't is not that which the H. Ghost would immediately describe because he would that we should be kept ignorant of it So that those Descriptions have an immediate relation to the flourishing State of the Church in the last Period and by analogy they may be transfer'd to the blessings of Paradise 2. Type the Rest after the Babylonish captivity The Captivity of Babylon was doubtless another Type of the Captivity of the Church under Antichrist and therefore the Papacy is called the City of Babylon and after that Captivity the People returned to their own Land and lived peaceably there So doubtless the Church being delivered from the bondage of Antichrist shall return to its rest here on Earth 3. Type the Rest after the persecution under Antiochus The Persecution of Antiochus was also a Type of the Persecution which the Church hath suffered under Antichrist Now after the three years and half of that Persecution the People of the Iews returned to the possession of their Temple and rose to a more flourishing condition than they had ever been in since their coming out of Babylon 4 Type the number seven which is so often mentioned I leave these and many other Types which may be found to insist on one which I find to be very evident and convincing 'T is that which may be found in the number of seven 'T will be granted that this is a mysterious and sacred number and that it signifies perfection 'T is on this account it is mentioned so often in the Apocalypse There are seven Churches seven Stars seven Candlesticks seven Spirits seven Lamps seven Eyes seven Horns of the Lamb seven Plagues seven Trumpets seven Thunders seven Viols So in the Books of Moses the seventh day is Holy and the seventh year was the year of Rest and the seven times seventh year was the great Jubilee The living Creatures entred into the Ark by sevens the first-born of every beast remained seven days with its Dam the male Children were to be seven days old before they were circumcised the Candlestick of the Tabernacle had seven Lamps a Woman after her uncleanness a Leper after he was cured of his leprosy were to be purified for seven days It would be too long to recite all the Examples of this nature which might be mentioned for the number seven is almost every where to be found For what reason is it so who sees not that this number signifies Completion and Perfection and of what can it signify the Perfection if not of the greatest work of God that for which all his other works were wrought that is the Church If then the 7th the be every where sacred why is not the seventh Period reckoning from the creation of the World also sacred and a Period of perfection It will be said the number seven is sacred because of the seventh day which was consecrated to the service of God but why hath God chosen the seventh day to be holy and a day of rest for man is it not plainly to signify that the seventh day or the seventh Period of the Church shall be a time of Holiness Tranquility and Peace The 7th day of the Creation a type of the seventh period of the Church The seventh day they farther tell us was consecrated to Rest and Holiness because God created the World in six days and rested on the seventh Behold now we are at the Spring Head and can rise no higher but here also we shall find an excellent Type of our seventh Period 'T is here I would ask with boldness Wherefore God created the World in six days and rested on the seventh Why did he not imploy five days eight ten or twelve in the work of Creation but precisely seven Certainly the infinite wisdom of God will not permit that he should do any thing without reason Here is this reason because he intended to hold the Church in an imperfect state for six Periods of Time labouring in that great work for which he made all others and causing it successively to pass through seven degrees We must not say that the Sabbath the seventh day on which God rested was the image of that great Rest into which the Church is to be brought after he shall have compleated it upon Earth for the seventh Period ought to bear proportion to the other six whereas Eternity hath none with Time much less with one day So that the seventh Period cannot be the Eternal Rest It must be a Time that bears proportion to the six preceding Periods As then after six days of labour God finisht his work by a day to which he affixt Holiness and Rest as its Characters there must likewise be for the Church after six days of sins and sufferings one last day that is to be distinguisht by those two Seals Peace and Holiness upon Earth Not but that the Sabbath is also a figure of the Eternal Rest but 't is because these thousand years of Peace and Holiness on Earth shall be the image of that perfect Peace and Holiness which the Church shall injoy in Heaven and so 't is a mediate Type of the Eternal Rest These thousand years I confess have no proportion with Eternity but it is not to be a Type in the duration of the Time but in respect of the state of Peace and Holiness Images of the Coelestial Peace So these thousand years may be Types of the Heavenly Glory but the seventh day could not be the immediate Type because of what was said before Because the seventh day of the Creation is a Period of the same nature with the six preceding and which by consequent ought to bear proportion to them It will be said that 'T is easy to make these suppositions hut difficult to prove them But I have a sure Method for the proof of this when the several parts of a System support one another even therein they are proved in an Hypothesis that is false there is alway some part inconsistent with it self Now I will make it evident that the seven days of the Creation do perfectly answer to the seven Periods of the Church that in every one of those days such works were wrought which were exact Emblems of the Events which have happened and of the things which were done in every Period of the Church answering to every day If I make it evident that in the six Periods of the duration of the Church which are past we have seen those things which were painted out by the six days of the Creation so that the first Period contains that which was figur'd by the work of the first day the second Period that of the second and so of the rest if I say I can do this methinks it will then be proved that what was done in the seventh day of the Creation is the image of that which shall be done in our seventh Period of the Church The parts of this System do admirably support one
In the sixth Period near the end whereof we now are God will compleat his Church by the ruin of Antichrist and bring the Kingdom of Christ upon Earth to its perfection This should be well remembred that the Church in the Type of the Creation appears under four Emblems 1. As the Earth buried and covered under waters 2. As a dry Land above the waters and bearing fruit 3. As a Moon inlightened by the Sun. 4. And lastly as the Woman And our Lord Jesus appears there under three Emblems 1. As the Light of the first day without or before the Sun. 2. As the Sun. 3. Under the Emblem of the Man. The Church in her first state before the Law was as the Earth under water she was obscure and as it were buried among the Nations In her second state under the Law she was as a discovered Land distinguisht and known and bearing fruit but yet she was but Earth i. e. not very considerable In her third state under the Gospel she appears as a Moon a rival of the Sun imitating his Light and therein she is more glorious than the Earth This is the Apostolical Church so glorious and full of knowledge In the fourth state she appears as the woman taken out of the side of Adam closely united with him being one Body and one Flesh 'T is in the last Period that she shall be more united to Christ than before In the fourth Period she is as the Moon and notwithstanding the nearest approaches of the Sun there remain vast distances between them But towards the end of the sixth Period and throughout the seventh her union unto Christ shall be immediate and intimate as that of a Wife with her Husband therefore the Church in this seventh Period is represented as a Spouse which was to be brought to the Lamb. On the other hand Jesus Christ appears under three Emblems In the fourth Period as a Sun which scatters the darkness of Idolatry Paganism and Ignorance that covered the face of the Earth This Sun is plac't in the fourth point just in the middle of the seven to let us know that he is the Center of the Church the Sun which gives light before and behind to the preceding Ages and to those which follow him Towards the end of the sixth Period and throughout the seventh he is A man to whom God gives dominion over the Fowls of the Air the Fish of the Sea and creeping things and four-footed Beasts i. e. That Christ in this last Period shall be Lord and King who shall rule over the Birds tame the boldest and most aspiring spirits who mount even unto the Heavens he shall humble them and keep 'em within the bounds of their duty over the Fish of the Sea to deliver'em from their corruption over Creeping things to destroy the influence of their poison over wild Beasts to tame their fierceness and render them meek as Lambs In the first day Jesus Christ was figured but by a dim Light because in the first Period of the Church he vouchsaf't her but a very imperfect knowledge of himself This methinks is the Mystery of the six days which way well serve as a favourable omen in reference to the seventh day The mystery of the seventh day of the Creation because every thing therein seems to accord well what then is wanting to the World after the works of the six daye to render it perfect Holiness and Rest and these are the two Things which God added on the seventh day Holiness for he Sanctified the seventh day and thereby the rest of the World. Rest for till then God had been at work and the World in Motion Now God gave the World that Rest which it wanted in that he himself rested on the seventh day All this is an admirable Emblem of our seventh Period for the sake whereof all this explication of the Type of the Worlds Creation hath been given During the six days God made the Church to pass through several changes he will bring it to perfection at the end of the sixth by the ruin of the Antichristian Kingdom and by the Conversion of all Nations What then is wanting to it Rest and Holiness Rest for hitherto she hath always been in toyl and Travel Holiness for she hath alway been imperfect We must therefore look for a seventh Period which shall be a Kingdom of Rest and Holiness wherein the Church shall no more be persecuted either by Fire and Sword or by Heresy and Idolatry wherein also there shall be a plentiful effusion of the H. Spirit to produce a great degree of Holiness and Sanctification among men This mystery shall be accomplisht upon Earth We must not say that the accomplishment of this Type will be found in Heaven where is Rest and Holiness and that therein is the mystery of the seventh day I say again that cannot be meant because this seventh Period must be of the same kind and order with the other six We even now observed that the Sun was created on the fourth day there are three days before and three after exactly in the middle of the seven to signify that Christ the Son of Righteousness is the Center of the intelligible World. If he be the Center of the seven Periods he must certainly have an equal reference to all the points of that Circumference Now what relation can he have to the seventh day if Eternity be meant by it In that Eternal abode Christ shall have no more the relation of a Center a Sun and a King. For St. Paul tells us that then God shall be all in all and Christ shall deliver up the Kingdom again to his Father Moreover 't is certain there ought to be a proportion between the seventh Period and the six fore-going ones Now there is none between Eternity and the duration of the Church upon Earth And lastly I am bold to say that the ancient Types were not establisht by God immediately to figure Heavenly Things but only the Graces and Favors of God in this World under the Kingdom of the Messiah You cannot show me any one of the ancient Types which hath an immediate relation to the glories of the Heavenly Paradise The marriage of Adam and Eve was the immediate Type of the Vnion between Christ and his Church in the Kingdom of his Grace It did only mediately typify their Vnion in the Kingdom of Glory By consequence this seventh day which all acknowledge to be Typical must have its immediate relation not to the Sabbath of the Church in Heaven but to its State of Rest upon Earth CHAP. XXIII A farther Confirmation of the future prosperity of the Church upon Earth The 21 and 22. Chap. of the Apocalypse interpreted that in those Chapters the Church is described as victorious upon Earth and not as Triumphant in Heaven WE may not pass from the Apocalyps without saying somewhat concerning the last Chapters If we needed another Head of Arguments to
render them capable of receiving celestial and sublime Truths 6. Lastly God possest the Heathen with a contempt of Idolatry and Idols They were disgusted and sick of their Gods The false Oracles of Daemons ceas't their Priests lost their reputation and all the World breath'd after a change without knowing why I find something like this at present 1. Since the last Age God hath revived the Light and knowledge of the Sciences which was almost stifled and extinguisht under the barbarism of Scholastick Learning In the last Century God caused the knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew Tongues to revive which was of such use for the understanding of the Holy Scripture and the confutation of Heresy and Idolatry that the Papists do not scruple to say that 't is that which hath undone them In this Century the Providence of God hath carried the acuteness and delicacy of mens minds to that degree that it may truly be said that the most inlightned and refined Ages past were barbarous in comparison with this The speculative Sciences and true Philosophy are brought to that Perfection that all that we had before may be reckoned simplicity and ignorance This new Philosophy doth open and inlarge the mind and the light we receive from modern Philosophers doth help very much to scatter that thick darkness which the Philosophy of the Schools had cast upon the Doctrines of Religion We shall shortly know of what use the new Philosophy may be to destroy those Monsters of Transsubstantiation and the Real Presence 2. I look upon the long Voyages of our Europaeans the discoveries made of new Countries in the East and West and the improvement of the Art of Navigation to be a means which God prepares for the fullfilling that great Promise that concerns the full Conversion of the Gentiles Why did God reserve the Invention of the Sea Compass to these last times why was it not known three or four hundred years ago what it was to sail upon the Ocean far from the shore was there less curiosity covetousness or industry among men formerly than now for what reason would God that one half of the World should live in ignorance of the other for so long a time Why hath God in these latter days more visibly favour'd the designs which men have always had to inrich themselves by Commerce and Trade going in pursuit of riches to the end of the World for my own part I cannot but look upon this as a work of a most wise Providence discovering to us unknown People whose Conversion he intends to bring about within a short Time. 3. I consider the great number of half Christians which the Popish Missions make in the Indies to be just as those Proselytes of the Gate which the Iews made they were properly neither Iews nor Christians but were the seed of Christianity These Eastern Converts which are made by Papists are neither Heathens nor Christians but they will be the first part of the Harvest which God intends to have among those People and after they are fully converted they will be very serviceable for the Conversion of those who as yet are altogether Pagans 4. I admire the depth of Divine Providence that by insensible steps and degrees disposeth the Mahumetan Nations for Conversion For this we need but consult the second Book of the Present Stave of the Ottoman Empire Lib. 2. Chap. 2. by Mr. Ricaut In that History we meet with a Sect of Mahumetans called Haictites who believe that the Messiah took a true natural Body and that being Eternal he became Incarnate as the Christians believe Wherefore they have inserted this Article into their confession of Faith that Christ shall come to judge the World at the last day For the proof whereof they cite a Text out of the Alckoran in these words O Mahomet thou shalt see thy Lord who shall come again in the Clouds For though they dare not positively interpret this of J. Christ yet they boldly affirm that this is fore-told of the Messiah and in their ordinary discourse they confess that this Messiah can be no other than Iesus who is to return into the World with the same flesh which he assum'd The same Author tells us That there is an opinion generally received among the Turks within a few years Chap. 12. which is entertained by the best people of the Seraglio common enough at Constantinople They who profess to believe it are called Chup Messahites i. e. the good Partisans or followers of the Messiah They hold that Christ is God and that he is the Redeemer of the World. The young Scholars in the Court of the grand Seignior are generally of this opinion perticularly the most polite and civilized and well bred among them Insomuch that 't is a form of speech very much in use among them when they would praise any one to say to him Chup Messahisen you are very civil and obliging as he should be who makes profession of the service of the Messiah There are a multitude of these People Constantinople and there have been some who have maintained this Doctrine which so much courage that rather than quit it they have chosen to suffer martyrdom There is another Sect called Eschrakites P. 407. They who profess it addict themselves very much to the contemplation of the Idea of the Divinity and the numbers that are in God. For though they hold the Vnity of God they nevertheless admit the Trinity also as a number proceeding from Unity They explain that thought by the example of three Pleats or folds in an Handkerchief which may be called three though it be but one piece of cloth when it is unfolded These are no great Admirers of the Alchoran they only make use of that which they find agrees with their Principles and reject the rest as if it were abolisht Believing that the chief Good of man consists in the Contemplation of the Majesty of God they despise the dreams and gross imaginations of Mahomet concerning the Pleasures of Paradise All the Schecs and the most able Preachers of the Royal Mosques are of this Sect. They are very diligent in their devotions and sober in their dyet c. They have also a great deal of Charity for their Neighbours saying they are the Creatures of God c. They instruct their Scholars to be moderate wise and grave in a word to abstain from all evil Actions and to practise all Vertues One step farther and these People will be much better Christians than the Greeks who have the name and Profession of Christians A general disposition in the world to despise and forsake Popery 5. The sensible Fall and declension of the Papacy is a fifth sign of that great work which God is making way for It seems to be furious to reign and get ground nevertheless in truth it is falling for as God discredited the Religion of the Pagan Idols a little before the coming of our Lord Iesus Christ so he
believe nevertheless that you will find that Truth better cleared and made more manifest than hitherto it hath been This Controversie about Antichrist hath languisht for an hundred years it hath been unhappily abandon'd on a politick account and in obedience to Popish Princes 'T is a wicked Complaisance for which we are punisht and which hath cost us very dear for if we had perpetually exposed this Great and important Truth before the Eyes of the Protestants that the Papacy is Antichristianism they would not have fallen into that degeneracy and apostacy which we see at present How could they have resolved within themselves to submit to Antichrist and return to his Party But 't is so long since they heard it so called that they have forgot it They thought it was only a transport of zeal in the first Reformers from which we were now come off There was something in that neglect and forgetfullness which seems to discover the finger of God He would that this horrible catastrophe should happen and to that end permitted that this important Truth should be neglected and those controversies only which were but accessory should be minded and that this should be pass't over that the Papacy is the Antichristian Empire they who for want of giving heed to that Truth are fallen ought now to think of it and tremble to consider that they have voluntarily plung'd themselves again into that Babylon out of which God had so wonderfully delivered them In my opinion this is so fundamental a Truth that without it a man cannot be a true Christian to confound the Kingdom of J. Christ with that of Antichrist is an unsufferable Fault in some Ages for certain God hath permitted that Ignorance but we are not now in those times we must now declare for one party and stand our ground There is no Communion between Christ and Belial between the Prince of light and that Destroyer who is truly an Angel of Darkness that Controversy was so much stifled and laid asleep that our Adversaries believed it dead and thought that we had renounc't that Principle and the ground of all our Reformation for I cannot believe the Reformation to have been on a good foundation but on this account Some Protestants the reproach and shame not only of the Reformation but of the Christian name have contributed to efface these Ideas from the minds of men by turning to another sense what the H. Ghost saith of the Antichristian Empire making such Commentaries of the scripture as overthrow the design and meaning of it forging Histories at pleasure by that means to find the accomplishment of S. Iohn's Prophecies in the first ages of the Church At present therfore we must revive that Truth which we had almost suffered to dye This is the Time when we must indeavour to open the Eyes of the Princes and People of the Earth for behold now is the Time when they ought to eat the flesh of the Beast and burn it with fire strip naked the whore and tear off her ornaments and make a full end of Babylon Within a little while these great Things must come to pass 't is high time then to awaken men in order to it This is what I attempt in the first part of this work wherein I discover after another manner than hath been done hitherto the true Characters of that Antichristian Empire In which I must acknowledg my great obligations to my forementioned Author Joseph Mede for no man hath taken pains upon that subject with so much success as he You will see the admirable Type of Antichrist in the famous Antiochus carried farther than ever it hath been and the explication of the three years and half or 1260 days much clearer than ever hitherto it hath been made But I must here advertise that to comprehend the full force of my Arguments to prove the Papacy to be the Antichristian Empire to the reading of this work you must add that of my Lawful Prejudices against Popery for in that book you will find the proof of all the Characters of the Antichristian Empire inlarged I mean not only those Chapters wherein the explication of some passages in the Prophecies concerning Antichrist I apply them to the Pope and his Empire I speak principally of those Chapters where I describe the Corruption Covetousness Pride Idolatry Paganism the fabulous and lying Spirit of Popery all characters of Antichristianism as in this work is shown I desire all those who have any care of their salvation to Read those two pieces and I dare be confident that all those who have not a seared Conscience will be sensibly affected with what they shall there find and conceive a just Horror for that Religion which hath held the Truth under so long and cruel a Captivity That I may render my Lawfull Prejudices the more usefull to my design which is to make the Papacy appear to be the true Antichristianism I am resolved according to the advice that hath been given me to abridge it but instead of making a pure and simple abridgment I shall in contracting it change the Prejudices into so many Characters of Antichristianism and show that there is no one of those Prejudices but is a character of the Antichristian Empire If any thing retards this design it will be my desire to see whether Mr. Arnaud will make good the promise of F. Simon and reply to that Book So that when I Abridge that Book I may at the same time refute the Sophisms Mr. Arnaud is preparing This first part regards the Time past The second part contains the explication of Things Future or rather of those which we believe are yet to come there are many things therin which will certainly be surprizing to you as they were to me and if you read with any favourable opinion what I say upon the 11th 14th and 16th Chapters of the Apocalyps I cannot believe you will have much different Thoughts from mine I will not call them Conjectures let them be such to others I consent but as to me there is something more for I think I have discovered which are the two parts of the Fall of Babylon whereof one is called the Harvest the other the Vintage I believe that I have found the seven viols of the 16th Chap. to be already poured out which were supposed to be yet to come which to me is an argument that the Reign of Antichrist is near its end I know not whether others have discovered any thing of this before me I pretend not to have perused all the Modern Commentators on the Apocalyps on the Contrary I have read very few of them having experienc't that the diversity of Ideas that remain in the mind serve but to obscure the Truth and cause one to lose it Some I consulted before I made this second Ediction but I found nothing capable to make me alter my sentiments or that could furnish me with any new light Dr. Moore is
another the System it self will be its own proof This is that I am about to do by giving here the full explication of this wonderfull Type of the Creation in which we may say that God hath concealed some of his greatest mysteries under an adorable obscurity which hath never hitherto been perfectly cleared CHAP. XX. The Type of the Creation hath not been well explained We must make a System of it Principles to establish that System the division of the duration of the Church into seven Periods answering to the seven days of the Creation The Type of the Creation is difficult to be expounded IT must needs be that the Mysteries of the Type of the Creation are not obvious and easy to be explained since from the time they have been inquired into they have not hitherto been perfectly discovered There are many things sensible therein that appear at first view and are obvious to all the World as the Light of the first day signifying spiritual Illumination the Sun of Righteousness in the Sun that was created on the fourth day Adam as the figure of the second Adam Eve the Image and figure of the Church There needs no labour to search into those Mysteries for the Holy Scripture doth clearly enough instruct us therein But for the doubtful Mysteries those especially of the second third fifth and sixth days I know not whether they have hitherto been met with A judgement upon the Type of the Creation as explained by Placaeus There hath nothing appeared on this subject so handsom and ingenious as that which hath been done by Placaeus However I may be confident without being rash that he hath not discovered the true Mysteries thereof The first fault he is guilty of is that he did not make a System of those Mysteries and of the seven days of the Creation This is the reason why he doth not maintain his ground but runs presently into things improbable There is nothing more lively or more taking than that which he hath conceived concerning the first three days In the first he finds the Illumination of man being ignorant in the second the work of Justification of man being a sinner in the third the Sanctification of man being unholy and it must be confest that so far nothing could be more happy and argue greater strength of Imagination These are excursions out of the way 't is true but they are ingenious They are perticularly furprizing to those who know that this great man always addicted himself to disputations against Hereticks which he managed after the way of the Schools than which nothing doth more dull the fancy and cause a barren imagination When he comes to the fourth day it is no longer so and he is not so happy he cannot but see there Jesus Christ and the Church in the Sun and Moon as all others pretend but he is sufficiently puzled to make the connection between this fourth day and the preceding ones He is yet less happy as to the two last days He would have the Birds and the Fishes of the fifth day to signify the service of God that the Fishes do signify good motions of the heart and the Birds visible and outward acts In the Beasts of the field created on the sixth day he finds the Christian vertues All this is forced and however he stretcheth his fancy to get through it yet he doth not succeed It may be said without doing him any injustice that except the three first days of the Creation there is nothing at all well conceived in that work of the Types The other fault of Placeaus is that he took for the object of his Type of the Creation Man to be delivered from misery Homo a miseria liberandus whereas 't is certain we must look there for the Church to be establisht Ecclesia Constituendae This is the great work of God next to his own glory 't is the chief and only end of his works 'T was for the sake of the Church that he created the World and made all things about this he hath been imployed from Everlasting and will be so to Everlasting 'T is the Spouse of Christ t is his other self we ought to find her every where as God hath given her some place in all his works Particulars were made for the Church and not the Church for them Therefore we ought not to look for the Type of the deliverance of Man in the Creation any farther then we can therein find the Church in which men are re-establisht and delivered I therefore find my self obliged to proceed farther in this inquiry finding nothing at all in that which hath been said by others wherein I can perfectly acquiesce But that I may not fall into the same faults which I have observed in others 't is necessary that good Principles be laid down and a well connected System made I. Principles there is certainly some mystery in the work of Creation I. The first of our Principles is this That every thing is full of mysteries in that great work of the Creation I suppose this principle because it will be generally granted by those for whose sake I write as for those who will have nothing to be found here but the Letter and the History they deserve not to be considered If their opinion be no Heresy it comes very near one 't is unworthy of a Divine and I am bold to say unworthy of an understanding Christian He must very little have studied the Divine conduct who doth not take notice of its depth and that incomparably more is concealed than discovered Methinks the Iewish Cabalists have a good remark upon it they say God hath made three Worlds for one another and that he hath put his Signet and his Seal upon the superior World in such a manner and with such a force that its impression descends to every thing even to the lowest in this inferior World. I leave the proof of it to men of Contemplation and am not at leasure for the present to make it out but it seems certain and apparent to me God himself in his essence is that exemplar and original seal he hath every where imprinted the seal and image of his essence in the World of Glory in that of Grace and in the lowest also that of Nature therefore 't is that the Divine image appears every where and every where the same for 't is the same seal hath penetrated all those different things Deus solet uno sigillo varias materias signare said Renchlin There are three sorts of People who read the Scripture The simple and ignorant who are altogether so studied and deep Divines who only are truly Divines and those who are but superficial ones The first are the Lambs born to eat the grass which grows on the surface of these fields I do not impute it to them as a fault not to penetrate farther But I know not how to pardon those pretended Divines who
Abraham it began to assume a new form she had then Sacraments and the distinction of People began By Moses the Church took another form quite different from the Preceding By Christ she became incomparably more perfect By the rise and growth of Antichrist the Church was intirely changed By Antichrist's being at the Height the Corruption was also at the Highest and at length by the fall of Antichrist she must put on another face This being supposed that the seven Periods answer to the seven days we must observe in every of those Periods such Events and such things as answer to the several works of the Creation done on every day so that what was made on the first day may resemble that which happened in the first Period of the Church and that which was done on the second day be the image of what happened in the second Period and so of the following If we find a perfect correspondence between the Copies and the Original between the Types and the things which we pretend were represented by them we shal have reason to believe that 't is some what more than a sport of wit or the effect of Fancy and Imagination which is the next thing we are to consider CHAP. XXI The Explication of the Mysteries signified by the Chaos by the Creation of Light by the separation of the Waters and by the Creation of the Plants The first days of the Creation and the three first Periods of the Church I Intend not to stay long upon what is well known and hath been said already and therefore shall speak but little of the Chaos We see plainly that this confused Mass without form and void which was properly nothing but a vast Abyss covered with darkness was the image of that sad estate to which sin had reduced the World. It was without form spoiled and defaced by sin for it had nothing at all of beauty It way confused for every thing there was in disorder that which should have been above was below God was blasphemed instead of being worshipt and self-love had placed the Creature on the Throne of God. It was empty and void for nothing that was good could be found in the World. It was covered with darkness for a stupid ignorance might be observed to reign there This was the state of the World out of which the Church was to be drawn as a new World God was doubtless the Creator of unshapen Mass and I doubt not but we have an account of its Creation in the first Verse In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth 'T is not as is commonly thought an abridgment of what is more amply and by particulars related afterwards 'T is the Creation of the Chaos called Heaven and Earth because it possessed that place which the Heaven and the Earth now do possess and because it contained the matter of them This is plain enough by the second Verse and the Earth was without form and void c. 'T is the description exactly of that Earth which he was speaking of in the first Verse Why 't is not said expresly that God created the Chaos Nevertheless though God created the Chaos 't is but implicitly said so for Moses saith not that God made the Earth without form and void Which may import that though God do govern that which we call the wicked World and that enormous Mass is not formed without his Providence nevertheless he will not be acknowledged the Author of it because he is not the Author of Evil. God appoints no certain day to this Chaos which is the Image of the corrupted World. 1. Because this Chaos hath its reign and extention during the whole six days of the spiritual Creation VVhy the Chaos hath no assigned day for 't is the perpetual fund whence God draws all the parts of the intelligible World which is his Church as the Chaos was the fund from whence by little and little God drew all the parts of the Vniverse 2. God assigns it no particular day because 't is the Empire or darkness into which the Light and the day cannot enter He produced not the Chaos by a Fiat saying let there be a Chaos as he created the Light because the Word of God doth not make the wicked World by its efficacy this World produceth it self by its own corruption Lastly he gives it not his Approbation he says not and God saw that it was good he blesseth it not as he did the works of the six days because God seeth nothing good in the carnal World instead of blessing it it is under his curse VVaters in all the Type of the Creation signify People In the mean time the Spirit of God moved upon the waters Waters in the Language of the Prophets and of the Types do signify People This we have observed before and is too well know to need to be proved This we must remember that Waters signify People in all the Type of the Creation The Spirit of God moved on the waters of the Chaos to prepare that matter to bruise and reduce it into little parts and to introduce the dispositions to receive that form which he intended to give it God intending to draw his Church out of the World and from among the Nations hath presided over them by a wise providence What is signified by the Spirits moving on the Waters If he had intirely abandon'd the World to it self after the entrance of sin it had been impossible to draw thence the intelligible World. It would have fallen into a total deprivation of Light Equity and Goodness and into that Spirit which the Scripture calls a spirit of slumber past feeling and a reprobate sense But the Spirit of God hath presided over these Waters he hath preserved and kept up in the World some fragments and remainders of Light Conviction Conscience the knowledge of God the distinction of right and wrong and the apprehension of future rewards and punishments We may see every where this motion this action of the Spirit of God on the Waters that is the People of the World even to the approach of the fourth Period which is that of our Lord Iesus Christ God was then about to give a Form to the Church to this intelligible World which properly speaking it never yet had Then he caused in the World such things as would dispose to this great work he prepared his matter by the study of Philosophy which drew men from that stupidity that before rendred them uncapable of receiving the Light of Truth He dispersed the Iews who carried every where the knowledge of the true God and made an infinite number of Proselites He caused the Bible to be turned into the Greek Tongue which then spread and prevailed in the World and guided the Heathen insensibly to a dislike of their Idols and their Religion This is the Mystery of the Chaos The Mysteries of â—he first day of the Creation In
the first day God said Let there be Light and there was Light. The first day answers to the first Period of the Church which lasted from Adam untill Abraham 1. By what did the first day begin by Light. Jesus Christ the Messiah is the Light which inlightens every man that comes into the World 'T is from him that the Creation of the intelligible World takes its beginning from the first moment that Light hath shined in that famous Oracle The seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpents head The first day hath two parts It was Evening and it was Morning the Light of the Evening was the first but the dimmer of the two the Light of the Morning was the second but the clearest The knowledge of Christ began by that Oracle The seed of the woman c. The Period ended in Abraham by the same Light viz. the knowledge of the same Messiah but proposed less obscurely in that prophecy And in thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blest This was the Morning for the Light began to increase 2. By whom was this Light produced By the Word of God His Eternal Word He said i. e. by this Eternal Word by his infinite Wisdom by the fruit of this understanding that God manifested to Adam and Abraham this Light to conduct and guide them 3. This Light preceded the Creation of the Sun. This knowledge of a Redeemer was given to the first World before the Messiah its Sun was produc't before the Word was incarnate 4. The Light which appeared on the first day is originally the same with that which was put into the Sun The seed of the woman revealed to Adam is the same with the word made flesh many ages after 5. The Light of the first day was doubtless obscure its seat in the illuminated Waters was not yet well prepared the Earthly parts were not separated and the Light could not have a very free passage through that thick matter In the first Period of the Church knowledge was but dim People were not yet well disposed to receive it it had not yet entred into them 6. After all to what purpose was the Light of the first day to enlighten a Chaos The Church before Abraham was without form and an unformed Mass To what end also was the Knowledge of the first Period from Adam untill Abraham to inlighten a Chaos and that Chaos was not only in the World but in the Church it self for then the Church had no form she had no Pastors no Priests no Flocks no Assemblies no Solemn days appointed no Sacraments no Holy Scripture no Discipline no Censures Every head of a family was both Prophet and Priest of his own house Here was an Idolatrous family there just by was another family where God was worshipt It was a true Chaos so the Iews say well that the Church was two thousand years be thohou in the Chaos and two thousand years under the Law. The Patriarchs made their Feasts as they thought fit on what day they pleased and invited whom they pleased 7. God made the distinction between the Night and the Day He separated the Light from the Darkness for he is the Author of that distinction that is between the World and the Church between the good and bad yet 't is not said that he made the night because God is not the Author of Evil. 8. He made this distinction from the first day because from the beginning of the World and in all ages there is a separation between those who are of God and those who are of the Devil 9. He made that separation of that Light and Darkness of the Night and the Day but he blessed it not he saith not and He saw that it was good In like manner God doth not bless and approve the separation of the World from the Church tho he hath made that distinction because it carries with it in respect of the World curses crimes and miseries 10. He began with the Evening which belongs to the Night and is apart of it because he draws light out of darkness begins the composition of the Church by some degrees of imperfection The Mysteries of the second days the first division of the People In the second day God made the Firmament or Expansum that it might separate the waters from the waters Here begins the second Period of the Church which lasted from Abraham untill Moses let it be remembered that Waters alway signify People 't is necessary it should be so that the Spirit of God may be uniform and like unto it self If the Waters are People the work of separating the Waters must signify the division of the People 1. In the first day the Waters were mixt and confounded both among themselves and with the Earth so in the first Period from Adam untill Abraham the People were confused and mixt one with another God had not yet made choice of any certain peculiar People Among all Nations there were some Holy and some who were Enemies of God were to be found every where 2. But in the second day God began the work of the separation of the Waters i. e. that in the second Period should begin the distinction of the People He took Abraham drew him out of his own Country set him apart and gave him the seal of his Covenant 3. But this work of the division of the waters was effected in two days this work of the division of the People is also accomplisht in two Periods from Abraham unto Moses from Moses unto Christ 4. The separation of the Waters made on the second day was but imperfect God only separated the Waters which were above i. e. the Clouds from the Waters which were beneath i. e. the Seas The distinction of People in the second Period from Abraham unto Moses was but imperfect for we must not imagine but that God did preserve some Elect from Abraham unto Moses besides those in the family of the Patriarchs to think he did not is injurious to the mercy and wisdom of God. There were then at that time some of the faithfull scattered in all places But as the family of Iacob became a great People so by little and little the Spirit of God withdrew from other Nations From the time of Moses there was yet some little remainder of that Spirit among other Nations as is evident by Balaam who was 't is true a very wicked man but yet was not a false Prophet But when the race of Abraham became a great People and had a Country apart to themselves then the Spirit of God withdrew altogether from the other Nations and then was made a perfect division of the People 5. In the separation of the Waters that was made on the second day the Waters which were above i. e. the Clouds were nothing in comparison with those beneath i. e. the Seas So in the second Period wherein was a division of the People the
superior Waters which were the family of the Patriarchs were nothing in comparison with the rest of mankind And hereby we have the reason why in that great work of the Creation God would make so much account of so small a matter as the Clouds are in nature even to assign a perticular day for their creation 'T is because they were the Image of the families of the Patriarchs who were very inconsiderable for their number but yet were to make so great a figure in the History of the Church 6. The superior Waters were little or nothing as to their extension but had this advantage above the waters which were beneath that they were near Heaven so the families of the Patriarchs little in number had this advantage to be admitted to secret and special communion with God. He conversed with the Patriarchs as a man with his intimate friend 7. The Clouds are lifted up to so high a place by the rays of the Sun and the attraction of Heaven the families of the Patriarchs were advanc't to that glory of being distinguisht from all others by the mercy of God. 8. The Clouds are the fruitfull springs whence proceed the rain the fruitfullness and blessing of the Earth God would make the Patriarchs the springs of blessing to the Church In thy seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Therefore the Iews did always in their prayers make mention of the Covenant made with Abraham Isaac and Iacob 9. God put the Firmament or Expansum between the upper and lower Waters 't is that large vacuity of Misery and sin which separates the World from the Church 10. From the Clouds 't is easy to fall into the lower Waters but the Waters which are beneath rise with difficulty to the Clouds The fall is easy from the Church to the world and sin but 't is difficult to pass from the world to the Church In the third day was made a perfect separation of the waters i. e. that work of the separation of the Waters was finisht and this is the reason why God blessed not the work of the second day We must not look for a Mystery in that or imagine that on that account the waters must needs signify sin God blessed not the work which he had not yet finisht We find no Benediction in the second day but to make amends we meet with two in the third for those words and God saw that it was good are repeated twice 't is because in that third day we find two works the compleating the separation of the waters is one and the Creation of Plants another and God said Let the waters that be under the Heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry Land appear 'T is an image of a perfect separation of People into one place i. e. into the World which is a great and vast abyss full of darkness and impurity into that I say let the Waters run there let the reprobate People gather together 2. And let the dry Land appear the holy People who till now had appeared mixt with the men of the World let them appear seperate from all other People 3. The World is represented by the Sea the Church by the Earth and dry Land so since that time in the stile of the Prophets and of Preachers the Sea hath always been an image of the World. The Ark of Noah which floated on the waters of the Deluge is the Emblem of the Church beaten by the waters of this world Jesus Christ sleeping in the Ship which was tost by a Tempest is the Image of the Church where Christ seems to be asleep while she is beaten and afflicted by the World. 4. The Sea is the habitation of Monsters the world is the residence of the wicked where we may see Monsters of covetousness of Ambition of Impurity and violence The greatest Animals upon Earth are not to be compared with those which live in the waters There are disorders to be found in the Church 't is true but they are nothing in comparison with those which are in the world 5. The face of the Waters is barren and produceth nothing whereas the superficies of the Earth is fruitfull The World doth inwardly nourish Monsters and in its outside produceth no solid good or true vertue 6. The Earth is the Synagogue of the ancient Church she is incompast with waters on all sides the People and Nations of the World. 7. She is continually afflicted by them and if we regard the violence of the waves one would think she should be overwhelmed 8. Nevertheless she stands her ground and remains victorious 9. The waters of the Sea have no setled foundation they are always in motion but the Earth is fixt the People of the world are unstable always changing The Church is a Land that hath its roots in the foundation of the world in God's eternal decrees 10. The Sea makes a frightfull object especially in a Tempest but the Earth presents our eyes with an agreeable diversity of Mountains and Hills of Trees and Flowers of Fruits and Blossoms The world is a deformed spectacle by reason of its disorders and uniformity of its faults But the Church shows us an agreeable diversity of gifts greater and less of vertues of good works of good Fruits for the Plants and Fruits are to the Earth that which vertues and good works are to the Church The Plants have their roots in the bowels of the Earth they appear on the outside of it they serve for ornament and use and need the kind influences of Heaven to make them grow All this agrees well to the vertues and good works of the Church God said Let the Earth bring forth Grass as if the Earth produced Plants by its own vertues 't is because he will have us act as if our vertues proceeded from our selves as if we were the Authors of 'em that he might thence take occasion to reward us for ' em But among the Plants of the Earth which are thus good usefull there are some hurtfull ones some poisons among the good Fruits of the Church there are some wicked works 12. Lastly the nearer any Land is to the Sun the better its Fruits the nearer any Church to God the Sun of Righteousness the better its works CHAP. XXII Explication of the Mysteries of the four last days of the Creation THe fourth day answers to the fourth Period of the Church 1. In this fourth day God created the Sun the Moon and the Stars 'T is easy to take notice therein of Christ the Sun of Righteousness of the Church who derives all her Light from the Sun and the of Teachers of the Christian Church which are as the Stars of the Intelligible World. This alone should open all mens eyes and make it evident that we ought to search after the Church throughout the whole work of Creation for this is the Key of the whole Mystery This fourth Period is from Iesus
and his followers The other sort of Creatures are Fishes Creatures that make their abode in the waters that swim and descend into the Deep Creatures among whom there are some of a monstrous bigness Creatures that live upon filth and mud and are the lively image of the second sort of People to be seen in the fifth Period which is that of Antichrist rising and growing to perfection We there see the great Leviathan of the Abyss Antichrist himself the Monster of the great waters who devours all the other Fish and subjects them to his Government There we see all the followers of Antichrist Fishes of the second order All these Creatures i. e. all these men 1. Have their abode in the waters which denotes a Collection of much People they have the multitude on their side they reckon it their honour they glory in it 2. They descend into dark Abysses for whereas the Doctors of the fourth and fifth Century would be too knowing those of the following ages fell into a most stupid Ignorance They descend into the darkness of superstition and as for the most part Fishes adhere to the rocks or to the mud so those false Doctors addict themselves to Creatures and rise not towards Heaven where is the Creator In those times sprung up the adoration of Reliques the invocation of Saints the worship of Images and even the sublime wits who are the Birds of the fifth Period who flie so high by their lofty speculations as did Gregory of Nazianzen and Ambrose of Milan do sometimes fall from their elevation into the mire of a carnal and superstitious worship as Eagles after a flight into the highest regions of the Air fall down as it were in a moment to fix upon Carrion Lastly Fishes puddle and roll themselves in the mud and slime a good Emblem of that dreadful corruption into which the last ages of this fifth Period were plunged viz. the nineth and tenth we have already spoken of that corruption and you need but look back to what hath been said to perceive how justly we may compare the men of those Times to Fishes that live in mire and dirt Some will doubtless make an objection here on this account that God is said to be the Author of these Birds and Fishes Which there is no reason for in the thing represented by the Type because God is not to be lookt upon as the Author of the Heresies Idolatries and corruption of the Papacy I might reply that no Typical relations ought to hinder but that God may be said the Author of and give his blessing to those Creatures which were good in respect of their natural being he did not bless the Chaos 't is true but it was because that in its natural being it was neither fair nor good no more than in its typical relation But if any will that the mystery be carried farther it may be observed that God saith Let the waters bring forth every moving Creature c. 'T is the waters that immediately produce'em To the same effect as he said before Let the Earth bring forth Plants For this end that God would our works should be reckon'd as our own that we might receive the rewards of 'em So the waters i. e. the multitude of degenerate mankind are said to produce those corruptions and false Doctrines that they might suffer the punishments annexed to 'em and that it might not be imputed unto God. But it will be said that God blessed these works He saw that it was good Once more I may ask why should not God approve those Creatures which in their own natures were good and which were typically to represent such Events as the Providence of God would appoint for his own glory For doubtless the false Teachers who corrupted the Christian Religion in the fifth Century must come within the decree of God as such things whereby he would glorify himself Mysteries of the sixth day In the sixth day God made two works 1. Insects creeping things and four-footed Beasts 2. The Man and the Woman This sixth day answers to the sixth Period of the Church from the tenth Century to the Period of the Reign of Antichrist These four-footed Beasts Insects and Creeping things cannot be thought to signify any thing that is good under Creeping things are comprehended Serpents venemous and the most accursed Creatures among Insects are Caterpillers and a thousand other hurtfull Creatures among four-footed Beasts are Wolves Lions Tygers Leopards and Bears all cruel and bloody Creatures which live upon prey This is the true Character of the Men who lived in the sixth Period of the Church which is the second of the Antichristian Empire There we meet with Men like Bloodsuckers Caterpillers Worms devouring Insects that ravage and consume and destroy and gratify their Covetousness by a cursed Simony There we meet with Doctors like Serpents and Basilicks who poison by their very breath and spread the venom of their false Doctrines with piercing sharpened tongues I mean the Schoolmen who with subtile Arguments whetted and set in order as so many darts and spears diffuse Heresy Impurity Poison and Idolatry Moreover we there meet with wild Beasts bloody and cruel Men who delight in blood and slaughter and glut themselves therewith as so many Lions and Tygers We may there see multitudes ingaged in an Holy war against Infidels who went to the Holy Land to conquer it but carried with them the Lions Tooth for they rent and devoured every thing which came in their way Especially may we there take notice of those cruel Persecutors of the Church killing burning and committing outrage and massacres in all places This should be carefully observed that we meet with Birds and Fishes in the fifth day answering to the first Period of Antichrist or the fifth of the Church and some of those Creatures live upon the spoil but do not prey upon Man. We do not see that Birds and Fishes go out of their own Element to fall upon men and destroy them So in the fifth Period there were 't is true some Hereticks and a great corruption but there was not much persecution little blood spilt at that time upon the account of Religion That sort of rage began not to be much imployed but since the eleventh Century in the sixth Period Mysteries of the creation of the Man and Woman In the same day God created the Man and the Woman who are the Images of Christ and of the Church his Spouse The Parrallel between the first and second Adam and between the Woman and the Church hath been made so often and is so easy to make that I need not dwell upon it and therefore shall only take notice that the Type doth exactly correspond with the Mystery At the end of the sixth day God finisht his work he then gave the last stroke to it by the Creation of the Man and the Woman an Emblem of Christ and his Church and of their Union