Domitiano consulare imperium that is to him namely Vespasian with Titus his son the consulship was voted to Domitian the pretorship and consular authority ib. cap. 16. Mox ejurante Frontino Caesar Domitianus praeturam cepit Ejus nomen epistolis edictisque proponebatur Vis penes Mucianum nisi quod pleraque Domitianus instigantibus amicis aut propria lubidine agebat that is Not long after upon the resignation of Frontinus Caesar Domitian took the pretorship his name was prefixt to all Letters and Edicts The power and sway of affairs was in Mucianus save that Domitian either at the instigation of his friends or upon his own pleasure transacted very many things ib. cap. 20. Vespasianus in Italiam resque urbis intentus adversam de Domitiano famam accipit tanquam terminos aetatis concessa filio egrederetur that is Vespasian being intent upon Italy and the affairs of the City heareth an ill report of Domitian as if he had passed the bounds of his age and carried himself with more state then became an Emperours son Suetonius also saith of him in the description of his life Cap. 1. Post victoriam demum progressus Caesar consalutatus honorem praeturae urbanae cum consulari potestate suscepit titulo tenus quam jusdictionem ad collegam proximum transtulit Caeterum omnem vim dominationis tam licenter exercuit ut jam tum qualis futurus esset oslenderet Nec exequar singula contrectatis multorum uxoribus Domitiam Longinam Aelio Lamiae nuptam etiam in matrimonium abduxit atque uno die super viginti urbana officia atque peregrina distribuit mirari se Vespasiano dictitante quod successorem non sibi mitteret that is Domitian after the victory going out and being saluted by the name of Cesar assumed the honour of the City Pretorship with consular authority as to the Title transferring all the jurisdiction to the next Colleague howbeit he did so licenciously exercise all the power of Sovereignty as that he even then shewed what manner of Prince he would afterwards prove For to omit the rest of his actions having abused the wives of many Citizens he took away Domitia Longina that was maried to Aelius Lamia and made her his own wife and distributed in one day above twenty offices belonging either to the City or to foreign parts Vespasian in the mean time ever and anon crying out that he wondred that his son did not also send him a successor ib. chap. 13. Principatum vero adeptus neque in senatu jactare dubitavit patri se fratri imperium dedisse illos sibi reddidisse Pari arrogantiacum procuratorum suorum nomine formalem dictaret epistolam sic coepit Dominus deus noster sic fieri jubet Unde institutum post hac ut ne scripto quidem ac sermone cujusquam appellaretur aliter that is Domitian having obtained the Empire doubted not to boast in the very Senate that he had given the Empire both to his Father and to his Brother whereas they had only restored it unto him with like arrogancy as he endited a formal Letter in the name of his procurators he began thus Our Lord and God commandeth it so to be done whence it was afterwards injoyned that none should either in writing or in speech give him any other Titles This shifting of the Kingly power in Domitian seemeth to be a proof or essay of what shall hereafter happen to him in the same kind For as he was sometimes recalled from a private condition to the Empire so shall he in future ages arise from the dead to be a King as I have before evinced By what the Angel hath here spoken to declare the Mystery of the Beast it is manifest that by the Beast is meant a Man who was alive when this Vision happened to John For the Angel saith expresly Verse 8. that he is It is also manifest that the Beast had already been a King at Rome and should after the decease of his two immediate Predecessours reign there again But who was there in the time of this Vision to whom such a thing doth agree save Domitian about the end of whose Empire Irenaeus saith lib. 5. cap. 3. that this Book of the Revelation was seen Neque enim ante multum temporis so are his words visum est sed paenè sub nostro saeculo ad finem Domitiani imperii Which may be so far true as that perhaps it was not published and commonly known before that time Nevertheless it appeareth from those words of the Angel Five are fallen and one is that it was written in the Reign of Vespasian These things being so I rightly reckon the Kings from Claudius for if you begin either before or after him the words of the Angel will not suit with the truth of the History as it is delivered by sundry grave Writers that lived in or about those times And it is likely that the Angel so ordered the Vision that the computation should begin from Claudius inclusively because he was the first Roman Emperour that imployed his Authority to molest the Christians For Suetonius in the History of his Life cap. 25. telleth us that he expelled the Jews out of Rome as making continual Tumults by the impulsion of Christ whom he as it seemeth doth out of an heathenish malignity call in Latin Chrestus and not Christus as doth also the Authour of that profane Dialogue called Philopatris which is found among the Works of Lucian see Page 1003. of the Salmurian Edition However certain it is out of the sacred story that Claudius expelled the Jews out of Rome by which means Aquila and Priscilla his Wife both believing Jews being forced to quit Rome betook themselves to Corinth Acts 18.2 It is further manifest from what hath been before discoursed that the Beast Domitian is aptly represented with seven Heads because of his relation both to the seven Mountains and also to the seven Kings that were signified by them For he had not onely sometimes reigned in Rome the seven-hilled City but was also born there for so saith Suetonius in the beginning of his Life Domitianus natus est regione urbis sexta ad Malum Punicum that is Domitian was born in the sixth Ward of the City at the Sign of the Pomegranate He was also Son to one of the seven Kings and Brother to another as hath before been shewed Vers 12. And the ten Horns which thou sawest are ten Kings which have received no Kingdom as yet but receive Power as Kings one hour with the Beast 13. These have one minde and shall give their Power and Strength unto the Beast 14. These shall make War with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of lords and King of kings and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful Hitherto the Angel hath spoken concerning the Beast and his seven Heads now he cometh to the
the plain and obvious sence thereof clearly testifie Again we have in the Exposition of the nineteenth Chapter verse 1. proved that there is a great multitude of Saints even before the destruction of Rome recalled to life and triumphing in the kingdom of heaven Finally it appeareth from that notable passage Chap. 2.26.27 where Christ saith He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I have received of my Father that whosoever performeth the duty of a Christian to the end of his life and undergoeth a violent death for the name of Christ for I have elsewhere collected that the notion of overcoming when applied to the Saints in the Revelation doth intimate such a death shall be raised up from the dead before the day of judgement to reign over the Nations For can there any such reign be expected after that judgement is once past or did not Christ to whom these Saints are in this respect to be made conformable so come to reign over the Nations Neither doth that passage of Christ John 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him should have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day Nor that of Paul 1 Cor. 15.22 As in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order Christ the first fruits afterwards they that are Christs at his coming These passages I say do not a whit withstand the doctrine of an anticipated resurrection which we endeavor to evince out of the book of the Revelation For Christ speaketh of men only as believing on him and Paul of them as dying in the faith and not for the same as the forecited places of the Revelation plainly do Moreover that the Lord Christ Jesus doth now in very deed reign in heaven and so hath done ever since he sat down at the right hand of God and consequently the Saints who are partakers of the first resurrection shall there reign with him is evident from that notable passage or Paul Ephes 1.19 20 21 22. According to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church And from that of Peter 1 Epist 3.21 22. The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ who is gon into heaven and is on the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him And also from those of John Rev. 1.5 and Chap. 17.14 In the former of which he saith and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the first begotten from the dead and the Prince or Ruler of the Kings of the earth And in the latter These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings he doth not say he shall be King of Kings But what need have I to accumulate texts of Scripture for the proof of this matter when the second and third Chapters of the Revelation are of themselves abundantly sufficient to convince all that are not obstinately bent against the truth that Christ doth now in his own person govern the Church and take care of it for you shall there have clear and undeniable arguments both of the cognisance that he taketh of mens actions and of the protection he affordeth unto such as walk uprightly with him and also of the judgements he executeth on them that either turn aside out of the right way or at least slacken their first love so that I am not a little moved when I perceive many who otherwise seem to own the Gospel so easily giving ear to such a doctrine as asserteth that Christ is not yet in the possession and exercise of his kingdom but shall hereafter reign and that upon the Earth which opinion thwarteth the whole tenor of the New Testament where Christ since his ascension is usually called Lord and annulleth the faith we repose in Christ for to what purpose is it to rely on him for help and assistance if he be not yet in his kingdome and restraineth prayer and worship before him and in a word ushereth in Judaism for there at length this pernicious conceit is wont to center Wherefore seeing I have irrefragably proved that Jesus Christ doth now reign in heaven neither is there so much as one passage in all the Scripture that saith he shall ever reign upon the earth but he himself on the contrary plainly testifieth John 18.36 That his kingdom is not of this world which could not be true were he to reign personally on the earth as worldly Kings are wont to do I conclude that whatsoever Saints are raised up from the dead to reign with Christ during the space of a thousand years before the last judgement must of necessity ascend up into heaven where he is And this is plainly taught us in that forequoted instance of the twowitnesses who being recalled to life go up into heaven in a cloud Chap. 11.12 T is true indeed that the Saints mentioned in the fifth Chapter verse 10. say That they were made Kings and Priests to their God and should reign on the earth But here is no hint of any resurrection and therefore such Saints are to be understood as having not yet been dead did and should reign upon the earth Thus John saith both of himself and the Saints in the seven Churches of Asia Chap. 1. That Christ had made them Kings and Priests to God And consequently it might have been truly affirmed of them that they should reign upon the earth where they were already Kings For whereas it is usually objected that those Saints in the fifth Chapter say of themselves we shall reign upon the earth and therefore did not already reign this is frivolous for inasmuch as they were already Kings as they themselves affirm and some of them sat with their crowns upon their heads it must needs be that they did already reign and so those words we shall reign upon the earth do not intimate the beginning but the continuance of their reign Thus John writeth to certain Christians of his time 1 Epist 5.13 To the end that they should believe on the name of the Son of God which doth not argue that they did not yet believe the contrary
same person with the Goat himself as the Angel there shews it doth Vers 21. namely Alexander the King of Greece and the first King thereof who subdued Darius the King of the Medes and Persians and so was the Goat that trampled on the Ram with two Horns there spoken of Vers 4. And they worshipped the Dragon which gave Power unto the Beast and they worshipped the Beast saying Who is like unto the Beast who is able to make war with him In this Verse is set forth the marvellous impiety of the whole World in the Reign of the Beast for they shall not stick to worship the Devil for investing the Beast with so vast Authority and also the Beast that is set up by him as judging no King in all the World like to him for greatness nor able to wage war with him Neither is this Worship of the Devil to be esteemed such a sin as that the Nature of Man cannot possibly be induced to commit it otherwise the Devil would not have sollicited our Saviour Christ thereunto telling him that if he would fall down and worship the Devil all the Kingdoms of the World together with the glory thereof should become his Luk. 4 6 7. For certainly the Devil is too subtil to propose such a thing to our Saviour the wisest and strongest Saint that ever was or shall be which is so enormous that no Man though never so gross and wicked is capable of being drawn thereunto I conclude therefore that this detestable wickedness of Worshipping the Devil will be put in practise according to the very Letter during the Reign of the Beast Vers 5. And there was given unto him a Mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and power was given unto him to continue forty and two Moneths These words imply that the Beast though otherwise of himself most impious yet could not utter so great things and blasphemies were he not animated by an extraordinary Power For as it is elsewhere said in the Scripture that none can do such or such an act of Piety unless it be given to him and consequently God doth in mercy enable him by the Power of his Holy Spirit as Christ saith that none could come unto him except it were given him of the Father Joh. 6.65 And Paul saith Phil. 1.29 To you it is given in the behalf of Christ not onely to believe in him but also to suffer for him So the outragious blaspheming of the Name of God here spoken of is so high a strain of impiety that were not the Beast incited and spirited thereunto by the working of Satan he could in no wise reach unto it The same is said of his making war namely with the Saints as you have it Vers 7. and Dan. 7 25. for the space of forty two Moneths For this being a more than ordinary act of Tyranny requireth the assistance of the Devil to stir up and strengthen the Beast to perform it As for the duration of this War with the Saints which the Beast is said to wage for the space of forty two Moneths seeing I have already proved that by the Beast is meant a King neither can any place be alledged out of the Scripture where by Moneths are meant Moneths of Years and not of Days onely I collect that the said War shall last but three Years and an half Vers 6. And he opened his mouth in Blasphemy against God to blaspheme his Name and his Tabernacle and them that dwelt in Heaven What the Beast had by the permission of God received a Power to do he here putteth in execution blaspheming the Name of God and his Tabernacle By which Tabernacle is meant the heavenly Jerusalem the place of Gods abode as appeareth from Chap 21.2 3. For there when that holy City descendeth out of Heaven upon the new Earth a voice is heard from Heaven saying Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men and he shall dwell with them Which implyeth that the heavenly Jerusalem is the Tabernacle of God wherein he will dwell with men And this City is therefore called a Tabernacle because contrary to the guize of other Cities it removeth from place to place as Tabernacles or Tents are wont to do Neither is the Blasphemy of the Beast terminated in God and his Tabernacle but extendeth it self to all those dwelling in Heaven namely Christ and the holy Angels which fully verifieth what Paul saith of this Beast under the name of the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition namely that he shall exalt himself above every one that is called God 2 Thess 2.4 For this Appellation of God is in the Scripture given both to the Father and to his Son Christ Jesus and also to the holy Angels See Ephes 1.17 The God of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of glory John 20.28 Thomas answered and said unto him namely Jesus Christ My Lord and my God Zech. 12.8 The house of David shall be as God as the Angel of the Lord before them Vers 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints and to overcome them and Power was given him over all Kindreds and Tongues and Nations The Beast hath Power given to him not onely to make war with the Saints which by the way implyeth that the Saints oppose him with Arms for it is then rightly termed War when Hostility is openly used on both sides See Chap. 12.7 but also to vanquish them in fight And this is a thing very remarkable giving us to understand that the Saints though fighting in a just Cause against the Beast yet cannot prevail by force of Arms in as much as the Beast is to be defeated by the divine Power of Christ their Captain who will at length appear in the Heaven riding upon a white Horse and by the Sword of his Mouth dissipate the Beast and his Complices See Chap. 19.11 15 20 21. What is here further said of the universal Monarchy of the Beast is of it self very plain and hath been touched before in the Exposition of the first Verse so that I need not add any thing thereunto Vers 8. And all that dwell upon the Earth shall worship him whose Names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the Foundation of the World As the Kingdom of the Beast is universal so is the Worship also none amongst all the Inhabitants of the Earth refusing it save they whose Names are written in the Book of Life For they being appointed of God unto Salvation are accordingly preserved by him from committing so great impiety as to worship a King that openly blasphemeth God and was set up by the Devil Furthermore when the Book of Life is here said to be the Lambs it is because God hath prepared it for him for Moses of old testified that God hath written such a Book Exod. 32.32 that he might know on whom to bestow eternal Life For seeing it was the will of God that none should
rideth upon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt and the Idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it Moreover the cloud that Christ sitteth upon is said to be white to set forth the glorious honour of his Majesty like as God intending to make that vision Matth. 17.5 to be the more Illustrious causeth a bright cloud to over-shadow the three Apostles that were with Christ at his transfiguration As for the golden crown upon Christs head it sheweth the Kingly power wherof he is possessed as the sharp sickle doth the severity of his anger against the wicked whom he is ready armed to cut off Vers 15. And another Angel came out of the Temple crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the Cloud Thrust in thy Sickle and reap for the time is come for thee to reap for the Harvest of the Earth is ripe Vers 16. And he that sat on the Cloud thrust in his Sickle on the Earth and the Earth was reaped An Angel longing to see the vengeance of Christ fall upon the Inhabitants of the Earth that had so openly and outragiously dishonoured God cometh out of the Temple in Heaven for there is the place of that Temple from whence the Angels are wont to issue forth as is apparent from the 17. Verse and cryeth to him aloud desiring him to destroy the wicked whose iniquity was now full with the sharp Sickle of his Wrath which is accordingly performed Vers 17. And another Angel came out of the Temple which is in Heaven he also having a sharp Sickle Vers 18. And another Angel came out from the Altar which had Power over the Fire and cried with a loud Cry to him that had the sharp Sickle saying Thrust in thy sharp Sickle and gather the Clusters of the Vine of the Earth for her Grapes are fully ripe For as much as Christ in executing this great Judgement is not onely himself an Agent but useth also the Ministry of Angels both which things are plainly set forth Chap. 16. 19. where this business is again repeated a Sickle bearing Angel is likewise introduced to whom another Angel cryeth aloud that he should put his Sickle in ure and gather the Vine of the Earth Neither is it without a Mystery that this Angel which cryeth is said to issue forth from the Altar and to have power over the fire thereof For this implyeth that he as being wont to attend at the Altar did perceive that the Prayers of the Saints with which he burned Incense before God were now heard and that God was accordingly resolved to avenge his People of their Enemies wherefore it is evident from this Passage that there is in Heaven a Temple and therein an Altar which Chap. 8.3 is said to be of Gold and to stand before the Throne of God and to have as here an Angel for Priest to burn Incense thereon that the smoke thereof may ascend up together with the Prayers of the Saints Neither can it with reason be affirmed that this Angel is Christ not onely because it is very hard if not altogether impossible to allege any passage of the Scripture where the appellation of an Angel is undoubtedly given unto Christ but also for that this Angel is here plainly differenced from Christ for Christ is said to sit upon a white Cloud having a sharp Sickle in his hand whereas this Angel is said to come out from the Altar which is in Heaven Again this Angel is said to be another Angel and therefore if the two precedent Angels which are also both of them distinguished from Christ be of necessity meer Angels so must this Angel also Which Reason is of force likewise in the 8. Chapter where this Angel is called another Angel in relation to the seven Angels that stand before God and so are meer Angels or ministring Spirits and consequently he being of their Rank is not Christ but a ministring Spirit also Vers 19. And the Angel thrust in his Sickle into the Earth and gathered the Vine of the Earth and cast it into the great Wine-press of the Wrath of God Vers 20. And the Wine-press was trodden without the City and Blood came out of the Winepress even unto the Horse bridles by the space of a thousand and six hundred Furlongs These two Verses shew the accomplishment of what the Angel who came out from the Altar in Heaven did desire For the Vine of the Earth is gathered and the Clusters cast into the great Wine-press of Gods wrath and trodden without the City Which figurative Description doth intimate the quashing and utter ruine of the Inhabitants of the Earth that joyn their Forces with the Beast that they may cut off all the Saints at once The fulfilling whereof is set down at large Chap. 19. Now this Wine-press is said to be trodden without the City because this terrible execution shall be made without Megiddo a City belonging to the Tribe of Manasseh Josh 17.11 For thither shall the Kings of the Earth draw their Armies together to make war with Christ and his Saints as is related Chap. 16.16 Of which City I will discourse more largely in my Exposition of that Chapter Now the greatness of the slaughter that Christ shall then make slaying his Enemies with the Sword of his Mouth and so shedding their Blood is notably declared both by the depth of that bloody Stream that issueth out of the Wine-press of Gods wrath which is said to reach up to the Bridles of the Horses and so to be above a Yard from the Ground and also by the length thereof running out for the space of one thousand six hundred Furlongs which is by computation at eight Furlongs to the Mile two hundred Miles Neither will this seem so strange if we consider that all the Kings of the whole World together with their Armies shall then assemble themselves towards the City of Megiddo and there be slain Chap. 15 Vers 1. And I saw another Sign in Heaven great and marvellous seven Angels having the seven last Plagues for in them is filled up the wrath of God The Exposition THis Chapter containeth in it self a Preparative to the pouring out of the Vials of Gods wrath upon the Beast and his Worshippers For John here seeth a great and wonderful Sign of seven Angels having seven Plagues which are therefore called the last Plagues because the Anger of God is accomplished by them so that after them succeedeth the chaining up of Satan and the uninterrupted prosperity of a thousand years through all the World as appeareth from the 20. Chapter Now the reason why the Angels are here sent to plague the Beast and his Worshippers is because all humane means did fail For the Saints who had adventured to oppose him with Arms though they fought in a just Cause were yet subdued and crushed by him as we saw Chap. 13.7 So that now was
ten Horns that are upon him which be expresly telleth us as you see here that they are ten Kings who did not yet reign but should receive Authority together with the Beast Nevertheless out of what particular parts of the World these Kings shall arise he doth not shew or intimate So that we must of necessity be ignorant of that circumstance either till the thing it self be accomplished or at least till God be pleased to make a Revelation thereof Onely it appeareth out of Daniel Chap. 7.24 25. that they shall start up out of the fourth universal Kingdom that is the Roman For that this Prophecy of the Beast and his ten Horns is the same with that of Daniel in the Chapter aforesaid will easily appear if you diligently compare both the passages together By so doing you will finde that the Beast in the Revelation is in Daniel called the little Horn in as much as the Actions the Confederates and the time of their Tyranny are exactly the same in both Howbeit the time is but short that these ten Kings shall reign together with the Beast for the Angel saith it shall be one hour which Expression of one hour though it be not strictly and properly taken for the twelfth part of a Day it being impossible for the ten Kings to perform all that is here foretold of them in the space of such an hour yet doth it confessedly signifie a short period of time as other like passages of the Scripture will inform us Thus Paul 1 Thess 2.17 saith We Brethren being taken from you for a short time time Greek for the time of an hour in presence not in heart endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire And Philemon 15. Perhaps he therefore departed for a season Greek an hour that thou mightest receive him for ever Now for as much as I have before evinced that the Beast doth personate Domitian the Roman Emperour and no such thing as the starting up of ten new Kings and their Confederacy with him is said in History to have yet happened to him I judge I may firmly and undoubtedly conclude that this must hereafter be fulfilled when he shall arise from the Dead to rule again The next thing that the Angel mentioneth is the agreement of the ten Kings not whereby they stand well affected towards one another but whereby they all give their Power and Authority to the Beast who setteth himself against Gods people For as to any good correspondence between them in relation to their particular estates they are so far from it that they can no more cleave together than Iron be mixed with Clay Yea though an union be endeavoured by Alliance yet can it not be effected as we are taught by the famous Vision of Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 2.43.44 For that these Kings mentioned in this second Chapter are the same with those of the seventh is apparent as from other circumstances so from the Universal Kingdom out of which they rise and also from their very number in that they are designed by ten horns in the one Chapter and by ten toes in the other Lastly he saith of these Kings that they shall make war with the Lamb Not that they use hostility against the very person of Christ for he being glorified with his Father in the heavens is altogether uncapable of having violence offered to him but because they are armed against the Saints of whom Christ is the head and Captain Thus Abijah the King or Judah exhorteh Jeroboam and the house of Israel from fighting against God when they were about to assail his people 2 Chron. 13.12 Behold saith he God himself is with us for our Captain and his Priests with sounding Trumpets to cry alarm against you O children of Israel fight ye not against the Lord God of your Fathers for ye shall not prosper Moreover that the Saints also put themselves in aray against those Kings appeareth not only from what is plainly affirmed hereof Chap. 19.19 where it is said I saw the Beast and the Kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with him that sat on the horse and against his army but may sufficiently be deduced from that very expression of making war which is here simply and without limitation used by the Angel as I have before proved in mine exposition on Chaep 13.7 But in vain is hostility used by those Kings against Christ for he being as the angel further saith a King of Kings and Lord of Lords can easily subdue them as we see it come to pass in the foresaid nineteenth Chapter Again they that are with him that is on his side as this form of speech doth elsewhere sometimes signifie see Luke 11.23 He that is not with me is against me are called to the Communion of the son of God 1 Cor. 1.9 and chosen to salvation 2 Thes 2.13 and faithful in Christ Jesus Ephes 1.1 and therefore such as the fidelity and goodness of Christ will not suffer so cruelly to be cut off at a blow by these Kings who gather their forces to Armageddon to that purpose But these words aswell as that of warring before used imply that the Saints do muster and imbody themselves in an army namely that they may when their Captain Christ Jesus hath defeated the Beast and all the Kings of the earth with the sword of his mouth erect the fifth Kingdom according to that of Daniel Chap. 7.21 22. I beheld and the same horn that is the little horn whom I before proved to be the same with the Beast in the Revelation made war with the Saints and prevailed against them until the antient of days came and Judgement was given to the Saints of the most high and the time came that the Saints possessed the Kingdom Vers 15 And he saith unto me The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues The waters where the harlot sitteth are not only with truth but also with great fitness and elegancy said by the Angel to be Peoples and Nations both because of the violent rushing of men when they are once stirred and likewise of the noise which they make resembling that of waters when they dash against the rocks Thus. Isa Chap 17.12 saith Wo to the multitude of peoples which make a noise like the noise of the Sea and to the rushing of Nations that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters And Jeremiah saith of old Babylon the Type of Rome as it seemeth by the Revelation Chap. 51.55 The Lord hath spoiled Babylon and destroyed out of her the great voice when her waves do roar like great Waters a noise of their voice is uttered Whence it is that the stilling of the Tumult of the People is well ranked by the Psalmist with the quieting of the noise of the Seas Psalm 65 7. Now Rome is said to sit upon these Waters because being the Seat of
those persons that are imployed by God to convey unto us the knowledge of divine secrets whereas contrariwise we see it come to pass through the stupidity and wickedness of men who love Darkness rather than Light that such rare Discoverers are in stead of Veneration usually rewarded with envy and reproach yea with Death it self Nevertheless though the Reverence that we give to such as instruct us in the abstruse things of God ought to be great yet must it be kept within its bounds and not intrench upon the Prerogative of God wherefore we see the Angel here forbiddeth John to worship him for that he was his fellow Servant and indeed fellow Servants are not wont to give such Honour one to another and willeth him to worship God their common Master to whom Veneration is one And Peter also in the History aforesaid raiseth up Cornelius who was fallen at this Feer and worshipped him which by the way is sufficient to fill that Man of Rome with confusion of face for ever who pretending to be the Successour of Peter though otherwise as he himself is wont to acknowledge inferiour in gifts and personal excellency doth yet suffer himself to be adored of the People as he is carried in a Throne upon mens shoulders through the Streets yea when he is initiated into his Office is set upon the very Altar to be solemnly worshipped which none can with any color deny to be religious and divine Worship especially if he consider that this Honour is given to him as supposed to be the Vicar of Christ But whereas it is objected that contrary to the practice of this Angel appearing to John in the Revelation we finde that other Angels in the Old Testament when they shewed themselves to the Servants of God permitted themselves to be worshipped as the Angel that exhibited himself to the view of Joshuah as may be seen in the fifth Chapter of his History Verses 13 14 15. I answer that when the Angels received Worship they either represented God having his Name in them as that Angel which with two Companions appeared to Abraham Gen. 18.2 who is therefore called the Lord Verse 13. as also that Angel which went before the Israelites in the Pillar of a Cloud Exod. 14.19 Who hath also the Name of the Lord given to him Verse 24. or at least were endued with singular Authority as that Angel whom Joshua worshipped for he telleth Joshua that he was sent a Captain of the Lord's host Whereas the Angel that here cometh to John doth not appear with Authority much less represent God or Christ but onely in his private capacity and therefore styleth himself no other than a fellow Servant of John and of his Brethren that had the Testimony of Jesus This last Expression wherein certain Men are said to have the Testimony of Jesus and which is also used Chap. 12.17 where it is said The Dragon was wroth with the Woman and men to make War with the Remnant of her Seed which keep the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ would have had some difficulty though such as might by a diligent inquiry been overcome but that the Angel is here pleased to explain it openly affirming that the Testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy and consequently as we touched before in the Exposition on the 17. Chapter where we shewed the difference between a Saint and a Martyr none is a Witness or Martyr of Christ Jesus but he that is a Prophet which is further confirmed by the 11. Chapter where the two Witnesses are expresly called two Prophets Verse 10. Vers 11. And I saw Heaven opened and behold a white Horse and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True and in Righteousness he doth judge and make War 12. His Eys were as a Flame of Fire and on his Head were many Crowns and he had a Name written that no Man knew but he himself 13. And he was clothed with a Vesture dipt in Blood and his Name is called The Word of God 14. And the Armies which were in Heaven followed him upon white Horses clothed in fine Linen white and clean 15. And out of his Mouth goeth a sharp Sword that with it he should smite the Nations and he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron and he treadeth the Wine-press of the Fierceness and Wrath of Almighty God 16. And he hath on his Vesture and on his Thigh a Name written King of kings and Lord of lords The opening of the Heaven is a necessary Preparative to the seeing of Christ who residing there cannot otherwise be perceived Thus we finde it to have happened when Christ was pleased to afford a sight of himself to his Martyr Stephen Acts 7.56 who accordingly there cryeth out Behold I see the Heavens opened and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God But inasmuch as Christ doth here intend to shew himself as the Captain of his people he appeareth not as he did to Stephen standing in the heaven but riding on a Horse as Commanders are wont to do And this Horse is said to be white a colour much used in time of joy and triumph to denote the success and victory of Christ over his Enemies according to what we read Chap. 6.2 where it is said I saw and behold a white Horse and he that sat on him had a bow and a crown was given to him and he went forth conquering and to conquer But the victories and triumphs of Christ are not procured by such arts of treachery and falshood as Earthly Commanders too often put in ure little regarding unjust the means be so they may attain the end they have proposed to themselves even the conquest of their Enemies For Christ on the contrary is faithful and true neither making use of a wrong sentence in his Judicature nor of an unjust conflict in his warfare but in both behaving himself according to the exact rules of righteousness as will appear by the judgement that he is about to execute upon the Beast and his followers at the battel of Armageddon Nor marvel therefore if so great uprightness be accompanied with suitable glory and power For the eyes of Christ are said to be like a flame of fire and so able to strike a terrour in all them that look upon his face and on his head are many crowns which implieth the greatness of his dominion extending it self over many kingdoms Yea for his greater dignity he hath a name written to wit upon the crowns for it is absurd to imagine it written upon his head inasmuch as it is covered with his crowns which none knoweth but he himself Wherefore it would be presumption in us to use any means for the finding out of this name For besides the reading after that which cannot be attained we should thereby discover an ambition in us to intrench upon the prerogative of Christ which argueth little reverence towards him If
describing the warlike power of Christ for there remain three other particu ars belonging thereunto The first whereof is the ruling of the Nations with a rod of Iron Which though it may with congruity to the tenor of the Scripture be taken only for the irresistible power of Christ whereby he is able to crush all his Enemies yet seeing we ought not to depart from the letter of the Scripture when it yieldeth a fair and commodious construction I propose it to the wise and learned to judge whether it may not with probability be thought that the Saints into whose hands Christ will at length miraculously deliver all the Kingdoms of the world and so rule over the Nations by them as subordinate to himself shall both in their judicature and warfare the latter of which is likely to continue till that generation be extinct use such an instrument as an Iron rod to break implacable enemies and capital offenders in pieces Neither is this sence contrary to the other but doth include the same shewing how that irresistible power of Christ shall at length put forth it self The second point is the treading of the wine-press of the wrath of God Almighty which I cannot sufficiently wonder to see how it is so often applied to the sufferings that Christ himself did undergo when the Text speaketh of the time present saying he treadeth the winepress and not of the time past But Christ by the confession of all is now exempted for ever from any further sufferings Again when any one treadeth a winepress he himself doth not thereby suffer any thing nor is bruised but maketh the grapes to suffer bruising And therefore if Christ tread the winepress of Gods wrath he himself must not be considered as enduring the wrath of God but as inflicting it upon others And indeed the words of the prophet Isaiah Chap 63. to which this passage seemeth to allude do plainly evince this interpretation of mine to be true and genuine For he that is there seen coming from Edom Red in his apparel and like to one that treadeth in the winefat sheweth the reason of this strange attire verse 3. saying I have trodden the winepress alone and of the people there was none with me For I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments and I will stain all my raiment Doth not this demonstrate beyond all gainsaying that to tread the winepress of Gods wrath is to execute his judgements upon others and not to feel the same himself The third thing is the name King of Kings and Lord of Lords that is written both on the vesture and also on the thigh of Christ which likewise apparently belongeth to the warlike power of Christ because he that is a King is wont also to command the sword for the defence of his people and the destruction of his Enemies whence it was before Chap. 14.17 rendred as the reason why Christ should vanquish the ten Kings confederate with the Beast who together with all the rest of the Kings in the world do here make war against Christ namely because he was Lord of Lords and King of Kings For this implieth that Christ hath dominion over all the Kings in the world and so is stronger then they and therefore no wonder if he doth subdue and crush them Thus Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 2.37 is called a King of Kings because God had given into his hand all the Earth and the Kings thereof Thus also Artaxerxes Ezra 7.12 is stiled a King of Kings in the beginning of the gracious Commission he granteth to Ezra because he had now gotten into his hands the Kingdom whereof Nebuchadnezzar was sometime seized Vers 17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fows that flie in the midst of heaven Come and gather your selves together unto the supper of the great God Vers 18. That ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of Captains and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them and the flesh of all men both free and bond both small and great Christ as we have already said is about to make a slaughter of his enemies Wherefore an Angel crieth with a loud voice to all the fowls of heaven to betake themselves to this supper of the great God that Christ is preparing for them and which will be furnished suitably to the Majesty of the great God with all sorts of flesh both of men and horses for their entertainment This invitation seemeth unlikely to have been made by an Angel were it not that God intendeth to use his ministery in drawing all his guests together which must needs appear to the Nations very ominous when they behold Eagles Ravens Uultures and other birds of prey flying in shoals towards the land of Israel where this great supper is to be made for that it shall so come to pass is evident from the close of the Chapter wherein it is said that all the fowls were filled with the flesh of the slain nor will the darkning of the Sun less amaze them which seemeth also likely to happen at this time and hath been known to be a forerunner of great slaughters For seeing the Angel is said to stand in the Sun which cannot be done without obscuring the light thereof nor is here put for nothing to me it is probable that this denoteth a miraculous Eclipse of that luminary by the interposal of the same Angel that draweth all the fowls of heaven together Vers 19. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army Vers 20. And the beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone Vers 21. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh We are now at length arrived at that battel for which so much preparation hath been made which is the greatest that ever was struck since the world began putting a period both to the Tyranny of the Beast the forest enemy of all righteousness that ever was raised up and also to the sufferings of the Saints The place where it is fought is here indeed omitted but was in the sixteenth Chapter said to be called in Hebrew Armageddon which I in the Exposition of that Chapter have accordingly proved to belong to the Countrey of the Hebrews The persons that shall fight it are here said to be the Beast and the Kings of the earth with their Armies on the one side