rejected a Baptisme so performed shew it if it cannot be shewn to the contrary then the practise before mentioned is warrantable and as for a succession in your sense I have formerly shewn in conference that the succession of my Baptisme as it came from beyond Sea dispensed by one Doctor Cassol even so if reports be true there hath been a succession from the primitive Church I think the Church of Smarnah if I be not mistaken it was a considerable time since I was informed of it and had no thoughts then to make use of it neither is it in my understanding material but as to that its like that the ancient Churches in the low Countries can give a better account of it but what I have before said is sufficient to set a foot Christs Ordinances if they had been totally lost namely a call from Christ in his word and from his Spirit in the heart and conscience saying Go preach and make Disciples and Baptise them that are made Disciples and loe I am with you alwayes to the end of the World so that I should conclude that if God had called me and appointed me to do the greater work namely to preach so as to convert souls he had as well approved of me to have done the lesser work namely to Baptise considering that they are knit together so that he that may do one may also do the other admit of this argument its the very same that I gave to Mr. Henden at my first time of conference with him and was never yet answered which is If Christ have joyned Preaching and Baptizing together as unseperable companions unto the Worlds end then that person is not of God that seperates it Which practiseth one and not the other But Christ hath joyned Preaching and Baptizing together as unseperable companions unto the Worlds end Ergo Those persons that seperate them be not of God And secondly I further argue thus If those whom Christ hath gifted and authorized to preach he hath also authorized to Baptise then Baptizing depends upon the gifts and authority of Christ given forth and not upon a line of succession But those that Christ haâ—â— gifted and authorized to Preach he hath also authorized to Baptise Ergo Baptizing depends upon the gifts and authority of Christ given forth and not upon a line of succession The which is undenyably true both in the Major and Minor I further argue thus If the lesser is blessed of the greater then he that is approved of to do the greater may also do the lesser But the lesser is blessed of the greater Ergo such as are approved of to do greater may also do the lesser my meaning in plainness is thus whomsoever God approves of to preach which is a far greater work than Baptizing he also approveth of to Baptise considering also that they are joyned together to be practised as unseperable companions to the Worlds end read the Last Will and Testament of Jesus Christ Mat. 28.18 19 20. So then here lyeth the authority for Baptizing in our age and all ages and in this runneth the line of succession namely the faithful believer gifted from God to Preach and convert souls is the true blood as by way of allusion I may call it unto whom the line of succession runs or the line of succession runs in or to that race and so I shall leave this Objection and its particular attendances and come to shew my opinion of the travailing Woman and the Man-child and of his being caught up to God and to his Throne and of the Womans flight into the Wilderness and into what Wilderness and how long she shall abide there and of the remnant of her seed persecuted and by who and of the two Witnesses prophesying who they be and the place and time how long and such like things that are its attendance I shall speak to in their particular order as God shall assist me and so come to speak to the first thing considerable which is As touching this travailing Woman many have given their opinion but the most part have built upon the Judgment of ancient Expositors I do not speak by way of comtempt of them but do conclude that they were industrious in their day in the which time the vision of the Book spake more darkly but towards the end it is to speak more plainly and that which hath begot the monster brought forth in our times is the turning those Scriptures into alligories which are none which hath been the practise of the National Minister and also others to make up their matter have confounded Law and Gospel together and prophesies which peculiarly belong unto the natural seed of Abraham as such and applyed them to the Gentiles that it is come to such a monster in birth in our dayes that persons make an alligory of God and have said that he is the fire and candle and every thing which hath any light in it because the Scripture saith God is light I speak this of those that I know my self by my own knowledg and others have affirmed that Mount-Zion and the new Jerusalem and Adam and Christ and all is within them and in a few words I say that the alligorising of the Scriptures hath been a means to make so many opinions as there is amongst us I am a thinking how strangely our generation would have alligorized the words of the Prophets concerning Christs riding to Jerusalem upon a Coult the foal of an Ass and of the smiting the Judge of Israel and of the thirty pieces of silver and giving him vinegar to drink and many such like things which the Prophets prophesied concerning Christ and his sufferings which was fulfilled according to the letter of the word the which the generation of men in our dayes would have made strange stories upon it as they do upon things which is as litteral and plain and to be fulfilled according to the letter of the word I speak these things to that end that we may believe that King Jesus shall come and raign upon the Throne of David in Zion according to the letter of the word and that the Prophets that speak concerning Judah and Jerusalem their words shall be fulfilled but I pass this interposed discourse and come to speak to the travailing Woman who she is who is the man-child c. and these things briefly First The Woman I understand to be Zion namely the two Tribes Judah and Benjamin Secondly The Man-child I understand to be the Gentile Church Thirdly I understand the remnant of her seed was a small part that were left of the other ten Tribes when Samariah was surprized and taken in the dayes of Hosea by Salmonazer Fourthly The taking up the Man-child to God and to his Throne is the taking up of the Gentile Church which shall be first taken and the other left behind Fifthly The Wilderness spoken of into which the Woman is to flie I understand to be the
particular and come to the fifth which is Fifthly The fifth thing is the place into which the Woman is to flie and that I understand is into the Wilderness of Moab that she is to flie into a Wilderness is clear where she is to be hid from the face of the Serpent and to be nourished by the Lord that is by the Lords appointment and that he hath appointed her to flie from the Serpent that she may be hid from his face is clear from the words of the Text Revel 12.14 And secondly we may as plainly know what place she was to hide in or what place was to be her hiding place if we peruse the Scriptures as first that we may see that Moab or the Wilderness of Moab was to be her hiding place read Isa 16.1 3 4 5. in these words Send ye the Lamb to the ruler of the Land from Sela to the Wilderness unto the Mount of the Daughter of Zion take counsel execute judgement make thy shadows as the night in the midst of the noon day hide the outcasts bewray not him that wandreth Let my outcast dwell with thee Moab be thou a cover for them from the face of the spoiler for the extortioner is at an end the spoiler ceaseth the oppressors are consumed out of the Land And in mercy shall the Throne be established and he shall sit upon it in truth in the Tabernacle of David judging and seeking judgment and hastening righteousness c. From these words we may see that as God hath appointed the Woman to flie from the face of the spoiler even so he hath shewed us the place where even in the Wilderness of Moab there is the Lamb or the Present to be sent even to the Wilderness unto the Mount of the Daughter of Zion and that we may know also what Wilderness it is that the Lord sends the Woman into that she may hide her self from the face of the spoiler he tels us it is the Wilderness of Moab saying hide the outcast bewray not him that wandreth let my outcast dwell with thee Moab be thou a cover for them from the face of the spoiler From whence we may plainly see that the place that God had prepared for the Woman to flie into from the face of the Serpent was the Wilderness of Moab I could shew if time would admit how the Lord brought them thither it being as it were a type of things to come when they came out of Egypt when Edâ—m gave them not leave to pass thorow their country it being the place where Balaam was sent for to curse them by Balick King of Moab and what deceit Balick used as a means to destroy them by the counsel of Balaam all which was types of that which will be done to them in the latter day by Moab which causeth the Lord to complain in the very next verse Isa 16.6 against Moab saying we have heard of the pride and wrath of Moab and indeed there be many places as the foregoing chapter and many prophesies more speak of Moabs destruction because of his pride and cruelty against Israel so that the Lord will cause a Star out of Jacob and a Scepter out of Israel to destroy them at last according to Balaams Prophesie Num. 24.17 or at least to smite the corners of Moab and bring them down and this wrath of Moab to Israel is prophesied in several places as in Zeph. 2.8 9 10 11. and in many more but I leave this particular saying according to the text Revel 12. and Mich. 4 the woman was to go or flie out of the City into the field or Wilderness of Moab and to dwell there and Moab to be a hiding place to her from the face of the spoiler where she shall dwell in the field the time before spoken of and then go to Babylon and there be delivered according to the word of the Lord by Mich. 4. and thus we see that the Woman is to flie into the Wilderness yea God hath provided the place for her and allured her thither and will nourish her there Revel 12.17 Hosea 2.14 there is many Scriptures that proveth her being in the Wilderness and also it sheweth what Wilderness it is and that it relates to the very time of the end of Jacobs troubles is very clear I shall cite the Scriptures relating to this thing and so enter upon the sixth particular Isa 32.13 14 15 16 17 18. chap. 43.19.20 Hosea 2.14 Psal 55.5.6 and 74.9.14 and 120.5 Ezek. 20.34 35 36. chap. 34.25.26 Mich. 4.10 Isa 16.1 compared with the 4. chap. 35.1.6 Cant. 8.5 thus desiring thee to search into those Scriptures wherein thou maist see that the Woman before spoken of shall have a place prepared of the Lord in the Wilderness of Moab he having as it were bespoke or took up her quarters before hand saying Moab be thou a hiding place or let my outcast dwell with thee be thou a cover for them from the face of the spoiler and there he speaks comfortably to them and takes away all imperfection from them there that the lame man may leap as an Hart and the feeble amongst them as the Angels of God for there will the Lord speak with them face to face and they shall lay their hands upon Edod and Moab and the children of Ammon shall then obey them So shal he get them fame in all places where they have been put to shame Zeph. 3.19 20. And thus I come to the sixth particular which is the time of her abode in the Wilderness Sixthly As for the time of the Womans abode in the Wilderness and the trouble of the remnant of her seed which remain in Jerusalem I understand to be three years and an half in which time the two witnesses shall prophesie in sackcloath and that it is so read Revel 11.2 3. compared with chap. 12.6.14 and Dan. 7.25 chap. 12.7 in these words And to the Woman was given two wings of a great Eagle that she might flie into the Wilderness into her place where she is nourished for a time and times and halfe a time from the face of the Serpent Hide my outcast let my outcast dwell with thee Moab be thou a cover for them from the face of the spoilers and the Woman fled into the Wilderness where she hath a place prepared of God that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore dayes Send ye the Lamb to the Rulers of the Land from Sela to the Wilderness to the Mount of the Daughter of Zion for the Wilderness and Solitary placâ— shall be glad for them for in the Wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the Desart no Lyon shall be there nor ravenous Beast but the redeemed shall walk there c. Isa 6.1.3.4 chap. 35.1 6 9. From these Scriptures we may see that Moab is the Wilderness or hiding place for Zion into which she is to flee to be hid from the face of the
Wilderness of Moab Sixthly The time of her abode in the Wilderness is three years a half Seventhly The people to whom the two Witnesses shall prophesie is the small number of the ten Tribes then in Jerusalem Eightly The two witnesses I understand to be John who saw the vision in the vayl of Patmose and Elijah these things I shall speak to in particular and give my reason why I thus believe and leave the Reader to judge hoping that if any judge me to be deceived in the matter they will rather make me an Object of their pitty rather than an Object of their scorn and shew me their judgment upon the thing in particular and their reason why they so believe and I hope that I shall not slight it but peruse it and weigh it in the ballance of the Sanctuary and if it hold weight to own it and receive it but passing this I come to the matter and first to the first wich is First The Woman that travaileth spoken of in Revel 12.1 2 3 4. I understand to be Zion and Zion I understand to be the two Tribes which was called the Church of Judah and first that Zion is to be understood the two Tribes even Judah and Benjamin which Jeremiah prophesied unto which was carried into Babylon spoken of in his Lamentations chap. 1.17 in these words Zion spread forth her hands and there was none to comfort her she is called Zion more than ten times over and she to wit Judah and Benjamin bears the name Zion in respect of her place and City that God had placed her in which is called Zion the City of David at large in the Scripture and I think none will deny it which makes me forbear citing the Scripture And that this also in the Lamentations is so plainly spoken of Judah and Benjamin called by the name Zion that I think none can deny it that they which went into captivity and are called Zion read Lam. 1.3 4 6 8 17. Chap. 2.10 are to be understood Judah and Benjamin read Ezra 4.1 compared with Lam. 1.3 is also as plain so then where the Prophets speaks of Zion they mean either the City Zion which was a Mounâ— in Jerusalem which David made his seat which was so called or otherwise it is to be understood the worshippers of God or people in that place namely Judah and Benjamin as aforesaid and now having premised these things I come to prove that this travelling Woman is this Zion or Jerusalem viz. Judah and Benjamin the two Tribes for so I would be understood when I speak of Zion and that she is the Woman which is to travail and afterwards to flie into the Wilderness read Micah 4.7 8 9 10. in these words I will make HER that HALTETH a Remnant and HER that WAS CAST OFF a strong Nation and the Lord shall raign over them in MOVNT ZION from henceforth and for ever And thou O Tower of the flock the strong hold of the Daughter of ZION unto thee shall it come even the first dominion the KINGDOME SHAL COME TO THE DAVGHTER OF JERVSALEM Now why dost thou cry out aloud is there no King in thee is thy Counsellors perished for pangs have taken thee as a Woman in travail Be in pain and labour to bring forth O daughter of Zion like a Woman in travail for now thou shalt go forth out of the City and thou shalt dwell in the field and thou shalt go even unto Babylon there shalt thou be delivered there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hands of thy enemies From these words we may understand that the Woman spoken of which was to travail and bring forth was the two Tribes as from these words for pains have taken hold on THEE as on a Woman in travail Who THEE even THEE Judah which halted pains hath taken hold of THEE Why so Because there is no King in Thee and thy Counsellors are perished yet shall the first dominions come unto the daughter JERVSALEM so then that these people which are called Zion and Jerusalem in this Text is clearly to be understood the two Tribes for these Reasons First Because she is called her that halted and her that was cast off which is usually to be understood the Jews and not the Gentiles which is not called a People halting or cast off Secondly Because it is called by name ZION and JERVSALEM which the Gentiles were not it 's a name proper to the Jews even the two Tribes and not to the Gentiles Thirdly Because the Text saith that then shall the Law go forth of ZION and the word of the Lord from JERVSALEM relating to the time of the fulfilling of the Prophets when the Lord Jesus shall raign upon the Throne of his Father David over the House of Jacob namely the Jews to establish order and govern it in Jerusalem from henceforth and for ever Fourthly It further appears that the travelling Woman is the Jews read Jer. 30.3 4 5 6. in these words For loe the day cometh saith the Lord that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah saith the Lord and I will cause them to return to the Land that I gave their Fathers and they shall possess it And these were the words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah for thus saith the Lord we have heard a voyce of trembling of fear and not of peace wherefore do I see every man with his hands upon his loyns as a woman in travel it is even the time of Jacobs trouble but he shall be saved out of it From hence also we may see that the natural seed of Abraham viz. the Jews as a foresaid is the Woman that is to travel spoken of Revel 12. Fifthly It further appears that the travelling Woman is Zion viz. the Jews from the words of the Prophet Isa 66.6 7 8 9.10 which saith A voyce of noise from the City a voyce from the Temple a voyce of the Lord that rendreth recompence to his enemies before she TRAVELLED she brought forth before her pains came she was delivered of a MAN CHILD who hath heard of such a thing who hath seen such a thing shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day or shall a Nation be born at once for as soon as Zion travelled she brought forth her Children shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth saith the Lord shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb saith thy God Rejoyce ye with JERVSALEM and be glad with her all ye that love her so will I comfort you and ye shall be comforted in JERVSALEM From this Text we may also clearly see that the travelling Woman is Zion namely the inhabitants of Jerusalem even the Jews as is above expressed for here is the very Woman and the Man-child mentioned which John spake of in Revel 12. and I do not find that the Scripture in any place else speaks of
a Woman and a Man-child agreeing with the Text Revel 12. save this Text Isa 66.6 7 8 9 10. which speaks as it were the very same there is in many places spoken of Zions travel but not the word MAN-CHILD used so that we are to understand that this is the Text which giveth us light to understand who is the Woman and who is her Son or Child and we see that it is clearly applyed to the Jews the Mother and the Gentiles the Man-child for there is the word Zion and Jerusalem mentioned in the Text and the Gentiles sucking of her breast a metaphor of a Woman and her Child but more of this anon but from what is already said it appears that the travelling Woman is Zion and also Zion is to be understood the two Tribes and so I shall pass this and come to the second thing namely to shew who is this Man-child spoken of Revel 12. which is Secondly The Man-child I understand to be the Gentile Church even all the faithful in the primitive times and downwards amongst whom there was a few Jews but not a number worth speaking of in consideration of the whole House of Judah nor in comparison of the Gentiles but as it were a tenth according to the words of the Prophet Isaiah chap. 6.10 11 12 13. and that the converted Gentiles or Gospel Church is to be understood the Man-child spoken of by John Revel 12. I shall give these Scriptures and Scripture Reasons following to prove it And in the first place I shall shew that the Prophet Isaiah who clearly prophesied of the same thing that John saw even the Woman and Man-child sheweth us that the Woman is to be understood Zion or Jerusalem namely the People called by that name which were the Jews and her Man-child to be the Gentile Church as you may read Isaiah 66.7 8 9 10 11 12 13. in these words Before she travelled she brought forth before her pain came she was delivered of a MAN-CHILD From this verse we see that there is a Man-child spoken of which was to be brought forth agreeing with the Text Revel 12. only this Text saith that before she travelled she brought forth and the Text Revel 12.2 saith she being with child cried travelling in birth pained to be delivered These two Texts of Scripture speak of one and the same thing and yet seems to contradict one another the which I shall reconcile the word Travel I understand to be meant this that Judah being forsaken of her God and given up to be made a Wanderer amongst the Nations was to be sorrowful as in a pained travelling condition until the fulness of the Gentiles and this is that which is to be understood from the Text Revel 12. where it saith she cried travelling in birth and pained to be delivered and then at that time shall the Lord take away the vail of unbelief and then shall they see Jesus and acknowledge him to be their God which they have waited for Isa 25.9 and yet her persecution after that time will be great although it shall endure but for a short time for in the very time of the Gentiles being taken up until the Lord shall descend upon the Mount of Olives it is called the time of Jacobs trouble and such a day of trouble as never was since there was a Nation upon the earth Dan. 12.1 2 3. Zech. 14.1 2 3 4. Jer. 30. So then although the Church of Judah was given up for her unbelief made a wanderer among the Nations yet nevertheless her trouble will be greater in that nick of time thorow Moabs treachery and the great Antichrists violence although the time of her trouble will be very short than even it was afore time and that caused the Prophet Isaiah to say BEFORE she travelled she brought forth BEFORE her pains came she was dâ—vered of a MAN-CHILD implying that she was to travel and be pained afterwards for so saith the Text BEFORE she travelled and BEFORE her pains came implying that she was to travel and be in pain but she was to bring forth first so that she was to have pain and travail after her bringing forth the Man-child and yet notwithstanding this very Text that saith Before she travelled she brought forth also saith that as soon as Zion travelled she brough forth her Children The sum of all is this that Zion or the Church of Judah was given up unto unbelief and to be scattered amongst the Nation until she brought forth the Man-child namely until the fulness of the Gentiles and so to be in a suffering condition and also after she was delivered of the Man-Child she must flie into the Wilderness and there to be in a sorrowful condition and in pain and travail as it were until all her children be brought forth even the ten Tribes also which were carried away by Salmonazar in the dayes of Hosea be brought back and made one Sheep-fould so as not to be divided into two Nations any more at all that the first dominions may come to the daughter of Zion and that they are called the Womans seed is clear for we may see that the small number of the ten Tribes which were not of Judah and yet lived amongst them since the dayes of Hosea are called the remnant of her seed Revel 12. which cannot rationally be understood any other people but a small number of the ten Tribes as I could shew from the Prophets at large but because of the want of time I pass from this Objection or the reconciliation of the Text Isa 66. with Revel 12. and come to give you Reasons drawn from the Scriptures to prove the Gentile Church to be the Man-child spoken of in Revel 12. and so to the first which is First Because the Text Isa 66. imports so much in these words Then shall ye suck ye shall be born upon her sides and dandled upon her knees as one whom HIS Mother comforteth so will I comfort you and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem and that this is spoken of the Gentiles that shall flow in or be converted is clear from the first clause of the verse in these words Isa 66.12 For thus saith the Lord behold I will extend peace to her like a river and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream Then shalt thou see and flow together and thine heart shall fear and be enlarged because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee Chap. 60.6 So that Judah is to be troden under foot in a sorrowful pained and travelling condition till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in and then there shall be a participation of each others glory as the Gentiles shall suck of her breast and milk out and rejoyce in the abundance of her glory even so shall she afterwards when her child viz. the Gentile Church is come to full age namely when it shall descend with
these words I will rejoyce in Jerusalem and joy in my people and the voyce of weeping shall be heard no more in her nor the voyce of crying there shall be no more thence an infant of dayes nor an old man that hath not filled his dayes for the child shall die an hundred years old and the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed c. From whence we may see that there will be some even the Jews who shall live in the flesh before their change and yet Christ shall be with them in Jerusalem And where it is said in Revel 21. That there shall be no more death that relates to the time when Christ shall have given up his Mediatorship into the hands of God the Father after the last Judgment spoken of in Revel 20. and I think it cannot be rationally imagined that Christ should raign over the House of David in Jerusalem a thousand years and no Generations to come into the world and pass out of it again yea it is certain that Christ shall dwell in Zion in Jerusalem and Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited and abide for ever even from Generation to Generation so that there shall be coming into the world and going out of it again which is understood by the word from GENERATION TO GENERATION Isa 60.15 Joel 3.20 So then it is certain that some shall live in the flesh in the Kingdome of Christ yea even all the Jews that live to his coming and are not before converted unto Gospel obedience shall live in their flesh and not be changed at the present but shall be judged by the Gospel Saints and so pass in their Generations gradually as the Scripture declares the which I before have spoken of and thus I pass the first thing although more might be said to it but enough to prove that there shall be some living in the flesh even the Jews when Christ cometh and also in the time of his Kingdome And Secondly all the Gentile Saints shal be with Christ before he shal descend upon the Earth for they shall be caught up into the Clouds to meet him shall come with him descend with him that they shall all be caught up to meet him in the ayre and come with him is clear if we compare the words of Paul and the words of the Apostle Jude together which saith the dead in Christ shall rise first and we that are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the Clouds to meet the Lord in the ayre and so shall we be for ever with the Lord For behold the Lord shall come with ten thousand of his Saints 1 Thes 4.17 Jude 14. yea saith Zech. 14.5 The Lord thy God shall come and ALL SAINTS with him from whence we may see that the Saints yea all the faithful Gentiles are to be caught up to God and to his Throne to meet Christ and yet the Jews to live and remain in their flesh and to have Christ their King raigning over them in Jerusalem from generation to generation which being truly weighed it amounts to this that the Woman flying into the Wilderness is the Jews and that the Man-child which before is caught up to God is the Christian Gentiles and thus much as to the third reason to prove that the Gentile Church is the Man-child spoken of in Revel 12. although I could speak more unto it if time would admit of it but time would faile me to speak to these things in particular because they be very large and as the thing it self is not so pleain and easie to be understood as some other subjects are even so the proof of Scriptures relating to it is more dubious and wants a larger explication than other Scriptures to other subjects want for there is to the proof of this thing much in Mich. 5. from the 3. verse to the end of the Chapter and many other places speak to this thing but what hath been said is sufficient to prove the Woman to be Zion namely Judah and the Man-child to be the Christian Gentiles for as the Woman is to travail and be in pain even so it is until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in Rom. 11. to bring forth the fulness of the Gentiles and also the restoring the other ten Tribes the remnant of his brethren into their former capacity and to a better estate than that of the first when the envie of Ephraim shall depart so as that Ephraim shall not envie Judah nor Judah vex Ephraim any more at all and the Man-child is clearly seen to be the faithful Gentiles because they are to rule all Nations with a rod of Iron as is promised to the Church of Thyatirah and as they are to rule all Nations with a rod of Iron even so they are to be caught or taken up to meet the Lord in the ayre and the other to be left behind for as they are to be Christs glorious army and seen in Heaven even so they shall descend with him and are called Prince decreeing judgment Isa 32. and Saviours coming on Mount-Zion judging the Mount of Esau when the Kingdoms shall be the Lords and they judging the twelve Tribes of Israel but I shall leave this and come to the opening of the other things before mentioned in the which I shall be very brief at present yet full enough to shew the truth of it and so I pass to the third thing in order which is the remnant of her seed Thirdly as touching the remnant of her seed we may observe the words as they lie which is thus read Revel 12.17 And the Dragon was wrath with the Woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed which kept the Commandements of God and have the Testimony of Jesus from whence we may take notice that there is not only a Man-child brought forth by the Woman that is to rule all Nations with a rod of Iron which is caught up unto God and to his Throne before the Woman flieth into the Wilderness but also there remaineth a remnant of her seed that the Dragon makes war withal when he seeth he cannot devour the Man-child nor carry away the Woman with the floud which he cast forth out of his mouth now the remnant of her seed is as well mentioned in Isa 66. as in Revel 12 17. for there is mention made of the Man-child saying Before she travailed she brought forth before her pains came she was delivered of a Man-child and with all saith Who hath heard of such a thing shall the earth be made to bring forth at one day or a Nation be born at once for as soon at Zion travailed she brought forth her Children Isa 66 8. So then as here is spoken of a Man-child even so here is spoken of Children which agreeth with Revel 12.17 where there is mention made of the remnant of her seed so then as the Christian Gentiles are the Man-child