of Perdition This Title was sometimes given to Iudas While I was with them in the world I kept them in thy Name those that thou gavest me have I kept and none of them is lost save the Son of Perdition Joh. 17. 12. In the next words the Apostle doth describe him according to his nature Ver. 4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or is worshipped So that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God For his opposing himself this is spoken in relation to Christ as he is King Priest and Prophet So the Beast in the Revelat. is set in immediate opposition against the Lamb as if he were another Christ the Rival of his Kingly Power and Dignity And whereas he doth exalt himself above all that is called God Interpreters do ordinarily take this for Magistrates whether Inferior or Superior above all which Antichrist must advance himself The expression above all that is called God is a style too diminuent to express the true God by There be maâ—…y that be called Gods yet to us there is but one God 1 Cor. 8. 5. This is spoken of Magistrates that they are called Gods and above all these Antichrist as he doth pretend himself Universal Head of the Church shall exalt himself Further whereas it is said that he sits in the Temple of God this is meant of the Church of God where God is worshipped in the time of the New Testament as he was in the Temple of Ierusalem of old Now that the Church is called The Temple of God is clear from that of the Apostle Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God and The Temple of God is holy which ye are 1 Cor. 3. 16. The result of the whole speech is this That Antichrist shall sit in the Universal Church as in his Episcopal See for so the word in the Original doth signifie Cathedraticâ potestate praesidere By these words it is plain That the formality of Antichristianism lies in the Universal Headship For when the Apostle doth describe the Great Antichrist by his nature he saith That he sitteth in the Church of God as the supreme Lord and Ruler Therefore if that be true which I have so largely dispured in the Body of the Treatise That the Name of the
in pieces like a Potters vessel The scope of the Text is chiefly concerning the exorbitancy and exaltation of Earthly Powers against Christ. And these we say do more nearly and immediately symbolize with the Great Antichrist Secondly they come also in the nearest resemblance to Antichrist and to that which is truly Antichristian who forsake the Scriptures to hang meerly upon Dreams and Revelations For as the true Believers who take Christ for the Head of the Church have the Word of the Gospel applied to their hearts and sealed to their Consciences by the inward working of the Spirit So on the contrary they who mis-believe and take Antichrist for the Head of the Church have his Superstitions Laws and Decrees rooted and grounded in them by Visions Dreams and Apocryphal Revelations This is clear from the scope of the Scripture And here is the esâ—…igies and lively pourtraicture of Antichrists Kingdome But before I come to the point it is necessary that I should premise one Caution in the beginning And here let it be noted That I do not speak of Revelations absolutely and in their full extent but of Revelations restrictively and in a sense onely If we take Revelations in the first sense I do easily agree That not onely in the first 2000 years from Adam to Abraham but also in the last dispensation since the coming of Christ God hath wonderfully revealed himself to his People as it is clear by the Scriptures and by the Stories of the Church And in my own experience I can avouch it to be true as I have had occasion to converse in several places so I have met with some good Christianâ—… whom it hath pleased the Lord to bring home by an admirable way of Conversion And some select persons also I know whom it hath pleased the Lord to chuse out for himself to bear witness to his Truth both in dark and troublesome times I have found that they have spoken great things concerning the last troubles and divers events thereof which experience hath confirmed to be true But concerning this kinde of people that a distinction may be made between true and Apocryphal Revelations I have ever noted three things in them First they have diligently waited upon the publick Ordinances of God and have broke through all difficulties through perswasions of Friends through oppositions of Enemies through threatnings of Tyrannical Courts that they might enjoy the means of their Salvation Secondly I have observed that they have always adhered to the written Word and have spent very much time in the meditation of the Promises Commands and other Passages desiring nothing more in all the world then that they might know the minde of God that they might save their own the Souls of other people Thirdly I have observed this in them That though they have been under extraordinary teachings yet they have had great darknesses in which they have always begged of the Lord that he would not leave them so and that he would carry them on further Now in praying waiting and using the means they have first or last had assured help from the Lord by the immediate supply of his Spirit There is much spoken by the School-men concerning the harmony betwixt the Grace of God and Endeavor of Man Suarez hath his way Alvarez bath his Penottus seemeth to draw a threed betwixt both and Cajetan saith In hoc ego non possum quietare intellectum meum In this I cannot satisfie my understanding But for my part I never found better grounds of resolution any-where then from the experiences of some Christians whom it hath pleased the Lord a long time to exercise in the Schoole of Temptation As they have had sundry changes of trouble and fear so they have had interchangable supply of Spirit and of auxiliary Grace to direct help and comfort them in all their fears There hath been a sweet parallel betwixt Gods grace and their endeavor as they did work under the grace and by the help of grace received By their experiences I do finde That it is the manner of God in dealing with a Soul to break it all to pieces and then wholly to make it up by the continual help of his Spirit Now this doth not any way drown the endeavor of man but doth onely put him upon the work of his Salvation with fear and trembling and upon an humble dependance upon the Lord for the supply of his grace This I have found from the experiences of such as have lived by Faith in the Promises and have prayed much by Faith in the Promises With some of these the Lord hath dealt by peculiar Revelations But these are particular priviledges which he doth vouchsafe to certain persons extraordinarily whom he doth set apart for special services either to himself or to his Church I do acknowledge That some Believers in this last dispensation may be partakers of such extraordinary workings of the Spirit therefore I will not absolutely and peremptorily conclude against all Dreams Visions and Revelations in these last Times And I think it very expedient that men should be moderate in their censure But yet for the ordinary course of Visions and Revelations which men do make boast of in these days it is very much to be suspected that they do proceed from no good Spirit Especially when they are carried so high as to live above Ordinances and to slight the Scriptures which God hath appointed as the way and means to Salvation Nay when they shall go further and maintain things apparently contrary to Scripture and the analogie of Faith and rest wholly upon the proof of extraordinary Revelation there is great cause why we should have this way in deep suspition that the power and working of Satan is here And they who call every thing Antichristian in the Ministery in the Ordinances in the Worship in the literal expressions of Scripture if they would be pleased to examine themselves and lay their hands upon their own hearts they would finde That by their slighting of the Scripture by their hanging upon extraordinary Revelations in matters contrary to Scripture they themselves are the most Antichristian men and do come in the nearest resemblance to the Great Antichrist as he is described by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Thessalonians and by Iohn in the Book of the Revelation But let us come to particulars these are the words of the Apostle Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with miracles signs and lying wonders and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they did not receive the truth in the love of it that they might be saved Chap. 2. ver 9 10. In which words the Apostle doth plainly shew and foretell That not onely at the coming of Antichrist but also in all the time of his Kingdome the Devil shall have power given him to do great things to deceive the world that they may believe the lies of Antichrist
not to reveal this only to the Jews but to the People of the Gentiles also This latter may be proved from the person of Nebuchadnezzar to whom this secret was revealed For if it had only concerned the National Church of the Jews That the God of Heaven will raise up a Kingdom that never shall be destroyed Why was this delivered to Nebuchadnezzar an Heathen Man and an Enemy of the Church When the Lord did reveal to Pharoah the Dream of the seven fat Kine and after the Dream of seven lean Kine this was not only discovered for the good of the Church but for the preservation of mankind So the Succession of the Four great Empires and the beginning of the Kingdom of Christ in the times of the last Empire these things were not revealed only to Nebuchadnezzar that the Jews might understand the truth but that the whole habitable world under Nebuchadnezzar's Dominion might take notice of that which God did intend to do Secondly This appeareth by the manner of the Revelation to Nebuchadnezzar which was to this end That the whole world might observe it First If you consider the Person Nebuchadnezzar dreamed a Dream Secondly The way of God's dealing with him he forgat the Dream and therefore a great trouble fell upon his Spirit Thirdly His calling for the wise-men of Babylon which City in these times was the Eye of the world and the seat of the Empire Now it is not to be imagined but all that lived within the Verge of so large a Dominion would be apt to hearken after such a thing Specially when they should hear of the trouble of the King and of the Edict to kill all the wise-men of Babylon Here was a matter set out in the view of all Asia as it were to prove Three Particulars First That the God of Israel was the true God Secondly That he would set up Four great Changes of Empire in the world Thirdly That in the last Succession of Empire he would set up a Kingdom that never should be destroyed These things were propounded not only for the Church but for the Observation of the whole habitable Earth under the Babylonian Empire that then was and for the Ages following Thirdly If we look to the Story of the Evangelists we do read that the Evangelist S. Matthew doth tell us That when the Lord Christ was Born in Bethleem in the dayes of Herod the King wise-men came to Ierusalem Matth. 2. 1 2 3 4. Here Interpreters upon the place do raise many Questions First Who these wise-men were Secondly Why was it Revealed to them by a Star Thirdly Why did the Star guide them to Ierusalem and then vanish out of 〈◊〉 These Questions are propounded by Interpreters and they do give very learned and solid Answers to them Only there is a Question to which I do not yet finde a satisfactory Answer and that is this Why was this matter Revealed to wise-men in the East rather than to any other Nation Profession or Sect among the Gentiles Spanhemius doth handle this Point in his Dubia Evangelica part 2. dub 31. pag. 326. and he doth come to this issue in the close Concludimus itaque causum vocationis Magorum nequaquam in illis suisse sed in solâ Dei vocantis bonitate illos ex merâ ejus gratiâ vocatos sive absolutè eorum vocatio consideretur sive comparatè Quod enim vocati vocati prae aliis Dei miserentis fuit illorum potius quam aliorum Et haec causa causarum est summa ratio pag. 329. Here I do agree That the Call of the wise-men doth chiefly depend upon the Grace and Mercy of God This is the Cause of causes and the chiefest Reason why they were called and why they were called before any other But yet with submission to a better judgement I think there lies a plain reason in the Scriptures why the Birth of the King of the Jews was revealed to the wise-men of the East rather than to any other Gentiles For when the Lord had a purpose to Reveal Four great Changes of time to the world and particularly the time of the setting up of the Kingdom of his Son he had appointed in his Providence that the wisemen of Babylon whose Profession it was to understand the changes of time that they should come to take notice of these things but more specially of the time when the Kingdom of Christ should be set up But because they could not know this by their own strength the Lord did Reveal it to them by the Ministery of Daniel That he would set up Four Kingdoms over the Earth whereof the Babylonian in Being was the first and then in the latter end he would set up a Kingdom that never should be destroyed In a word This is the Cause wherefore these changes of times were revealed to the wise-men of the East because it did suit with their Profession to take notice of such things And the Lord having once revealed in particular the time of the setting up of the Kingdom of his Son to the wise-men of the East when the Lord Christ was born at Bethleem in Iudea in the days of Herod the King he did Call that sort of men in special to take notice of that which was foretold Because these things were revealed to them they were called in a special manner to take notice of the Birth of the Messiah and of the beginning of his Kingdom From all that hath been said we may conclude That the Vision of the Metal-Kingdoms doth concern both Jews and Gentiles Therefore there is no necessity that Brightman Grasserus and other learned men should take the little Horn for Mahomet because the Country of Iudea is now under the Turks Many other Arguments might be brought to prove That neither Mahomet nor the Turk can possibly be resembled by the Type of the little Horn. The scope of the text and the whole collection of Circumstances do altogether pitch upon the Papacy which arose after the division of the Roman Empire into ten inferiour Kingdoms in the time of the Emperor Phocas 666 years from the beginning of the Roman as the Fourth Metal-Kingdom This is the true Application of the times to the Stories of the Church and this is the natural sense of Iohn in the Book of the Revelation That the Number of the Name of the Beast is 666. Now for the truth of this Interpretation we will prove it First From the whole scope of the text Rev. 13. Secondly From the drift of the Spirit Rev. 17. Thirdly From the whole Harmony of the Prophecie in the chief and remarkable Circumstances Lastly From the scope of the Apostle 2 Thess. 2. And of these in their Order CHAP. VIII The Truth of the Interpretation is proved from the remarkable Circumstances of the Text it self Revel 13. 16 17 18. THere be many excellent and precious Truths in the general which we cannot alwayes avouch That the Spirit