alive and complain of the pain of that sore in the time of the fifth Vial. 6. The last Seal is the longest Seal of all for it contains under it all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the beginning of the eighth Chapter to the end of the Book so the seventh Trumpet is the longest Trumpet and comprehends under it all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the fifteenth verse of the eleventh Chapter to the end of the Book and so thirdly the last Vial is the longest Vial and all the Prophecies in the Revelation from the seventeenth verse of the sixteenth Chapter to the end of the Revelation belong unto it and when I say the Vials are of short continuance it is to be understood of the sik first Vials and of so much only of the seventh as reacheth from the seventeenth verse of this sixteenth Chapter to the beginning of the twentieth CHAP. XVII The Prophecy concerning Babylon and the destruction of it 1. AND one of the seven Angels which had the essusion of the seven Vials in my Vision and shall have the execution of them when they are to be executed came unto me in my Vision and talked with me saying come hither and I will shew thee the destruction of the great Whorish City which at the commencement of this seventh Vial shall rule over many Nations and who they be that shall destroy her 2. With whom the Kings of the earth shall commit Idolatry and the Inhabiters of the same shall be made drunk with her spiritual and also with her corporal Fornication 3. So he took me aside and carried me in a Vision of my mind into the Wilderness where I saw a woman representing not what was then in being but what shall be hereafter sitting upon a Scarlet coloured Beast full of names of Blasphemy many ways committed against God and Jesus Christ and the Beast had seven heads and ten Horns representing what should be hereafter 4. And the woman which I saw was arrayed in costly apparel of Purple and Scarlet colour and decked with Gold and pretious Stones and Pearls and she had a cup of Gold in her hand representing still what should be hereafter full of abominable sins and wickedness and also most grievous and loathsome Fornication 5. And in her forehead she had a name written declaring what manner of City she should be not perspicuously but in a mystery Babylon the great the Mother of Whoredoms and vile abominations of the earth 6 And besides all this I saw the Woman exceeding drunk with the blood of the Saints of God and of the Martyrs of Jesus Christ and when I saw she was such a one I wondred greatly with exceeding admiration what this Woman should mean 7. And as I was thus wondring in my mind the Angel said unto me wherefore didst thou wonder and continue in so doing I will tell thee what is meant by this wicked woman and what is meant by the Beast that beareth her which hath seven heads and ten Horns 8. The Beast which thou sawest is a King which shall have a Crown and loose it and obtain his Crown again and then go into Perdition and never have a being any more he shall have a Crown before the seventh Vial shall commence he shall loose it a little after the commencement of it and obtain the same again and go into Perdition too before this seventh Vial shall be ended and all the Inhabitants of the earth which were not elected to Salvation shall wonder at it when they see the Beast which shall have a Crown and loose it to obtain his Crown again 9. And this is the sense and meaning of the Vision the seven heads be seven Mountains upon which the City shall be built 10. And they do also signifie seven Kings five of them shall fall and be dead and gone before the seventh Vial shall commence the sixth shall be alive at the commencement of that Vial and the seventh is then to be expected and when he cometh to the Crown he shall enjoy it but a little while 11. And the Beast which shall have a Crown and loose it he shall be the eighth King and succeed the seventh and yet be of the number of the seven too and go into Perdition and be no more for ever 12. And the ten Horns which thou sawest the Beast to have do also signifie ten Kings which as yet have not received a Kingdom nor shall have any one before the Beast hath lost his and recovered it again and then they shall receive power to Reign as Kings in one Kingdom one hour with the Beast and this shall be when the seventh Vial shall commence and in the time of it and not before 13. And though they be ten yet they shall have but one mind and adhere unto the Beast with one consent and give their Warlike power and strength to the assistance of the Beast till the rebellious City be destroyed 14. And yet we may not think that they be Christian Kings for after this is done they shall fight against the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them in the War and though they be Kings themselves yet he is a greater King then they even the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and they that be with him and on his side be chosen and better Souldiers then any the ten Kings have and also Faithful to him too 15. And the Angel also told me what is meant by the waters upon which the woman sitteth and he said unto me that they do signifie multitudes of People and Nations of divers Languages 16. And the ten Horns which thou sawest the Beast to have be they which shall hate the Whore not for her Religion but for her Rebellion against the Beast and make her desolate and naked without Inhabitants and slay her People with the Sword and burn her Houses with fire 17. And that which shall make them do it is because God shall put it into their hearts to fulfill his mind and will and agree together to give their Kingdom to the Beast until the City be destroyed and no longer 18. And the woman which thou sawest doth signifie the great imperial City which at the commencement of this seventh Vial shall have Dominion over the Kings and Nations of the earth and then it shall be known by name what this wicked Idolatrous and Blasphemous City is Disputation XII 1 Quest Whether Babylon be the City of Rome Arguments for the Affirmative §. 1. 1. The City which sits on seven Hills is Babylon as appears v. 9. but Rome and no other City in the World sits on seven hills the names of them are these the Capitoline Palatine Caelian Aventine Esquiline Viminal and Quirinal therefore 2. The City which hath seven heads that is seven kinds of Governours successively one after another is the City Babylon ' mentioned in this place v. 10. but Rome and no other City in the World hath seven heads that
may be a means to bring Peace to pass 5. He that will love life and see good days let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile Let him eschue evil and do good let him seek Peace and ensue it 1 Pet. 3.10 11. Psal 34.12 13 14. But how can we love life and think to see good days If we be the first that begin a War and will not leave it off till either all or most part of Christendom be destroyed for the Papacy doth take up the greatest part thereof 6. From whence come wars and fightings among you 〈◊〉 they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members 〈◊〉 4.1 Therefore though men pretend the accomplishment of the Prophecies of the Revelation yet it is rather to be thought that libido dominandi a desire to rule is the cause of War and a greedy mind after other mens possessions is the cause thereof and it is not the accomplishment of the Prophecies of the Revetion but the Revenues of the Church which has an inlet to such a War as this is 7. And then shall that wicked man be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall utterly destroy with the brightness of his coming 2 Thes 2.8 Now who is the man of sin You will be ready to say it is the Pope but what is meant by the spirit of his mouth But the Preaching of the Gospel Isai 11.4 Hos 6.5 Heb. 4.12 Revel 2.16 Therefore the man of sin shall not be consumed by War but by Preaching of the Word To which I may add that which S. Paul saith 2 Cor. 10.4 5. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ And Heb. 4.12 For the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper then any two edged sword giving even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of joynts and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart Here be the Weapons by which Christians should fight and by which the man of sin shall be consumed and that is by the Word of God and by the spirit of his mouth And as for the time when this shall be accomplished it is at the brightness of his coming and what is meant by the brightness of his coming but the day of judgment And therefore the man of sin shall not have a final end until the day of judgment when Christ shall come in person and destroy him and if any man doth think that he shall live to see it done before he feeds himself with vain hopes and has no ground to think that it shall come to pass See Manlius Accomplishment of Prophecies pag. 148 166 167. 8. And when they shall have finished their Testimony the Beast that ascended out of the bottomless Pit shall make War against them and shall overcome them and kill them Rev. 11.7 8 9. Therefore the two witnesses do not begin a War with the Beast but he begins with them and prevails therein this were enough to deter us from seeking or beginning War with Papists lest we meet with the same Catastrophe that the two Witnesses are said to meet with in this Prophecy for if God delivered them into the Beasts hands who were his peculiar Prophets and had such eminent power to work Miracles as they had v. 4.5.6 What hope or ground have we to think that he will not deliver us if we begin a War with Papists and will not be quiet when we may To which may be added that when the two Witnesses revived and returned to life again they did not renew the War with the Beast neither was the Beast or any of his men slain by them or by their procurement that we read of but by an Earthquake which it pleased God to send amongst them and when the tenth part of the City fell it fell by reason of the Earthquake and not by their means or procurement and in the Earthquake were slain seven thousand men and no more v. 13. which makes not a total nor a final destruction of the Beast but a partial and a temporal only 9. And it was given him to make War with the Saints and to overcome them Rev. 13.7 Here you see the Beast begins a War with the Saints and not the Saints with him and there is a time set by God in which the Beast shall prevail against the Saints and this time is said to be forty two moneths v. 5. but can we tell that this time is over for if it be not over we may not think to prevail and if we think it is over what ground have we for that we had need be sure of it before hand lest instead of overcoming we be overcome Perhaps it may be said that the Vials are begun already and that is some ground to think that the forty two moneths are ended to this I answer no following their own interpretation of the Revelation for they think themselves but falsely that the Vials were begun in the time of the Witnesses when they wrought their miracles Rev. 11.5.6 and yet they were slain after that so put the case that the Vials be begun already yet the forty two months according to their interpretation may not be ended for all that It were more material to the business if they could shew us that the Vials were expiring for then the ruof the Beast were near at hand indeed but where have they any certainty of the near expiring of the Vials how far they have proceeded and how much of them is yet behind and unaccomplished what man among them 〈◊〉 determine 10. He that leadeth into Captivity shall go into Captivity he that killeth with the Sword must be killed with the Sword Rev. 13.10 Therefore we had need take heed how we begin a War with any either with Papists or any other since so little benefit comes thereby and the success is so various and so doubtful he that hath the best of it at one time hath the worst of it at another time which may be the cause that the Saints are exhorted unto patience in the same Verse Here is the patience and faith of the Saints A man may reap some good by patience but by War he shall have none put the case he prevail at one time yet mischief may befall him at another time therefore Christs advice to Peter is very seasonable and suitable in this case Put up again thy Sword into his place for all they that take the Sword shall perish with the Sword Math. 26.52 see also 1 King 20.11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21. and 2 King 14.8 9 10 11 12 13 14. 11. What Commission have we to begin a War with Papists
womans being in the Wilderness begin at the same instant of time to wit the Conquest of the red Dragon and the thrusting him out of Heaven unto the earth but he mightily fails in the probation of it 1. In that he makes the Dragon cast out a flood of water after her before she came into the Wilderness as she was flying thither but it is not so for the woman gets into the Wilderness first as appears Rev. 12.14 and then he sends a flood of water after her to drive her out from thence as appears v. 15.2 He thinks that by the remnant of her seed is meant the Children which the woman should bring forth in the Wilderness and that the Dragon makes War with them in that place but this is nothing so but by the remnant of her seed is meant those which did remain behind and were not fled into the Wilderness with the woman for if they had been there they had been safe as the woman was v. 14. and the Dragon could not War with them nor get the Victory over them in that place Briefly then the order of the Prophecy is this 1. The Dragon persecutes the woman and that as soon as he was cast forth of Heaven unto the earth v. 13.2 The woman flies and gets safe into the Wilderness from his persecution v. 14.3 The Dragon casts forth a flood of water after her to drive her out from thence v. 15.4 The earth opens her mouth and swallows up the flood of water v. 16.5 The Dragon seeing that leaves the woman in the Wilderness and departs from thence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to make War with the remnant of her seed v. 17. and who be they but those which were not fled into the Wilderness where the woman was This is the true sense and order of the Prophecy and I wonder that any man should set his wit against it 3. He would have the times of the Beast and of the witnesses end together at the exit of the sixth Trumpet and this he thinks to prove from Rev. 11.13 14 15. but all in vain for though the times of the witnesses do end at the exit of the sixth Trumpet and we hear no more of them afterward yet the times of the Beast do not as may appear if these things be considered 1. The City there spoken of is not Babylon the Royal City of the Beast but Ierusalem v. 2. and 8.2 The whole City doth not fall but the tenth part only v. 13.3 That tenth part of the City fell by an earth-quake but Babylon shall be consumed by fire and not by an earth-quake Rev. 17.16 Rev. 18.8.4 Seven thousand men are slain and no more v. 13. and what is so small a number to the ruine of the Beast 5. Though at the sound of the seventh Trumpet the Kingdoms of this World become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ yet this is but in fieri at that time and not in facto esse it is then a doing and not intirely done it is then in esse inchoato in inchoation only not in esse completo in complete perfection it is then in the bud and in the blossom but not come to full maturity till afterward and as long as it is so and no more the Beast may have a being in the World after the seventh Trumpet sounds until the Kingdom of Christ be brought to full perfection In a word the seventh Trumpet is to sound more days than one as the Angel saith Rev. 10.7 Now the first day that Trumpet sounds the Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ inchoative inchoatively but when the seventh Trumpet hath sounded many days and when all the Prophecies of the Revelation from the eleventh Chapter to the twentieth are fulfilled then the Kingdom of Christ shall be brought to full perfection and then the Beast shall have a final end and not before And here it is to be noted that the Beast which Wars against the Witnesses ch 11. is not the same with the Beast which overcomes the Saints ch 13. v. 7. of which more hereafter in its proper place 4. He will have the times of the witnesses and of the Court or Holy City possessed by the Gentiles Rev. 11.2 3. to contemporate and this I grant to be true for the 42 months of the Gentiles in which they shall tread the Holy City under foot v. 2. and the 1260 days in which the Witnesses shall Prophecy v. 3. are the same 5. He concludes the Synchronism with an inference If the treading underfoot of the Court and Holy City do contemporate with the Prophecy of the Witnesses it will also contemporate with the Beast And this I deny for the Witnesses do not contemporate with the Beast only the two first do contemporate viz. the 42 months of the Gentiles and the 1260 days of the Witnesses but the rest succeed one another the woman in the Wilderness succeeds the times of the Witnesses and the Beast succeeds them both And thus much in answer to the first Synchronism The second Synchronism is of the two horned Beast who is also the false Prophet with the ten horned Beast who is also called the Image of the Beast Ans And this is true if meant of the time which succeeds his restauration for as soon as the wounded Beast is healed the other Beast is raised to counsel and assist him and from that time forth they Synchronise But whereas he thinks they were raised the one out of the Sea and the other out of the earth both together it is nothing so for the ten horned Beast is raised first and in that respect is called the first Beast v. 12. and after he is raised he is wounded and when his wound is healed then the other Beast is raised and not before And thus much of the second Synchronism And as for the Appendix because it makes nothing to the Synchronism whether it be true or false I omit to speak unto it only I think it not amiss to acquaint the Reader that the ten horned beast is not the Image of the Beast as he would have it but the object represented by the Image The third Synchronism is of the great Whore or mystical Babylon with that same Beast which hath seven heads and ten Horns Ans If this were meant of the Beast ch 17. it were true and not to be denied but it being meant of the Beast ch 13. it is false for that Beast outlives the Whore and Wars against him that sate upon the White Horse that is against Christ after the Whore is destroyed Rev. 19.19 20. And the Synchronism doth suppose these Beasts to be all one of which more hereafter The fourth Synchronism is of the 144000 Sealed Virgins with the Whore of Babylon and the Beast Ans Five Arguments are brought to prove their Synchronising The three first as he confesseth are insufficient to make up a full and entire contemporising
Chapter do otherwise the Prophecies succeed one another and shall come to pass in order not as they be written but as they were revealed and this is a sure rule to go by and gives great Light to the Exposition of the Prophecies for such an Exposition must be put on each Prophecy as to make it succeed the Prophecy that went before and precede the Prophecie which follows after the same order to be observed in Execution as was in Revelation And here the Reader may take notice 1. That every one of these Synchronisms is to be understood of a total not of a partical Contemporation for some of them are true of a partial Contemporation as that the sealed Virgins do contemporate with the Beast but none of them of a total 2. That for the most part things are set down in writing in such order as they were revealed and there be but very few things that be set down otherwise and they be such as belong to one and the same Prophecy and were presented to John both together but could not be set down in writing both together but immediately one after another As for instance the Travel of the Woman with Child Chap. 12. and the watching of the Dragon to devour her Child as soon as it was born were presented unto John both together and shall come to pass both together but he could not set them down in writing both together but immediately one after another So the watching of the Dragon and the Battail of Michael with him were presented to John both together and shall come to pass both together but could not be set down in writing both together but immediately one after another unless it were in Colums in this manner And there appeared a great wonder in Heaven a Woman cloathed with the Sun and the Moon under her Feet and upon her Head a Crown of twelve Stars And she being with child cryed travelling in birth and pained to be delivered Rev. 12.1 2. And there appeared another wonder in Heaven and behold a great Red Dragon having seven Heads and ten Hornes and seven Crowns upon his Heads And his Tail drew the third part of the Stars of Heaven and did cast them to the Earth and the Dragon stood before the VVoman which was ready to be Delivered for to devour her Child as soon as it was born Vers 3 4. And there was War in Heaven Michael and his Angels fought against the Dragon and the Dragon fought with his Angels and prevailed not neither was them place found any more in Heaven And the great Red Dragon was cast out that Old Serpent called the Devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world he was cast out into the Earth and his Angels were cast out with him Vers 7 8 9. Unless it be in this manner these things could not be set down in writing together but one behind another and in such a case as this things are not set down in writing in some places in such order as they were revealed and they are such as belong to one and the same Prophecy but in other cases where Prophecies are distinct one from another and concern different matters they are set down in writing in such order as they were revealed and shall come to pass in the same order as they were revealed not any thing of another nature or belonging to another Prophecy coming between See more of these Synchronisms Chap. 11. q. 1. Chap. 12. q. 2. Chap. 13. q. 1. Chap. 14. q. 1. Chap. 16. q. 1. CHAP. XI The conclusion of the second Trumpet or the second part thereof 1. ANd there was put into my hand a Reed like unto a Rod to measure withal and the Angel that gave it me stood by and said unto me Arise Ezek. 4.3 5 6 8 9 13 c. Ezek. 41.5 13. and measure the Temple and the inner Court and them that worship therein whereby I knew that a Temple and an inner Court should be built at the Execution of this Prophecy at Jerusalem for the people of the Jews to worship in 2. But the Court which is without the Temple said he unto me leave out and measure not whereby I knew that it should not be built and the reason of it is because it shall be given to the Gentiles to inhabit and Jerusalem shall be trodden under Foot by the Gentiles three years and an half after the Temple and inner Court shall be finished 3. And as soon as the Temple and the inner Court shall be built I will give them to my two Witnesses whom I will raise up of the Jewish Nation 2 King 1.18 Mat 3.4 Esa 20.2 Zach. 13 4. and they shall Prophesie therein by immediate Inspiration three years and a half with good success cloathed in Priestly Garments as Eliah's and John Baptist 's were made Sack-cloath 4. These be two anointed ones as Josua and Zerubbabel were and they be also two Candlesticks standing for or before the God of the earth to receive Commandments from him and impart them to the People and they be also so called to signifie the good success of their Ministry which is to lay the Foundation of the Jews Conversion Zach. 4.2 3.6 7.9.10.14 which shall be brought to pass not by might nor by power but by the Spirit of the Lord. 5. And if any one will hurt them or do them any harm before the three years and a half allotted to their Prophecying shall be ended they shall call for fire from Heaven as Eliah did and it shall presently fall upon them and devour them And I say again 2 King 1.10.12 Luk. 9.54 if any one will hurt them or do them any harm before the three years and a half allotted to their Prophecying be expired in such a manner as was said before shall he be killed 6. These have power to shut Heaven as Eliah had that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy for three years and a half 1 King 17.1 Luk. 4.25 Jam. 5.17 as it did not in the days of his they have also power over waters to turn them into blood as Moses did in Egypt and to smite the earth with all manner of earthly Plagues so often as they will 7. And when they shall have finished their testimony which they were to do in three years and a half the Scarlet coloured Beast which shall arise out of the bottomless Pit shall make War against them and overcome them and slay them which not any one could do before their Prophecy was ended 8. And their bodies after they be slain shall lye in the open Street of the great City which in a mystical sense is called Sodom and Egypt for the excessive wickedness that is therein at this time Uncleanness Blood Murther and other abominable sins and wickedness committed by the Gentiles which shall be therein but yet neither of these be in a literal sense the place where the witnesses shall be slain but
Adrians time but we read in some Books of History that Adrian would have built a Church for Christians without Images if some about him had not told him that it would be dishonourable to all the rest of the Gods which was the cause he did it not See Prideaux History pag. 199. 2. The not measuring of the Court which is without the Temple doth imply the not building of it therefore the building of a new City at Jerusalem by Adrian in the place where the outer Court did stand cannot be meant thereby 3. After the building of the Temple and the Altar the outer Court shall be given to the Gentiles and the Holy City shall they tread under Foot 42 months after the Holy places be provided and no longer but since the time of Adrian to this day has been more than 42 months which way soever we take them and Jerusalem has been troden under foot by the Gentiles all this while 4. The two Witnesses be not two Bishops at Jerusalem the one of the Jewish the other of the Gentile Congregations for there was but one Bishop of Jerusalem at one time and there were but fifteen Bishops in all until the destruction of the Jews by Adrian and all of them were Jews whereof the first was James the Brother of the Lord and the last was Judas and after the City was destroyed by him there were no more Bishops of the Jews but of the Gentiles and the first of them was Marcus See Eusebius l. 4. c. 5. l. 5. c. 11. 5. The two witnesses be Prophets extraordinary as appears by their description v. 3 4. and by their miracles v. 5 6. now there were no Prophets extraordinary in the days of Adrian and there were not any that could do such miracles as these had power to do v. 5 6. in Adrians time nor in any time since 6. When the two Witnesses shall have finished their testimony the Beast that cometh out of the bottomless Pit shall make War against them and overcome them and slay them v. 7. Now there was no Beast in Adrians time except Adrian himself and he did not make War against the Christians in Judaea but against the wicked and Rebellious Jews only but they with whom I deal in this question will not allow Adrian to be the Beast here spoken of but one Barchocheba a Rebellious Captain of the Jews in Adrians time Now by the Beast is meant some potent King or other that had ten Kings under him or to joyn with him as appears Rev. 17.12 13.17 but Barchocheba was no King nor had any King under him or to joyn with him 7. After the two Witnesses had been dead three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entred into them and they stood upon their feet v. 11. but there were not any that were raised from death to life in the days of Adrian nor in any time since And if it be said that this is meant of their successours to this I answer 1. That the two Witnesses had no successours for there were no such Prophets in Adrians time nor at any time since and there were not any that could do such miracles as these had power to do v. 5 6. in Adrians time nor in any time since 2. The souls of men after they be dead do not enter into other mens bodies but into their own bodies only now 't is said the Spirit of life that is their Souls entred into them v. 11. therefore this is not meant of their successours but of their own bodies for if the Spirit of life did enter into their successours it did not enter into them but into others and they did not stand upon their feet that is their own feet but upon the feet of others 3. They heard a voice from Heaven saying unto them Come up hither and they ascended up to Heaven in a Cloud and their enemies beheld them v. 12. Now what man did ever ascend to Heaven in successours And what benefit were it to him if he did We read that Christ ascended thither and so did Enoch and Elias but of any that went to Heaven in successours we read not in all the Scripture And if these two Witnesses did ascend to Heaven as were made alive in successours what became of their dead bodies The Text saith they shall lye in the street of the great City and they shall see their dead bodies three days and a half and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in Graves v. 8 9. but if the Spirit of life did not enter into them what became of their dead bodies afterward Did they lye in the street still Or did the Ravens eat them or the Dogs devour them or were they buried in the earth-quake Or what became of them let them tell me if they can And let them tell me too whether Barchocheba and his complices whom they suppose to be the enemies of the Witnesses here spoken of were not dead before the Christians in Adrians time were advanced to peace and Halcyonian days in Iudaea And if they were how can it be said that their enemies did behold their ascension into Heaven seeing they were dead before And lastly if the Witnesses were made alive in successours why do they not also say that the Widows Son of Naim was made alive in a successour And if they ascended up to Heaven in successours why do they not also say that Enoch and Elias ascended thither in successours Yea why do they not say that Christ himself ascended thither in a successour And why do they not say that all the Texts of Scripture which speak of the Resurrection of the dead be meant of the rising of successours And if they can have Faith to believe that the Texts of Scripture which speak of the Resurrection of the dead be meant of the Resurrection of the same bodies that were dead why can they not have so much Faith as a grain of Mustard Seed to believe that the enlivening of the Witnesses is meant of the enlivening of the same bodies that were dead 8. The same hour that this was done there was a great earthquake v. 13. but we read not of any earth-quake at Ierusalem in Adrians time but in Iulians time there was 9. The tenth part of the City fell v. 13. Now in Adrians time the whole City was destroyed and the Plough passed over it and a new one built by Adrian on its ruines which he called Aelia after his own name Aelius And here we are to take notice that this new City was not built by Adrian before the Rebellion of the Iews began as the Temple and the Altar were v. 1. before the Witnesses began to Preach but this new City was built by him after the Rebellion of the Iews was over Eusebius l. 4. c. 6. Carion Chron. l. 3. p. 229. 10. And in the earth-quake were slain of men seven thousand v. 13. but the Iews that were slain in
Maton Mr. Mather and others have written of that subject See also Doctor Heilins Cosmography lib. 3. p. 95. it is not sense to say the end of the world shall be finished for then an end shall have an end but it is good sense to say the conversion of the Jews shall be finished or shall have an end that is an end of consummation not of annihilation as the world shall Rev. 20.11 CHAP. XIII The Prophecy of the first Beast and his rising and success against the Jewish Nation 1. THEN I saw a wild Beast representing a new Empire which shall be raised by the Devil out of the people and Nations of the world which shall be then in arms consisting of the same seven Kingly heads that the Dragon had Rev. 12.4 and the same ten horns but with Crowns added to them which they had not before 2. And this Empire shall be as cruel against the Christian Jews as ever the Greeks or Persian or Babylonian Empires were heretofore to that Nation and cannot sufficiently be deciphered by one cruel Beast alone but by variety of cruel Beasts made up together in one for it shall have the body of a speckled Leopard as the Greek Empire had and the feet of a cruel Bear as the Persian Empire had and the mouth of a devouring Lion as the Babylonian Empire had and to the making up of this Empire the Devil shall resign unto him his Militia his Imperial Throne and secular authority 3. But before he be established in his Throne there shall be some opposition made against the setling and uniting of this Empire and in the opposition one of his seven heads shall receive a wound by a sword to all mens thinking unto death but his deadly wound shall be healed and after that there shall be no more opposition but all the Country far and near shall admire at it and yield subjection to the Beast without resistance 4. And they shall worship the Beast as the substitute of the Dragon and in so doing they shall worship not the Beast only but the Dragon also and in worshipping of him they ascribe unto him titles of transcendent honour saying who is so potent as the Beast who is able to war with him 5. And he shall take upon him and it shall be permitted to him to speak great and proud things amounting to blasphemy Dan. 7.8.11.25 Dan. 11.36 and he shall have power to continue three years and a half in great prosperity and after they are past he shall decay from day to day and never come into prosperity any more 6. And he shall open his mouth wide unto blasphemy and shall not be afraid to blaspheme the God of Israel and his name and his Church and the Jewish Nation 7. And he shall be permitted by God to make War against the remnant of the Church of Israel that shall not flie into the Wilderness with their brethren and to overcome them in the War and he shall have power over all kindreds and tongues and nations far and near to make them joyn with him and assist him in this War 8. And all the Inhabitants of the Earth both far and near shall worship him and yield subjection to him and they that shall so do are such whose names were never written in the Book of life which Jesus Christ hath purchased by his Blood for all that believe in him 9. Let every man take heed how he joyneth with the Beast and taketh part with him against the Saints whom he warreth with 10. He that leadeth any of Gods Saints into captivity shall himself go into captivity he that slayeth any of his people with the sword shall himself be slain by the sword which maketh much for the patience and the Faith of the Saints and is a great encouragement thereunto and they need not use unlawful means for their deliverance or renounce their Faith to save their lives let them believe and trust in God and wait with patience for his help and he will surely visit them and work Deliverance for them The Prophecy of the second Beast and his Actings and Atchievements for the settling of the first Beast 11. And I saw another Beast which shall arise from among the people of the Earth which live a civil life as the other did from the men that were in Arms and he shall have but one Head and on that one Head but two Horns of no great strength and magnitude but very small short and feeble and can do no hurt therewith Act. 13.6 2 Pet. 2.16 but he shall speak like a Dragon and be a false Prophet or Magician as wicked Balaam was and shall do more Mischief by his Witch-craft than the other by his Arms. 12. And he shall be a chief Officer of the first Beast to manage his Affairs in his behalf and he shall execute all the secular or civil Power and Authority of the first Beast in his behalf and he shall cause the Inhabitants of the Earth where the Beast doth live to worship and yield Obeisance to the first Beast who received a deadly Wound at his first arising and was healed thereof 13. And he shall do great signs and wonders and one of those wonders is that he shall cause fire to come down from Heaven in the sight of men Exod. 7.11.22 Exod. 8.7 2 King 1.10.12 Rev. 11.5 Job 1.6 as the true Prophets of the Lord have done and as the Devil himself hath also done 14. And he shall deceive the Inhabitants of the earth through the signs and wonders which shall be given him to do in behalf of the other Beast and one of these wonders whereby he shall deceive them shall be this that he shall say to the Inhabitants of the earth where the Beast doth live that they should make a Molten or a Carved Image in honor of the Beast which had the mortal wound of a Sword and did live 15. And he shall have power to give not life Dan. 3.5 6 7. 10 11 12.14 15.18 but breath to the graven or molten Image of the Beast in so much that the Molten or Graven Image of the Beast shall speak and cause and appoint and command that as many as will not fall down and worship it shall be killed 16. And he shall cause all both small and great rich and poor bond and free to take an engagement or an oath to be true and faithful to the other Beast and receive a visible mark in their right hand or in their foreheads whereby it may be known that they have so done 17. And he shall take special order with the Inhabitants of the earth that no man shall buy or sell any victuals or commodities save he that hath taken the engagement or the oath to be true and faithful to the first Beast and hath received a visible mark in his right hand or in his forehead in token that he hath so done and this mark which he
shall receive is nothing else but the name of the first Beast or the number of his name imprinted on him 18. Now here is the mystery of the business here is wisdom to be seen in him that can unfold this riddle let him that hath skill in the art of numeration count the number of the first Beast for it is a number or a computation that is used by man and may be found out by the art of man and the number he must count to find out The other number which is the true mark and name of the first Beast is 666 and he that will count this number as it ought to be must not think to do it by addition or subtraction for here is no other number which this number can be added to or subtracted from neither may he think to do it by multiplication or division for here is no other number which this number 666 can be multiplied or divided by but it must be done by extracting of the root thereof and he that can perform this work as it ought to be and compare it with the mark which the second Beast shall cause men to take shall thereby know who the first great Beast is and his name to boot this cannot be done before the Beast be come into the World and his mark be imprinted on his loyal Subjects and then is the time to perform this work and not before Disputation IX 1 Quest Whether this Prophecy shall contempor te with the Prophecy in the former Chapter or succeed it Ans 1. Prosperity cannot contemporate with adversity nor the Church in safety with the Church in danger but the woman in the former Chapter is in prosperity or at least in safety in the Wilderness as appears v. 6.14 15 16. and the Dragon cannot hurt her in that place but in this Prophecy the Church is in adversity and the Beast is in prosperity and doth War with her and overcome her 42 months together v. 5.7 2. The Beast is not raised by the Dragon till he went to make War with the remnant of the womans seed and he went not from the Wilderness to make War with the remnant of her seed till his attempts against the woman in the Wilderness proved frustrate and succesless Rev. 12.17 3. The true order of the Prophecy is this 1. The woman falls in Travel and the Dragon stands before her to devour her child as soon as it was born v. 2 3 4. 2. Michael and his Angels fight against the Dragon and cast him forth of Heaven to the earth that he might not hinder the Nativity of the Child v. 7 8 9. 3. The woman bringeth forth and the Dragon persecutes the woman and she flies into the Wilderness v. 5 6.13 14. 4. The Dragon sends a flood of Water after her to drown her in the Wilderness or drive her out from thence and the earth opens her mouth and swallows up the flood of water v. 15 16. 5. the Dragon is angry with the woman and goes away from the Wilderness to the Sea with an intent to make War with the remnant of her seed v. 17 18. 6. The Dragon raiseth up the Beast mentioned in this thirteenth Chapter to be his Captain General in this War v. 1. 7. The War begins and the Saints are overcome 42 months v. 5.7 8. After this the Beast prevails no more but decays every day more and more until he come unto his end ch 14.16 and 19. this is the order of the Prophecy and it is to be admired at that men should set their wits against it 4. They which hold this Prophecy to contemporate with the former think that by the remnant of the womans seed whom the Dragon Warreth with is meant the Children which she bringeth forth in the Wilderness but this cannot be so for the woman in the Wilderness is in safety as appears v. 14. and the Dragon cannot War with her nor her Children in that desolate place and therefore by the remnant of her seed is not meant the Children which she bringeth forth in the Wilderness but the Children which were left behind and were not fled into the Wilderness with the woman and these be they whom the Dragon Warreth with but the other are in safety Ob. The 1260 days of the woman and the 42 months of the Beast are all one Ans 30 days in April and 30 days in June are all one in quantity yet they succeed one another so the 1260 days in the former Chapter and the 42 months in this Chapter be all one in quantity yet they succeed one another as June succeedeth April Ob. 1260 Days be so many years and 42 months be so many years too and it is not likely that times of so long continuance should succeed one another Ans This objection hath been answered twice already first ch 11. and secondly ch 12. and now I will answer it the third time and say something else unto it 1. I might say that theologia symbolica non est argumentativa mystical Theology is no sufficient Argument to build our Faith upon and if men have nothing else to say for themselves but mystical expositions of the Scriptures it is a sign that their cause is very bad 2. Times of equal length may succeed one another as appears in the months of the year So put the case that these 42 months and the 1260 days be so many years yet 't is possible they may succeed one another though not in whole yet in part as Solomon and David reigned fourty years a piece yet some part of Solomons Reign was with David his Father before his death and the other part after his death 3. Where shall we find in all the Scripture that a month is put for thirty years I find in many places where 't is put for thirty days as Jam. 5.17 Heb. 11.23 Luk. 1.56 but for thirty years never 4. The Revelation it self doth put a difference between a day a month and a year Rev. 9.15 which were prepared for an hour a day a month and a year where a day is less than a month and a month is less than a year 5. These 42 months is the time of the Beasts prosperity and of the Churches great adversity but the Church never was nor ever will be in adversity so long and the strongest Beast that ever was was never in prosperity so many years together nor ever will be 6. By this interpretation of 42 months one may find out the day of Judgment and some men have been very bold in this point for they make these 42 months to last unto the day of Judgment so that by this reckoning the Church will be in a sad and calamitous condition until the day of Judgment and if they can but tell us one thing more and that is when these 42 months begin we may easily calculate the day when Christ shall come to Judgment which no modest man will adventure once to do seeing
rising of the other and so that which is spoken of the beast ch 11. belongs to the account of the sixth Trumpet and that which is spoken of him in the chapters following to the account of the seventh 2 Quest Whether this Prophecy were fulfilled in the Reign of Domitian Ans 1. This Prophecy was not revealed to John till the Reign of Domitian was well nigh over as both Irenaeus and Jerom and others do testifie and therefore it doth not Prophesie of what was to be done in his Reign for if it did it would have been revealed sooner for Domitian did not live two years much less three years and a half after this Prophecy was revealed 2. This Prophecy doth belong unto the seventh Trumpet and therefore shall succeed all the Prophecies of the former Trumpets but Domitian did not live to see any of the former Trumpets finished and they with whom I deal in this question confess themselves that the Prophecy ch 11. was not fulfilled till the time of Adrian who began his Reign after Domitian twenty years 3. By the beast is not meant the Idol Worship as they would have it but a Kingdom with its King for by that word is meant both and sometimes that word denotes the King as Rev. 17.11 12. Dan. 7.17 and sometimes besides the King it denotes the Kingdom as Rev. 17.3 Dan. 7.23 and so 't is taken in this place and besides this the Idol-worship was set up at Rome before Domitians Reign began and therefore John doth not Prophesie of the rising of it in the time of his Reign to which may be added that the beast was to continue 42 months but the Idol-worship did continue longer 4. The head which John saw as it were wounded to death is not the Capitol as they suppose but one of the Kings of the Empire as appears by the acception of that word Rev. 17.10 And besides this the head was wounded by a Sword v. 14. but the Capitol was burnt by fire and that fire was caused by Lightning from Heaven To which may be added that the head here wounded was wounded but once but the Capitol was burnt in the time of Vitellius and rebuilt in the time of Vespasian and after that burnt again in the time of Titus and rebuilt by Domitian and this healing of the beasts wound was a matter of admiration but the rebuilding of the Capitol after it was burnt was no matter of admiration but a feasible thing 5. It was given to this beast to make War with the Saints and to overcome them v. 7. which words do imply resistance on the Saints part but in the persecution of Domitian there was no resistance on the Saints part the Christians in his days thought it better to fly than to fight 6. By the second beast v. 11. is meant some famous witch or other such a one as the Devil never had the like since he was a Devil but this witch cannot be Apollonius Tyanaeus as they suppose for neither he nor any other since his time could do such feats as this witch is said to do v. 12 13 14 15 c. 7. Domitianus Apollonio infestus fuit Apollonius Domitiano saith Grotius de Antichristo pag. 77. Domitian was a hateful enemy to Apollonius and Apollonius to Domitian but the false Prophet here spoken of was the chiefest Friend the beast had and used all the art he could to establish him in his throne v. 12.14 15 16 17. Rev. 16.13 8. Neither the beast nor the witch here spoken of do die a bodily death as other men do but are both cast into Hell alive as appears Rev. 19 20. but Domitian and Apollonius died both of them a bodily death and Domitian died first and Apollonius Tyanaeus afterward the one died Anno Christi 98. the other Anno Christi 99. according to Baronius see Prideaux History pag. 198. 3 Quest Whether the Prophecy of the first Beast be fulfilled in the Papacy and be meant of them Ans 1. The first beast is a secular power but the Pope is an ecclesiastical person 2. If the Pope be the seventh head of the first beast who then is the seventh head of the Dragon for he had so many heads before the beast began Rev. 12.3 3. If the Pope be the seventh head of the first beast who be the other six Kings Consuls Dictators Decemvirs Military Tribunes and Emperors of Rome till Constantines time were all of them Pagans but if the Prophecy were fulfilled in the Papacy all the seven heads should be Papists else the Prophecy cannot be fulfilled in them 2. If the six first heads be Pagans and the seventh head be Popes the beast is more Pagan than Papist and the Prophecy is not fulfilled wholly in the Pagans nor wholly in the Papists but partly in the one and partly in the other but most of all in the Pagans 3. It cannot be that the six first heads of the beast should be Kings Consuls Dictators Decemvirs Military Tribunes and Emperours for five of these were past before the Prophecy was revealed the Emperours then were but the beast which John saw rise out of the Sea had seven heads whereof none of them were past none of them were present but all of them were then to come for after the Visions in the three first chapters John had no more Visions of things present much less of things past but only of things that were to come as the Angel told him Rev. 4.1 Come up hither and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter therefore not heads which were then past nor heads which were then present but heads which were then to come and if five of these heads were then past one were then present it had been sufficient to have presented unto John the head that was then to come and no more And if it be said that the Angel speaking of these heads ch 17. saith five of them are fallen one is and the seventh is not yet come to this I answer that the rising of that beast is not presented unto John in that Vision but the destruction of the Whore which sits upon him and when 't is said that five of them are fallen this is not to be understood Historically of what was past before the Apostles days nor of what was present in his days but prophetically of what should be past before and what should be present at the execution of that Prophecy 4. The beast hath not only seven heads but also ten horns and ten crowns upon them and that at one time and not successively one after another but where shall we find so many horns in the Papacy and ten crowns upon them at one time and not successively one after another 5. The beast was like a Leopard and his feet as the feet of a Bear and his mouth as the mouth of a Lyon Rev. 13.2 Now a Leopard was the emblem of the Greek Monarchy a Bear the emblem of the Persian
Dan. 7.21 22.25 Now who are meant by the Saints in Daniel but the Jews 4. VVe read in the same Book that Daniels people shall be in great troubles such as never was since there was a Nation Dan. 12.1 Now from whom shall they have this trouble if not from the Beast here spoken of 5. VVe read in the Prophet Micah According to the days of thy coming out of the Land of Egypt will I shew unto him marvellous things the Nations shall see and be confounded c. Micah 7.15 16. Now the plagues which shall fall upon the Beast are many of them the very same for kind with the plagues of Egypt therefore as the plagues of Egypt fell upon them for the wrong they did unto the Jews so the plagues which shall light upon the Beast shall fall upon him and his people for the persecution of that Nation 6. After the parturition of the woman in the former Chapter v. 12. the Devil knows he hath but a short time and therefore the Beast who is raised by him afterward has but a short time too Now if we look upon the Beasts which are in the world at this time whether Turks or any other they have continued a long time and therefore this prophecy is not meant of any of them but remains to be expected upon the Jews Conversion 7. The Beasts which now are in the world came to their height and eminency by long and tedious wars and by the ruines of other Nations but this Beast is raised on a sudden by the Devils art and policy as you may read v. 2.4 and there are such strange courses taken such witchcraft and inchantment used such signs and wonders shewed such cunning and deceitful tricks invented and such a strange mark imposed by the second Beast to make men adhere unto the first Beast as you may read v. 12 13 14 15 16 17. as never yet was known take them all together at the rising of any Beast since the world began to this very day nor will be till the Jews Conversion and the rising of this enemy of theirs the Beast here spoken of The conclusion therefore is The Antichrist of St. John St. Pauls Man of sin and the Beast here spoken of be not all one The Antichrists of St. John be the false Christs that our Saviour speaks of in the Gospel Mat. 24.24 which should start up before and after the destruction of Jerusalem 1 Joh. 2.18.22 and 4.3.2 Joh. 7. The Man of sin spoken of by St. Paul is avouched by some and denied by others to be the Pope of Rome of which see those that have written on that subject But the first Beast here spoken of is a Heathen King or Emperour raised by the Devil to war against the Jews after their Conversion and the second Beast is a Witch as Balaam was raised by the Devil and imployed by the first Beast as Balaam was by Balak to help him and assist him and do mighty things for him and for his settlement in his Kingdom v. 12 13 14 15 16 17. and for the ruine of the Jewish Nation Chap. 16.13 14. CHAP. XIV The Prophecy of the Virgin Company 1. THen was presented unto me in a Vision what shall come to pass after the three days and a half allotted to the Beasts prosperity shall be ended and I saw a Lamb representing Jesus Christ stand on Mount Sion and with him an hundred forty and four thousand of the Jewish Nation spoken of before but to another purpose in the seventh Chapter who notwithstanding the power and prevalency of the Beast shall boldly profess the Name of Christ and have it and his Fathers Name besides legibly written in their Foreheads 2. And I heard a voice out of Heaven as the sound of many Waters and as the sound of a great and mighty Thunder and after that the voice of Harpers making pleasant Melody with their Harps 3. And they sung a new Song before the Throne of God and before the four living Creatures and before the four and twenty Elders which Song shall be sung by none that be upon the earth but by the one hundred forty and four thousand which shall be redeemed from the rest that be upon the earth 4. These be they which shall not be defiled with Women for they shall be Virgins and unmarried Persons these be they which shall wait and attend upon the Lamb as a Lifeguard doth upon their Prince whithersoever he shall go these shall be redeemed from the rest of men as being the first Fruits to God and to the Lamb of the Jewish Nation 5. These be they which shall be without guile fraud and deceit and without stain of hainous sin in the sight of God The Prolcamation of the first Angel 6. And I saw an Angel flie in the midst between the Heaven and the Earth with a commission to preach proclaim and make known and publish the everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of Judaea and to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and People that shall be therein 7. Saying and proclaiming with a loud voice as he shall flie along Fear God and give him Glory for the hour of his Judgment is come and will shortly fall on all that fear not him worship not the Beast nor yeild obeisance unto him in the way that he goeth in opposition to the Gospel of Jesus Christ but worship him alone that made the Heaven and the Earth and the Sea and the Fountains of Waters The Proclamation of the second Angel 8. And another Angel followed after him proclaiming and saying Babylon is fallen is fallen meaning thereby that she shall shortly fall and come to nought because she made all Nations drink of the bitter Wine of her spiritual Fornication The Proclamation of the third Angel 9. And the third Angel followed after them proclaiming and saying with a loud voice If any worship the first Beast or his carved Image or take an Oath to be true and faithful unto him and receive a mark in their right hand or in their Foreheads in token that they have so done 10. The same shall drink of the bitter VVine of the wrath of God without mixing any thing therein to allay the sharpness of it and shall be tormented with Fire and Brimstone in the sight and presence of the Holy Angels and in the sight and presence of the Lamb. 11. And the smoke of their torment shall ascend for ever and never have an end and they shall be tormented Day and Night without ceasing or intermission which worship the first Beast or his carved Image or take an engagement to be true and faithful unto him and receive the print of his Name in token that they have so done 12. Here will be the tryal of the patience of the Saints which are living in Judaea when the Beasts engagement comes among them then it will be known who they be which keep the Commandments of the Lord
their God and the Faith of Jesus Christ and will not engage unto the Beast though they perish for refusing 13. Then I received a command from Heaven saying unto me Write for the consolation and encouragement of these faithful men which shall suffer at this time Blessed are the dead which die for the Faith of Jesus Christ and for professing of the same and they need not doubt thereof for the spirit saith so which is the spirit of truth and cannot lye and herein their blessedness doth consist they shall rest from their labours miseries calamities pains and dolours which they sustained in this life and the reward and recompence of their Faithful service shall follow after them as soon as they be dead The first Judgment on the Beast 14. Then an Angel shall sit upon a white Cloud in the likeness of a young man with a Golden Crown upon his head and a sharp sickle in his hand to execute a heavy Judgment upon the Beast and his men 15. And another Angel shall come out of the Temple and say unto the Angel which shall sit upon the Cloud Thrust in thy sharp sickle and cut down the people which belong unto the Beast for the time is come for thee to cut them down because their sins are now ripe 16. And as soon as this commission shall be given the Angel shall thrust in his sharp sickle upon the earth and the people which belong unto the Beast shall be cut down as the Corn is when it is full ripe The second Judgment on the Beast 17. And after this Angel shall have done his work God shall send another Angel from the Temple with another â—â—arp sickle to execute another heavy Judgment upon other persons belonging to the Beast in like manner as the former Angel did 18. And another Angel shall come out from the Altar which hath power over fire to Plague the earth therewith when God will have him and he shall cry unto the Angel which hath the sharp sickle saying unto him Thrust in thy sharp sickle and cut down some other people of the earth which belong unto the Beast because their sins are also ripe 19. And the Angel shall make no delay but thrust in his sharp sickle into the earth and cut down the other people which belong unto the Beast and cast them into the great Wine-press of the wrath of God Almighty and squeeze the blood out of them as Grapes are squeezed in a Wine-press 20. And the place where this execution shall be wrought shall be in Judaea without Ierusalem and the blood of the slaughter be so great that it shall reach even to the Horses Bridles in height for the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs in length Disputation X. 1 Quest Whether this Prophecy doth contemporate with the Prophecy in the former Chapter or succeed it Ans 1. Prosperity cannot contemporate with adversity but in the former Chapter the beast is in prosperity v. 7. and in this Chapter the Beast is in adversity v. 15 16 17 18 19 20. therefore 2. Good success in War and bad success therein cannot contemporate each with other but in the former Prophecy the Beast hath good success in War for 42 months together and in this Prophecy the Beast hath bad success therein and a lamentable slaughter is made of him two times one after another as appears v. 15 16 17 18 19 20. 3. Rising growing and increasing cannot contemporate with dying falling and decaying but in the former Chapter the Beast is rising growing and increasing till he come unto his height and in this Chapter and those which follow the Beast is dying falling and decaying till he come unto his end Ob. The Virgin company are so called because they were not defiled with Harlots v. 4. therefore they fall into the meretricious times of the Whore of Babylon Ans Whether they be called Virgins for that reason or because they were unmarried persons as St. Jerom thinks I list not to inquire at this time it is sufficient to say that this Chapter speaks not of the first times of the Virgin Company nor of the first times of the Whore of Babylon but of her declining times only as appears v. 8. Ob. Of this Virgin Company be they which proclaim the fall of Babylon v. 8. and deterr men from worshipping the Beast or his Image and from receiving his mark v. 9. Ans Be they of the Virgin Company or no which Proclaim the fall of Babylon it makes no matter be it so or otherwise it is not done by them at Babylons first and prospering times but in her latter and declining days only Ob. These be the called and chosen and faithful Soldiers of the Land and if I may so say his life guard by whom he wageth War with the horns of the Beast and at length gets the Victory against them v. 4. and ch 17.14 Ans This Victory is not gotten in the first and prosperous times of the beast for then he gets the Victory of the Saints Rev. 13.7 but in his latter and declining times only Ob. The Virgin Company be the bands of Faithful Soldiers which opposed the Beast and adhered unto the Eamb when others of the World forsook him and received the Character of the Beast therefore either these opposed the Beast at his first beginning or else the Lamb had none on his side to oppose him at that time Ans The beast was raised to make War against the remnant of the womans seed Rev. 12.17 so that they be the men which opposed him at the first and were overcome by him Rev. 13.7 but the Virgin Company are they which oppose him in his latter and declining days and get the Victory against him Ob. The beast and the Virgin Company do contemporate in their ends for they both end together and that is when the History of the Palm-bearers doth begin Rev. 7.9.14 Ans Whether the History of the Palm-bearers doth begin or no when the History of the beast and the Virgin Company doth end I think it needless to inquire at this time for the present I confess that the beast and Virgin Company do end their race together but I deny that they begin their race together but whether they doe or no this Chapter speaks not of it for it speaks only of the first declining of the beast and not of his first beginning nor of his final end Ob. The Virgin Company are sealed ch 7. before any of the Trumpets do begin and therefore are they sealed at that time but that they might set themselves against the beast at his first beginning Ans They are not sealed for that end that they might set themselves against the beast at his first beginning for there were others to oppose him then Rev. 12.17 but that they might be preserved from the storms of the ensuing Trumpets Rev. 9.4 and they are not called forth against the beast till his declining age doth
the men which cast the three Children into the midst of the burning fiery Furnace did no hurt to the three Children which were cast therein Dan. 3.22 25.2 The Lightning from Heaven may slay one man and not another yea two men may Travel in the Field together and one of them be slain by Lightning and the other not one House may be set on fire by Lightning and not another and one Tree may be blasted at such a time and not another 3. One man and his Family may be visited with a Feaver in a hot Summer season and his next neghbours House or his Family may escape 4. The Psalmist saith the Sun sha'l not sinite thee by day nor the Moon by night Ps 121.6 this strikes the objection quite dead one man may be smitten by the Sun and not another though they live both of them near together 5. The Sun is more predominant in one Country then another so that the Beast and his men may be scorched by the Sun and the Saints which are fled out of his Dominions may escape 6. The Beast would not suffer any of the Saints to live in his Dominions in peace he slew as man of them as he could come by and after they were dead and the rest fled away these Vials fell upon them 7. They that interpret the Vials mystically say that by the earth one sort of men is meant by the Sea another by the Rivers and Fountains of Waters a third and by the Sun a fourth yet all of these be wicked men now if the Vials can distinguish between one wicked man and another so that one wicked man is punished under one Vial and not another why can they not as well distinguish between a wicked man and a good though understood in a literal sense 8. The Angels are the pourers forth of these Vials and they can so order and dispose of them that they shall fall only on the wicked and not upon the good 9. And lastly the persons plagued in these Vials be not expressed in the first words but in the last for instance the first Angel poured out his Vial on the earth the persons plagued be not denoted in these words but in the next and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the Beast So in the second Vial the second Angel poured out his Vial on the Sea and it became as the blood of a dead man the persons plagued be not included in these words but in those which follow and every living soul died in the Sea and so onward of the other Vials except the fifth the last words express the persons plagued and the first express the Creature or the Instrument which it pleased God to use in bringing of the Plague upon them 3 Quest Whether the Kings of the East be the Jews Ans 1. The Jews are no where called Kings Because here is mention of Euphrates and the Kings of the East in the sixth Vial it may probably be gathered from thence that the Vials shall be poured out upon the People which dwell on the other side of Euphrates Eastward and the Plagues of the Trumpets shall fall upon the People which dwell on this side of Euphrates Westward much less the Kings of the East in all the Scripture and therefore why should any one think they are here 2. The King of the South is so called Dan. 11.6 because he lives and Reigns in the South and the King of the North is so called in the same place because he lives and Reigns in the North and therefore the Kings of the East are so called because they live and Reign beyond Euphrates in the East now the Jews do not Reign there neither do they live there at this time for Judaea where they now are Rev. 14.1 I mean at the execution of this Prophecy is not beyond Euphrates in the East but on this side of Euphrates in the West Mat. 2.1 3. The Kings of the East as the words import be many Kings of many Nations but the Jews are but one Nation and no more 4. The Kings of the East are in prosperity but the Jews are in adversity at this time and shall not be setled in prosperity until the Battel of the great day of God Almighty shall be over 5. We read Ezekiel 38.8 9. After many days thou shalt be visited in the latter years thou shalt come into the Land that is brought back from the Sword and is gathered out of many People against the Mountains of Israel which have been always wast but it is brought forth out of the Nations and they shall dwell fafely all of them thou shalt ascend and come like a storm thou shalt be like a Cloud to cover the Eand thou and all thy bands and many People with thee Therefore the Kings of the East be not the Jews but rather they be some of those Kings that shall joyn with Gog and Magog against the Jews after their Conversion 6. We read Joel 3.2 9 10 11 12. I will also gather all Nations and will bring them down into the Valley of Jehoshaphat and will plead with them there for my People and for my Heritage Israel whom they have scattered among the Nations and parted my Land Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles prepare War make up the mighty men let all the men of War draw near let them come up Beat your Plow-shares into Swords and your Pruning hooks into Spears let the weak say I am strong Assemble your selves and come all ye Heathen and gather your selves together round about thither cause thy mighty ones to come down O Lord. Let the Heathen be weakned and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat for there will I sit to Judge all the Heathen round about And this doth also shew that the Kings of the East be not the Jews but they be the Gentiles that shall set themselves against the Jews after their Conversion 7. We read Rev. 19.19 And I saw the Beast and the Kings of the earth and their Armies gathered to make War against him that sat on the Horse and against his Army Now against whom were these Kings gathered but against the Jews Therefore the Kings of the East be not the Jews but they be the Kings of the Earth that shall joyn with the Beast and false Prophet against the Jews in the last expedition they shall make against them 8. I urge the Text where the Kings of the East are expresly spoken of Rev. 16 12. And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River Euphrates and the water thereof was dried up that the way of the Kings of the East might be prepared Now who be these Kings of the East Read the next verses and they will tell you And I saw three unclean Spirits like Frogs come out of the mouth of the Dragon and out of the mouth of the Beast and out of the mouth of the
false Prophet For they are the Spirits of Devils working miracles which go forth unto the Kings of the earth and of the whole World to gather them to the Battel of that great day of God Almighty And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon Therefore the Kings of the East be not the Jews but they rather be the Kings of the earth and of the whole world or some of them whom the Frogs are sent unto to gather them to the Battel of the great day of God Almighty And it is likely that the case may stand thus The Armies of the Beast and false Propher being overthrown in two onsets which they made against the Sealed Jews in the latter end of the fourteenth Chapter they know not how to raise another Army to make a third onset but by calling other Kings to help them therefore as soon as they have notice that the waters of Euphrates are dried up they send in all hast to the Kings of the East which are bevond Euphrates to assist them who finding a commodious passage through Euphrates the waters of the River being dried up they consent unto it and joyn with the Beast and false Prophet against the Jews in this last expedition Ob. But against this exposition of the Kings of the East one objection may be made and it is this the Prophet Esai saith that they which pass over Euphrates be the Jews Esa 〈◊〉 16. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the Tongue of the Aegyptian Sea and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the River and shall smite it in the seven streams and make men go over dry shod And there shall be a high way for the remnant of his People which shall be left from Assria like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the Land of Aegypt Now is not this Prophecy the same with St. Johns Is not this River which Esai speaketh of the River Euphrates Be not the men which shall pass over dry shod the remnant of his People that shall be left from Assyria And who be they but the Jews Ans This Argument were something worth if this Prophecy of Esai were the same with St. Johns Or if the River which Esai speaketh of were Euphrates but we have cause to think that that River is not Euphrates but the River Nilus as may appear partly from the seven streams which Nilus is known to have and partly from joining it with Aegypt where 't is known that River is so that the meaning of the Prophecy is that the River Nilus shall be dried up in the seven streams thereof which run through the Land of Aegypt and the Tongue of the Aegyptian Sea that is of the Red Sea near unto the Land of Aegypt shall be dried up too as it was in the days of Moses Exod. 14.29 to this end and purpose that the Jews which are in those Countries may pass into Judaea without impediment so that this Prophecy is not the same with St. Johns but is very likely to come to pass before St. Johns doth and before any of the Vials shall begin 4 Quest Whether Babylon and the Throne of the Beast be all one If they be whether the Beast be in possession of it at the time of the destruction of it Ans 1. The Throne of the Beast came in remembrance before God at 〈◊〉 execution of the fifth Vial but Babylon came not in remembrance before God till the execution of the seventh Vial. 2. The words in the seventh Vial. Andgreat Babylon came in remembrance before God It is likely that the Throne of the Beast mentioned in the fifth Vial is a City beyond Euphrates in the East Babylon is a City on thus side of Euphrates in the West to give unto her ihe cup of the VVine of the fierceness of his wrath v. 19. imply that no Plague fell on Babylon till the seventh Vial and the words Rev. 18.7 8. imply the same but a Plague falls on the Throne of the Beast in the time of the fifth Vial v. 10. and therefore Babylon and the Throne of the Beast be not the same 3. The great City mentioned in the seventh Vial and Babylon there mentioned likewise are two distinct places and it is very likely that the great City is the Throne of the Beast mentioned in the fifth Vial and Babylon is some other place 4. The Beast that is mentioned in the fifth Vial and the Beast that is mentioned c. 17. are not the same Beast as hath been shewed by probable Arguments c. 13. q. 1. pag. 103. and therefore it is likely that their Thrones are not the same 5. But suppose the Beasts be the same and their Thrones the same yet a Question may be made whether Babylon be in the Beasts Possession at the time of the destruction of it and that for these reasons 1. The Friends of a King are not enemies to the Kings Throne and Possessions but the ten Kings who are the Beasts Friends are enemies to the City of Babylon Rev. 17.16 2. The Friends of a King do not War against the Kings Throne and destroy it but the ten Kings who are the Beasts Friends shall make War against the City of Babylon and destroy it Rev. 17.16 For answer whereunto I think the case may be determined thus The Beast may be considered in three â—…inct points of time was is not and shall ascend Rev. 17. Now in the first point of time when the Beast was it is likely or rather out of Question that Babylon is in the Possession of the Beast mentioned c. 17. in the second point of the time when the Beast is not Babylon is not in the Possession of the Beast while he is not in the third Article or point of time when the Beast shall ascend out of the bottomless Pit the Beast shall seek to have his Throne again but the City shall oppose it and by that means shall be destroyed of which more largly in the next Chapter 5 Quest How long the Vials shall continue Ans 1. The Vials be the last Plagues of all Rev. 15.1 therefore they be long in comming and quick in going away 2. All the time of the Dragons abode on earth after his casting forth of Heaven is but a short time Rev. 12.12 and the Vials are but part of that short time 3. The Plagues of Aegypt were of short continuance and were all executed in a month as Bishop Vsher hath shewed in his Annals pag. 20 21. and Doctor VVillet on Exodus c. 7. q. 29. p. 72. Now the Vials for the most part are the same in kind with the Plagues of Aegypt and therefore are of short continuance as the Plagues of Aegypt were 4. Miracles are but for a short time but in every one of these Vials God doth work a Miracle 5 The men which were Plagued with a noisome sore in the first Vial are
be destroyed and therefore they shall give their Kingdom to the Beast until the City be destroyed and how can that be done unless the Beast and the City be at odds at that time 5. What is the cause why they hate the Whore Is it not because they love the Beast and give their Kingdom to the Beast as Vers 16. compared with Vers 17. doth declare And doth not this demonstrate that the Beast and the City be at odds To make this plain by a comparison Suppose a Man should say The Scotchmen shall hate Oliver Cromwel and his Army for God hath put in their hearts to give their Kingdom to the King Doth not this imply that the King and Oliver Cromwel and his Army be at odds In like manner when it is said The ten horns shall hate the Whore c. For God hath put in their hearts to give their Kingdom to the Beast Doth not this imply that the Beast and the Whore shall be at odds so that the cleaving to the one doth cause the hatred of the other 6. The Beast which carries the Whore and is in love with her doth not reach unto the eighth head but to the seventh and no further as appears Vers 7. And therefore it may well come to pass that all the seven heads may carry the Whore and be in love with her but the eighth head which is the Beast we speak of in this Question may hate her and not carry her at all And if it be said that the eighth head is of the number of the seven To this I answer So long as he is of that number and under that notion or relation he is one of them that carries the Whore and is in love with her but when he comes to be the eighth head of the Empire he hath then a new relation though he be the same man and doth not carry the Whore at that time 7. It is likely that the sixth head is the same person that the eighth head is and shall be deposed by the City while he is the sixth head and the seventh head shall be placed in his Throne and in this respect it is that the Beast was and is not and shall be he was in the time of the sixth head he is not in the time of the seventh for he is desposed by the City and the seventh placed in his room And from hence it is That the Beast and the City be at odds the ten Kings shall take part with the Beast against the City and the City shall take part with the seventh head against the Beast but the Beast and the ten Kings shall prevail and destroy the seventh head and the City both together Thus I have gone a way which no man went before that I know of if I be in the right it is thy part gentle Reader to go the same way that I have gone but if thou find that I am in an error and gone out of the right way and canst discover a better to me I will follow thee therein 5 Quest What use may be made of this Exposition of the Revelation in respect of War and Peace with Papists Answ We may not begin a War with Papists thinking thereby to fulfil the Prophecies of the Revelation and see an end of them and their Religion in our days and that upon a trebble account First We have proved already Disp 1 q. 3. That the chief scene of the Prophecies of the Revelation is not Europe but Asia and therefore we may not look for the whole or chiefest accomplishment of the Prophecies in Europe where the Papists are but in Asia rather where the Papists are not Secondly We have also shewed by divers Reasons Chap. 17. q. 1. That it is very uncertain whether Babylon be the City of Rome or no and therefore we may not begin a War with Papists thinking thereby to fulfil the Prophecies of the Revelation upon that account For put the case that such a War were begun and it should prove in the end that Babylon is not the City of Rome as we thought it was would we not be ashamed of such a War Do not the Kings of the Earth bewail her and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning and would not this be our case if we should begin a War with Rome thinking her to be the Babylon which the Revelation speaketh of would we not be sorry if in the issue it should fall out otherwise Hear what the Wiseman saith Prov. 20.18 Every purpose is established by counsel and with good advise make War Prov. 24.6 For by wise counsel shalt thou make thy War and in multitude of counsellors there is safety Let us therefore consider of the matter and examine the point a little better before we begin a War upon an uncertain ground and repent thereof when it is done Thirdly Suppose it to be true that Babylon is the City of Rome indeed yet for all this we may not begin a War with Papists thinking thereby that we fulfil the Prophecies of the Revelation and shall see an end of them and their Religion in our days and that for these Reasons 1. We are commanded to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem Psal 122.6 But how can we pray for her Peace if we will have Jerusalem begin a War with Babylon Are not these two contrary each to other For when we pray for Peace we are verbally against War but if we will have Jerusalem begin a War with Papists we are really for War and not for Peace which two ought not to be 2. Blessed are the Peace-makers for they shall be called the children of God Matth. 5.9 Therefore cursed are the War-makers for they be the children of the Devil 1 King 22.20 21 22 23. Revel 16.13 14. 20.7 8. 3. If it be possible as much as lieth in you live peaceably with all men Rom. 12.8 But how can we live peaceably with all men if we begin a War with Papists And how can it be said that we be for Peace as much as lieth in us if we be the first beginners fomenters and contrivers of a War and will not be at Peace when we may 4. Follow Peace with all men and Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord Heb. 12.14 But how do we follow Peace if we begin a War with Papists thinking thereby that we fulfil the Prophecies of the Revelation before we know what the true meaning of them is To which I will add another saying of the same Apostle Rom. 14.9 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace Therefore Peace is not only to be admitted when it may be had or when it is offered to us and brought unto our doors but we are to follow and seek after it our selves when it is gone away from us and not only so but we are also to follow after the things which make for Peace and conduce thereunto and which
in all the Revelation Read the Commission and consider of it Come out of her my People he doth not say begin a War with her my People but come out of her my People that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her plagues Rev. 18.4 12. And when the thousand years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his Prison And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to Battle the number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea Revel 20.7 8. Therefore Satan is the procuring or fomenting cause of War and not the true Religion and sometimes he stirs up wicked men to begin a War against the Church as is evident in this place and in that other place Revel 16.13 14. And sometimes he excites the Church to begin a needless War against the enemies thereof as is plain in Ahabs Case 1 King 22.20 21 22 23. And which of these ways soever he takes his aim is to destroy the Church of God thereby And we may not think that God is the cause of War in any other sense then as he is the cause of death and that is only as the punishment or effect of sin and if there had been no sin there had been no death and because no Death no War for God made not death as the Wiseman saith Wisd 1.13 And Canonical Scripture saith so too Rom. 5.12 And because he made not death he made not War which brings death inevitable both on good and bad but ungodly men with their works and words have called it to them Here is the true cause of Death and of War too but God is the first original cause of neither but will destroy them both in his appointed time When Sin and Satan are destroyed then Death and War shall be destroyed together These are my Reasons for the Negative now let us see what may be said out of the Revelation for the Affirmative Object And I saw as it were a Sea of Glass mingled with fire and them that had gotten the victory over the Beast and over his Image and over his mark and over the number of his name stand on the Sea of Glass having the Harps of God And they sing the Song of Moses the servant of God and the Song of the Lamb c. Revel 15.2 3. Answ Suppose we that the Pope is the Beast which here is spoken of for so we must at this time yet this gratulation and rejoycing Song is not for the final overthrow of the Beast but for some particular victory which they obtained against him And this victory doth not import that they begun the War with him but that he begun with them and lost the day against them And so stands the case with us if the Papists begin a War with us we may defend our selves and if it please God to give us victory we may and must rejoyce and praise the Lord as these men did but to begin a War with them and expect to see an end of them and their Religion before the day of Judgment is more then can be gathered from this place Object And the sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River Euphrates and the Water thereof was dried up that the way of the Kings of the East may be prepared Revel 16.12 Now what is meant by Euphrates But the Revenues of the Popedom And who be the Kings of the East but such Kings as God will stir up in these parts to be her ruine and overthrow the great defence which is in the River of worldly wealth being taken away as sometimes Euphrates was drained whereby Babylon was taken by Cyrus and Darius Eastern Kings And because the wealth of Spain is so great a means to strengthen this Kingdom yet I think it not amiss to bring that in also within the compass of this great River Dr. Mayer on the Revelation pag. 475. Answ Theologia symbolica non est argumentatio Mystical Theology is no sufficient argument for our faith and practice The literal sense of Scripture is That we must go and walk by that is the only rule both of faith and manners and it is the literal sense by which we must be judged at the last day Now what saith the literal sense of Scripture Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbors house thou shalt not covet thy Neighbors wife nor his man-servant nor his maid-servant nor his ox nor his ass nor any thing that is thy Neighbors Exod. 20.17 And who is our Neighbors Is not every man Though some be nearer Neighbors then other yet every man living is our Neighbor and we may not do wrong to any man whether he be within the Church or without 1 Thes 4.12 Yea Luk. 10.29 30 c. Christ shews by a Parable that a mans enemy is his neighbor 2. I say that by the River Euphrates is not meant the Revenues of the Popedom or the wealth of the King of Spain but by it is meant the River it self and by the Kings of the East is not meant the Kings in these Western parts but the Kings of the Earth spoken of Vers 14. which are beyond Euphrates They are much mistaken who think Euphrates was the strength of Old Babylon it was rather the nakedness of the City to have Euphrates pass through it then any way the strength thereof Cyrus found an easie way to drain away the Water and that being drained away he had an easie passage in whereby it doth appear that the Walls and Gates were the strength thereof and not the Water for the Walls and Gates kept him out but the Water being drained away let him have a passage in And the meaning of the Prophecy is that the Water of Euphrates shall be dried up by a special providence of God that the Kings which are beyond the River may pass over and help the Beast and False Prophet in their Wars So that here is no Commission for the Kings within the Church to begin a War with Papists and take away the Popes Revenues or the wealth of the King of Spain But here is a Prophecy That the Kings which are without the Church shall joyn with the Beast and False Prophet and war against the Church to their own undoing And this Church is not any Church in the Western parts but the Church of the Jews after their conversion So that this Prophecy shall be fulfilled then and not before Object And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the Beast these shall hate the Whore and shall make her desolate and naked and eat her flesh and burn her with fire Revel 17.16 Answ Suppose we the City of Rome to be the Whore that here is spoken of which is very uncertain as was said before yet we are to know that this destruction of the Whore who ever she be shall not come to pass in our days but in
the time of the seventh Vial not long before the day of judgment and they which think it shall be accomplished in our days and begin a War on that account may do well with the men of Issachar to understand the times a little better before they put themselves on such a hazard 1 Chron. 3.32 I knew a Divine an old Man not far from the place where I live who was perswaded in his life time That the Pope should have an end in the year 1654. And he would wager half the estate he had that it should come to pass but he lived to see his Prophecy come to nought So they which thought the Beast should have an end in the year 1666. did the like And they which expect the destruction of the Whore in our days thinking that they shall live to see it done may look till their eyes be out and not see it come to pass 2. Who ever the Whore be yet this destruction shall not put an end to the Whores Religion for after this is done the Kings which committed fornication with her are alive still and bewail her ruine Revel 18.9 Which they would not do if they were not of her Religion still and because they cannot commit fornication any more in that particular place they shall seek to do it elswhere 3. Though this destruction puts an end unto the Whore yet it shall not put an end unto the Beast for after this is done the Beast shall continue still and find another rest as the Popes have done already some of whom had their seats at Avignion in France for seventy years together and yet were Popes of Rome while they were in that place yea after this is done the Beast shall have a puissant Army still which shall put the Church in such a hazard that Christ himself shall come in person and destroy him Revel 19.20 4. Suppose we all this to be true viz. That Babylon is the City of Rome and the Pope the Beast that here is spoken of Suppose we also that this destruction shall come to pass in our days and put an end unto the Beast in respect of Temporals and Ecclesiasticks too yet when all this is granted a Question may be made What Commission had these Kings to patronise this War and what they do therein for this Prophecy gives them none It is a Prophecy what shall be de facto not what shall be de jure it tells us what shall come to pass actually by main force and violence not what shall come to pass legally according to the Law of God And when it is said Vers 17. That God hath put into their hearts to fulfil his will We may not think that this is meant of his commanding will but of his decreeing will and so the original words do signifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his pleasure sentence or decree Now it is the first of these which gives Commission for the doing of a thing and not the second and it is the first of these that we must walk and act by and not the second Deut. 29.29 Nebuchadnezzar did fulfil the Will of God that is The decree of God in destroying of Jerusalem but yet he sinned against God in doing it for want of a Commission from the Will of Precept And no other is the case of these Kings for God hath put into their hearts to fulfil his will that is his decree but as for his Will of Precept they fulfil it not 5. This War is not undertaken by the ten Kings in behalf of Religion but for some politick end or other and it may be questioned Whether the Beast himself hath not a hand in this War and whether the Beast and the City may not be at odds at this time and whether the ten Kings shall not give their Kingdom to the Beast on that occasion and so destroy the City upon that account Read the 16 and 17 Verses and consider of it 6. The Churches troubles are not ended when this War against the Whore is over Is not the Turk as great an enemy to Religion as the Pope and as potent too And put the case the Pope were dead and the City burnt to ashes what shall we do unto the Turk when this is done Shall we think to destroy him too as we do the Pope Let us consider first which shall be destroyed first for if the Turk shall be destroyed first why begin we with the Papist and let the Turk alone but if the Pope shall be destroyed first then mark what will follow First it will follow that the Pope is not the Beast for the Beast shall be destroyed last of all Revel 19.20 Secondly it will follow that the troubles of the Churches are not ended when the Pope is dead for the Turk is still alive who hath made more havock of the Churches in the East then ever the Pope did in the West 7. Put the case once more that the Whore were destroyed by the ten Kings what think we of the Turk when this is done shall not he have an end too And if he shall why do we not war with him too upon presumption that we be the persons that shall put an end unto him Is it not rather to be feared that if Christians war with Christians and destroy one another the Turk may become Master of the West as he is already of the East especially if we consider that he came unto this height in which he is by the wars of the Christians among themselves 8. If it be lawful to have Peace with the Turk why not also with the Pope I suppose they will not say but that our Peace with the Turk is a lawful Peace and why not also with the Pope Pax cum hominibus cum vitiis bellum is a true and safe rule to go by we may and ought to be at Peace with the Men and at War only with the false Religion of the Men * Hear what Aretius saith of making War upon Papists Judaei expulerunt jure Cananaeos impias gentes Ergo nobis licet Papistas idololatras expellere non scquitur quia dissimilitudo est Illi mandatum habuerunt nos non habemus Problem Part. 2. pag. 995. The Jews did rightly expel the Cananites those wicked Gentiles therefore we may also expel the idolatrous Papists it follows not because the case is not alike They had a Commandment to do what they did but we have none And a little after he saith Elias sacerdotes Baal occidit 1 Reg. 18. Ergo nobis sacrificos Papisticos occidere licebit Non valet quia illicextat Dei Spiritus impellens qui vim mandati habet nos nullum tale babemus Elias slew the Priests of Baal 1 King 18. There are we may slay the Popish Mass Priests the consequence is of no force because he had the Spirit of God to inforce him to do what he did which is as good as a Commandment but we have no