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<DATE>2014-09-08</DATE>
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<NAME>Lauren Proux</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<P>AN ILLUSTRATION Of tho&s;e Two ABSTRUSE BOOKS IN Holy Scripture, THE BOOK of <HI>DANIEL,</HI> AND THE REVELATION of S. <HI>JOHN,</HI> By Continued, Brief, but Clear NOTES, From Chapter to Chapter, and from Ver&s;e to Ver&s;e: WITH Very U&s;efull and Appo&s;ite ARGUMENTS Prefixt to each Chapter; Framed out of the EXPOSITIONS of Dr. <HI>HENRY MORE</HI></P>
<Q><BIBL><HI>Siracid.</HI> cap. 39.</BIBL>
<P>Sapientiam omnium antiquorum exquiret Sapiens, &amp; in Prophetis ope|ram &s;tudi&ugrave;mque &s;uum ponet. In &s;ententiarum reconditarum Invoiu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ra penetrabit, atque in Aenigmatis Parabolarum ver&s;abitur.</P></Q>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>M. Fle&s;her,</HI> for <HI>Walter Kettilby,</HI> at the <HI>Bi&s;hop</HI>'s <HI>Head</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-Yard. 1685.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="errata">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2" MS="y">
<HEAD>The ERRATA correct thus.</HEAD>
<P><TABLE>
<HEAD>Daniel.</HEAD>
<ROW>
<CELL ROLE="label">For</CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label">Reade</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>PAg. 15. l. 18. <HI>Mon</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Mor.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 44. l. 20. <HI>Iconimorum</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Iconi&s;morum</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 58. l. 11. <HI>He was</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>He has</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Ibid. l. 14. <HI>was weighed.</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>has weighed</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 77. l. 20. <HI>Ptoleceus</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Ptolemaeus.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 84. l. 5. <HI>Apo&s;talick</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Apo&s;tolick.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 92. l. 10. <HI>&V;lceus</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>&V;laeus</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 96. l. 19. <HI>Theodotian</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Theodotion</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 101. l. 7. <HI>fulminent</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>fulminant</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 108. l. 15. <HI>this</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>thy</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 112. l. 15. <HI>Me&s;&s;iah cut off</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Me&s;&s;iah. Cut off</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 132. l. 11. <HI>Necanor</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Nicanor.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 134. l. 12. <HI>was</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>has</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 135. l. 17. <HI>of Prophecy</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>or Prophecy</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 145. l. 9. <HI>Jupiter. Cap.</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Jupiter Cap.</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 149. l. 27. <HI>the Holine&s;s</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>His Holine&s;s</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 150. l. 11. <HI>tho&s;e</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>the&s;e</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<HEAD>Apocalyp&s;e.</HEAD>
<ROW>
<CELL ROLE="label">For</CELL>
<CELL ROLE="label">Reade</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Pag. 15. l. 16. <HI>Chap.</HI> 13.</CELL>
<CELL><HI>Chap.</HI> 3.</CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 186. l. 23. <HI>wait</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>wail</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 183. l. 7. <HI>Spirit, of</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Spirit of</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Ibid. l. 22. <HI>living God</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>living Word</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 195. l. 7. <HI>con&s;i&s;t</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>can &s;ift</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 197. l. 12. <HI>was</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>is</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 230. l. 7. <HI>mind</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>wind</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 231. l. 27. <HI>al&s;o</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>al&s;o of</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 232. l. 1. <HI>man, this</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>man this</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Ibid. l. 2. <HI>have prudence.</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>have; Prudence</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 248. l. 15. <HI>Infancy</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Infamy</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 256. l. 31. <HI>light</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>&s;ight</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>Ibid. <HI>beholder &s;eemed.</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>beholder, &s;eemed</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 269. l. 35. <HI>before leave</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>before. Leave</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 273. l. 34. <HI>Thyaterian</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Thyatirian</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 297. l. 2. <HI>favours</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>&s;avours</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 309. l. 30. <HI>exceeded</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>exceeding</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 322. l. 32. <HI>Apo&s;tolical</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Apo&s;tatical</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 325. l. 30. <HI>of the</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>at the</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 332. l. 1. <HI>ra&s;h</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>rich</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
<ROW>
<CELL>P. 372. l. 10. <HI>Murthers</HI></CELL>
<CELL><HI>Murtherers</HI></CELL>
</ROW>
</TABLE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<PB REF="3">
<P>IMPRIMATUR,</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><HI>Ex Aedib.</HI> Lambeth. <DATE>Oct. 9. <HI>A.D.</HI> 1685.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED><HI>Guil. Needham</HI> R^m^o^. in Chri&s;to P. ac D^o^. D^o^. <HI>Wilhelmo</HI> Archiep. <HI>Cant.</HI> &agrave; Sacr. Dome&s;t.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="book">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>THE BOOK OF DANIEL.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="preface">
<HEAD>The PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>ALthough it be u&s;ual with tho&s;e that write Notes on any part of the Bible, to premi&s;e &s;omething touch|ing the Authour of the Book they write on, who he is, and what he is, and what the Scope of the Book of which he is &s;aid to be the Authour; yet the&s;e things lye &s;o plain and obvious to the eye of every one that reades this Book of <HI>Daniel,</HI> that it &s;eems altogether needle&s;s to give my &s;elf or the Reader the trou|ble of any &s;uch Preface.</P>
<PB REF="4">
<P>For the Book it &s;elf declares again and again who is the Writer of it in the five la&s;t Chapters, which are merely Prophetical, and no Hi&s;tory of the Kings of <HI>Babylon</HI> and of the Jews interwoven into them, as there is in the &s;even fir&s;t, or rather the fir&s;t &s;ix of tho&s;e &s;even. Nor is it any &s;ign that the &s;ame <HI>Da|niel</HI> writ not both, becau&s;e the latter &s;ix of the fir&s;t, from Ver&s;e <HI>4.</HI> of Chap. <HI>2.</HI> to the end of Chap. <HI>7.</HI> are writ in Chaldee, the other in Hebrew, and that he &s;peaks of him&s;elf in the third per&s;on in the &s;even former, but in the fir&s;t in the five latter. For the fir&s;t &s;ix of the &s;even being mainly Hi&s;torical, and the Dream of the Statue being <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s dream, not <HI>Daniel</HI>'s (which writ in Chaldee, is the rea&s;on why the Vi&s;ion of the four Bea&s;ts, Chap. <HI>7.</HI> is writ in Chaldee al&s;o, it &s;o perfectly an&s;wer|ing to that of the Statue) and &s;o all things re&s;pecting what the Kings of <HI>Babylon</HI> did, or befell them, as much, or rather more, than the Jews, it was fit that &s;hort Chronicle &s;hould be writ in the language of the Countrey and People, who were &s;o plainly concerned, and who knew the truth of the things. So that it is a kind of appeal to them therein. And
<PB REF="4">it being Hi&s;torical, it was fit <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;hould &s;peak of him&s;elf, who makes &s;o great a part of the Story, in the third per&s;on, it being al&s;o more mode&s;t and becoming. And the things being &s;o weighty, and him&s;elf an eye-witne&s;s of them, in a manner, all along, it is incredible <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;hould omit the recording of them. So that this <HI>Daniel</HI> that is &s;o often mentioned in this Book, is certainly the Writer thereof, <HI>viz.</HI> of the fir&s;t Chapter, and the three fir&s;t Ver&s;es of the &s;econd in <HI>Hebrew,</HI> the things of the fir&s;t Chapter being not &s;o notorious as what follows; and in <HI>Chaldee,</HI> from the fourth Ver&s;e of the &s;econd, to the end of the &s;eventh Chapter, occa&s;ion being given to begin there, from the An&s;wer of the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> in Syriack or Chaldee, and for the rea&s;ons above&s;aid; And of the la&s;t five in <HI>He|brew</HI> his native language, tho&s;e Prophecies re|&s;pecting the People of the Jews and the Church of God at large, even to the con&s;ummation of all things: But they were to him&s;elf for the pre&s;ent but private Memoirs of the Vi&s;ions the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> had imparted to him, but &s;o pre|cious as were to be kept carefully by the Jewi&s;h Church to all Po&s;terity.</P>
<PB REF="5">
<P>As for that other Query, what this <HI>Daniel</HI> was; it is likewi&s;e plain from the Book it &s;elf, that he was a &s;ingularly wi&s;e and holy Man, and a Jew of the Tribe of <HI>Judah,</HI> and of the Bloud-royal, and a Prince even in the Court of the King of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and that he lived in that garb, and not in the au&s;tere habit and garb of a Prophet, which therefore makes the Jews de|ny that he was one, as if not <HI>Wi&s;edom,</HI> but the <HI>Beard</HI> made the Philo&s;opher. But the Vi&s;ions &s;een and recorded by him demon&s;trate him to be a Prophet indeed, and our Saviour him&s;elf does him the right to call him &s;o, <HI>Mat. 24.15.</HI></P>
<P>And la&s;tly, <HI>Daniel</HI>'s &s;cope in writing this Book, or at lea&s;t of the Spirit of God that put him upon it, is mo&s;t evident. That it might be a la&s;ting Record of the faithfulne&s;s and ac|tivene&s;s of the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in behalf of his di|&s;tre&s;&s;ed people the Jews, and an evident argu|ment of his far extending Providence over his Church, which according to the right &s;en&s;e of the Vi&s;ions revealed to <HI>Daniel</HI> reaches continu|edly from his times to the end of the World.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="1" REF="5">
<HEAD>CHAP. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Jehoiakim <HI>is taken captive by</HI> Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel, Hananiah, Mi&s;hael <HI>and</HI> Azariah <HI>are committed to the care of</HI> A&s;penaz, <HI>Ma&s;ter of his Eunuchs, for three years, who gives new Names to them. They refu&s;ing the King's portion, grow fair and well liking with pul&s;e and wa|ter. At the three years end they are found by the King in all matters of Wi&s;edom, ten times better than all the Magici|ans and A&s;trologers in his Realm.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IN the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim King of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar King of Baby|lon unto Jeru&s;alem, and be&s;ieged it.</P>
<P N="2">2 And the Lord gave Jehoiakim King of Judah into his hand, with part of the ve&s;&s;els of the hou&s;e of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar, to the hou&s;e of his God, and he brought the ve&s;&s;els into the trea&s;ure-hou&s;e of his God.</P>
<P N="3">3 And the King &s;pake unto A&s;hpenaz the ma&s;ter of his Eunuchs, that he &s;hould bring certain of the children of I&s;rael, and of the Kings &s;eed, and of the Princes:</P>
<P N="4">4 Children in whom was no blemi&s;h, but well fa|voured, and skilfull in all wi&s;edom, and cunning in knowledge, and under&s;tanding &s;cience, and &s;uch as had ability in them to &s;tand in the Kings palace, and whom they might teach the learning, and the tongue of the Chaldeans.</P>
<P N="5">5 And the King appointed them a daily provi|&s;ion of the Kings meat, and of the wine which he drank: &s;o nouri&s;hing them three years, that at the
<PB N="2" REF="6">end thereof they might &s;tand before the King.</P>
<P N="6">6 Now among the&s;e were of the children of Ju|dah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mi&s;hael and Azariah:</P>
<P N="7">7 Unto whom the prince of the Eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belte|&s;hazzar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach, and to Mi|&s;hael of Me&s;hach, and to Azariah of Abednego.</P>
<P N="8">8 But Daniel purpo&s;ed in his heart, that he would not defile him&s;elf with the portion of the kings meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he re|que&s;ted of the prince of the Eunuchs, that he might not defile him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="9">9 Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the Prince of the Eunuchs.</P>
<P N="10">10 And the Prince of the Eunuchs &s;aid unto Da|niel, I fear my Lord the King, who hath appointed your meat and your drink, for why &s;hould he &s;ee your faces wor&s;e liking, than the children which are of your &s;ort? then &s;hall ye make me endanger my head to the King.</P>
<P N="11">11 Then &s;aid Daniel to Melzar, whom the Prince of the Eunuchs had &s;et over Daniel, Hananiah, Mi|&s;hael and Azariah,</P>
<P N="12">12 Prove thy &s;ervants, I be&s;eech thee, ten days, and let them give pul&s;e to eat, and water to drink.</P>
<P N="13">13 Then let our countenances be looked upon be|fore thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the Kings meat: and as thou fee&s;t, deal with thy &s;ervants.</P>
<P N="14">14 So he con&s;ented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.</P>
<P N="15">15 And at the end of ten days, their countenan|ces appeared fairer, and fatter in fle&s;h, than all the
<PB N="3" REF="6">children which did eat the portion of the Kings meat.</P>
<P N="16">16 Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they &s;hould drink, and gave them pul&s;e.</P>
<P N="17">17 As for the&s;e four children, God gave them knowledge, and skill in all learning and wi&s;edom, and Daniel had under&s;tanding in all vi&s;ions and dreams.</P>
<P N="18">18 Now at the end of the days that the King had &s;aid, he &s;hould bring them in, then the Prince of the Eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchad|nezzar.</P>
<P N="19">19 And the King communed with them: and a|mong them all was found none like Daniel, Hana|niah, Mi&s;hael and Azariah: therefore &s;tood they be|fore the King.</P>
<P N="20">20 And in all matters of wi&s;edom and under&s;tan|ding that the King enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the Magicians, and A&s;trolo|gers that were in all his realm.</P>
<P N="21">21 And Daniel continued even unto the fir&s;t year of King Cyrus.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. IN <HI>Jeremy,</HI> chap. 46. <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> King of <HI>Ba|bylon</HI> is &s;aid to overthrow the army of <HI>Pharaoh Ne|co</HI> King of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> in the <HI>fourth</HI> year of <HI>Jehoiakim,</HI> the Son of <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> King of <HI>Judah,</HI> in which year toward the end there|of he took <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and reduced <HI>Jehoiakim,</HI> and cau&s;ed <HI>Da|niel,</HI> with others of the royal &s;eed, to be carried captive to <HI>Babylon.</HI> Which year <HI>Jer.</HI> 25.1. is counted the fir&s;t of the reign of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> becau&s;e his Father then &s;ent him
<PB N="4" REF="7">with <HI>Regal</HI> authority again&s;t the King of <HI>Aegypt.</HI> But here in <HI>Daniel</HI> it is &s;aid to be the <HI>third</HI> year of <HI>Jehoiakim,</HI> reckon|ing from the death of <HI>Jehoahaz</HI> his brother, whom <HI>Pharaoh Neco</HI> had carried captive into <HI>Aegypt.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. The <HI>land of Shinar</HI> is the land of the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> in which <HI>Babylon</HI> was &s;ituated. And <HI>the hou&s;e of Nebuchad|nezzar's God</HI> is the Temple of <HI>Bel,</HI> the chief God of the <HI>Babylonians.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Eunuchs</HI> is a Greek word, and &s;ignifies &s;uch as have the care committed to them of the Bed, and does not nece&s;&s;arily imply, being ca&s;trated or gelt. But for|a&s;much as with the Kings of the Ea&s;t, part of their office was to watch over the behaviour of their women, they were ordinarily ca&s;trated, and this <HI>A&s;penaz</HI> was the Ma&s;ter or chief of the&s;e Bed-chamber men, as I may &s;o call them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Skilfull</HI> in the wi&s;edom, knowledge and &s;cience they were educated in, in their own Countrey, and had an aptne&s;s to learn the Chaldean Arts and Language.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Stand before the King,</HI> that is, wait on him and &s;erve him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. The giving new Names is a Note of Power and Dominion over the parties to whom they are given. Where|fore the Prince of the Eunuchs changes the name of <HI>Daniel,</HI> which &s;ignifies the judgment of God; of <HI>Ananias,</HI> the grace of God; of <HI>Mi&s;hael,</HI> the anointing of God; of <HI>Azariah,</HI> the help of God; into <HI>Belte&s;hazzar,</HI> the trea&s;urer of the Secrets of <HI>Bel;</HI> into <HI>Shadrach,</HI> propitious be <HI>Shad,</HI> or the Evil Spirit; into <HI>Me&s;hach,</HI> one related to <HI>Sach,</HI> a God|de&s;s of the <HI>Babylonians,</HI> as <HI>Grotius</HI> has noted, and into <HI>Abednego</HI> a &s;ervant of <HI>Venus</HI> or <HI>Lucifer.</HI> Which being thus mi&s;called, was no fault of the&s;e holy men, but theirs who thus mi&s;called them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. The <HI>defilement</HI> from the King's <HI>meat</HI> and <HI>wine</HI> was from hence, that there was fir&s;t part of them, to con&s;ecrate the re&s;t, offered to their fal&s;e Gods or Idols. So that it would look like the eating and drinking of things offered to Idols. Which the&s;e holy men under the di&s;pen&s;ation of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> ju&s;tly &s;crupled.</P>
<PB N="5" REF="7">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. When a man's ways plea&s;e the Lord, he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him, <HI>Prov.</HI> 16.7. And he was &s;o well plea&s;ed with this ab&s;tinence of <HI>Daniel</HI> and the re&s;t, that he enclined the heart of the Prince of the Eunuchs toward them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12, 13. This experiment that <HI>Daniel</HI> appeals to of eating pul&s;e and drinking water ten days, is a &s;ign of great faith in the ble&s;&s;ing of God beyond the u&s;ual cour&s;e of na|ture, upon &s;o unlikely a method of growing fair and well liking. But temperance and devotion, and a chearfull dependence on God's ble&s;&s;ing, even with mean Dyet, mu&s;t contribute much to health and beauty, and a quick and de|licate air in the countenance. This is that which they <HI>Py|thagoreans</HI> called Philo&s;ophical Temperance, the Mother of that Wi&s;edom which makes the face to &s;hine, and nouri&s;hes the Souls Luciform Vehicle.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. Their countenances appeared more goodly and fair, and their fle&s;h more &s;ound and refre&s;hed, though they fed of nothing but pul&s;e and water, with Temperance and Devotion, and God's ble&s;&s;ing thereupon, than did theirs who ate the portion of the King's meat.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. Upon this experiment <HI>Melzar</HI> forbore to bring them the King's portion of meat and wine, and &s;et pul&s;e onely before them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. This was a Philo&s;ophical Temperance, as I &s;aid before, but yet mainly a religious ab&s;tinence upon their obedience to the Law of the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> Which the &s;aid God rewarded with Knowledge and Skill in all learn|ing and wi&s;edom in them all, but in <HI>Daniel</HI> peculiarly, with a faculty of interpreting Aenigmatical Dreams and Vi&s;i|ons.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>At the end of the days</HI> &mdash; that is to &s;ay, of the three years mentioned, <HI>v.</HI> 5.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. When the King had communed with them, and tried what Proficiency they had made in the learning of the <HI>Chaldeans,</HI> he found there were none of their fellows in that three years &s;tudy that were comparable unto them: And therefore they were thought the fitte&s;t to &s;erve the King.</P>
<PB N="6" REF="8">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. And not onely in the Wi&s;edom of the <HI>Chaldees,</HI> but in all matters of Knowledge the King was plea&s;ed to try them in, he found them ten times more skilfull, not onely than tho&s;e of their own Age and Form, as I may &s;o &s;peak, but than all the <HI>Hartummim</HI> and <HI>A&s;aphim,</HI> the Magicians and Wi&s;e men. (For <HI>A&s;aphim</HI> may &s;eem to be the &s;ame with the Greeks <HI>Sophi,</HI> as <HI>Grotius</HI> would have it) of his whole King|dom.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. <HI>Daniel</HI> continued in grace and favour with the Kings of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and remained u&s;ually there till the fir&s;t year of the ab&s;olute enlarged Monarchy of King <HI>Cyrus,</HI> which was upon the death of <HI>Darius Medus,</HI> the la&s;t King of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and Uncle unto <HI>Cyrus.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Nebuchadnezzar <HI>dreams a Dream, which &s;lipping out of his mind, he earne&s;tly requires of his</HI> Chaldeans <HI>what it was. Who confe&s;&s;ing their inability in the ca&s;e, are ad|judged to dye.</HI> Daniel <HI>obtaining &s;ome re&s;pite; upon his de|vout Addre&s;&s;es to the God of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>has the Dream imparted to him, for which he ble&s;&s;es his holy Name. He giving a &s;top therefore to the Decree, is brought to the King to whom he both tells the dream and the interpretation thereof. And thereupon is highly honoured and advanced by</HI> Nebuchadnez|zar <HI>in his Kingdom.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND in the &s;econd year of the reign of Nebu|chadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his &s;pirit was troubled, and his &s;leep brake from him.</P>
<P N="2">2 Then the King commanded to call the Magici|ans, and the A&s;trologers, and the Sorcerers, and the
<PB N="7" REF="8">Chaldeans, for to &s;hew the King his dreams: &s;o they came and &s;tood before the King.</P>
<P N="3">3 And the King &s;aid unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my &s;pirit was troubled to know the dream.</P>
<P N="4">4 Then &s;pake the Chaldeans to the King in Syri|ack, O King, live for ever: tell thy &s;ervants the dream, and we will &s;hew the interpretation.</P>
<P N="5">5 The King an&s;wered, and &s;aid to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me; if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye &s;hall be cut in pieces, and your hou&s;es &s;hall be made a dunghill.</P>
<P N="6">6 But if ye &s;hew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye &s;hall receive of me gifts, and rewards, and great honour: therefore &s;hew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.</P>
<P N="7">7 They an&s;wered again, and &s;aid, Let the King tell his &s;ervants the dream, and we will &s;hew the in|terpretation of it.</P>
<P N="8">8 The King an&s;wered, and &s;aid, I know of cer|tainty that ye would gain the time, becau&s;e ye &s;ee the thing is gone from me.</P>
<P N="9">9 But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you: for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to &s;peak before me, till the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I &s;hall know that ye can &s;hew me the interpreta|tion thereof.</P>
<P N="10">10 The Chaldeans an&s;wered before the King, and &s;aid, There is not a man upon the earth that can &s;hew the Kings matter: therefore there is no King, Lord, nor Ruler, that asked &s;uch things at any Ma|gician, or A&s;trologer, or Chaldean.</P>
<PB N="8" REF="9">
<P N="11">11 And it is a rare thing that the King requireth, and there is none other that can &s;hew it before the King, except the gods, who&s;e dwelling is not with fle&s;h.</P>
<P N="12">12 For this cau&s;e the King was angry, and very furious, and commanded to de&s;troy all the wi&s;e men of Babylon.</P>
<P N="13">13 And the decree went forth, that the wi&s;e men &s;hould be &s;lain, and they &s;ought Daniel and his fel|lows to be flain.</P>
<P N="14">14 Then Daniel an&s;wered with coun&s;el and wi&s;e|dom to Arioch the Captain of the Kings guard, which was gone forth to &s;lay the wi&s;e men of Babylon.</P>
<P N="15">15 He an&s;wered, and &s;aid to Arioch, the Kings Captain, Why is the decree &s;o ha&s;ty from the King? Then Arioch made the thing known unto Daniel.</P>
<P N="16">16 Then Daniel went in and de&s;ired of the King that he would give him time, and that he would &s;hew the King the interpretation.</P>
<P N="17">17 Then Daniel went to his hou&s;e, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mi&s;hael, and Azariah his companions:</P>
<P N="18">18 That they would de&s;ire mereies of the God of heaven concerning this &s;ecret, that Daniel and his fel|lows &s;hould not peri&s;h with the re&s;t of the wi&s;e men of Babylon.</P>
<P N="19">19 Then was the &s;ecret revealed unto Daniel in a night vi&s;ion: then Daniel ble&s;&s;ed the God of hea|ven.</P>
<P N="20">20 Daniel an&s;wered and &s;aid, Ble&s;&s;ed be the Name of God for ever and ever: for wi&s;edom and might are his:</P>
<P N="21">21 And he changeth the times and the &s;ea&s;ons:
<PB N="9" REF="9">he removeth Kings, and &s;etteth up Kings, he giveth wi&s;edom unto the wi&s;e, and knowledge to them that know under&s;tanding.</P>
<P N="22">22 He revealeth the deep and &s;ecret things: he knoweth what is in the darkne&s;s, and the light dwel|leth with him.</P>
<P N="23">23 I thank thee, and prai&s;e thee, O thou God of my fathers, who ha&s;t given me wi&s;edom and might, and ha&s;t made known unto me now what we de&s;i|red of thee: for thou ha&s;t now made known unto us the Kings matter.</P>
<P N="24">24 Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the King had ordained to de&s;troy the wi&s;e men of Ba|bylon: he went and &s;aid thus unto him, De&s;troy not the wi&s;e men of Babylon: bring me in before the King, and I will &s;hew unto the King the interpreta|tion.</P>
<P N="25">25 Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the King in ha&s;te, and &s;aid thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the King the interpretation.</P>
<P N="26">26 The King an&s;wered and &s;aid to Daniel, who&s;e name was Belte&s;hazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have &s;een, and the inter|pretation thereof?</P>
<P N="27">27 Daniel an&s;wered in the pre&s;ence of the King, and &s;aid the &s;ecret which the King hath demanded, cannot the wi&s;e men, the A&s;trologians, the Magici|ans, the Sooth&s;ayers &s;hew unto the King:</P>
<P N="28">28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth &s;e|crets, and maketh known to the King Nebuchadnez|zar what &s;hall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the vi&s;ions of thy head upon thy bed, are the&s;e.</P>
<PB N="10" REF="10">
<P N="29">29 As for thee, O King, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what &s;hould come to pa&s;s hereafter: and he that revealeth &s;ecrets, maketh known to thee, what &s;hall come to pa&s;s.</P>
<P N="30">30 But as for me, this &s;ecret is not revealed to me for any wi&s;edom that I have more than any li|ving, but for their &s;akes that &s;hall make known the interpretation to the King, and that thou mighte&s;t know the thoughts of thy heart.</P>
<P N="31">31 Thou, O King &s;awe&s;t, and behold, a great image: this great image, who&s;e brightne&s;s was ex|cellent, &s;tood before thee, and the form thereof was terrible.</P>
<P N="32">32 This images head was of fine gold, his brea&s;t and his armes of &s;ilver, his belly and his thighs of bra&s;s.</P>
<P N="33">33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron, and part of clay.</P>
<P N="34">34 Thou &s;awe&s;t till that a &s;tone was cut out with|out hands, which &s;mote the image upon his feet that were of iron, and clay, and brake them to pieces.</P>
<P N="35">35 Then was the iron, the clay, the bra&s;s, the &s;il|ver, and the gold broken to pieces together, and be|came like the chaff of the &s;ummer thre&s;hing floors, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the &s;tone that &s;mote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.</P>
<P N="36">36 This is the dream, and we will tell the inter|pretation thereof before the King.</P>
<P N="37">37 Thou, O King, art a King of Kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and &s;trength, and glory.</P>
<PB N="11" REF="10">
<P N="38">38 And where&s;oever the children of men dwell, the bea&s;ts of the field, and the &s;ouls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all: thou art this head of gold.</P>
<P N="39">39 And after thee &s;hall ari&s;e another kingdom in|feriour to thee, and another third kingdom of bra&s;s, which &s;hall bear rule over all the earth.</P>
<P N="40">40 And the fourth kingdom &s;hall be &s;trong as iron: fora&s;much as iron breaketh in pieces; and &s;ubdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all the&s;e, &s;hall it break in pieces and brui&s;e.</P>
<P N="41">41 And whereas thou &s;awe&s;t the feet and toes, part of potters clay, and part of iron: the kingdom &s;hall be divided, but there &s;hall be in it of the &s;trength of the iron, fora&s;much as thou &s;awe&s;t the iron mixt with miry clay.</P>
<P N="42">42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay; &s;o the kingdom &s;hall be partly &s;trong, and partly broken.</P>
<P N="43">43 And whereas thou &s;awe&s;t iron mixed with mi|ry clay, they &s;hall mingle them&s;elves with the &s;eed of men: but they &s;hall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixt with clay.</P>
<P N="44">44 And in the days of the&s;e Kings, &s;hall the God of heaven &s;et up a kingdom, which &s;hall never be de&s;troyed: and the kingdom &s;hall not be left to o|ther people, but it &s;hall break in pieces and con&s;ume all the&s;e kingdoms, and it &s;hall &s;tand for ever.</P>
<P N="45">45 Fora&s;much as thou &s;awe&s;t that the &s;tone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the bra&s;s, the clay, the &s;il|ver, and the gold: the great God hath made known to the King what &s;hall come to pa&s;s hereafter, and
<PB N="12" REF="11">the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof &s;ure.</P>
<P N="46">46 Then the King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face, and wor&s;hipped Daniel, and commanded that they &s;hould offer an oblation, and &s;weet odours unto him.</P>
<P N="47">47 The King an&s;wered unto Daniel, and &s;aid, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of Gods, and a Lord of Kings, and a revealer of &s;ecrets, &s;eeing thou coulde&s;t reveal this &s;ecret.</P>
<P N="48">48 Then the King made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole Province of Babylon, and chief of the go|vernours over all the wi&s;e men of Babylon.</P>
<P N="49">49 Then Daniel reque&s;ted of the King, and he &s;et Shadrach, Me&s;hach, and Abednego over the a&s;&s;airs of the Province of Babylon: but Daniel &s;ate in the gate of the King.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. IN the fourth year of <HI>Jehoiakim</HI> (but third from the death of <HI>Jehoahaz</HI>) the Son of <HI>Jo&s;iah</HI> King of <HI>Judah,</HI> was <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> &s;ent with Regal power by his Father <HI>Nabopola&s;ar</HI> again&s;t <HI>Pharaoh Necho</HI> King of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> who&s;e army he overthrew near <HI>Carchemi&s;h,</HI> &s;ituated on the River <HI>Euphrates,</HI> Jer. 46. He being therefore then by his Father inve&s;ted with Regal Power, that is accounted by <HI>Je|remiah</HI> and <HI>Daniel</HI> the fir&s;t year of his Reign in &s;ome ca&s;es: But fora&s;much as <HI>Nabopola&s;ar,</HI> the Father of <HI>Nebuchadnez|zar,</HI> lived about a year after this, upon who&s;e death <HI>Ne|buchadnezzar</HI> fir&s;t founded the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Monarchy or Em|pire, the fifth year of <HI>Jehoiakim,</HI> counting from the death of <HI>Jehoahaz,</HI> is according to the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Compute the fir&s;t year of the Reign of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> and the &s;ixth of
<PB N="13" REF="11"><HI>Jehoiakim</HI> the &s;econd of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar;</HI> according to the <HI>Babylonian</HI> compute, which is here followed.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>The Magicians</HI>&mdash;The Original has it <HI>Hartum|mim,</HI> which derived from <HI>Heret,</HI> a graving tool or <HI>Harath,</HI> which is to grave, may properly denote &s;uch Magicians as pretend to doe feats by <HI>Tele&s;matical</HI> Characters engraven on Metals, <HI>&amp;c. A&s;trologers,</HI> A&s;aphim, may haply &s;igni|fie natural Philo&s;ophers, pretending to the skill of the Powers of Nature. <HI>Sorcerers,</HI> Meca&s;&s;ephim, <HI>i. e.</HI> down|right wizzards. <HI>And the Chaldeans,</HI> i. e. the re&s;t of the <HI>Chaldean</HI> wi&s;e men, as they were thought. For it &s;eems to be a name common to them all, <HI>V.</HI> 4.10.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Then &s;pake the Chaldeans to the King in Syriack,</HI> i. e. in <HI>Chaldee.</HI> Whereupon <HI>Daniel</HI> for rea&s;ons intima|ted in the Preface, writes the re&s;idue of this and the five following Chapters in Chaldee. <HI>Tell thy &s;ervants the dream, &amp;c.</HI> Skill in the Onirocriticks or in interpreting Aenigma|tical dreams, it &s;eems was one part of the&s;e <HI>Chaldeans</HI> pro|fe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Make known unto me the dream.</HI> This may &s;eem an unrea&s;onable demand of the King, but it is not unlikely that the&s;e <HI>Chaldeans</HI> had boa&s;ted &s;o much of their skill be|yond the truth, that the King might be per&s;uaded that their skill reached to the di&s;covering what one dreamt, as well as the meaning of the dream, and &s;o was here di&s;appointed of his expectation.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Would gain the time.</HI> You would &s;huffle me off, and delay me, hoping that I may divert my mind to other matters, and &s;o forget to call to you again to perform your office in this.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Lying and corrupt words.</HI> You juggle with me, and u&s;e deceitfull &s;peeches to cover your own ignorance, that pretend to interpret any dream if it be but told you; whenas if you could infallibly interpret a Prophetick dream, you would be able to tell the dream it &s;elf al&s;o, which you confe&s;s you cannot: but I have told you again and again, that I cannot my &s;elf recall my dream to mind. But tell me the dream, and I &s;hall know that you can &s;hew me the
<PB N="14" REF="12">interpretation, otherwi&s;e the&s;e are but tricks to delay, <HI>till the time be changed,</HI> i. e. till my affairs call me another way and make me regardle&s;s of this. So <HI>Vatablus.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Not a man upon earth.</HI> This therefore hugely &s;ets off that unexpected exploit of <HI>Daniel,</HI> that he could as well tell what the King dreamt, as the meaning of his dream, <HI>v.</HI> 28.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>Except the Gods.</HI> None could tell what the King dreamt, except tho&s;e higher <HI>Elohim</HI> or Angels, who are &s;o pure that they have no conver&s;ation with men, as the Aerial <HI>Genii</HI> or <HI>Daemons</HI> have, with whom the&s;e <HI>Chaldeans</HI> might pretend to have &s;ome familiarity. To this &s;en&s;e <HI>Grotius</HI> on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. The Original has it, The decree went forth, and the wi&s;e men were &s;lain, <HI>i. e.</HI> began to be &s;lain, &s;ome of them were di&s;patched, and <HI>Daniel</HI> and his Fellows &s;ought after, as being adopted into that order.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>He an&s;wered and &s;aid to Arioch.</HI> It may be &s;o turned out of the Original; and the Seventy and the Vulgar Latine turn tho&s;e Hebrew words that occur here, u&s;ually &s;o. But it is very improper to make <HI>(Gnanah)</HI> to denote <HI>an&s;wering,</HI> when there is no mention made of any thing &s;poke, to an&s;wer to. The word <HI>(Gnanah)</HI> &s;ignifies &s;imply to &s;peak as well as to an&s;wer, which had been the more proper tran&s;lation in this place. El&s;ewhere our Engli&s;h tran&s;lation balks the ill example of the Seventy and the Vulgar Latine, chu&s;ing rather to u&s;e a Pleona&s;m, by ren|dring it, [He &s;pake and &s;aid] than to make ill &s;en&s;e by &s;ay|ing [he an&s;wered] when nothing was &s;aid before to an&s;wer to, <HI>ch.</HI> 4. <HI>v.</HI> 30.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>Daniel</HI> in an holy faith and confidence in the a&s;&s;i&s;tence of the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> got acce&s;s to the King, and not faultring and &s;huffling with him as the <HI>Chaldeans</HI> did, but declaring plainly, that by the help of his God, within a day or two he would &s;hew the King both his dream which he had &s;uch a de&s;ire to recover into his mind, and al&s;o the in|terpretation thereof, did &s;o a&s;&s;wage the wrath of the King, that he obtained his reque&s;t, and had a time &s;et him.</P>
<PB N="15" REF="12">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>Should not peri&s;h.</HI> The great and imminent dan|ger the&s;e pious per&s;ons were in, put them upon mo&s;t ear|ne&s;t and &s;incere devotion, which being edged and invigo|rated by a firm faith, is prevalent even to the working of Miracles. See <HI>Jam.</HI> ch. 5. v. 17, 18.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Then was.</HI> This was the miraculous effect of their faith and prayer, according to that of the Apo&s;tle. The fervent in&s;pired prayer of a righteous man availeth much. <HI>In a Night-Vi&s;ion,</HI> i. e. in a Vi&s;ion by night, whe|ther waking or &s;leeping, each way divine, and a&s;&s;ured by that &s;pirit that exhibited it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>Daniel</HI> being certain that this Nights Vi&s;ion was from God, gives him prai&s;e and thanks, fora&s;much as <HI>Wi&s;edom</HI> and <HI>Might,</HI> that is, revealed <HI>Truth</HI> and Prophe|tick <HI>Fortitude,</HI> viz. an un&s;haken a&s;&s;urance thereof, which will enable one to profe&s;s it before the greate&s;t Princes or Potentates, is a gift from him. Of this Prophetick For|titude, &s;ee <HI>R. Ben-Maimon, Mon Nevoch,</HI> Part 2. c. 38.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. <HI>Removeth Kings.</HI> Mo&s;t of the matter of this Ver&s;e is &s;uitable to the &s;ubject of the Vi&s;ion following, com|prizing the Succe&s;&s;ion of the four famous Empires, which that night was revealed to him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. The darkne&s;s hideth not from thee, but the night &s;hineth as the day, the darkne&s;s and the light to thee are both alike, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 139. and &s;o are ea&s;ie and hard, clear and ob&s;cure things to his Omni&s;cience, they are both alike.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. <HI>Wi&s;edom and Might,</HI> i. e. Revealed <HI>Truth</HI> and Prophetick <HI>Fortitude,</HI> and A&s;&s;urance as before, <HI>v.</HI> 20. Which <HI>Impre&s;s</HI> of the <HI>&s;pirit</HI> is as certain as <HI>touch,</HI> or any of the <HI>&s;en&s;es.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. <HI>The wi&s;e men of Babylon.</HI> The word <HI>Hachamim</HI> here, which is wi&s;e men, is of &s;uch an indifferent &s;en&s;e, as the title of a <HI>Philo&s;opher</HI> is, which &s;ounds alike in all, when yet there is as much difference betwixt &s;ome Philo&s;ophies and other &s;ome, as there is betwixt Wi&s;edom and Folly.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. <HI>To the King the Interpretation.</HI> Mention of the dream it &s;elf is both here and in the foregoing Ver&s;e omit|ted,
<PB N="16" REF="13">when as yet the King &s;eemed mo&s;t &s;olicitous what the dream it &s;elf was; but <HI>Daniel</HI> profe&s;&s;ing he knew the in|terpretation, implies he knew the dream al&s;o.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. <HI>South&s;ayers.</HI> This is a new name we met not with before. The Original is <HI>Gezerin</HI> from <HI>Gazar</HI> to cut up, becau&s;e by the cutting open the entrails of bea&s;ts, they pretended to foretell things to come.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 28. 'Tis a piece of Candour and Humanity in <HI>Da|niel</HI> toward the Wi&s;e men of <HI>Babylon,</HI> who&s;e skill it &s;ur|pa&s;&s;ed to declare the King's dream, freely to profe&s;s to the King that it was merely the gift of the God of Heaven to him, not any humane art or wi&s;edom of his own, that he was enabled to reveal this &s;ecret, and &s;o impart it to the King.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 29. Thou wa&s;t anxiou&s;ly thoughtfull on thy bed, touching the State of the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Empire and future change of things, and falling a&s;leep, Providence ca&s;t thee into a dream that repre&s;ented to thee future matters of great moment.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 30. But that this dream &s;lipt out of thy memory &s;hould be revealed to me, it was no peculiar effect of any wi&s;edom of mine above other mortals, but God imparted it to me that thou mighte&s;t acknowledge it to have been thine own thought occurring to thee in thy &s;leep, and that they that interpreted it to thee, may gain from thee more firm belief of the truth of their interpretation.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 31. <HI>Thou O King,</HI> when thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, and thou did&s;t fall into the dream, who&s;e revealment to me by the &s;pirit of the mo&s;t holy God &s;hews it to be certainly divine, <HI>&s;awe&s;t and behold a great Image,</HI> or great Statue, as comprehending in it no le&s;s than the Succe&s;&s;ion of the four famous Empires. <HI>This great image who&s;e brightne&s;s was excellent,</HI> it repre&s;enting the &s;plendour and glory of tho&s;e Empires it did prefigure; <HI>Stood before thee. And the Form thereof was terrible,</HI> &s;etting out thereby the great fear and awe the&s;e Empires ca&s;t the World into by their &s;everity, violence and cruelty. For which cau&s;e in another Vi&s;ion they are re&s;embled to wild bea&s;ts.</P>
<PB N="17" REF="13">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 32. <HI>This Images head was of fine gold.</HI> The orderly Succe&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e four famous Empires, <HI>Babylonian, Me|do-Per&s;ian, Greek</HI> and <HI>Roman</HI> (taken notice of becau&s;e the concerns of the Church are complicated with their affairs, and for that their Succe&s;&s;ion extends from <HI>Daniel</HI>'s time, to the ble&s;&s;ed Millennium) is &s;et out by the order of worth or pretiou&s;ne&s;s of the four known Metals, Gold, Silver, Bra&s;s and Iron, and by an orderly di&s;tribution of Man's body in|to four parts, the Head, the Brea&s;t with the armes, the Belly with the thighs, and the Legs with the feet and toes. Where the Head naturally takes the fir&s;t place, and as na|turally the re&s;t &s;ucceed in order. And it is plain here, that the Head is the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Empire. And, <HI>His Brea&s;t and his Armes of &s;ilver,</HI> is the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian.</HI> Which con|&s;i&s;ting of two people, <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> they are fitly repre&s;ented by the&s;e two Armes, but with no mention of hands, of which the ten fingers would be the natural parts, becau&s;e there was no divi&s;ion of the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Empire into ten Kingdoms, as there was of the Roman. <HI>His Belly and his Thighs of Bra&s;s.</HI> By this is under&s;tood the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire, which was one in <HI>Alexander,</HI> but after his death divided more notably and durably into the two Kingdoms of the <HI>Lagidae</HI> and <HI>Seleucidae,</HI> who&s;e affairs al&s;o mo&s;t con|cern'd the Church of the Jews.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 33. <HI>His Legs of Iron.</HI> Here begins the <HI>Roman</HI> Em|pire, &s;uppo&s;e, upon <HI>Aemilius Paulus</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> Con&s;ul his vanqui&s;hing of <HI>Per&s;eus,</HI> the la&s;t King of <HI>Macedonia.</HI> And that Empire may very well be repre&s;ented by the two legs, that &s;tate for many hundred years being mo&s;t-what &s;uppor|ted by the Supreme power of their two Con&s;uls, which Con&s;ular power continued above an hundred years after the vanqui&s;hing <HI>Per&s;eus</HI> King of <HI>Macedonia</HI> by <HI>Aemilius</HI> the Con&s;ul. Be&s;ides that there may be an allu&s;ion to the di|viding of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire into Ea&s;tern and We&s;tern. <HI>His feet part of Iron, part of Clay;</HI> which <HI>feet</HI> imply the <HI>ten toes,</HI> which are parts of the feet, and therefore repre&s;ent the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire divided into ten Kingdoms. Which ten Kingdoms are al&s;o prefigured by the ten Horns of the
<PB N="18" REF="14">fourth Bea&s;t, <HI>chap.</HI> 7. And &s;ince the divi&s;ion of the Em|pire into ten Kingdoms was not till it had become Chri|&s;tian, the <HI>Iron</HI> and <HI>Clay</HI> may fitly here denote the <HI>Secular</HI> power and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick,</HI> which Clay or Earth &s;eems to be alluded to, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 12.16.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 34. <HI>Thou &s;awe&s;t till a &s;tone was cut out without hands,</HI> i. e. Be&s;ides this Image and the four di&s;tinct Metalline parts thereof, thou &s;awe&s;t moreover a &s;tone cut out with|out hands, no man with Axe or Gav-lock di&s;levering it. Which &s;tone is Chri&s;t and his true Church, him&s;elf being born in a &s;upernatural way by the over&s;hadowing of the Holy Gho&s;t, and his Church being rai&s;ed and propagated in a &s;upernatural way, by the a&s;&s;i&s;tence al&s;o of the Holy Spi|rit, by real Miracles, by unfeigned Sanctity, and by invin|cible Patience, and &s;uffering for the Truth. <HI>Which &s;mote the Image upon his feet which were of Iron and Clay, and brake them in pieces.</HI> This true Apo&s;tolick Church, which appeared with Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles, and &s;o on in tho&s;e pure Pri|mitive times, will at la&s;t &s;trike the Image upon his feet, namely under the &s;eventh Vial, or at that War of the Ri|der on the white Hor&s;e, wherein the Bea&s;t and the fal&s;e Prophet (the Remainder of the Iron and degenerate Clay) are ca&s;t into a Lake of fire burning with brim&s;tone, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 19.21.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 35. <HI>Then was the Iron, the Clay, the Bra&s;s, the Silver and Gold broken to pieces together, and became as the chaff of the &s;ummer thre&s;hing floor, and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them.</HI> This plainly an&s;wers to the ca&s;ting of the Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet into the Lake of fire burning with brim&s;tone. Both places &s;ignifie the utter a|boli&s;hing all the Idolatrous tyranny remaining in the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire at that time, whether in the <HI>Secular</HI> or <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;ti|cal</HI> Powers. But that then the Clay, Bra&s;s, Silver and Gold are &s;aid to be broken in pieces together, that is one|ly an Embelli&s;hing the external Cortex of the Vi&s;ion, <HI>And the &s;tone that &s;mote the Image, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth,</HI> that is. The true Apo&s;tolick Church purged from all Super&s;titious, Idolatrous and Tyrannical
<PB N="19" REF="14">Principles and Practices will over&s;pread the whole world in a manner. The Kingdoms of this world (as it is predic|ted in the Apocalyp&s;e) becoming the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Chri&s;t. This &s;tate of the Church may be termed <HI>Regnum Montis,</HI> the Kingdom of the Mountain, as Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> has well noted, as the State before this may be called, <HI>Regnum Lapidis,</HI> the Kingdom of the Stone.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 36. <HI>This is the Dream;</HI> which miraculou&s;ly, and by the mere in&s;piration of the Spirit of the mo&s;t High was communicated unto me, and which the King cannot deny but to have been his dream, which he was &s;o de&s;irous to recover into his mind. <HI>And we will tell the interpretation thereof before the King,</HI> which he may be &s;ure is true and Divinely in&s;pired, it being impo&s;&s;ible any man &s;hould know the thoughts of another man, e&s;pecially &s;o &s;trange and opero&s;e as the&s;e, unle&s;s he were in&s;pired. Whence my declaring the dream ought to be lookt upon as a certain a&s;&s;urance of the truth of the interpretation, which is this.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 37. <HI>Thou, O King, art a King of Kings,</HI> i. e. The greate&s;t King on earth, <HI>For the God of Heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power and &s;trength, and glory.</HI> Thou ha&s;t a &s;trong, potent and glorious Kingdom, and it is the gift of God unto thee, and therefore thou &s;hould&s;t remember to govern as his Vicegerent.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 38. <HI>And where&s;oever the children of men dwell,</HI> viz. the cultivated places of his Kingdom. <HI>The Bea&s;ts of the field,</HI> The de&s;art places of <HI>Arabia</HI> and <HI>Africk,</HI> &s;ays <HI>Grotius. And the fowls of the heaven;</HI> Invious and inacce&s;&s;ible Rocks, where onely the fowls of heaven can ne&s;t, <HI>Hath he given into thy hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all.</HI> All the&s;e diver&s;ities of the va&s;t places of thy Kingdom art thou Lord over. And God having given thee &s;o large an Em|pire, &s;o pro&s;perous and glorious, I declare unto thee, <HI>Thou art this head of Gold.</HI> Which is briefly and figuratively &s;poken by a Synecdoche or Metonymie, for, Thou art the Lord and Owner of it. From whence we may be a&s;&s;ured, that the Head of Gold &s;ignifies the <HI>Babylonian</HI>
<PB N="20" REF="15">Kingdom, <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> being then King of <HI>Baby|lon.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 39. <HI>And after thee &s;hall ari&s;e another kingdom infe|riour to thee.</HI> The fir&s;t Empire comprized in this Image being thus evidently the <HI>Babylonian,</HI> it does naturally fol|low that the &s;econd mu&s;t be the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian,</HI> begun in <HI>Cy|rus;</HI> but in that this <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Empire &s;eems to be &s;aid to be inferiour or le&s;&s;er than the <HI>Babylonian,</HI> though there was the Acce&s;&s;ion of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> and all the Acqui&s;ts of <HI>Cyrus</HI> ad|ded thereto, this difficulty is to be &s;olved out of the very text; where (to thee) &s;eems on purpo&s;e put for (to thine) that the fir&s;t head of this following Kingdom might be un|der&s;tood to be more e&s;pecially compared with him, in which there &s;eems apparent odds. For <HI>Cyrus,</HI> the fir&s;t head of the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Monarchy reigned not pa&s;&s;ing &s;ix or &s;even years (or but two or three according to &s;ome) in that enlarged Empire, whenas <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> in his <HI>Ba|bylonian</HI> Empire reigned 43 years, for far the greate&s;t part, mo&s;t &s;plendidly and pro&s;perou&s;ly, in&s;omuch that the ex|ce&s;s of his pro&s;perity ca&s;t him into that Septennial deli|rancy, out of which he was recovered, and gave prai&s;e to the God of Heaven. So that he had 36 years of clear pro|&s;perity in his Empire of <HI>Babylon.</HI> But <HI>Cyrus,</HI> as he reigned but a &s;mall time in the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Empire, &s;o he was vanqui&s;hed ingloriou&s;ly by the hand of a woman <HI>Tomyris</HI> a <HI>Scythian</HI> Queen, who cut off his head and ca&s;t it into a ve&s;|&s;el of bloud, &s;aying, <HI>Satia te</HI> Cyre <HI>&s;anguine quem &s;iti&s;ti. And another third kingdom of Bra&s;s.</HI> This &s;hews plainly that the golden, &s;ilver and bra&s;s part of the Image &s;ignifie three di&s;tinct Kingdoms, and no more. But now it is evi|dent in Hi&s;tory, that as the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Empire &s;ucceeded the <HI>Babylonian,</HI> &s;o the <HI>Macedonick</HI> or <HI>Grecian</HI> &s;ucceeded the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian.</HI> For <HI>Alexander Macedo,</HI> after he had van|qui&s;hed <HI>Darius Codomannus</HI> in his la&s;t battel at <HI>Arbela,</HI> tran&s;|lated the Monarchy from the <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> to the <HI>Grecks,</HI> about the third year of the hundred and twelfth Olympiad. <HI>Which &s;hall bear rule over all the earth,</HI> 1 Maccab. 1. He made many Wars, and won many &s;trong Holds
<PB N="21" REF="15">and &s;lew the Kings of the earth, and went through to the ends of the earth. See al&s;o <HI>Ju&s;tin</HI> lib. 12.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 40. <HI>And the fourth kingdom &s;hall be as &s;trong as Iron.</HI> That this fourth Kingdom is the <HI>Roman,</HI> is manife&s;t from hence, that it &s;ucceeds the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire, which it may &s;eem mo&s;t properly fir&s;t to &s;eize upon, when <HI>Aemylius Paulus</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> Con&s;ul had vanqui&s;hed <HI>Per&s;eus</HI> the la&s;t King of <HI>Macedonia.</HI> But about an age after, the Kingdoms of the <HI>Lagidae</HI> and <HI>Seleucidae,</HI> tho&s;e two eminent parts or thighs rather of the <HI>Macedonick</HI> or <HI>Greek</HI> Empire, were &s;ubdued by the <HI>Romans.</HI> The la&s;t of the <HI>Seleucidae</HI> or Kings of <HI>Syria, Tigranes</HI> was vanqui&s;hed by <HI>Pompey,</HI> and <HI>Syria</HI> re|duced into a Province; as al&s;o <HI>Aegypt</HI> by <HI>Augu&s;tus,</HI> when he had vanqui&s;hed <HI>Antonius</HI> the husband of <HI>Cleopatra,</HI> daugh|ter of <HI>Ptolemaeus Auletes</HI> the la&s;t but one of the <HI>Lagidae</HI> or Kings of <HI>Aegypt.</HI> Whence it is plain, that the <HI>Roman</HI> &s;uc|ceeds the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire, as the <HI>Greek</HI> the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian,</HI> and that therefore this is the fourth Kingdom, prefigured by the Image of the four &s;everal Metals, and not the King|dom of the <HI>Lagidae</HI> and <HI>Seleucidae,</HI> during which the Stone cut out without hands did not happen, which yet was to happen <HI>within</HI> the duration of the <HI>four</HI> Empires &s;ignified by the Statue. <HI>Fora&s;much as Iron breaketh in pieces and &s;ubdu|eth all things, and as Iron breaketh all the&s;e,</HI> viz. all the&s;e Metals of Gold, Silver and Bra&s;s, &s;hall it, this <HI>Roman</HI> King|dom or Empire (not that of the <HI>Lagidae</HI> and <HI>Seleucidae) Break in pieces and brui&s;e,</HI> the Countries and People which the <HI>Babylonian, Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> and <HI>Grecian</HI> Empires had ruled over.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 41. <HI>And whereas thou &s;awe&s;t the Feet and Toes.</HI> Here is mention made of Toes with the Feet, which ju&s;tifies our expo&s;ition above, <HI>v.</HI> 33. But now we are come hither, we mu&s;t remember we are come unto that period of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, when it was divided into <HI>ten kingdoms,</HI> which are intimated by the <HI>ten toes</HI> of the Statue, as they are by the <HI>ten horns</HI> of the Bea&s;t actually crowned, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 13. Which is the time that the <HI>two-horned</HI> Bea&s;t ri&s;es out of the earth. And why not out of a white <HI>clayie clammy</HI> earth, &s;uch as
<PB N="22" REF="16">Potters make u&s;e of, as well as out of any other earth be|&s;ides? Nor will any man, I think, while he con&s;iders that the <HI>Iron</HI> here &s;ignifies <HI>Men,</HI> a body Politick of them, &s;tick to admit that this <HI>Clay</HI> does &s;ignifie &s;o likewi&s;e. But there being &s;o palpable a difference betwixt <HI>Iron</HI> and <HI>Clay,</HI> it is manife&s;t there mu&s;t be as great a difference betwixt tho&s;e two bodies Politick, and therefore the <HI>Iron</HI> mu&s;t be the <HI>Secular,</HI> the <HI>Clay</HI> the <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick.</HI> As it is &s;aid of the Pa|pal Hierarchy, which is the little Horn, <HI>chap.</HI> 7.24. that that Horn or King &s;hall be <HI>divers</HI> from the re&s;t. Which diver&s;ification here betwixt the <HI>Secular</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick</HI> power &s;ignify'd by the <HI>Iron</HI> and <HI>Clay,</HI> need not be expre&s;&s;ed in words, the Symbols them&s;elves being &s;o apparently different. <HI>Part of Potters Clay and part of Iron.</HI> This im|plies, that by that time the Empire was divided into ten Kingdoms, the <HI>Summa pote&s;tas</HI> began to be neither in the <HI>Secular</HI> power ab&s;olutely, nor in the <HI>Hierarchical,</HI> but they were &s;o mingled together, that it was not complete or full, nor &s;ure without the concurrence of both, the Eccle&s;ia&s;tick power getting &s;uch an hank upon the Secular <HI>in ordine ad &s;piritualia,</HI> the effects whereof within no long time appear|ed with a witne&s;s. <HI>The kingdom &s;hall be divided,</HI> that is, The power will be divided or &s;hared betwixt the Papal or Sacerdotal Hierarchy, and the Secular orders of Emperours and Kings. For the <HI>Iron</HI> and <HI>Clay</HI> cannot &s;tand for the divi&s;ion of the Empire into ten Kingdoms; for that the ten Toes prefigure, but the &s;haring of the <HI>Summa pote&s;tas</HI> betwixt the <HI>Secular</HI> Magi&s;trate and the <HI>Papal</HI> or <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> Hierarchy, the Empire, by their encroachments and uni|ver&s;al power over all the ten Kings, the Emperours them|&s;elves not excepted, becoming a <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> Empire rather than <HI>Secular.</HI> To which Papal or Sacerdotal Empire tho&s;e words &s;eem to refer. <HI>But there &s;hall be in it of the &s;trength of Iron, fora&s;much as thou &s;awe&s;t the Iron mixed with the miry clay,</HI> that is, The Sword-men or Secular power of the ten Kings was &s;o a&s;&s;ured to the maintaining of the Power and the In&s;titutes of the Papal Hierarchy (though never &s;o foul or idolatrous &s;o they made for the Sacerdotal worldly in|tere&s;t)
<PB N="23" REF="16">that the Papal Empire, or the Empire framed ac|cording to that pattern and &s;cope, was as it were &s;trength|ned with Iron. Which is that which is intimated, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 17.13. where the ten Kings are &s;aid to give their &s;trength and power to the Bea&s;t that was, and is not, and yet is. Which is the Empire re-fa&s;hioned again into a Pagan-like Idolatrous form for the worldly advantage of the Papal Hierarchy. Thus was the <HI>Iron</HI> mixed with the mirie <HI>Clay,</HI> the ten Kings cleaving &s;o clo&s;e to the Intere&s;t of the Papal Idolatrous Clergy.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 42. <HI>And as the Toes of the feet were part of Iron, and part of Clay,</HI> i. e. As every one of tho&s;e ten Kingdoms con|&s;i&s;ted of <HI>Temporal</HI> power and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical,</HI> the Papal Hie|rarchy being branched through all the ten Kingdoms till the Reformation. <HI>So the kingdom &s;hall be partly &s;trong, and partly broken,</HI> that is. The <HI>Roman</HI> Empire divided into tho&s;e ten Kingdoms &s;hall be partly &s;trong and partly brit|tle, the Papal power weakening the Ab&s;olute power of each Kingdom, and occa&s;ioning many breaches and jars in Chri|&s;tendom.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 43. <HI>And whereas thou &s;awe&s;t Iron mixed with miry clay.</HI> I &s;hall tell thee the rea&s;on of it, by what means it came to pa&s;s in that mea&s;ure it did. <HI>They &s;hall mingle them|&s;elves with the &s;eed of men.</HI> So our Engli&s;h renders it, and mo&s;t Tran&s;latours and Interpreters run this way, and un|der&s;tand by it the interchangeable marriages of great Po|tentates of &s;everal Kingdoms, thereby to &s;trengthen mu|tual Intere&s;t and Amity. But this cannot be the &s;en&s;e, be|cau&s;e the &s;trengthening of union here is not betwixt the <HI>Secular</HI> Potentates and Princes, that is, betwixt the <HI>Iron</HI> and <HI>Iron,</HI> but betwixt the <HI>Iron</HI> and the <HI>Clay.</HI> Looking there|fore &s;imply to the Original, the genuine &s;en&s;e &s;eems to be this. They &s;hall mix together, or joyn them&s;elves toge|ther, <HI>per &s;ementem hominum,</HI> by the planting or &s;owing of <HI>&s;orry ob&s;cure</HI> men to appearance. For &s;o the word &s;ignifies (not <HI>Nobles</HI> or <HI>Princes</HI>) namely, <HI>Monks</HI> and <HI>Friars,</HI> in their Seminaries, Covents or Mona&s;teries, and the like, train'd up there, on purpo&s;e, to the skill of kindling a zeal both
<PB N="24" REF="17">in great men, and e&s;pecially in the common people, for &s;uch principles and practices as tend mo&s;t to the &s;upport and intere&s;t of the Papacy. See Dr. <HI>H. More</HI> upon the place, and his <HI>Notes</HI> thereon, and the <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to the <HI>Re|marker. But they &s;hall not cleave,</HI> &s;o very firmly, <HI>one to ano|ther, even as Iron is not mixed with Clay.</HI> And what bicker|ings and cla&s;hings there have been betwixt the&s;e two powers the <HI>Secular</HI> and <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick</HI> in particular Kingdoms, the Chronicles of each Kingdom will declare; As al&s;o what combats there have been betwixt the Popes and the Empe|rours, both <HI>Greek</HI> and <HI>German,</HI> is notoriou&s;ly known to all. This pa&s;&s;age therefore in <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;eems to an&s;wer to that in the Apocalyp&s;e, <HI>chap.</HI> 17. <HI>v.</HI> 16. <HI>And the ten horns which thou &s;awe&s;t upon the bea&s;t, they &s;hall hate the whore,</HI> &amp;c.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 44. <HI>And in the days of the&s;e Kings &s;hall the God of heaven &s;et up a kingdom which &s;hall never be de&s;troyed.</HI> After <HI>Daniel</HI> in his interpretation has gone through all the four Empires comprized in that Image of four &s;everal Metals (which <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> &s;aw) from head to foot: Now he begins to explain the My&s;tery of the Stone cut out without hands, whereby is under&s;tood Chri&s;t with his truly pure and Apo&s;tolick Church, as has been above pro|ved. Wherefore by [in the days of tho&s;e Kings] mu&s;t be under&s;tood in the days of the fourth, <HI>viz.</HI> in the time of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire. For Chri&s;t was born, and his Go|&s;pel divulged, and his Church fir&s;t gathered in that time. Which from this pa&s;&s;age in <HI>Daniel</HI> is called the <HI>Kingdom of Heaven</HI> and the <HI>Kingdom of God,</HI> in which God truly rules by his &s;pirit. <HI>Which kingdom &s;hall never be de&s;troyed,</HI> the gates of Hell &s;hall never prevail again&s;t it. The true and living Church which the Spirit of Chri&s;t actuates, this &s;hall never fail. <HI>And the kingdom &s;hall not be left to other people;</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> &s;ucceeded the <HI>Babylonians,</HI> the <HI>Greeks</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> and the <HI>Romans</HI> the <HI>Greeks,</HI> but no Empire &s;hall &s;ucceed, nor any people the true Chri&s;tian Church, which is the Kingdom of God, and which either as <HI>Regnum La|pidis,</HI> or el&s;e as <HI>Regnum Montis</HI> will la&s;t to the end of the world. <HI>But it &s;hall break in pieces, and con&s;ume all the&s;e
<PB N="25" REF="17">kingdoms,</HI> i. e. When it has become <HI>Regnum Montis,</HI> it will have over&s;pread, and will po&s;&s;e&s;s and keep in rule all the Countries that the four great Monarchies &s;ignified by the Statue had occupied, <HI>And it &s;hall &s;tand for ever.</HI> Accor|ding as it is &s;aid <HI>Apoc.</HI> 11.16. The Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Chri&s;t, and <HI>he &s;hall reign for ever and ever.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 45. <HI>Fora&s;much as thou &s;awe&s;t that the &s;tone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the Iron, the Bra&s;s, the Clay, and the Silver and Gold.</HI> i. e. For|a&s;much as thou &s;awe&s;t the &s;tone cut out of the Mountain to doe this, which &s;ignifies the true Church of Chri&s;t thus &s;u|pernaturally begun, and as &s;upernaturally emerging to this glorious i&s;&s;ue at la&s;t, being carried on by the power and conduct of his Spirit; who will then open a door of &s;ucce&s;s, that no man &s;hall be able to &s;hut, as it is &s;aid to the Church of <HI>Philadelphia:</HI> Con&s;idering, I &s;ay, that <HI>Omnipotency</HI> it &s;elf is the &s;pring of this motion, and that it does not depend on the humours and purpo&s;es of men, I can of a truth de|clare unto the King that, <HI>The great God hath made known un|to the King what &s;hall come to pa&s;s hereafter,</HI> or, after this, namely, after the demolition of all the&s;e four Empires, the Vi&s;ion reaching to the end of the world, which that expec|ted glorious &s;tate of the true Church will precede, when the Kingdom of the Stone cut out of a Mountain, <HI>i. e.</HI> out of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, &s;hall it &s;elf become the kingdom of the Mountain, and fill the whole earth, <HI>i. e.</HI> when that &s;tate of the glorious and pure Church &s;hall &s;pread over all. <HI>And the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof &s;ure.</HI> Sure touching the whole matter, but more particularly touching that excellent &s;tate of the Church concerning which it is &s;aid, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 21.5. And he that &s;ate upon the Throne &s;aid, Behold I make all things new. And he &s;aith unto me write, For the&s;e words are true and faithfull. And he &s;aid unto me it is done, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The dream that he has interpreted is certain, e&s;pe|cially the mo&s;t concerning part thereof, the glory and pro&s;perity of the true Church of Chri&s;t, it being to be
<PB N="26" REF="18">atchieved by the irre&s;i&s;tible power of the Lord Je&s;us.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 46. <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> was &s;o &s;urprized and a&s;toni&s;h|ed at <HI>Daniel</HI>'s revealing this &s;ecret, and interpreting the dream, that, as if he were a God come down upon earth, he commanded an oblation and &s;weet odours to be offered unto him. Which que&s;tionle&s;s <HI>Daniel</HI> refu&s;ed, attributing all that he had performed, to the mere a&s;&s;i&s;tence of the God of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 47. <HI>A revealer of &s;ecrets.</HI> The&s;e words and others in this ver&s;e &s;eem to be taken from the mouth of <HI>Daniel,</HI> when he excu&s;ed him&s;elf from being &s;acrificed to, as not able to doe any thing of him&s;elf, but by the mere revelation of God unto him. Which <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> &s;eems here to a&s;&s;ent to, and thereupon magnifies the God of <HI>I&s;rael.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 48. The&s;e humane honours and high employments <HI>Daniel</HI> did not refu&s;e, but accept, not out of ambition, but to &s;erve his Prince, and to be in a better capacity of relieving the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed people of God, his Countreymen the Jews, and of advancing &s;ome of them to honourable places, as it appears in the following ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 49. <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hach</HI> and <HI>Abednego</HI> under <HI>Daniel</HI> admini&s;tred abroad the affairs of the Province of <HI>Babylon.</HI> But <HI>Daniel</HI> kept to the Court, he having the King's ear, and his coun&s;els being of that value with him. <HI>In the gate of the King.</HI> In aula Regis <GAP DESC="foreign">, &s;o the Seventy. <HI>In porta,</HI> &s;o <HI>Vatablus,</HI> and the Turki&s;h Court is call'd the <HI>Port</HI> at this very day, as <HI>Grotius</HI> has noted.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="27" REF="18">
<HEAD>CHAP. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Nebuchadnezzar <HI>dedicateth a golden Image in the Plain of</HI> Dura, <HI>in the Province of</HI> Babylon. Shadrach, Me|&s;hach <HI>and</HI> Abednego <HI>decline the wor&s;hipping of it, and are accu&s;ed thereof to the King. He grievou&s;ly threatning them, they yet &s;toutly per&s;i&s;t in their pious re&s;olution again&s;t &s;o gro&s;s Idolatry. They are ca&s;t into a fiery furnace, but the God of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>miraculou&s;ly delivers them.</HI> Nebuchadnezzar <HI>a&s;to|ni&s;hed at the Miracles, ble&s;&s;eth their God, and promotes them in the Province of</HI> Babylon.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NEbuchadnezzar the King made an image of gold, who&s;e height was three&s;core cubits, and the breadth thereof &s;ix cubits: he &s;et it up in the plain of Dura, in the Province of Babylon.</P>
<P N="2">2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the King &s;ent to gather together the Princes, the Governours, and the Cap|tains, the Judges, the Trea&s;urers, the Coun&s;ellers, the Sheriffs, and all the Rulers of the Provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchad|nezzar the King had &s;et up.</P>
<P N="3">3 Then the Princes, the Governours, and Cap|tains, the Judges, the Trea&s;ures, the Coun&s;ellers, the Sheriffs, and all the Rulers of the Provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the King had &s;et up, and they &s;tood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had &s;et up.</P>
<P N="4">4 Then an Herald cried aloud, To you it is com|manded, O people, nations and languages,</P>
<P N="5">5 That at what time ye hear the &s;ound of the Cor|net,
<PB N="28" REF="19">Flute, Harp, Sackbut, P&s;altery, Dulcimer, and all kinds of Mu&s;ick, ye fall down and wor&s;hip the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King hath &s;et up:</P>
<P N="6">6 And who&s;o falleth not down and wor&s;hippeth, &s;hall the &s;ame hour be ca&s;t into the mid&s;t of a burn|ing fiery furnace.</P>
<P N="7">7 Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the &s;ound of the Cornet, Flute, Harp, Sackbut, P&s;altery, and all kinds of Mu&s;ick, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and wor&s;hip|ped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the King had &s;et up.</P>
<P N="8">8 Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accu&s;ed the Jews.</P>
<P N="9">9 They &s;pake, and &s;aid to the King Nebuchadnez|zar, O King, live for ever.</P>
<P N="10">10 Thou, O King, ha&s;t made a decree, that every man that &s;hall hear the &s;ound of the Corner, Flute, Harp, Sackbut, P&s;altery and Dulcimer, and all kinds of Mu&s;ick, &s;hall &s;all down and wor&s;hip the golden image:</P>
<P N="11">11 And who&s;o falleth not down and wor&s;hippeth, that he &s;hould be ca&s;t into the mid&s;t of a burning &s;iery &s;urnace.</P>
<P N="12">12 There are certain Jews, whom thou ha&s;t &s;et over the affairs of the Province of Babylon, Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego: the&s;e men, O King, have not regarded thee, they &s;erve not thy gods, nor wor|&s;hip the golden image which thou ha&s;t &s;et up.</P>
<P N="13">13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury, commanded to bring Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abed|nego: then they brought the&s;e men before the King.</P>
<PB N="29" REF="19">
<P N="14">14 Nebuchadnezzar &s;pake, and &s;aid unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego? do not ye &s;erve my gods, nor wor&s;hip the golden image which I have &s;et up?</P>
<P N="15">15 Now if ye be ready, that at what time ye hear the &s;ound of the Cornet, Flute, Harp, Sackbut, P&s;altery and Dulcimer, and all kinds of Mu&s;ick, ye fall down, and wor&s;hip the image which I have made, well: but if ye wor&s;hip not, ye &s;hall be ca&s;t the &s;ame hour into the mid&s;t of a &s;iery furnace: and who is that God that &s;hall deliver you out of my hands?</P>
<P N="16">16 Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego an&s;wered, and &s;aid to the King: O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not carefull to an&s;wer thee in this matter.</P>
<P N="17">17 If it be &s;o, our God whom we &s;erve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King.</P>
<P N="18">18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not &s;erve thy gods, nor wor&s;hip thy golden image which thou ha&s;t &s;et up.</P>
<P N="19">19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his vi&s;age was changed again&s;t Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego: therefore he &s;pake, and com|manded that they &s;hould heat the furnace one &s;even times more, than it was wont to be heat.</P>
<P N="20">20 And he commanded the mo&s;t mighty men that were in his army, to bind Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego, and to ca&s;t them into the burning fiery furnace.</P>
<P N="21">21 Then the&s;e men were bound in their coats, their ho&s;en, and their hats, and their other garments, and were ca&s;t into the mid&s;t of the burning fiery furnace.</P>
<PB N="30" REF="20">
<P N="22">22 Therefore becau&s;e the Kings commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the &s;lame of the fire &s;lew tho&s;e men that took up Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego.</P>
<P N="23">23 And the&s;e three men, Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego, &s;ell down bound into the mid&s;t of the burning fiery furnace.</P>
<P N="24">24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the King was a&s;toni|ed, and ro&s;e up in ha&s;te, and &s;pake, and &s;aid unto his Coun&s;ellers, Did not we ca&s;t three men bound into the mid&s;t of the fire? They an&s;wered, and &s;aid unto the King: True, O King.</P>
<P N="25">25 He an&s;wered, and &s;aid, Lo, I &s;ee four men loo&s;e, walking in the mid&s;t of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.</P>
<P N="26">26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery &s;urnace, and &s;pake, and &s;aid, Sha|drach, Me&s;hach and Abednego, ye &s;ervants of the mo&s;t High God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego, came forth of the mid&s;t of the fire.</P>
<P N="27">27 And the Princes, Governours and Captains, and the Kings Coun&s;ellers, being gathered together, &s;aw the&s;e men, upon who&s;e bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head &s;inged, neither were their coats changed, nor the &s;mell of fire had pa&s;&s;ed on them.</P>
<P N="28">28 Then Nebuchadnezzar &s;pake and &s;aid, Ble&s;&s;ed be the God of Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego, who hath &s;ent his Angel, and delivered his &s;ervants that tru&s;ted in him, and have changed the Kings word, and yielded their bodies, that they might
<PB N="31" REF="20">not &s;erve, nor wor&s;hip any God, except their own God.</P>
<P N="29">29 Therefore I make a Decree, That every peo|ple, nation and language, which &s;peak any thing a|mi&s;s again&s;t the God of Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abed|nego, &s;hall be cut in pieces, and their hou&s;es &s;hall be made a dunghill, becau&s;e there is no other God that can deliver after this &s;ort.</P>
<P N="30">30 Then the King promoted Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego, in the Province of Babylon.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. THis Image was plainly a Colo&s;s, though of Gold, little inferiour to that of <HI>Rhodes,</HI> 105 feet high, called the Statue of the Sun, one of who&s;e names is <HI>Belus,</HI> the &s;ame with the chief God of the <HI>Babylonians,</HI> but the va&s;tne&s;s of the Magnitude thereof implies it was not of &s;o|lid Gold, but hollow. And in that it is &s;aid to be &s;et up in the Plain of <HI>Dura,</HI> in the Province of <HI>Babylon,</HI> where <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hach</HI> and <HI>Abednego</HI> admini&s;tred affairs under <HI>Daniel,</HI> it gives light to what end <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> by the importunity of his flattering Courtiers might be urged to &s;et this Image up, haply by &s;uch arguments as the&s;e. To immortalize his name, and avert the ill Omen of the gol|den head in <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Image, which the Silver and other ba|&s;er Metals &s;hould &s;ucceed, this Image being from head to foot all Gold, and to take off the &s;u&s;picion of his having grown too cool towards the Religion of his Countrey. A medley of &s;uch con&s;iderations as the&s;e might carry him on to the erecting this Image, the thing &s;uiting &s;o well with his pride and ambition, while the great aim of them that coun&s;elled him to it, was to en&s;nare <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hach</HI> and <HI>Abednego</HI> out of the envy they bore them, for the honour|able employments they had in the Kingdom, being no Na|tives thereof.</P>
<PB N="32" REF="21">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>To the dedication.</HI> It is not &s;aid to whom. Some therefore would have it to <HI>Nabopola&s;ar, Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s decea&s;ed Father, others to him&s;elf, as affecting divine ho|nours (as other Kings and Emperours have done) though he was yet alive. But it &s;eems mo&s;t credible that it was to <HI>Bel</HI> the chief God of his Countrey, as &s;erving his Po|litical de&s;ign be&s;t to &s;et him&s;elf right in the eyes of his people.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>The Harp, P&s;altery and Dulcimer.</HI> All tho&s;e three in&s;truments in the Chaldee, which the Latine from the Greek renders <HI>Cithara, P&s;alterion</HI> and <HI>Symphonia,</HI> they are the &s;ame in the Chaldee as in the Greek. But as <HI>Grotius</HI> notes, large Colonies of the <HI>Aeolians</HI> and <HI>Ionians</HI> brought into <HI>A&s;ia</HI> had &s;cattered &s;uch names among&s;t them before <HI>Daniel</HI>'s time.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. This per&s;ecution of the Jews, and driving them to Idolatry as much as they could, for fear of being ca&s;t in|to the fiery furnace is Typical of the Martyrdoms of the Primitive Chri&s;tians by the Pagan Emperours, <HI>Nero</HI> and o|thers, &s;ays <HI>Cornelius &agrave; Lapide.</HI> But it is &s;till more a&s;&s;ured|ly typical of tho&s;e numerous companies of Martyrs burnt by the Pope for their not complying with his Idolatries. This burning men alive being far more frequent under the Popes, than under the Pagan Emperours, and the Spirit of Prophecy al&s;o calling the Papal Hierarchy, as for other cau&s;es, &s;o among&s;t the re&s;t, for this very cruelty, the Whore of <HI>Babylon,</HI> Apoc. <HI>ch.</HI> 17.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Thou, O King, ha&s;t made a decree.</HI> Which the&s;e Coun&s;ellers got from him merely to en&s;nare the Jews by it, as now they conceive they have got them into their net.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hach and Abednego.</HI> A man may here be a little amu&s;ed that he finds not <HI>Daniel</HI>'s name in this roll of Hereticks, that will not wor&s;hip the golden Image that <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> hath &s;et up, but the accu&s;ers it &s;eems had &s;ome wit and craft in their malice. If they had pulled at him, his Intere&s;t &s;eemed &s;o great in the Court, and his Per&s;on &s;o &s;acred and venerable with the King, that
<PB N="33" REF="21">it might have hazarded their &s;ucce&s;s again&s;t the re&s;t. <HI>They &s;erve not thy God, nor wor&s;hip the Golden Image,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>viz.</HI> the Image &s;et up in honour to the chief God of the Countrey, as I noted above.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury.</HI> The &s;en&s;e of his own greatne&s;s and pre&s;ent &s;it of zeal before his people for the Religion of his Countrey, made him impatient of being contradicted in &s;o &s;olemn a command, and there is nothing &s;o cruel as zeal for Idolatrous wor|&s;hip. They are enraged as Gallants for their Mi&s;tre&s;&s;es. And this golden Image certainly was a very gari&s;h and co&s;tly one.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>My Gods, nor wor&s;hip the golden Image.</HI> The mention of his gods, and the wor&s;hip of the golden Image being joyned together, intimates plainly that this Image was dedicated to &s;ome of his gods, to <HI>Bel</HI> &s;uppo&s;e, and not to him&s;elf, as we noted above.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>Ye &s;hall be ca&s;t into a fiery furnace.</HI> A &s;evere &s;entence, and the more aggravable in that he was con|vinced, <HI>chap.</HI> 2.47. that <HI>Daniel</HI>'s God, who was the God of the Jews, was a God of Gods, and he could not but know that he would have his &s;ervants to wor&s;hip no other God but him&s;elf, nor bow down to graven Images. Where|fore this was mo&s;t horrid inju&s;tice and cruelty in <HI>Nebuchad|nezzar</HI> King of <HI>Babylon</HI> in u&s;ing the &s;ervants of God in this &s;ort. What is it then in the My&s;tical King of <HI>Ba|bylon</HI> that knows more certainly that God has forbidden us all Image-wor&s;hip and Idolatry, and yet has adjudged I know not how many thou&s;ands of Prote&s;tants to fire and fagot for not complying with his <HI>Roman</HI> Idolatrous wor&s;hip? All things befell the Jews in Types and Figures, whence the King of <HI>Babylon</HI> may rightly be deemed a figure of the Pope, as <HI>Luther</HI> and many other Prote&s;tants have made him, and as St. <HI>John</HI> has made the Papal Hierarchy the Whore of <HI>Ba|bylon,</HI> Apoc. <HI>ch.</HI> 17. <HI>Who is that God;</HI> The pre&s;ent rage the King was in made him forget what a God the God of <HI>Daniel</HI> was, who permitted his heart to be hardened as he did <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s, for the greater illu&s;tration of his own glo|ry in delivering his people.</P>
<PB N="34" REF="22">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>We are not carefull,</HI> i. e. We are held with no &s;olicitude or anxiety about an&s;wering thee in this matter. It is a plain ca&s;e to us whatever comes on it, that according as we are in&s;tructed by our Divine Lawgiver <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> we are to wor&s;hip no other God than the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> nor to bow down to any graven Images.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>If it be.</HI> If you will ca&s;t us into a fiery fur|nace, our God whom we &s;erve, can if he will, deliver us, and he will if he think it be&s;t, to who&s;e judgment we &s;ub|&s;cribe, having a firm faith in his &s;pecial providence over all tho&s;e that tru&s;t in him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>But if not,</HI> If he don't deliver us out of thine hands, we will yet commit our &s;ouls into his, as into the hands of our faithfull Creatour; and rather endure the pains of a fiery furnace, than the torments of a violated con&s;cience, more formidable than the flames of Hell.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Full of fury.</HI> To Greatne&s;s, to which all the world u&s;eth to crouch, the firm undaunted courage of the&s;e three innocent per&s;ons, whom the fear of &s;o torturous and terrible a death could not force to &s;uch a foul act of Idola|try, could not but be hugely netling and provoking, it be|ing &s;uch an unexpected &s;urprize, and looking &s;o like a con|tempt of Imperial power, even in the greate&s;t awe and ter|rour thereof. This &s;eems to have put <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> in|to this rage and fury, even to the misfiguring his own vi|&s;age by the di&s;temper of his pa&s;&s;ion, he being impatient to meet with any power that could baffle his. But there is a greatne&s;s in the true Saints of God that no Grandeur can match, of which St. <HI>John</HI> witne&s;&s;es, 1 <HI>Epi&s;t.</HI> 4.4. Grea|ter is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. By virtue whereof they were enabled to overcome both the World and Antichri&s;t at once.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. <HI>The flame of the fire &s;lew tho&s;e men.</HI> Some flake of fire unexpectedly was ca&s;t out of the furnace whereby tho&s;e men were &s;lain that ca&s;t <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hach</HI> and <HI>Abed|nego</HI> bound into the furnace. Which unexpected accident made <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> go to the furnace, as is &s;aid pre|&s;ently after.</P>
<PB N="35" REF="22">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. <HI>Was a&s;tonied,</HI> viz. at the unexpected &s;laying of tho&s;e men by a flake of &s;ire i&s;&s;uing out of the furnace, which made him approach the furnace, and view things there.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. <HI>I &s;ee four men loo&s;e.</HI> For they were ca&s;t in bound, haply with &s;ome &s;mall Chains of Iron, for Cords the fire would in&s;tantly con&s;ume. <HI>The form of the fourth like the Son of God.</HI> This is he (<HI>Phil.</HI> 2.5.) who being in the form of God, was in the fulne&s;s of time found in fa&s;hion as a man, and humbled him&s;elf even to the death of the Cro&s;s, to redeem the world from &s;in and mi&s;ery. This, in a word, was Chri&s;t, according to the opinion of the Ancients, <HI>Ter|tullian, Irenaeus, Hippolytus Martyr, Augu&s;tinus</HI> and others. And all tho&s;e Fathers or other Interpreters that make Chri&s;t the conducter of the children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> out of the land of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> and a frequent vi&s;iter of the ancient Pa|triarchs will ea&s;ily agree to this opinion, and he being the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> it is rea&s;onable to conceive he neglected not his people in their captivity, and the lea&s;t in their greate&s;t &s;traits. And him whom the Winds and Seas obeyed in his incarnation, here the element of fire obeys in his prelu&s;ion thereto in this, appearing vi&s;ibly in humane &s;hape to &s;uc|cour his &s;ervants.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. <HI>Came near.</HI> He came nearer than before to the mouth of the fiery furnace to call out <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hach</HI> and <HI>Abednego.</HI> And <HI>they came forth of the mid&s;t of the fire.</HI> Where the decent carriage of this bu&s;ine&s;s is ob&s;ervable, <HI>viz.</HI> that there was &s;o great deference had to Sovereign power, that the&s;e three innocent per&s;ons, though a&s;&s;i&s;ted with the miraculous aid of the Son of God, came not out of the fiery furnace, till they were called out by that Sove|reign authority that ca&s;t them in.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. <HI>Nor was an hair of their head &s;inged.</HI> This is an unexpre&s;&s;ible great miracle, that a furnace &s;even times hotter than u&s;ual for di&s;patching Delinquents, that the fiercene&s;s of the fire thereof &s;hould be &s;o tamed, or every thing that belonged to tho&s;e innocent per&s;ons &s;o &s;trength|ned and held together again&s;t the fury of &s;o raging an ele|ment,
<PB N="36" REF="23">that not &s;o much as an hair of their head was &s;inged, nor any &s;cent of fire on their garments. This demon|&s;trates the Divinity of the fourth per&s;on that walked with them. Nothing le&s;s than the Son of God could effect this.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 28. <HI>Who hath &s;ent his Angel.</HI> The effects &s;hew that he was the Son of God in a peculiar &s;en&s;e, <HI>i. e.</HI> Chri&s;t him|&s;elf. Though <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> here calls him the Angel of God. But &s;o did the Prophets al&s;o call him <GAP DESC="foreign">, the Angel of the Covenant, <HI>Malach.</HI> 3. and <GAP DESC="foreign">, the Angel of the great Council, <HI>E&s;ay.</HI> 5.6. See <HI>Mun&s;ter</HI> on the place, who is of <HI>Irenaeus</HI>'s opinion, and other ancient Fathers. And Chri&s;t, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 10. is there al&s;o called an Angel. <HI>And have changed the King's word, i. e.</HI> done contrary to it, not ob&s;erved his decree. Here <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> being convinced of the holine&s;s and up|rightne&s;s of the&s;e three per&s;ons, is forced to break out in|to the prai&s;es of that carriage for which before he &s;enten|ced them to the fiery furnace. And happy tho&s;e Poten|tates who are convinced in this world of the truth and up|rightne&s;s of the &s;ervants of God, that refu&s;e to comply with the Idolatry they would by the terrour of fire and o|ther cruelties force them to, that their eyes be not opened when it is too late, in the mid&s;t of the tormenting pains of Hell.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 30. <HI>Promoted.</HI> Re&s;tored them to the honourable employments they had before, and heap'd upon them far|ther honour and riches.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="37" REF="23">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Nebuchadnezzar <HI>moved by &s;everal miraculous things done through the a&s;&s;i&s;tence of the God of</HI> I&s;rael, <HI>and particu|larly by</HI> Daniel <HI>his interpreting the dream mentioned here that &s;o nearly concerned him when his Magicians could not, the &s;ad event al&s;o ratifying the interpretation, he humbly con|fe&s;&s;es the power and dominion of the mo&s;t High, acknow|ledging the &s;ame before all Nations and People.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>NEbuchadnezzar the King, unto all people, na|tions and languages that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.</P>
<P N="2">2 I thought it good to &s;hew the &s;igns and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.</P>
<P N="3">3 How great are his &s;igns? and how mighty are his wonders? his kingdom is an everla&s;ting king|dom, and his dominion is from generation to gene|ration.</P>
<P N="4">4 I Nebuchadnezzar was at re&s;t in mine hou&s;e, and flouri&s;hing in my palace:</P>
<P N="5">5 I &s;aw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed, and the vi&s;ions of my head troubled me.</P>
<P N="6">6 Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wi&s;e men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.</P>
<P N="7">7 Then came in the Magicians, the A&s;trologers, the Chaldeans, and the South&s;ayers; and I told the dream before them, but they did not make known unto me the interpretation thereof.</P>
<PB N="38" REF="24">
<P N="8">8 But at the la&s;t Daniel came in before me, (who&s;e name was Belte&s;hazzar, according to the Name of my God, and in whom is the &s;pirit of the holy gods) and before him I told the dream, &s;aying,</P>
<P N="9">9 O Belte&s;hazzar, Ma&s;ter of the Magicians, be|cau&s;e I know that the &s;pirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no &s;ecret troubleth thee, tell me the vi&s;ions of my dream that I have &s;een, and the interpretation thereof.</P>
<P N="10">10 Thus were the vi&s;ions of mine head in my bed: I &s;aw, and behold, a tree in the mid&s;t of the earth, and the height thereof was great.</P>
<P N="11">11 The tree grew, and was &s;trong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the &s;ight thereof to the end of all the earth.</P>
<P N="12">12 The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the bea&s;ts of the field had &s;hadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all fle&s;h was fed of it.</P>
<P N="13">13 I &s;aw in the vi&s;ions of my head upon my bed, and behold, a watcher, and an Holy One came down from heaven.</P>
<P N="14">14 He cryed aloud, and &s;aid thus; Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches, &s;hake off his leaves, and &s;catter his fruit; let the bea&s;ts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches.</P>
<P N="15">15 Neverthele&s;s, leave the &s;tump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and bra&s;s, in the tender gra&s;s of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the bea&s;ts in the gra&s;s of the earth.</P>
<P N="16">16 Let his heart be changed from mans, and let
<PB N="39" REF="24">a bea&s;ts heart be given unto him, and let &s;even times pa&s;s over him.</P>
<P N="17">17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy Ones: to the intent that the living may know, that the mo&s;t High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whom&s;oever he will, and &s;etteth up over it the ba&s;e&s;t of men.</P>
<P N="18">18 This dream, I King Nebuchadnezzar have &s;een: Now thou, O Belte&s;hazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, fora&s;much as all the wi&s;e men of my king|dom are not able to make known unto me the inter|pretation: but thou art able, for the &s;pirit of the holy gods is in thee.</P>
<P N="19">19 Then Daniel (who&s;e name was Belte&s;hazzar) was a&s;tonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him: The King &s;pake and &s;aid, Belte&s;hazzar, let not the dream or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Belte&s;hazzar an&s;wered, and &s;aid, My Lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.</P>
<P N="20">20 The tree that thou &s;awe&s;t which grew, and was &s;trong, who&s;e height reached unto the heaven, and the &s;ight thereof to all the earth:</P>
<P N="21">21 Who&s;e leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all, under which the bea&s;ts of the field dwelt, and upon who&s;e branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:</P>
<P N="22">22 It is thou, O King, that art grown and become &s;trong: for thy greatne&s;s is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.</P>
<P N="23">23 And whereas the King &s;aw a watcher, and an
<PB N="40" REF="25">holy One coming down from heaven, and &s;aying, Hew the tree down, and de&s;troy it; yet leave the &s;tump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and bra&s;s in the tender gra&s;s of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the bea&s;ts of the field, till &s;e|ven times pa&s;s over him:</P>
<P N="24">24 This is the interpretation, O King, and this is the decree of the mo&s;t High, which is come upon my Lord the King:</P>
<P N="25">25 That they &s;hall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling &s;hall be with the bea&s;ts of the field, and they &s;hall make thee to eat gra&s;s as Oxen, and they &s;hall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and &s;even times &s;hall pa&s;s over thee, till thou know that the mo&s;t High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whom|&s;oever he will.</P>
<P N="26">26 And whereas they commanded to leave the &s;tump of the tree roots; thy kingdom &s;hall be &s;ure unto thee, after that thou &s;halt have known that the heavens do rule.</P>
<P N="27">27 Wherefore, O King, let my coun&s;el be accep|table unto thee, and break off thy &s;ins by righteou&s;|ne&s;s, and thine iniquities by &s;hewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquil|lity.</P>
<P N="28">28 All this came upon the King Nebuchadnezzar.</P>
<P N="29">29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.</P>
<P N="30">30 The King &s;pake and &s;aid, Is not this great Ba|bylon, that I have built for the hou&s;e of the Kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my maje&s;ty?</P>
<PB N="41" REF="25">
<P N="31">31 While the word was in the Kings mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, &s;aying, O King Nebuchad|nezzar, to thee it is &s;poken; The kingdom is depart|ed from thee.</P>
<P N="32">32 And they &s;hall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling &s;hall be with the bea&s;ts of the field: they &s;hall make thee to eat gra&s;s as Oxen, and &s;even times &s;hall, pa&s;s over thee, untill thou know that the mo&s;t High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whom&s;oever he will.</P>
<P N="33">33 The &s;ame hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and did eat gra&s;s as Oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like Ea|gles feathers, and his nails like birds claws.</P>
<P N="34">34 And at the end of the days, I Nebuchadnez|zar lift up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine under|&s;tanding returned unto me, and I ble&s;&s;ed the mo&s;t High, and I prai&s;ed, and honoured him that liveth for ever, who&s;e dominion is an everla&s;ting domini|on, and his kingdom is from generation to genera|tion.</P>
<P N="35">35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are repu|ted as nothing: and he doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can &s;tay his hand, or &s;ay unto him, What do&s;t thou?</P>
<P N="36">36 At the &s;ame time my rea&s;on returned unto me: and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightne&s;s returned unto me, and my Coun&s;ellers, and my Lords &s;ought unto me, and I was e&s;tabli&s;hed in my kingdom, and excellent maje&s;ty was added un|to me.</P>
<PB N="42" REF="26">
<P N="37">37 Now I Nebuchadnezzar, prai&s;e, and extoll, and honour the King of heaven, all who&s;e works are truth, and his ways judgment, and tho&s;e that walk in pride he is able to aba&s;e.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1, 2. <HI>NEbuchadnezzar</HI> being a mere natural man, neither radicated in true holine&s;s, nor har|dened in a fal&s;e Athei&s;tick Philo&s;ophy, that makes men the neare&s;t like devils, and wor&s;e than bea&s;ts, was of a very uneven temper, and according as the external occurrence of things moved his animal Pa&s;&s;ions, was driven with a &s;trong gale of wind to outward actions, now one way, then another, &s;ometimes laudable, as his prai&s;ing <HI>Daniel</HI>'s God after he had expounded to him his dream of the Me|talline Statue, then &s;tirred up by &s;ome crafty coun&s;els, that tickled his ambition, and &s;uited with his Politicks and Su|per&s;tition; he is carried full &s;ail to the making of a Gol|den Colo&s;s of &s;ixty cubits high, which all mu&s;t wor&s;hip under the penalty of being ca&s;t into a fiery furnace. But upon <HI>Shadrach, Me&s;hach</HI> and <HI>Abednego</HI> their being &s;o mira|culou&s;ly delivered out of it, he then magnifies their piety for di&s;obeying his command, and extolls the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> above all gods. And in this Chapter he li&s;tens a while to the good coun&s;els of <HI>Daniel,</HI> that interpreted to him his ill boding dream, which was to curb his pride. But with|in a twelve month he lets the reins loo&s;e to that natural vice of his, and brings the predicted evil upon him&s;elf, which he was forewarned of. In which, when he had &s;mart|ed for a time, and was re&s;tored, he lift up his eyes to hea|ven, and ble&s;&s;eth the mo&s;t High that liveth for ever and ever, and is &s;uch a penitent that he makes confe&s;&s;ion of the humbling hand of God upon him to all the world, as we may ob&s;erve in peru&s;ing the Chapter through.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Flouri&s;hing in my Palace,</HI> i. e. Abounding in wealth, peace and pro&s;perity after &s;o many Nations and
<PB N="43" REF="26">Countries &s;ubdued by him, which puffed him up &s;o, and &s;welled him with pride.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>The Magicians and A&s;trologers</HI>&mdash;See what we have &s;aid upon <HI>chap.</HI> 2. <HI>v.</HI> 2. and 27.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>The &s;pirit of the holy gods.</HI> Though <HI>Thedotion</HI> ren|der it, the Spirit of the Holy God, as el&s;ewhere it may be, yet <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> continuing an Idolater, it's likely un|der&s;tood <HI>Elohim</HI> in the plural number.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Ma&s;ter of the Magicians.</HI> Rab Hartummim, the chief of the Magicians: &s;ee <HI>chap.</HI> 2. <HI>v.</HI> 2.27. In that Chap|ter <HI>v.</HI> 48. He is called <HI>Rab Sigenin,</HI> chief of the Gover|nours, and that over all the wi&s;e men of <HI>Babylon. And the interpretation thereof,</HI> [and] is as much as [that is to &s;ay] that is to &s;ay the interpretation thereof. For not <HI>Daniel,</HI> but <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> was here to tell the dream, but <HI>Daniel</HI> to interpret it. See <HI>Ezra</HI> chap. 4. v. 7.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>A tree in the mid&s;t of the earth.</HI> An high and large &s;preading tree, according to the doctrine of the <HI>In|dian, Per&s;ian</HI> and <HI>Aegyptian Onirocriticks</HI> &s;ignifies a mighty Potentate. Thus the King of <HI>A&s;&s;yria</HI> is compared to a goodly Cedar in <HI>Lebanon,</HI> Ezek. chap. 31.3. See <HI>Synop&s;. Prophet.</HI> Book 1. Chap. 9. Sect. 7.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>The fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs there|of:</HI> As it is &s;aid of the King of <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> Ezek. chap. 31.6. All the fowls of heaven made their ne&s;ts in his boughs, and under his branches did all the bea&s;ts of the field bring forth their young. By the fowls are under&s;tood the Grandees and Mini&s;ters of State, by the <HI>Pecora campi,</HI> the common people.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>A watcher and an holy One,</HI> Eir vecaddi&s;h, where <HI>Eir,</HI> which &s;ignifies a Watcher, the Seventy render an <HI>An|gel.</HI> And an Angel is called <HI>Eir,</HI> or a Watcher, becau&s;e they being not clogged with drowzy and dull fle&s;h and bloud, but having more fiery and etherial bodies, they are never drowned in &s;leep, as we mortals are. And they are al&s;o called <HI>Watchers</HI> from their Office or Mini&s;try, they watching over the affairs of men. But whereas there is ad|ded, <HI>vecaddi&s;h,</HI> and an <HI>holy One,</HI> the Particle [<GAP DESC="symbol" EXTENT="1 letter">] will be
<PB N="44" REF="27">better rendred [that is to &s;ay] an holy One, <HI>viz.</HI> an holy Angel; To who&s;e care the affairs of mankind, e&s;pecially of the Church of God, are committed. There was the like &s;en&s;e of [<GAP DESC="symbol" EXTENT="1 letter">] <HI>v.</HI> 9.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>Hew down the tree,</HI> i. e. Cut away all the power of this mighty Potentate, in which, and under which, &s;o many Grandees and People were &s;hrouded, or rather, it be|ing an Hypallage, cut him off, or &s;ever him from this Im|perial power by di&s;-inabling and incapacitating him for the management thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>Neverthele&s;s leave the &s;tump of his roots in the earth,</HI> i. e. Spare <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s life, nor let any one pre&s;ume to &s;ucceed him in his Kingdom while he is alive, however he be incapacitated to rule for the pre&s;ent. <HI>Even with a band of Iron.</HI> And with a band, <HI>i. e.</HI> And with a chain of Iron or Bra&s;s, let him be as it were tethered in the tender gra&s;s of the field, that is, confined to this bruti&s;h &s;tate of a ferine melancholly. For the Vi&s;ion &s;eems to pa&s;s to a new Symbol or Repre&s;entation of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s condition, which is called <HI>Iconimorum Metallaxis,</HI> or change of Symbols, by Interpreters of Prophecy. See <HI>Synop&s;. Pro|phet.</HI> lib. 1. chap. 4. &s;ect. 15. <HI>Edit. Latin.</HI> The &s;ad forlorn condition of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> &s;truck with a ferine melan|cholly, that made him utterly un&s;it for all bu&s;ine&s;s, is &s;et out by a double Symbol, the one of a tree cut down to the &s;tump and root, which &s;ets out his being deprived of all his faculties that branched out from his &s;oul, in virtue whereof he was able to actuate and govern the whole body politick of &s;o va&s;t an Empire. And the &s;ame is &s;et out by another Symbol of a man metamorphozed into a Brute, which plainly incapacitates him for the ruling over men. This latter Symbol is pur&s;ued in the re&s;t of this Ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>Heart be changed.</HI> The heart in the Scripture-&s;tyle is the &s;eat not onely of affection, but cogitation and imagination, and therefore a Bea&s;ts heart being given to him, &s;ignifies that his imagination and appetite was carried to &s;uch things as that bea&s;t is to who&s;e nature he was a&s;&s;imu|lated. <HI>Seven times,</HI> &s;even <HI>years</HI> &s;ay &s;ome, &s;even <HI>&s;ea&s;ons</HI> of
<PB N="45" REF="27">the year &s;ay others, counting by Winters and Summers, which will amount to three years and an half, others &s;e|ven <HI>months,</HI> the Moon being e&s;pecially related to Maniacal people, and other &s;ome &s;even weeks. And certainly time &s;ignifies any of the&s;e. Whence appears the great requi|&s;itene&s;s that <HI>Daniel</HI>'s time, and times, and half a time &s;hould be explained, in the Apocalyp&s;e, by 42 months or 1260 days. See <HI>Arithmetica Apocalyptica,</HI> Query 2.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. The voice of the Angel is continued from the beginning of the 14th ver&s;e till this, and here it is decla|red by him that this whole bu&s;ine&s;s is determined by the <HI>&s;entence</HI> of the holy Angels, which is called a <HI>Decree</HI> and <HI>Demand.</HI> A <HI>Demand</HI> in &s;uch a &s;en&s;e as <HI>Rogare legem</HI> imports, and <HI>Rogatio,</HI> which &s;ignifies al&s;o an <HI>Ordinance,</HI> but with refe|rence to <HI>Rogation</HI> or <HI>Deliberation</HI> about it; but is called a <HI>Decree</HI> in re&s;pect to the <HI>determination</HI> thereof. See <HI>Ca&s;tellio</HI> on the place. The re&s;t of the ver&s;e &s;hews the end of this decree, which is al&s;o declared by the Angel to <HI>Nebuchadnez|zar</HI> in this Vi&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Let not the interpretation thereof trouble thee.</HI> Be not afraid, but &s;peak freely what is the meaning of the dream, and I pa&s;s my word, no harm &s;hall come to thee for it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. <HI>It is thou, O King,</HI> i. e. thou as King, and as one who&s;e power is branched out, and extended over &s;o great a part of the earth art this Tree. This tree re&s;embles thee.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. Thou wilt be &s;truck with a deep ferine melan|choly, &s;o that thou wilt have an aver&s;ation from the con|ver&s;e of men, but wilt con&s;ort rather with the bea&s;ts of the field, and thy imagination being depraved by a <HI>Boanthropy,</HI> thou wilt fan&s;ie thy &s;elf to be an Ox, and thy appetite con|&s;equently will carry thee to eat gra&s;s as Oxen do, and loving &s;olitude abroad in the field, thou wilt be wet with the dew of heaven, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> See Dr. <HI>H. More</HI>'s <HI>Preface</HI> to his <HI>Expo&s;ition of</HI> Daniel<HI>'s Vi&s;ions.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. <HI>Leave the &s;tump of the tree roots.</HI> See ver&s;e the 15. <HI>After that thou &s;halt have known</HI>&mdash;After thou &s;halt have ac|knowledged thy own vilene&s;s, and humbled thy &s;elf under
<PB N="46" REF="28">the hand of the mo&s;t High, who let men &s;well never &s;o much in conceit of their own power and atchievements, his eye is &s;till upon them, and his over-ruling hand commands all.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. <HI>If it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.</HI> Such a manner of &s;peech as that of <HI>Peter</HI> to <HI>Simon</HI> the Sorcerer, <HI>Acts</HI> 8.22. Repent therefore of this thy wickedne&s;s, and pray God if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be for|given thee. In the mean time we &s;ee that prophetical prediction puts no nece&s;&s;ity of the evil that is threatned to one if he turn to God, by unfeigned repentance, and a|mend his ways.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 30. <HI>And the King &s;pake and &s;aid.</HI> The <HI>Seventy</HI> and the <HI>Vulgar Latine</HI> have it. And the King an&s;wered and &s;aid. But &s;urely the Engli&s;h tran&s;lation is the better &s;en&s;e. For there is no an&s;wering when nothing is &s;poke to an&s;wer to. See chap. 2. v. 15. <HI>For the hou&s;e of the kingdom.</HI> For my royal City and Seat, and to get my &s;elf an immortal name by &s;uch magnificent buildings.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 31. <HI>There fell a voice from heaven.</HI> Which dread|full voice like thunder and lightening di&s;charged upon more than ordinary ea&s;ie combu&s;tible matter, would not fail to take effect on <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> in all likelihood of a me|lancholy complexion, as <HI>Ari&s;totle</HI> in his Problems ob&s;erves the greate&s;t Warriours, and mo&s;t famous for glorious at|chievements to have been; &s;uch as <HI>Hercules, Ajax, Ly&s;an|der</HI> the <HI>Lacedemonian</HI> General, and <HI>Bellerophon</HI> with all the mo&s;t noble <HI>Heroes</HI> of old, which he conceives all to have been <HI>Atrabilarians,</HI> and to have abounded with adu&s;t cho|ler. And <HI>Bellerophon</HI> in particular, though in the exalted Paroxy&s;ms of his complexion he might &s;eem to ride on his winged <HI>Pega&s;us</HI> among&s;t the Clouds, as <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> is re&s;embled to a winged Lion for the a&s;piring loftine&s;s of his &s;pirit, yet he is famous for his affecting of Solitude, and wandring alone in the fields of <HI>Lycia</HI> in his melancho|ly dumps, whence he gave the name to them of <HI>Campus Ale|jus,</HI> which is &s;omething like the &s;olitary living of <HI>Nebuchad|nezzar,</HI> by rea&s;on of the <HI>Boanthropy</HI> he was &s;mitten with,
<PB N="47" REF="28">and his gra&s;ing among&s;t the bea&s;ts of the field, as is &s;aid in the following ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 32. <HI>And they &s;hall drive thee from men,</HI> i. e. Thou &s;halt be driven from men by the overpowering di&s;temper of thine own melancholy, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The &s;udden affrightfull &s;ounding of that voice in his ears, in the preceding ver&s;e, could not but have a mighty impre&s;&s;ion upon him, even to the putting him out of his wits, his natural complexi|on making him &s;o obnoxious thereto, which &s;eems to be in|timated in the beginning of the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 33. <HI>The &s;ame hour was the thing fulfilled,</HI> i. e. No &s;ooner this affrightfull voice from heaven, which reminded him of his horrible dream, and <HI>Daniel</HI>'s interpretation of it had filled his ears, but he became Maniacal, and was di|&s;tracted; and affecting &s;olitude, &s;hun'd the conver&s;e of men, and betook him&s;elf to the fields, <GAP DESC="foreign"> (<HI>ip&s;e &s;uum cor edens,</HI> as <HI>Homer</HI> is there rendred in <HI>Ari&s;totle,</HI> &s;peaking of <HI>Bellerophon</HI>) For grief gnawing his own heart, and eating gra&s;s like an Ox, for a &s;allet thereto, and his imagination being depraved by the <HI>Beanthropy</HI> he laboured under went, at lea&s;t in his highe&s;t Paroxy&s;ms, on all four, and haply lowed therewith, as if he had been turned into an Oxe or Bull, which happened to him not by Witchcraft, as there are &s;tories of that nature, but by the mini&s;try of the <HI>Kad|di&s;him,</HI> the holy Angels, which is part of the power of a Divine Magick. <HI>Hairs like Eagles feathers,</HI> not broad as feathers, but &s;tiff and thick &s;et. <HI>His nails like Birds claws, i. e.</HI> a good length beyond his fingers ends, he neglecting to pare them, and crooked inward, as the natural make of &s;ome mens nails are, but is an indication of rapacity or pha|natick melancholy.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 34. <HI>At the end of the days,</HI> viz. of the &s;even times, whether weeks, months or years. <HI>I lift up mine eyes to hea|ven</HI>&mdash;with an erect &s;tature like other men, and the un|der&s;tanding of a man was re&s;tored to me, and (which is the effect of the chiefe&s;t property of a man, the &s;en&s;e of Reli|gion and a Deity) I ble&s;&s;ed the mo&s;t High, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 35. <HI>In the armies of heaven.</HI> The Hebrew Particle
<PB N="48" REF="29">is [<GAP DESC="symbol" EXTENT="1 letter">] which may be rendred [by] By the armies of hea|ven, that is. By his cele&s;tial or angelical Ho&s;ts, as it is &s;aid <HI>v.</HI> 17. This matter is by the decree of the <HI>watchers,</HI> and de|mand of the <HI>holy ones.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 36. <HI>And brightne&s;s.</HI> The word in the Original is [ZIZ] which the Seventy render <GAP DESC="foreign">, the Vulgar Latine <HI>Fi|gura,</HI> but it &s;ignifies onely the air of the countenance in the &s;ame &s;en&s;e that <HI>zif</HI> is u&s;ed, <HI>chap.</HI> 5. <HI>v.</HI> 10.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 37. <HI>And tho&s;e that walk in pride.</HI> Sovereign Poten|tates of all other vices they are the mo&s;t peculiarly inclina|ble to pride, they having &s;tronger temptations thereto by rea&s;on of their ab&s;olute greatne&s;s than all other mortals, they having no competitour in power and maje&s;ty but their Maker, and the Mini&s;ters of his Providence the holy An|gels. Which if they forget, they ea&s;ily &s;lide into excee|ding Elations of mind, and from this &s;pirit of pride are impatient of all gain&s;aying, be their de&s;igns never &s;o unju&s;t or cruel. Again&s;t which extravagancies there is none &s;o proper a &s;top as to remember that there is a God, and that there are &s;evere Mini&s;ters of his ju&s;tice that over&s;ee us in all our actions, and that we &s;hall be called to an account. This therefore <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> being no Athei&s;t, much in&s;i&s;teth on in this penitential declaration, as being the mo&s;t proper remedy again&s;t this di&s;ea&s;e of Potentates. But for &s;uch as are not in their mere natural &s;tate, as <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> &s;eems to have been, but have their hearts occru&s;tated and harden|ed by the fal&s;e principles of a &s;en&s;le&s;s Philo&s;ophy, that &s;weep away the di&s;crimination of moral good and evil, the exi|&s;tence of God, and &s;uperintendency of his Providence, and the &s;ub&s;i&s;tence of the &s;ouls of men in another life after this all at once (if any can &s;o far degenerate) were there not a <HI>Neme&s;is</HI> in the nature of things them&s;elves, there would be no curb on the &s;pirits of &s;uch from committing the greate&s;t outrages imaginable.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="49" REF="29">
<HEAD>CHAP. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Bel&s;hazzar<HI>'s impious fea&s;t, in which the Ve&s;&s;els of the Temple of the God of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>are prophaned. He is terrified by &s;eeing an hand writing upon the Wall what none of his Magicians could reade and interpret.</HI> Daniel <HI>interprets the hand-writing, and reproves the King for his Pride and Ido|latry. The Monarchy is tran&s;lated to the</HI> Medes <HI>accordingly as was predicted by the hand-writing on the Wall.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>BEl&s;hazzar the King made a great fea&s;t to a thou|&s;and of his Lords, and drank wine before the thou&s;and.</P>
<P N="2">2 Bel&s;hazzar, whiles he ta&s;ted the wine, comman|ded to bring the golden and &s;ilver ve&s;&s;els, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the Temple which was in Jeru&s;alem, that the King and his Prin|ces, his Wives and his Concubines might drink there|in.</P>
<P N="3">3 Then they brought the golden ve&s;&s;els that were taken out of the Temple of the hou&s;e of God, which was at Jeru&s;alem; and the King and his Princes, his Wives and his Concubines drank in them.</P>
<P N="4">4 They drunk wine, and prai&s;ed the gods of gold, and of &s;ilver, of bra&s;s, of iron, of wood and of &s;tone.</P>
<P N="5">5 In the &s;ame hour came forth fingers of a mans hand, and wrote over again&s;t the candle&s;tick upon the pla&s;ter of the wall of the Kings Palace; and the King &s;aw the part of the hand that wrote.</P>
<P N="6">6 Then the Kings countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, &s;o that the joints of his loins were loo&s;ed, and his knees &s;mote one again&s;t another.</P>
<PB N="50" REF="30">
<P N="7">7 The King cried aloud to bring in the A&s;trolo|gers, the Chaldeans, and the Sooth&s;ayers: and the King &s;pake and &s;aid to the wi&s;e men of Babylon, Who&s;oever &s;hall reade this writing, and &s;hew me the interpretation thereof, &s;hall be cloathed with &s;carlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and &s;hall be the third ruler in the kingdom.</P>
<P N="8">8 Then came in all the Kings wi&s;e men, but they could not reade the writing, nor make known to the King the interpretation thereof.</P>
<P N="9">9 Then was King Bel&s;hazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his Lords were a&s;tonied.</P>
<P N="10">10 Now the Queen, by rea&s;on of the words of the King and his Lords, came into the banquet-hou&s;e; and the Queen &s;pake and &s;aid, O King, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy coun|tenance be changed.</P>
<P N="11">11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the &s;pirit of the holy gods, and in the days of thy father light and under&s;tanding and wi&s;edom like the wi&s;edom of the gods, was found in him; whom the King Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the King, I &s;ay, thy father made ma&s;ter of the Magicians, A&s;trolo|gers, Chaldeans and Sooth&s;ayers;</P>
<P N="12">12 Fora&s;much as an excellent &s;pirit, and know|ledge, and under&s;tanding, interpreting of dreams, and &s;hewing of hard &s;entences, and di&s;&s;olving of doubts were found in the &s;ame Daniel, whom the King na|med Belte&s;hazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will &s;hew the interpretation.</P>
<P N="13">13 Then was Daniel brought in before the King; and the King &s;pake and &s;aid unto Daniel, Art thou
<PB N="51" REF="30">that Daniel, which art of the children of the capti|vity of Judah, whom the King my father brought out of Jewry?</P>
<P N="14">14 I have even heard of thee, that the &s;pirit of the gods is in thee, and that light, and under&s;tanding, and excellent wi&s;edom is found in thee.</P>
<P N="15">15 And now the wi&s;e men, the A&s;trologers have been brought in before me, that they &s;hould reade this writing, and make known unto me the interpre|tation thereof: but they could not &s;hew the inter|pretation of the thing.</P>
<P N="16">16 And I have heard of thee, that thou can&s;t make interpretations, and di&s;&s;olve doubts: now if thou can&s;t reade the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou &s;halt be cloathed with &s;carlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and &s;halt be the third ruler in the kingdom.</P>
<P N="17">17 Then Daniel an&s;wered and &s;aid before the King, Let thy gifts be to thy &s;elf, and give thy rewards to another, yet I will reade the writing unto the King, and make known to him the interpretation.</P>
<P N="18">18 O thou King, the mo&s;t high God gave Nebu|chadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and maje&s;ty, and glory, and honour.</P>
<P N="19">19 And for the maje&s;ty that he gave him, all peo|ple, nations and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he &s;lew, and whom he would he kept alive, and whom he would he &s;et up, and whom he would he put down.</P>
<P N="20">20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was depo&s;ed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.</P>
<PB N="52" REF="31">
<P N="21">21 And he was driven from the &s;ons of men, and his heart was made like the bea&s;ts, and his dwelling was with the wild a&s;&s;es: they fed him with gra&s;s like Oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the mo&s;t high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whom&s;oever he will.</P>
<P N="22">22 And thou his &s;on, O Bel&s;hazzar, ha&s;t not hum|bled thine heart, though thou knewe&s;t all this:</P>
<P N="23">23 But ha&s;t lifted up thy &s;elf again&s;t the Lord of heaven, and they have brought the ve&s;&s;els of his hou&s;e before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines have drunk wine in them, and thou ha&s;t prai&s;ed the gods of &s;ilver and gold, of bra&s;s, iron, wood and &s;tone, which &s;ee not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in who&s;e hand thy breath is, and who&s;e are all thy ways, ha&s;t thou not glori|fied.</P>
<P N="24">24 Then was the part of the hand &s;ent from him, and this writing was written.</P>
<P N="25">25 And this is the writing that was written, MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN.</P>
<P N="26">26 This is the interpretation of the thing, MENE, God hath numbred thy kingdom, and fini&s;hed it.</P>
<P N="27">27 TEKEL, thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.</P>
<P N="28">28 PERES, thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Per&s;ians.</P>
<P N="29">29 Then commanded Bel&s;hazzar, and they cloa|thed Daniel with &s;carlet, and put a chain of gold a|bout his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he &s;hould be the third ruler in the king|dom.</P>
<PB N="53" REF="31">
<P N="30">30 In that night was Bel&s;hazzar the King of the Chaldeans &s;lain.</P>
<P N="31">31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, be|ing about three&s;core and two years old.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>BEl&s;hazzar the King,</HI> what <HI>Belte&s;hazzar</HI> &s;ignifies, &s;ee chap. 1. v. 7. <HI>Bel&s;hazzar,</HI> according to <HI>Grotius,</HI> &s;ignifies, <HI>Belus, the giver of wealth and empire.</HI> This <HI>Bel|&s;hazzar</HI> the King is Grandchild to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> and the la&s;t of his race that &s;ate on his Throne, according to that of <HI>Jeremiah,</HI> chap. 27. v. 7. And all nations &s;hall &s;erve him and his &s;on, and his Son's &s;on, that is, his Grandchild in whom his race was extinct. <HI>Made a great fea&s;t,</HI> it is like|ly it was &s;ome Anniver&s;ary Fe&s;tival, &s;uch as was known to <HI>Cyrus</HI> and the Be&s;iegers, which made them take the oppor|tunity of invading the City that night of revelling.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>Whiles he ta&s;ted the wine,</HI> and indulged to his cups &s;omething freely, his heart was lifted up, and grew &s;o fro|lick that nothing but the holy ve&s;&s;els of Gold and Silver, which his Grandfather <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> had taken out of the Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> mu&s;t &s;erve him, his Princes, Wives and Concubines to quaff in.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>And prai&s;ed the Gods of Gold.</HI> This therefore was a mo&s;t prophane in&s;ultation over the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> who&s;e people were held captive in <HI>Babylon,</HI> as if the <HI>Baby|lonian</HI> gods of gold, &s;ilver, bra&s;s, iron and wood had been too hard for him, and brought tho&s;e ve&s;&s;els of &s;ilver and gold as &s;poils of victory out of his holy Temple. There|fore this outragious affront to the true and living God of Heaven and Earth was a notorious &s;ign of an imminent ruine of this prophane King of <HI>Babylon</HI> and the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Empire, and that the deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity was nigh at hand. Of which ruine of their Em|pire, and of their gods or idols, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> prophe&s;ies, chap.
<PB N="54" REF="32">21.9. <HI>Babylon is fallen, is fallen, and all the graven images of their gods he hath broken to the ground.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>In the &s;ame hour.</HI> The affront to the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was &s;o provoking, that vengeance overtook <HI>Bel&s;haz|zar</HI> in the very act of his wickedne&s;s, and an horrid pro|digy was exhibited to his &s;ight, the fingers of a mans hand holding a Pen &s;eparate from any humane body, and writing on the Pla&s;ter-wall, over again&s;t an hanging candle&s;tick next to the King. Whence he di&s;cerned the hand and its motion more clearly by the reflexion of the light.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. Whereupon the King's countenance changed with affright and horrour, and an agony of mind &s;eized upon him, &s;o that it loo&s;ned the ligaments of his loins (<HI>com|pages renum,</HI> as the Latine has it) &s;o that for very fear his Urine came from him, as <HI>Grotius</HI> Comments upon the place, and wet his knees, as el&s;ewhere it is expre&s;&s;ed in the Prophets, <HI>Ezek.</HI> 7.17. and <HI>chap.</HI> 21.7. nay made both knees knock one again&s;t another from the violence of his trem|bling and fear. Which is a &s;ign it was no fancy, and the hand-writing &s;een after on the Wall, puts the matter quite out of all que&s;tion.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>The A&s;trologers, Chaldeans and South&s;ayers.</HI> See what has been &s;aid on tho&s;e words, chap. 2. v. 27. <HI>Be third ruler in the kingdom,</HI> &s;hall have the next place to the King's Son.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>But they could not reade the writing.</HI> This is a puzling place to Interpreters, and they attempt to &s;olve the difficulty &s;everal ways, &s;ome &s;ay they could not reade it, though <HI>Chaldee,</HI> becau&s;e written in the <HI>Old Hebrew</HI> or <HI>Samaritan</HI> Character; Others, that the Characters, though they were Chaldee, yet were <HI>tran&s;po&s;ed;</HI> others, that onely <HI>Initial</HI> letters were writ; and others, that they were writ without <HI>points,</HI> and that they knew not how to point them. And la&s;tly, others that <HI>God dazled</HI> their &s;ight, and confoun|ded their perception. But it's more ea&s;ie to conceive, that it being a night of &s;uch revelling and fea&s;ting, that the wi&s;e men grown tip&s;ie with drinking, and drunk with con&s;ter|nation of mind, as &s;ympathizing with their great Ma&s;ter,
<PB N="55" REF="32">and the writing being writ more &s;cribledly on purpo&s;e by the Angel <HI>Gabriel,</HI> whom the Jews make the Pen-man, that they were at a lo&s;s in reading it. And yet there is &s;till a more plain &s;olution of this difficulty than this by rendring [<GAP DESC="symbol" EXTENT="1 letter">] as was noted above [that is to &s;ay]. And then the &s;entence runs thus. But they could not reade the writing, that is to &s;ay, not make known to the King the interpreta|tion thereof. See Dr. <HI>H. More</HI>'s <HI>Preface</HI> to his <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> of the Vi&s;ions of <HI>Daniel,</HI> Sect. 3.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Now the Queen,</HI> i. e. the Queen-mother, or ra|ther Grandmother <HI>Nitocris,</HI> according to <HI>Vatablus, Grotius,</HI> and others, <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s wife, daughter of <HI>Cyaxares</HI> King of <HI>Media,</HI> and Si&s;ter to <HI>Darius Medus,</HI> Brother to <HI>Mandane,</HI> the Mother of <HI>Cyrus</HI> the Per&s;ian. <HI>Came into the banquet-hou&s;e.</HI> Into the room where the Men, the King and his Nobles fea&s;ted. For the Women fea&s;ted in a room apart from the men, according to the manner of that Coun|trey.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>Of thy father.</HI> That is, of thy Grandfather <HI>Ne|buchadnezzar.</HI> For the Hebrews and Chaldees ordinarily called Grandfather and Great-grandfather by the name of Father, and a Grandchild, and the Child of a Grandchild, Son. <HI>Nebuchadnezzar thy father,</HI> thy Grandfather, as be|fore. <HI>Ma&s;ter of the Magicians,</HI> Rab Hartummim. See <HI>chap.</HI> 2. <HI>v.</HI> 2.27. Which dignity intended for an honour by <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> but <HI>Daniel</HI> being inwardly a&s;hamed of it, and yet envy'd for it by that order, it's likely he let fall and &s;uffered him&s;elf to be accounted as no-body touching tho&s;e things; but the Magicians, A&s;trologers and South|&s;ayers magnifying them&s;elves and their marvellous skill for their own credit and intere&s;t, wholly po&s;&s;e&s;t the mind of the King, &s;o that he never took notice of <HI>Daniel</HI> for any &s;uch faculty, nor for his &s;trange performances, which were quite ca&s;t into oblivion, &s;aving that <HI>Nitocris,</HI> a &s;ober and di&s;creet Matron, had faithfully lodged them in her memory, and produced them at this pinch of affairs.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Whom the King named Belte&s;hazzar.</HI> The Prince of the Eunuchs gave that name to <HI>Daniel,</HI> chap. 1. v. 7. But
<PB N="56" REF="33">with the King's approbation, who ratified the nomination by calling him by that name him&s;elf upon occa&s;ion. And the Queen mentions this name, as by which he might haply be better known than by the other.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>Art thou that Daniel.</HI> A marvellous piece of ignorance in <HI>Bel&s;hazzar,</HI> that &s;o eximious and &s;acred a per|&s;on as <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;hould be unknown to him, or at lea&s;t &s;o lit|tle regarded by him, but I have hinted the rea&s;ons thereof upon ver&s;e 11.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>That the &s;pirit of the gods is in thee.</HI> He &s;peaks in his Pagani&s;h or Idolatrous &s;tyle, intimating plurality of Gods; but however mingling &s;ome truth with it, that tho&s;e faculties for which <HI>Daniel</HI> was famous, was not from humane indu&s;try, but a divine gift be&s;towed upon him from a|bove.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>But they could not &s;hew the interpretation of the thing.</HI> He does not &s;ay they could not reade the writing here, but onely that they could not &s;hew the interpretation thereof, which farther countenances what we have &s;aid upon ver&s;e 8.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>And I have heard of thee.</HI> Namely by his Grand|mother <HI>Nitocris.</HI> For the wi&s;e men of <HI>Babylon</HI> in all likeli|hood le&s;&s;ened him as much as they could, and ob&s;cured his fame and worth with the King for the aggrandizing their own credit in this faculty, and &s;upporting their own inte|re&s;t again&s;t an Alien, a Captive, and of a different religion from them&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>Let thy gifts be to thy &s;elf.</HI> As for thy gifts, thou may&s;t keep them by thee to be&s;tow them upon &s;ome other; neverthele&s;s I will fulfill what thou demande&s;t, and reade to the King, and interpret the writing on the Wall. This he would doe without any re&s;pect to the reward, which for the pre&s;ent he declines.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Whom he would be &s;lew.</HI> He had the ab&s;olute power of life and death in his hand. He could take away the life of them that offended again&s;t him, and by his pre|rogative tho&s;e that were otherwi&s;e obnoxious to the law he could keep alive.</P>
<PB N="57" REF="33">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. <HI>His heart was made like the bea&s;ts.</HI> His mind and appetite was carried onely to &s;uch things as brute-crea|tures are carried to. See <HI>chap.</HI> 4. <HI>v.</HI> 16.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. What befell thy Grandfather through exce&s;s of pride and elation of &s;pirit, is a thing &s;o notoriou&s;ly known, that thou can&s;t not be ignorant thereof, and yet ha&s;t thou not humbled thy heart before the true God.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. Nay thou ha&s;t highly affronted the Lord of Hea|ven, the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> in &s;ending for the ve&s;&s;els of his holy Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> (which thy Grandfather brought from thence) for thy &s;elf, thy Lords, Wives and Concubines to quaff in them, in the mean time &s;inging prai&s;es to thy gods of &s;ilver, gold, bra&s;s, iron and wood, &s;en&s;ele&s;s &s;tocks, that neither &s;ee, hear nor know any thing, the&s;e thou gi|ve&s;t wor&s;hip to, and &s;o make&s;t them thy gods (nor can it be avoided by the quainte&s;t &s;ophi&s;try) and the true God by whom we live, and breathe, and move, thou ha&s;t not glo|rified, nay thou ha&s;t de&s;pi&s;ed him, thus triumphing over the &s;poils of his Sanctuary, and prai&s;ing thy own fal&s;e gods, as if they were more mighty than he. Which outragious contumely again&s;t his &s;acred maje&s;ty bodes ill to thee, and is a certain &s;ign of thy &s;udden downfall.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. For this high in&s;olency therefore was there &s;ent <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>&agrave; con&s;pectu,</HI> from the pre&s;ence of the God of <HI>I&s;|rael,</HI> the Angel <HI>Gabriel,</HI> who exhibited to thy &s;ight the &s;hape of an hand &s;eparate from the arme, and whole body, and who guided it &s;o as to write thy &s;ad doom on the pla&s;ter of the wall of thy Palace, in the words that follow:</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN, which verbatim &s;ounds no more than thus: <HI>He has numbred, He has numbred, He has weighed and the Per&s;ians.</HI> Which bro|ken writing, without the guidance of God or the good Angel <HI>Gabriel,</HI> he could hardly make &s;en&s;e of, unle&s;s we may conceive that by the reading of the Prophets, and being skilled in the principles of Prophetick Interpretation, he might of him&s;elf &s;pell out the meaning. As for the fir&s;t part, MENE, MENE, <HI>He has numbred, He has numbred;</HI> this by reading <HI>Jeremiah,</HI> chap. 25.12. chap. 27.7. and
<PB N="58" REF="34">chap. 29.10. where is expre&s;ly &s;et down the duration of the Kingdom of <HI>Babylon,</HI> viz. <HI>&s;eventy years,</HI> and <HI>till Nebuchad|nezzar's Sons &s;on,</HI> which time was then near expiring, he might I &s;ay well interpret [He has numbred, he has num|bred] of the certain fini&s;hing of the number of the duration of the Kingdom of <HI>Babylon,</HI> to who&s;e King the hand-writing is directed, and declare as in the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. God hath numbred thy Kingdom and fini&s;hed it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. But now for the interpretation of TEKEL. <HI>He was weighed,</HI> it is not improbable but that in the reading of TEKEL there might be a Paronoma&s;tical re&s;onancy of words in his mind that would make the whole &s;en&s;e thus, TEKEL VEATTE KAL. He was weighed and thou art light; which <HI>Daniel</HI> expre&s;&s;es thus more fully to the King, <HI>Thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting;</HI> that is, found to want weight, and therefore rejected as money illegitimate.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 28. PERES. And the Prophetick Analy&s;is of the la&s;t, UPHARSIN <HI>[and the Per&s;ians</HI> is manife&s;tly Parono|ma&s;tical, where he takes PERES by it &s;elf, which &s;ignifies a <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> and in a Paronoma&s;tical allu&s;ion to the word <HI>[Paras]</HI> which &s;ignifies to divide, he makes out this full &s;en&s;e of UPHARSIN. <HI>Thy kingdom is divided and rent from thee, and given to the Medes and Per&s;ians.</HI> See Dr. <HI>H. More</HI>'s Preface to his <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> on the Vi&s;ions of <HI>Daniel,</HI> Sect. 4.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 29. Kings of old, as <HI>Mun&s;ter</HI> ob&s;erves, were &s;trict keepers of their word, and the veracity of <HI>Daniel</HI> being known, it had been the more inglorious here for him to have receded from it, as if he had &s;ent for him to tell him, not what was true, but plea&s;ing, and it may be he was &s;o much humbled as to &s;eek to ingratiate him&s;elf with &s;o holy a man, who might intercede with God for him: The&s;e things might be. But it was mo&s;t likely of all that &s;o &s;ad an interpretation might &s;o inrage him and his Princes, that they would tear <HI>Daniel</HI> in pieces as a Traytor, and one that kept intelligence with <HI>Cyrus</HI> and the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> that be&s;ieged the Town, and therefore it was an in&s;pired fortitude in
<PB N="59" REF="34"><HI>Daniel,</HI> that he dared to make known to the King the in|terpretation of the writing. See the above mentioned <HI>Pre|face.</HI> But as for <HI>Daniel</HI> as before he declined it rather than ab&s;olutely refu&s;ed it, &s;o here he rather admits in a pa&s;&s;ive way, than accepts the promi&s;ed reward, &s;o that there is not the lea&s;t &s;hew of incon&s;tancy in him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 30. <HI>In that night.</HI> In this night of revelling and deep &s;ecurity they confiding in the &s;trength of their Walls, which were 32 feet thick and 50 feet high, as well as 385 furlongs in compa&s;s, as <HI>Strabo</HI> reports, and the River <HI>Eu|phrates</HI> that ran through the City was two mens height deep and two <HI>Stadia</HI> broad. But <HI>Cyrus</HI> having made for the pur|po&s;e large and deep ditches, derived the water another way that night, and coming with his forces through the chanel of the River, &s;urprized the City in the mid&s;t of their drink and jollity.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 31. <HI>And Darius the Mede,</HI> the Son of <HI>Cyaxares</HI> King of <HI>Media,</HI> and Uncle to <HI>Cyrus,</HI> whom he &s;et a work fir&s;t a|bout two years after <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s death to rebell a|gain&s;t <HI>A&s;tyages,</HI> who in wrong to <HI>Darius, Cyrus</HI> his Uncle, po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed <HI>Media</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> and whom he vanqui&s;hed: And <HI>Darius</HI> be&s;towed the Kingdom of <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> on his Nephew for his pains, and here it's likely by his advice he undertook this expedition, to whom therefore after the victory he de|livered up the City and Kingdom of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and being &s;o near of bloud to the old Queen, and lookt upon as the Son of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> in a manner, and &s;o called 'tis likely in court&s;hip and compliment by him, he was taken for a right &s;ucce&s;&s;our of <HI>Bel&s;hazzar,</HI> and &s;o reckoned the next King of <HI>Babylon</HI> by <HI>Daniel</HI> in this place. See <HI>Lydiat</HI> Emend. Temp. A. M. 3446 and 3469. And thus &s;uddenly begins the fatidi|cal in&s;cription on the Wall to be fulfilled, <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI>'s King|dom being given to <HI>Darius</HI> the <HI>Mede,</HI> who being about three|&s;core and two years old, died in his Climacterical 63. And &s;o the whole Monarchy pa&s;&s;ed to <HI>Cyrus</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian;</HI> and thus was the Kingdom rent from <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI>'s race, and given to the <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> as the Prophetick In&s;cription fore|told.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="60" REF="35">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Daniel <HI>is made chief of the three Pre&s;idents, which</HI> Darius <HI>&s;et over his Kingdom. The other two Pre&s;idents, together with the Princes moved with envy, procure of</HI> Da|rius <HI>an idolatrous decree to entrap</HI> Daniel. Daniel <HI>accu|&s;ed of the breach of this decree, is ca&s;t into the Den of Lions. The God of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>&s;ends his Angel to &s;hut the mouths of the Lions and &s;aveth</HI> Daniel. <HI>The Lions that &s;pared</HI> Daniel, <HI>&s;treightway devour his Accu&s;ers, being thrown into their Den.</HI> Darius <HI>thereupon makes Proclamation through all his Dominions, that all Men fear and tremble before the God of</HI> Daniel.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IT plea&s;ed Darius to &s;et over the kingdom an hun|dred and twenty Princes, which &s;hould be over the whole kingdom.</P>
<P N="2">2 And over the&s;e, three Pre&s;idents, (of whom Daniel was fir&s;t) that the Princes might give ac|counts unto them, and the King &s;hould have no damage.</P>
<P N="3">3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the Pre|&s;idents, and Princes, becau&s;e an excellent &s;pirit was in him, and the King thought to &s;et him over the whole realm.</P>
<P N="4">4 Then the Pre&s;idents and Princes &s;ought to find occa&s;ion again&s;t Daniel concerning the kingdom: but they could find none occa&s;ion or fault: fora&s;much as he was faithfull, neither was there any errour or fault found in him.</P>
<P N="5">5 Then &s;aid the&s;e men, We &s;hall not find any oc|ca&s;ion again&s;t this Daniel, except we find it again&s;t him concerning the law of his God.</P>
<PB N="61" REF="35">
<P N="6">6 Then the&s;e Pre&s;idents and Princes a&s;&s;embled together to the King, and &s;aid thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.</P>
<P N="7">7 All the Pre&s;idents of the Kingdom, the Go|vernours and the Princes, the Coun&s;ellours and the Captains have con&s;ulted together to e&s;tabli&s;h a royal Statute, and to make a firm Decree, that who&s;o|ever &s;hall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, &s;ave of thee, O King, he &s;hall be ca&s;t into the den of Lions.</P>
<P N="8">8 Now, O King, e&s;tabli&s;h the Decree, and &s;ign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the Law of the Medes and Per&s;ians, which altereth not.</P>
<P N="9">9 Wherefore King Darius &s;igned the writing, and the Decree.</P>
<P N="10">10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was &s;igned, he went into his hou&s;e, and his windows be|ing open in his chamber toward Jeru&s;alem, he kneel|ed upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did afore|time.</P>
<P N="11">11 Then the&s;e men a&s;&s;embled, and found Daniel praying, and making &s;upplication before his God.</P>
<P N="12">12 Then they came near, and &s;pake before the King concerning the Kings Decree, Ha&s;t thou not &s;igned a Decree, that every man that &s;hall ask a petition of any God or man, within thirty days, &s;ave of thee, O King, &s;hall be ca&s;t into the den of Lions? the King an&s;wered, and &s;aid, The thing is true, according to the Law of the Medes and Per|&s;ians which altereth not.</P>
<P N="13">13 Then an&s;wered they, and &s;aid before the King,
<PB N="62" REF="36">That Daniel which is of the captivity of the chil|dren of Judah, regardeth not thee, O King, nor the Decree that thou ha&s;t &s;igned, but maketh his peti|tion three times a day.</P>
<P N="14">14 Then the King when he heard the&s;e words, was &s;ore di&s;plea&s;ed with him&s;elf, and &s;et his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the go|ing down of the Sun, to deliver him.</P>
<P N="15">15 Then the&s;e men a&s;&s;embled unto the King, and &s;aid unto the King, Know, O King, that the law of the Medes and Per&s;ians is, that no Decree nor Sta|tute which the King e&s;tabli&s;heth, may be changed.</P>
<P N="16">16 Then the King commanded, and they brought Daniel, and ca&s;t him into the den of Lions: now the King &s;pake, and &s;aid unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou &s;erve&s;t continually, he will deliver thee.</P>
<P N="17">17 And a &s;tone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the King &s;ealed it with his own &s;ignet, and with the &s;ignet of his lords, that the purpo&s;e might not be changed concerning Daniel.</P>
<P N="18">18 Then the King went to his palace, and pa&s;&s;ed the night fa&s;ting: neither were in&s;truments of mu|&s;ick brought before him, and his &s;leep went from him.</P>
<P N="19">19 Then the King aro&s;e very early in the mor|ning, and went in ha&s;te unto the den of Lions.</P>
<P N="20">20 And when he came to the den, he cryed with a lamentable voyce unto Daniel, and the King &s;pake, and &s;aid to Daniel; O Daniel, &s;ervant of the living God, is thy God whom thou &s;erve&s;t continually, able to deliver thee from the Lions?</P>
<PB N="63" REF="36">
<P N="21">21 Then &s;aid Daniel unto the King, O King, live for ever.</P>
<P N="22">22 My God hath &s;ent his Angel, and hath &s;hut the Lions mouths, that they have not hurt me: for as much as before him innocency was found in me: and al&s;o before thee, O King, have I done no hurt.</P>
<P N="23">23 Then was the King exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they &s;hould take Daniel up out of the den: &s;o Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, becau&s;e he believed in his God.</P>
<P N="24">24 And the King commanded, and they brought tho&s;e men which had accu&s;ed Daniel, and they ca&s;t them into the den of Lions, them, their children, and their wives: and the Lions had the ma&s;tery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.</P>
<P N="25">25 Then King Darius wrote unto all people, na|tions and languages that dwell in all the earth, Peace be multiplied unto you.</P>
<P N="26">26 I make a Decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom, men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and &s;tedfa&s;t for ever, and his kingdom that which &s;hall not be de|&s;troyed, and his dominion &s;hall be even unto the end.</P>
<P N="27">27 He delivereth and re&s;cueth, and he worketh &s;igns and wonders in heaven, and in earth: who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions.</P>
<P N="28">28 So this Daniel pro&s;pered in the reign of Da|rius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Per&s;ian.</P>
<PB N="64" REF="37">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>AN hundred and twenty Princes.</HI> It &s;eems <HI>Darius</HI> being old, above three&s;core years of Age, and &s;en&s;ible of what might be mo&s;t &s;afe, made a new divi&s;ion of his Kingdom into &s;uch a numerous multitude of Pro|vinces, the le&s;&s;er the Provinces were they being the more manageable and more ea&s;ily ordered by their Governours, nor any one Province with the Prince thereof &s;o able to make head again&s;t him and rebell.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>Three Pre&s;idents.</HI> Three <HI>Sarkin,</HI> which the He|brews expound by <HI>Soterim,</HI> Exactours, as exacting or re|quiring an account of tho&s;e hundred and twenty Princes of the Provinces, of what was expended and received, that the King &s;hould have no damage, or as the <HI>&s;eventy</HI> render it, That the King might be ea&s;ed of that trouble. See <HI>Mun&s;ter</HI> on the place. And it &s;eems <HI>Darius</HI> made <HI>Da|niel</HI> the chief of tho&s;e three Pre&s;idents for his &s;ingular Wi&s;e|dom, Faithfulne&s;s and Hone&s;ty, be&s;ides his skill and Cou|rage in Interpreting the Hand-writing on the Wall, that predicted the ruin of <HI>Bel&s;hazzar,</HI> which was the bringing in of <HI>Darius.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Thought to &s;et him over the whole Realm.</HI> And <HI>Daniel</HI> being one whom for his ability and integrity he could &s;o fully confide in, and him&s;elf being old and affecting his ea&s;e, though &s;ufficiently reli&s;hing the Title and Honour of an Emperour or Monarch, was inclineable to make <HI>Da|niel</HI> his &s;ole chief Mini&s;ter of State, and as it were Vice-Roy over his whole Kingdom, eying onely one &s;ide of the bu&s;ine&s;s, and not con&s;idering how much it would di&s;|plea&s;e the other Pre&s;idents and Princes, that not a <HI>Native</HI> but a <HI>Captive</HI> &s;hould under him be made the &s;ole Ruler over his whole Empire.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Sought to find occa&s;ion.</HI> Here tho&s;e two peculiar Poi&s;ons in the Courts of Potentates, <HI>Ambition</HI> and <HI>Envy</HI> began violently to ferment in the brea&s;ts of the Pre&s;idents
<PB N="65" REF="37">and Princes, in&s;omuch as, right or wrong, they were re|&s;olved to pretend &s;ome Crime again&s;t <HI>Daniel,</HI> to make him forfeit the King's favour and lo&s;e his Life. But his unblemi&s;hed integrity in the admini&s;tration of the King's Affairs, and in all Moral Conver&s;ation was &s;uch, that they could lay no hold on him there.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Except we find it again&s;t him concerning the Law of his God.</HI> Not that they were not per&s;uaded, that <HI>Daniel</HI>'s wor&s;hip of the God of his Fathers were as good if not a better and truer Religion than the wor&s;hip of <HI>Bel,</HI> or any of the <HI>Babylonian</HI> gods, it being demon&s;trated by <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;o repeatedly, by his true expo&s;itions of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s dreams, and by his God's delivering the three Jews out of the fiery Furnace, and very lately by <HI>Daniel</HI>'s inter|preting the Hand-writing on the Wall, which things they could not be ignorant of, but they being mere Politicians, nor &s;o &s;en&s;ible of any Religion as their own intere&s;t, and their hearts being envenomed with Pride and Envy, they would, though again&s;t their own Con&s;cience, lay a &s;nare for <HI>Daniel,</HI> in the pious and con&s;cientious exerci&s;e of his Religion.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>All the Pre&s;idents,</HI> &amp;c. This joynt con&s;enting together of all the Grandees of his Kingdom, who might plau&s;ibly &s;eem to under&s;tand better what was for the King's intere&s;t and the aggrandizing of him with his people, than his own &s;ingle &s;elf, and the conclu&s;ion being not un|gratefull to &s;o mighty a Potentate, who &s;everal of them have affected divine honours while they were yet alive, as <HI>Domitian</HI> and others; the&s;e things all con&s;idered the plot is not unskilfully laid. Nor if we con&s;ider the In|terdicts of the my&s;tical King of <HI>Babylon,</HI> which have pro|hibited Divine Service and praying either to God, Saint or Angel for &s;ome years together, till addre&s;&s;es have been made to him&s;elf for Reconciliation from the party he was offended with, can this decree again&s;t the asking any pe|tition of God or Man for thirty days or one &s;ingle month, &s;aving to <HI>Darius</HI> the King, when the Interdict here in England in King <HI>John</HI>'s time by Pope <HI>Innocent</HI> la&s;ted near
<PB N="66" REF="38">&s;eventy months, &s;eem otherwi&s;e than not onely credible, but even tolerable, in the&s;e heathen Politicians, when his Holine&s;s him&s;elf makes &s;o bold with Religion, in Kingdoms where the true God is known, for his own intere&s;t. See <HI>Fowlis</HI> his <HI>Hi&s;tory of Popi&s;h Trea&s;ons and &V;&s;urpations,</HI> lib. 5. cap. 2.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Law of the Medes and Per&s;ians which altereth not.</HI> See the Book of <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> cap. 1. v. 19. There were certain laws among&s;t the <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> which were called <HI>Immutable,</HI> as tho&s;e laws among&s;t the Romans called <HI>Sa|cred,</HI> which being pa&s;t under a certain form, the King him&s;elf could not revoke or abrogate. See <HI>Grotius</HI> on the place. But this was not according to the mode of the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Monarchs, and haply they might think to in|gratiate them&s;elves the more with <HI>Darius</HI> the <HI>Mede</HI> by cra|ving a decree from him after the mode of his own Countrey.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Darius &s;igned the Writing,</HI> it having &s;uch a &s;hew of convenience from the common &s;uffrage of all his Grandees and Mini&s;ters of State, as very requi&s;ite for the begetting an awfull re&s;pect, and as it were a divine reverence to|ward their Sovereign, and &s;o to keep his Subjects in firm obedience. And he being old and timorous as well as lofty and ambitious might haply think it un&s;afe to re&s;i&s;t the importunity of &s;uch a number of his Princes and Nobles.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. Notwith&s;tanding this Decree, <HI>Daniel,</HI> having a firm Faith in the God whom he &s;erved and a greater &s;en&s;e of his Glory than his own &s;afety, held on his pious Cu|&s;tome of praying to the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> with his face turned toward <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and his Windows open and on his knees three times a day, Morning, Noon and Evening, being neither a&s;hamed nor afraid to doe his wonted duty to his Maker maugre all the malice and &s;ubtilty of his en|venomed enemies.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. And now his enemies thought they had catcht him &s;ure in the &s;nare they had laid for him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Which altereth not.</HI> See ver&s;e 8. The forma|lity
<PB N="67" REF="38">of &s;uch a Decree con&s;i&s;ts in &s;igning it with the Seals of the King and his Nobles, as <HI>Grotius</HI> has noted on <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> chap. 1. v. 19.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>Of the Children of the Captivity.</HI> This is put into the charge to aggravate <HI>Daniel</HI>'s fault, that he being but a Captive in a &s;trange land &s;hould be &s;o pre&s;umptuous as &s;o openly to tran&s;gre&s;s &s;uch a &s;olemn and earne&s;t De|cree of the King as they pretended.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>Was &s;ore di&s;plea&s;ed with him&s;elf.</HI> It's likely as he was aged, &s;o he was not &s;o quick witted as to &s;mell out their malitious project again&s;t <HI>Daniel</HI> at his &s;igning the De|cree, though he di&s;covered it now but too late. Where|fore it may be a &s;ea&s;onable monition to Monarchs and great Potentates, how they part with their own liberty by any Decree upon the importunity of their Grandees and Coun|&s;ellours, e&s;pecially when there is any turpitude in the De|cree they are earne&s;t for, le&s;t thereby they intricate them|&s;elves in endle&s;s inconveniences, and be en&s;laved by them that ought to be their Subjects, and betray to utmo&s;t peril their mo&s;t faithfull Friends.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>A&s;&s;embled unto the King.</HI> The word in the Ori|ginal [Raga&s;h] is to a&s;&s;emble with &s;ome &s;tir and tumult, which implies their earne&s;t addre&s;s to the King, and the vehemently and &s;waggeringly pre&s;&s;ing the Immutability of the Decree, they having ob&s;erved the King's inclination to to &s;ave <HI>Daniel.</HI> Know, O King, that the law of the <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> is, that no Decree&mdash; be changed.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>Then the King commanded,</HI> &amp;c. Being born down into it, by the importunate urging of the Immutability of the Decree, according to the law of the <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> and though no law has a right to &s;tand that is again&s;t the eternal law of God and Nature, yet <HI>Daniel</HI>'s enemies having this pretence, and the King being timid and cauti|ous and aware of his own danger, if he &s;hould enrage the generality of his Grandees and Nobles by defeating their eager malice again&s;t <HI>Daniel,</HI> was forced to grant the reque&s;t. For &s;ucce&s;s gives a glo&s;s to wicked Machinations, but to be defeated in a malitious de&s;ign, the di&s;appointment and
<PB N="68" REF="39">&s;hame would ca&s;t the de&s;igners into a fit of impatience and fury. <HI>Whom thou &s;erve&s;t continually:</HI> That is, con&s;tantly, not onely praying to him duly every day thrice a day, but doing this even then, when thou art in peril of thy life for &s;o doing. This &s;hews the King to have been &s;ur|prized in granting the decree, and to di&s;approve of his own action, he being a Prince of much humanity, and ha|ving a &s;en&s;e of piety al&s;o, though &s;way'd to things le&s;s a|greeable thereto through his own infirmity, and by the o|verpowering Politicks of his Courtiers. <HI>He will deliver thee.</HI> So he hopes upon his recalling to mind the deliverance of his three Countreymen out of the fiery furnace, and &s;o wi&s;hes, out of his kindne&s;s to &s;o pious a per&s;on and u&s;efull a &s;ubject.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>That the purpo&s;e might not be changed.</HI> That the King might not change his purpo&s;e and &s;ave <HI>Daniel,</HI> for this end the Grandees &s;ealed the &s;tone; but the King, that the Grandees might not murther <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;ome other ways, if the Lions forbare him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. The good-natur'd Prince did not conceal his &s;olicitude and affection for his faithfull &s;ubject <HI>Daniel,</HI> though of another Religion from his.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>With a lamentable voice. Voce lacrymabili</HI> the Vul|gar Latine has it. He &s;pake to him with tears down his cheeks, and a tone an&s;werable thereto. Which is no <HI>Inde|corum</HI> in this benign Prince, <HI>Homer</HI> bringing in his grea|te&s;t Heroes weeping upon occa&s;ion. And what <HI>David</HI> did upon the death of <HI>Ab&s;olon</HI> all know. <HI>Servant of the living God.</HI> Not of &s;tocks, or &s;tones, or metals of what value &s;oever, who can neither &s;ave them&s;elves nor others. <HI>Able to deliver thee.</HI> For <HI>Parius</HI> did not at all que&s;tion his wil|lingne&s;s, being him&s;elf of &s;o good and benign a nature, and knowing what a faithfull and con&s;tant wor&s;hipper <HI>Da|niel</HI> was of his God. And <HI>Darius</HI>'s neither Philo&s;ophy nor Religion reached &s;o far yet as to know that the God of <HI>Da|niel</HI> was the Omnipotent Maker of heaven and earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. <HI>My God has &s;ent his Angel.</HI> As there was an Angelical appearance in the fiery furnace that &s;aved the
<PB N="69" REF="39">three children from harm. <HI>And hath &s;hut the Lion's mouth.</HI> This is that which the Apo&s;tle alludes to, <HI>Heb.</HI> 11.33. Who <HI>by faith</HI> &s;topped the mouths of Lions, quenched the violence of fire. For their <HI>faith</HI> in God procured this An|gelical a&s;&s;i&s;tence to the three children in the fiery furnace, and to <HI>Daniel</HI> in the Lion's den. Nor was <HI>Daniel</HI>'s faith pre&s;umption, he being &s;o holy and innocent a per&s;on as is intimated in the re&s;idue of the ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. <HI>Becau&s;e he believed in his God.</HI> His faith there|fore &s;topped the mouth of the Lions, as the Apo&s;tle above declares.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. <HI>Or ever they came to the bottom.</HI> This &s;hews they were very &s;harp &s;et however they were charmed from med|ling with <HI>Daniel,</HI> and that it was a &s;upernatural power that hindred them from &s;eizing on him. But that their wives and children as well as the Accu&s;ers them&s;elves were ca&s;t into the Lion's den, this was the exce&s;s of indulgence to a ju&s;t rage and indignation again&s;t &s;o horrid a villany com|mitted again&s;t &s;o holy and innocent a per&s;on, and &s;o dear to <HI>Darius</HI> the King.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. As <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI> did upon the miraculous deliverance of the three children out of the fiery furnace, <HI>chap.</HI> 3.29. &s;o does <HI>Darius</HI> upon <HI>Daniel</HI>'s deliverance from the Lion's den, a great pang of Religion took them toward the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> upon the&s;e &s;urprizing miracles, which made them acknowledge that he had a Power and Empire &s;urpa&s;&s;ing the greate&s;t Monarchs on earth, and &s;uch as had no end, though, as I noted above, neither of their Philo|&s;ophies reached to the true knowledge of the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> as Maker of Heaven and Earth, but onely as of a powerfull Tutelar God of that nation, and &s;o they cea&s;ed not to &s;erve <HI>Bel</HI> &s;till their own god, or god of the <HI>Babylonians.</HI> And rea&s;on of State held them to their wonted &s;uper&s;tition.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. <HI>In heaven and on earth.</HI> On earth as in tho&s;e in&s;tances of the deliverance of the three children and <HI>Da|niel;</HI> In heaven as in that voice from heaven, <HI>chap.</HI> 3. <HI>v.</HI> 31. which was a dreadfull prodigy.</P>
<PB N="70" REF="40">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 28. <HI>In the reign of Darius.</HI> During his reign <HI>Da|niel</HI> continued in <HI>Babylon,</HI> which reign was but &s;hort, he entring but when he was about 62 years old, and dying in his Climacterical. But during the time he reigned <HI>Da|niel</HI> was in great favour with him, but upon his death he re|moved into <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> and lived in great honour under <HI>Cyrus;</HI> and this may be &s;aid in counterdi&s;tinction to his condition in <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI>'s time, who took little notice of him, who yet reigned about 18 years. See <HI>Tho. Lydiat.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Daniel<HI>'s Vi&s;ion, in the fir&s;t year of</HI> Bel&s;hazzar, <HI>of four Bea&s;ts betokening four Kingdoms or Empires. The everla&s;ting Kingdom of God or Chri&s;t rai&s;ed within the &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ion of the&s;e four Kingdoms; as is farther under&s;tood by a full interpretation of the Vi&s;ion to</HI> Daniel <HI>by an Angel.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IN the fir&s;t year of Bel&s;hazzar King of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and vi&s;ions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, and told the &s;um of the matters.</P>
<P N="2">2 Daniel &s;pake, and &s;aid, I &s;aw in my vi&s;ion by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven &s;trove upon the great &s;ea.</P>
<P N="3">3 And four great bea&s;ts came up from the &s;ea, di|vers one from another.</P>
<P N="4">4 The fir&s;t was like a Lion, and had Eagles wings: and I beheld till the wings thereof were pluckt, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made &s;tand upon the feet as a man, and a mans heart was given to it.</P>
<PB N="71" REF="40">
<P N="5">5 And behold, another bea&s;t, a &s;econd, like to a Bear, and it rai&s;ed up it &s;elf on one &s;ide, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they &s;aid thus unto it, Ari&s;e, devour much fle&s;h.</P>
<P N="6">6 After this I beheld, and lo, another like a Leo|pard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl, the bea&s;t had al&s;o four heads; and dominion was given to it.</P>
<P N="7">7 After this I &s;aw in the night-vi&s;ions, and behold, a fourth bea&s;t, dreadfull and terrible, and &s;trong ex|ceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and &s;tamped the re&s;idue with the feet of it; and it was divers from all the bea&s;ts that were before it, and it had ten horns.</P>
<P N="8">8 I con&s;idered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the fir&s;t horns pluckt up by the roots: and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth &s;peaking great things.</P>
<P N="9">9 I beheld till the thrones were ca&s;t down, and the Ancient of days did &s;it, who&s;e garment was white as &s;now, and the hair of his head like the pure wooll: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.</P>
<P N="10">10 A fiery &s;tream i&s;&s;ued, and came forth from be|fore him: thou&s;and thou&s;ands mini&s;tred unto him, and ten thou&s;and times ten thou&s;and &s;tood before him: the judgment was &s;et, and the books were o|pened.</P>
<P N="11">11 I beheld then, becau&s;e of the voice of the great words which the horn &s;pake: I beheld even till the
<PB N="72" REF="41">bea&s;t was &s;lain, and his body de&s;troyed, and given to the burning flame.</P>
<P N="12">12 As concerning the re&s;t of the bea&s;ts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were pro|longed for a &s;ea&s;on and time.</P>
<P N="13">13 I &s;aw in the night-vi&s;ions, and behold, one like the &s;on of man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.</P>
<P N="14">14 And there was given him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and langua|ges &s;hould &s;erve him: his dominion is an everla&s;ting dominion, which &s;hall not pa&s;s away, and his king|dom that which &s;hall not be de&s;troyed.</P>
<P N="15">15 I Daniel was grieved in my &s;pirit in the mid&s;t of my body, and the vi&s;ions of my head troubled me.</P>
<P N="16">16 I came near unto one of them that &s;tood by, and asked him the truth of all this: &s;o he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.</P>
<P N="17">17 The&s;e great bea&s;ts, which are &s;our, are four Kings, which &s;hall ari&s;e out of the earth.</P>
<P N="18">18 But the Saints of the mo&s;t High &s;hall take the kingdom, and po&s;&s;e&s;s the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.</P>
<P N="19">19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth bea&s;t, which was divers from all the others, exceeding dreadfull, who&s;e teeth were of iron, and his nails of bra&s;s, which devoured, brake in pieces, and &s;tamped the re&s;idue with his feet,</P>
<P N="20">20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell, even of that horn that had eyes, and a
<PB N="73" REF="41">mouth that &s;pake very great things, who&s;e look was more &s;tout than his fellows.</P>
<P N="21">21 I beheld, and the &s;ame horn made war with the Saints, and prevailed again&s;t them;</P>
<P N="22">22 Untill the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the Saints of the mo&s;t High; and the time came that the Saints po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed the kingdom.</P>
<P N="23">23 Thus he &s;aid, The fourth bea&s;t &s;hall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which &s;hall be divers from all kingdoms, and &s;hall devour the whole earth, and &s;hall tread it down, and break it in pieces.</P>
<P N="24">24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom, are ten Kings that &s;hall ari&s;e: and another &s;hall ri&s;e after them, and he &s;hall be divers from the fir&s;t, and he &s;hall &s;ubdue three Kings.</P>
<P N="25">25 And he &s;hall &s;peak great words again&s;t the mo&s;t High, and &s;hall wear out the Saints of the mo&s;t High, and think to change times and laws: and they &s;hall be given into his hand, untill a time and times and the dividing of time.</P>
<P N="26">26 But the judgment &s;hall &s;it, and they &s;hall take away his dominion, to con&s;ume, and to de&s;troy it unto the end.</P>
<P N="27">27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the great|ne&s;s of the kingdom under the whole heaven, &s;hall be given to the people of the Saints of the mo&s;t High, who&s;e kingdom is an everla&s;ting kingdom, and all dominions &s;hall &s;erve and obey him.</P>
<P N="28">28 Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.</P>
<PB N="74" REF="42">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. IN the fir&s;t year of <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> (the Son of <HI>Evilme|rodack</HI> and Grandchild of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> the la&s;t King of <HI>Babylon</HI> of his race, and who was &s;lain by the <HI>Medes</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> the City <HI>Babylon</HI> being taken by <HI>Cyrus</HI> in the eighteenth year of <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI>'s reign, according to <HI>Tho. Lydiat,</HI>) had <HI>Daniel</HI> a <HI>divine</HI> Vi&s;ion communicated to him in his &s;leep. For Prophetical Vi&s;ions are communicated ei|ther way, either &s;leeping or waking, and they are either way truly <HI>divine.</HI> The &s;umm of the matters of which di|vine dream <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;et down in writing, and declared as fol|lows in ver&s;e 2. <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And that is here done &s;till in the Chaldee tongue, this Vi&s;ion of the <HI>four bea&s;ts</HI> an&s;wering &s;o accurate|ly to that of the Statue of <HI>four metals,</HI> and therefore for the greater &s;atisfaction and confirmation of <HI>Daniel</HI>'s interpre|tation thereof, this divine Vi&s;ion or dream is put into the &s;ame language, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Syriack</HI> or <HI>Chaldee</HI> as an Appendage to that brief Chaldee <HI>Chronicle</HI> of the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Kings, and the affairs of the <HI>Jews,</HI> to wit, of the mo&s;t notable things that happened betwixt them from the time of <HI>Nebuchadnez|zar</HI>'s dream of the Metalline Statue, to the reign of <HI>Darius</HI> the <HI>Mede</HI> inclu&s;ively.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. By the <HI>great Sea</HI> in this place, according to the prophetick &s;tyle, are under&s;tood va&s;t multitudes of people that over&s;pread the face of the earth, as the waters of the Sea doe. By the <HI>Winds,</HI> which are invi&s;ible, are under&s;tood either the <HI>Invi&s;ible Powers,</HI> viz. the Aerial Genii or Angels, which are called <HI>Ruchoth venti,</HI> Zach. 6. and P&s;alm 104.4. or el&s;e the ambitious and unquiet minds of great Princes and Politicians with their Grandees and Mini&s;ters of State, and tho&s;e blu&s;ters they make in the world by their impetuous activity to begin or increa&s;e their dominion, and to enlarge it into a more ab&s;olute Empire. See Dr. <HI>H. More</HI> on the place.</P>
<PB N="75" REF="42">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. The&s;e <HI>four</HI> great <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> are the &s;ame four Empires that were prefigured by the Statue of <HI>four metals,</HI> the <HI>Baby|lonian, Medo-Per&s;ian, Greek</HI> and <HI>Roman.</HI> And in that they are repre&s;ented as coming up from the Sea, it is a &s;ign the Vi&s;ion reaches the Original or beginning of every one of them. But their coming out of the Sea <HI>together,</HI> is not that they ro&s;e all at once, but is &s;o expre&s;&s;ed to &s;trike the fancy more &s;trongly, which is the embelli&s;hing of the out|ward <HI>Cortex</HI> of the Prophecy. And though they be &s;aid to be divers one from another, yet all agree in this, that they are <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>wild Bea&s;ts,</HI> by which is under&s;tood their <HI>Cruelty</HI> and <HI>Idolatry,</HI> as <HI>Grotius</HI> notes out of <HI>Jacchiades.</HI> Which cha|racter of the&s;e four <HI>wild Bea&s;ts</HI> is exqui&s;itely well oppo&s;ed unto the Kingdom of the <HI>Son of man,</HI> all along di&s;tinct from the other four Kingdoms, who came to erect the Empire of Love and Charity, and of pure Religion, the wor&s;hip|ping the Father in &s;pirit and in truth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. This fir&s;t Bea&s;t, a Lion, is the <HI>Babylonian</HI> King|dom, and <HI>Nebuchednezzar</HI> is de&s;cribed in <HI>Jeremiah</HI> by this animal. See <HI>chap.</HI> 4.7. and his Eagles wings betoken the quickne&s;s of his di&s;patch in his expeditions and conque&s;ts, expre&s;&s;ed al&s;o in the &s;ame Prophet by the flight of an Ea|gle, <HI>chap.</HI> 4.13. and <HI>chap.</HI> 40. They may denote al&s;o the haughtine&s;s of his &s;pirit, of which <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> taxes him, <HI>chap.</HI> 14. <HI>v.</HI> 14. which pride and haughtine&s;s his Grandchild <HI>Bel|&s;hazzar</HI> did al&s;o inherit, <HI>Dan.</HI> 5.25. nor can <HI>Darius</HI> that &s;ucceeded him be excu&s;ed from pride that he &s;o ea&s;ily &s;wal|lowed down the motion for the decree his Princes &s;ugge&s;ted to him, <HI>Dan.</HI> 6.7. And the whole &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the Kings of <HI>Babylon</HI> and the Kingdom under them being lookt upon but as one Bea&s;t by a Prophetick <HI>Henopoeia,</HI> whatever befell any particular King is referred to the Bea&s;t. To the pluck|ing therefore of the Lion's wings wherewith he was lifted from the earth is referred <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s dejection, when in&s;tead of being lifted up on high with his wings from the earth he was &s;een to graze on the ground with Oxen. The wings al&s;o of the Lion were pluckt in his Son <HI>Evil|merodack</HI>'s days, when <HI>Media</HI> by <HI>Cyrus</HI>'s rebellion again&s;t <HI>A|&s;tyages</HI>
<PB N="76" REF="43">was rent from the Kingdom of <HI>Babylon,</HI> but mo&s;t no|toriou&s;ly pluckt in what befell his Grandchild <HI>Bel&s;hazzar,</HI> who was humbled with a witne&s;s at the hand-writing on the Wall, <HI>Dan.</HI> 5.6. But now, la&s;tly, the Lion &s;tanding on his feet as a man, to this particularly is referred <HI>Nebuchad|nezzar</HI>'s recovery out of his <HI>Boanthropy,</HI> when out of the depravedne&s;s of his imagination he was &s;een to go on all four like a bea&s;t. But the man's heart &s;ignifying the u&s;e of rea&s;on and humanity, this is referrable not onely to <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s recovery out of his delirancy, and to his humble profe&s;&s;ions touching the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> chap. 3.28. chap. 4.34. But to <HI>Evilmerodack</HI>'s good u&s;age of <HI>Je|hoiakim</HI> King of <HI>Judah,</HI> Jer. 52.31. And <HI>Darius</HI> his &s;ingu|lar humanity and kindne&s;s to <HI>Daniel,</HI> chap. 6. v. 14, 16, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The&s;e Characters, and for that the&s;e four Bea&s;ts an&s;wer to the four Metals in the Statue, and that the Golden head there is certainly the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Kingdom, may a&s;&s;ure us that the <HI>Lion</HI> is al&s;o the &s;ame Kingdom.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. The Lion being the <HI>Babylonian,</HI> the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the four Empires in Hi&s;tory will &s;ecure us that the Bear is the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Empire, &s;o that it is needle&s;s to note that <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> is notorious for breeding the fiercer &s;ort as well as great plenty of tho&s;e Animals, or that the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> re&s;em|ble a Bear in their ab&s;tinence and hard&s;hip. But this Bear is &s;aid to rai&s;e its &s;elf on one &s;ide, becau&s;e dividing the World into two parts, <HI>Jews</HI> and <HI>Gentiles,</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Mo|narchs were kind to the <HI>Jews,</HI> and exerci&s;ed their Ho&s;tility onely again&s;t the <HI>Gentiles.</HI> See <HI>I&s;a.</HI> chap. 44.28. The three ribs in the mouth of the Bear, according to &s;ome, is <HI>Per&s;ia, Media</HI> and <HI>Chaldea,</HI> according to others the three coa&s;ts of the world &s;ubdued by the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Monarchs, by <HI>Cyrus</HI> the <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> part, by <HI>Camby&s;es</HI> the <HI>Southern,</HI> viz. <HI>Aegypt</HI> and <HI>Aethiopia,</HI> and by <HI>Darius Hy&s;ta&s;pis</HI> the <HI>Northern,</HI> namely the <HI>Scythians.</HI> And that voice bidding it devour much fle&s;h, is the in&s;tigation of them by divine Fate to be a &s;courge to the wicked world, the civilized parts e&s;pecially, which were grown rich and luxurious, to make a &s;poil of their riches, which in the <HI>Onirocriticks</HI> is under&s;tood by fle&s;h; which was
<PB N="77" REF="43">notably fulfilled in <HI>Cyrus</HI> his vanqui&s;hing <HI>Croe&s;us</HI> King of <HI>Ly|dia,</HI> and <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> King of <HI>Babylon.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. Succe&s;&s;ion here again will a&s;&s;ure us that this is the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire, becau&s;e the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> was put an end to by <HI>Alexander,</HI> who&s;e victories with his armies were &s;o &s;wift, that in this regard a <HI>Leopard</HI> is a fit Symbol of this Empire, that Animal, be&s;ides the extraordinary &s;wiftne&s;s of it, jumping upon his prey, as Naturali&s;ts ob&s;erve. And there was a wonderfull di&s;patch in <HI>Alexander</HI>'s Conque&s;ts, who in the &s;pace of &s;ix years &s;ubdued not onely all <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> but a great part of <HI>Europe</HI> and <HI>Africk.</HI> The four wings on the back of this Leopard, <HI>as wings,</HI> denote al&s;o the celerity of <HI>Alexander</HI>'s Conque&s;ts and &s;peedy divi&s;ion of his Empire in|to four Kingdoms, which the wings <HI>as four</HI> prefigure. Which is al&s;o prefigured by the <HI>four heads,</HI> as the divi&s;ion of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire into ten Kingdoms by <HI>ten horns,</HI> and it was &s;till one <HI>Greek</HI> Kingdom, as the other one <HI>Roman.</HI> For one Bea&s;t can &s;tand but for one Kingdom. Tho&s;e four heads that &s;ucceeded <HI>Alexander,</HI> were <HI>Ca&s;&s;ander,</HI> to whom was al|lotted the Kingdom of <HI>Macedonia; Ptoleceus Lagi Fil.</HI> to whom <HI>Aegypt</HI> and <HI>Africk; Ly&s;imachus,</HI> to whom <HI>Thracia;</HI> and <HI>Antigonus,</HI> to who&s;e &s;hare <HI>A&s;ia minor</HI> fell, according to <HI>Dio|dorus Siculus.</HI> And that dominion is &s;aid to be <HI>given</HI> to this Leopard, it &s;eems to imply that <HI>Alexander</HI>'s Conque&s;ts were &s;o marvellous, that the Empire he acquired was rather a mere gift of Divine Providence, than any Acqui&s;t by his own &s;trength, policy or vigilancy. See Dr. <HI>H. More</HI> on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>In the night-vi&s;ions.</HI> In this divine or &s;uperna|tural dream communicated to <HI>Daniel</HI> from God. <HI>A fourth Bea&s;t;</HI> which is the fourth Empire, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Roman,</HI> for what Empire &s;hould &s;ucceed the <HI>Greek</HI> or <HI>Macedonick</HI> Empire but the <HI>Roman,</HI> that vanqui&s;hed it as the <HI>Greek</HI> the <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> and the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> the <HI>Babylonian.</HI> That this <HI>fourth</HI> Kingdom is the <HI>Roman</HI> is demon&s;trated again&s;t <HI>Grotius</HI> Synop&s;. Prophet. Book 2. Chap. 13. And as this Kingdom is typified, <HI>chap.</HI> 2. by the iron legs of the Image, &s;o the &s;trength of it here is &s;et out by its great <HI>iron teeth.</HI> Both import that it is <HI>&s;trong
<PB N="78" REF="44">exceedingly.</HI> For &s;o is that metal. And the courage, cru|elty and exceeding largene&s;s of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire mu&s;t needs make it <HI>dreadfull</HI> and <HI>terrible.</HI> And for the enormous cruelty of this Empire, which was found &s;o &s;alvage that no one <HI>&s;pecies</HI> of wild Bea&s;t could &s;ufficiently &s;et out the direfulne&s;s thereof while <HI>Pagan</HI> and <HI>Paganochri&s;tian,</HI> the horrid per&s;ecution of the Primitive Chri&s;tians, and that no le&s;s of the <HI>Evangelici</HI> under the <HI>Papacy,</HI> is too ample and a&s;toni&s;hing a monument. <HI>And &s;tamped the re&s;idue with the feet.</HI> What it could not tear in pieces with its iron teeth, and &s;o &s;wallow down and dige&s;t into its body, and &s;o make it part of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire: by the extreme parts of the Empire which an&s;wer to the feet, it grievou&s;ly annoyed and hara&s;&s;ed, abetting any that would infe&s;t and invade tho&s;e people that they found &s;o refractory, and giving them as a &s;poil to them, <HI>&amp;c. Divers from all the bea&s;ts.</HI> Fora&s;much as they being ab&s;olute Monarchies, this fourth Bea&s;t con|&s;i&s;ted of two Con&s;uls and a Senate, and in after-times of a mingle-mangle of Popes and Emperours, <HI>&amp;c. And it had ten horns,</HI> an&s;wering to the <HI>ten toes</HI> of the iron legs of the Image. The&s;e ten Horns mu&s;t be the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire divi|ded into ten Kingdoms after the Empire became Chri&s;tian, and was beginning to Paganochri&s;tianize, and grow Idola|trous again. This therefore is the Time, and there the ten Horns of the Bea&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>I con&s;idered the Horns.</HI> Which is &s;aid to excite us to a clo&s;e con&s;ideration of the&s;e Horns to &s;ee what we can e&s;py there. And there we may ob&s;erve another little Horn come up among&s;t them, but different from the re&s;t. This therefore is an Additional to the ten Horns here as the <HI>two|horned</HI> Bea&s;t and the <HI>Whore</HI> are Additionals to the ten-horn|ed Bea&s;t, <HI>Apoc.</HI> chap. 13. and 17. Which mo&s;t peculiarly is the Papal Polity or Hierarchy. But <HI>the three fir&s;t horns, i. e.</HI> of the fir&s;t kind or fir&s;t mentioned which were pluck'd up before him, that is, removed out of the Pope's &s;ight, is the Power, 1. of the <HI>Greek</HI> Emperours extending into <HI>Italy;</HI> 2. of the <HI>Lombards,</HI> and 3. of the <HI>Franks</HI> continued in the Empire of <HI>Germany.</HI> All the&s;e three Powers or Horns
<PB N="79" REF="44">he made &s;hift to rid him&s;elf of, that he might the more ea|&s;ily domineer in <HI>Italy</HI> without any corrival. But this was not till he had grown to that rampancy of power, that he would excommunicate and depo&s;e Kings and Emperours, and had made him&s;elf in effect &s;ole Emperour of Chri&s;ten|dom. And in that it is &s;aid, that in this Horn were <HI>eyes like the eyes of a man;</HI> this &s;hews a notorious difference betwixt <HI>this</HI> Horn and the other <HI>ten,</HI> and that he would prove the guide and ruler of the re&s;t, them&s;elves being de&s;titute of &s;ight; and the Papal Hierarchy how cunning and quick|&s;ighted a Polity it has been all Hi&s;tory rings thereof, and how far they pretend and how active A&s;&s;i&s;tents they are even in civil affairs. But it is yet a more peculiar charac|ter of di&s;tinction betwixt this <HI>Hierarchical</HI> power in the Em|pire, and the <HI>Secular</HI> of the ten Kings, in that in matters of Faith and Religion they are to have no eyes of their own, but to profe&s;s and believe as this <HI>Horn,</HI> who pretends to have the <HI>onely eyes,</HI> tells them, and &s;o to be led in a blind implicit faith, to believe and profe&s;s any thing that makes for the power, wealth and honour of the Popedom. And la&s;tly, though this little Horn pretend to the onely true in&s;ight and infallibility in matters of Religion, as if he were in&s;pi|red from <HI>God,</HI> yet the Prophecy in&s;inuates, that they are but the eyes of a <HI>Man,</HI> and are &s;o called, and con&s;equently of that <HI>Man of &s;in</HI> or Antichri&s;t, that exalts him&s;elf above all that is called God or wor&s;hipped. And the Ancient Fa|thers generally under&s;tand this little Horn of Antichri&s;t. And that character of <HI>a mouth &s;peaking great thing,</HI> nothing can be more fitly apply'd than this to the Popes of <HI>Rome,</HI> as they are &s;et out by their <HI>Canoni&s;ts</HI> and other di&s;players of their greatne&s;s. See Bi&s;hop <HI>Downham</HI> in his Treati&s;e <HI>de Antichri&s;to,</HI> Part 1. lib. 4. that whole fourth Book, or Dr. <HI>H. More,</HI> what he has culled thence on this place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Till the thrones were ca&s;t down.</HI> The word in the Original might as well be rendred <HI>&s;et down</HI> or <HI>erected,</HI> which is the mo&s;t natural &s;en&s;e, and mo&s;t coherent with what fol|lows. The Ancient of days here is God the Father, who though he is not before the other two <HI>Hypo&s;ta&s;es</HI> of the
<PB N="80" REF="45">ble&s;&s;ed Trinity in time, yet he is in order of nature. The <HI>whitene&s;s</HI> of the <HI>hair</HI> of his head denotes mature coun&s;el and judgment, with a &s;utablene&s;s to his title of the Ancient of days, and the <HI>whitene&s;s</HI> of his <HI>garment</HI> is pure un&s;potted righteou&s;ne&s;s, and impartiality in judging of cau&s;es. His <HI>throne</HI> like a <HI>fiery flame,</HI> and <HI>wheels</HI> like <HI>burning fire,</HI> is a de|&s;cription of the Divine <HI>Shechinah,</HI> not much unlike that in <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> chap. 1. and 10. This is a Chariot-like Throne, as that a Throne-like Chariot; and as the wheels there as well as the living creatures are Angelical, &s;o there are An|gels here innumerable in this great Se&s;&s;ion &s;itting with the Ancient of days, or a&s;&s;i&s;ting while he &s;its on his Imperial Throne drawn with wheels, Angelical wheels, by who&s;e mini&s;try is the Revolution of all States and Kingdoms.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Came forth from before him.</HI> Out of his mouth, &s;ays <HI>Grotius</HI> from the Chaldee. And herefore is not un|like that bla&s;t of fire and flaming breath, 2 <HI>E&s;dr.</HI> 13. and &s;uits excellently well with that pa&s;&s;age, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2. that tells us that the Lord will con&s;ume Antichri&s;t with the &s;pirit of his mouth, and de&s;troy him with the brightne&s;s of his com|ing. This may denote the operation of the &s;pirit which is re&s;embled to fire, and the &s;tream coming forth from the Ancient of days be a Symbol of the proce&s;&s;ion of the Holy Gho&s;t, which proceeds from the Father as well as from the Son. But whereas it is &s;aid, <HI>the Books were opened.</HI> This corre&s;ponds with <HI>Apoc.</HI> 20.11, 12. and reaches to the final Judgment immediately preceding the Con&s;lagration, and then the fiery &s;tream out of the mouth of the Ancient of days will call al&s;o for another &s;en&s;e (for one Symbol in the &s;ame Prophecy &s;ometimes &s;ignifies more things than one) it will &s;ignifie that final Sentence, <HI>Depart from me ye accur&s;ed into everla&s;ting fire.</HI> See <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 30.33.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>The great words which the horn &s;pake.</HI> For it had a mouth &s;peaking great things, <HI>v.</HI> 8. For that Hierarchichal Polity, or Papal Hierarchy which is this little Horn, ut|ters &s;uch things as the&s;e. That the Pope is above all Kings and Emperours. That by certain words they can turn a piece of bread into a man, nay into a God in a
<PB N="81" REF="45">manner. That they can con&s;ecrate Images to effectually keeping off thunder and lightning, and the incur&s;ion of enemies. That the Pope is the &s;upreme Deity on earth. That his Tribunal and God's is all one. That he has the di&s;po&s;ing of Kingdoms, can pull down one and &s;et up another. That he can change the nature of things, make Inju&s;tice Ju&s;tice, and Wrong Right. That it is Sa|crilege to doubt of his power. That he has dominion over Angels, Purgatory and Hell. See Bi&s;hop <HI>Downham</HI> in the Book above-cited. <HI>I beheld even till the Bea&s;t was &s;lain,</HI> and with the Bea&s;t the fal&s;e Prophet, for that in an Elliptical way is intimated and &s;upplied in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> chap. 19.20. And the Bea&s;t was taken and with him the fal&s;e Prophet, which is this little Horn. The&s;e both were ca&s;t alive into a lake of fire burning with brim&s;tone, which an|&s;wers to the&s;e words of <HI>Daniel, His body was de&s;troyed and given to the burning flame,</HI> which intimates the means by which he was &s;lain and de&s;troyed, the&s;e things come to pa&s;s under the &s;eventh Vial.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. As if he &s;hould &s;ay, If any one &s;hall be &s;o cu|rious as to enquire what became of the re&s;t of the Bea&s;ts, the other three above-mentioned, let that &s;uffice that their dominion was taken away, and that they had their &s;et periods of time allowed them by the doom of the Ancient of days. This is enough as touching them, but the great bu|&s;ine&s;s of all is touching the fourth Bea&s;t the <HI>Roman</HI> Em|pire, fora&s;much as the true Church of Chri&s;t for &s;o long a &s;pace of time is &s;o much concerned therein, and there|fore that de&s;erves more &s;pecial ob&s;ervation and enlarge|ment. And therefore he holds on.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>Like the Son of man.</HI> The Son of man is a Title which Chri&s;t &s;o inculcatedly a&s;&s;umes to him&s;elf, to whom the Kingdom does belong, that it is impo&s;&s;ible but that he &s;hould have a regard to this very place in his &s;o perpe|tually u&s;ing that &s;tyle touching him&s;elf. And therefore it being Chri&s;t, it is plain that the &s;econd <HI>Hypo&s;ta&s;is</HI> of the holy Trinity is here exhibited in this divine Vi&s;ion as well as the fir&s;t and third; as I have noted they all three
<PB N="82" REF="46">are in the Vi&s;ion of <HI>Ezekiel. Came with the clouds of heaven.</HI> This pa&s;&s;age our Saviour &s;eems to allude to in his an&s;wer to the high Prie&s;t, <HI>Mat.</HI> 26.64. where he tells him, <HI>He &s;hall &s;ee the Son of man coming in the coulds of heaven.</HI> And to be carried in the clouds of heaven, denotes that a King &s;hall be ma&s;ter of his enemies and get glorious Victory, &s;aith <HI>Achmetes.</HI> Chri&s;t therefore coming as it were in the head of the <HI>Roman</HI> Army, to de&s;troy the murtherous Jews and e&s;tabli&s;hing thereby his Church or Kingdom in the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire e&s;pecially, fulfilled his own prediction.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. Some of all people &s;hall &s;erve him in the pure Apo&s;tolick way of doctrine and wor&s;hip, and indeed the whole <HI>Roman</HI> Empire in a manner did &s;o for a while after <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI>'s Conver&s;ion, till the Apo&s;ta&s;ie came in. Which &s;mall interval of time in this Vi&s;ion is not taken notice of, as being le&s;s con&s;iderable. But in the mean time it may be here rea&s;onable to note, that this right of the King|dom being given to the Son of man, an&s;wers to the fir&s;t Vi&s;ion of the Seals, the Vi&s;ion of the Heros on the white Hor&s;e, with a bow in his hand, and who had a Crown given unto him, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 6.2. the right of the imperial Crown. <HI>Is an everla&s;ting dominion.</HI> The true Church which is the genuine Kingdom of Chri&s;t and of which he alone is the Head, as being univer&s;al, never yet from the begin|ning thereof has failed, nor ever will fail to the end of the world.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>Daniel</HI> was very anxious to know what the meaning of this Vi&s;ion might be.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>Daniel</HI> came to one of the a&s;&s;i&s;tent Angels in this great Se&s;&s;ion, not to tho&s;e that were placed on Thrones; and asked him the <HI>plain</HI> meaning of this pro|phetick Parable, which he told him in manner as follows.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. The&s;e four great Bea&s;ts are four Kings, with their Kingdoms or Empires, <HI>Babylonian, Medo-Per&s;ian, Greek</HI> and <HI>Roman.</HI> And they are &s;aid to ari&s;e out of the <HI>earth,</HI> as being but earthly Kingdoms minding earthly things here below, whenas the true Kingdom of Chri&s;t is heavenly-minded, and have their thoughts carried above
<PB N="83" REF="46">where Chri&s;t &s;its at the right hand of God. In all likely|hood this is intimated by <HI>earth,</HI> el&s;e it would have been &s;aid as at fir&s;t they ro&s;e out of the &s;ea, <HI>v.</HI> 3.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. The mo&s;t High here &s;eems to be Chri&s;t, who is called in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.</HI> This is to be fulfilled in his Millennial Empire, when the Kingdom of the <HI>Stone</HI> &s;hall become the Kingdom of the <HI>Mountain,</HI> and &s;ill the whole earth. And this Kingdom the Saints &s;hall po&s;&s;e&s;s for ever and ever, that is, The true Church of Chri&s;t &s;hall never fail till the end of the world. Thus far the Angel in general.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Know the truth,</HI> the true and <HI>plain</HI> meaning. The explication of this ver&s;e is already &s;et down upon ver&s;e the 7th.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>Of the other which came up.</HI> Of that other e&s;pe|cially. For the Angel's interpretation is mo&s;t &s;pent in de&s;cribing it, <HI>v.</HI> 24, 25, 26. <HI>And before whom three fell,</HI> Tho&s;e three I above-named on ver&s;e 8. <HI>that Horn that had Eyes:</HI> And would admit no other Horn to have eyes be|&s;ides its &s;elf, e&s;pecially in &s;pirituals. <HI>And a mouth that &s;poke very great things,</HI> &s;uch as are mentioned upon ver&s;e 11. <HI>Who&s;e look was more &s;tout than his fellows,</HI> i. e. That had a bold a&s;&s;ured look, affecting the greate&s;t grandeur imaginable, as pretending to be Lord of the whole world. In who&s;e pre&s;ence his Fellow-horns did but &s;neak, as who&s;e &s;tirrup they are fain to hold, even Emperours them&s;elves as well as Kings and other Princes, when this little Horn is to ride on hor&s;eback, and to bear on their &s;houlders his chair when he will be carried in &s;tate, to hold the ba&s;on and towel when he wa&s;hes his hands, and in publick A&s;|&s;emblies to &s;it at his feet, and if they will not be dutifull enough, to be troad upon by his feet, as <HI>Frederick Bar|baro&s;&s;a</HI> was &s;erved by Pope <HI>Alexander</HI> the Third, who tread|ing upon his neck in the &s;ight of the people, with a big look and loud voice abu&s;ed that of the P&s;almi&s;t to his barbarous in&s;ultation over the Emperour. <HI>Super a&s;pidem &amp; leonem ambulavis,</HI> &amp;c. Thou &s;halt tread upon the lion and adder, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> The&s;e hints are enough to &s;hew how
<PB N="84" REF="47">fully this part of the Prophecy is accompli&s;hed, viz. <HI>Who&s;e look was more &s;tout than his Fellows.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. The &s;ame Horn, namely the little Horn, <HI>i. e.</HI> the Papal power by u&s;ing the forces of the ten Horns, or &s;e|cular power makes War again&s;t the Saints, the true Apo|&s;talick Church, that cannot clo&s;e with the gro&s;s corrupti|ons and idolatrous u&s;ages of the little Horn. This an|&s;wers to that of the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> chap. 13. <HI>v.</HI> 7. And it was given unto him to make War with the Saints, and to over|come them. It is &s;poken there of the ten-horned Bea&s;t, as the <HI>Executioner</HI> of the War, but in <HI>Daniel</HI> of the little Horn, as the <HI>In&s;tigator</HI> or Authorizer thereof. But this in the mean time is an evident &s;ign, that the times of the <HI>lit|tle Horn,</HI> are the times of the <HI>ten-horned</HI> Bea&s;t <HI>healed,</HI> which are the times of the Apo&s;ta&s;ie of the Church.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. The little Horn wholly prevailed again&s;t the Saints till God &s;o effectually convinced the world of the truth of their cau&s;e, that the Saints at the <HI>partial</HI> fall of the great City, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 11. got po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of part of the King|dom out of the hands of Antichri&s;t, and in due time un|der the &s;eventh Vial, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 16. and 19. will be &s;eized of the re&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. The fourth Kingdom upon Earth is the <HI>Roman</HI> State or Empire, which is &s;aid to be <HI>divers</HI> from all King|doms, as having a political Con&s;titution differing from them, as has been noted above, and to <HI>devour the whole earth,</HI> in regard of its va&s;tly extended Conque&s;ts, which therefore ill &s;uits with <HI>Grotius</HI> his conceit, that it is the Kingdom of the <HI>Lagidae</HI> and <HI>Seleucidae.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. <HI>And another &s;hall ari&s;e after them.</HI> Another King &s;hall ari&s;e immediately after them, or &s;hall ari&s;e behind them. For &s;o the Seventy render it, and the Hebrew word may &s;ignifie &s;o, and intimate that this little Horn, the Pope or Papal power, &s;o aro&s;e as if he had &s;toln his growth behind the ten Horns, they not being aware of him, as having no eyes, but he the eyes of a Man, of a cun|ning per&s;picacious Politician. And this King is &s;aid to be <HI>divers</HI> from the re&s;t, as being <HI>Rex Sacrorum</HI> an <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tick</HI>
<PB N="85" REF="47">Potentate, but the other ten Kings <HI>Laicks</HI> or <HI>Civil</HI> Po|tentates. And tho&s;e three Kings which he is &s;aid to hum|ble, &s;ubdue or &s;upplant are three who&s;e dominions ex|tended into <HI>Italy,</HI> as <HI>Leo I&s;aurus</HI> the Greek Emperour, whom he excommunicated and made his Subjects of <HI>Italy</HI> revolt from their Allegiance becau&s;e he was again&s;t Image-wor&s;hip. The <HI>Lombards,</HI> who&s;e Kingdom he cau&s;ed by aid of the <HI>Franks</HI> to be wholly ruinated to get the Exarchate of <HI>Ravenna</HI> for a Patrimony to St. <HI>Peter.</HI> And la&s;tly, the Emperours of <HI>Germany,</HI> whom from the days of <HI>Henry</HI> the Fourth he excommunicated, depo&s;ed and trampled under his feet, and never &s;uffered to live in re&s;t till he had made them quit their Intere&s;t in the Election of Popes and Inve&s;titure of Bi&s;hops, and what ever re|mainder of Juri&s;diction they had in <HI>Italy.</HI> See Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> Epi&s;t. 24. Thus did this Horn with eyes who&s;e look was more &s;tout than his Fellows.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. <HI>Shall &s;peak great words.</HI> The Original has onely [words] but [great] is &s;afely added from what occurs, <HI>v.</HI> 8.11, 20. And <HI>Apoc.</HI> chap. 13. v. 5, 6. may be a fit Com|mentary on tho&s;e pa&s;&s;ages. And there was given unto him a mouth &s;peaking great things and Bla&s;phemies. Where <HI>great things</HI> is expounded by <HI>Bla&s;phemies.</HI> But here it is &s;ea|&s;onable to note, how well the deeds of the little Horn &s;uit with tho&s;e of the ten-horned healed Bea&s;t, who is but the Abettour and Executioner of what the two-horned Bea&s;t would have. And therefore when it is &s;aid the lit|tle Horn here &s;peaks great words again&s;t the mo&s;t High, it is all one, as if it were &s;aid of the ten-horned Bea&s;t in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e.</HI> For this which is &s;aid of the <HI>ten-horned</HI> Bea&s;t is to be lookt upon as the mere <HI>Echo</HI> of the <HI>Dra|conick voice,</HI> of the Bea&s;t with <HI>two Horns,</HI> who is the maker of the Image of the Bea&s;t, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 13. as the <HI>Echo</HI> is the <HI>Image</HI> of the <HI>fir&s;t voice.</HI> But he is &s;aid to <HI>wear out the Saints of the mo&s;t High,</HI> viz. by Impri&s;onments, Con&s;i&s;cation of Goods, by Burnings, Croy&s;ades and Ma&s;&s;acres, upon which this <HI>little Horn</HI> will put the <HI>ten Horns,</HI> as his occa&s;ions re|quire. And the &s;en&s;e of his intending to <HI>change times and
<PB N="86" REF="48">laws,</HI> is his purpo&s;e of altering the primitive &s;implicity of the Chri&s;tian Religion into a Con&s;titution that be&s;t &s;erves the Intere&s;t of his papal Kingdom. All &s;uper&s;titi|ons never &s;o idolatrous, all doctrines never &s;o mon&s;trous, pa&s;s into a law and decree if they &s;erve this end. This putting all therefore upon the little Horn here in <HI>Daniel</HI> does, as I intimated even now, an&s;wer to the two-horned Bea&s;t (<HI>Apoc.</HI> 13.) his making the Image of the old Dra|conick Bea&s;t, and cau&s;ing the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire to put on the hew again of Pagani&s;m. So admirably do the&s;e two Pro|phecies give light one to another. And it being given into his hand to doe this for <HI>a time</HI> and <HI>times</HI> and <HI>half a time</HI> intimates that the ten Horns will a&s;&s;i&s;t and comply with him for &s;uch a time. And it is forty two months, equal to this time and times and half a time, that the ten-horned Bea&s;t is &s;aid to make War again&s;t the Saints. <HI>Apoc.</HI> 13, &amp;c. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> on this place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. <HI>But the Judgment &s;hall &s;it.</HI> Namely to judge the little Horn or papal Hierarchy, which is the two-horned Bea&s;t in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> or the Whore of <HI>Babylon.</HI> To this alludes that &s;aying of the Angel, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 17. I will &s;hew thee the <HI>Judgment</HI> of the great Whore, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And part of this Judgment is menaced again&s;t this <HI>Jezabel, Apoc.</HI> 2.20. and was fulfilled in the Reformation. And mention thereof again made, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 15.4. in tho&s;e words. <HI>For thy Judgments are made manife&s;t.</HI> And this is the former part of the execution of the Sentence again&s;t the little Horn or great Whore. But whereas it is &s;aid, they &s;hall <HI>take away his dominion to con&s;ume and de&s;troy it to the end,</HI> that intimates the execution going on in the &s;even Vials. By that time all the Vials be poured out upon the two-hor|ned Bea&s;t, the little Horn with eyes or the fal&s;e Prophet, his dominion &s;hall be quite de&s;troyed or con&s;umed, which is the &s;econd part of the executed doom on the little Horn, and will be completed under the &s;eventh Vial, with which the Vi&s;ion of that divine Heros on the white Hor&s;e, with
<PB N="87" REF="48">a &s;word coming out of his mouth, doth Synchronize. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. The true Church then con&s;i&s;ting of <HI>Jew</HI> and <HI>Gentile</HI> will over&s;pread all. This is to be accompli&s;hed under the &s;econd and third Thunders. And I think no body can doubt but that the people of the Saints of the mo&s;t High are the truly Catholick and Apo&s;tolick Church, if we con&s;ider the de&s;cription of the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e.</HI> And the <HI>mo&s;t High</HI> is Chri&s;t, who there is termed <HI>King of Kings and Lord of Lords,</HI> and the Me&s;&s;ias will be acknowledged in tho&s;e days to be &s;uch both by <HI>Jew</HI> and <HI>Gentile. Who&s;e Kingdom is an everla&s;t|ing Kingdom,</HI> not to end upon earth till the la&s;t Thunder or Conflagration, according to the tenour of the <HI>Apoca|lyp&s;e. And all dominions &s;hall &s;erve and obey him.</HI> All Nations and Kingdoms &s;hall willingly &s;ubmit them&s;elves to, and en|joy them&s;elves in, this mightily extended and over&s;preading Kingdom of the Son of Man, which the Ancient of days had a&s;&s;igned to him. Which well may be called the King|dom of the <HI>Son of Man,</HI> in counter-di&s;tinction to tho&s;e other four Kingdoms which are &s;et out by cruel raven|ing Bea&s;ts, tearing and trampling all under their feet and forcing men to blind obedience with &s;alvage violence, as was u&s;ual in the Kingdom of Antichri&s;t or little Horn with eyes, that would let no body &s;ee but him&s;elf. But cer|tainly the Kingdom of the Son of Man will be a King|dom of unaffected Prudence, defecate Rea&s;on, and holy Love. For this is the true Man, the re&s;t in us is but common to us with Brutes.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 28. <HI>But I kept the matter in mine heart.</HI> That is, I committed it carefully to my memory, &s;o that I might be &s;ure to tran&s;cribe it right, as being a wonderfull in&s;tance of divine Providence and Pre&s;cience to all Po&s;terity: As certainly this Prophecy is if not di&s;torted from the ea&s;ie and genuine &s;en&s;e thereof to plea&s;e a party. But I mu&s;t not omit to note one thing more upon this la&s;t ver&s;e, which is this: That tho&s;e pa&s;&s;ages [as for me <HI>Daniel</HI>] and [I kept the matter in mine heart]
<PB N="88" REF="49">do fairly a&s;&s;ure us that <HI>Daniel,</HI> as of this Vi&s;ion, &s;o of all the Hi&s;torical matter written in <HI>Chaldee</HI> in the fore|going Chapters, was him&s;elf the Writer. But why he wrote the five following Chapters in Hebrew, I have in|timated in the Preface.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Daniel<HI>'s Vi&s;ion of the Ram and He-goat in the third year of</HI> Bel&s;hazzar, <HI>and of the pollution of the Sanctuary by the little Horn out of the He-goat for</HI> 2300 <HI>Evening-morn|ings. The Interpretation of the Vi&s;ion by the Angel</HI> Ga|briel.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IN the third year of the reign of King Bel&s;hazzar, a vi&s;ion appeared unto me, even unto me Daniel, after that which appeared unto me at the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="2">2 And I &s;aw in a vi&s;ion (and it came to pa&s;s when I &s;aw, that I was at Shu&s;han in the Palace, which is in the Province of Elam) and I &s;aw in a vi&s;ion, and I was by the river Ulai.</P>
<P N="3">3 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and &s;aw, and be|hold, there &s;tood before the river a Ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high: but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up la&s;t.</P>
<P N="4">4 I &s;aw the Ram pu&s;hing we&s;t-ward, and north|ward, and &s;outh-ward: &s;o that no bea&s;ts might &s;tand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand, but he did according to his will, and became great.</P>
<PB N="89" REF="49">
<P N="5">5 And as I was con&s;idering, behold, an he-goat came from the we&s;t on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a no|table horn-between his eyes.</P>
<P N="6">6 And he came to the Ram that had two horns, which I had &s;een &s;tanding before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.</P>
<P N="7">7 And I &s;aw him come clo&s;e unto the Ram, and he was moved with choler again&s;t him, and &s;mote the Ram, and brake his two horns, and there was no power in the Ram to &s;tand before him, but he ca&s;t him down to the ground, and &s;tamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the Ram out of his hand.</P>
<P N="8">8 Therefore the he-goat waxed very great, and when he was &s;trong, the great horn was broken: and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.</P>
<P N="9">9 And out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the &s;outh, and toward the ea&s;t, and toward the plea&s;ant land.</P>
<P N="10">10 And it waxed great, even to the ho&s;t of hea|ven, and it ca&s;t down &s;ome of the ho&s;t, and of the &s;tars to the ground, and &s;tamped upon them.</P>
<P N="11">11 Yea, he magnified him&s;elf even to the Prince of the ho&s;t, and by him the daily &s;acrifice was taken away, and the place of his &s;anctuary was ca&s;t down.</P>
<P N="12">12 And an ho&s;t was given him again&s;t the daily &s;acrifice, by rea&s;on of tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, and it ca&s;t down the truth to the ground, and it practi&s;ed, and pro|&s;pered.</P>
<P N="13">13 Then I heard one Saint &s;peaking, and another Saint &s;aid unto that certain Saint which &s;pake, How
<PB N="90" REF="50">long &s;hall be the vi&s;ion concerning the daily &s;acrifice, and the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of de&s;olation, to give both the &s;anctuary and the ho&s;t to be troden under foot?</P>
<P N="14">14 And he &s;aid unto me, Unto two thou&s;and and three hundred days; then &s;hall the &s;anctuary be clean&s;ed.</P>
<P N="15">15 And it came to pa&s;s, when I, even I Daniel had &s;een the vi&s;ion, and &s;ought for the meaning, then be|hold, there &s;tood before me as the appearance of a man.</P>
<P N="16">16 And I heard a mans voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and &s;aid, Gabriel, make this man to under&s;tand the vi&s;ion.</P>
<P N="17">17 So he came near where I &s;tood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he &s;aid unto me, Under&s;tand, O &s;on of man; for at the time of the end &s;hall be the vi&s;ion.</P>
<P N="18">18 Now as he was &s;peaking with me, I was in a deep &s;leep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and &s;et me upright.</P>
<P N="19">19 And he &s;aid, Behold, I will make thee know what &s;hall be in the la&s;t end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end &s;hall be.</P>
<P N="20">20 The Ram which thou &s;awe&s;t having two horns, are the Kings of Media and Per&s;ia.</P>
<P N="21">21 And the rough Goat is the King of Grecia, and the great horn that is between his eyes, is the fir&s;t King.</P>
<P N="22">22 Now that being broken, whereas four &s;tood up for it, four kingdoms &s;hall &s;tand up out of the na|tion, but not in his power.</P>
<P N="23">23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the tran&s;gre&s;&s;ours are come to the full, a King of fierce
<PB N="91" REF="50">countenance, and under&s;tanding dark &s;entences, &s;hall &s;tand up.</P>
<P N="24">24 And his power &s;hall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he &s;hall de&s;troy wonderfully, and &s;hall pro&s;per and practi&s;e, and &s;hall de&s;troy the migh|ty and the holy people.</P>
<P N="25">25 And through his policy al&s;o he &s;hall cau&s;e craft to pro&s;per in his hand, and he &s;hall magnifie him&s;elf in his heart, and by peace &s;hall de&s;troy many: he &s;hall al&s;o &s;tand up again&s;t the Prince of Princes, but he &s;hall be broken without hand.</P>
<P N="26">26 And the vi&s;ion of the evening and the morning which was told, is true: wherefore &s;hut thou up the vi&s;ion, for it &s;hall be for many days.</P>
<P N="27">27 And I Daniel fainted, and was &s;ick certain days; afterward I ro&s;e up, and did the Kings bu&s;ine&s;s, and I was a&s;toni&s;hed at the vi&s;ion, but none under&s;tood it.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P>AS in the <HI>Opened-book-prophecy</HI> of the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> after the fir&s;t two Vi&s;ions that reach from the beginning of the Church to the &s;eventh Vial inclu&s;ively, or to the de&s;cending of the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> the Vi&s;ions that follow and re&s;pect that time are but partial, and relate but to &s;ome part of the time; &s;o here in <HI>Daniel,</HI> after the two Vi|&s;ions, the one of the Statue con&s;i&s;ting of four Metals, the other of the four Bea&s;ts, which are each from the begin|ning of the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Empire to the Millennial inclu&s;ively, the Vi&s;ions that follow re&s;pect but part of that time, as this of the <HI>Ram</HI> and <HI>He-goat</HI> concerns the times of the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> and <HI>Greek</HI> Empire onely, in the proper &s;en&s;e of them.</P>
<PB N="92" REF="51">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. In the third year of <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> King of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and immediate predece&s;&s;our to <HI>Darius</HI> the <HI>Mede,</HI> a Vi&s;ion appeared to <HI>Daniel,</HI> not in his &s;leep but when he was awake, and up and abroad, about three years after that which he &s;aw at fir&s;t, <HI>chap.</HI> 7.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. Here is mention of this <HI>Shu&s;an</HI> or <HI>Su&s;a,</HI> being in the Province of <HI>Elam,</HI> that is, <HI>Elymais,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>Elam</HI> is the name of the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> people, and that Empire &s;o much con|cerned in this Vi&s;ion. And the River <HI>&V;lai</HI> is that which Hi&s;torians and Geographers call <HI>&V;lceus Fluvius,</HI> which ri&s;es in <HI>Media,</HI> touches upon <HI>Su&s;a,</HI> and at la&s;t di&s;charges it &s;elf into the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> gulf.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Daniel</HI>'s &s;aying he lift up his eyes and &s;aw, natu|rally implies that he was awake, and that it was not a Night-vi&s;ion but a Day-vi&s;ion, and that he was really by the River <HI>&V;lai,</HI> and had &s;ome charge there in <HI>Su&s;iana,</HI> it may be conferr'd on him by <HI>Evilmerodack,</HI> and continued in <HI>Bel|&s;hazzar</HI>'s reign at lea&s;t till that time. The Ram which he there &s;aw denotes the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Empire, from a Parono|ma&s;tical allu&s;ion which the Hebrew word (that &s;ignifies both <HI>&s;toutne&s;s</HI> and <HI>courage,</HI> and al&s;o a Ram) has to <HI>Elam</HI> the <HI>Per|&s;ian</HI> people. It denotes al&s;o the richne&s;s of the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Em|perours according to <HI>Achmetes.</HI> And la&s;tly, this more fa|vourable Symbol &s;eems to be made u&s;e of by rea&s;on of their kindne&s;s to the Jews. But by the <HI>two horns</HI> are denoted <HI>Media</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> and by the higher that came up la&s;t the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> power, which, though later, was greater than that of the <HI>Medes.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. The Ram pu&s;ht We&s;t-ward when <HI>Darius Hy&s;ta|&s;pis</HI> and <HI>Xerxes</HI> made War again&s;t <HI>Greece</HI> and <HI>Cyrus</HI> took <HI>Babylon;</HI> He pu&s;ht North-ward when the &s;aid <HI>Darius</HI> made War again&s;t the <HI>Scythians,</HI> and South-ward when <HI>Camby&s;es</HI> and others of their Kings invaded <HI>Aeypt, Aethiopia</HI> and <HI>Li|bya,</HI> and he is well &s;aid to doe according to his will, and be|come great, whenas the <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> took <HI>Babylon</HI> with its whole Empire, <HI>Lydia</HI> al&s;o and <HI>Ionia, A&s;ia minor</HI> and <HI>Ae|gypt.</HI></P>
<PB N="93" REF="51">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. The He-goat denotes the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire, <HI>v.</HI> 21. and there are &s;everal rea&s;ons that it &s;hould do &s;o. For the <HI>Greeks</HI> or <HI>Macedonians</HI> (and <HI>Alexander</HI> him&s;elf is called <HI>A|lexander Macedo</HI>) were anciently called <HI>Aegeatae,</HI> which is as much as to &s;ay, the <HI>Goat-people.</HI> And the words in the Original, which are here rendred an <HI>He-goat,</HI> properly &s;ig|nifie a <HI>young He-goat,</HI> denoting <HI>Alexander</HI>'s youngne&s;s when he fir&s;t enterprized the Conque&s;t of the Ea&s;tern Empire, he being not much pa&s;t twenty years old. The <HI>clambring</HI> na|ture of the Goat intimates al&s;o the a&s;piring ambition of <HI>Alexander.</HI> And the <HI>Goat</HI> is look'd upon as a more ready witted Animal than the <HI>Ram</HI> or Sheep, and how Philo&s;ophy and long Beards, like tho&s;e of Goats, flouri&s;hed in <HI>Greece,</HI> is notoriou&s;ly known. But this Goat is &s;aid to come <HI>from the We&s;t,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>Greece</HI> is We&s;t of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> and on the <HI>face of the whole earth,</HI> becau&s;e of the va&s;t over&s;preading of his victories, and <HI>not to touch the ground,</HI> by rea&s;on of the ex|traordinary &s;peed of his Conque&s;ts. And the word that is rendred He-goat here, is derived from a Hebrew root that &s;ignifies <HI>to fly,</HI> and <HI>Alexander</HI> over-ran and vanqui&s;hed the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> the <HI>Medes,</HI> the <HI>Fabylonians</HI> and <HI>Aegyptians,</HI> with the neighbouring Nations in the &s;pace of &s;ix years. Which <HI>Alexander</HI> therefore is that notable Horn between the Goat's eyes. That <HI>one</HI> great <HI>Horn</HI> upon this <HI>one Goat,</HI> upon which grew four le&s;&s;er afterwards.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. The <HI>Greek</HI> forces a&s;&s;aulted the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian,</HI> &s;ig|nified by the <HI>Ram,</HI> with furious courage, as <HI>Pliny</HI> ob&s;erves that <HI>Goats</HI> are of a more hot and fiery temper than Sheep. So well do the Symbols agree with the things &s;ignified.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>And brake his two Horns,</HI> the two Kingdoms of <HI>Media</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ia.</HI> Nor could the Ram with&s;tand him any where, neither in <HI>Campis Adra&s;tiis,</HI> or at <HI>Granicus</HI> a River of <HI>Phrygia</HI> the fir&s;t battel that was fought betwixt <HI>Alexan|der</HI> and <HI>Darius</HI> his <HI>Satrapae,</HI> nor at <HI>I&s;&s;us</HI> in <HI>Cilicia,</HI> where an exceeding numerous army of <HI>Darius</HI> was put to flight, from whence the City by <HI>Alexander</HI> was after called <HI>Nicopolis,</HI> nor at <HI>Arbela</HI> a City of <HI>A&s;&s;yria,</HI> where <HI>Darius</HI> brought into field a yet far more numerous army, and yet was quite van|qui&s;hed
<PB N="94" REF="52">by <HI>Alexander,</HI> and the whole &s;trength of his King|dom overthrown; and &s;o <HI>Alexander</HI> was made ma&s;ter of the whole <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Empire.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. Thus the Kingdom of the <HI>Greeks</HI> was exceed|ingly enlarged through this acce&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Medo-Per&s;ian</HI> Empire added thereto by <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great, de&s;ervedly &s;o called for thus enlarging his Empire. But though the Goat was grown thus &s;trong, yet his great Horn was bro|ken, and <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great, for all his greatne&s;s dyed about the two or three and thirtieth year of his age, as &s;ome &s;ay being poi&s;oned. And after this Horn was broken upon this one &s;elf-&s;ame Goat, came up <HI>four notable ones,</HI> not in re&s;pect of the <HI>fir&s;t,</HI> but in re&s;pect of the re&s;t of <HI>A|lexander</HI>'s Captains, among&s;t whom the Empire was divi|ded after his death. Which four notable Horns were <HI>Ptole|maeus</HI> the Son of <HI>Lagus,</HI> Sovereign of <HI>Aegypt, Ly&s;imachus</HI> of <HI>Thracia, Antigonus</HI> of <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> and <HI>Ca&s;&s;ander</HI> the Son of <HI>Anti|pater</HI> Sovereign of <HI>Macedonia.</HI> The&s;e po&s;&s;e&s;s'd the&s;e four parts of the Empire towards the four winds of Heaven, <HI>viz. Aegypt</HI> in the South, <HI>Thracia</HI> in the North, <HI>Macedonia</HI> in the We&s;t, and <HI>A&s;ia</HI> in the Ea&s;t, the fite of the&s;e four Prin|cipalities thus compared one with another.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. The little Horn that came out of one of the&s;e notable Horns, is the Kingdom of the <HI>Seleucidae,</HI> which grew up out of the favour and aid of <HI>Ptolemy</HI> King of <HI>Ae|gypt.</HI> But <HI>Seleucus</HI> &s;o &s;mall at fir&s;t, after <HI>Antigonus</HI> King of <HI>A&s;ia</HI> by <HI>Ptolemy</HI>'s help was vanqui&s;hed and &s;lain, and he and <HI>Ptolemy</HI> had divided the &s;poil, this <HI>Seleucus</HI> afterwards taking <HI>Demetrius</HI> the Son of <HI>Antigonus</HI> pri&s;oner, got to him|&s;elf the Empire of <HI>Syria</HI> and <HI>A&s;ia.</HI> So exceeding great did this little horn grow in <HI>Seleucus</HI> his time, but nothing com|parable to this in <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes</HI> his. But though this little horn &s;ignifie the whole Succe&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Seleucidae</HI> for the rea&s;on above&s;aid, yet I deny not, but that it may more peculiarly aim at <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> the Jews being &s;o much concerned in his reign, and that he may be al&s;o par|ticularly &s;aid to wax great toward the South and toward the Ea&s;t; who toward the Ea&s;t overcame <HI>Artaxias</HI> King of <HI>Ar|menia,</HI>
<PB N="95" REF="52">and had over-run <HI>Aegypt</HI> al&s;o toward the South, but that at his &s;iege of <HI>Alexandria, Popilius</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> Legate gave a &s;top to his affairs, which made him &s;hew his power and vent his choler on <HI>Judaea</HI> called the plea&s;ant land; and la&s;tly, this <HI>Antiochus</HI> in his particular per&s;on may be called a <HI>little</HI> horn, becau&s;e he was one of a mean fortune at fir&s;t, a private man and an ho&s;tage at <HI>Rome.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. He magnified him&s;elf again&s;t the Ho&s;t of Hea|ven, was &s;o bold and big that he fought again&s;t the people of God, who&s;e God is called the Lord of Ho&s;ts, of which his own people are peculiarly a part, and may be &s;aid to have kept Garri&s;on in <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> the Temple being as it were the main Fortre&s;s thereof, and the <HI>Levites</HI> his mo&s;t &s;acred Souldiery. And his <HI>ca&s;ting down &s;ome of the Ho&s;t and Stars to the ground,</HI> &amp;c. is the perverting &s;ome of the Prie&s;ts and Levites (which &s;hould have been lights to others) and the Jews in general to embrace the cu&s;toms of the Heathens (as you may &s;ee in the Books of <HI>Maccabees</HI>) whom he trod in|to the very dirt and mire, at la&s;t, of abominable prophana|tions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. He magnified him&s;elf even again&s;t the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> him&s;elf, by taking away the Service he had appointed for him&s;elf, and by the bringing in the Idol of <HI>Jupiter Olympius</HI> into the Temple to take po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion thereof, as if he intended to turn the true Owner out of doors, who abominates Idols, and has &s;trictly forbid his people the wor&s;hipping of Ima|ges. So that the place of his Sanctuary was deba&s;ed from that height of Sanctity belonging to it before, by vile hea|theni&s;h prophanations, and &s;acrificing Swine's fle&s;h on the very Altar. <HI>Jo&s;eph. Antiq. Judaic.</HI> lib. 12. chap. 7.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>And an Ho&s;t was given him.</HI> There is no [him] in the Original, but the &s;en&s;e may run thus (An Ho&s;t &s;hall be given) <HI>i. e.</HI> granted or appointed by <HI>Antiochus</HI> to hinder the daily &s;acrifice through his villany and wickedne&s;s. For they built a Fort or Ca&s;tle that could command the Temple (to no&s;e, as it were, the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI>) in which <HI>Antiochus</HI> placed a <HI>Macedonick</HI> guard to deter both Prie&s;t and People from their duties touching the daily &s;acrifice. <HI>The Truth
<PB N="96" REF="53">to the ground,</HI> i. e. The true Religion, or true wor&s;hip of God contained then in the law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> in the above cited place, tells us; that this Book of the law, where ever it was found, was pre&s;ently aboli&s;hed, <HI>i. e.</HI> torn in pieces or burnt. Such wicked practices of <HI>Antio|chus</HI> as the&s;e &s;ucceeded and obtained for a time, which are parallel to the feats of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> his keeping the holy Bible from the people, his Heathenizing them by compelling them to Pagan-like idolatries, and his per&s;ecu|ting them, for not &s;ubmitting thereto, that it is no won|der that the ancient Fathers &s;o con&s;idently made <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes</HI> a type of Antichri&s;t. For what wor&s;e could they &s;u&s;pect of Antichri&s;t than thus?</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>One Saint.</HI> Saint is as much here as Holy one or Angel. See <HI>chap.</HI> 4.13. And the mo&s;t natural tran&s;lation of this fir&s;t part of the Ver&s;e I conceive is this: Then I heard an Angel &s;peaking, and that &s;ame &s;peaking An|gel &s;aid to <HI>Palmoni:</HI> which is a peculiar name of Chri&s;t. <HI>Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotian</HI> and the <HI>Septuagint</HI> render it <HI>Phelmoni.</HI> It &s;eems to be compounded of <HI>Pele,</HI> wonderfull, which is one of the Titles of Chri&s;t, <HI>I&s;ay.</HI> 9.13. and <HI>Al|moni,</HI> from <HI>Alam,</HI> which &s;ignifies <HI>obmutuit,</HI> and in <HI>Piel, col|ligavit.</HI> Which intimates the ineffablene&s;s, and unuttera|blene&s;s of the admirable Union, or Colligation of the Soul of the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> with the eternal <HI>Logos,</HI> as it is al&s;o &s;aid of him in the Apocalyp&s;e, <HI>That he has a name written that no man knows but him&s;elf.</HI> This is in&s;inuated by the word <HI>Palmoni.</HI> And <HI>Calvin</HI> will have Chri&s;t under&s;tood thereby, <HI>Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion of de&s;olation,</HI> i. e. That wicked u|&s;age of <HI>Antiochus</HI> again&s;t the people of God, their City and Sanctuary, which he will &s;o greatly oppre&s;s and make de&s;olate. <HI>And the Ho&s;t.</HI> The <HI>Prie&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Levites</HI> that kept watch and ward there in the Temple engarizon'd as it were in this great and glorious Ca&s;tle of the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> to &s;ay nothing of the Angelical powers there, and the in|habitants of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> his people. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place.</P>
<PB N="97" REF="53">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>Two thou&s;and three hundred days.</HI> The Original has it [Evening-mornings] which is one. indication that <HI>na|tural</HI> days are here meant, and they onely in the proper and literal &s;en&s;e of the Prophecy. The&s;e 2300 days therefore reduced into years may &s;ignifie about &s;ix years, commen|cing from the fir&s;t coming of <HI>Antiochus</HI> into <HI>Judaea,</HI> when the Prie&s;thood was prophaned, and including the &s;econd, and the whole time of the intermi&s;&s;ion of the daily Sa|crifice. But from the time of the gro&s;s Prophanation of the Temple, when <HI>Antiochus</HI>'s &s;ouldiers &s;et an heatheni&s;h Altar in the Sanctuary, and &s;acrificed &s;wines fle&s;h on it, till <HI>Antiochus Eupator</HI> granted the Jews the free u&s;e of their Religion and Temple, <HI>Thomas Lydiat</HI> reckons about three years and an half, which may give a glance being typically under&s;tood, at the three times and an half of the true An|tichri&s;t, <HI>chap.</HI> 7.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>As the appearance of a man,</HI> An Angel externally vi&s;ible to him in humane &s;hape. For this is not a dream or Night-vi&s;ion, but a Day-vi&s;ion, as <HI>Grotius</HI> has al&s;o ob|&s;erved.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. Betwixt the banks of <HI>&V;laeus</HI> that runs by <HI>Su&s;a,</HI> he heard the voice of <HI>Palmoni,</HI> or of Chri&s;t calling to the Angel <HI>Gabriel</HI> to expound to him the vi&s;ion. The giving which command to <HI>Gabriel</HI> &s;hews he was no ordinary An|gel, but the Prince of Angels Chri&s;t, if we add what will occur, <HI>chap.</HI> 10.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>Fell on my face,</HI> Through very a&s;toni&s;hment his Spirits failing him, but he would have been more a&s;toni&s;hed if <HI>Palmoni</HI> him&s;elf had approached him, when he could &s;o ill bear the pre&s;ence of one of his Mini&s;ters. <HI>&V;nder&s;tand O, Son of Man,</HI> i. e. Be attentive and diligent to conceive what I &s;ay. <HI>For at the time of the end &s;hall be the Vi&s;ion.</HI> Though it be long even about four hundred years, till this of the little Horn be fulfilled in <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> yet at the end for a certain the vi&s;ion will be accompli&s;hed, and at another time of the end it will be accompli&s;hed in his Antitype al&s;o.</P>
<PB N="98" REF="54">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>I was in a deep &s;leep,</HI> &amp;c. It is better rendred, I was &s;truck with a &s;udden Sopor and fell on my face to the ground. Another &s;ounding fit took him at the hearing the voice of the Angel as before at his &s;ight and pre&s;ence, &s;o <HI>Maldonat.</HI> Which naturally implies that &s;aving in tho&s;e &s;ounding fits <HI>Daniel</HI> was perfectly awake, and that it was a Day-vi&s;ion. <HI>But he touched me and &s;et me upright.</HI> By his touch he enabled me to &s;tand upon my feet again. Here we &s;ee the Angel <HI>Gabriel</HI> (Chri&s;t appearing in humane &s;hape by way of prelude to his Incarnation) to have a pre|ludious mi&s;&s;ion as of an Apo&s;tle, to preach to <HI>Daniel</HI> and in&s;truct him, and to doe Miracles al&s;o as the Apo&s;tles did.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>The la&s;t end of the Indignation.</HI> For this pre|diction of the wrath of God in the time of <HI>Antiochus</HI> again&s;t his people, and <HI>Antiochus</HI> his raging Tyranny over them, is the main drift of this Vi&s;ion, and here the Angel promi|&s;es to tell what &s;hall come at the end thereof, which he does, <HI>v.</HI> 25. That he &s;hall be broken without hands.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. The whole race of the Kings of <HI>Media</HI> and <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> from <HI>Cyrus</HI> to <HI>Darius Codomannus,</HI> is here under&s;tood, as is to be gathered from <HI>v.</HI> 4. where the Ram is &s;aid to pu&s;h We&s;tward and Northward, and Southward, which was not performed by any one King but by the Succe&s;&s;ion. Whence it is rea&s;onable that by the <HI>Goat</HI> the <HI>whole</HI> Suc|ce&s;&s;ion al&s;o of the Greek Empire &s;hould be under&s;tood in like manner.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. The King of <HI>Grecia,</HI> i. e. the Kingdom of <HI>Gre|cia,</HI> King being put for Kingdom <HI>More Hebraico,</HI> as <HI>Grotius</HI> notes on the place. The rough Goat is the whole &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the Kings of <HI>Grecia,</HI> together with their Kingdom or Empire. But haply this long-haired or long-bearded <HI>Goat</HI> may have a particular re&s;pect to <HI>Alexander</HI>'s Army. None, &s;ays <HI>Ju&s;tin,</HI> lead the files unle&s;s he were three&s;core years old; &s;o if you viewed the fore part of the Army, you would take them to be the Senate of &s;ome ancient Com|monwealth. The long-bearded <HI>Sexagenarii</HI> appeared in the fore part of the Army, as the Goats beard goes before the re&s;t of his body. <HI>Is the fir&s;t King.</HI> This fir&s;t King is mo&s;t
<PB N="99" REF="54">manife&s;tly <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great, which no man ever de|nied, and he is the fir&s;t horn of the Goat, or fir&s;t King of the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire. From whence it nece&s;&s;arily follows, that there mu&s;t be other horns, and other Kings to &s;ucceed in this body of the Goat or Greek Empire. This <HI>Grotius</HI> mu&s;t allow whether he will or no.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. <HI>Four Kingdoms.</HI> The&s;e four Kingdoms into which <HI>Alexander</HI>'s Empire was divided, <HI>Grotius</HI> is forced to confe&s;s as to the fir&s;t Kings of them, or heads of them, that they belong to the <HI>Leopard</HI> or Goat the third Monar|chy. Now what a mi&s;erable and unnatural divul&s;ion is there, that the Succe&s;&s;ours of tho&s;e heads &s;hould be torn off from their Predece&s;&s;ours in tho&s;e Kingdoms, to make a di&s;tinct Empire from the Greek, which is as wild and ex|travagant as to cut off the Leopards and Goats head with the horns to make two Goats, or two Leopards of them, or to make the body of each a di&s;tinct Animal from the Leopard or Goat. And yet this valiant exploit <HI>Grotius</HI> aims at, that he might excu&s;e the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire from be|ing the <HI>fourth</HI> bea&s;t, and the Papal power the <HI>little Horn</HI> among&s;t the other <HI>ten. But not in his power:</HI> The four Suc|ce&s;&s;ours of <HI>Alexander</HI> were neither &s;o valiant as he in their own per&s;ons, nor was their Kingdom &s;o &s;trong by rea&s;on of the wars among&s;t them&s;elves, they &s;quabling one with another about the prey.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. In the latter time of the Kingdom of the four Kings, the Succe&s;&s;ours of <HI>Alexander,</HI> when the &s;ins of the <HI>Jews</HI> &s;hall be ripe for their Judgment, &s;hall a King of a hard, bold and &s;hamele&s;s countenance, and under&s;tanding dark &s;entences &s;tand up. Whom all take to be <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> and him to be a type of Antichri&s;t. But in that it is &s;aid [in the latter time of the Kingdom] <HI>viz.</HI> of the four Kings, as they were at fir&s;t, this does &s;o manife&s;tly tye the fir&s;t four Kings to their Succe&s;&s;ion, even to <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes</HI> his time, in as many of them as reached &s;o far, that it is plain demon&s;tration, that the Kingdom of the four horns doth extend it &s;elf into the times of <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> and that therefore the third Monarchy which is
<PB N="100" REF="55">the <HI>Greek,</HI> reaches at lea&s;t &s;o far. Whereby <HI>Grotius</HI> his fond conceit of making the Kingdom of the <HI>Lagidae</HI> and <HI>Seleucidae</HI> the fourth Empire, and the fourth bea&s;t is quite blown away. But now how well this <HI>boldne&s;s</HI> and <HI>skill</HI> in <HI>dark Sentences</HI> in the <HI>Type</HI> is an&s;wered in the <HI>Antitype,</HI> &s;ee Dr. <HI>H. More</HI> on the place, it were too long to pur&s;ue here.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. The power of <HI>Antiochus</HI> over the Jews was cau|&s;ed by &s;ome mi&s;taken or ill-minded Jews them&s;elves. And Antichri&s;t, or the Head of the healed Bea&s;t, the ten Kings gave their power to him, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 17.13. But whether <HI>An|tiochus</HI> or Antichri&s;t be the more <HI>wonderfull de&s;troyer,</HI> let Hi&s;tory bear witne&s;s, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 18.24. And as <HI>Antiochus</HI> pro|&s;pered and practi&s;ed again&s;t the Jews, &s;o Antichri&s;t again&s;t the Evangelical Chri&s;tians, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 13.7. And as <HI>Antiochus</HI> de&s;troyed the mighty [the &s;trong in faith and couragious for the truth] and the holy people, &s;o Antichri&s;t the Pro|phets and Saints, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 18.24. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. <HI>Shall magnifie him&s;elf in his heart. Antiochus</HI> &s;hall applaud him&s;elf, as all Politicians do when things &s;ucceed, for his own great Policy. This was found true in <HI>Antiochus,</HI> but much more in Antichri&s;t or the Papal Hierarchy, there never having been a more cunning Polity in the World than that little <HI>Horn</HI> with the eyes of a man, chap. 7. <HI>And by peace!</HI> rather in Peace, out of time of War, which is nearer to the Original. And &s;o <HI>Grotius</HI> under&s;tands by it the Jews per&s;ecuted for their Religion by <HI>Antiochus.</HI> But what is this to the bloudy ma&s;&s;acres that Antichri&s;t has made upon the peaceable and innocent Pro|te&s;tants, and to the burning God knows how many be&s;ides with fire and faggot? <HI>Again&s;t the Prince of Princes. Antio|chus</HI> again&s;t the High-Prie&s;t, the greate&s;t Sovereign then a|mong&s;t the Jews, Prince of the Princes of the Prie&s;tly fami|lies, and again&s;t the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> him&s;elf, by hindring his pure wor&s;hip, and bringing in the Idol of <HI>Jupiter Olympius</HI> into the Temple; and <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> again&s;t the Potentates of Chri&s;tendom by the excommunicating of Princes, and ab|&s;olving their Subjects from the Oath of Allegiance, and by
<PB N="101" REF="55">treading upon the necks of Emperours, and kicking off their Crowns with his feet. And again&s;t God him&s;elf, who is a dete&s;ter of Idols, by polluting his Sanctuaries with Image-wor&s;hip, and by bringing him&s;elf into the Temple of God, and behaving him&s;elf there as if he were God, as it is &s;aid of Antichri&s;t, 2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2. But he being but a man, what can he be but an Idol, the Fulminent <HI>Jupiter</HI> of Mount <HI>Coelius,</HI> as that Idol <HI>Antiochus</HI> brought into that Temple of the Jews was <HI>Jupiter</HI> of Mount <HI>Olympus. But he &s;hall be bro|ken without hands.</HI> Antiochus, <HI>morte coelitus emi&s;s&acirc;,</HI> as <HI>Gro|tius</HI> &s;peaks, &s;truck with a noi&s;ome di&s;ea&s;e from God, and <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> &s;lain with the breath of Chri&s;t's own mouth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. Becau&s;e days in the Prophecies of <HI>Daniel</HI> el&s;e|where are &s;o many years, the Angel not content with the phra&s;e of <HI>Evening-mornings,</HI> which fairly invites to the un|der&s;tanding the&s;e two thou&s;and three hundred Evening|mornings of <HI>natural</HI> days; here is a farther a&s;&s;urance that they do &s;ignifie &s;o, in that he &s;ays the Vi&s;ion of the Evening and Morning is <HI>true,</HI> i. e. <HI>plain</HI> and <HI>clear,</HI> not <HI>&s;ymbolical</HI> or <HI>aenigmatical,</HI> that is to &s;ay, They have this proper and plain &s;en&s;e in the fir&s;t literal meaning of the Vi&s;ion as it re&s;pects <HI>Antiochus.</HI> But as <HI>Antiochus</HI> is a type of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> as the generality of Expo&s;itors, ancient and modern, do conceive, &s;o the&s;e 2300 days may po&s;&s;ibly al&s;o &s;ignifie <HI>my|&s;tically</HI> or <HI>&s;ymbolically,</HI> and denote, as el&s;ewhere in <HI>Daniel,</HI> &s;o many years. See the <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to the <HI>Remark</HI> of <HI>S. E.</HI> on this ver&s;e. <HI>Shut up the Vi&s;ion.</HI> Having exactly writ this Vi|&s;ion with the Explication, lock it up &s;afely, that the Origi|nal may be kept, to compare with the event. <HI>For many days.</HI> The time from one prophecy to the event, will be a long time, it being about 380 years from <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI>'s reign to <HI>Antiochus Epiph<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">nes,</HI> but much longer from that <HI>Epocha</HI> to the times of Antichri&s;t, and the clean&s;ing of the Church from Antichri&s;tian pollutions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. <HI>Daniel</HI> was faint and &s;ick certain days by rea|&s;on of his conver&s;e with, and con&s;ternation of mind from the hearing and &s;eeing tho&s;e Angelical Powers, &s;o much re|moved above the condition of us mortals, and al&s;o out of
<PB N="102" REF="56">&s;adne&s;s for the prophanation of the Sanctuary and great ca|lamities of his Nation, which were foretold him. But af|ter he had grown well again, he went about the bu&s;ine&s;s the King &s;ent him for into <HI>Su&s;iana,</HI> where he was when he &s;aw this Vi&s;ion. And though he look'd with an a&s;toni&s;ht and appalled look, yet none under&s;tood what the matter was with him, he concealing his grief as much as he could.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. Daniel <HI>in the fir&s;t year of</HI> Darius <HI>computing the time of their Captivity out of the Prophet</HI> Jeremy, <HI>and judging it to draw near to an end, makes his humble addre&s;&s;es to his God to ha&s;ten their re&s;tauration. While he is thus praying and confe&s;&s;ing his &s;ins and the &s;ins of his People, the Angel</HI> Gabriel <HI>imparts to him the Vi&s;ion of the Seventy weeks, which from a certain Decree reach to the manife&s;tation of the</HI> Me&s;&s;ias <HI>the true deliverer of</HI> I&s;rael.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IN the fir&s;t year of Darius, the &s;on of Aha&s;uerus, of the &s;eed of the Medes, which was made King over the realm of the Chaldeans.</P>
<P N="2">2 In the fir&s;t year of his reign, I Daniel under|&s;tood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet, that he would accompli&s;h &s;eventy years in the de&s;ola|tions of Jeru&s;alem.</P>
<P N="3">3 And I &s;et my face unto the Lord God, to &s;eek by prayer and &s;upplications, with fa&s;ting, and &s;ackcloth, and a&s;hes.</P>
<P N="4">4 And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made
<PB N="103" REF="56">my confe&s;&s;ion, and &s;aid, O Lord, the great and dread|full God, keeping the covenant, and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his command|ments:</P>
<P N="5">5 We have &s;inned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts, and from thy judg|ments.</P>
<P N="6">6 Neither have we hearkned unto thy &s;ervants the Prophets, which &s;pake in thy name to our Kings, our Princes, and our Fathers, and to all the people of he land.</P>
<P N="7">7 O Lord, righteou&s;ne&s;s belongeth unto thee, but unto us confu&s;ion of faces, as at this day: to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jeru&s;alem, and to all I&s;rael that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou ha&s;t driven them, be|cau&s;e of their tre&s;pa&s;s that they have tre&s;pa&s;&s;ed again&s;t thee.</P>
<P N="8">8 O Lord, to us belongeth confu&s;ion of face, to our Kings, to our Princes, and to our Fathers, becau&s;e we have &s;inned again&s;t thee.</P>
<P N="9">9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and for|givene&s;&s;es, though we have rebelled again&s;t him.</P>
<P N="10">10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he &s;et before us, by his &s;ervants the prophets.</P>
<P N="11">11 Yea, all I&s;rael have tran&s;gre&s;&s;ed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice, therefore the cur&s;e is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Mo&s;es the &s;ervant of God, becau&s;e we have &s;inned again&s;t him.</P>
<PB N="104" REF="57">
<P N="12">12 And he hath confirmed his words which he &s;pake again&s;t us, and again&s;t our Judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done, as hath been done upon Jeru&s;alem.</P>
<P N="13">13 As it is written in the law of Mo&s;es, All this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and under&s;tand thy truth.</P>
<P N="14">14 Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.</P>
<P N="15">15 And now, O Lord our God, that ha&s;t brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and ha&s;t gotten thee renown, as at this day: we have &s;inned, we have done wickedly.</P>
<P N="16">16 O Lord, according to all thy righteou&s;ne&s;s, I be&s;eech thee, let thine anger, and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jeru&s;alem, thy holy mountain: becau&s;e for our &s;ins, and for the iniquities of our fa|thers, Jeru&s;alem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.</P>
<P N="17">17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy &s;ervant, and his &s;upplications, and cau&s;e thy face to &s;hine upon thy &s;anctuary that is de&s;olate, for the Lords &s;ake.</P>
<P N="18">18 O my God, encline thine ear, and hear, open thine eyes, and behold our de&s;olations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not pre&s;ent our &s;upplications before thee for our righteou&s;ne&s;&s;es, but for thy great mercies.</P>
<PB N="105" REF="57">
<P N="19">19 O Lord hear, O Lord forgive, O Lord hear|ken and do, defer not, for thine own &s;ake, O my God: for thy city, and thy people are called by thy name.</P>
<P N="20">20 And whiles I was &s;peaking, and praying, and confe&s;&s;ing my &s;in, and the &s;in of my people I&s;rael, and pre&s;enting my &s;upplication before the Lord my God, for the holy mountain of my God:</P>
<P N="21">21 Yea, whiles I was &s;peaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had &s;een in the vi&s;ion at the beginning, being cau&s;ed to fly &s;wiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.</P>
<P N="22">22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and &s;aid, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and under&s;tanding.</P>
<P N="23">23 At the beginning of thy &s;upplications the com|mandment came forth, and I am come to &s;hew thee: for thou art greatly beloved: therefore under&s;tand the matter, and con&s;ider the vi&s;ion.</P>
<P N="24">24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy peo|ple, and upon thy holy city, to fini&s;h the tran&s;gre&s;|&s;ion, and to make an end of &s;ins, and to make recon|ciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everla&s;ting righteou&s;ne&s;s, and to &s;eal up the vi&s;ion and prophecy, and to anoint the mo&s;t Holy.</P>
<P N="25">25 Know therefore and under&s;tand, that from the going forth of the commandment to re&s;tore and to build Jeru&s;alem, unto the Me&s;&s;iah the Prince, &s;hall be &s;even weeks; and three&s;core and two weeks the &s;treet &s;hall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.</P>
<P N="26">26 And after three&s;core and two weeks &s;hall Me&s;|&s;iah be cut off, but not for him&s;elf; and the people of
<PB N="106" REF="58">the Prince that &s;hall come, &s;hall de&s;troy the city, and the &s;anctuary, and the end thereof &s;hall be with a &s;loud, and unto the end of the war de&s;olations are determined.</P>
<P N="27">27 And he &s;hall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the mid&s;t of the week he &s;hall cau&s;e the &s;acrifice and the oblation to cea&s;e, and for the over&s;preading of abominations, he &s;hall make it de&s;olate, even untill the con&s;ummation, and that de|termined &s;hall be poured upon the de&s;olate.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>Son of Aha&s;uerus,</HI> that is, Son of <HI>Cyaxares,</HI> as the <HI>Greeks</HI> call him. And <HI>Cte&s;ias</HI> in <HI>Diodorus Siculus</HI> &s;eems to call him <HI>A&s;dibaras,</HI> which is very near to <HI>A&s;&s;ibaras,</HI> and con&s;equently to <HI>Aha&s;uerus.</HI> See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place. <HI>Of the &s;eed of the Medes.</HI> For <HI>Darius</HI> was Son to <HI>Cyaxares</HI> King of <HI>Media,</HI> who was Father to <HI>Man|dane Cyrus</HI>'s Mother, and to <HI>Nitocris</HI> wife of <HI>Nebuchadnez|zar,</HI> to whom <HI>Cyaxares</HI> committed the tutelage of his Son <HI>Darius</HI> when he died, together with his Kingdom. <HI>Made King of the Chaldeans.</HI> For <HI>Cyrus</HI> after he had taken <HI>Baby|lon</HI> and <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> was &s;lain, delivered the Kingdom to his Uncle <HI>Darius,</HI> being then about &s;ixty two years of age.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>&V;nder&s;tood by the Books.</HI> For there was in the hands of the Jews then the Books of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Pro|phets, that they might know their tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion, puni&s;h|ment and time of appointed mercy. <HI>Came to Jeremy the Prophet.</HI> See <HI>Jer.</HI> chap. 25.11, 12. and chap. 27.7. and chap. 29.10. out of which places it is manife&s;t that this <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> captivity was but to continue 70 years, or till the reign of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar</HI>'s Sons &s;on, or Grandchild <HI>Bel&s;haz|zar,</HI> who was &s;lain in the taking of <HI>Babylon</HI> by <HI>Cyrus. That
<PB N="107" REF="58">he would accompli&s;h &s;eventy years,</HI> and then relaxate their captivity. And therefore <HI>Daniel</HI> ob&s;erving that <HI>Cyrus</HI> had now appeared prophe&s;y'd of by <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> chap. 44.28. and had cut off the race of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar,</HI> and reckoning from the time of his own captivity, and the beginning of the reigns of the Kings of <HI>Babylon,</HI> he did rationally con|ceive hopes that the day of their deliverance was now nigh at hand, and accordingly he betook him&s;elf to his devotions to ha&s;ten it as follows.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>I &s;et my face unto the Lord God,</HI> viz. Toward the Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> as he did, <HI>chap.</HI> 6.10. Which is a demon&s;tration, it is no idolatry to direct a Mans devoti|ons towards one certain place. <HI>To &s;eek by prayer and &s;up|plication,</HI> &amp;c. not lazily expecting, as if becau&s;e God had once promi&s;ed he would be &s;ure to perform it, let us be|have our &s;elves as we will, but preparing him&s;elf (for I look upon him as the Repre&s;entative of all the people of the Jews) by earne&s;t prayer, hearty repentance, and &s;incere humiliation, and fitting him&s;elf thus to receive &s;o great a mercy and ble&s;&s;ing. Which &s;ingular piety of <HI>Daniel,</HI> all tho&s;e that wait for the deliverance of God's people, from the cap|tivity of the my&s;tical <HI>Babylon,</HI> &s;hould &s;et them&s;elves faith|fully and con&s;cientiou&s;ly to imitate.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>The great and dreadfull God.</HI> Which expre&s;&s;ions &s;hew with what fear and reverence we are to make our Addre&s;&s;es to him, and that from our very heart and in|ward &s;en&s;e, not in words and compo&s;ed looks onely. <HI>Kee|ping the covenant of mercy,</HI> that is, the mercifull promi&s;e, in particular, of redeeming thy people from the <HI>Babylonian</HI> bondage, if we were fitted for &s;o great a ble&s;&s;ing, by un|feigned love and obedience to thee.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>We have &s;inned.</HI> So <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;peaks as here &s;u&s;tain|ing a publick per&s;on, and repre&s;enting the whole body of the Jews, as I noted before.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>Righteou&s;ne&s;s belongeth to thee.</HI> Thou art to be lauded and adored for thy righteou&s;ne&s;s, but &s;hame and reproach belongs to us, by rea&s;on of our &s;ins.</P>
<PB N="108" REF="59">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Though we have rebelled again&s;t thee.</HI> Thy mercies and forgivne&s;&s;es will be the more amply &s;et out, by how much our refractarine&s;s has been the greater, if thou plea&s;e to pardon it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>In the law of Mo&s;es.</HI> See <HI>Levit.</HI> 26.14. <HI>Deut.</HI> 28.15. and <HI>chap.</HI> 29.20. and <HI>chap.</HI> 30.17, 18. and other like places.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>He hath confirmed his words.</HI> He hath made known to all the world, how firm his Comminations were to impenitent &s;inners, by this grievous de&s;truction brought upon <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>Yet made we not our prayer before the Lord,</HI> We were grown &s;o heartle&s;s and &s;en&s;ele&s;s that neither by devout Prayer, nor other works of holine&s;s and piety, we en|deavour to turn this fierce wrath from us.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>The Lord watched upon the evil,</HI> Set him&s;elf on purpo&s;e, or made it his bu&s;ine&s;s to bring evil upon us, in which he did but ju&s;tly we being &s;o refractary again&s;t him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>Out of the land of Aegypt.</HI> Thou who &s;o glo|riou&s;ly delivered'&s;t thy people out of the <HI>Aegyptian</HI> bon|dage, glorifie thy name by freeing us from this <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Captivity. We acknowledge our &s;ins and wickedne&s;&s;es, but for thy names &s;ake extend thy mercy to us in this.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>According to all thy righteou&s;ne&s;s.</HI> Out of the Original it may be rendred. According to all thy mercies and loving kindne&s;&s;es, &s;uch as his delivering them out of <HI>Aegypt</HI> and the like. <HI>Thy people are become a reproach.</HI> They that lord it over them ca&s;ting it in their teeth, in this their great Calamity, ye are tho&s;e that boa&s;t your &s;elves the peculiar people of &s;o potent a God, and ye &s;ee in what ca&s;e ye are in.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>And cau&s;e thy face to &s;hine,</HI> i. e. Ca&s;t a favoura|ble a&s;pect on thy Sanctuary, that is de&s;olate. <HI>For the Lords &s;ake,</HI> i. e. For thine own &s;ake, a <HI>Sub&s;tantive</HI> being put for the <HI>Pronoun, more Hebraico.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>The City that is called by thy name,</HI> So it is called, <HI>P&s;al</HI> 48.8. The City of the Lord of ho&s;ts, and the City of our God.</P>
<PB N="109" REF="59">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>And the &s;in of my people.</HI> This pa&s;&s;age al&s;o &s;hews that <HI>Daniel</HI> in his prayer repre&s;ented the whole body of the people of the Jews. <HI>For the holy mountain of my God,</HI> that is, For the re&s;toring of the exerci&s;e of their Religion to the Jews, and the re-building of the Temple.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. <HI>The man Gabriel,</HI> viz. the Angel <HI>Gabriel</HI> in hu|mane &s;hape. Behold the efficacy of humble, earne&s;t and &s;incere devotion, that by a kind of Divine Magick does attract unto the &s;upplicant not onely the gracious illap&s;es of the holy Spirit within, but al&s;o the external and vi&s;i|ble conver&s;e of Angels. <HI>Whom I had &s;een,</HI> namely at <HI>Su&s;a,</HI> near the River <HI>&V;lai</HI> or <HI>&V;laeus,</HI> chap. 8.16. <HI>Being cau&s;ed,</HI> Commanded by <HI>Palmoni,</HI> &s;ee chap. 11.1. <HI>To fly &s;wiftly,</HI> As if Angels were winged Creatures. But they are &s;o de&s;cri|bed onely to &s;ignifie the &s;peed of their mini&s;try. <HI>Touched me.</HI> To convey vertue and &s;trength into me, and fit me for his conver&s;e, as chap. 8.18. <HI>About the time of the Evening oblation,</HI> i. e. About the ninth hour of the day, the time heretofore, while the Temple &s;tood, allotted for &s;acrifi|ces, and now the Temple was down, it was made choice of by the Jews for their time of prayer, which is a more &s;piritual &s;acrifice.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. <HI>To give thee skill and under&s;tanding,</HI> namely touching <HI>Daniel</HI>'s People, Religion and the Temple, for which he was concerned with &s;o much zeal and earne&s;t|ne&s;s.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. <HI>At the beginning of thy &s;upplications.</HI> Thou had&s;t no &s;ooner &s;et thy face to &s;eek God in behalf of thy People, thy Religion and the Holy Mountain, but it was given me in charge to come unto thee. <HI>To &s;hew thee,</HI> not onely how <HI>Cyrus</HI> King of <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> will relaxate your captivity, but how the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> the true &s;hepherd of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> will come to relaxate his people from the captivity of Sin and Satan. <HI>Greatly beloved.</HI> Out of the Hebrew it may as well be rendred ac|tively, <HI>a man of de&s;ires,</HI> and denote the earne&s;tne&s;s of <HI>Da|niel</HI>'s &s;pirit in matters that concerned the glory of God, and welfare of his people. Which holy de&s;ire is, as I &s;aid, a certain Divine Magick of the &s;oul to attract the influencies
<PB N="110" REF="60">of the Spirit of God and the Mini&s;try of Angels. <HI>Con&s;ider the Vi&s;ion.</HI> This Prophecy of the &s;eventy weeks is called a <HI>Vi&s;ion</HI> in &s;uch a general &s;en&s;e as Prophets <HI>Seers,</HI> as <HI>Grotius</HI> has rightly noted. And the matter of this Vi&s;ion is well worth <HI>Daniel</HI>'s and our under&s;tanding and con&s;idering, it predicting the Jews enjoyment of their Religion for the &s;pace of about 500 years, and a Promi&s;e of the coming of their <HI>Me&s;&s;ias</HI> for greater purpo&s;es than what re&s;pected the Jews onely.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. <HI>Seventy weeks.</HI> That &s;eventy weeks of years are under&s;tood, and that it is as much as if he &s;hou'd have &s;aid 490 years, all Interpreters are agreed. But the very num|ber of the&s;e prophetick weeks &s;eem not to want a my&s;tery, it being made of 10 into 49, which is a Jubilee, and <HI>Ten</HI> a note of Perfection, and therefore this number denotes a mo&s;t perfect Jubilee, the time of the coming of Chri&s;t, and of his redeeming for us our cele&s;tial Inheritance. <HI>Are determined upon thy people,</HI> &amp;c. that is to &s;ay, Near upon the expiration of the &s;eventieth week the people of the Jews &s;hall be no longer the people of God, nor their City holy, their Religion naturally cea&s;ing upon &s;ome act of theirs, whereby a better, according to the purpo&s;e of God, &s;hall be brought in. But from the commencement of the &s;eventy weeks till that time, which is nigh 500 years, they &s;hould be the people of God, and their city accounted Holy, which is a fair &s;pace of time, and mu&s;t be welcome news to <HI>Daniel. To fini&s;h tran&s;gre&s;&s;ion.</HI> To con&s;ume &s;in and make an end of it. For Chri&s;t came throughly to purge his floor, and to pluck up every plant that was not of his Fa|thers planting. <HI>And to make an end of &s;ins.</HI> Out of the Original it may be rendred to put an end to the Judaical Sin-offerings, <HI>viz.</HI> by Chri&s;t his being &s;acrificed on the Cro&s;s for the &s;ins of the whole world. <HI>Reconciliation for iniquity.</HI> The Hebrew word &s;ignifies to expiate iniquity. And that Chri&s;t is that great expiation and atonement for &s;in, all true believers are agreed on. <HI>Everla&s;ting righte|ou&s;ne&s;s,</HI> &s;uch a Law or Religion as &s;hall endure for ever, and according to which, if we live, it will be our ju&s;tifica|tion,
<PB N="111" REF="60">not the works of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s law, nor tho&s;e offerings and &s;acrifices. This is the everla&s;ting Go&s;pel, mentioned, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 14.6. <HI>And to &s;eal up Vi&s;ion and Prophecy,</HI> that is, To fulfill and accompli&s;h the Prophecies, <HI>viz.</HI> tho&s;e great important Prophecies concerning the Me&s;&s;iah. So the word <HI>Seal</HI> is u&s;ed, Ezek. 28.12. <HI>And to anoint the mo&s;t Holy,</HI> The mo&s;t holy per&s;on that ever lived. The Jews them&s;elves under&s;tood it of a per&s;on, <HI>Mo&s;es Gerunden&s;is</HI> of the very Me&s;&s;iah. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. <HI>Commandment to re&s;tore and build Jeru&s;alem,</HI> viz. from the decree of <HI>Artaxerxes Longimanus</HI> in the twentieth year of his reign, that decree, namely that <HI>Nehemiah</HI> ob|tained of him who made his complaint to him how the place of his Fathers Sepulchres lay wa&s;te, <HI>i. e.</HI> the city <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and how the gates thereof were con&s;umed with fire, <HI>Ne|hem.</HI> 1.3. Wherefore, <HI>chap.</HI> 2.1. in the twentieth year of <HI>Artaxerxes</HI> his reign he obtained a decree for the re&s;to|ring and re-building <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> For the other decrees granted by <HI>Cyrus, Darius Hy&s;ta&s;pis,</HI> and by this <HI>Artaxer|xes</HI> in the &s;eventh year of his reign concerned onely the Temple, not the City and the Walls, as you may plainly di&s;cern by reading of <HI>Ezra.</HI> Whence it is manife&s;t that the <HI>Epocha</HI> of the &s;eventy weeks mu&s;t be taken from this decree of the twentieth of <HI>Artaxerxes.</HI> But how Chrono|logy is to be adju&s;ted to this <HI>Epocha</HI> out of <HI>Tho. Lydiat,</HI> &s;ee Dr. <HI>H. More</HI>'s Notes on this Vi&s;ion, and the fir&s;t 16 Chap|ters of his <HI>Paralipomena Prophetica. &V;nto Me&s;&s;iah the Prince, i. e.</HI> unto the manife&s;tation of that per&s;on that is &s;o well known, and &s;o much expected by the Jews under the name of their Me&s;&s;iah (the word never being u&s;ed ab&s;olutely but concerning him) to his entring into his mini&s;try, being fir&s;t baptized by <HI>John,</HI> and &s;o &s;hewing him&s;elf after in preaching the Go&s;pel of the Kingdom, and doing miracles for the confirmation thereof in the &s;ight of all the people. To this manife&s;tation of the Me&s;&s;iah or Chri&s;t <HI>&s;hall be &s;even weeks and three&s;core and two weeks,</HI> i. e. 69 weeks, or 483 years. In the la&s;t of the&s;e years did Je&s;us the Me&s;&s;iah ma|nife&s;t him&s;elf. <HI>The &s;treets &s;hall be built again and the wall.</HI>
<PB N="112" REF="61">This &s;eems to be added on purpo&s;e to give light to Inter|preters, that the decree here mentioned from whence the weeks do commence, is that granted in the twentieth year of <HI>Artaxerxes,</HI> becau&s;e that was expre&s;ly for the City and the Walls, the other three preceding for the Temple. <HI>Even in trouble&s;ome times,</HI> As it appears out of <HI>Nehemiah,</HI> chap. 4. For the builders were fain to have their &s;words in readine&s;s as well as their trowels.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. <HI>And after three&s;core and two weeks,</HI> &amp;c. Namely, After the &s;ixty two weeks that immediately &s;ucceed the &s;e|ven weeks, that is, after &s;ixty nine weeks, &s;hall Me&s;&s;iah be cut off, <HI>viz.</HI> the above named Me&s;&s;iah the Prince, which term of Me&s;&s;iah is no where put ab&s;olutely but here, whence doubtle&s;ly the Jews gave him, whom they expected for their redeemer, the name of Me&s;&s;iah <HI>cut off,</HI> which may &s;ignifie not onely from life, but as Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> notes, from reigning as a King. And in re&s;pect of the Jews he was cut off in both tho&s;e &s;en&s;es. For he was the Me&s;&s;iah their Prince, whom his own people rejected and cut off from life, and thereby from them&s;elves, that they were no more his Peo|ple, nor he their King. With which what follows, &s;itly a|grees. <HI>And they &s;hall be none of his.</HI> For &s;o the Hebrew is naturally rendred and not [but not for him&s;elf] The Me&s;&s;iah &s;hall be cut off by the hand of the people of the Jews, and that people &s;hall be none of his. <HI>Sed populus prin|cipis futurus</HI> (&s;o the Hebrew is rightly and &s;utably rendred) But the people de&s;igned to be the people of Me&s;&s;iah the Prince hereafter (<HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Romans,</HI> among&s;t whom Chri&s;t was chiefly to have his Church and Kingdom) <HI>&s;hall de&s;troy the City and the Sanctuary,</HI> namely, for their murthering the Me&s;&s;iah their Prince, which de&s;truction was brought upon them by the <HI>Roman</HI> army under the conduct of <HI>Titus</HI> the Son of <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian. With a floud.</HI> After the de&s;truction of the city the <HI>Roman</HI> army &s;hall overflow <HI>Judaea,</HI> God determining that i&s;&s;ue of the war the deva&s;tation of the land.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. <HI>And he &s;hall confirm.</HI> It may be rendred, <HI>Ne|verthele&s;s</HI> he &s;hall confirm the covenant. Though <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was ca&s;t off, yet a remnant according to the Election of
<PB N="113" REF="61">grace &s;hould be won unto Chri&s;t, and clo&s;e with the cove|nant of the Go&s;pel. The word in the Greek <GAP DESC="foreign">, is the very &s;ame that adorns the Title page of the New Te&s;ta|ment. <HI>With many,</HI> i. e. with &s;everal. <HI>For one week,</HI> which is the &s;eventieth or la&s;t week, &s;everal were converted before Chri&s;t's pa&s;&s;ion, others afterwards in the &s;ame week by his Apo&s;tles. But the main body of the Jews remained ob&s;ti|nate, and were none of his people, as was noted above. And in that it is &s;aid, <HI>In the mid&s;t of the week he &s;hall cau&s;e the &s;acri|fice to cea&s;e;</HI> this implies the death of the Me&s;&s;iah on the Cro&s;s, which eminent &s;acrifice for the &s;ins of the whole world put an end to or antiquated all other Sin-offerings. This pa&s;&s;age therefore does more preci&s;ely predict the time of the Me&s;&s;iah's being cut off, <HI>viz.</HI> in the fourth year of the la&s;t week, or 487th year from the twentieth of <HI>Artaxerxes,</HI> according to <HI>Tho. Lydiat</HI>'s Chronology. Which I conceive is the true&s;t account. <HI>And for the over&s;preading of Abomi|nations,</HI> &amp;c. Out of the Hebrew it is better rendred thus by Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> [And commanding over a wing of abomina|tions he will be a de&s;troyer] <HI>i. e.</HI> over an army of Idola|trous Gentiles, the <HI>Roman</HI> army, who bore upon their &s;tan|dards the Images of their Gods, which the Hebrew calls <HI>Abominations.</HI> And the coming of the <HI>Romans</HI> to de&s;troy the City of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> is in &s;everal places of the New Te|&s;tament called the coming of Chri&s;t. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Expo&s;ition and Notes. <HI>Even untill the con&s;ummation,</HI> &amp;c. Reade out of the Hebrew. And untill the con&s;ummation (or the fini&s;hing this de&s;truction) it &s;hall continue upon the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed, <HI>viz.</HI> This Wing of Abominations &s;hall con|tinue, or lye upon the di&s;tre&s;&s;ed Jews. Wherefore as in the precedent, &s;o in this ver&s;e upon the mention of Me&s;&s;iah his death or murtherous crucifixion by the Jews, immedi|ately is added a prediction of their de&s;truction and cala|mity.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="114" REF="62">
<HEAD>CHAP. X.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>In the third year of</HI> Cyrus, Daniel <HI>humbles him&s;elf with Prayer and Fa&s;ting for three weeks together. At the end of the three weeks an Angel in the High-Prie&s;ts habit ap|pears to him, in&s;tructs, comforts and &s;trengthens him, for the better receiving the en&s;uing Prophecy of the Scripture of Truth.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>IN the third year of Cyrus King of Per&s;ia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, (who&s;e name was called Belte&s;hazzar) and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long, and he under&s;tood the thing, and had under&s;tanding of the vi&s;ion.</P>
<P N="2">2 In tho&s;e days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.</P>
<P N="3">3 I ate no plea&s;ant bread, neither came fle&s;h nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint my &s;elf at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.</P>
<P N="4">4 And in the four and twentieth day of the fir&s;t month, as I was by the &s;ide of the great river, which is Hiddekel:</P>
<P N="5">5 Then I lift up mine eyes, and looked, and be|hold, a certain man cloathed in linen, who&s;e loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:</P>
<P N="6">6 His body al&s;o was like the Beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire and his arms and his feet like in colour to poli&s;hed bra&s;s, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.</P>
<PB N="115" REF="62">
<P N="7">7 And I Daniel alone &s;aw the vi&s;ion; for the men that were with me &s;aw not the vi&s;ion; but a great quaking fell upon them, &s;o that they fled to hide them&s;elves.</P>
<P N="8">8 Therefore I was left alone, and &s;aw this great vi&s;ion, and there remained no &s;trength in me: for my comeline&s;s was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no &s;trength.</P>
<P N="9">9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep &s;leep on my face, and my face toward the ground.</P>
<P N="10">10 And behold, an hand touched me, which &s;et me upon my knees, and upon the palms of my hands.</P>
<P N="11">11 And he &s;aid unto me, O Daniel, a man great|ly beloved, under&s;tand the words that I &s;peak unto thee, and &s;tand upright: for unto thee am I now &s;ent. And when he had &s;poken this word unto me, I &s;tood trembling.</P>
<P N="12">12 Then &s;aid he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the fir&s;t day that thou did&s;t &s;et thine heart to under&s;tand, and to cha&s;ten thy &s;elf before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.</P>
<P N="13">13 But the Prince of the kingdom of Per&s;ia with|&s;tood me one and twenty days: but lo, Michael one of the chief Princes came to help me; and I remain|ed there with the Kings of Per&s;ia.</P>
<P N="14">14 Now I am come to make thee under&s;tand what &s;hall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vi&s;ion is for many days.</P>
<PB N="116" REF="63">
<P N="15">15 And when he had &s;poken &s;uch words unto me, I &s;et my face toward the ground, and I became dumb.</P>
<P N="16">16 And behold, one like the &s;imilitude of the &s;ons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and &s;pake, and &s;aid unto him that &s;tood before me, O my Lord, by the vi&s;ion my &s;orrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no &s;trength.</P>
<P N="17">17 For how can the &s;ervant of this my Lord, talk with this my Lord? for as for me, &s;traightway there remained no &s;trength in me, neither is there breath left in me.</P>
<P N="18">18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he &s;trengthned me,</P>
<P N="19">19 And &s;aid, O man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be &s;trong, yea, be &s;trong: and when he had &s;poken unto me, I was &s;trengthened, and &s;aid, Let my Lord &s;peak; for thou ha&s;t &s;treng|thened me.</P>
<P N="20">20 Then &s;aid he, Knowe&s;t thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the Prince of Per&s;ia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the Prince of Grecia &s;hall come.</P>
<P N="21">21 But I will &s;hew thee that which is noted in the &s;cripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in the&s;e things, but Michael your Prince.</P>
<PB N="117" REF="63">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P>THE Vi&s;ion in this Chapter is onely Introductory to the Vi&s;ion of the Scripture of Truth, <HI>chap.</HI> 11. as the three Vi&s;ions of like va&s;t extent of time and concern in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e</HI> have the like pompous Introductory Vi|&s;ions prefix'd to them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>In the third year of Cyrus,</HI> &amp;c. In the third year of the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Monarchy, begun upon the death of <HI>Darius</HI> the <HI>Mede,</HI> who immediately &s;ucceeded <HI>Bel&s;hazzar</HI> the Grand|child of <HI>Nebuchadnezzar. Was called Belte&s;hazzar.</HI> This name of <HI>Daniel,</HI> writ as it was at fir&s;t, when <HI>A&s;hpenaz</HI> the Prince of the Eunuchs gave him it, &s;ignifies the <HI>Trea&s;urer of the &s;ecrets of Bel,</HI> but, as it is here writ, it &s;ignifies an <HI>hid|den enemy,</HI> viz. to the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Idolatry, though always a faithfull &s;ubject to the Kings of <HI>Babylon,</HI> as all good men are to their Princes, be they of what Religion they will. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place. <HI>And the thing was true,</HI> i. e. The matter communicated to him was not <HI>Chidah</HI> a pro|phetick Parable or Aenigm &s;et out by types of a Statue of various Metals and of &s;everally &s;haped Bea&s;ts, but it was <HI>Emeth,</HI> plain truth, without &s;uch my&s;terious riddles. <HI>But the time appointed was long,</HI> even from the beginning of the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Empire to the end of the world. <HI>And he under&s;tood the vi&s;ion,</HI> that is, the Prophecy of the <HI>Scripture of Truth.</HI> He under&s;tood it of him&s;elf, it wanting no interpretation as tho&s;e Aenigmatical Prophecies did.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>In tho&s;e days,</HI> i. e. On a certain time of that third year of <HI>Cyrus</HI> King of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> after the adver&s;aries of the Jews, notwith&s;tanding the gracious decree of <HI>Cyrus</HI> had &s;o prevailed with <HI>Camby&s;es</HI> his Son (his Father being bu&s;ie in foreign Wars) as to hinder the building of the Temple; as it is recorded in <HI>Ezra</HI> chap. 4. That they hired coun&s;el|lers again&s;t them to fru&s;trate their purpo&s;e all the days of <HI>Cyrus</HI> King of <HI>Per&s;ia. Three full weeks.</HI> The Hebrew has
<PB N="118" REF="64">it three <HI>weeks of days,</HI> in counterdi&s;tinction to the &s;eventy weeks in the foregoing Prophecy, which &s;ignifies <HI>weeks of years,</HI> and to intimate that days, weeks and years in any Prophecy of <HI>Daniel,</HI> unle&s;s &s;omething be hinted to the con|trary, are to be under&s;tood of prophetical days, weeks and years. Which being an ob&s;ervable rule in <HI>Daniel</HI> the put|ting <HI>days</HI> for <HI>years</HI> hinders not, but this Prophecy of the <HI>Scripture of Truth,</HI> may rightly be termed a <HI>plain</HI> Pro|phecy.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>He eat no plea&s;ant bread,</HI> &amp;c. tho&s;e whole three weeks; though otherwi&s;e it was both lawfull for him and accu&s;tomary to u&s;e the diet of other Courtiers. To recom|mend him&s;elf the more to God, and make him&s;elf more fit for prayer, contemplation and devotion, he eat no plea|&s;ant bread, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>The great River which is Hiddekel.</HI> The vulgar Latine from the Septuagint calls it <HI>Tigris.</HI> It is called great, becau&s;e of the breadth of it, as it touches on the Province <HI>Su&s;iana,</HI> which <HI>Daniel</HI> was &s;et over, and where he was at the &s;ight of this Vi&s;ion. It runs on the We&s;t-&s;ide of <HI>&V;lai</HI> or <HI>&V;laeus,</HI> and by rea&s;on of its &s;wiftne&s;s has its name from an Arrow, as <HI>Pliny</HI> notes, <HI>Tegir</HI> &s;ignifying an Arrow in <HI>Chal|dee,</HI> and in the notation of <HI>Hiddekel</HI> the like &s;wiftne&s;s is imply'd.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>A certain man cloathed in linen.</HI> This is the ve|ry &s;ame Angel in humane &s;hape that appeared unto <HI>Da|niel</HI> when he was near the River <HI>&V;lai,</HI> which <HI>Calvin,</HI> not without rea&s;on, concluded to be Chri&s;t, called there <HI>Pal|moni.</HI> And that this here is Chri&s;t, will appear from his likene&s;s to Chri&s;t in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> that appeared in the mid&s;t of the &s;even golden candle&s;ticks. For here this An|gel is de&s;cribed cloathed in linen, that is, in the Pontifical Garment down to the foot. And &s;o is Chri&s;t cloathed with linen, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 1.13. And as here the Angel is girt with the fine gold of <HI>&V;phaz,</HI> &s;o in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e</HI> Chri&s;t is girt with a golden girdle.</P>
<PB N="119" REF="64">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>Like the Beryl.</HI> The Hebrew word is <HI>Tar&s;is,</HI> which &s;ignifies the Sea as well as <HI>Beryllus Thala&s;&s;ius,</HI> and therefore in&s;inuates the party to be no private per&s;on but the Prince of a multitude. Which &s;ame thing is notify'd of Chri&s;t in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> though not by this Symbol of <HI>Thar&s;is</HI> or the <HI>Beryl.</HI> And as the face of this Angel has the appear|ance of lightning, &s;o the Head of Chri&s;t is &s;aid to be as white as &s;now, which has a very dazling brightne&s;s in it, like that of lightning, which is al&s;o a white &s;plendour, not red like &s;ire. And as in this Vi&s;ion the Angel's eyes are &s;aid to be as lamps of fire, &s;o in that, Chri&s;t's eyes to be as a flame of fire, and as here the Angel's armes and feet are compared to poli&s;hed bra&s;s, &s;o the feet of Chri&s;t there to fine bra&s;s burning in a furnace. And bra&s;s brightned by rubbing or poli&s;hing, and purify'd by the fire, will &s;ig|nifie the &s;ame thing. And, la&s;tly, here it is &s;aid, And the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude, and in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e</HI> likewi&s;e, And his voice as the found of many waters, which in the prophetick &s;tyle &s;ignifie a mul|titude. This Angel therefore being Chri&s;t, it is the very &s;ame <HI>Palmoni</HI> that appeared to <HI>Daniel</HI> near the River <HI>&V;lai,</HI> chap. 8. be&s;tirring him&s;elf in both places for the good of his people.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>I Daniel alone &s;aw the Vi&s;ion,</HI> that is to &s;ay, He alone &s;aw di&s;tinctly the Vi&s;ion. But that <HI>Daniel</HI>'s compa|nions &s;aw &s;omething, is evident in that a great quaking fell upon them, &s;o that they fled to hide them&s;elves, which plainly argues that this of <HI>Daniel</HI> was a real day-vi&s;ion, and that he was in the place truly which he mentions, namely by the great River the River <HI>Hiddekel</HI> or <HI>Tigris</HI> in <HI>Su&s;iana.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Therefore I was left alone and &s;aw this great Vi&s;ion.</HI> As being better &s;itted for &s;uch divine communion by his three weeks fa&s;ting and devotion. But well may this Vi|&s;ion be called <HI>great,</HI> it being the &s;en&s;ible and di&s;tinct pre|&s;ence of the Lord Chri&s;t. Whence he &s;ays there remained no &s;trength in him, but his comeline&s;s was turned into cor|ruption, he being overcome and &s;tounded at the pre&s;ence of &s;o glorious a Per&s;onage.</P>
<PB N="120" REF="65">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Yet heard I the voice of his words.</HI> Though he was half dead in this &s;trange con&s;ternation of mind, yet he heard the voice of this illu&s;trious Angel that was pre&s;ent with him. But at the hearing the voice of his words he was &s;o overcome and a&s;toni&s;hed thereat, as well as before at his &s;ight, that it made him fall down into a &s;oporiferous &s;wound with his face towards the earth, his &s;pirits did &s;o fail him or quite retire through fear. See <HI>chap.</HI> 8.18. But the con&s;opiting of the natural or carnal powers makes way for the &s;ea&s;onable weaking the Divine.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>An hand touched me.</HI> When he was fallen thus to nothing in him&s;elf through perfect humiliation and contri|tion, then an hand from without toucheth him, &s;upernatu|ral power then is conveyed to him; but by degrees. We mu&s;t fir&s;t learn to creep, and then go, as <HI>Daniel</HI> is here fir&s;t &s;et upon his knees, and the palms of his hands. But how|ever it was a hopefull beginning, it being in virtue not of our own &s;trength, but of that &s;upernatural &s;trength which will carry us out to the end if we be faithfull.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>A man greatly beloved.</HI> A man of de&s;ires, as I noted above, and &s;o may denote a man of great love to|wards God and his people, or greatly beloved of God and all good men. <HI>And &s;tand upright.</HI> Thus was <HI>Daniel</HI> rou&s;ed up and enabled to hear, under&s;tand and take perfect notice of what was to be delivered unto him for the information of po&s;terity. <HI>Am I now &s;ent.</HI> The word in the Original is the &s;ame from whence <HI>Shiloh,</HI> the name of the Me&s;&s;ias, is deri|ved, which con&s;i&s;ts well with the &s;uppo&s;ing this Angel to be Chri&s;t. <HI>I &s;tood trembling,</HI> by virtue of his &s;aying unto me, Stand upright. I &s;tood upon my legs, but trembled withall, as yet not being &s;o thoroughly &s;trengthened, or fearing what tidings this Angel might bring unto me.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>I am come for thy words,</HI> that is, By rea&s;on of thy earne&s;t and zealous prayer I am come unto thee. Be|hold the admirable efficacy of earne&s;t and &s;incere devotion, that attracts to it not onely the mini&s;try of Angels, but brings down into conver&s;e the Son of God him&s;elf.</P>
<PB N="121" REF="65">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>With&s;tood me one and twenty days.</HI> Though thy petition was heard at the beginning of thy fa&s;ting and pray|ing, yet I was &s;o detained in my conte&s;t with the Pre&s;iden|tiary Angel of the Kingdom of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> that I could not come till now. And it is admirable to take notice of the concur|ring of <HI>Daniel</HI>'s prayers with the activity of the Invi&s;ible Powers for what he prayed for. <HI>Michael one of the chief Princes.</HI> This bringing in of <HI>Michael,</HI> one of the chief Prin|ces as a&s;&s;i&s;ting again&s;t the Prince of the Kingdom of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> &s;hews plainly that the Prince of the Kingdom of <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> is an Angel as well as <HI>Michael,</HI> this of <HI>Judea,</HI> the other of <HI>Per&s;ia;</HI> and that therefore there are Pre&s;identiary Angels over all Nations. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place. <HI>I remained there.</HI> The Original may be rendred, I was left alone there, I ha|ving &s;ent <HI>Michael</HI> el&s;ewhere, upon who&s;e return I was more free to come.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>Now am I come,</HI> having left <HI>Michael</HI> in my room, to give thee to under&s;tand what &s;hall befall thy people for whom thou did&s;t &s;o earne&s;tly intercede in thy devotions, not onely in reference to affairs more near at hand, but through the Series of many Ages, even to the end of all, what they &s;hall &s;uffer under the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire, what under the <HI>Roman,</HI> and what an happy re&s;toring there will be of them towards the end. For the Vi&s;ion is for a long time, as it is &s;aid in the fir&s;t ver&s;e. Which is a notable key for the right expounding of the Prophecy of the Scripture of Truth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>And became dumb.</HI> My a&s;toni&s;hment from ha|ving beholden him was &s;o great, and al&s;o from hearing his voice that I was not able to &s;peak.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>The &s;imilitude of the &s;ons of men,</HI> not in a ter|re&s;trial body yet though in humane &s;hape. <HI>Cornelius &agrave; La|pide</HI> makes him the &s;ame Angel that communed with him all this time and a type of Chri&s;t, <HI>Calvin</HI> mentions &s;ome that make him Chri&s;t him&s;elf. <HI>Touched my lips,</HI> as he touched the tongue of the deaf and dumb man, <HI>Mark</HI> 7. and loo&s;ed it, that he could &s;peak; as <HI>Daniel</HI> after the Angel had touch|ed his lips, &s;ays, Then I opened my mouth, <HI>&amp;c. Retained no &s;trength,</HI> &s;o overcoming was the glorious pre&s;ence of
<PB N="122" REF="66">Me&s;&s;iah before he came in the fle&s;h. The&s;e con&s;ternati|ons of mind in <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;o often repeated, &s;et off the inex|pre&s;&s;ible eminency of the per&s;on he conver&s;ed with, and the huge weightine&s;s of the matter that he was to convey unto <HI>Daniel.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>Of this my Lord.</HI> Out of the Original it may be rendred thus, How can <HI>this</HI> &s;o vile a &s;ervant, &s;o wret|ched poor and de&s;picable a creature talk with &s;uch an one as <HI>this</HI> my Lord is? <HI>There remained no &s;trength in me.</HI> So per|fect an exinanition ought there to be of our own carnal mind and powers, for the fitting us to receive the &s;uperna|tural power from God, and tho&s;e divine communications that flow from him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. After <HI>Daniel</HI> was thus lo&s;t and confounded in him&s;elf, and &s;ound no &s;trength of his own carnal will and mind left (that we may pur&s;ue the Moral Allegory of this Vi&s;ion al&s;o) and after the free and hearty acknowledgment of the &s;ame, then Chri&s;t in humane &s;hape here touched him again whereby he was &s;trengthened. So great virtue is there in the touch of the divine body of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Be &s;trong, yea be &s;trong.</HI> This is the voice of him, of whom it is &s;aid, He &s;pake and it was done, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and upon his &s;peaking here, <HI>Daniel</HI> was &s;trengthened, and being thus &s;trengthened by this &s;upernatural influence, took him&s;elf now to be an Auditor fitted for <HI>Palmoni</HI>'s informati|ons and in&s;tructions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>Knowe&s;t thou wherefore I come unto thee,</HI> i. e. Thou can&s;t not ea&s;ily imagine, &s;aith the Angel, what things, and of what mighty concern I have to impart unto thee. Which when I have imparted, I will return to di&s;pute or conte&s;t with the Pre&s;identiary Angel of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> and when I am gone forth I &s;hall meet al&s;o with the Pre&s;identiary An|gel of <HI>Grecia,</HI> for he will al&s;o put in for the Empire of the world. And this is the rea&s;on of the mentioning of the Prince of <HI>Grecia</HI> here.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. But now that I may enter upon what I came to thee for, I will declare in <HI>plain</HI> words, not in Symbols and Hieroglyphicks, as in the foregoing Prophecies, the Divine
<PB N="123" REF="66">Coun&s;el or Purpo&s;e, &s;o di&s;tinctly and orderly as if it were writ in a book. Which writing therefore here is called <HI>Scripture,</HI> and for its <HI>plainne&s;s</HI> and un&s;ymbolicalne&s;s the <HI>Scripture of Truth.</HI> But there is none concerned with me in the&s;e things, none of the Pre&s;identiary Angels of the Nations, but your Prince <HI>Michael,</HI> the Pre&s;identiary Angel of the <HI>Jews,</HI> who is my General. Which farther confirms that this Angel is the &s;ame with <HI>Palmoni,</HI> and <HI>Michael</HI> be|ing his Generali&s;&s;imo under him, he mu&s;t be the Lord of Ho&s;ts the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> viz. Chri&s;t as yet not incarnate.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The Prophecy of the</HI> Scripture of Truth, <HI>contai|ning the overthrow of</HI> Per&s;ia <HI>by the King of</HI> Graecia, <HI>and the Leagues and Wars of the King of the South and the King of the North, who grievou&s;ly afflict the Jews, the King of the North e&s;pecially, who pollutes the Sanctuary and takes away the daily &s;acrifice. A De&s;cription of the Pride of the</HI> Ro|man <HI>Power, whether Pagan or Pagano-chri&s;tian. The Inva|&s;ion of the Dominions of this King of Pride by another King of the South, and King of the</HI> North <HI>e&s;pecially, who at length &s;eizeth on his glorious &s;eat betwixt the two Seas.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AL&s;o I, in the fir&s;t year of Darius the Mede, even I &s;tood to confirm and to &s;trengthen him.</P>
<P N="2">2 And now will I &s;hew thee the truth, Behold, there &s;hall &s;tand up yet three Kings in Per&s;ia, and the fourth &s;hall be far richer than they all: and by his &s;trength through his riches he &s;hall &s;tir up all again&s;t the realm of Grecia.</P>
<P N="3">3 And a mighty King &s;hall &s;tand up, that &s;hall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.</P>
<PB N="124" REF="67">
<P N="4">4 And when he &s;hall &s;tand up, his kingdom &s;hall be broken, and &s;hall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his po&s;terity, nor according to his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom &s;hall be pluckt up, even for others be&s;ides tho&s;e.</P>
<P N="5">5 And the King of the South &s;hall be &s;trong, and one of his Princes, and he &s;hall be &s;trong above him, and have dominion: his dominion &s;hall be a great dominion.</P>
<P N="6">6 And in the end of years they &s;hall join them|&s;elves together; for the Kings daughter of the South &s;hall come to the King of the North to make an a|greement: but &s;he &s;hall not retain the power of the arme, neither &s;hall he &s;tand, nor his arme; but &s;he &s;hall be given up, and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and he that &s;trengthened her in the&s;e times:</P>
<P N="7">7 But out of a branch of her root &s;hall one &s;tand up in his e&s;tate, which &s;hall come with an army, and &s;hall enter into the fortre&s;s of the King of the North, and &s;hall deal again&s;t them, and &s;hall prevail:</P>
<P N="8">8 And &s;hall al&s;o carry captives into Egypt their gods with their princes, and with their precious ve&s;|&s;els of &s;ilver and of gold, and he &s;hall continue mo years than the King of the North.</P>
<P N="9">9 So the King of the South &s;hall come into his kingdom, and &s;hall return into his own land.</P>
<P N="10">10 But his &s;ons &s;hall be &s;tirred up, and &s;hall a&s;&s;em|ble a multitude of great forces: and one &s;hall cer|tainly come and overflow, and pa&s;s through: then &s;hall he return, and be &s;tirred up even to his for|tre&s;s.</P>
<P N="11">11 And the King of the South &s;hall be moved
<PB N="125" REF="67">with choler, and &s;hall come forth and fight with him, even with the King of the North: and he &s;hall &s;et forth a great multitude, but the multitude &s;hall be given into his hand.</P>
<P N="12">12 And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart &s;hall be lifted up, and he &s;hall ca&s;t down many ten thou&s;ands: but he &s;hall not be &s;trengthned by it.</P>
<P N="13">13 For the King of the North &s;hall return, and &s;hall &s;et forth a multitude greater than the former, and &s;hall certainly come (after certain years) with a great army, and with much riches.</P>
<P N="14">14 And in tho&s;e times there &s;hall many &s;tand up again&s;t the King of the South: al&s;o the robbers of thy people &s;hall exalt them&s;elves to e&s;tabli&s;h the vi&s;ion, but they &s;hall fall.</P>
<P N="15">15 So the King of the North &s;hall come, and ca&s;t up a mount, and take the mo&s;t fenced cities, and the arms of the South &s;hall not with&s;tand, neither his cho&s;en people, neither &s;hall there be any &s;trength to with&s;tand.</P>
<P N="16">16 But he that cometh again&s;t him, &s;hall do ac|cording to his own will, and none &s;hall &s;tand before him: and he &s;hall &s;tand in the glorious land, which by his hand &s;hall be con&s;umed.</P>
<P N="17">17 He &s;hall al&s;o &s;et his face to enter with the &s;trength of his whole kingdom, and upright ones with him: thus &s;hall he do, and he &s;hall give him the daughter of women corrupting her: but &s;he &s;hall not &s;tand on his &s;ide, neither be for him.</P>
<P N="18">18 After this &s;hall he turn his face unto the I&s;les, and &s;hall take many: but a Prince for his own behalf &s;hall cau&s;e the reproach offered by him to cea&s;e;
<PB N="126" REF="68">without his own reproach he &s;hall cau&s;e it to turn up|on him.</P>
<P N="19">19 Then he &s;hall turn his face towards the fort of his own land: but he &s;hall &s;tumble and fall, and not be found.</P>
<P N="20">20 Then &s;hall &s;tand up in his &s;tate a rai&s;er of taxes in the glory of the kingdom; but within few days he &s;hall be de&s;troyed, neither in anger, nor in battel.</P>
<P N="21">21 And in his e&s;tate &s;hall &s;tand up a vile per&s;on, to whom they &s;hall not give the honour of the king|dom: but he &s;hall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.</P>
<P N="22">22 And with the armes of a floud &s;hall they be over&s;lown from before him, and &s;hall be broken; yea, al&s;o the Prince of the covenant.</P>
<P N="23">23 And after the league made with him, he &s;hall work deceitfully; for he &s;hall come up, and &s;hall be|come &s;trong with a &s;mall people.</P>
<P N="24">24 He &s;hall enter peaceably even upon the fatte&s;t places of the Province, and he &s;hall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers fathers, he &s;hall &s;catter among them the prey, and &s;poil, and riches: yea, and he &s;hall foreca&s;t his devices again&s;t the &s;trong holds, even for a time.</P>
<P N="25">25 And he &s;hall &s;tir up his power and his courage again&s;t the King of the South, with a great army, and the King of the South &s;hall be &s;tirred up to battel with a very great and mighty army: but he &s;hall not &s;tand; for they &s;hall foreca&s;t devices again&s;t him.</P>
<P N="26">26 Yea, they that feed of the portion of his meat, &s;hall de&s;troy him, and his army &s;hall overflow: and many &s;hall fall down &s;lain.</P>
<PB N="127" REF="68">
<P N="27">27 And both the&s;e Kings hearts &s;hall be to do mi&s;|chief, and they &s;hall &s;peak lies at one table; but it &s;hall not pro&s;per: for yet the end &s;hall be at the time appointed.</P>
<P N="28">28 Then &s;hall he return into his land with great riches, and his heart &s;hall be again&s;t the holy cove|nant: and he &s;hall doe exploits, and return to his own land.</P>
<P N="29">29 At the time appointed he &s;hall return, and come toward the South, but it &s;hall not be as the for|mer, or as the latter.</P>
<P N="30">30 For the &s;hips of Chittim &s;hall come again&s;t him: therefore he &s;hall be grieved, and return, and have indignation again&s;t the holy covenant: &s;o &s;hall he do, he &s;hall even return, and have intelligence with them that for&s;ake the holy covenant.</P>
<P N="31">31 And armes &s;hall &s;tand on his part, and they &s;hall pollute the &s;anctuary of &s;trength, and &s;hall take away the daily &s;acrifice; and they &s;hall place the a|bomination that maketh de&s;olate.</P>
<P N="32">32 And &s;uch as do wickedly again&s;t the cove|nant, &s;hall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God, &s;hall be &s;trong, and do ex|ploits.</P>
<P N="33">33 And they that under&s;tand among the people, &s;hall in&s;truct many: yet they &s;hall fall by the &s;word, and by flame, by captivity, and by &s;poil many days.</P>
<P N="34">34 Now when they &s;hall fall, they &s;hall be holpen with a little help: but many &s;hall cleave to them with flatteries.</P>
<P N="35">35 And &s;ome of them of under&s;tanding &s;hall fall to try them, and to purge, and to make them white,
<PB N="128" REF="69">even to the time of the end: becau&s;e it is yet for a time appointed.</P>
<P N="36">36 And the King &s;hall do according to his will, and he &s;hall exalt him&s;elf, and magnifie him&s;elf above every god, and &s;hall &s;peak marvellous things again&s;t the God of gods, and &s;hall pro&s;per till the indignati|on be accompli&s;hed: for that that is determined, &s;hall be done.</P>
<P N="37">37 Neither &s;hall he regard the god of his fathers nor the de&s;ire of women, nor regard any god: for he &s;hall magnifie him&s;elf above all.</P>
<P N="38">38 But in his e&s;tate &s;hall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his father knew not, &s;hall he honour with gold, and &s;ilver, and with precious &s;tones, and plea&s;ant things.</P>
<P N="39">39 Thus &s;hall he do in the mo&s;t &s;trong holds with a &s;trange god, whom he &s;hall acknowledge and in|crea&s;e with glory: and he &s;hall cau&s;e them to rule o|ver many, and &s;hall divide the land for gain.</P>
<P N="40">40 And at the time of the end &s;hall the King of the South pu&s;h at him, and the King of the North &s;hall come again&s;t him like a whirlwind with chariots, and with hor&s;e-men, and with many &s;hips, and he &s;hall enter into the countries, and &s;hall overflow, and pa&s;s over.</P>
<P N="41">41 He &s;hall enter al&s;o into the glorious land, and many countries &s;hall be overthrown: but the&s;e &s;hall e&s;cape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.</P>
<P N="42">42 He &s;hall &s;tretch forth his hand al&s;o upon the countries, and the land of Egypt &s;hall not e&s;cape.</P>
<P N="43">43 But he &s;hall have power over the trea&s;ures of gold and of &s;ilver, and over all the precious things of
<PB N="129" REF="69">Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians &s;hall be at his &s;teps.</P>
<P N="44">44 But tidings out of the Ea&s;t, and out of the North &s;hall trouble him: therefore he &s;hall go forth with great fury to de&s;troy, and utterly to make away many.</P>
<P N="45">45 And he &s;hall plant the tabernacles of his Palace between the &s;eas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he &s;hall come to his end, and none &s;hall help him.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. THis fir&s;t Ver&s;e of this Chapter &s;hould have been the la&s;t of the former, the &s;en&s;e is &s;o clo&s;ely connected thereto, which is this, I, even I <HI>Palmoni</HI> in the fir&s;t year of <HI>Darius</HI> the <HI>Mede</HI> &s;tood to confirm and &s;treng|then [him] that is to &s;ay <HI>Michael,</HI> as both <HI>Grotius</HI> and o|ther Expo&s;itors, as <HI>Calvin</HI> confe&s;&s;eth, refer [him] to <HI>Mi|chael,</HI> according as is perpetually ob&s;erved in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> that by Angels are under&s;tood the people over whom they pre&s;ide, and &s;o according to the Prophetick &s;tyle he &s;treng|thning <HI>Daniel,</HI> and with him the people of the <HI>Jews</HI> by &s;en|ding <HI>Gabriel,</HI> he &s;trengthned <HI>Michael,</HI> that pre&s;ided over them, it &s;ignifying the &s;ame thing, &s;ee <HI>chap.</HI> 9. <HI>v.</HI> 21.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>And now will I &s;hew thee the truth.</HI> Now will I declare unto thee things to come in a <HI>plain</HI> intelligible way touching the Kingdoms of <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> and <HI>Grecia,</HI> and al&s;o the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, not re&s;embling the fir&s;t to a Bear or Ram, the &s;econd to a Leopard or Goat, and the third to a mon|&s;trous Bea&s;t with Iron teeth, but delivering the matter with|out any Prophetick Aenigm or Parable, you &s;hall hear from me the bare truth in an ea&s;ie and vulgar way. <HI>Yet three Kings in Per&s;ia,</HI> viz. <HI>Camby&s;es, Smerdis</HI> and <HI>Darius Hy&s;ta|&s;pis,</HI> the&s;e three be&s;ides <HI>Cyrus</HI> the pre&s;ent King of <HI>Per&s;ia</HI> &s;hall &s;tand up. <HI>And the fourth &s;hall be far richer than they all.</HI> This fourth is <HI>Xerxes,</HI> the &s;ame that is called <HI>Aha&s;uerus</HI> in
<PB N="130" REF="70">the book of <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> and who married <HI>E&s;ther</HI> the Jewi&s;h Vir|gin, and <HI>Herodotus</HI> calls his Queen <HI>Ame&s;tris,</HI> which mani|fe&s;tly has the &s;ound of <HI>E&s;ther</HI> in it. As for the Riches of this <HI>Xerxes</HI> or <HI>Aha&s;uerus,</HI> in the book of <HI>E&s;ther,</HI> he is &s;aid to have reigned from <HI>India</HI> even to <HI>Aethiopia</HI> over 127 Pro|vinces. And <HI>Ju&s;tin</HI> lib. 2. writes of him, that though his army was &s;o numerous that he drunk up whole Rivers, yet his Riches were &s;o great that neither that Army nor any o|ther occa&s;ions of expence could ever exhau&s;t them. <HI>He &s;hall &s;tir up all.</HI> For his Army he brought again&s;t <HI>Greece</HI> con&s;i&s;ted of two thou&s;and thou&s;and &s;ix hundred forty one thou&s;and &s;ix hundred and ten fighting men. And the Attendants of his Army that were to mini&s;ter to them and others that went along with them, were as many at lea&s;t as the fighting men: &s;o that they were five thou&s;and thou&s;and two hundred eighty three thou&s;and two hundred twenty in all. But for the number of the women to dre&s;s their meat, and of Cur|tezans and Eunuchs, of Waggon-hor&s;es and other Bea&s;ts of burthen, and of <HI>Indian</HI> Dogs, it was not to be told they were &s;o many. See <HI>Herodotus</HI> lib. 7. cap. 186. So that by this account <HI>Xerxes</HI> may well be &s;aid to have &s;tirred up <HI>all</HI> again&s;t the Realm of <HI>Grecia.</HI> Thus notably is this Prophe|cy of <HI>Daniel</HI> fulfilled concerning this fourth King of <HI>Per&s;ia.</HI> But that the Prophecy proceeds no farther in this Catalogue of the Kings of <HI>Per&s;ia,</HI> is becau&s;e the Church is more con|cerned in the <HI>Greek</HI> and <HI>Roman</HI> Empire as to their &s;ufferings, of which it was fit they &s;hould be forewarned. And this expedition of <HI>Xerxes,</HI> who would have &s;wallowed up all <HI>Greece,</HI> is a fit introduction to the expedition of <HI>Alexander</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Per&s;ians,</HI> as intimating the rea&s;onablene&s;s of the &s;ucce&s;s that was given him by Providence.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. This mighty King is <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great, who &s;hall have all things &s;ucceed according to his mind. And it is <HI>Curtius</HI> his character of him: <HI>That though much was to be imputed to his valour, yet more to fortune, which he of all mortals &s;eemed alone to have had at his beck.</HI> So fitly is this prophecy fulfilled in <HI>Alexander. He &s;hall doe according to his Will.</HI> There is <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> like expre&s;&s;ion in the tran&s;ition from the <HI>Greck</HI> Empire to the <HI>Roman,</HI> v. 36.</P>
<PB N="131" REF="70">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>The four winds of Heaven. Alexander</HI>'s Kingdom was broken into four Kingdoms lying North, We&s;t, Ea&s;t and South, which were the Kingdoms of <HI>Thracia, Mace|donia, A&s;ia</HI> and <HI>Aegypt,</HI> which belonged to <HI>Ly&s;imachus, Ca&s;&s;ander, Antigonus</HI> and <HI>Ptolemaeus.</HI> See what has been &s;aid above, chap. 8. <HI>And not to his Po&s;terity.</HI> For within &s;ixteen years &s;pace after <HI>Alexander</HI>'s death, not onely his brother <HI>Aridaeus</HI> together with his mother <HI>Olympias</HI> were put to death, but al&s;o <HI>Alexander</HI> the Son of <HI>Alexander</HI> the Great, and <HI>Roxana,</HI> and <HI>Hercules</HI> the other Son of <HI>Alexander</HI> by <HI>Bar&s;inoe</HI> was killed, and <HI>Cleopatra</HI> the &s;i&s;ter of <HI>Alexander.</HI> So fully was this pa&s;&s;age accompli&s;hed [and not to his po|&s;terity.] <HI>Nor according</HI> to his dominion, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> As not ha|ving that &s;trenuity and greatne&s;s of parts, nor that &s;trength, his entire Empire being thus divided into four Kingdoms, <HI>&amp;c. Shall be plucked up,</HI> The vulgar Latine and <HI>Septuagint</HI> render it, &s;hall be <HI>torn</HI> or <HI>tea&s;ed,</HI> pluck'd into &s;hreds. <HI>For others be&s;ides tho&s;e, viz.</HI> be&s;ides tho&s;e <HI>four</HI> notable ones as they are called in the vi&s;ion of the He-goat, chap. 8. But tho&s;e <HI>others</HI> are &s;uch as <HI>Eumenes, Philotas, Menander, Leonatus, Seleucus,</HI> who had their por|tions di&s;tinct from tho&s;e four, whereby the main Body of <HI>Alexander</HI>'s Kingdom was the more weakened.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>And the King of the South,</HI> &amp;c. That is, <HI>Ptole|maeus</HI> the Son of <HI>Lagus</HI> King of <HI>Aegypt.</HI> He &s;peaks onely of the Kings of the South, and of the North, <HI>i. e.</HI> Of the Kings of <HI>Aegypt</HI> and of <HI>Syria,</HI> becau&s;e the affairs of the Jews are onely concerned in them. And this fir&s;t King the Son of <HI>Lagus</HI> is noted for his treacherous taking <HI>Je|ru&s;alem</HI> on the Sabbath-day. See <HI>Jo&s;eph. Antiq.</HI> lib. 12. c. 1. <HI>One of his Princes,</HI> that is, either of <HI>Alexander</HI> or &s;ome one of the le&s;&s;er Princes, whom this <HI>Ptolemy</HI> favour|ed, but either way it is <HI>Seleucus Nicator</HI> that is here meant, who got fir&s;t into that greatne&s;s by the aid of <HI>Ptolemy,</HI> as I noted above. <HI>And he &s;hall be &s;trong above him, Seleucus</HI> &s;hall outdoe <HI>Ptolemy</HI> in feats of War. For he having ta|ken <HI>Demetrius</HI> the Son of <HI>Antigonus,</HI> he added <HI>A&s;ia</HI> to <HI>Syria,</HI> he overcame <HI>Ly&s;imachus</HI> King of <HI>Thracia</HI> in battel, and
<PB N="132" REF="71"><HI>Antigonus</HI> in <HI>Ph<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">y<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ia</HI> as <HI>Androcotus</HI> al&s;o in <HI>India,</HI> from which great exploits he purcha&s;ed to him&s;elf the name of <HI>Nicanor</HI> or <HI>Nicator,</HI> as if we &s;hould &s;ay, <HI>Seleucus</HI> the Con|querour. <HI>His dominion &s;hall be a great dominion;</HI> As con|taining all the&s;e Countries according to <HI>Appian, Syria, Phrygia, Me&s;opotamia, Bactriana, Arabia, Sogdiana, Ara|chotia,</HI> and a great part of <HI>India,</HI> even beyond the River <HI>Indus.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>They &s;hall joyn them&s;elves together,</HI> &amp;c. Not that the &s;ame individual per&s;ons <HI>Ptolemaeus Lagi,</HI> and <HI>Seleucus Necanor</HI> &s;hall do this, but &s;ome of the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of each of them. For the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the Kings of the north, and of the &s;outh or of <HI>Syria,</HI> and <HI>Aegypt</HI> are in the prophetick &s;tyle, &s;poke of as of two &s;ingle Kings continuing all the time of their Kingdoms. This <HI>Kings daughter</HI> therefore <HI>of the South,</HI> is <HI>Berenice</HI> the daughter of <HI>Ptolemaeus Phila|delphus,</HI> Son and Succe&s;&s;our to <HI>Ptolemaeus Lagi,</HI> &s;ent to <HI>Antio|chus Theos</HI> King of <HI>Syria</HI> and <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> and Grand-child to <HI>Se|leucus Nicanor,</HI> with a va&s;t dowry of gold and &s;ilver, that by this marriage the&s;e two Kingdoms might be held together in a firm league. <HI>But &s;hall &s;hall not retain the power of the arm.</HI> She &s;hall not have that &s;trong-intere&s;t at Court, nor re|main in the Authority &s;he &s;eemed to have at fir&s;t, her Hus|band receiving his former Wi&s;e <HI>Laodice</HI> again into fa|vour. <HI>Neither &s;hall he &s;tand.</HI> Not <HI>Antiochus</HI> him&s;elf. For <HI>Laodice</HI> &s;u&s;picious how con&s;tant he might prove in his love to her, got him to be poy&s;oned. <HI>Nor his arm.</HI> The Hebrew may be tran&s;lated, nor his <HI>Seed,</HI> the little Son he had by <HI>Berenice</HI> who was killed with her in the <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">aphneum</HI> at <HI>An|tioch,</HI> where &s;he had &s;hut her &s;elf up with her little Child. But &s;he was given up, and they that brought her and he whom &s;he brought forth, <HI>viz.</HI> the young child, and all her abettors, they were all betray'd, and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> and her little Son murthered by <HI>Seleucus Cail<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="3 letters">us</HI> her <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> law. So bad an end had a matter ill <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"> 7. c. 1.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. But there <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;tand <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"> among the branches of her root, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"> <HI><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ladelphus, Berenice</HI>'s and <HI>Ptolemaus Everg<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="2 letters"></HI> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 span"> Bro|ther
<PB N="133" REF="71"><HI>Evergetes,</HI> who &s;hall found his quarrel upon the right, that his Si&s;ters child had if he had had &s;trength and had been alive to revenge his Mothers death. Wherefore up|on this account &s;hall he fall into the Territories or Fron|tiers of <HI>Seleucus Callinicus</HI> the King of <HI>Syria,</HI> who killed <HI>Be|renice</HI> and her little Son, and &s;hall prevail and have very ea|&s;ie and mighty &s;ucce&s;s.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Ptolemaeus Evergetes</HI> prevailed &s;o far, &s;aith St. <HI>Je|rome,</HI> that he took <HI>Syria</HI> and <HI>Cilicia,</HI> and the upper parts be|yond <HI>Euphrates,</HI> and almo&s;t all <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> and brought away with him forty thou&s;and talents of &s;ilver, and two thou&s;and five hundred Images of their Gods, which <HI>Camby&s;es</HI> and others had carried away. From whence this <HI>Ptolemy</HI> obtained the name of <HI>Evergetes</HI> or <HI>Benefactor</HI> from the &s;uper&s;titious <HI>Ae|gyptians</HI> for thus recovering their Images. And he conti|nued more years than the King of the North, to wit, than <HI>Seleucus Callinicus, Evergetes</HI> reigning 26 years, <HI>Callinicus</HI> but 20.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Ptolemeus Evergetes</HI> his power and &s;ucce&s;s will be &s;o great, and &s;o little lo&s;s to his Army, and with that ea&s;e, as if he had been Lord of <HI>Syria,</HI> and had free ingre&s;s and egre&s;s at his plea&s;ure.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. Though that &s;hamefull overthrow he had re|ceived cowed the &s;pirit of <HI>Seleucus Callinicus,</HI> yet his two Sons <HI>Seleucus Ceraunus,</HI> and <HI>Antiochus Magnus</HI> after his death (and which was a greater encouragement after the death of <HI>Ptolemaeus Evergetes,</HI> who left a &s;ucce&s;&s;our little be|loved, infamous for killing his Father, Mother and Brother, and in deri&s;ion therefore call'd <HI>Philopator</HI>) be&s;tirred them|&s;elves to recover what their Father had lo&s;t, and therefore a&s;&s;embled a multitude of great forces, and though <HI>Seleucus Ceraunus</HI> died in the beginning of the enterprize, yet <HI>An|tiochus Magnus</HI> did overflow <HI>Judaea</HI> and <HI>Coele-Syria</HI> by the treachery of <HI>Theodotus, Ptolemaeus</HI> his governour of that Province. And after this, no peace being concluded, he did again renew the War, and taking many Towns, he at la&s;t came to <HI>Raphia</HI> an exceeding well fortify'd Town in the Confines of <HI>Aegypt.</HI></P>
<PB N="134" REF="72">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. Though <HI>Ptolemaeus Philopator</HI> was a &s;luggi&s;h vo|luptuous per&s;on, and given to his ea&s;e and plea&s;ure, yet when his proper Kingdom was in &s;uch imminent danger by <HI>Antiochus Magnus,</HI> he was enraged, and thought it was time to be&s;tir him&s;elf for fear he &s;hould not onely lo&s;e <HI>Syria,</HI> but <HI>Aegypt</HI> too. And therefore he &s;et forth a great multitude, &s;eventy thou&s;and foot and five thou&s;and hor&s;e, and &s;eventy three Elephants, and took many pri&s;oners of the army of <HI>Antiochus Magnus.</HI> But the &s;ucce&s;s of the day is much to be imputed to the courage and importunity of his Si&s;ter <HI>Ar|&s;inoe.</HI> See the third book of the <HI>Maccabees,</HI> chap. 1.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. And when <HI>Ptolemaeus Philopator</HI> was partly taken captive, partly killed, and partly put to flight, and &s;cat|tered the multitude of <HI>Antiochus</HI> his army, and thereby dri|ven them away from his Territories, whenas his mind was oppre&s;&s;ed and depre&s;&s;ed with fear and anxiety before, it will now grow &s;o light, ra&s;h and vain, that be&s;ides his unclean conver&s;ation with <HI>Agathoclea</HI> the Singing-wench, and <HI>Aga|thocles</HI> her Brother, he will rudely and prophanely in <HI>Judaea,</HI> not onely come into the Temple, but ru&s;h into the <HI>Holy of Holies,</HI> again&s;t the advice and per&s;ua&s;ion of all, either pi|ous or prudent by-&s;tanders. And therefore though he &s;hall ca&s;t down many thou&s;ands, yet he &s;hall not be &s;trengthened by it. The idlene&s;s, luxury and &s;otti&s;hne&s;s of <HI>Philopator</HI> made this great advantage he had got again&s;t <HI>Antiochus</HI> to &s;ignifie nothing.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. For the King of the North <HI>Antiochus</HI> &s;hall again gather an army, and that greater than the former, which he will not fail to do after certain years he ob&s;erving the luxury and di&s;&s;olutene&s;s of <HI>Philopator</HI> and his mindle&s;ne&s;s of his affairs. Wherefore he will be &s;ure to come with a great army and well appointed, well furni&s;hed and plenti|fully with all things fitting for an army. This the Hebrew word &s;ignifies, which our Engli&s;h tran&s;lation renders <HI>Riches.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>Philopator</HI> having appointed <HI>Agathocles</HI> his Ca|tamite, and Brother to <HI>Agathoclea</HI> the Singing-wench to be Prefect over <HI>Aegypt,</HI> not onely the Provinces &s;ubject to
<PB N="135" REF="72"><HI>Aegypt</HI> rebelled, but <HI>Aegypt</HI> it &s;elf was vexed with Sediti|ons. And <HI>Philopator</HI> being dead, and <HI>Antiochus Magnus</HI> having made a firm league with <HI>Philip</HI> of <HI>Macedonia,</HI> he was a&s;&s;i&s;ted by him upon condition of equally dividing the &s;poil. And hence, &s;aith <HI>Jerome,</HI> is to be under&s;tood the meaning of <HI>many</HI> &s;tanding up again&s;t the King of the South, or the King of <HI>Aegypt.</HI> But now for [the Robbers of thy people] <HI>Peritzim,</HI> which is here rendred <HI>Robbers,</HI> may better be tur|ned <HI>Breakers,</HI> namely of the Union of the Jewi&s;h Church, and Violaters of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s law. They were the Jews in <HI>Ae|gypt</HI> (multitudes of whom <HI>Ptolemaeus Lagi</HI> had carried down with him when he took <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI>) and their Corre&s;pon|dents in <HI>Judaea</HI> and other places, that were puffed up with the late great &s;ucce&s;s of <HI>Philopator,</HI> and &s;ided with <HI>Aegypt</HI> again&s;t <HI>Antiochus Magnus,</HI> and were &s;o high &s;lown in their hopes, that they thought the time was at hand to fulfill <HI>I&s;ai|ah</HI>'s Vi&s;ion of Prophecy, <HI>That there &s;hall be an Altar of the Lord in the mid&s;t of the land of Aegypt,</HI> chap. 19.19. and in time the bu&s;ine&s;s was carried on &s;o far that <HI>Onias,</HI> Son of the High-Prie&s;t, <HI>Onias</HI> the third, under <HI>Ptolemaeus Philome|tor</HI> got &s;uch a Temple built in the <HI>Nomus</HI> or Canton of <HI>He|liopolis,</HI> but they and their hopes fell for the pre&s;ent, as is predicted, and the prediction fulfilled in the victory of <HI>An|tiochus</HI> again&s;t <HI>Scopas, Ptolemaeus Epiphanes</HI> his General, and of them whom he over threw at the Spring-heads of the River <HI>Jordan.</HI> And when he had taken the Towns of <HI>Coele-Syria</HI> and <HI>Samaria,</HI> that <HI>Scopas</HI> was po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of, the Jews delivered up <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> to him of their own accord. And helpt to beat <HI>Scopas</HI>'s Garri&s;on-Souldiers out of the Tower he there had left them in, as <HI>Jo&s;ephus</HI> tells us, <HI>lib.</HI> 12. <HI>c.</HI> 13.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. The King of the North <HI>Antiochus Magnus</HI> &s;hall come, whereby the&s;e <HI>Peritzim</HI> or <HI>Breakers</HI> of the law &s;hall &s;mart for it. For this <HI>Antiochus</HI> was a great friend to the Jews that &s;tuck to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI>'s law, as you may &s;ee in <HI>Jo&s;ephus, And &s;hall ca&s;t up a mount,</HI> again&s;t <HI>Sydon,</HI> where he &s;hut up <HI>Scopas</HI> &s;o clo&s;e and long that he made him yield, and he took the fenced Cities, as was noted before out of <HI>Jo&s;ephus.</HI> Nor could the Arms of the South, <HI>viz.</HI> tho&s;e of tho&s;e three Com|manders,
<PB N="136" REF="73"><HI>Europus, Menocles</HI> and <HI>Damaxenus,</HI> whom <HI>Ptolemy</HI> &s;ent to relieve <HI>Scopas,</HI> avail any thing, or be able to with|&s;tand the forces of <HI>Antiochus.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. But <HI>Antiochus</HI> &s;hall have complete &s;ucce&s;s a|gain&s;t the forces of <HI>Ptolemeus Epiphanes,</HI> and the Jews deli|vering up the City to him, as was noted above, he &s;hall &s;tand conquerour in the <HI>glorious land.</HI> The Septuagint render it, He &s;hall &s;tand in the land of <HI>Saby,</HI> which I mu&s;t confe&s;s I &s;u&s;pect to be the name of the God of that Land, namely of the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> who is called the Lord of Ho&s;ts. But of his entring of <HI>Judaea</HI> and <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> I have hinted enough above. But whereas our Engli&s;h Ver&s;ion has it, which by his hand &s;hall be <HI>con&s;umed.</HI> The Original may be rendred, which by his hand &s;hall be <HI>con&s;ummated</HI> or <HI>perfected,</HI> which is more agreeable to Hi&s;tory, he being &s;o great a friend and benefactor to the Jews.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>Antiochus</HI> not content with the regaining onely <HI>Coele-Syria</HI> and <HI>Judaea,</HI> which were his Ance&s;tours before, has a de&s;ign of making him&s;elf ma&s;ter al&s;o of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> and to enter into the &s;trength of <HI>Ptolemaeus Epiphanes</HI> his whole Kingdom, for &s;o it may be rendred out of the Hebrew. <HI>And upright ones with him.</HI> The word in the Original may &s;ignifie either <HI>upright ones</HI> or <HI>covenants,</HI> but either are to car|ry on the match betwixt his daughter <HI>Ca&s;&s;andra</HI> and <HI>Ptole|maeus Epiphanes. And he &s;hall doe.</HI> So the Hebrew, that is, It &s;hall &s;ucceed. He &s;hall give him his daughter <HI>Ca&s;&s;andra,</HI> the faire&s;t of women, and <HI>Coele-Syria, Phoenice, Judaea</HI> and <HI>Sa|maria</HI> for a dowry with her. <HI>Corrupting her,</HI> that is, infu|&s;ing &s;uch principles into her as might make her in&s;trumen|tal by treachery to her Husband, to get to her Father <HI>Antio|chus</HI> the Kingdom of <HI>Aegypt.</HI> But &s;he &s;hall not per&s;i&s;t in &s;uch ways, as her Father would put herein, nor be for him, but be faithfull to her Husband.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. After <HI>Antiochus</HI> had laid &s;o politick a ground of &s;ecurity from <HI>Aegypt,</HI> he turns his face to the Maritime Towns and I&s;les, he a&s;&s;aulted &s;ome Sea-towns of <HI>Thrace</HI> and <HI>Greece,</HI> and took &s;everal I&s;lands properly &s;o called, as <HI>Rho|dus, Samos, Delos</HI> and <HI>Eubea&punc;</HI> This was lookt upon as an
<PB N="137" REF="73">affront to the <HI>Roman</HI> Power. But <HI>Lucius Scipio</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> Commander &s;hall cau&s;e the reproach offered to him to cea&s;e and return it upon <HI>Antiochus.</HI> For at <HI>Sipylus,</HI> a Mountain in <HI>A&s;ia minor,</HI> near the Confines of <HI>Phrygia,</HI> he &s;lew fifty thou&s;and of <HI>Antiochus</HI> his men, and took eleven thou&s;and Pri&s;oners, as <HI>Ju&s;tin</HI> writes, and brought him to &s;uch hard and di&s;honourable terms of Peace, that he was bound to have nothing more to do with any part of <HI>Europe;</HI> that the <HI>Romans</HI> &s;hould have <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> and he re&s;t content with the King|dom of <HI>Syria,</HI> that he &s;hould &s;urrender all his Ships and Captives, and defray the expences of the War. See <HI>Ju&s;tin,</HI> lib. 31. He gave Ho&s;tages al&s;o for performance of Cove|nant, to wit, his two Sons, <HI>Seleucus</HI> and <HI>Antiochus Epipha|nes.</HI> Thus was the reproach ca&s;t upon the <HI>Roman</HI> Power by <HI>Antiochus,</HI> returned with u&s;ury upon him&s;elf at la&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. Upon this <HI>Antiochus</HI> marched towards the Fron|tiers of his own Kingdom to <HI>Apamia, Su&s;a,</HI> and other more remote parts of his own Dominions. And his &s;tumbling and falling refers to his ra&s;h and incon&s;iderate robbing the Temple of <HI>Jupiter Elymaeus</HI> by night, which being known by the <HI>Elymites,</HI> he and his whole army was &s;lain by that people.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. Then &s;hall &s;ucceed in his place by right of inhe|ritance <HI>Seleucus Philopator,</HI> the elder Son of <HI>Antiochus Mag|nus,</HI> who would not fail to be a rai&s;er of Taxes, who was &s;o eager on money, his luxury and nece&s;&s;ity requiring it, that he did not &s;tick to appoint <HI>Heliodorus</HI> his Trea&s;urer, to rob the Temple at <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> 2 Mac. 3.10. But for [In] it &s;hould rather be <HI>upon</HI> the <HI>glory of the Kingdom,</HI> that is, upon the Riches thereof. For Riches are the Political glory and decor of any Kingdom, whenas poverty makes them look &s;ordidly and contemptibly. But he is &s;aid to be de&s;troy'd in a few days, becau&s;e he reigned but twelve years, when as his Father <HI>Antiochus</HI> reigned thirty &s;even. But he peri&s;hed neither by the In&s;urrection of his own Subjects, nor by War with Foreigners, but was &s;ecretly poi&s;oned by <HI>Heliodorus,</HI> who hoped to &s;ucceed him in his Kingdom.</P>
<PB N="138" REF="74">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. This vile per&s;on is <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> Son to <HI>Antiochus Magnus,</HI> and &s;econd Brother to <HI>Seleucus Philopa|ter,</HI> who is &s;aid to be vile and de&s;picable, both for the ill|ne&s;s of his manners and defect of title to the Crown, the right of Succe&s;&s;ion belonging to <HI>Demetrius,</HI> the Son of his Brother <HI>Seleucus,</HI> and therefore the Honour of the King|dom was never adjudged to him, but he got it by craft and flattery, pretending to admini&s;ter the affairs of <HI>Syria,</HI> for the good of his Nephew <HI>Demetrius,</HI> Ho&s;tage then at <HI>Rome,</HI> whom <HI>Philopator</HI> was content &s;hould be there in&s;tead of his Brother <HI>Epiphanes.</HI> The ancient Fathers generally make this <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes</HI> a type of Antichri&s;t, and how well he &s;its the Antitype the Popes of <HI>Rome,</HI> &s;ee Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Expo&s;ition of this Prophecy, from this ver&s;e, to the end of the 35th. The Vi&s;ion pa&s;&s;ing there from the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire to the <HI>Roman.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. <HI>Heliodorus</HI> his forces, who murthered <HI>Seleuous,</HI> Father to <HI>Demetrius,</HI> will be thus overflown and broken by <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> a&s;&s;i&s;ted with the forces of <HI>Eumenes</HI> and <HI>Attalus.</HI> And not onely the followers of <HI>Heliodorus</HI> will be broken, but al&s;o the Prince of the Covenant <HI>Demetrius</HI> him&s;elf, in who&s;e behalf <HI>Epiphanes, Eumenes</HI> and <HI>Attalus</HI> &s;eemed to con&s;pire, the &s;ucce&s;s redounding to his detri|ment by rea&s;on of the treachery of his Uncle <HI>Epiphanes.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. For after the friend&s;hip profe&s;&s;ed by <HI>Epiphanes</HI> to his Nephew <HI>Demetrius</HI> at <HI>Rome,</HI> with whom he kept in|telligence, he wrought deceitfully by getting his friends at <HI>Rome</HI> to detain <HI>Demetrius</HI> there, that he might the better pur&s;ue his own de&s;igns in the mean time, his Nephew being ab&s;ent. And though his beginnings were but &s;mall, yet by flatterings, frauds and crouchings he grew up by degrees as his Antitype did.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. He will in a fair and peaceable manner, without any &s;hew of enmity to <HI>Demetrius,</HI> po&s;&s;e&s;s him&s;elf of the be&s;t places of <HI>Syria,</HI> as his Antitype the Papal Hierarchy of the faire&s;t and fatte&s;t &s;eats in <HI>Europe.</HI> And he &s;hall be a greater exactour of Tributes, and more profu&s;e rewarder of his Fa|vourites, his Souldiers e&s;pecially, than any of his Ance&s;tours,
<PB N="139" REF="74">1 <HI>Mac.</HI> 3.30. And after he has taken the more ea&s;ie and opime places, and encouraged his Souldiers by liberally dividing the &s;poil among&s;t them, he &s;hall foreca&s;t his de|vice, and lay his projects for a time to take the &s;trong holds.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. He &s;hall move his forces again&s;t the King of <HI>Aegypt, Ptolemaeus Philometor,</HI> becau&s;e he pretended a right to <HI>Syria,</HI> and <HI>Ptolemaeus</HI> his two chief Commanders, <HI>Eulaius</HI> and <HI>Leneus</HI> &s;hall bring out a mighty army again&s;t him, but they &s;hall not be able to with&s;tand <HI>Antiochus,</HI> becau&s;e there will be treacherous plots again&s;t the Army of <HI>Philometor.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. Some of <HI>Philometor</HI>'s Dome&s;ticks, Mini&s;ters of State, and of great tru&s;t in his affairs, and in this War, &s;hall be fal&s;e to him, and &s;o &s;poil the &s;ucce&s;s of the Battel. And &s;o <HI>Ptolemy</HI> was afraid of <HI>Antiochus</HI> and fled, and many were wounded to death, as it is &s;aid, 1 <HI>Mac.</HI> 1.18.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. <HI>Ptolemaeus Philometor</HI> and <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes</HI> &s;hall meet together at <HI>Memphis,</HI> in outward &s;hew friends, but in|wardly &s;u&s;picious enemies, and &s;u&s;pected one of another. But this palliated friend&s;hip will again break out into open War; which will certainly happen at the time appointed.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 28. So it is &s;aid 1 <HI>Mac.</HI> 1.19. Thus he got the &s;trong Cities in the land of <HI>Aegypt</HI> and the &s;poils thereof. <HI>And his heart &s;hall be again&s;t the holy covenant.</HI> This is the fir&s;t coming of <HI>Antiochus</HI> into <HI>Judaea,</HI> &s;ays <HI>Grotius,</HI> which the writer of the fir&s;t Book of <HI>Maccabees</HI> takes no notice of. <HI>And he &s;hall do exploits.</HI> [Exploits] is not in the Origi|nal, the &s;en&s;e is, He &s;hall doe according to his own mind and will, and particularly about the High-Prie&s;thood, con|trary to the Holy Covenant or Law of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> he &s;hall con|fer it upon <HI>Ja&s;on,</HI> and after on <HI>Menelaus</HI> for their bribes and flatteries. <HI>And return to his own land,</HI> out of <HI>Judaea</HI> in|to <HI>Syria.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 29. <HI>At the time appointed he &s;hall return.</HI> This is the appointed time mentioned ver&s;e the 27. <HI>Antiochus</HI> &s;hall a|gain come toward <HI>Aegypt,</HI> but this &s;econd expedition of his again&s;t <HI>Aegypt</HI> will not be &s;o pro&s;perous as the former. That is the clear &s;en&s;e out of the Hebrew, and agreeable to Hi&s;tory.</P>
<PB N="140" REF="75">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 30. <HI>For the &s;hips of Chittim.</HI> Chittim may &s;ignifie either the <HI>Romans</HI> or <HI>Macedonians,</HI> but it being <HI>Zijim Chit|tim,</HI> and <HI>Zijim</HI> not being <HI>in Regimine,</HI> as they call it, but an Adjective that &s;ignifies <HI>rough, rude</HI> or <HI>har&s;h,</HI> it may be more naturally rendred. For the <HI>rough Romans</HI> &s;hall come again&s;t him. And thus it fitly reflects on <HI>Popilius</HI> his rough handling <HI>Antiochus</HI> when he was be&s;ieging <HI>Alexandria.</HI> For <HI>Popilius</HI> was &s;ent from the Senate to bid him de&s;i&s;t, <HI>Aegypt</HI> having committed them&s;elves to the <HI>Roman</HI> tutelage. And, when they met, <HI>Antiochus</HI> offering to ki&s;s <HI>Popilius</HI> upon their former familiarity at <HI>Rome,</HI> he bluntly bad him for bear tho&s;e ceremonies, and upon his producing the decree of the Se|nate, the other making delays, and pretending it fit to con|&s;ult his friends. <HI>Popilius</HI> pre&s;ently drawing a circle with his &s;tick about <HI>Antiochus,</HI> bad him con&s;ult his friends upon the &s;pot, nor pa&s;s out of the circle till he had declared whe|ther he would have War or Peace with the <HI>Romans.</HI> Which rough dealing, &s;aith <HI>Ju&s;tin, Ade&ograve; animum Regis fregit ut pari|turum &s;e Senatui re&s;ponderet,</HI> i. e. So broke the courage of the King, that he an&s;wered he would obey the Senate. <HI>Therefore he &s;hall be grieved.</HI> The Seventy and Latine out of the Hebrew render it, And he &s;hall be &s;truck, broken or humbled, which &s;uits better with that of <HI>Ju&s;tin,</HI> but que|&s;tionle&s;s he was <HI>grieved</HI> withall. <HI>Again&s;t the Holy Covenant.</HI> And he will ea&s;e his grief and di&s;charge his rage on the Jews, tho&s;e e&s;pecially that adhere to the Holy law of <HI>Mo|&s;es. He &s;hall have intelligence with them that for&s;ake the Holy Covenant, Ja&s;on</HI> and <HI>Menelaus,</HI> and tho&s;e of that faction, that for his di&s;appointed hopes on <HI>Aegypt,</HI> he might carry what &s;poils he can from <HI>Judaea</HI> the City and Temple, where|by he might &s;eem not to return into <HI>Syria</HI> empty.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 31. <HI>And arms &s;hall &s;tand on his part.</HI> Though not the whole &s;tock, yet con&s;iderable branches of the &s;tock or people of the Jews. So <HI>Ga&s;per Sanctius.</HI> And <HI>Calvin</HI> &s;peaks to the &s;ame purpo&s;e. Which an&s;wers to that <HI>chap.</HI> 8.24. And both to <HI>Antiochus</HI> his Antitype, who is not properly &s;u&s;tained by his own power, but by the power of the ten
<PB N="141" REF="75">Kings, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 17. <HI>Pollute the &s;anctuary of &s;trength.</HI> They &s;hall enter into the Temple, take away the &s;ilver, and the gold, and the precious ve&s;&s;els, and the hidden trea&s;ures, 1 <HI>Maccab.</HI> 1.23. And this is the fir&s;t degree of Propha|nation. <HI>And &s;hall take away the daily &s;acrifice.</HI> This is the next. That <HI>Antiochus</HI> will &s;end letters by me&s;&s;engers unto <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> and the Cities of <HI>Judah,</HI> to command them to follow the laws of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> and forbid burnt-offerings, and &s;acrifices, and drink-offerings in the Temple, 1 <HI>Mac.</HI> 1.44. That they &s;hould not &s;erve God according to his own Laws, but according to Paganick Rites pre&s;cribed by this type of Antichri&s;t. <HI>The Abomination that maketh de&s;olate.</HI> Of the placing this Idol upon the Altar, and the building Altar-Idols through the Cities of <HI>Judah</HI> on every &s;ide, and their tearing and burning the Law, which is the la&s;t and highe&s;t prophanation, &s;ee 1 <HI>Mac.</HI> 1.54. This Idol is <HI>Ju|piter Olympius</HI> as both <HI>Calvin, Cornelius &agrave; Lapide</HI> and <HI>Grotius</HI> acknowledge, whom therefore that old Sophi&s;t of <HI>Athens,</HI> 2 <HI>Mac.</HI> 6.1. might the better per&s;uade the Jews to be the true God of Heaven, whom they them&s;elves wor&s;hipped. The Hebrew is <HI>Ha&s;&s;hakutz Me&s;homem,</HI> which &s;ignifies either a &s;tupifying Idol, or an Idol that makes de&s;olate. And an Idol may very well be &s;aid to <HI>&s;tupi&s;ie,</HI> it making its wor&s;hip|pers as arrand blocks as it &s;elf, and <HI>a&s;toni&s;hing</HI> all &s;en&s;ible men, that mankind &s;hould ever become &s;uch blocks as to wor&s;hip Idols. And to <HI>make de&s;olate,</HI> as cau&s;ing &s;uch va&s;t murtherings of pious men, and frighting them from the publick wor&s;hip, &s;o that the Temple of God is left naked and de&s;olate, 1 <HI>Mac.</HI> 4.37. But how excellently well the Antitype an&s;wers to the Type. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on this ver&s;e in his <HI>Expo&s;ition.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 32. Tho&s;e that again&s;t the Law had given money for the High-Prie&s;thood, he would farther per&s;uade by fair words to comply with his Idolatrous de&s;igns. But tho&s;e that knew their God, not by dry imagination, but by faith that had a living root in their heart, which implies a purity there, from whence all firm a&s;&s;urance of knowledge in di|vine matters doth ari&s;e, the&s;e by the &s;trength and power of
<PB N="142" REF="76">God, and by faith in his A&s;&s;i&s;tence will not be forced through the threats of mortal men, be they never &s;o potent, to for|&s;ake the Law of God, and to relinqui&s;h their loyalty to him, who brings the&s;e per&s;ecutions on his people, on purpo&s;e to try them. For the fulfilling of this Prophecy, &s;ee <HI>Jo&s;eph.</HI> lib. 12. c. 7. and the books of <HI>Maccabees.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 33. Tho&s;e that under&s;tand among the people are &s;uch as before were &s;aid to know their God from &s;uch a principle of life in their heart, not in dry imaginative opi|nion, who though they &s;hall fall, that is, be afflicted and per&s;ecuted by the &s;word, flame, captivity and &s;poil of goods, though the&s;e things be in their eyes, and they be in a manner certain to undergo them, yet the&s;e, in whom the true knowledge of God is, will not de&s;i&s;t from their duty.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 34. <HI>Mattathias</HI> with his five Sons (among&s;t whom was <HI>Judas Maccabeus</HI>) he will open a way toward their li|berty. See 1 <HI>Mac.</HI> 2.1. and 2 <HI>Mac.</HI> 5. <HI>Cleave to them with flatteries.</HI> From the Hebrew, for <HI>flatteries,</HI> it may be ren|dred, <HI>Lubricities</HI> or <HI>Slipperine&s;&s;es.</HI> That many &s;hall join them&s;elves to them &s;lipperily, not firmly or &s;incerely. There &s;hall not be an intimate firm union from one prin|ciple, which is the hearty love of God, and unfeigned zeal for the purity of his wor&s;hip, but they &s;hall adhere from by|re&s;pects of ambition or covetou&s;ne&s;s, or the like. There are examples of &s;uch in the Book of <HI>Maccabees,</HI> and I wi&s;h they were no types of &s;ome in the Reformation. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on this place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 35. Some of them that know their God in the &s;en&s;e above explained, &s;hall fall into mi&s;ery and affliction, &s;o the Seventy render it according as the word is oft u&s;ed in the New Te&s;tament, which agrees with what follows, to <HI>try them, purge them, and make them white.</HI> And therefore tho&s;e troubles that &s;eem &s;o direfull and tragical to mortal men, proceed from the love of God to his own, that he may make them more pure, and con&s;equently better fitted for communion with him&s;elf. Reade attentively what St. <HI>Paul</HI> tells us, 2 Cor. 4.17. <HI>Even to the time of the end,</HI> that is, To the time of their ending. <HI>Becau&s;e it is yet for a time
<PB N="143" REF="76">appointed.</HI> Reade out of the Hebrew, Becau&s;e yet again at the time appointed, <HI>viz.</HI> under the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire (who&s;e &s;ucce&s;&s;ion begins in the next ver&s;e) there will be a new affliction or per&s;ecution of my People or Church.</P>
<P>But now that the times of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire &s;ucceed in the next ver&s;e, both the mention of the <HI>time</HI> and <HI>times,</HI> and <HI>half a time,</HI> chap. 12.7. and tho&s;e other two numbers there that point to them; and that va&s;t gap that would be be|twixt <HI>Antiochus</HI>'s time and the re&s;urrection of the dead, mentioned <HI>v.</HI> 2. may &s;ufficiently a&s;&s;ure us. The tran&s;ition al&s;o is as expre&s;s as that from the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> to the <HI>Greek</HI> Em|pire, ver&s;e 3. and the like expre&s;&s;ion of pro&s;perity, in both, of the King or Empire, they enter upon. <HI>And he &s;hall do according to his will.</HI> See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on this place, or <HI>Pezelius</HI> his <HI>Mellificium</HI> at the end of Part 1. Which expre&s;&s;ion afore&s;aid can't be under&s;tood of <HI>Antiochus Epipha|nes,</HI> as you may under&s;tand thence. And Interpreters that would apply what follows to him, their applications are wretchedly di&s;torted, and they are fain to make the Pro|phecy fondly to tautologize. But make the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire here to &s;ucceed the <HI>Greek</HI> as the <HI>Greek</HI> does the <HI>Per&s;ian,</HI> v. 3. and all will run ea&s;ily and glibly.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 36. The former ver&s;e ended with an intimation of new affliction to God's people or Church, and now this Prophecy goes on. <HI>And the King.</HI> Out of the Hebrew you may reade, <HI>For</HI> that <HI>eminent</HI> King or Kingdom, (for it is <HI>Hammeleck</HI> where the article <HI>He</HI> has the &s;en&s;e of eminen|cy) <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Roman,</HI> which for extent and duration much &s;urpa&s;&s;es any of the former three, <HI>Shall do according to his will,</HI> i. e. Shall be &s;trangely pro&s;perous, and much pro&s;pe|rity is the mother of pride, cruelty and impiety. <HI>Above every God.</HI> This <HI>Roman</HI> King or Kingdom, even <HI>quatenus Pagan</HI> may be &s;aid to magnifie him&s;elf above every god, in that the <HI>Romans</HI> by &s;acred charms called out the gods of tho&s;e Cities they conquered, and, &s;o as it were, led them captive to <HI>Rome.</HI> See <HI>Synop&s;. Prophet.</HI> Book 2. Chap. 10. <HI>Again&s;t the God of gods.</HI> The Officers of this <HI>Roman</HI> Power &s;hall &s;peak bla&s;phemous things again&s;t <HI>Chri&s;t Je&s;us</HI> him&s;elf,
<PB N="144" REF="77">who was truly God as well as man, and therefore the God of gods; yet was he in word and deed mo&s;t de&s;pitefully u&s;ed by them and crucify'd. The <HI>Romans</HI> al&s;o de&s;pi&s;ed the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> even the better &s;ort of them, as <HI>Cicero.</HI> See his Oration <HI>pro Flacco.</HI> And yet &s;hall the <HI>Roman</HI> Power, though Pagan, &s;tand and pro&s;per, notwith&s;tanding this their villany toward Chri&s;t and bloudy per&s;ecution of his members in the Primitive times, wherein he was again reproached, till the determinate time of this rage expired, and the Empire be|came Chri&s;tian.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 37. Here the Prophecy reaches into the times after the Empire was turned Chri&s;tian. Whence it is no won|der that 'tis &s;aid, That he regards not the God of his Fa|thers, <HI>Mars,</HI> &s;uppo&s;e, the Tutelar God of <HI>Rome,</HI> nor the <HI>de&s;ire</HI> of <HI>women,</HI> importing that marriage then will not be in that high e&s;teem it was with the ancient <HI>Romans,</HI> as the Laws <HI>Julia</HI> and <HI>Papia</HI> te&s;tifie, which <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> abrogated. Thus far from the foregoing ver&s;e to the fore-part of this, may the Prophecy pre&s;igure the &s;tate of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, without any reference to the <HI>Roman</HI> Antichri&s;tian Power. But the &s;ame part of the Prophecy is al&s;o applicable to the <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> Polity of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, and therefore takes in that too. Wherefore beginning at the 36th ver&s;e, we &s;hall Paraphra&s;e the&s;e two ver&s;es &s;o far as they concern that <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> which undoubtedly <HI>Paul</HI> aims at, 2 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2. thus: After the reign of <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes</HI> that type of Antichri&s;t, and notorious enemy of the people of God in the <HI>Greek</HI> Empire, &s;hall there ari&s;e an eminent King or Royal <HI>Pontifex</HI> if you will, who with his Eccle&s;ia&s;tick Po|lity &s;hall prove the very Antichri&s;t indeed, an&s;wering in the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire to that wicked <HI>Antiochus</HI> in the Greek, and both of them placed in the latter times of each Empire. Which Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Prince or <HI>Pontifex</HI> finding the &s;tream of affairs and good fortune to carry him along, &s;hall at la&s;t exalt him&s;elf above every God, that is, every Supreme Magi&s;trate, the Emperour him&s;elf not excepted, nay &s;hall &s;peak &s;trange bla&s;phemous words again&s;t the Sovereignty of God him&s;elf, as if he had power to abrogate or di&s;pence
<PB N="145" REF="77">with the Laws of God and Chri&s;t, and were him&s;elf the <HI>Supremum numen in terris.</HI> In which impieties he will pro|&s;per for &s;uch a time as Providence &s;hall permit, <HI>viz.</HI> till the latter end of the time, and times, and half a time.</P>
<P>But notwith&s;tanding all this wickedne&s;s, he &s;hall not be a mere <HI>Roman</HI> Pagan, nor &s;hall he regard the gods of his Ance&s;tours or Predece&s;&s;ours (that is, of the Supreme Ma|gi&s;trates of <HI>Rome</HI> that reigned there before in old time) &s;uch gods as <HI>Neptune, Mars, Jupiter, Capitolinus,</HI> and the like. But this &s;hall be notable in him, that he &s;hall be out|wardly a &s;trict profe&s;&s;our of a &s;ingle life, nor &s;hall it be con|&s;i&s;tent with his Pontifical office to marry, nor permitted to his Hierarchy &s;o to do, that he may the better thereby pro|mote the de&s;igns of his rampant ambition. Which &s;pirit of pride and worldline&s;s &s;hall grow &s;o rank in him, that he &s;hall in time ca&s;t off the real &s;en&s;e of all Piety, nor re|gard any God, but &s;hall magnifie him&s;elf above all, &s;ubor|dinating all Religion to his own worldly advantage and in|tere&s;t. Whence it will be, that among&s;t other things he will make no con&s;cience of Idolatry.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 38. <HI>But in his,</HI> &amp;c. The Hebrew runs ea&s;ily and coherently thus. For together with <HI>God</HI> (for &s;o will [<GAP DESC="foreign">] &s;ignifie according to <HI>Calvin</HI> and <HI>Vilalpandus,</HI> pag. 274.) he will honour the <HI>Mahuzzim</HI> (the Seventy al&s;o retain that word, and likewi&s;e the vulgar Latine) namely the <HI>Daemons</HI> which St. <HI>Paul</HI> Prophe&s;ies of, who&s;e wor&s;hip will be brought in, in the latter times, in the time, times, and half a time, which is the reign of Antichri&s;t, by uncon&s;cionable lyars and men that are again&s;t Marriage, and place their Religi|on in ab&s;taining from meats, which is a de&s;cription of Monks e&s;pecially. This St. <HI>Paul,</HI> 1 <HI>Tim.</HI> 4. &s;ays the Spirit has fore|told <GAP DESC="foreign">, <HI>expre&s;ly,</HI> not ob&s;curely or enigmatically, as be|ing in this <HI>plain</HI> Prophecy of the <HI>Scripture of Truth.</HI> St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s <HI>Daemons</HI> therefore and <HI>Daniel</HI>'s <HI>Mahuzzim,</HI> are the Souls of departed Saints, which this Antichri&s;t, King of <HI>Rome,</HI> or the <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy, will wor&s;hip <HI>together</HI> with <HI>God</HI> or Chri&s;t. <HI>In his e&s;tate.</HI> Reade from the Hebrew, <HI>In his place, viz.</HI> in the places or temples of God or Chri&s;t, in Churches
<PB N="146" REF="78">which have their name from <GAP DESC="foreign">, our Lord Chri&s;t; Or the Hebrew [Alcanno] may &s;ignifie as much as upon <HI>his bottom</HI> or <HI>foundation,</HI> which is the very pretence of the <HI>Ro|mani&s;ts,</HI> that they wor&s;hip the Saints upon the account of honouring Chri&s;t. And the Saint wor&s;hippers give &s;uch titles as the&s;e to them and their Relicks, viz. <HI>Towers, For|tre&s;&s;es, Walls, Bulwarks, Guards</HI> and <HI>Protectours,</HI> which is the very thing that <HI>Mahu<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">zim</HI> &s;ignifies. <HI>And a God whom his fathers,</HI> &amp;c. Reade according to the Hebrew, <HI>Even to|gether with a god,</HI> which his fathers (his Ance&s;tours the an|cient <HI>Romans</HI>) knew not (which God is Chri&s;t) &s;hall he honour them with gold and &s;ilver, and precious &s;tones and plea&s;ant things. Which is abundantly fulfilled in the rich offerings to, and cloathings of the Images and Altars of the Saints in the Romi&s;h Church, which are very co&s;tly and &s;umptuous.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 39. In the Engli&s;h Ver&s;ion the &s;en&s;e is ob&s;cure. The Hebrew runs thus and is ea&s;ie. And he &s;hall make the <HI>Holds</HI> of the <HI>Mahuzzim</HI> jointly to the foreign God, that is, he will build or erect Holds jointly appertaining to both the <HI>Mahuzzim</HI> and the foreign God. Which are Churches and Mona&s;teries dedicated to Chri&s;t (he is that foreign God) to|gether with this or that Saint. And elegantly are they here called <HI>Holds,</HI> in reference to <HI>Mahuzzim,</HI> which has a warlike &s;en&s;e in it, and &s;ignifies military Protectours and Champions, who&s;e Hou&s;es therefore may well be termed &s;trong Holds. And for this <HI>Foreign God,</HI> him he &s;hall acknow|ledge and encrea&s;e with Glory, that is, even Antichri&s;t &s;hall make an outward profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;t, and accumu|late external pomps and &s;hews in honour of him. <HI>And he &s;hall cau&s;e them,</HI> viz. the <HI>Mahuzzim</HI> or departed Saints, to rule over many, and &s;hall di&s;tribute the earth to them for a reward. So <HI>Vatablus</HI> out of the Hebrew. The Saints are made as it were <HI>Tutelar</HI> Deities of Kingdoms, Provinces, Cities and other places, as a reward of their &s;ufferings, and for the good Offices they are &s;uppo&s;ed to do for them that wor&s;hip them and pray to them. Which is a lively de&s;cription of the condition of the Papacy at
<PB N="147" REF="78">this very day; And indeed of a long time heretofore, both of the <HI>Greek</HI> and <HI>Latin</HI> Church, of both which the Pope pretends to be the &s;upreme Patriarch. For which the Ido|latrous Empire has been &s;orely &s;courged by the <HI>Saracens</HI> and <HI>Turks,</HI> namely, for wor&s;hipping the <HI>Mahuzzim,</HI> that is, <HI>Demons</HI> or the Souls of decea&s;ed Saints, and in order to them images of Gold and of Silver, and of Bra&s;s and of Stone, <HI>&amp;c. Apoc.</HI> 9.20. The plagues of the <HI>Locu&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Euphratean</HI> Hor&s;emen, that is, of the <HI>Saracens</HI> and <HI>Turks</HI> came upon them for this. And &s;o it follows an&s;werably here upon the mention of the&s;e <HI>Mahuzzim,</HI> in the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 40. <HI>At the time of the end,</HI> i. e. within the compa&s;s of the time and times and half a time under the fifth trum|pet &s;hall the <HI>Locu&s;ts</HI> or <HI>Saracens</HI> come again&s;t the idola|trous Empire, who&s;e original is from <HI>Arabia,</HI> which lyeth &s;outh of the &s;aid Empire. <HI>And the King of the North,</HI> that is, The <HI>Euphratean</HI> Hor&s;emen, which are the <HI>Turks,</HI> and who&s;e original is northren beyond the <HI>Ca&s;pian</HI> Sea, at a great di&s;tance oppo&s;ite to <HI>Arabia,</HI> the&s;e under the &s;ixth trum|pet, which is the la&s;t part of the time and times, and half a time, &s;hall invade the &s;ame <HI>Roman</HI> Empire by rea&s;on of that idolatrous Antichri&s;tian Polity there, like a whirlwind or &s;trong tempe&s;t from the North. <HI>And with many &s;hips,</HI> &s;hips are here mentioned con&s;entaneou&s;ly to what follows, that he &s;hall over&s;low and pa&s;s over by Sea out of <HI>A&s;ia Minor</HI> into <HI>Europe,</HI> and at la&s;t take <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI> and utter|ly ruine the Ea&s;tern part of the Empire for their Idolatries, with the <HI>Mahuzzim,</HI> as has been above intimated.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 41. <HI>Eretz Hatzabi,</HI> which is tran&s;lated, <HI>Glorious land,</HI> &s;ignifies (as <HI>chap.</HI> 8, 9.) the land of <HI>Judaea</HI> according to the general &s;train of Interpreters, by rea&s;on of the Glory of the Temple and divine re&s;idence once there. The King of the North, the <HI>Turk</HI> will be Ma&s;ter of this land too, as he is known to be, at this day. But <HI>Edom</HI> and <HI>Moab,</HI> and the chief of the children of <HI>Ammon,</HI> that is, &s;aith Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> the inhabitants of <HI>Arabia Petraea</HI> were never yet Provin|cials of the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> Empire, yea with &s;ome of them he is fain to be at pen&s;ion for the &s;afer pa&s;&s;age of his Caravans.</P>
<PB N="148" REF="79">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 42. <HI>The land of Aegypt &s;hall not e&s;cape.</HI> Which though it held out long under the <HI>Mamalukes,</HI> untill the year 1517. (whenas <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI> was taken in the year 1453.) at la&s;t fell under the hand of the <HI>Turks.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 43. <HI>And the Aethiopians,</HI> The Hebrew has it <HI>Cu&s;him, Cu&s;hites,</HI> that is, the neighbouring Nations, whether of <HI>A|frick</HI> or <HI>Libya,</HI> as tho&s;e of <HI>Algiers,</HI> &amp;c. or of the <HI>Ara|bians</HI> in Scripture called <HI>Cu&s;him,</HI> they &s;hall be at his devo|tion. See Mr. <HI>Mede.</HI> And thus far the Prophecy &s;eems clear being applied to time pa&s;t. But the following part of the Interpretation, though it be &s;uch as &s;hall be <HI>rational,</HI> let it go for no more than <HI>Conjectural,</HI> it being of things to come. It is freely left to the wit and &s;agacity of the Reader to judge of the likelihood thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 44. The tidings out of the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> may very well con|temporize with the &s;ixth Vial, which is poured out upon the River <HI>Euphrates,</HI> whereby its waters are dried up, and the way to the Kings of the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> prepared. Which &s;hews &s;ome grand mutation of Affairs and jeopardy, that the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> Empire in tho&s;e Ea&s;tern parts will &s;eem to be in at that time. But the tidings out of the North may be of a mo&s;t formidable &s;trength of <HI>Tartars</HI> invading the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> Em|pire, at the &s;ame time it may be converted to the Chri|&s;tian Religion. <HI>To make away many,</HI> To make away any by who&s;e overthrow he may hope to &s;trengthen him&s;elf a|gain&s;t tho&s;e imminent dangers he is &s;o &s;en&s;ible of, or may compen&s;ate his lo&s;&s;es.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 45. <HI>Between the Seas in the glorious holy Mountain.</HI> This interpreters ordinarily under&s;tand of the land of <HI>Ju|daea,</HI> by rea&s;on of the word <HI>Sabi</HI> here u&s;ed, as the Seventy both here, and al&s;o <HI>v.</HI> 41. as if it were a <HI>Proper</HI> name not an Appellative, call it <HI>Sabi,</HI> but it may be either. And in the Appellative &s;en&s;e it may denote, either a <HI>&s;olid Great|ne&s;s</HI> and Gloriou&s;ne&s;s, or a <HI>tumid Fa&s;tuo&s;ity</HI> and affected Greatne&s;s. But making it a proper name, it is the Title or Name of the God of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> who is <HI>Sabi Sebaoth</HI> the Lord of Ho&s;ts and God Omnipotent. Jer. <HI>chap.</HI> 3. and the land of <HI>Judaea</HI> called the land of <HI>Sabi</HI> from his re&s;idence there
<PB N="149" REF="79">in his glorious Temple. But that there is little likelihood that <HI>Judaea</HI> is here meant, and the Hills on which the Tem|ple was built, may appear from hence, that <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> in truth is neither placed betwixt two Seas, nor <HI>Judaea</HI> any new Aequi&s;t of the <HI>Turk</HI> here, he having entred and po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ed it before <HI>v.</HI> 41. But <HI>Rome</HI> is betwixt two Seas, the <HI>Mare Adriaticum,</HI> and <HI>Mare Tyrrhenum,</HI> nor was he ever yet Ma&s;ter of it; and it is very famous for its Hills or Mountains. Which City being the Metropolis of <HI>Holy</HI> Church, or the <HI>Papal Hierarchy,</HI> and the Seat of his <HI>Holi|ne&s;s</HI> &s;o called, it is no wonder that <HI>Kode&s;h,</HI> which &s;ignifies Holine&s;s is here added. And moreover though <HI>Sabi</HI> were a proper note of <HI>Judaea</HI> and the Temple there, yet as it is &s;aid of the Prince of <HI>Tyre,</HI> though but a Type of Anti|chri&s;t, <HI>Ezek</HI> 28. That he was the <HI>anointed Cherub,</HI> and &s;et upon the Holy Mountain of God, walkt in the mid&s;t of the &s;tones of fire, that is, the &s;parkling &s;tones in <HI>Aaron</HI>'s Brea&s;t-plate, why may not <HI>Har-Sabi,</HI> the Mountain of Glory be referred to Antichri&s;t him&s;elf, though it properly belong to the Temple of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> e&s;pecially <HI>Sabi</HI> in the appellative &s;en&s;e, denoting as well an <HI>empty tumid</HI> Glory, as a <HI>&s;olid?</HI> And though <HI>Sabi</HI> were taken in the &s;en&s;e of <HI>Sa|bi Sebaoth,</HI> is not Antichri&s;t that <HI>King of Pride</HI> command|ing over an <HI>Army</HI> of Prie&s;ts, and do they not give the Titles of <HI>Divinity</HI> and <HI>Omnipotency</HI> to the Pope? So that mount <HI>Coelius</HI> will be <HI>Har Sabi</HI> the Mountain of <HI>Sabi,</HI> who&s;e Ti|tle is the Holine&s;s of <HI>Rome,</HI> as if <HI>Kode&s;h</HI> were added for a certain Character of the party. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Expo|&s;ition</HI> and <HI>Notes</HI> on the place. And the <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to <HI>S. E.</HI> his <HI>remarks. Yet &s;hall he come to his end, and none &s;hall help him.</HI> The ea&s;ie and natural Ver&s;ion of this pa&s;&s;age out of the Hebrew is this. And he &s;hall come to the top of it (<HI>viz.</HI> of the <HI>Hill,</HI> &s;uppo&s;e mount <HI>Coelius</HI>) and no man &s;hall help <HI>it,</HI> namely, the <HI>Hill</HI> and re&s;cue it out of his hands. This ver&s;ion has the Countenance of the <HI>Seventy,</HI> of the <HI>vulgar Latin;</HI> of <HI>Vatablus, Ga&s;per Sanctius,</HI> and <HI>Maldonat.</HI> Which implys that the King of the North will make him&s;elf per|fect Ma&s;ter of this Hill or Hills and City of <HI>Rome,</HI> and that
<PB N="150" REF="80">no man will hinder him by re&s;cuing the Hill, and con&s;equent|ly the City and &s;eat of the Pope out of his hand. And thus this Prophecy de&s;cribing &s;o lively the Idolatrous &s;tate of An|tichri&s;t, and the beginnings of his puni&s;hment under the fifth and &s;ixth Trumpets, does glance al&s;o at his final de|&s;truction under the <HI>&s;eventh,</HI> as the Vi&s;ions of the Metalline Image and the four Bea&s;ts do. And therefore there is all rea&s;on that this Prophecy of the <HI>Scripture of Truth</HI> &s;hould do &s;o too. But as it is &s;aid in the beginning thereof, <HI>It is for a long time;</HI> &s;o if the 2300 <HI>Evening-mornings</HI> have a typical &s;en&s;e, it will be tho&s;e three or four hundred years till the accompli&s;hing this part of the Prophecy. Be&s;ides, that all Comminatory Prophecies take effect according as they be|have them&s;elves that are concerned. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Ex|po&s;ition</HI> and <HI>Notes,</HI> and the <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to <HI>S. E.</HI> the <HI>Remarker.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The Prophecy of the</HI> Scripture of Truth <HI>continued, in which the deliverance of the Jews and their pro&s;perous &s;tate is predicted, and the fir&s;t and &s;econd Re&s;urrection briefly glanced at. This Prophecy not to be under&s;tood till the time of the end. The King of Pride or Antichri&s;t reigneth uncurbedly for a time, and times, and half a time. The two numbers reaching to the time of his manife&s;tation, and who likely to under&s;tand this Prophecy, and who not.</HI> Daniel<HI>'s portion in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND at that time &s;hall Michael &s;tand up, the great Prince which &s;tandeth for the children of thy people, and there &s;hall be a time of trouble, &s;uch as never was &s;ince there was a nation, even to that &s;ame time: and at that time thy people &s;hall be de|livered,
<PB N="151" REF="80">every one that &s;hall be found written in the book.</P>
<P N="2">2 And many of them that &s;leep in the du&s;t of the earth &s;hall awake, &s;ome to everla&s;ting life, and &s;ome to &s;hame and everla&s;ting contempt.</P>
<P N="3">3 And they that be wi&s;e &s;hall &s;hine as the bright|ne&s;s of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteou&s;ne&s;s, as the &s;tars for ever and ever.</P>
<P N="4">4 But thou, O Daniel, &s;hut up the words, and &s;eal the book even to the time of the end: many &s;hall run to and fro, and knowledge &s;hall be in|crea&s;ed.</P>
<P N="5">5 Then I Daniel looked, and behold, there &s;tood other two, the one on this &s;ide of the bank of the river, and the other on that &s;ide of the bank of the river.</P>
<P N="6">6 And one &s;aid to the man cloathed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long &s;hall it be to the end of the&s;e wonders?</P>
<P N="7">7 And I heard the man cloathed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand, and his left hand unto heaven, and &s;ware by him that liveth for ever, that it &s;hall be for a time, times, and an half: and when he &s;hall have accompli&s;hed to &s;catter the power of the holy people, all the&s;e things &s;hall be fini&s;hed.</P>
<P N="8">8 And I heard, but I under&s;tood not: then &s;aid I, O my Lord, what &s;hall be the end of the&s;e things?</P>
<P N="9">9 And he &s;aid, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are clo&s;ed up and &s;ealed till the time of the end.</P>
<P N="10">10 Many &s;hall be purified and made white and tried: but the wicked &s;hall do wickedly: and none of the wicked &s;hall under&s;tand, but the wi&s;e &s;hall un|der&s;tand.</P>
<PB N="152" REF="81">
<P N="11">11 And from the time that the daily &s;acrifice &s;hall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh de&s;olate &s;et up, there &s;hall be a thou&s;and two hun|dred and ninety days.</P>
<P N="12">12 Ble&s;&s;ed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thou&s;and three hundred and five and thirty days.</P>
<P N="13">13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou &s;halt re&s;t, and &s;tand in the lot at the end of the days.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>SHall Michael &s;tand up,</HI> &s;ee chap. 10.21. This pa&s;&s;age therefore denotes the time when the affairs of the Jews become very hopefull and pro&s;perous, which is about the &s;ixth and &s;eventh Vials, to &s;peak in the language of the Apocalyp&s;e. <HI>As never was &s;ince,</HI> &amp;c. &s;ee <HI>Apoc.</HI> 16.18. The comparing of which place with the pre&s;ent, plainly &s;hews that this time of trouble belongs to the &s;eventh Vial. <HI>Shall be delivered.</HI> The <HI>Seventy</HI> and the <HI>vulgar Latine</HI> have it, Shall be <HI>&s;aved,</HI> viz. from that abject condition they lived in among the Nations, from the beg|garly elements of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> and by their faith in Chri&s;t &s;hall be made partakers of <HI>eternal &s;alvation,</HI> and not the Jews onely, but every one, as well Gentiles as Jews, that are found written in the <HI>Book of life,</HI> mentioned <HI>Apoc.</HI> 20.12.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>And many of them.</HI> Here [many] in counterdi|&s;tinction to [all] does plainly intimate the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> Re&s;urrecti|on, or that of Martyrs and Confe&s;&s;ours. <HI>Some to everla&s;ting life.</HI> The Hebrew has, <HI>Tho&s;e</HI> to everla&s;ting life, to wit, Tho&s;e that awake out of the du&s;t of the earth at that time. See <HI>Apoc.</HI> 20. <HI>And &s;ome to &s;hame,</HI> &amp;c. Out of the Hebrew reade, But <HI>tho&s;e others,</HI> another &s;ort of people which the Prophecy points at, who&s;e condition commences with the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection, <HI>The&s;e</HI> &s;hall be in perpetual &s;hame and
<PB N="153" REF="81">contempt all along the time of the ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Millennium.</HI> The&s;e are tho&s;e Dogs, Sorcerers, Whoremongers, Murtherers, Ido|laters and Lyars that are excluded the holy City.</P>
<P>But now if [many] be not taken for a certain number in counterdi&s;tinction to [all] but for the <HI>generality</HI> or a va&s;t multitude, as Criticks allow [many] &s;ometimes &s;o to &s;igni|fie, then the text may be expounded of the <HI>General</HI> Re&s;ur|rection, and then [&s;ome to everla&s;ting life] and [&s;ome to &s;hame and everla&s;ting contempt] will be a fit di&s;tribution of tho&s;e many, or all that are then &s;aid to ari&s;e out of the du&s;t of the earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. They that be docible and under&s;tand the ways of God, and accordingly walk therein, &s;hall &s;hine as the bright azure sky. But they that are not onely wi&s;e and holy them|&s;elves, but are in&s;trumental in the promoting true wi&s;edom and holine&s;s in others, &s;hall &s;hine as the Stars, &s;hall have a greater and more peculiar eminent glory than others. Which is ea&s;ily applicable either to the godly Pa&s;tours and Magi&s;trates in the <HI>Millennium,</HI> or to the different degrees of the glorified Bodies of the Saints at the Re&s;urrection. And thus we &s;ee this Prophecy of the <HI>Scripture of Truth</HI> to reach to the general Re&s;urrection. And that the time, as was intimated in the beginning, is long indeed. What re|mains concerns the intelligiblene&s;s of this and other Vi&s;ions that tend to the &s;ame &s;cope. <HI>When</HI> and <HI>by whom</HI> they are likely to be under&s;tood, and <HI>by whom not.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. This command to <HI>Daniel</HI> to &s;eal the Book to the time of the end, intimates that the&s;e Vi&s;ions of the Book will not be un&s;ealed till then, till the <HI>la&s;t</HI> times or times of the <HI>Roman</HI> Monarchy, but that then men will be inqui&s;itive and hunt after truth, and not altogether in vain, but will, &s;everal I mean, under&s;tand the <HI>coming of Chri&s;t</HI> by the help of the Prophecies of this Book, and in the latter part of the&s;e la&s;t times the <HI>coming</HI> al&s;o of <HI>Antichri&s;t</HI> (which is chiefly here aimed at) when knowledge &s;hall mo&s;t of all abound, as it has very much, this la&s;t age or two.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>There &s;tood other two,</HI> Angels, &s;uppo&s;e, in the &s;hape of men, one on the one &s;ide of <HI>Hiddekel</HI> or <HI>Tigris,</HI> the
<PB N="154" REF="82">other on the other, the two Pre&s;identiary Angels (&s;o repre|&s;ented) the one of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, the other of the <HI>Ma|hometan,</HI> As we have above noted the Pre&s;identiary Angels of <HI>Per&s;ia, Grecia</HI> and <HI>Judaea.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>To the man cloathed in linen,</HI> viz. to the man de|&s;cribed, <HI>chap.</HI> 10.5. namely to <HI>Palmoni</HI> or Chri&s;t him&s;elf. To him is made the que&s;tion. How long &s;hall tho&s;e won|derfull things that have been here foretold continue? This que&s;tion touching the continuation of the&s;e wonders doubt|le&s;s re&s;pects that part of the Prophecy that begins at ver&s;e 36. and ends with the Re&s;urrection. For this part is mo&s;t repleni&s;h'd with wonders of all the Prophecy of the <HI>Scrip|ture of Truth.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>Held up his right hand and his left hand.</HI> As the Angel, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 10.5. is &s;aid to lift up his hand to Heaven, which is the po&s;ture of them that &s;wear, That it &s;hall be for a time, and times, and half a time, that is, three Prophetical years, as I may &s;o &s;peak, and an half, namely tho&s;e more marvellous things touching the King of Pride, <HI>v.</HI> 36, 37, 38. which is the &s;ame with the little Horn with eyes, they &s;hall continue &s;o long entire, but after the di&s;per&s;ion of the holy people the Jews &s;hall be ended, all the&s;e things, even to the <HI>general</HI> Re&s;urrection, after which there &s;hall be no more time upon Earth, &s;hall be accompli&s;hed. For the la&s;t Trum|pet reaches to the general Re&s;urrection, after which there &s;hall be no more time. So con&s;onant is the Oath of the Apo|calyptick Angel to this of this Angel in <HI>Daniel.</HI> See <HI>Apoc.</HI> 10.6, 7.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. I under&s;tood not, namely, where to pitch this <HI>time</HI> and <HI>times,</HI> and <HI>half a time,</HI> or where the <HI>latter</HI> part of the <HI>times of the end</HI> (which is the time of the fourth Monarchy) is &s;uppo&s;ed to be. <HI>O my Lord.</HI> He &s;peaks with this reverence to this Angel, as being the &s;ame with him de&s;cribed, <HI>chap.</HI> 10. which is <HI>Palmoni</HI> or Chri&s;t. <HI>What &s;hall be the end of the&s;e things?</HI> The Hebrew has it [what the latter part of <HI>tho&s;e</HI>] whether <HI>times</HI> or <HI>things</HI> tran&s;acted in tho&s;e times? Or what the latter part of tho&s;e times of the end?</P>
<PB N="155" REF="82">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>The words are &s;ealed till the time of the end,</HI> viz. till that part of it, which is <HI>the time of the end</HI> in a more <HI>re&s;trict</HI> &s;en&s;e, even the <HI>latter times</HI> of the <HI>la&s;t</HI> as the Apo|&s;tle calls them, it being an An&s;wer to [what the latter part of tho&s;e times.] But the Vi&s;ion touching the&s;e won|ders, that &s;tupendious Empire of Antichri&s;t, is &s;ealed till tho&s;e very times.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Many &s;hall be purifi'd, &amp;c.</HI> Namely, in the furnace of per&s;ecution under the above de&s;cribed King of Pride, the very Antichri&s;t, but the wicked &s;hall per&s;i&s;t in their gro&s;s idolatries, and &s;en&s;ual Ludene&s;&s;es, in their pride, avarice and per&s;ecution of the pure Apo&s;tolick Chri&s;tians, nor &s;hall any of Antichri&s;t's followers immer&s;ed in foul &s;u|per&s;titions and gro&s;s &s;en&s;ualities, and blinded with the de|ceits and Hypocri&s;ies of the Antichri&s;tian Synagogue, nor any others as carnally and worldly-minded as they, under|&s;tand either the&s;e Vi&s;ions of <HI>Daniel,</HI> or tho&s;e of the <HI>Apoca|lyp&s;e</HI> that tend to the &s;ame &s;cope. But whom the fear of God has made truly wi&s;e, the&s;e will prove competent judges of the right &s;en&s;e of the&s;e Prophecies, and will not be &s;uch fools as to expect much light from the Ancient Fathers for the under&s;tanding of them; Fora&s;much as it is expre&s;ly de|clared, that they are clo&s;ed up and &s;ealed till the latter times, or tho&s;e times which the two following numbers point to.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>The Abomination that maketh de&s;olate &s;et up.</HI> The &s;ame that is mentioned, and in the &s;ame words, <HI>chap.</HI> 11.31. in this very Prophecy of the Scripture of Truth. <HI>There &s;hall be a thou&s;and two hundred and ninety days,</HI> viz. Prophe|tical days or years. At the end of this number, reckoning from the time of the Prophanation of the Temple under <HI>Antiochus Epiphanes,</HI> which will reach into the year of Chri&s;t 1120, will this King of Pride or Antichri&s;t be re|vealed, as it came to pa&s;s in a marvellous manner by a &s;o|lid and judicious Book, writ by the <HI>Walden&s;es,</HI> and publi&s;hed that year. Whereby the true Antichri&s;t was di&s;covered, and this Vi&s;ion un&s;ealed at once. See Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> and Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place, <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> and <HI>Notes.</HI></P>
<PB N="156" REF="83">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is he,</HI> &amp;c. Ble&s;&s;ed are they that come to this time, to the 1335 days or 89 or 90 Indictions, for they will have the opportunity of not onely knowing Anti|chri&s;t, but of &s;uffering Martyrdom by oppo&s;ing him, and wit|ne&s;&s;ing again&s;t him in behalf of Chri&s;t and his true Church. For ble&s;&s;ed and holy is he that has part in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrec|tion, and that is the lot of Martyrs. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Ex|po&s;ition</HI> and <HI>Notes.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>But go thou thy way till the end be.</HI> This tran&s;|lation is &s;omething hard and ob&s;cure, <HI>Vatablus</HI>'s &s;eems more natural. <HI>Tu autem vades ad finem tuum.</HI> But thou &s;halt come to thine end, <HI>i. e.</HI> Thou &s;halt dye long before the&s;e things come to pa&s;s or be under&s;tood, and &s;halt re&s;t in an happy, peacefull and &s;ecure condition. See <HI>Wi&s;d.</HI> 3.1. <HI>And &s;halt &s;tand in thy lot at the end of the days.</HI> At the end of Times, or in the la&s;t &s;hare of them, under the &s;eventh Trumpet, beyond which there is no more time upon earth, (and within which the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection is) &s;hall <HI>Daniel</HI> &s;tand up in his lot, that is, in the lot proper and peculiar to Martyrs and Confe&s;&s;ours, and he was &s;uch, as appears by his being ca&s;t into the Lion's den, <HI>chap.</HI> 6.16. He &s;hall be rai&s;ed into his glorified body in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="book">
<PB REF="83">
<HEAD>THE REVELATION OF S. John the Divine.</HEAD>
<DIV2 TYPE="preface">
<HEAD>The PREFACE.</HEAD>
<P>BEcau&s;e it is accu&s;tomary with them that write Notes on any Book of the Bible, to &s;ay &s;omething by way of Preface; this Book al|&s;o, as much as any, requiring the &s;ame, I &s;hall briefly premi&s;e &s;omething touching the <HI>Authour</HI> who it was that wrote it, and <HI>what time</HI> it was written, what the <HI>main parts</HI> of the Book be, what the <HI>a&s;&s;urance</HI> of the <HI>truth</HI> of the <HI>Inter|pretation,</HI> and what the <HI>&s;cope</HI> and u&s;e of the Book is, and &s;hall add an Explication of <HI>two u&s;efull Schemes</HI> for the more ea&s;ie under&s;tan|ding,
<PB REF="84">and retaining in memory the Synchroni|&s;tick order of the Vi&s;ions of the Apocalyp&s;e, and the ground of di&s;tingui&s;hing the Times of the Church into <HI>Symmetral</HI> and <HI>A&s;ymmetral,</HI> with the meaning of tho&s;e Terms.</P>
<P N="1"><HI>1.</HI> Now as for the <HI>Authour</HI> of this Book, the Apocalyp&s;e, it is generally agreed on all hands, that it was <HI>John the Divine,</HI> who was al&s;o the <HI>Evangeli&s;t,</HI> who bare witne&s;s of the Word of God, and of the things that him&s;elf had &s;een: who was al&s;o bani&s;hed into <HI>Patmos,</HI> which no Church-Hi&s;tory te&s;tifies of either <HI>Ce|rinthus</HI> or of <HI>John</HI> the <HI>Presbyter,</HI> the Di&s;ci|ple of <HI>John</HI> the <HI>Divine:</HI> who having had the keeping of the Book committed to him by his Ma&s;ter as a &s;ecret, it not being fit to be in the hands of many as having &s;uch things in it as might well rai&s;e jealou&s;ies in the <HI>Roman</HI> State again&s;t the Chri&s;tians, and yet coming out at la&s;t cut of his hands, might give occa&s;ion to &s;ome to think him the Authour of it, as <HI>Grotius</HI> inge|niou&s;ly conjectures. Be&s;ides, it being &s;o &s;tu|pendious a Book of Divine Secrets, to whom &s;hould Chri&s;t impart them but to his bo&s;ome-friend and di&s;ciple his beloved <HI>John</HI> the <HI>Evan|geli&s;t</HI> (called the <HI>Divine</HI> more &s;pecially for his
<PB REF="84">&s;o openly and expre&s;ly declaring the Divinity of our Saviour) and not to an ordinary Presby|ter, much le&s;s to a wretched Heretick as <HI>Ce|rinthus</HI> was. The more than humane artifice in the frame of the Book and Divine Predic|tions therein may a&s;&s;ure us that &s;o poor a wight as <HI>Cerinthus</HI> was no Authour thereof: And I have met with no Objections again&s;t <HI>John</HI> the <HI>Evangeli&s;t</HI>'s being the Authour of it, but &s;uch as are &s;o weak and mean that they are not worth the noting. And if this Book had not, which yet it has, the Te&s;timony of both the Greek and Latine <HI>Fathers,</HI> and of <HI>Councils</HI> to authentize it, yet it would prove it &s;elf to be a Book divinely in&s;pired from the continual Truths of the Predictions therein, applied to Hi&s;tory, as I hope the pre&s;ent Illu&s;tration will make good.</P>
<P N="2"><HI>2.</HI> And now for <HI>the time</HI> when it was <HI>writ,</HI> it is the common opinion of the Fathers, and of Church-Hi&s;torians, as you may at large &s;ee both in <HI>Ribera</HI> and <HI>Alcazar,</HI> that it was writ in the latter end of the reign of <HI>Domitian,</HI> in the year of Chri&s;t <HI>94.</HI> The &s;trength of Rea|&s;on, and the Authority of Antiquity, does &s;o forcibly tye <HI>Alcazar</HI> to this truth, that, although
<PB REF="85">he expounds all the fir&s;t &s;ix Seals and Trum|pets of things above twenty years pa&s;t, before <HI>John</HI> received the&s;e Vi&s;ions, yet he is &s;o far from abandoning this current opinion of the Ancients, that he earne&s;tly defends it, and fully acquie&s;ceth in it. But <HI>Grotius</HI> aware of the gro&s;s ab&s;urdity in making &s;o many Vi&s;ions of a Book of <HI>Prophecies,</HI> as the Apocalyp&s;e is &s;ty|led, to repre&s;ent onely things <HI>pa&s;t,</HI> endeavours to draw back the time of <HI>John</HI>'s receiving the&s;e Vi&s;ions to the reign of <HI>Claudius</HI> and <HI>Ve|&s;pa&s;ian.</HI> But what wretched work he makes of it, you may be fully &s;atisfied by reading the &s;econd Chapter of the &s;econd Book of <HI>Synop|&s;is Prophetica,</HI> and clearly &s;ee that there re|mains no &s;cruple, but that the Apocalyp&s;e was imparted to <HI>John</HI> near the end of <HI>Domitian</HI>'s reign. Which &s;weeps away at once all the vain conceits of <HI>Grotius</HI> his way of interpreting the Apocalyp&s;e, and of as many as tread in his &s;teps.</P>
<P N="3"><HI>3.</HI> As for the <HI>main parts</HI> of the Book, they are three, or indeed three main Prophecies. <HI>1.</HI> The <HI>Epi&s;tolar Prophecy,</HI> or the &s;even E|pi&s;tles to the &s;even Churches, &s;etting out the State of the true Apo&s;tolick Church, according
<PB REF="85">to &s;even &s;ucce&s;&s;ive Intervals of time, from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World. <HI>2.</HI> The <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy,</HI> which con|tains more e&s;pecially the affairs of the Empire, who&s;e time, from the &s;ame <HI>Epocha,</HI> divided fir&s;t into &s;even Seals, then the &s;eventh Seal in|to &s;even Trumpets, and then the &s;eventh Trum|pet into &s;even Thunders reacheth to the &s;ame Term with the former, even to the la&s;t Thunder and Conflagration. <HI>3.</HI> The <HI>Opened-book-prophecy,</HI> which more peculiarly re&s;pects the affairs of the Church, and is Synchronal to the two former Prophecies. But then be&s;ides the&s;e <HI>Prophecies</HI> them&s;elves, there are &s;o many <HI>In|troductory</HI> Vi&s;ions prefixt one to each of the three, and that not onely for Dramatical pomp, but for u&s;efull Truth and In&s;truction. The <HI>In|troductory</HI> Vi&s;ion to the fir&s;t Prophecy is the Appearance of Chri&s;t, <HI>chap. 1.</HI> amid&s;t the &s;e|ven golden Candle&s;ticks, u&s;hered in with a great voice as of a Trumpet &s;peaking, which <HI>John</HI> heard behind him, and &s;o turning him|&s;elf, &s;aw the &s;ight. Several parts of which Repre&s;entation are made u&s;e of for a Title of Chri&s;t in the beginning of each Epi&s;tle. And in that Chri&s;t dictates the&s;e Epi&s;tles to <HI>John,</HI>
<PB REF="86">this re&s;pects that truth, <HI>v. 1.</HI> That the things &s;hortly to come to pa&s;s, Chri&s;t by an Angel &s;ig|nified them to his &s;ervant <HI>John.</HI> Whence it is no wonder that <HI>John</HI> makes mention of him|&s;elf &s;o often, as being he to whom Chri&s;t had granted this privilege. But moreover this voice like a Trumpet &s;peaking to <HI>John,</HI> toge|ther with this Vi&s;ion of Chri&s;t being the <HI>Intro|duction</HI> to this fir&s;t <HI>main</HI> Prophecy, it is a fair Indication, that where the like voice and pompous appearance occurs again, it is an <HI>In|troduction</HI> to a like <HI>main</HI> Prophecy, and of equal extent. And &s;uch an <HI>Introductory</HI> Vi|&s;ion there is before the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy,</HI> chap. <HI>4.</HI> and <HI>5.</HI> And the fir&s;t voice as of a Trumpet is heard again by <HI>John,</HI> chap. <HI>4.1.</HI> And a pompous Scene there is, God the Father &s;itting on a Throne with twenty four Elders a|bout him and the four Bea&s;ts; having a Book with &s;even Seals in his hand, and none found worthy but the Lamb Chri&s;t to take the Book and open the Seals, which is a more magnifi|cent expre&s;&s;ion of what is but brie&s;ly and plain|ly &s;aid, <HI>chap. 1.1.</HI> The Revelation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which <HI>God gave to him,</HI> of which
<PB REF="86">gift from the Father <HI>John</HI> is here a witne&s;s, as al&s;o of his opening the Seals, and &s;o Chri&s;t &s;ignifies what he received of his Father, unto <HI>John</HI> again, as was noted before. And as the parts of the <HI>Introductory</HI> Vi&s;ion were made u&s;e of in that Epi&s;tolar Prophecy it &s;elf; &s;o here again, &s;ome parts of this Introductory Vi|&s;ion are made u&s;e of in this Prophecy, <HI>viz.</HI> The <HI>Lamb</HI> as Opener of the Seals, and the or|derly Invitation of the <HI>four Bea&s;ts</HI> to come and &s;ee as the Lamb opened the four fir&s;t Seals. Which was a very u&s;efull artifice in this Vi&s;ion and Prophecy, the Church being able by ob&s;er|ving from what quarter the Emperour came to note the veracity of this Divine Book of Pro|phecies, finding the Empire in &s;uch circum|&s;tances as were pre&s;igured, and counting the approach thence of the &s;ixth Seal, which was to bring in the overthrow of the red Dragon and the Churches deliverance. But in the mean time here is a &s;ufficient Indication in this In|troductory Vi&s;ion, that it brings in a Prophecy of as exten&s;ive a concern as the former, and Synchronal thereto. And there being the like <HI>In|troductory</HI> Vi&s;ion, though al&s;o <HI>tran&s;itionary,</HI>
<PB REF="87">chap. <HI>10.</HI> where <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> appears not in the fi|gure of a <HI>Lamb,</HI> but of a glorious Angel roaring like a <HI>Lion,</HI> and with an opened-book in his hand, the &s;ame which his Father had given him &s;ealed, and the voice which <HI>John</HI> had heard before (doubtle&s;s as of a Trumpet) bids him take the Book of the Angel, which the An|gel gives him, and commands him to eat it, and when he had &s;o done, tells him he mu&s;t Prophe&s;ie again before many peoples and nati|ons, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> What can all this denote, but that im|mediately upon this begins a third <HI>main</HI> Pro|phecy of equal extent with the former commen|cing with the Church, and terminating in the end of the World? which Prophecy is called the <HI>Opened-book-prophecy,</HI> and which Chri&s;t here by giving him the Book to eat, is plainly under&s;tood to impart to his &s;ervant <HI>John</HI> things to come to pa&s;s, as is briefly intimated, <HI>chap. 1.1.</HI> So that the&s;e three <HI>Introductory</HI> Vi&s;i|ons, though they be no parts of the three main Prophecies, yet we &s;ee they have their u&s;e, and are not &s;et down for mere Dramatical Pomp|&s;ake. And the &s;ame may be &s;aid of the inter|&s;erted <HI>Doxologies,</HI> chap. <HI>11.</HI> v. <HI>15, 16, 17.</HI>
<PB REF="87">and chap. <HI>15.</HI> v. <HI>3, 4, 5.</HI> and el&s;ewhere, that they are not mere Mu&s;ical <HI>Interludes,</HI> as in a Comedy. For the&s;e are &s;hrewd directions to the &s;agacious how to order the Vi&s;ions as to Syn|chroni&s;m; but it would be over-long to in&s;i&s;t on the&s;e things in this &s;hort Preface.</P>
<P N="4"><HI>4.</HI> Now for the <HI>a&s;&s;urance</HI> of the <HI>Truth</HI> of <HI>Interpretation,</HI> it con&s;i&s;ts, <HI>1.</HI> In a right and unexceptionable dige&s;tion of the Vi&s;ions into a true Series and Succe&s;&s;ion of time, and making out truly what Vi&s;ions either wholly or partially &s;ynchronize one with another. <HI>2.</HI> In a due re|gard to the &s;ignification of Prophetick Iconi&s;ms or Symbols, and the nature of the Prophetick &s;tyle. <HI>3.</HI> That nothing be &s;trained or forced again&s;t the Laws of Grammar or warrantable Critici&s;m. <HI>4.</HI> As to tho&s;e Vi&s;ions that con|cern what is pa&s;t (For this due Series of the Vi&s;ions being made out and their Synchroni&s;ms, tho&s;e Hi&s;tories, without roving, are to be &s;ear|ched that belong to that part of the Series of the Vi&s;ions and the Synchronals thereto) if Hi&s;tory afford &s;uch things as ea&s;ily and natu|rally agree to the &s;aid Vi&s;ions, and are of weight and importance (for the Spirit of Prophecy does not trifle) there is as great a&s;&s;urance of the
<PB REF="88">truth of the Interpretation of &s;uch Vi&s;ions as there can be of any other parts of Scripture whatever, and &s;uch as no man unprejudiced can doubt of. For the Prophetick &s;tyle and Ico|ni&s;ms are as determinately intelligible as any other Language. <HI>5.</HI> And la&s;tly, we being thus a&s;&s;ured of the true Interpretation of tho&s;e Vi&s;i|ons that are pa&s;t, or &s;o far as they are pa&s;t, the Vi&s;ions that concern what is to come, if they re&s;pect the &s;ame parties, their Interpretation, though not &s;o punctually and particularly, yet for the main may be certainly true; and in o|thers, though more conjectural, yet it &s;ufficeth that it be rational.</P>
<P N="5"><HI>5.</HI> As for the <HI>&s;cope</HI> and <HI>u&s;e</HI> of the Apoca|lyp&s;e, be&s;ides, what is common to all Prophe|cies, that it is a notable demon&s;tration of Di|vine Providence, and exi&s;tence of Invi&s;ible in|telligent Powers, and &s;o a fit Antidote again&s;t Athei&s;m and Saduci&s;m, it is a &s;eriou&s;ly in|tended Repre&s;entation of the State of the Church from the beginning of Chri&s;tianity to the end of the World; and whatever other things are complicated therewith, yet it is in order to the u&s;e and in&s;truction of the true Church, that they may know in what times they are, and how
<PB REF="88">they are to behave them&s;elves &s;ucce&s;&s;ively in them all, what to endure under Pagani&s;m and Paganochri&s;tiani&s;m, and what to expect; what to amend in the <HI>Sardian</HI> and <HI>Laodicean</HI> Inter|vals, and what the be&s;t method of continuing the <HI>Philadelphian.</HI> And fora&s;much as all men in a manner have complained of a &s;trange general degeneracy in the Church into a Pagan|like Idolatry and Cruelty, and that it cannot be denied but the Apocalyp&s;e is a Book of Pro|phecies, reaching from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World, how perver&s;e and &s;tupid mu&s;t tho&s;e Souls be, that can ima|gine that in &s;uch a Book of Prophecies as this, a thing of &s;uch mighty importance &s;hould be o|mitted, and &s;o foul and gro&s;s degeneracy of the Church, as has been ob&s;erved, and cried out a|gain&s;t by &s;uch as never pretended to under&s;tand the Apocalyp&s;e, &s;hould not have been fore&s;een and foretold by the Spirit of Prophecy therein? Wherefore &s;everal of the Vi&s;ions &s;o &s;itly and naturally &s;etting out this foul degeneracy, and agreeing with the time from a&s;&s;ured Synchro|ni&s;m, it is evident that one main Scope of the Apocalyp&s;e is the di&s;covery of this <HI>My&s;tery of Iniquity</HI> in the Church, that the corrupti|ons
<PB REF="89">
<PB REF="90" MS="y">
<FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>apocalyptic visions</FIGDESC>
<HEAD>VISIONVM APOCALYPTICARVM</HEAD>
<P>TABVLA GENERALIS. Z</P>
</FIGURE>
<PB REF="91">Trumpets. And to this Line or Row of Seals, Trumpets and Thunders, all the re&s;t of the Pro|phetical Vi&s;ions, not onely of the <HI>Opened-book,</HI> but of the <HI>&s;even Churches</HI> may &s;ome way be annected and applied by Synchroni&s;ms, either proper and perfect, or by improper and partial, as we &s;hall adverti&s;e as we go through them.</P>
<P>We &s;hall begin with the <HI>Antemedial</HI> Vi&s;i|ons, where <HI>AEB</HI> is the Woman in travail, cloathed with the Sun, and crowned with twelve Stars, <HI>Apoc.</HI> chap. <HI>12.1. AFB</HI> the Court of the Temple and Altar commen&s;urate or &s;ym|metral, <HI>chap. 11.1. AGB</HI> the &s;ight of <HI>Mi|chael</HI> with the Dragon about the woman in travail, <HI>chap. 12. v. 4.7, 8. AIR</HI> the Church of <HI>Ephe&s;us,</HI> viz. the Interval thereof &s;ynchro|nizing in part with the fir&s;t Seal, <HI>chap. 2. v. 1. RHK</HI> the <HI>Symrnean</HI> Interval, which &s;yn|chronizeth with the latter part of the fir&s;t Seal, and with the &s;econd, third, fourth and fifth Seal, and with the forepart of the &s;ixth, <HI>chap. 2. v. 8.</HI></P>
<P>The <HI>Medial</HI> Vi&s;ions now follow; where <HI>B C</HI> is the company of the <HI>144000</HI> Servants of God, &s;ealed with the Seal of the living God in
<PB REF="92">their foreheads, <HI>chap. 7. v. 3. BDC</HI> the Ou|ter-court Incommen&s;urate or A&s;ymmetral troden down of the Gentiles for <HI>42</HI> months, <HI>chap. 11. v. 2. BEC</HI> the two Witne&s;&s;es clad in &s;ack|cloth, and mournfully prophe&s;ying for <HI>1260</HI> days, <HI>chap. 11. BeC</HI> the &s;ame Witne&s;&s;es &s;lain and lying in the &s;treet of the great City for three days and an half. <HI>BFC</HI> the Woman in the Wilderne&s;s, there to be nouri&s;hed for <HI>1260</HI> days, or for a Time, Times, and half a Time, <HI>chap. 12.6.14. BGC</HI> the &s;even-headed Bea&s;t with ten Horns, who&s;e deadly wound is healed, <HI>chap. 13. v. 3. BHC</HI> the two-horned Bea&s;t the Re&s;torer or Healer of the Bea&s;t, <HI>chap. 13.11. BIC</HI> the Virgin-com|pany of the <HI>144000</HI> &s;ealed, of the Lamb, <HI>chap. 14.1. BKC</HI> the Whore of <HI>Babylon</HI> &s;itting on the &s;even-headed and ten-horned Bea&s;t that was, is not, and yet is, <HI>chap. 17.3, 8. KPR</HI> the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> Interval &s;ynchronizing with the latter part of the &s;ixth Seal, and with the five fir&s;t Trumpets. <HI>RQC</HI> the <HI>Thy|atirian</HI> Interval &s;ynchronizing with &s;ome &s;mall part of the fifth, and with the whole &s;ixth Trumpet. As for the three Angels, <HI>chap. 14. v. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.</HI> The fir&s;t may be referred
<PB REF="92">to the fifth and &s;ixth Trumpets, the &s;econd to the clo&s;e of the &s;ixth Trumpet, and the third to the fourth Vial, and therefore belongs not to the Medial-Vi&s;ions. But indeed the taking notice of the&s;e Angels in a Synchroni&s;tick Ta|ble is not &s;o proper.</P>
<P>Now for the <HI>Po&s;tmedial</HI>-Vi&s;ions, we are to note, that <HI>CAH, HYP, PZQ, QqR, RrS, SpT, ToD,</HI> are the &s;even Anti-&s;yn|chronals to the &s;even Thunders, each &s;ynchro|nizing with its oppo&s;ite in the Table. <HI>CAH</HI> is the Interval of the &s;even Vials, <HI>chap. 16. CFH</HI> the Compendium of the Vials, <HI>chap. 11. v. 16.</HI> to the end. <HI>CBO</HI> the Interval of the <HI>Sardian</HI> Church &s;ynchronizing with the fir&s;t &s;ix Vials, <HI>chap. 13.1. GH</HI> comprehends three Combinations of Synchronal-Vi&s;ions, <HI>viz.</HI> The Vi&s;ion of the Harve&s;t and Wine-pre&s;s, <HI>chap. 14. v. 15, 16.</HI> The Vi&s;ion of the &s;ixth and &s;e|venth Vial, <HI>chap. 16.12.</HI> and the Vi&s;ion of the Preparation of the Bride, and of the Battel of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e, <HI>chap. 19. v. 7, 11. HYP</HI> is the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> de|&s;cending from Heaven. <HI>HiP</HI> the laying hold on Satan. <HI>PZQ</HI> the thou&s;and years Reign
<PB REF="93">of Chri&s;t upon Earth. <HI>PLQ</HI> the impri&s;on|ing of Satan in the bottomle&s;s Pit, and &s;eal|ing of him up there, <HI>chap. 20. HMQ</HI> the Palm-bearing Company, properly &s;o called. <HI>OWQ</HI> the Interval of the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Church, <HI>chap. 3. v. 7. QqR</HI> the loo&s;ing of Satan, <HI>chap. 20.3. RrS</HI> the be&s;ieging the Holy City by <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog,</HI> chap. <HI>20.</HI> v. <HI>7. SpT</HI> the coming of Chri&s;t to judgment, <HI>chap. 20. v. 11. PUT</HI> a continuance of the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> or Holy City &s;ynchronizing with the third, fourth, fifth and &s;ixth Anti-&s;ynchro|nals. <HI>PNT</HI> the wicked Rabble excluded the Holy City, <HI>chap. 22.15. QXT</HI> the Inter|val of the Church of <HI>Laodicea,</HI> chap. <HI>3.</HI> v. <HI>14. ToD</HI> the Conflagration of the Earth. <HI>TcD</HI> the con&s;ummate Happine&s;s of the Saints. This is the bare propo&s;al of this &s;ynchroni&s;tick Scheme for thy more full and ea&s;ie comprehen&s;ion of the order of all the Apocalyptick-Vi&s;ions at once. The demon&s;trations and proofs of the truth thereof thou may&s;t &s;ee in Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Vi&s;io|num Apocalypticarum Ratio Synchroni|&s;tica,</HI> as al&s;o in his <HI>Epilogue.</HI> And in the <HI>An&s;wer to the Remarks,</HI> and <HI>Appendi|cula Apocalyptica.</HI></P>
<PB REF="93">
<P><FIGURE>
<FIGDESC>diagram of temple</FIGDESC>
</FIGURE></P>
<P>Now for the other Scheme whereby thou may&s;t under&s;tand the grounds of di&s;tingui&s;hing the times of the Church into <HI>Symmetral</HI> and <HI>A&s;ymmetral,</HI> it is this. In this Ichnography of the Temple you are to note that &agr;&bgr; is the Temple it &s;elf, properly &s;o called, &agr; the <HI>Sanc|tum
<PB REF="94">Sanctorum</HI> or Holy of Holies, and &bgr; the <HI>Sanctum</HI> or Holy; &ggr;&dgr; the Altar of Holo|cau&s;ts, <HI>A</HI>&ggr; <HI>A</HI>&dgr; the <HI>Thy&s;ia&s;terium</HI> or <HI>Alta|rium,</HI> the place where the Altar &s;tands. <HI>AAAA</HI> the Inner-Court. Which whole &s;pace the Inner-Court of the Temple being mea&s;ured by the Reed the Angel gave to <HI>John,</HI> chap. <HI>11.</HI> is called <HI>commen&s;urate</HI> or <HI>&s;ymmetral,</HI> and denotes the Primitive State of the Church, wherein &s;he had not yet degenerated into Ido|latrous Rites and &V;&s;ages, and therefore in that regard is approved by the Spirit of God.</P>
<P>But the other Space <HI>BBBBBBB,</HI> which is the Outer-Court, is repre&s;ented as rejecta|neous and prophane, in the&s;e words, <HI>v. 2.</HI> But the Outer-Court of the Temple leave out and mea&s;ure it not as being to be troden down by the Gentiles, and to be defiled with a new kind of Gentili&s;m and Idolatry, contrary to the Word of God, which is the true mea&s;ure of all Chri|&s;tian Rites and &V;&s;ages; with which the&s;e times not &s;quaring, they are called <HI>Incommen&s;u|rate</HI> or <HI>A&s;ymmetral,</HI> as the former before the Apo&s;ta&s;ie into this Gentili&s;m and Pagano|chri&s;tian Idolatry are termed <HI>Symmetral.</HI>
<PB REF="94">And this is the ground and occa&s;ion of tho&s;e Terms of the <HI>Symmetral</HI> and <HI>A&s;ymmetral</HI> Times or State of the Church. This is all that I thought requi&s;ite by way of Preface to in&s;truct thee in for thy more ea&s;ie and &s;atis|factory reading this Book of Divine Vi&s;ions, and the <HI>Notes</HI> annexed for the right under|&s;tanding of them.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="chapter">
<PB REF="95">
<PB N="181" REF="95">
<HEAD>THE REVELATION OF S. John the Divine.</HEAD>
<HEAD>CHAP. I.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>A Book of Divine Vi&s;ions, comprizing</HI> three main <HI>Prophecies, each reaching from the beginning of the Church, to the end of the World, communicated by Chri&s;t through the Mini&s;try of an Angel to</HI> John <HI>the Evangeli&s;t, bani&s;hed into</HI> Patmos, <HI>and directed by</HI> John <HI>to the &s;even Churches in</HI> A&s;ia, <HI>denoting the true Catholick Church from the beginning to the end, divided into &s;even Succe&s;&s;ions. A glorious Vi&s;ion of Chri&s;t in the mid&s;t of &s;even Golden Candle&s;ticks, with &s;even Stars in his right hand Introductory to the fir&s;t of the</HI> three main <HI>Prophecies, which is the</HI> Epi&s;tles <HI>to the &s;even Churches in</HI> A&s;ia. <HI>That the &s;even Stars are the Angels or Pa&s;tours of the &s;even Churches, and the &s;even Golden Candle&s;ticks the &s;e|ven Succe&s;&s;ions of the true Catholick Church from the begin|ning thereof to the end of the World.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>THE Revelation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, which God gave unto him, to &s;hew unto his &s;ervants things which mu&s;t &s;hortly come to pa&s;s; and he &s;ent and &s;ignified it by his Angel unto his &s;ervant John:</P>
<PB N="182" REF="96">
<P N="2">2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the te&s;timony of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and of all things that he &s;aw.</P>
<P N="3">3 Ble&s;&s;ed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep tho&s;e things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.</P>
<P N="4">4 John to the &s;even Churches which are in A&s;ia; Grace be unto you, and peace from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the &s;even &s;pirits which are before his throne;</P>
<P N="5">5 And from Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who is the faithfull wit|ne&s;s, and the fir&s;t begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the Kings of the earth: unto him that loved us, and wa&s;hed us from our &s;ins in his own bloud,</P>
<P N="6">6 And hath made us Kings and Prie&s;ts unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for e|ver and ever. Amen.</P>
<P N="7">7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye &s;hall &s;ee him, and they al&s;o which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth &s;hall wail becau&s;e of him: even &s;o, Amen.</P>
<P N="8">8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, &s;aith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.</P>
<P N="9">9 I John, who al&s;o am your brother and compa|nion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, was in the I&s;le that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the te&s;timony of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<P N="10">10 I was in the Spirit on the Lords day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,</P>
<P N="11">11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the fir&s;t and the la&s;t: and what thou &s;ee&s;t, write in a book, and
<PB N="183" REF="96">&s;end it unto the &s;even Churches which are in A&s;ia; unto Ephe&s;us, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.</P>
<P N="12">12 And I turned to &s;ee the voice that &s;pake with me. And being turned, I &s;aw &s;even golden candle&s;ticks;</P>
<P N="13">13 And in the mid&s;t of the &s;even candle&s;ticks, one like unto the Son of man, cloathed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.</P>
<P N="14">14 His head and his hairs were white like wooll, as white as &s;now; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;</P>
<P N="15">15 And his feet like unto fine bra&s;s, as if they bur|ned in a &s;urnace; and his voice as the &s;ound of many waters.</P>
<P N="16">16 And he had in his right hand &s;even &s;tars: and out of his mouth went a &s;harp two-edged &s;word: and his countenance was as the Sun &s;hineth in his &s;trength.</P>
<P N="17">17 And when I &s;aw him, I fell at his feet as dead: and he laid his right hand upon me, &s;aying unto me, Fear not; I am the fir&s;t and the la&s;t.</P>
<P N="18">18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and be|hold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.</P>
<P N="19">19 Write the things which thou ha&s;t &s;een, and the things which are, and the things which &s;hall be hereafter,</P>
<P N="20">20 The my&s;tery of the &s;even &s;tars which thou &s;aw|e&s;t in my right hand, and the &s;even golden candle|&s;ticks. The &s;even &s;tars are the Angels of the &s;even Churches: and the &s;even candle&s;ticks which thou &s;awe&s;t, are the &s;even Churches.</P>
<PB N="184" REF="97">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>THE Revelation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. namely, of things to come to pa&s;s, or future. Wherefore things already come to pa&s;s, &s;uch as are known already to be, and were plainly predicted before by Chri&s;t, to &s;et out the&s;e under prophetick Aenigms or Symbols is no <HI>Revela|tion,</HI> but an <HI>ob&s;curing</HI> of what is known. Be&s;ides the ab|&s;urd contradiction of <HI>Prophe&s;ying</HI> in no le&s;s than two whole &s;ets of Vi&s;ions, the fir&s;t &s;ix Seals, and the fir&s;t &s;ix Trum|pets of <HI>things pa&s;t,</HI> at the time <HI>John</HI> received this Revela|tion, <HI>viz.</HI> in the reign of <HI>Domitian.</HI> Which &s;hews the vanity of <HI>Grotius</HI> his interpreting the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e,</HI> and of as many as follow him, who &s;ix the &s;cene of all tho&s;e Vi&s;ions in <HI>Judaea,</HI> and end them with the &s;acking of the City which was before <HI>John</HI> wrote the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e. Which God gave unto him.</HI> Which is particularly intimated, <HI>chap.</HI> 5.7. And that all the <HI>three main</HI> Prophecies are the Revelation of <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> is mo&s;t magnificently repre&s;ented in the three introdu|ctory Vi&s;ions. For the <HI>Epi&s;tolar prophecy.</HI> He that ap|pears amid&s;t the &s;even golden Candle&s;ticks does dictate it, <HI>chap.</HI> 2.1. and <HI>chap.</HI> 5. <HI>v.</HI> 9. The Lamb onely is found worthy to take the book and open the Seals, whereby he is &s;ignified to be Authour of the <HI>Sealed-book Prophecy.</HI> And <HI>chap.</HI> 10. <HI>v.</HI> 8, 9. The mighty Angel Chri&s;t gives to <HI>John</HI> the little open Book, the third main Prophecy, <HI>viz.</HI> the Opened-book Prophecy. <HI>Which mu&s;t &s;hortly come to pa&s;s.</HI> Some &s;ooner, &s;ome later, but all of them &s;hortly in re|&s;pect of &s;ome Succe&s;&s;ions of Ages, in the Church or other, that they may be advertized of their concerns and &s;tand upon their guard. <HI>Signified it by his Angel.</HI> By who&s;e Mi|ni&s;try the&s;e things through prophetick Vi&s;ions, and Prefi|gurations wrought and impre&s;&s;ed upon his inward man, were conveyed to <HI>John.</HI></P>
<PB N="185" REF="97">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>Who bare record of the word of God.</HI> This there|fore is <HI>John</HI> the <HI>Divine,</HI> &s;o u&s;ually called for his expre&s;s Te&s;timony of the Divinity of Chri&s;t: and the <HI>Evangeli&s;t</HI> for writing his Acts and Miracles.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed is he that readeth,</HI> &amp;c. Ble&s;&s;ed is he that ob&s;erves the things written in this Book of Prophecies, that he may order his life accordingly, and always approve him&s;elf &s;uch as he is by the&s;e Vi&s;ions admoni&s;hed to be, and adhere to Chri&s;t &s;incerely, and to his true Church in all conditions. <HI>For the time is at hand,</HI> namely, for the fulfilling of &s;uch Vi&s;ions as appertain to the earlier &s;cene of the affairs of the Church, and will ever be at hand to the end of the world, for the fulfilling of &s;ome Vi&s;ions of this Book or other.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>John to the &s;even Churches which are in A&s;ia.</HI> A direction of this whole Book of prophetick Vi&s;ions, as of one entire Epi&s;tle to the truly Catholick and Apo&s;tolick Church di&s;tingui&s;hed into &s;even Succe&s;&s;ions; &s;aid to be in <HI>A&s;ia</HI> by a Paronoma&s;tical allu&s;ion, to what <HI>A&s;ia</HI> &s;ignifies in Hebrew, <HI>viz.</HI> 1. <HI>Fundamentum</HI> which implies the truly Catholick and Apo&s;tolick Church, admitting nothing re|pugnant to the fundamentals of Chri&s;tian Religion. 2. <HI>Mundum A&s;iathicum</HI> as the <HI>Cabbali&s;ts</HI> call it, of which this earth is the lowe&s;t part, which therefore intimates the Catholickne&s;s of the&s;e Churches, and that they are not confined to <HI>A&s;ia</HI> in the literal &s;en&s;e. 3. There is al&s;o a third meaning of <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> as it &s;ignifies <HI>Action,</HI> which is more &s;ea&s;onable to take notice of, when we come to the <HI>Epi&s;to|lar Prophecy</HI> properly &s;o called. <HI>Grace and Peace.</HI> All fa|vour, happine&s;s and pro&s;perity. <HI>From him which is,</HI> &amp;c. From the eternal <HI>Jehovah</HI> who gra&s;peth all, pa&s;t pre&s;ent and to come, in the eternity of his Wi&s;edom and Power, a privilege common to the whole Trinity. <HI>And from the &s;even Spirits,</HI> &amp;c. And from all his holy Angels (for &s;e|ven with the <HI>Cabbali&s;ts</HI> &s;ignifies Univer&s;ality) that a&s;&s;i&s;t his Throne, and that Mini&s;ter &s;ent from thence for the good of his people.</P>
<PB N="186" REF="98">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>From Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> that faithfull witne&s;s of the Will of his Father when he was upon earth, and the <HI>fir&s;t begotten of the dead,</HI> the fir&s;t fruits of them that &s;lept, to whom is given the right of all the Kingdoms of the earth, to be Prince over them all, and to rule them in righteou&s;|ne&s;s and Peace. <HI>To him that,</HI> &amp;c. That &s;o loved us, that he laid his life down for us for a Propitiation for our &s;ins, and to wa&s;h us from all the filth thereof through &s;in|cere repentance and mortification of our lu&s;ts, out of a due and gratefull return of love to him that dyed for us.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>And hath made us Kings and Prie&s;ts,</HI> &amp;c. To offer &s;piritual Sacrifices of prayer and thanksgiving to God upon the Victories over our own lu&s;ts, whereby may be introduced a true reign of righteou&s;ne&s;s upon earth. And this will be the real e&s;tabli&s;hment of the Kingdom of God the Father, to whom be Glory and Dominion for ever and ever. <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>Behold he cometh in the Clouds,</HI> (&s;o va&s;t a pro&s;pect have the Prophecies of this Book) and he will judge the whole World at the la&s;t day. And all &s;hall &s;ee him, even they that pierced him and per&s;ecuted him in his own Per|&s;on or members of his true Church which is his Body, and all &s;orts of men &s;hall wait becau&s;e of him, who have thus outragiou&s;ly &s;inned again&s;t him. <HI>Even &s;o Amen.</HI> This is a certain truth, let Scoffers and Unbelievers &s;ay, and imagine what they plea&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>I am Alpha and Omega,</HI> &amp;c. That it may not &s;eem &s;trange, that his providence and power reacheth &s;o far as to the very la&s;t, from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World, he declares he is the Almighty gra&s;ping all things, in the hand of his all-comprehending Divinity.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>In the i&s;le that is called Patmos.</HI> One of the <HI>Cy|clades</HI> &s;o called in the <HI>Aegean</HI> Sea. <HI>For the word of God,</HI> &amp;c. Thither bani&s;hed for the preaching of the word of God, and bearing witne&s;s to the truth of the Go&s;pel of our Lord Je&s;us.</P>
<PB N="187" REF="98">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>I was in the Spirit,</HI> &amp;c. That is to &s;ay, actuated and impre&s;&s;ed upon in my inward man, my mind being va|cant from my earthly Body and external Sen&s;es, and wholly &s;eized by the Divine and Angelical power, which cau&s;ed in it the following Vi&s;ions and prophetical Impre&s;&s;ions, but as lively and clear as any Objects to the outward or cor|poreal Sen&s;es. And when I was thus in the Spirit, and had as it were left the Body in this ec&s;ta&s;ie, <HI>I heard behind me a great voice as of a Trumpet.</HI> Here begins the introductory Vi&s;ion to the fir&s;t of the three main Prophecies that fill this Book, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Epi&s;tolar Prophecy,</HI> properly &s;o called. For he who&s;e voice he heard, after dictates the Epi&s;tles.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>I am Alpha and Omega, the fir&s;t and the la&s;t,</HI> and &s;hall declare unto thee &s;uch things as concern the Church continuedly, from the fir&s;t beginning thereof to the end of the World. <HI>What thou &s;ee&s;t write in a Book.</HI> This mo|nition thus &s;et before all the Apocalyptick Vi&s;ions need not be con&s;ined to this <HI>Epi&s;tolar Prophecy,</HI> but be in|tended for all the Prophecies of this Book. And thus all will be directed to the &s;even Churches in <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> that is, to the truly Catholick and Apo&s;tolick Church di&s;tingui&s;hed into &s;even Succe&s;&s;ions, <HI>Ephe&s;ine, Smyrnean, Pergamenian, Thya|tirian, Sardian, Philadelphian, Laodicean;</HI> Which &s;even Suc|ce&s;&s;ions one after another fill up the whole time of the Church univer&s;al, from the beginning thereof to the end of the World.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>To &s;ee the voice that &s;pake with me,</HI> To &s;ee who it was that &s;pake thus to me, And turning my &s;elf, I &s;aw &s;even golden Candle&s;ticks.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>One like unto the Son of man.</HI> The repre&s;enta|tion namely of Chri&s;t, as he is al&s;o one with his Church. For we are members of his body of his fle&s;h and of his bones, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.30. They two &s;hall be one fle&s;h. This is a great My&s;tery, &s;aith the Apo&s;tle, but I &s;peak of Chri&s;t and his Church. <HI>Cloathed with a Garment down to the foot,</HI> &amp;c. In token that he is our High Prie&s;t, this habit alluding to the High Prie&s;ts ve&s;tments.</P>
<PB N="188" REF="99">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. His hairs white like wooll and Snow, &s;et out the venerablene&s;s of this High Prie&s;t's per&s;on, and &s;ignifie he is that Chri&s;t which the Prophet calls <HI>Councellour</HI> the mighty God, the <HI>everla&s;ting Father.</HI> For the&s;e are Sym|bols of his Wi&s;edom, and paternal Authority. His <HI>Eyes</HI> like a <HI>Flame of fire,</HI> denote the penetrancy of his Provi|dence and Spirit, of di&s;cerning both in him&s;elf and in his Church.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. His <HI>feet</HI> like <HI>fine bra&s;s burning in a furnace,</HI> &s;hew the &s;tability and purity of his ways in him&s;elf, and the con&s;tancy of his Church in the Furnace of Affliction and fiery Tryals. And his voice as the &s;ound of many waters; plainly di&s;covers that Chri&s;t is here repre&s;ented in union with his Church; waters &s;ignifying a multitude in the pro|phetick &s;tyle, as mo&s;t certainly they doe. See the an&s;wer to <HI>S. E.</HI> his remarks on this place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. The <HI>&s;even Stars</HI> in his right hand, according to his own interpretation, are the <HI>&s;even Angels</HI> of the &s;e|ven Succe&s;&s;ions of the Church, whom he bears up, &s;u&s;tains and &s;trengthens throughout all ages. And the <HI>&s;harp two edged Sword</HI> out of his mouth, is a Symbol of Chri&s;t as he is the living God quick and powerfull and &s;harper than any two edged Sword. And denotes al&s;o the powerfull word of the Go&s;pel, preached by the living members of his Church. And his countenance as the <HI>Sun,</HI> betokens his being the Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s, or relates to that which he is in the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> &s;tate where there is no need of <HI>Candle</HI> nor <HI>Sun,</HI> becau&s;e this Sun of righteou&s;ne&s;s gives them light by the influence of his Spirit.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. John <HI>falls</HI> at <HI>his Feet as dead,</HI> as being exceed|ingly afraid, fora&s;much as this &s;ight (the Sword e&s;pe|cially and feet burning in a Furnace) might portend &s;ome great evil to the people of God. Which Chri&s;t's &s;aying to him, <HI>Fear not, I am the fir&s;t and the la&s;t,</HI> &s;eems al&s;o to imply, he thereby intimating, That nothing &s;hall come to pa&s;s without his Providence, and that he is able to car|ry them through all per&s;ecutions and deaths, and make them at la&s;t more than Conquerours.</P>
<PB N="189" REF="99">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. As if he &s;hould &s;ay, For now I am alive, though I was my &s;elf dead once, but behold I am alive for evermore Amen, this is mo&s;t certainly true of him whom this Vi|&s;ion repre&s;ents, and that he has the Keys of Hell and death. And therefore no man need fear to undergo Martyrdom for his cau&s;e, who will certainly make him partaker of a ble&s;&s;ed Immortality, and plunge his barbarous Per&s;ecu|tors into everla&s;ting perdition.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Write the things which thou ha&s;t &s;een,</HI> &amp;c. That is, the things which thou <HI>ha&s;t &s;een</HI> and <HI>known already,</HI> as being pa&s;t, and the things that <HI>are pre&s;ent,</HI> and the things that <HI>are to come after,</HI> viz. The affairs of the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> Suc|ce&s;&s;ion then pa&s;t, of the <HI>Smyrnean</HI> then pre&s;ent, when <HI>John</HI> wrote the&s;e Vi&s;ions, and of the re&s;t of the Succe&s;&s;ions of the Church, which are to come afterwards. Which make up &s;even, and are the &s;even golden Candle&s;ticks in the next ver&s;e, in the <HI>Accu&s;ative</HI> Ca&s;e in the Greek, which the Verb [write] governs in this ver&s;e; or rather they are in the Accu&s;ative Ca&s;e by Appo&s;ition. Which plainly &s;hews that, [The things which thou ha&s;t &s;een] mu&s;t be under&s;tood of the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> Succe&s;&s;ion. As if it were thus immediately. Write the things which thou ha&s;t &s;een, and the things that are, and the things that &s;hall be hereafter, <HI>viz.</HI> the &s;even golden Candle&s;ticks, whereof the fir&s;t is pa&s;t, the &s;econd pre&s;ent, and the five other to come.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>The &s;even Stars are the Angels of the &s;even Churches,</HI> that is, The &s;even Succe&s;&s;ions of Bi&s;hops and Pa&s;tours, that are to &s;hine forth in brightne&s;s and purity of their Life and Doctrine, in the &s;even Succe&s;&s;ions of the Churches. As the &s;even Candle&s;ticks, (the &s;even Succe&s;&s;ions of the Apo&s;tolick Church) are here called &s;even Churches.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="190" REF="100">
<HEAD>CHAP. II.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>Part of the fir&s;t of the three main Prophecies, name|ly of the</HI> Epi&s;tolar Prophecy <HI>properly &s;o called, to the &s;e|ven Churches in</HI> A&s;ia, <HI>containing the four fir&s;t Epi&s;tles thereof, writ to the Church in</HI> Ephe&s;us, <HI>in</HI> Smyrna, <HI>in</HI> Pergamus, <HI>and in</HI> Thyatira, <HI>and thereby de&s;cribing the &s;tate of the truly Catholick and Apo&s;tolick Church, in tho&s;e four fir&s;t Succe&s;&s;ions or intervals thereof.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>UNTO the angel of the church of Ephe&s;us, write, The&s;e things &s;aith he that holdeth the &s;even &s;tars in his right hand, who walketh in the mid&s;t of the &s;even golden candle&s;ticks:</P>
<P N="2">2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou can&s;t not bear them which are evil: and thou ha&s;t tried them which &s;ay they are apo&s;tles, and are not; and ha&s;t found them liars:</P>
<P N="3">3 And ha&s;t born, and ha&s;t patience, and for my names &s;ake ha&s;t laboured, and ha&s;t not fainted.</P>
<P N="4">4 Neverthele&s;s, I have &s;omewhat again&s;t thee, be|cau&s;e thou ha&s;t left thy fir&s;t love.</P>
<P N="5">5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the fir&s;t works; or el&s;e I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candle&s;tick out of his place, except thou repent.</P>
<P N="6">6 But this thou ha&s;t, that thou hate&s;t the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I al&s;o hate.</P>
<P N="7">7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit &s;aith unto the churches; To him that over|cometh
<PB N="191" REF="100">cometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the mid&s;t of the paradi&s;e of God.</P>
<P N="8">8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna, write, The&s;e things &s;aith the fir&s;t and the la&s;t, which was dead, and is alive;</P>
<P N="9">9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and po|verty (but thou art rich) and I know the bla&s;phe|my of them which &s;ay they are Jews, and are not, but are the &s;ynagogue of Satan.</P>
<P N="10">10 Fear none of tho&s;e things which thou &s;halt &s;uffer: behold, the devil &s;hall ca&s;t &s;ome of you into pri&s;on, that ye may be tried; and ye &s;hall have tri|bulation ten days: be thou faithfull unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.</P>
<P N="11">11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit &s;aith unto the churches; He that overcometh, &s;hall not be hurt of the &s;econd death.</P>
<P N="12">12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos, write, The&s;e things &s;aith he, who hath the &s;harp &s;word with two edges:</P>
<P N="13">13 I know thy works, and where thou dwelle&s;t, even where Satans &s;eat is: and thou holde&s;t fa&s;t my name, and ha&s;t not denied my faith, even in tho&s;e days wherein Antipas was my faithfull martyr, who was &s;lain among you, where Satan dwelleth.</P>
<P N="14">14 But I have a few things again&s;t thee, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t there them that hold the doctrine of Ba|laam, who taught Balac to ca&s;t a &s;tumbling block be|fore the children of I&s;rael, to eat things &s;acrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.</P>
<P N="15">15 So ha&s;t thou al&s;o them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.</P>
<PB N="192" REF="101">
<P N="16">16 Repent; or el&s;e I will come unto thee quickly, and will &s;ight again&s;t them with the &s;word of my mouth.</P>
<P N="17">17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit &s;aith unto the churches, To him that overcom|eth will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white &s;tone, and in the &s;tone a new name written, which no man knoweth, &s;aving he that receiveth it.</P>
<P N="18">18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira, write, The&s;e things &s;aith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a &s;lame of &s;ire, and his feet are like &s;ine bra&s;s:</P>
<P N="19">19 I know thy works, and charity, and &s;ervice, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the la&s;t to be more than the fir&s;t.</P>
<P N="20">20 Notwith&s;tanding, I have a few things again&s;t thee, becau&s;e thou &s;uffere&s;t that woman Jezebel, which calleth her &s;elf a prophete&s;s, to teach and to &s;educe my &s;ervants to commit fornication, and to eat things &s;acrificed unto idols.</P>
<P N="21">21 And I gave her &s;pace to repent of her forni|cation, and &s;he repented not.</P>
<P N="22">22 Behold, I will ca&s;t her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulati|on, except they repent of their deeds.</P>
<P N="23">23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches &s;hall know that I am he which &s;earch|eth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.</P>
<P N="24">24 But unto you I &s;ay, and unto the re&s;t in Thya|tira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they &s;peak, I will put upon you none other burden.</P>
<PB N="193" REF="101">
<P N="25">25 But that which ye have already, hold fa&s;t till I come.</P>
<P N="26">26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:</P>
<P N="27">27 (And he &s;hall rule them with a rod of iron: as the ve&s;&s;els of a potter &s;hall they be broken to &s;hivers) even as I received of my Father.</P>
<P N="28">28 And I will give him the morning &s;tar.</P>
<P N="29">29 He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit &s;aith unto the churches.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P>AFter the introductory Vi&s;ion to the <HI>Epi&s;tolar Prophecy</HI> in the foregoing Chapter, we are come now to the Prophecy it &s;elf. And that the&s;e &s;even Epi&s;tles are &s;uch a Prophecy as has been a&s;&s;erted, if any one doubt let him read Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his twenty Arguments at the end of his <HI>Expo&s;ition of</HI> Daniel<HI>'s Vi&s;ions,</HI> with his Notes on tho&s;e Ar|guments and he may receive full &s;atisfaction. And how little har&s;h it is, that the fir&s;t Epi&s;tle is wrote to the <HI>E|phe&s;ine</HI> Church then pa&s;t, you may under&s;tand from what the &s;ame Authour has writ in his <HI>Expo&s;ition of the &s;even Epi&s;tles to the &s;even Churches,</HI> chap. 1. &s;ect. 4, 5. or out of his Notes, in <HI>Apocalyp&s;is Apocalyp&s;eos,</HI> chap. 1. v. 19. And that a &s;et of Vi&s;ions of large extent, may take in &s;ome &s;mall &s;hare of time pa&s;t from the Epocha, is made good in his <HI>Arithmetica Apocalyptica,</HI> if any one &s;hould &s;cruple about the&s;e things, which it were too long here to make out. I will onely adverti&s;e the Reader, that whereas the other two Prophecies of the Apocalyp&s;e run altogether upon <HI>Real</HI> Symbols or Iconi&s;ms, <HI>viz.</HI> Repre&s;entations or Images of what is foretold taken from <HI>Things,</HI> this fir&s;t Prophecy runs upon <HI>Nominal</HI> or Paronoma&s;tical Iconi&s;ms, or
<PB N="194" REF="102">Images, con&s;i&s;ting in allu&s;ion to <HI>Words</HI> or <HI>Names</HI> of per&s;ons or places, which &s;ignifie the condition of matters foretold. And la&s;tly, let the Reader take notice of this rule, That what things clo&s;ely precede the Epiphonema [he that hath an ear to hear, <HI>&amp;c.</HI>] re&s;pect the external &s;tate of the Church; But what follows it refers to a more &s;piritual &s;tate and in|vi&s;ible.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>&V;nto the Angel of the Church of Ephe&s;us,</HI> that is, To the Bi&s;hops or Pa&s;tours (which meaning of Angel in the&s;e Epi&s;tles, let it be &s;ufficient here once to have noted for all) of the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, which begins with the beginning of the Church of Chri&s;t (which the allu&s;ion of <HI>Ephe&s;us</HI> to <HI>Aphe&s;is</HI> as in <HI>Hippaphe&s;is,</HI> the emi&s;&s;ion of the Ra|cers from the li&s;ts, &s;eems to import, this being the fir&s;t &s;et|ting out in the whole decur&s;ion of the race of the Church, to the end of all) and ends in the tenth of <HI>Nero,</HI> a &s;hort period and yet, (which &s;till the word <HI>Ephe&s;us</HI> by allu&s;ion may intimate) &s;ubject to change. For <HI>Aphe&s;is</HI> &s;ignifies <HI>Re|mi&s;&s;ion</HI> or Remi&s;ne&s;s, as well as <HI>Emi&s;&s;ion,</HI> and this <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> Church is blamed, v. 4. as having left her fir&s;t love. But the mo&s;t plain and principal allu&s;ion of <HI>Ephe&s;us</HI> is to <HI>Ephe|&s;is,</HI> which &s;ignifies earne&s;t purpo&s;e and de&s;ire through the love of Chri&s;t to advance his Kingdoms. This was their &s;erious aim at fir&s;t; as he on the white Hor&s;e with a bow in his hand aiming at the Crown which was given him, begins the Prophecy of the &s;ealed Book. <HI>The&s;e things &s;aith he that holdeth the &s;even Stars in his right hand,</HI> &amp;c. He &s;alutes them under the Title of this part of his former Repre&s;enta|tion, that they run the race more cheerfully that now is be|gun, he going along with them even to the end thereof, &s;up|porting, comforting and guiding all the &s;ucce&s;&s;ions of the Bi|&s;hops and Pa&s;tours of the Church that Labour in the word and doctrine, and is in the mid&s;t of all the Succe&s;&s;ions of the Church throughout all <HI>Ages,</HI> minding their Conver&s;ation and a&s;&s;i&s;ting them that are true of heart, even to the end of the World.</P>
<PB N="195" REF="102">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>I know thy works.</HI> This is a form of Speech Chri&s;t makes u&s;e of to every one of the &s;even Churches in <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> which well agrees with the allu&s;ion to the Hebrew word <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> &s;ignifying <HI>Action,</HI> as if they were the &s;even Churches in action, for from this Topick, properly is all prai&s;e and di&s;prai&s;e. <HI>And thou ha&s;t tryed them,</HI> &amp;c. He commends them al&s;o, that they con&s;i&s;t and try &s;uch as pre|tend to be &s;ent from him, and to be Apo&s;tles and are not, but are lyars and deceivers, mere impo&s;tours and Coun|terfeits.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. He commends them for their fir&s;t great fervency, and de&s;ire of enlarging his Church or Kingdom, and bear|ing patiently all cro&s;&s;es and difficulties they meet with in carrying on the work, and for not fainting under &s;o great pains and travel.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Thou ha&s;t left thy fir&s;t love.</HI> There is not that earne&s;t affection for me as at fir&s;t, nor fervency and zeal for the enlargement of my Kingdom, but you are more cold and remi&s;s.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Remember,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>i. e.</HI> Act with that con&s;tancy, fervency and &s;incerity you did before, or el&s;e I will rai&s;e &s;uch a Tempe&s;t of per&s;ecution again&s;t the Church, that &s;he &s;hall not be able to keep her place, but be &s;haken and driven with the violence thereof. This therefore &s;ignifies the vi&s;ible &s;tate of the Church in the next interval.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>Thou hate&s;t the deeds of the Nicolaitans.</HI> This &s;eems to be in&s;erted to intimate the narrow bounds of this fir&s;t &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the Church, that it was before <HI>Ni|colaiti&s;m</HI> broke out. For if that had broke out then in the Church, &s;he had &s;tood guilty of it. But &s;he abhorred from that uncleane&s;s that after broke out, and was noted by the name of <HI>Nicolaiti&s;m,</HI> though &s;he &s;tood guilty of that Re|mi&s;ne&s;s mentioned before.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>What the Spirit &s;aith unto the Churches,</HI> namely, in the&s;e prophetical Parables. For it is of great concern and Edi|fication for them to con&s;ider and under&s;tand them, through all the Succe&s;&s;ions of the Churches, that what is recom|mended they may follow, and e&s;chew the contrary at all
<PB N="196" REF="103">times. <HI>To eat of the tree of Life.</HI> He that overcometh through his much labour and pains, he &s;hall be refre&s;hed with the food of the tree of Life, and for his patience and &s;ufferings enjoy the plea&s;ures of Paradi&s;e in Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>The Church of Smyrna. Smyrna</HI> is the &s;ame that <HI>Myrrha</HI> Myrrh, from a Syriack word, that &s;ignifies <HI>bitter.</HI> By which therefore is under&s;tood the bitterne&s;s of affliction and per&s;ecution in this interval of the Church, which rea|ches from the end of the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> interval to about the three hundred and twenty fourth year of Chri&s;t. <HI>The fir&s;t and the la&s;t which was dead and is alive.</HI> This part of the foregoing Repre&s;entation of Chri&s;t is made his Title here for an encouragement in the bloudy per&s;ecuting times the Church in this &s;ucce&s;&s;ion is in; intimating that tho&s;e that dye Martyrs &s;hall as a&s;&s;uredly be alive again, as Chri&s;t him&s;elf, who was once martyred and crucified. And his being the fir&s;t and the la&s;t implies that he will make the Church hold out to the end, and &s;tand Conquerour in the field.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>But thou art rich,</HI> Rich in grace, full of Chri&s;tian patience, and meekne&s;s, and invincible courage again&s;t all the dangers of death. <HI>That &s;ay they are Jews and are not,</HI> &amp;c. That &s;ay they are Chri&s;tians and are not (for &s;o <HI>Jews</HI> &s;ignifie in the Apocalyptick &s;tyle) and &s;o by their da&s;tard|line&s;s and per&s;idiou&s;ne&s;s, bla&s;pheme and di&s;honour that noble name and calling, by proving them&s;elves of the Sy|nagogue of Satan, and betrayers of the Kingdom of their Lord that bought them, fa&s;t Slaves to the fle&s;h, and impatient of all per&s;ecution, wor&s;e than <HI>Peter,</HI> whom notwith&s;tand|ing when he would have di&s;couraged Chri&s;t from his &s;uffer|ings on the Cro&s;s, he &s;harply rebuked with a, <HI>Get thee be|hind me Satan,</HI> for thou &s;avoure&s;t not the things of God.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Fear none of tho&s;e things,</HI> &amp;c. Nor imitate that ba&s;e cowardi&s;e of that Synagogue of Satan, for they are no Church of mine, but a Cage of perfidious Hypocrites. <HI>Behold the Devil,</HI> &amp;c. The Devil and his Mini&s;ters under Pagani&s;m will ca&s;t &s;ome of you into Pri&s;on, for the tryal of your faith and con&s;tancy, ye &s;hall have the Tribulation
<PB N="197" REF="103">of ten days, even of tho&s;e ten bloudy Per&s;ecutions under the Pagan Emperours. But be in no wi&s;e di&s;couraged, but continue faithfull unto death and I will give you a Crown of Life, even the imperial Crown, <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> tur|ning Chri&s;tian, which will be a Crown of Life and &s;ecu|rity to you my Church, and &s;ave you from death and per|&s;ecution. This &s;hall be the external effect, and fruit of your &s;ufferings, or the political reward thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>Shall not be hurt by the &s;econd death.</HI> He that &s;tands out this tryal and valiantly &s;uffers Martyrdom, &s;hall not be hurt of the &s;econd death, but have his part in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection accordingly as it was written. <HI>Apoc.</HI> 20.6. Ble&s;&s;ed and Holy is he, that has part in the fir&s;t Re&s;ur|rection, on &s;uch the &s;econd death hath no power; And the ancient Fathers have thus under&s;tood it. And this El|liptical way of putting one part of a Sentence thereby to imply the other is u&s;ual in the Apocalyptick &s;tyle. This therefore is the promi&s;ed privilege of tho&s;e Martyrs, that &s;uf|fered per&s;ecution in this <HI>Smyrnean</HI> Succe&s;&s;ion of the Church, under the ten hot Per&s;ecutions. And as being invi&s;ible is placed after the <HI>Epiphonema,</HI> as that political promi&s;e be|fore it: According to the rule noted above.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>The Church in Pergamus.</HI> The word <HI>Pergamus</HI> &s;ignifies the high Towers in <HI>Troy.</HI> And the Church in <HI>Per|gamus</HI> here &s;ignifies the exaltation of the Church, out of her <HI>Smyrnean</HI> Humiliation and affliction, and the exce&s;&s;ive pride al&s;o, and Fa&s;tuo&s;ity of the idolatrous Hierarchy growing up to the top in this interval. Which reaches from the end of the <HI>Smyrnean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, <HI>viz.</HI> from the year three hundred and twenty four, to the year one thou|&s;and two hundred forty two, when the Popes Legate <HI>Ame|line,</HI> with <HI>Trancavel</HI> the ba&s;tard Son of Count <HI>Beziers</HI> ended the War of the <HI>Albigen&s;es. Which hath the &s;harp Sword with two edges.</HI> Here is another Ellip&s;is [coming out of his mouth] being under&s;tood. Which is the Sword of the &s;pirit in oppo&s;ition to the Sword, and arm of fle&s;h that per&s;ecuted the true Church in this &s;ucce&s;&s;ion.</P>
<PB N="198" REF="104">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>I know thy works,</HI> &amp;c. I ob&s;erve how well thou carrie&s;t thy &s;elf, though thou dwelle&s;t under the Dominion and Juri&s;diction of the fir&s;t born of <HI>Lucifer,</HI> that Man of Sin and Son of Pride, a right <HI>Pergamenian,</HI> lofty and haughty, and yet thou holde&s;t fa&s;t to my Authority and the pure Chri&s;tian profe&s;&s;ion, nor ha&s;t apo&s;tatized from the ancient faith and purity of wor&s;hip untainted with Super&s;tition and Idolatry; no not in tho&s;e days when <HI>Antipas,</HI> tho&s;e faith|full and couragious oppo&s;ers of Holy Father the Pope (for &s;o the word <HI>Antipas</HI> plainly &s;ignifies) the <HI>Walden&s;es</HI> and <HI>Al|bigen&s;es</HI> were cruelly &s;lain with the &s;word within the Juri&s;|diction of that fir&s;t-born of <HI>Luci&s;er.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>Becau&s;e thou ha&s;t there them,</HI> &amp;c. You have tho&s;e that comply with the P&s;eudo-prophet <HI>Balaam,</HI> the lofty Lord of the People (for &s;o <HI>Balaam</HI> &s;ignifies) who hath taught <HI>Balac</HI> the Secular Power, now but a &s;hadow or cypher, it being in this Interval <HI>evacuate</HI> in a manner (as the Name imports) by the over-topping of the power Ec|cle&s;ia&s;tical, to force the <HI>I&s;raelites,</HI> that is, the Chri&s;tians (of which the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> were a Type) to come to Ma&s;s, and by partaking thereof, to partake of Idolatry, they making, by their Idolatrous u&s;ages there, the Lord's Sup|per, which is a fea&s;t upon a &s;acrifice, like to the feeding upon <HI>Idolothyta,</HI> upon things &s;acrificed unto Idols.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>So ha&s;t thou al&s;o,</HI> &amp;c. And be&s;ides the&s;e Com|pliers with the Ma&s;s, though they be in their own judgments again&s;t it, there are among&s;t you al&s;o that indulge too much to the liberty of the fle&s;h, and imitate the Sect of the <HI>Nicolaitans,</HI> a thing which my &s;oul abhors.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>Repent or el&s;e I will come unto thee quickly.</HI> Amend the&s;e faults or el&s;e I will come unto you quickly, by a more &s;trict vigilancy of the Lords of the Inqui&s;ition (who&s;e Rule was mo&s;t notorious in the &s;ucceeding Interval of the Church) and then the more frequent terrour of being burnt at the &s;take will more effectually extingui&s;h the flames of your wantonne&s;s and lu&s;t. Be ye therefore pure and <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 word"> I am holy and pure. <HI>And will fight again&s;t them with the &s;word of my mouth.</HI> See ver&s;e 12. <HI>viz.</HI> Again&s;t the
<PB N="199" REF="104"><HI>Balaamites</HI> or Po<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">ti&s;icians. This therefore &s;ets out the ex|ternal &s;tate of the Church in the following Interval, as coming before the <HI>Fpiphonema.</HI> That whereas in this <HI>Per|gamenian</HI> Interval the War betwixt the Bea&s;t and the Saints, or Witne&s;&s;es, was in a notorious manner carried on with the &s;word in the field <HI>[Antipas]</HI> the <HI>Albigen&s;es</HI> in va&s;t num|bers being &s;lain therewith, here it is promi&s;ed that in the following Interval, not a material Sword, but the Sword of Chri&s;t's mouth, the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, again&s;t the &s;ire and &s;word of the Bea&s;t in this continued fight, &s;hall at la&s;t prevail, cut off whole Na|tions from the Idolatrous <HI>Roman</HI> Church, and obtain a con|&s;iderable victory. This is a reward Political and Vi&s;ible for the faithfull ones in <HI>Pergamus,</HI> I mean for their labours and &s;ufferings, to be fulfilled in the next Interval at the clo&s;e thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>To eat of the hidden Manna.</HI> He that &s;tands out in purity of heart and a good con&s;cience, he in&s;tead of that &s;weet con&s;ecrated Ma&s;s-wafer that pretended vi&s;ible Manna &s;hall eat of the true hidden &s;piritual Manna &s;poken of, <HI>John</HI> 6.55. And if he dye, he &s;hall eat Angels food, and pa&s;s into their communion and &s;ociety. <HI>And will give him a white &s;tone,</HI> &amp;c. that is, Though he be accu&s;ed and con|demned for an Heretick by this lofty <HI>Roman</HI> or <HI>Pergamenian</HI> Church (for <HI>Rome</HI> &s;ignifies loftine&s;s as well as <HI>Pergamus</HI>) where Satan the Accu&s;er dwells, yet I will give him a white &s;tone and ab&s;olve him <HI>in Foro divino.</HI> Or I will give him the white &s;tone in which a new Name is written, that is, I will confirm and e&s;tabli&s;h him in the new Birth, and give to him that pure and permanent ine&s;timable Pearl of the Divine nature, which none knows but he that has it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>The Church of Thyatira.</HI> The City <HI>Thyatira</HI> was &s;o called from the Greek word that &s;ignifies a daughter. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Preface to his <HI>Expo&s;ition of the &s;even Churches,</HI> Sect. 10, 11. And <HI>Rome</HI> is here called <HI>Thyatira</HI> in this Inter|val for her effeminatene&s;s, but e&s;pecially for her more no|toriou&s;ly wor&s;hipping the Virgin <HI>Mary</HI> as the daughter of God, as they al&s;o call her, in the highe&s;t &s;en&s;e, more by
<PB N="200" REF="105">far than the Son of God him&s;elf. See Dr. <HI>Brevint</HI>'s <HI>Saul</HI> and <HI>Samuel</HI> at <HI>Endor,</HI> chap. 5.6, 7, 8. and it will &s;eem in|credible to thee, but that the exce&s;s of that Idolatrous wor|&s;hip given to the Virgin <HI>Mary</HI> in this Interval by the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> is here pre&s;igured and per&s;tringed in this Name <HI>Thyatira</HI> as it &s;ignifies a daughter. But there is an allu&s;ion al&s;o to the Greek word <HI>Thyateria,</HI> Altars of burnt-offerings, the burning of Martyrs being &s;o wonderfully frequent in this <HI>Thyatirian</HI> Interval, which begins at the ending of the former &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, and reacheth till the time that whole Nations for&s;ook the Communion of the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> in the Reformation begun by <HI>Luther. Saith the Son of God.</HI> He is called the <HI>Son of man</HI> in his foregoing de&s;cription, <HI>chap.</HI> 1.13. not the Son of God, yet this is part of his Title here, as &s;peaking to tho&s;e that dwell among&s;t them that make the Virgin <HI>Mary</HI> in as high a way or higher (as to wor&s;hip) the daughter of God. <HI>His eyes like unto a flame of fire,</HI> denoting clearne&s;s of di&s;cernment and fiery indig|nation again&s;t the gro&s;s Idolatries of this Interval. <HI>And his feet like fine bra&s;s.</HI> Here's an Ellip&s;is again, wherein is un|der&s;tood [as if they burned in a furnace] which again in|timates the frequent burnings of the &s;ervants of Chri&s;t in this Interval.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>And the la&s;t to be more than the fir&s;t.</HI> Toward the latter end of this <HI>Thyatirian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion their Works were more and greater than before. Which is a noble Te&s;timony to the zeal and &s;incerity of tho&s;e that began the Reforma|tion.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>Thou &s;uffere&s;t the woman Jezebel.</HI> The <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy or Prie&s;thood (&s;ee Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Expo&s;ition of the &s;even Churches,</HI> chap. 6. &s;ect. 9, 10.) when now in this Interval things are come to that maturity, that thou may&s;t ca&s;t her off, and free thy &s;elf from this unju&s;t and Idolatrous yoke. This is &s;poke to the Powers and Principalities held under by her. <HI>Which calleth her &s;elf a Prophete&s;s,</HI> but is indeed a P&s;eudo-prophete&s;s, a fal&s;e teacher and &s;educer of my &s;ervants, the &s;ame with the fal&s;e Prophet el&s;ewhere mentioned in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e. To eat things &s;acrificed unto
<PB N="201" REF="105">Idols.</HI> To bring them to the Communion of the Idolatrous Ma&s;s: &s;ee ver&s;e 14. Wherefore &s;uffer no longer this <HI>Jezebel,</HI> but according to the <HI>Omen</HI> and Fate of her Name (which &s;ignifies either <HI>loathed Dung,</HI> or <HI>deprived of her dwelling</HI>) let her be ca&s;t out and reputed as the dung of the Earth. See 2 <HI>Kings</HI> chap. 9. v. 33, 37.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. <HI>And I gave her &s;pace to repent,</HI> &amp;c. Since my monition to her by the <HI>Walden&s;es</HI> and <HI>Albigen&s;es,</HI> but &s;he re|mained &s;till obdurate and impenitent.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. <HI>I will ca&s;t her into a bed</HI> of langui&s;hment, in&s;tead of that large bed of wantonne&s;s (in which the Kings of the Earth have &s;o univer&s;ally committed fornication with her) and tho&s;e that are her Paramours into great affliction, un|le&s;s they de&s;i&s;t from their u&s;ual gro&s;s Idolatries &s;o &s;canda|lous in the eyes of all &s;ober Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. <HI>And I will kill her children with death,</HI> that is, either by the &s;word coming out of my mouth I &s;hall make them dead to her by conver&s;ion to the Truth. Or I will kill them by a natural Death, namely her Emi&s;&s;aries and Armies that may be &s;ent again&s;t my true Church. Which therefore may re&s;pect the en&s;uing &s;ucce&s;&s;ion which is under the Vials. <HI>And all the Churches &s;hall know,</HI> &amp;c. All the Chri&s;tian World &s;hall ring of the righteou&s;ne&s;s of my judgments, who have my eyes like a bright flame of fire di&s;cerning the Hypocri&s;ie of a painted Idolatrous Church, and burning with indigna|tion again&s;t it, and in due time giving to every one accor|ding to his demerits.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. <HI>As many as have not this doctrine,</HI> nor comply with the Idolatrous form of the <HI>Roman</HI> Religion. <HI>And not known the depths of Satan.</HI> Tho&s;e deep Rea&s;ons of State, as they phra&s;e it, that frame Religion &s;o as if there were no God really, nor Chri&s;t, that &s;uperintends his Church, but as if Religion were onely to be a trick of State, to rule or fool the people with. To you that abhor &s;uch impieties, I will give you no farther trouble.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. Per&s;i&s;t onely in the good way you are in, and hold fa&s;t to the truth, till I come and take the Papal yoke from off your neck.</P>
<PB N="202" REF="106">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. <HI>He that overcomes,</HI> &amp;c. They that with invin|cible patience and courage &s;tand out to the la&s;t, that keep faith and a good con&s;cience in de&s;pight of all the <HI>Thyati|rian</HI> Per&s;ecutions, the&s;e people with their Princes and Go|vernours &s;hall at the end, namely in the la&s;t Semitime of the &s;even, get the <HI>Nations</HI> under them, that is, the <HI>Paganochri|&s;tians,</HI> become in a manner <HI>Heathens</HI> by their Idolatrous practices and Barbarous cruelties.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. And they &s;hall rigidly enough, and &s;everely rule them, &s;o that they &s;hall not be able to whinch but at their own peril, and the <HI>Paganochri&s;tian</HI> compages or con|&s;titution &s;hall lye broken to fitters like a Potter's ve&s;&s;es. This &s;hall &s;o far come to pa&s;s, as I &s;hall then have received of my Father. Which prediction reaches into the next Interval. But that in the foregoing ver&s;e is the clo&s;e of this Succe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 28. <HI>And I will give him the Morning-Star.</HI> Not the <HI>bright</HI> Morning-Star, (which State belongs rather to the <HI>Millennial</HI> Empire of Chri&s;t) but yet the <HI>early</HI> Morning-Star, as the word in the Original &s;ignifies. Which began to appear in the &s;econd month of the &s;eventh Semitime at the partial fall of <HI>Babylon</HI> and the then Ri&s;ing of the Wit|ne&s;&s;es, in the Reformation begun by <HI>Luther.</HI> Which was the final i&s;&s;ue of the three times and an halfs War of the Saints or Witne&s;&s;es with the Paganochri&s;tian Bea&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 29. <HI>He that hath an ear,</HI> &amp;c. Nothing following this <HI>Epiphonema,</HI> or rather the promi&s;es of reward going before it, plainly &s;hews, that they belong to this life, and to the vi&s;ible State of the Church on Earth.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="203" REF="106">
<HEAD>CHAP. III.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The remaining part of the fir&s;t of the three main Prophe|cies,</HI> viz. <HI>of the</HI> Epi&s;tolar Prophecy <HI>to the &s;even Churches in</HI> A&s;ia, <HI>containing the three la&s;t Epi&s;tles thereof, writ to the Church of</HI> Sardis, <HI>of</HI> Philadelphia <HI>and of</HI> Laodicea, <HI>and there|by &s;etting out the State of the truly Catholick Church in tho&s;e three la&s;t Succe&s;&s;ions or Intervals thereof reaching to the end of the World.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND unto the Angel of the Church in Sardis, write, The&s;e things, &s;aith he, that hath the &s;e|ven Spirits of God, and the &s;even Stars; I know thy works, that thou ha&s;t a name that thou live&s;t, and art dead.</P>
<P N="2">2 Be watchfull, and &s;trengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.</P>
<P N="3">3 Remember therefore how thou ha&s;t received, and heard, and hold fa&s;t, and repent. If therefore thou &s;halt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou &s;halt not know what hour I will come upon thee.</P>
<P N="4">4 Thou ha&s;t a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; and they &s;hall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.</P>
<P N="5">5 He that overcometh, the &s;ame &s;hall be cloathed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; but I will confe&s;s his name before my Father, and before his Angels.</P>
<P N="6">6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spi|rit &s;aith unto the Churches.</P>
<PB N="204" REF="107">
<P N="7">7 And to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia, write, The&s;e things &s;aith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that open|eth, and no man &s;hutteth; and &s;hutteth, and no man openeth;</P>
<P N="8">8 I know thy works: behold I have &s;et before thee an open door, and no man can &s;hut it: for thou ha&s;t a little &s;trength, and ha&s;t kept my word, and ha&s;t not denied my Name.</P>
<P N="9">9 Behold, I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan, which &s;ay they are Jews, and are not, but do lie: behold, I will make them to come and wor|&s;hip before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.</P>
<P N="10">10 Becau&s;e thou ha&s;t kept the word of my pa|tience, I al&s;o will keep thee from the hour of temp|tation, which &s;hall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.</P>
<P N="11">11 Behold, I come quickly, hold that fa&s;t which thou ha&s;t, that no man take thy crown.</P>
<P N="12">12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he &s;hall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Hieru&s;alem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new Name.</P>
<P N="13">13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit &s;aith unto the Churches.</P>
<P N="14">14 And unto the Angel of the Church of the Lao|diceans, write, The&s;e things &s;aith the Amen, the faithfull and true witne&s;s, the beginning of the creation of God:</P>
<PB N="205" REF="107">
<P N="15">15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot, I would thou wert cold or hot.</P>
<P N="16">16 So then becau&s;e thou art lukewarm, and nei|ther cold nor hot, I will &s;pue thee out of my mouth:</P>
<P N="17">17 Becau&s;e thou &s;aye&s;t, I am rich and increa&s;ed with goods, and have need of nothing: and knowe&s;t not that thou art wretched, and mi&s;erable, and poor, and blind, and naked.</P>
<P N="18">18 I coun&s;el thee to buy of me gold tryed in the fire, that thou may&s;t be rich, and white raiment, that thou may&s;t be cloathed, and that the &s;hame of thy nakedne&s;s do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with eye-&s;alve, that thou may&s;t &s;ee.</P>
<P N="19">19 As many as I love, I rebuke and cha&s;ten; be zealous therefore, and repent.</P>
<P N="20">20 Behold, I &s;tand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will &s;up with him, and he with me.</P>
<P N="21">21 To him that overcometh will I grant to &s;it with me in my throne, even as I al&s;o overcame, and am &s;et down with my Father in his throne.</P>
<P N="22">22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spi|rit &s;aith unto the Churches.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>THE Church in Sardis.</HI> The Church in <HI>Sardis</HI> are the Reformed Churches. The Paronoma|&s;tical allu&s;ions in the name <HI>Sardis</HI> are, 1. To the <HI>Lapis Sar|dius,</HI> which <HI>exhilarates</HI> the mind of him that wears it, and is an Amulet again&s;t <HI>Witchcraft</HI> and Poi&s;on, which may typifie the comfortable doctrine of Ju&s;tification in the Re|formed
<PB N="206" REF="108">Churches, and their being freed from the poy&s;on|ous Cup, and Enchantments (<HI>Apoc.</HI> 17.) of that <HI>Babylo|ni&s;h</HI> Woman. 2. To the &s;ame &s;tone as it is called in Hebrew <HI>Odem</HI> (which &s;ounds near to <HI>Edom</HI>) and in Latin <HI>Carna|lina,</HI> which in&s;inuates their <HI>Carnality</HI> in &s;everal points of doctrine and practice; of which &s;ee Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Expo&s;i|tion of the &s;even Churches,</HI> chap. 7. And la&s;tly to <HI>Sardis</HI> as it &s;ignifies in Hebrew, a <HI>Song of Joy</HI> or Joy breaking out into &s;inging, which &s;utes well with their Joy at the ri&s;ing of the witne&s;&s;es &s;ignified by tho&s;e Harpers with the Harps of God in their hands, <HI>Apoc. chap.</HI> 15. The <HI>Sardian</HI> in|terval begins where the <HI>Thyatirian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion ends, that is, when Prote&s;tanti&s;m had become the Religion of Nations and Kingdoms; and it reaches to the la&s;t Vial, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 16. <HI>That hath the &s;even Spirits of God and the &s;even Stars.</HI> That hath in his power and di&s;po&s;al all the divine Graces and heavenly Ho&s;ts or Companies of Angels for the a&s;&s;i&s;tence of his Church, and all the Bi&s;hops and Pa&s;tours thereof (ty|pi&s;ied by the &s;even Stars) <HI>viz.</HI> in his right hand. For here occurs another <HI>Ellip&s;is</HI> again; And by having them in his hand is denoted their being in his power, guidance and pro|tection; a de&s;cription of Chri&s;t, like that in the Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> Church: As if it were the very beginning and Emerging again of the true Apo&s;tolick Church, that had lain hid in the Wilderne&s;s of Paganochri&s;tiani&s;m. <HI>Thou ha&s;t a Name that thou live&s;t and art dead.</HI> I ob&s;erve how mean and wretched thou art in compari&s;on of what thou oughte&s;t to be, and how thou ha&s;t a name that thou liv|e&s;t, as being &s;o full of Zeal, for or again&s;t this <HI>Ceremony</HI> and that <HI>Opinion,</HI> with hot and nice di&s;putes about <HI>Faith</HI> and <HI>Ju&s;tification,</HI> but I will a&s;&s;ure thee, be thou as full of life and activity as thou wilt about &s;uch things, if thou ha&s;t not that <HI>Faith</HI> which worketh by love, thou art nothing in my e&s;teem. Who&s;oever is devoid of a due degree of <HI>Cha|rity</HI> and <HI>&V;n&s;elf-intere&s;&s;ed love,</HI> let him be reputed to live as much as he will, he is accounted dead in my &s;ight.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>Be watchfull.</HI> Keep a guard over thine own heart, and breathe after unfeigned Charity, which is the bond of
<PB N="207" REF="108">Perfection, and will prevent all Schi&s;ms and Factions, and tye the Members of reformed Chri&s;tendom in one heart, and in one mind to their Governours <HI>Temporal</HI> and <HI>Spi|ritual,</HI> and to one another. <HI>And &s;trengthen the things,</HI> &amp;c. Revive and corroborate in you the things that remain, <HI>viz.</HI> Faith in God and in the Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, and of a ble&s;&s;ed immortality after this Life; the&s;e you yet profe&s;s, though <HI>Infidelity</HI> and <HI>Athei&s;m</HI> with <HI>Sen&s;uality</HI> and Liber|tini&s;m have grown much upon you, &s;o that the belief even of the&s;e nece&s;&s;ary things are ready to dye al&s;o. <HI>Perfect be|fore God,</HI> For you do not go on towards perfection, nor are you in a growing &s;tate, though you have not yet reached your due &s;tature approveable before God, which is a &s;ign you are in a &s;tate of Langui&s;hment and Vergency toward death.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Remember therefore how thou ha&s;t received,</HI> &amp;c. Since you profe&s;s your &s;elves reformed into a true Apo&s;to|lick Church, remember what you have heard out of the Apo&s;tles writings. How I &s;o loved my Church, that I gave my &s;elf for it, that I might &s;anctifie it, that I might make it a glorious Church, having neither &s;pot nor wrinkle, nor any &s;uch thing, but it &s;hould be Holy and without blemi&s;h. Nor let the vain glo&s;&s;es of any faint-hearted Hypocrites, deceive or di&s;courage you. Remember al&s;o what ye have heard of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> that Man of &s;in that exalts him&s;elf above all that is called God, and wor&s;hipped, and for ever a|bandon that wicked and idolatrous Communion. And take heed of that nau&s;eous and dete&s;table ingratitude of not &s;etting a due value of my redeeming you from that wor&s;e, than <HI>Aegyptian</HI> or <HI>Babylonian</HI> &s;lavery and Captivity into the Go&s;pel Liberty. And be not impo&s;ed upon by the fine words and &s;ubtile Sophi&s;try, of either known enemies or perfidious brethren. The&s;e and &s;uch like things as the&s;e taught by my Apo&s;tles, and repeated again by the fir&s;t Re|formers be &s;ure to hold fa&s;t, and repent of your &s;lipperi|ne&s;s and remi&s;ne&s;s, of your ea&s;ine&s;s and inclineablene&s;s a|gain to the fle&s;h-pots of <HI>Aegypt,</HI> the carnal Entertainments under that My&s;tical <HI>Pharaoh</HI> at <HI>Rome. If therefore thou
<PB N="208" REF="109">&s;halt not watch,</HI> &amp;c. The&s;e things therefore I &s;trictly com|mand thee and charge thee to doe, which if thou wilt not carefully and diligently ob&s;erve, and have a due watch over thy ways, I will come on thee of a &s;udden, and &s;ur|prize thee with &s;ome terrible judgment for thy gro&s;s in|gratitude, and thou &s;halt not know what hour I come up|on thee, before the &s;torm certainly overtake thee. This was to forewarn the reformed Churches, that by their time|ly repentance they might avoid or le&s;&s;en the &s;torm.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Thou ha&s;t a few Names even in Sardis,</HI> &amp;c. There be &s;ome few excellent per&s;ons even in <HI>Sardis</HI> (notwith|&s;tanding the ill Omen of <HI>Odem,</HI> and <HI>Carnalina</HI>) and of a true Chri&s;tian &s;pirit, &s;cattered up and down in the re|formed Churches, who have not defiled their Garments, the inward nor outward cloathing of their Souls, nor &s;pot|ted the decency of their Conver&s;ation by any &s;candal of the fle&s;h. The&s;e will I take into nearer Communion with me in the Spirit, and they &s;hall advance more and more in all innocency and purity. So that their light &s;hall &s;hine before Men, and God be glorified in their works. For this ver&s;e refers to that common Topick in all the Epi&s;tles [I know thy works.] But the next ver&s;e tells the reward, which being before the <HI>Epiphonema</HI> is political.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Shall be cloathed with white Rayment.</HI> They &s;hall overcome all difficulties inward and outward, and per|&s;i&s;ting in purity and true Holine&s;s, they &s;hall be cloathed in white Rayment, that is, &s;hall be &s;ucce&s;sfull and pro&s;pe|rous in the affairs of my Kingdom, which they endeavour to propagate. <HI>And I will not blot out his name,</HI> &amp;c. that is, This &s;ort of Men &s;hall continue to the <HI>Philedelphian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, and onwards to the end of the World. And this <HI>Book of Life</HI> to them, &s;hall be as the <HI>Crown of Life</HI> to the <HI>Smyrnean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, &s;hall be their &s;ecurity from per|&s;ecution and death. That Church which they introduce into the World, which is the <HI>Philadelphian,</HI> &s;hall never be brought again under the &s;ubjection, Tyranny and Per&s;e|cution of any power what&s;oever. <HI>But I will confe&s;s his Name,</HI> &amp;c. I will in a &s;pecial manner recommend them
<PB N="209" REF="109">to the good Providence of God, and the watchfull Mini|&s;try of his holy Angels.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>He that hath an ear let him hear,</HI> &amp;c. The re|formed Churches e&s;pecially let them take particular notice, what the Holy Gho&s;t has here delivered touching the Church in <HI>Sardis,</HI> viz. That Chri&s;t who holds the &s;even Stars in his right hand, and appears thus to the reformed Churches as he did to the <HI>Ephe&s;ine,</HI> or fir&s;t Apo&s;tolick Church, is as ready and &s;erious in the renewing and reforming of his Church, as he was then in &s;etting it on foot fir&s;t in the World. And he appears as he did then walking in the mid&s;t of the golden Candle&s;ticks (which &s;ignifies his help|full pre&s;ence to his Church) &s;o here with the &s;uccour of his divine Graces and Mini&s;try, and a&s;&s;i&s;tence of his holy Angels: So that nothing is wanting to rou&s;e us effectually out of this carnal Drou&s;ine&s;s, toward the attainment of the Di&s;pen&s;ation of the &s;pirit and power, except our own &s;in|cerity and diligent attention to, and firm belief of the Oracles of God. So that the &s;ucce&s;s of things hitherto, as to the effect of Religion in the reformed Churches lyes at our own doors. God give us grace to con&s;ider it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>The Church in Philadelphia.</HI> Philadelphia is the love of the brethren, and con&s;equently the love of God and all Men, which in one word might be called Charity, <HI>Agape,</HI> but that's no name of any City in <HI>A&s;ia.</HI> The <HI>Phi|ladelphian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion begins where the <HI>Sardian</HI> ends, and reacheth to the fourth Thunder, including the Millennial reign of Chri&s;t. Which we may be a&s;&s;ured is &s;o, becau&s;e the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> interval is &s;uch, as where not onely there is no Idolatry to be tempted to, nor any Martyrdom for refu&s;ing to comply therewith, but al&s;o no &s;pot nor wrin|kle nor any &s;uch thing, but it is entirely Holy and with|out blemi&s;h. Which is plainly the condition of the <HI>Mil|lennium</HI> or <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> &s;tate, which alone might a&s;&s;ure us of this truth. But when <HI>v.</HI> 12. the very name of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> is writ upon this Church, it is impo&s;&s;ible to conceive the <HI>Millennium,</HI> not included in the <HI>Philadel|phian</HI> interval. <HI>He that is Holy, he that is True.</HI> Truth
<PB N="210" REF="110">and Holine&s;s, is the <HI>&V;rim</HI> and <HI>Thummim</HI> of the High Prie&s;t, in who&s;e habit Chri&s;t appeared in the beginning. <HI>He that is Holy,</HI> and &s;peaks to a Church that willingly li&s;tens to &s;uch Monitions as the&s;e. Be ye Holy for I am Holy, and be ye perfect as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect. <HI>He that is true,</HI> and will verifie all his glorious promi&s;es in the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion or ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Millennium,</HI> to all tho&s;e that tru&s;t in his word. <HI>Has the Key of David:</HI> Is the chief Mini&s;ter of &s;tate to the eternal God, whom the Apo&s;tle <HI>John</HI> calls LOVE, and &s;o <HI>David</HI> &s;ignifies. <HI>He that openeth,</HI> &amp;c. He that when he will can open the door of &s;ucce&s;s to his own, and &s;hut it again when he will a|gain&s;t his Enemies, and &s;o admini&s;ter all things pro|&s;perou&s;ly.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>I know thy works, Behold I have &s;et,</HI> &amp;c. I know thy works and de&s;igns, and highly approve of them, I know thou doe&s;t nothing out of bitter Zeal, faction or &s;elf-&s;eeking, nothing out of Vain-Glory or any other worldly end, but &s;imply out of love of me, and of my righteou&s;|ne&s;s, and out of love to all Mankind, for the promo|ting of who&s;e both pre&s;ent and future Happine&s;s, thou doe&s;t all thy endeavours, and therefore I will open to thee &s;uch a door of &s;ucce&s;s, as no man &s;hall be able to &s;hut again&s;t thee. <HI>For thou ha&s;t a little &s;trength,</HI> &amp;c. Though thou ha&s;t but a little Force or Army (tho&s;e namely fol|lowing the <HI>Heros,</HI> on the white Hor&s;e, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 19.) in compari&s;on of the re&s;t of the World, yet thou ha&s;t been valiant and &s;tood for my word, &s;toutly and couragiou&s;ly again&s;t all Gain&s;ayers, and ha&s;t never behaved thy &s;elf o|therwi&s;e than becomes a &s;ound and faithfull Chri&s;tian, and &s;uch as is re&s;olved never to di&s;honour that profe&s;&s;ion or Name.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Behold I will make them,</HI> that are of the Syna|gogue of the Devil for their Pride, fal&s;ities and murthe|rous Cruelties, and yet call them&s;elves <HI>Jews,</HI> that is, Chri|&s;tians [nay Holy Church] the Type as above being u&s;ed for the Antitype, but are &s;o far from being &s;o, that they really are the Synagogue of Antichri&s;t, who under pre|tence
<PB N="211" REF="110">of profe&s;&s;ing Chri&s;t do mo&s;t wickedly oppo&s;e him, by nulling his Laws, and barbarou&s;ly murthering his true and faithfull Subjects, for not committing idolatry and o|ther abominations they would force upon them; whereby it is manife&s;t though they call them&s;elves Holy Church and Chri&s;tians, they are Counterfeits and Lyars: <HI>And wor&s;hip before thy feet,</HI> &amp;c. Behold I will make them to come, in&s;tead of ki&s;&s;ing the Popes &s;lipper to wor&s;hip be|fore thy feet, to be &s;ubjected unto thee, and to doe thee homage: and to acknowledge how much I have loved thee, and &s;et thee above all the Princes of the Earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. Becau&s;e thou ha&s;t &s;hewn all along &s;uch invin|cible meekne&s;s and patience in maintaining my cau&s;e, and undaunted faithfulne&s;s, I will in that great Confu&s;ion, commotion and temptation under the la&s;t Vial (which &s;hall come upon all the World to try the Inhabitants of the Earth) keep thee and protect thee, and thou &s;halt be &s;afe and victorious in all.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>Behold I come quickly;</HI> Even in this la&s;t Vial, into which thou art already entered. <HI>Hold that fa&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. Thou art a Church after my own hearts de&s;ire, O <HI>Phila|delphia,</HI> nor do I accu&s;e thee of any thing, thou carrie&s;t thy &s;elf with that integrity and &s;incerity, onely hold fa&s;t to that perfection thou ha&s;t attained to, that thou may&s;t not be deprived of the Crown I intend for thee. For in thee &s;hall be accompli&s;hed all the glorious promi&s;es concerning my Kingdom upon earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. To you that overcome, to you it &s;hall be given to be Pillars in the Temple of my God, you &s;hall be an Holy, &s;ixt, and &s;table People, the true holy Catholick Church, that &s;hall never fail, but &s;hall endure till I come in the clouds to judge at the la&s;t day. And upon the&s;e la&s;ting Pillars &s;hall the name of my God be written, and the new nature in you &s;hall be vi&s;ible and legible as it were to all, how Heavenly it is and Divine, and how really you are that Church repre&s;ented by that City in <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> which is called <HI>Jehovah Shamma,</HI> God is there. For your Conver&s;ation will be &s;uch, that every man will be ready
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<PB N="212" REF="112">to &s;ay, God is among&s;t you of a truth; and that you <HI>are</HI> really as well as <HI>called</HI> the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which cometh down out of Heaven from my God, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 21. <HI>v.</HI> 2.10. (which plainly &s;hews, that the holy <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> there men|tioned, denotes a &s;tate of the Church here on earth) and la&s;tly, I will write upon you my <HI>new</HI> name, not the <HI>morning Star</HI> but the <HI>bright morning Star;</HI> or that newly purcha&s;ed Title in the battel where the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet</HI> are taken and ca&s;t alive into a Lake burning with brim&s;tone, and the re&s;t &s;lain with the Sword of him that &s;ate on the white Hor&s;e, which Sword cometh out of his mouth, <HI>viz.</HI> the Title of <HI>King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.</HI> For it is then that you &s;hall be the greate&s;t Empire upon earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>The Church in Laodicea, Laodicea</HI> &s;ignifies, ei|ther the righteou&s;ne&s;s of the people, an external popular mode of righteou&s;ne&s;s (&s;omething like that which the <HI>Pla|toni&s;ts</HI> call political Vertue) the inward life and &s;pirit de|caying, which is too much the &s;tate of the Church in <HI>Lao|dicea:</HI> Or it &s;ignifies the judging of the People, be|cau&s;e at the end of this interval Chri&s;t will come vi|&s;ibly to judge and Sentence all People to their final doom: Or la&s;tly, there may be an allu&s;ion to <HI>Ptolemy</HI>'s <HI>Laodicea Combu&s;ta,</HI> the Conflagration clo&s;ing this Period, and therefore, This <HI>Laodicean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion reaches from the fourth Thunder till the la&s;t Judgment or <HI>Conflagration;</HI> Nor does either it, or the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> precede the <HI>Millennium,</HI> but the <HI>Laodicean</HI> &s;ucceeds it, and the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> includes it, as is demon&s;trated by the An&s;werer to <HI>S. E.</HI> the re|marker on the place. <HI>The&s;e things &s;aith the Amen,</HI> &amp;c. In whom all the promi&s;es are yea and Amen. Who&s;e faith|fulne&s;s, is &s;een in bringing to pa&s;s the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> &s;tate, the marvellous Purity, and external Pro&s;perity of that &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ion of the Church, and therefore we are to believe his promi&s;es of the eternal Felicity he reminds us of in this: A ble&s;&s;ed immortality after this Life, and his vi&s;ible coming to judge the quick and the dead, and his putting an end to this terre&s;trial Scene, though in this declining age of the Church, in this <HI>Laodicean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, &s;ome may be too
<PB N="213" REF="112">&s;low to give any credit to &s;uch things. And therefore the&s;e Titles of <HI>A&s;&s;uredne&s;s</HI> and <HI>Varacity</HI> are u&s;ed. And he is called a faithfull witne&s;s al&s;o, becau&s;e he &s;o impartially witne&s;&s;es of the &s;tate of the <HI>Laodiceans,</HI> and does not flat|ter them. <HI>The beginning of the Creation of God.</HI> It may be well under&s;tood of the new Creation or Con&s;titution of things under the Go&s;pel, which he having carried on along hitherto according to Prophecy and prediction, he is the more certainly and readily to be believed in this la&s;t Cata|&s;trophe of things. Or taking the term [beginning] with an higher reference to that Title of his [&Agr;&Rgr;&KHgr;&EEgr;'] which re|&s;pects his Divinity as he is the eternal <HI>Logos,</HI> without whom nothing was made or created, then the importance of this pa&s;&s;age is this. That as &s;ure as he made this Earth, this habitable round World, &s;o we may be as &s;ure that he both can by the &s;ame power, and al&s;o will de&s;troy it again in this <HI>Laodicean Succe&s;&s;ion</HI> by a final <HI>Conflagration,</HI> taking vengeance of the wicked and re&s;ettling all true Be|lievers in an eternal &s;tate of Glory.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>Neither cold nor hot.</HI> But that ye are carele&s;s, formal lukewarm Chri&s;tians. Thou retaine&s;t indeed &s;till the external form of the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Church as to do|ctrine and wor&s;hip, but thou art de&s;titute of that &s;pirit of Life in the new Birth, which was the proper Character of thy decea&s;ed Si&s;ter <HI>Philadelphia. I would thou wert cold or hot.</HI> For though it be not better in it &s;elf to be quite cold, yet it were for thee, that thou mighte&s;t be the more ea&s;ily convinced of thine own wants, and by repentance and mortification enter into the &s;tate of Regeneration, and be made partaker of my Spirit.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>Becau&s;e thou art lukewarm, I will &s;pew thee,</HI> &amp;c. I will &s;hew how nau&s;eous and loath&s;ome thou art to me, in a Torrent of reproofs, as a &s;ign of my di&s;gu&s;t again&s;t thee; and upon thy impenitence, at length being weary of thee (as it is &s;aid concerning God before his bringing the <HI>deluge of Water</HI> on the Earth, that it repented him that he had made Man) I will &s;pew thee out from my &s;elf who fill all things, and exterminate thee out of being by a <HI>de|luge
<PB N="214" REF="113">of Fire,</HI> that &s;hall put an end to this terre&s;trial Scene of things, and the <HI>Laodicean</HI> Church &s;hall be no more. But in the mean time that I may faithfully admoni&s;h thee,</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>Becau&s;e thou &s;ay&s;t I am rich,</HI> &amp;c. Namely, whil&s;t thou con&s;idere&s;t that Peace and plenty, that power and rule and &s;ecurity from Enemies, which thou enjoye&s;t, and the Purity of doctrine and wor&s;hip, free from Super&s;tition and Idolatry, and the abundance of both natural and di|vine knowledge, and clear under&s;tanding of Prophecies, by rea&s;on of their completion now, and skilfull interpretati|ons of thy Predece&s;&s;ours, and univer&s;al Freedom from all Per&s;ecutions, I tell thee notwith&s;tanding all the&s;e, thou art mi&s;taken in thy condition, and knowe&s;t not how Poor, Blind, and Naked thou art, in that thou art de&s;titute of the Glories and trea&s;ures of the inward Man, and art igno|rant of the My&s;teries of Regeneration, and of the &s;pirit of Life in the new Birth, and art content with a covering, but not of my Spirit whereby thou do&s;t add &s;in to &s;in. Therefore,</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18 <HI>I coun&s;el thee to buy of me Gold,</HI> &amp;c. Gold re|fined in the fire, and &s;o pure that it is tra&s;parent as gla&s;s. <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> Gold, which is the new Nature or Crea|ture, mine own image: And the price is, thy &s;incere endeavouring and breathing after that &s;tate, that thou may&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;s tho&s;e durable Riches, which &s;hall not be mel|ted when the Elements &s;hall melt with fervent heat, and the Earth and the works therein &s;hall be burnt up, name|ly at the Conflagration. <HI>And white Rayment,</HI> &amp;c. And buy of me white Rayment, that is, groan in thy &s;elf, O &s;pi|ritle&s;s <HI>Laodicae,</HI> and de&s;ire to be cloathed with thy &s;piritual Tabernacle from heaven, that being &s;o cloathed, thou may&s;t not be &s;ound naked, and that the &s;hame of thy na|kedne&s;s may not appear at the la&s;t day. <HI>And anoint thine eyes with Eye-&s;alve,</HI> &amp;c. clear thy judgment and under&s;tan|ding by a diligent Purification of thy &s;oul from all cor|ruptions of fle&s;h and &s;pirit, and perfect Holine&s;s in my fear, that thou may&s;t &s;ee and have a right di&s;cerning in all things.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>As many as I love I rebuke,</HI> &amp;c. As many as
<PB N="215" REF="113">I love I cha&s;ten, and I have a love to thee even for thine outward re&s;emblance of thy decea&s;ed Si&s;ter <HI>Philadelphia,</HI> and therefore I cha&s;ti&s;e thee with &s;harp reproofs to bring thee to an inward &s;en&s;e of things, and &s;hall farther afflict thee with outward &s;traits and di&s;tre&s;s to awaken thee. For thine enemies <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog,</HI> by rea&s;on of thy remi&s;ne&s;s in Religion, &s;ecurity and neglect of the intere&s;t of my Kingdom will grow upon thee, and at la&s;t encompa&s;s the beloved City. Be zealous therefore and repent thee of thy dead formality and remi&s;ne&s;s in the affairs of my King|dom, that &s;o thou may&s;t recover the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> love and fervency. And do not complain of difficulties.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>Behold I &s;tand at the door and knock,</HI> &amp;c. (This ver&s;e a&s;&s;uredly has a moral or &s;piritual Sen&s;e, as well as the five foregoing) Behold I offer my aid unto you, and &s;olicite you ever and anon by good monitions and &s;ugge&s;ti|ons, and if you obey &s;incerely my Dictates and Succours of light and grace I offer you, and by this your &s;incerity open me the Door I will &s;up with you, I will communi|cate my nature and &s;pirit unto you. You &s;hall feed on my fle&s;h which is meat indeed, and drink of my bloud which is drink indeed, and that &s;aying &s;hall be fulfilled in you, I in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. If any one love me and keep my word, my Father &s;hall love him, and we will come to him and abide with him. And that I may the more effectually rou&s;e thee up out of this dead formality and tepidity, out of this dulne&s;s and Lethargy, I add farther.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. <HI>To him that overcometh,</HI> &amp;c. You &s;hall not onely enjoy me and my Father in this Life, but if you will &s;tand to the conflict, and &s;o attain to the &s;tate of the &s;pirit of Life and real Regeneration into the living image of my &s;elf, I will exalt you to the &s;ame happine&s;s with my &s;elf, your Bodies being transformed into the like|ne&s;s of my glorious Body, and &s;o fitted to a&s;cend into the Throne which he has given me, who&s;e Throne is heaven as earth his Foot&s;tool. Nay, you &s;hall &s;it with me in my Throne and judge the Apo&s;tate Angels at the la&s;t day.
<PB N="216" REF="114">This is a great and &s;tupendious Promi&s;e, but you ought to con&s;ider that, He has promi&s;ed it who is the <HI>Amen,</HI> the true and faithfull Witne&s;s, and the Beginning of the Creation of God, and therefore both will and can bring all his coun&s;els, purpo&s;es and promi&s;es to pa&s;s. Even &s;o Amen. The &s;en&s;e of this la&s;t and the foregoing Ver&s;e is irrefragably demon&s;trated by the An&s;werer again&s;t <HI>S. E.</HI> his Remarks on the place.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="4" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>Part of an Introductory Vi&s;ion to the &s;econd main Prophecy</HI> (<HI>which is the</HI> Sealed-book-prophecy, <HI>reaching from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World) in which Part the Throne of God in Heaven is repre&s;ented with four and twenty Elders &s;itting about it, and four Bea&s;ts with &s;ix wings full of eyes within and without; And the El|ders wor&s;hipping him that &s;its on the Throne, and ca&s;ting down their Crowns before it, wherein the</HI> New-Jeru&s;alem-<HI>State of the Church is prefigured as the main Scope of all, who&s;e living Archetypon is in Heaven.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AFter this I looked, and behold, a door was o|pened in heaven: and the fir&s;t voice which I heard, was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which &s;aid, Come up hither, and I will &s;hew thee things which mu&s;t be hereafter.</P>
<P N="2">2 And immediately I was in the &s;pirit: and be|hold, a throne was &s;et in heaven, and one &s;ate on the throne.</P>
<P N="3">3 And he that &s;ate, was to look upon like a ja&s;per, and a &s;ardine-&s;tone: and there was a rain-bow round about the throne, in &s;ight like unto an emerald.</P>
<PB N="217" REF="114">
<P N="4">4 And round about the throne were four and twenty &s;eats: and upon the &s;eats I &s;aw four and twenty elders &s;itting, cloathed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.</P>
<P N="5">5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thundrings, and voices: and there were &s;even lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the &s;e|ven Spirits of God.</P>
<P N="6">6 And before the throne there was a &s;ea of gla&s;s like unto cry&s;tal: and in the mid&s;t of the throne, and round about the throne, were four bea&s;ts full of eyes before and behind.</P>
<P N="7">7 And the fir&s;t bea&s;t was like a lion, and the &s;e|cond bea&s;t like a calf, and the third bea&s;t had a face as a man, and the fourth bea&s;t was like a flying ea|gle.</P>
<P N="8">8 And the four bea&s;ts had each of them &s;ix wings about him; and they were full of eyes within; and they re&s;t not day and night, &s;aying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.</P>
<P N="9">9 And when tho&s;e bea&s;ts give glory, and honour, and thanks to him that &s;ate on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,</P>
<P N="10">10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that &s;ate on the throne, and wor&s;hip him that li|veth for ever and ever, and ca&s;t their crowns before the throne, &s;aying,</P>
<P N="11">11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power: for thou ha&s;t created all things, and for thy plea&s;ure they are, and were crea|ted.</P>
<PB N="218" REF="115">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>AFter this I looked,</HI> &amp;c. After this Vi&s;ion of the <HI>&s;even Churches</HI> was pa&s;t, and I come to my &s;elf again, having occa&s;ion to look upwards. Behold a door &s;eemed to be opened in Heaven. And lo the fir&s;t voice which I heard, before the Vi&s;ion of the &s;even Churches, as of a Trumpet, talked with me, and bad me come up hi|ther, and he would &s;hew me the Repre&s;entations or Prefi|gurations of things to come.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>And immediately I was in the &s;pirit.</HI> Which is a &s;ign he was again come to him&s;elf before. And being thus caught up in the &s;pirit, in this ec&s;ta&s;ie he pre&s;ently &s;aw a Throne &s;et in Heaven, and one &s;itting on that Throne with great Maje&s;ty, as in his Chair of State, as being Crea|tour and Governour of the Univer&s;e, and &s;pecially of his Church. See ver&s;e 11.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Like a Ja&s;per and a Sardin &s;tone.</HI> The Ja&s;per for its <HI>firmne&s;s</HI> &s;etting out the radical Omnipotency, or rather the nece&s;&s;ity of exi&s;tence of the indi&s;cerpible E&s;&s;ence of the Divinity, the other for its <HI>redne&s;s</HI> like fire, the active power of the Divine nature, as not onely <HI>Grotius</HI> but <HI>Ty|chonius, Prima&s;ius, Beda, Victorinus, Rupertus, Richardus, Ly|ranus,</HI> and <HI>Aretas</HI> interpret the place. Or the colour of &s;ire, that is, of a live coal, is here made choice of as be|ing the root of light, to &s;hew that he that &s;its here is God the Father: Which an&s;wers to the appearance of fire in him that &s;its on the Throne in <HI>Ezekiel</HI>'s vi&s;ion, to whom the Rain-bow belongs, which is here al&s;o mentioned in this ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>And round about the Throne,</HI> &amp;c. Here it al&s;o varies from the Vi&s;ion of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> as being framed for a Type of the future &s;tate of the Church, when the new <HI>Je|ru&s;alem</HI> de&s;cends from heaven and the <HI>Tabernacle</HI> of God is with them: And therefore the four and twenty Elders are here &s;aid to be round about the Throne, as the Prie&s;ts and <HI>Le|vites</HI>
<PB N="219" REF="115">were pitched next the <HI>Tabernacle:</HI> But in that they wear Crowns, as well as white Rayments, it implies the Sanctity and Sovereignty <HI>(in rebus &s;acris)</HI> of the Kings in that &s;tate of the Church which this Type points at, tho&s;e renewed A|po&s;tolick times in the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> when the conver&s;ion of the Jews, will add the heads of their twelve Tribes to the number of the twelve Apo&s;tles, which the&s;e twenty four Elders or Princes of Nations may an&s;wer to. And in that there is no one be&s;ides God, and the Lamb here that appears to be &s;upreme over them, it &s;ignifies that in tho&s;e times the Popes preten&s;es will vani&s;h, and that Kings and Princes then of the Chri&s;tian profe&s;&s;ion will know them|&s;elves, and be acknowledged by all to be in all cau&s;es, as well Eccle&s;ia&s;tical as Civil, within their own Dominions, next and immediately under Chri&s;t &s;upreme heads and Gover|nours. And la&s;tly, the&s;e four and twenty being Crowned, and the four Bea&s;ts, which &s;ignifie the people, not Crown|ed is a &s;ure demon&s;tration (again&s;t the wild freaks of Fa|natick Levellers) that the di&s;tinction betwixt Prince and People will be continued even in the ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Millennium.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Proceeded lightnings and Thunderings,</HI> &amp;c. There is al&s;o mention of Lamps and fire and lightning, though no thundering, in the Vi&s;ion of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> which is the Repre|&s;entation of the <HI>&s;piritual</HI> Kingdom of Chri&s;t, which is here again Typified, but as a &s;tate to come, of the Church here on earth. And the &s;even Lamps of fire are either <HI>all</HI> (for &s;o &s;even &s;ignifies in Cabbali&s;m) the Mini&s;tring Angels, or <HI>all</HI> the living and quickening Graces of the &s;pirit of God.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>A Sea of Gla&s;s like unto Cry&s;tal,</HI> This is not found neither in the Vi&s;ion of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> but is an emblem al&s;o of the <HI>&s;piritual</HI> Kingdom of Chri&s;t, it being the pure laver of Regeneration, the being baptized with the holy Gho&s;t and with Fire, which the &s;even Lamps al&s;o betoken. And in that it is called a <HI>Sea</HI> of <HI>Gla&s;s,</HI> it may &s;ignifie the pure tran&s;parent condition of the Church, which is a mul|titude (as Sea &s;ignifies) the fixed purity thereof being ever penetrated by the pre&s;ence of the &s;even Lamps of fire, which are the &s;even &s;pirits of God. <HI>Four Bea&s;ts full of
<PB N="220" REF="116">eyes before and behind.</HI> The&s;e four Bea&s;ts have plainly a re&s;em|blance of the four Bea&s;ts in <HI>Ezekiel</HI>'s vi&s;ion but may here more particularly relate to the four Camps of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> which was a Type of the new <HI>I&s;rael</HI> of God. But in that they are &s;aid to be full of eyes before and behind, it implies they look backward and forward into the Hi&s;tories of times pa&s;t, and into the Prophecies and predictions of things to come, for the better Management of the affairs of Chri&s;t's Kingdom.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. The fir&s;t Bea&s;t like a <HI>Lion,</HI> was the Standard of <HI>Juda</HI> on the <HI>Ea&s;t</HI> &s;ide of the camp. The &s;econd like a <HI>Calf,</HI> the Standard of <HI>Ephraim</HI> on the <HI>We&s;t</HI> &s;ide. The third with the face of a <HI>Man,</HI> the Standard of <HI>Reuben</HI> on the <HI>South</HI> &s;ide. And the fourth like a flying <HI>Eagle,</HI> the Stan|dard of <HI>Dan</HI> on the <HI>North.</HI> And note that the&s;e four Bea&s;ts were thus &s;ituated in the vi&s;ion of <HI>Ezekiel.</HI> And that this is a Type of that Church that &s;hall be, ca&s;t thus into four parts, the <HI>&s;piritual</HI> Kingdom of Chri&s;t &s;ignified in both Vi&s;ions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Six wings about him.</HI> Reade out of the Original with <HI>Grotius. Had each of them &s;ix wings full of eyes without and with|in.</HI> They have &s;ix wings as <HI>E&s;ay</HI>'s Seraphims, with twain to co|ver their faces, with twain to cover their feet, and with twain to fly. Which implies a reverence of the divine Maje&s;ty, an activity and readine&s;s in his &s;ervice, and a carefulne&s;s over our affections, that we walk in clean paths. And their eyes without and within imply, that with the one regarding outward Objects, and with the other their own nature, com|paring them together, they will ever behave them&s;elves de|corou&s;ly, with due reverence to that which is above them in dignity, and at a due di&s;tance from tho&s;e things that are unworthy of them and beneath them: And therefore if any &s;uch things be offered from without, as are repug|nant to the innate light and immutable Principles of an intellectual Creature, their eyes within will ea&s;ily di&s;cern the propo&s;er to be either a Fool or an Impo&s;tour. This is the &s;tate even of the whole people of God in tho&s;e days. And their reverence and devotional &s;en&s;e of the holy Lord
<PB N="221" REF="116">God Almighty, who fills all things and times with his Pre|&s;ence and Providence, is in a manner perpetual, as the re&s;t of this ver&s;e does intimate.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9, 10. <HI>And when tho&s;e Bea&s;ts give Glory&mdash;The four and twenty Elders fall down.</HI> Prince and People being of one heart and mind. But the doxology being begun among&s;t the Bea&s;ts or People, it implies plainly the Elders are the &s;ecular Monarchs or Sovereigns, and the <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> order reckoned among&s;t the <HI>People</HI> as di&s;tinct from the Monarchs them&s;elves. <HI>And ca&s;t their Crowns before the Throne.</HI> In humble acknowledgment from whom and for whom they reign, even for the manife&s;ting of the Glory, and honour, and power of God in the Kingdom of his Saints.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>For thou ha&s;t created all things,</HI> &amp;c. This as I noted above, implies, that he that &s;its on the Throne, &s;its not there as upon his judgment Seat, but as it were in his Chair of &s;tate, being the glorious Creatour and Gover|nour of the Univer&s;e, and of his Church more e&s;pecially.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="5" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="222" REF="117">
<HEAD>CHAP. V.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The remaining Part of this Introductory Vi&s;ion to the</HI> Sealed-book-prophecy, <HI>in which Part is repre&s;ented a</HI> Book <HI>with</HI> &s;even Seals <HI>in the hand of him that &s;its upon the Throne, and Proclamation made by an Angel, if any one in Heaven, in Earth, or under the Earth, were able to open the Book, and di&s;cover the &s;ecrets therein. None is found able, or worthy of &s;uch a Privilege but the Lamb &s;lain, the Lord Je&s;us, to whom upon the Merits of his death it was given to fore&s;ee and bring about the things comprized in that Book, even to the</HI> New Jeru&s;alem <HI>State, which this Introductory Vi&s;ion drives at. &V;pon which the Elders the Bea&s;ts and Quires of Angels, the living Archetypon in Heaven of that</HI> New Jeru&s;alem <HI>which &s;hall be on Earth, break out into large Doxologies to him that &s;its on the Throne, and to the Lamb for ever and ever.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I &s;aw in the right hand of him that &s;ate on the Throne, a book written within, and on the back&s;ide &s;ealed with &s;even &s;eals.</P>
<P N="2">2 And I &s;aw a &s;trong Angel proclaiming with a loud voice; Who is worthy to open the book, and to loo&s;e the &s;eals thereof?</P>
<P N="3">3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.</P>
<P N="4">4 And I wept much, becau&s;e no man was found worthy to open, and to reade the book, neither to look thereon.</P>
<P N="5">5 And one of the Elders &s;aith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed to open the book, and to loo&s;e the &s;even &s;eals thereof.</P>
<PB N="223" REF="117">
<P N="6">6 And I beheld, and lo, in the mid&s;t of the Throne, and of the four bea&s;ts, and in the mid&s;t of the Elders &s;tood a Lamb as it had been &s;lain, having &s;even horns and &s;even eyes, which are the &s;even Spirits of God, &s;ent forth into all the earth.</P>
<P N="7">7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that &s;ate upon the Throne.</P>
<P N="8">8 And when he had taken the book, the four bea&s;ts, and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and gol|den vials full of odours, which are the prayers of Saints:</P>
<P N="9">9 And they &s;ung a new &s;ong, &s;aying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the &s;eals there|of: for thou wa&s;t &s;lain, and ha&s;t redeemed us to God by thy bloud, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;</P>
<P N="10">10 And ha&s;t made us unto our God Kings and Prie&s;ts: and we &s;hall reign on the earth.</P>
<P N="11">11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many Angels round about the throne, and the bea&s;ts, and the elders: and the number of them was ten thou|&s;and times ten thou&s;and, and thou&s;ands of thou&s;ands;</P>
<P N="12">12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was &s;lain, to receive power, and riches, and wi&s;e|dom, and &s;trength, and honour, and glory, and ble&s;|&s;ing.</P>
<P N="13">13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and &s;uch as are in the &s;ea, and all that are in them, heard I, &s;aying, Ble&s;&s;ing, honour, glory, and power be unto him that &s;itteth upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.</P>
<PB N="224" REF="118">
<P N="14">14 And the four bea&s;ts &s;aid, Amen. And the four and twenty Elders fell down and wor&s;hipped him that liveth for ever and ever.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. A <HI>Book written within and on the back-&s;ide.</HI> A Book that had a more <HI>outward</HI> &s;en&s;e in the mere Let|ter which con&s;i&s;ts of Repre&s;entations Symbolical or Hiero|glyphical; and a more <HI>inward</HI> &s;en&s;e, which is the &s;en&s;e of the future things them&s;elves thus repre&s;ented. Which In|terpretation is of &s;ingular u&s;e again&s;t the madne&s;s of &s;uch as make the very Hieroglyphicks them&s;elves to be the things foretold. But this Book of Prophecies is &s;een in the hand of God the Father, according to what occurs in the begin|ning of the Apocalyp&s;e, which is &s;aid to be the Revelati|on of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, but that <HI>God</HI> gave it unto him. <HI>Sealed with &s;even Seals.</HI> This &s;hews what a great <HI>Arcanum</HI> or Secret it was, it being a Repre&s;entation of a Scene of affairs reaching from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. That the ine&s;timable worth of this Book of Pro|phecies, which &s;otti&s;h and prophane &s;pirits &s;o much &s;light, and vili&s;ie, and crafty Politicians &s;o much harden them&s;elves again&s;t, may appear, here is proclamation made by a &s;trong Angel with a loud voice. <HI>Who is worthy to open?</HI> &amp;c. that is, who is worthy to have &s;o va&s;t a fore&s;ight of things com|municated to him from God as to endite &s;uch a Book of Pro|phecies as this?</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. And this proclamation being made, there was none found neither of the Angels in Heaven, nor Men upon Earth, nor Infernal Spirits under the Earth, (in whom witches and wizzards &s;o con&s;ide for the knowledge of things to come,) that were able to open the book or look there|on, that is, that could pierce through &s;o large a <HI>Series</HI> of future things as are contained therein; which implies that
<PB N="225" REF="118">nothing but the Holy power of God could be the Authour there of.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>And I wept,</HI> &amp;c. I was &s;orely grieved that there was none found meet or worthy to have &s;o marvellous a fa|culty of foretelling things to come, in &s;uch a manner as in this Book: &s;o u&s;efull a gift of Prophecy. Where <HI>John</HI> per|&s;onates every good Chri&s;tian that is &s;olicitous for the affairs of the Church, and thoughtfull what will become of her.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Weep not,</HI> &amp;c. Cea&s;e to be grieved and troubled in &s;pirit. Behold, Chri&s;t hath by his courageou&s;ly fulfil|ling the Will of his Father obtained this privilege of fore|&s;eeing all that is contained in this Book, and of communi|cating it to his Church.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>In the mid&s;t of the Throne and of the four Bea&s;ts,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>i. e.</HI> Betwixt God the Father and the Church &s;tood a Lamb with bleeding wounds upon him the ble&s;&s;ed Je&s;us, Media|tour betwixt God and Man, as he is here placed betwixt the Throne and the four Bea&s;ts. His &s;even Horns are the Em|blems of Power, as being he to whom all power is given in Heaven and in Earth: and his &s;even Eyes denote all man|ner of wi&s;edom and coun&s;el, and all the Angels of God at his beck to execute his coun&s;el and his will, as the Re&s;idue of this Ver&s;e imports.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>And took the Book,</HI> &amp;c. that is, It was given to him of his Father to have &s;o va&s;t a fore&s;ight of things to come, from the beginning of the Church, even to the end of the World; and power, as being the Lamb with &s;even Horns as well as &s;even Eyes, to effect what was foreknown. This an&s;wers to [The Revelation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t which God gave unto him, <HI>chap.</HI> 1.] as I intimated above.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. The con&s;ideration of which wonderfull gift and power, &s;ignified by this receiving of the Book, being made &s;o exceeding manife&s;t in the times of the <HI>Spiritual</HI> reign of Chri&s;t in the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which times this pompous Introduction to the Prophecy of the Sealed-book does Ty|pifie (for the four and twenty Elders belong to that State of the Church) will rai&s;e a wonderfull &s;train of faith and devotion in them, and admiration of the &s;tupendious Pro|vidence
<PB N="226" REF="119">of Chri&s;t over his Church, and make them break out into prayers and prai&s;es, as is intimated here in this Ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Sing a new Song,</HI> &amp;c. And then will they &s;ing a <HI>new Song.</HI> They will then prai&s;e their Creatour and Re|deemer for that <HI>new Con&s;titution</HI> of things, in the <HI>reign</HI> of the <HI>Spirit</HI> (as it is written, <HI>chap.</HI> 21. And he that &s;ate upon the Throne &s;aid, Behold I make all things new. And a|gain, I will give to him that is a-thir&s;t to drink of the wa|ter of life freely, that is, I will communicate to him of my &s;pirit here, and make him partaker of eternal life hereafter in my Heavenly kingdom) nor can they then withhold from crying out. Thou, O Chri&s;t, wert worthy to have communicated unto thee &s;o va&s;t a comprehen&s;ion of the futurity of things as is contained in this Book of Prophecies, and power to carry things on as they are pre|dicted, it being but a ju&s;t reward of thine endearing Suf|ferings on the Cro&s;s for the Salvation of Mankind, or for the drawing all men unto thee. Note, that this whole Song of the Bea&s;ts and Elders, I mean the&s;e Archetypal Bea&s;ts and Elders, is in &s;uch &s;ort Dramatical, that it is al&s;o Pro|phetical or Predictive of what the Ectypal Bea&s;ts and Elders will do in the ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Millennium;</HI> when this Spiritual King|dom of the God of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> in Heaven &s;hall de&s;cend with the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> down to the Earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>And we &s;hall reign upon Earth.</HI> We being re|deemed with thy mo&s;t precious bloud on the Cro&s;s, by vir|tue whereof we become Spiritual Kings and Prie&s;ts, for Holine&s;s and Sovereignty over all vile affections, we &s;hall continue that de&s;irable reign of Righteou&s;ne&s;s upon Earth in this ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Millennium</HI> which thou ha&s;t long ago &s;hewn to thy Church in that admirable Book of Prophecies, which by the mini&s;try of an Angel thou did&s;t communicate to thy beloved di&s;ciple <HI>John.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. The adjoining of &s;uch a numerous company of Angels with the Bea&s;ts and Elders, which &s;ignifie the Church of Chri&s;t con&s;i&s;ting of men upon Earth, &s;hews farther how Holy, Heavenly and Angelical tho&s;e times will be, which
<PB N="227" REF="119">this Vi&s;ion &s;ignifies, and what an union and agreement be|twixt the Church of Chri&s;t and the Angelical Ho&s;ts, God's will being then done on Earth as it is in Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Worthy is the Lamb that was &s;lain,</HI> &amp;c. As by whom the State of the Church is brought to &s;uch a ble&s;&s;ed condition upon Earth, according to the Prediction of this Book of Prophecies. Let all therefore be a&s;cribed to him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. Nay the Completion of this Book of Prophe|cies in tho&s;e times will be &s;uch an univer&s;al Conviction of the Divinity and Son&s;hip of Chri&s;t, that he was really and in truth the foretold <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> the Beginner and Fini&s;her of the Works of God to his Church, that even all intelligent Beings and Spirits, whether belonging to Heaven, Earth or Sea, yea the Infernal Spirits them&s;elves &s;hall in the in|ward powers of their minds and con&s;ciences be forced to break out and confe&s;s upon the completion of this Book of Prophecies, That all Ble&s;&s;ing, and Honour, and Glory, and Power is due unto Him that &s;its on the Throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. Unto which Doxology, the four Bea&s;ts, <HI>i. e.</HI> the Church of God here upon Earth we may be &s;ure will &s;ay <HI>Amen,</HI> and all the Kings and Princes of this truly Catho|lick and Apo&s;tolick Church will fall down and wor&s;hip him that was dead, but is now alive, and behold he liveth for evermore; that is, They will devotionally adhere to him, &s;erve him and obey him, who according to his promi&s;e made to his Church has brought things at la&s;t to &s;uch an admirable, heavenly, holy, righteous and peacef ll con&s;ti|tution. So glorious an effect will there be of the Comple|tion of the Prophecies of this Book both as to Chri&s;t, and al&s;o to his Church. Which &s;hews how dete&s;table the in|gratitude is of &s;uch either &s;hallow and frivolous, or pro|phane Spirits, or cunning and obdurate Politicians, that fan&s;ying it not to &s;ute with their worldly intere&s;t, vilifie and decry it: Whenas indeed this Book of Prophecies will prove the mo&s;t effectual in&s;trument in the hand of Pro|vidence that may be, for the rooting out of all Athei&s;m
<PB N="228" REF="120">and Infidelity out of the World, and converting all the Kingdoms of the Earth to the faith and profe&s;&s;ion of our Lord Je&s;us, <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="6" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. VI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The opening of the fir&s;t &s;ix of the &s;even Seals, of which the</HI> Sealed-book-prophecy <HI>does con&s;i&s;t. &V;pon the opening of the fir&s;t Seal, the fir&s;t Bea&s;t the</HI> Lion <HI>points at an Emperour on a white Hor&s;e from the</HI> Ea&s;t. <HI>&V;pon the open|ing the &s;econd, the &s;econd Bea&s;t the</HI> Calf <HI>points at an Empe|rour on a red Hor&s;e from the</HI> We&s;t. <HI>&V;pon the third Seal opened the third Bea&s;t with the face of a</HI> Man <HI>points at an Emperour on a black Hor&s;e from the</HI> South. <HI>And upon opening the fourth, the fourth Bea&s;t like an</HI> Eagle <HI>points at an Emperour on a pale Hor&s;e, who&s;e name is Death, from the</HI> North. <HI>The fifth Seal opened di&s;covers the Souls of the Martyrs under the Altar. And the &s;ixth Seal brings on a mo&s;t terrible Earthquake, wherein the Kingdom of the Dragon or the Pagan Religion of the</HI> Roman <HI>Empire is hor|ribly &s;hattered, and even quite overthrown.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I &s;aw when the Lamb opened one of the &s;eals, and I heard, as it were the noi&s;e of thun|der, one of the four bea&s;ts, &s;aying, Come, and &s;ee,</P>
<P N="2">2 And I &s;aw, and behold, a white hor&s;e, and he that &s;ate on him had a bow, and a crown was given unto him, and he went forth conquering, and to con|quer.</P>
<P N="3">3 And when he had opened the &s;econd &s;eal, I heard the &s;econd bea&s;t &s;ay, Come, and &s;ee.</P>
<P N="4">4 And there went out another hor&s;e that was red:
<PB N="229" REF="120">and power was given to him that &s;ate thereon, to take peace from the earth, and that they &s;hould kill one another: and there was given unto him a great &s;word.</P>
<P N="5">5 And when he had opened the third &s;eal, I heard the third bea&s;t &s;ay, Come, and &s;ee. And I beheld, and lo, a black hor&s;e; and he that &s;ate on him had a pair of balances in his hand.</P>
<P N="6">6 And I heard a voice in the mid&s;t of the four bea&s;ts &s;ay, A mea&s;ure of wheat for a peny, and three mea&s;ures of barley for a peny; and &s;ee thou hurt not the oil and the wine.</P>
<P N="7">7 And when he had opened the fourth &s;eal, I heard the voice of the fourth bea&s;t &s;ay, Come, and &s;ee.</P>
<P N="8">8 And I looked, and behold, a pale hor&s;e, and his name that &s;ate on him was Death, and hell followed with him: and power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with &s;word, and with hunger, and with death, and with the bea&s;ts of the earth.</P>
<P N="9">9 And when he had opened the fifth &s;eal, I &s;aw under the Altar the &s;ouls of them that were &s;lain for the word of God, and for the te&s;timony which they held.</P>
<P N="10">10 And they cried with a loud voice, &s;aying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do&s;t thou not judge and avenge our bloud on them that dwell on the earth?</P>
<P N="11">11 And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was &s;aid unto them, that they &s;hould re&s;t yet for a little &s;ea&s;on, untill their fellow-&s;ervants al&s;o, and their brethren that &s;hould be killed as they were, &s;hould be fulfilled.</P>
<PB N="230" REF="121">
<P N="12">12 And I beheld, when he had opened the &s;ixth &s;eal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the Sun became black as &s;ackcloth of hair, and the Moon became as bloud;</P>
<P N="13">13 And the Stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree ca&s;teth her untimely figs when &s;he is &s;haken of a mighty mind:</P>
<P N="14">14 And the heaven departed as a &s;croll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and i&s;land were moved out of their places:</P>
<P N="15">15 And the Kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond-man, and every free-man hid them&s;elves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains;</P>
<P N="16">16 And &s;aid to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that &s;itteth on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:</P>
<P N="17">17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who &s;hall be able to &s;tand?</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>ONE of the Seals,</HI> that is, the fir&s;t Seal. <HI>One of the four Bea&s;ts.</HI> The fir&s;t of the four Bea&s;ts, the <HI>Lion,</HI> who&s;e place is toward the <HI>Ea&s;t.</HI> Here we may ob&s;erve how &s;ome parts of the Introductory Vi&s;ion are made u&s;e of in this Prophecy it &s;elf, as &s;ome parts of the de|&s;cription of him that was &s;een among&s;t the golden Candle|&s;ticks are made u&s;e of in the Prefaces of the Epi&s;tles to the Churches.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>He that &s;ate on him,</HI> &amp;c. This <HI>Heros</HI> on Hor&s;e|back, and on a white Hor&s;e, &s;ignifies a great Commander or Emperour, righteous, pro&s;perous and glorious in his
<PB N="231" REF="121">undertaking, and the fir&s;t Bea&s;t pointing at him, the <HI>Lion</HI> on the Ea&s;t-&s;ide, &s;hews he is an Emperour from the <HI>Ea&s;t,</HI> whenas <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian</HI> and <HI>Titus</HI> his Son came from the We&s;t. Be&s;ides, that they are forty years later than the true <HI>Epo|cha</HI> of this Vi&s;ion. Nor have any reference to the <HI>Lion.</HI> This Heros therefore is the <HI>Lion</HI> of the Tribe of <HI>Juda,</HI> that Captain of our Salvation Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who being a&s;cended into glory, was yet pre&s;ent with his Church, affording them all &s;uccours to carry on their Spiritual War, the propaga|tion of the Go&s;pel; in order whereunto he concerned him|&s;elf in the &s;ucce&s;s of <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian</HI> and his Son <HI>Titus</HI> again&s;t the Jews. See the An&s;wer to <HI>S. E.</HI> his Remark on this place. And the&s;e Go&s;pel-Souldiers came from <HI>Judaea</HI> in the <HI>Ea&s;t.</HI> The bow in this Heros's hand denotes his aiming at a mat|ter of no &s;mall moment, at a Crown that was given him; and this Bow-man hat the Mark when the Emperour <HI>Con|&s;tantine</HI> turned Chri&s;tian. This al&s;o was the earne&s;t de&s;ire of the <HI>Ephe&s;ine,</HI> and an expre&s;s promi&s;e to the <HI>Smyrnean</HI> Succe&s;&s;ion. Be thou faithfull unto Death, and I will give thee the Crown of Life; the Crown of Security from Pa|gan Per&s;ecution. And la&s;tly, this <HI>Heros</HI> on the white Hor&s;e went forth conquering and to conquer till he obtained this <HI>Crown</HI> under the &s;ixth Seal.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>I heard the &s;econd Bea&s;t;</HI> That is, The <HI>Calf</HI> or <HI>Oxe</HI> placed on the <HI>We&s;t</HI> &s;ide of the Camp.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Another Hor&s;e that was red,</HI> &amp;c. A colour &s;ig|nificant enough of the effu&s;ion of bloud, as the <HI>oxe</HI> al&s;o the great &s;laughter, that was to be under this Seal, and the re&s;t of the ver&s;e betokens exceeding much bloud &s;hed on the earth under the &s;econd Seal. This Seal therefore be|gins with <HI>Trajan</HI> a <HI>Spaniard,</HI> and therefore an Emperour from the <HI>We&s;t.</HI> In his reign and <HI>Adrian</HI>'s his &s;ucce&s;&s;our, there were &s;o great Commotions in the Empire, that there were &s;lain in tho&s;e tumults and Rebellions at lea&s;t fifteen hun|dred thou&s;and men.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>The third Bea&s;t,</HI> That had a face like a <HI>Man,</HI> and was placed on the <HI>South: And lo! a black Hor&s;e.</HI> The black colour betokens Gravity, Severity, Ju&s;tice, which
<PB N="232" REF="122">Ju&s;tice is al&s;o intimated by the face of a <HI>Man,</HI> this Bea&s;t is &s;aid to have Prudence and Ju&s;tice, being the Characters of a man. Which agrees al&s;o very well with the pair of balances in the Riders hand, which argues him &s;evere, ju&s;t, frugal and provident. And the voice &s;ignifies as much in the mid&s;t of the four Bea&s;ts in the following ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. The meaning is, that the Rider of the black hor&s;e will take &s;pecial care, Fir&s;t, That if one <HI>Choenix</HI> of Wheat be &s;old for a penny, that three of Barley &s;hall be &s;old for a penny. Secondly, That men &s;hall live by their ho|ne&s;t labours, not by Theft or Rapine, <HI>Choenix</HI> &s;ignifying the food for a day, and <HI>Denarius</HI> the wages for a days la|bour. Thirdly, there &s;hall be no &s;tealing nor robbing, but buying by mea&s;ure, though it &s;hould prove &s;o hard a time, that their days labour will but find them food. Fourthly, He will provide that they &s;hall have a <HI>Choenix</HI> for a penny, <HI>viz.</HI> That the price of Bread-Corn and ne|ce&s;&s;ary Victuals &s;hall not exceed a days wages. And &s;o of Wine and Oil, he will take care that there be no injury done, no fraud in buying and &s;elling there neither, nor &s;poil and wa&s;te by unruly Souldiers. Which prediction was egregiou&s;ly fulfilled in <HI>Septimius Severus</HI> an <HI>African,</HI> and therefore an Emperour from the <HI>South,</HI> and in <HI>Alexander</HI> the Son of <HI>Mammea,</HI> both of them notorious Lovers of Ju&s;tice and &s;evere puni&s;hers of Thiefs and Robbers. To the latter the &s;ight of an unju&s;t Judge was &s;o nau&s;eous that he was ready to vomit at him, and he was famous for that Chri&s;tian Motto, <HI>Do as you would be done to,</HI> which he cau&s;ed to be &s;et up in his Palace, and other publick places. They are both taken notice of for their care and provi&s;ion in Bread-Corn, and other nece&s;&s;aries of Life.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>The fourth Bea&s;t,</HI> That was like a <HI>flying Eagle,</HI> and placed on the <HI>North</HI> &s;ide of the Camp.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Behold a pale Hor&s;e,</HI> &amp;c. Which colour is very &s;utable to the name of the Rider, which is called <HI>Death;</HI> and <HI>Hell</HI> (that is the Grave) being made a per&s;on as well as he, is his Lackey to follow him. <HI>The fourth part of the Earth,</HI> that is, almo&s;t all the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, which upon
<PB N="233" REF="122">due compute was then a third part of the Earth; as if this power reached three fourths of the Empire. <HI>With hunger and with death,</HI> that is, with Famine and with Pe&s;tilence. <HI>And with Bea&s;ts of the earth.</HI> Which ordinarily invade the Land in tho&s;e Ea&s;tern and Southern parts in extreme Famines and Pe&s;tilences to encrea&s;e the Mortality. The beginning of this Seal is from <HI>Maximinus</HI> the <HI>Thracian,</HI> and con&s;e|quently an Emperour from the <HI>North,</HI> as the place of the <HI>flying Eagle</HI> denotes, that notable Bird of prey and feeder on dead Carca&s;&s;es, and therefore &s;ignificant of the condition of this Seal, (as all the former Bea&s;ts were of theirs) under which concur &s;o various modes of va&s;t Mortality, the <HI>Sword, Pe&s;tilence, Famine</HI> and <HI>Wild bea&s;ts.</HI> Which Pe&s;tilence rag|ing and overrunning in a manner the whole Empire for the &s;pace of fifteen years, and ending <HI>Anno</HI> CCLXIII, from <HI>Maximinus</HI> to this year is about the extent of this Seal. And now for the Sword in the interval of this Seal, be&s;ides that in the reign of <HI>Gallus</HI> and <HI>Volu&s;ianus</HI> Emperours, the whole Empire in a manner was exhau&s;ted with rapine and &s;laughter by the Barbarians, and con&s;equently Tillage did fail, and Famine en&s;ue, there were not two more bloudy Bea&s;ts in the World, than <HI>Maximinus</HI> and <HI>Gallienus,</HI> the for|mer for his cruelty called <HI>Cyclops, Bu&s;iris, Phalaris,</HI> and what not, who without Accu&s;ers or defence, cau&s;ed to be killed and &s;poiled of their Goods no le&s;s than four thou&s;and men; and the latter his cruelty was &s;uch, that he killed all the Male &s;ex of whole Cities, and made nothing of &s;lay|ing three or four thou&s;and of his Souldiers in a day. And there are many more examples of horrid cruelty by the Sword under this Seal, according to the prediction thereof. So admirable fully was accompli&s;hed what was predicted by the&s;e four Seals.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>I &s;aw under the Altar,</HI> &amp;c. He &s;aw them lye at the foot of the Altar (as Sacrifices that are &s;lain u&s;e to doe) &s;laughtered or martyred for their couragiou&s;ly profe&s;&s;ing Chri&s;tianity: For by faith and an invincible firmne&s;s of mind, and un&s;peakable patience they had made them&s;elves an oblation or &s;acrifice for the carrying on the affairs of
<PB N="234" REF="123">the Kingdom of Chri&s;t. Here is predicted the bloudy ten years Per&s;ecution begun by <HI>Diocle&s;ian</HI> and continued by his Succe&s;&s;our, which was the mo&s;t terrible that befell the Church of God. This is the dregs of <HI>Bitterne&s;s</HI> in the <HI>Smyrnean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the Church, whereby the ten days of Tribulation, this per&s;ecution (by an <HI>Idiconoea</HI>) may be more particularly glanced at, as well as all the ten Per&s;e|cutions u&s;ually &s;o called.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>How long O Lord,</HI> &amp;c. The per&s;ecution of the Church under this Seal was &s;o exceeding grievous, that the bloud of the Martyrs called aloud for Divine ven|geance on this per&s;ecuting Empire.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>White robes were given,</HI> &amp;c. They were adopted into the Society of the ble&s;&s;ed. Tho&s;e white Robes allude to the cu&s;tome under the Jewi&s;h Temple, where after a due &s;earch into their Pedegree, and unblemi&s;hedne&s;s of their body by giving them, or putting on them a white ve&s;ture they were admitted into the Court of the Prie&s;ts, as the&s;e to &s;erve God in Heaven. <HI>&V;ntill their fellow &s;ervants al&s;o,</HI> &amp;c. that is, Till their fellow Chri&s;tians under <HI>Licinius, Julian</HI> and the <HI>Arians</HI> &s;hould be &s;lain, after which that &s;o|lemn vengeance &s;hould be taken of the bloudy Empire un|der the time of the Trumpets, though the &s;ealed ones &s;hould be then pre&s;erved.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>There was a great Earthquake,</HI> &amp;c. The Greek word <HI>[Sei&s;mos]</HI> may have a more general &s;ignification, and denote a Concu&s;&s;ion, &s;haking and commotion of the frame of things. Which frame of things here is the Con|&s;titution of the Pagan Hierarchy as I may &s;o call it, or of <HI>Gentili&s;m,</HI> the Religion of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire as <HI>Pagan.</HI> Wherein both Sun and Moon, the Dragon him&s;elf and the Office of his <HI>Pontifex Maximus</HI> plainly &s;uffered an eclip&s;e, the <HI>Roman</HI> Emperours by their profe&s;&s;ion of Chri&s;tianity renouncing Satan and all the wicked crew of evil Spirits under him, and would &s;erve him no more, nor exerci&s;e the Office of his <HI>Pontifex Maximus,</HI> as is recorded of <HI>Con&s;tan|tine, Con&s;tantius, Valentinianus</HI> and <HI>Valens,</HI> and <HI>Gratian</HI> would not &s;o much as retain the name of <HI>Pontifex Maximus.</HI></P>
<PB N="235" REF="123">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. All the fal&s;e Gods of this diabolical Polity, the frame of the Pagan Religion, they fell from that Religious honour and wor&s;hip which was given them and were tram|pled under foot by the prevailing Chri&s;tians, as al&s;o their Prie&s;ts that &s;erved them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. And this Pagan Hierarchy &s;hrivelled up with all the fal&s;e Deities, and their Prie&s;ts as a &s;crowl of parch|ment that hides the Characters therein contained as it is rolled up. <HI>And every Mountain,</HI> &amp;c. Their high places where they &s;acrificed, and their Temples divided from other hou&s;es for their &s;uppo&s;ed Sacredne&s;s, were demoli&s;hed at la&s;t by <HI>Theodo&s;ius.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. All &s;orts of men from the highe&s;t to the lowe&s;t were &s;orely affrighted, and di&s;mayed at this terrible &s;torm that came upon the Pagan Hierarchy, nor were able to re&s;i&s;t the force thereof, not <HI>Maximianus, Galerius</HI> nor <HI>Maxen|tius,</HI> nor <HI>Maximinus</HI> with <HI>Martinianus Cae&s;ar,</HI> nor <HI>Licinius,</HI> nor <HI>Julian</HI> the Apo&s;tate, who all felt the irre&s;i&s;tible power of the wrath of the Lamb, and &s;ome of them, <HI>viz. Ga|lerius, Maximinus</HI> and <HI>Licinius,</HI> their mi&s;erable conditions, even whether they would or no, forced them by open con|fe&s;&s;ion to give glory unto God.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. This may allude to that of <HI>E&s;ay, chap.</HI> 2.20. And they &s;hall go into the holes of the Rocks, and into the Caves of the earth for the fear of the Lord, and for the Glory of his Maje&s;ty, when he ari&s;eth to &s;hake terribly the earth, as he did in this &s;haking of the Pagan Religion of the Empire, and aboli&s;hing their Idols.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>Who &s;hall be able to &s;tand?</HI> Not <HI>Galerius,</HI> not <HI>Maxi|minus,</HI> not <HI>Licinius,</HI> nor <HI>Julian,</HI> nor the Tyrants <HI>Eugenius</HI> and <HI>Argoba&s;tes,</HI> with all the power the Pagan party were able to make could &s;tand again&s;t this &s;torm of the wrath of the Lamb. So that the Church upon the Conver&s;ion of <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> to the Faith entred into the &s;tate of the <HI>Per|gamenian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion; being exalted out of the du&s;t. And O that &s;he had not been thereupon exalted &s;o much in her own mind, and become the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> Church in the wor&s;t &s;en&s;e, that is, proud and cruel, as well as exalted in power.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="7" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="236" REF="124">
<HEAD>CHAP. VII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>A Vi&s;ion commencing with the &s;eventh Seal, and reaching to the la&s;t times of the Church, or the end of the</HI> Sealed-book-prophecy. <HI>The fir&s;t part of this Vi&s;ion &s;et|ting out by the hundred forty four thou&s;and &s;ealed ones of the twelve Tribes of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>twi&s;ted with the line of the fir&s;t &s;ix Trumpets, an a&s;&s;ured Number of Apo&s;tolick Chri&s;tians, in which Chri&s;t's true Church would continue &s;afe again&s;t the Incur&s;ions of the</HI> Barbarians, Saracens <HI>and</HI> Turks <HI>under the fir&s;t &s;ix Trumpets, and again&s;t the prevailing War of the Bea&s;t, and enticements and cruelties of the thriving Whore,</HI> Synchronal <HI>to the &s;aid &s;ix Trumpets. The &s;econd part &s;etting out the Victory of the &s;ealed Saints and Witne&s;&s;es over the Bea&s;t, and the wonderfull enlargement of the truly Apo|&s;tolick Church, and impregnable pro&s;perity thereof to the Worlds end.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND after the&s;e things, I &s;aw four Angels &s;tan|ding on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind &s;hould not blow on the earth, nor on the &s;ea, nor on any tree.</P>
<P N="2">2 And I &s;aw another Angel a&s;cending from the Ea&s;t, having the &s;eal of the living God: and he cri|ed with a loud voice to the four Angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the &s;ea,</P>
<P N="3">3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the &s;ea, nor the trees, till we have &s;ealed the &s;ervants of our God in their foreheads.</P>
<P N="4">4 And I heard the number of them which were &s;ealed: and there were &s;ealed, an hundred and forty and four thou&s;and, of all the tribes of the children of I&s;rael.</P>
<PB N="237" REF="124">
<P N="5">5 Of the tribe of Juda were &s;ealed twelve thou|&s;and. Of the tribe of Reuben were &s;ealed twelve thou&s;and. Of the tribe of Gad were &s;ealed twelve thou&s;and.</P>
<P N="6">6 Of the tribe of A&s;er were &s;ealed twelve thou|&s;and. Of the tribe of Nepthali were &s;ealed twelve thou&s;and. Of the tribe of Mana&s;&s;es were &s;ea|led twelve thou&s;and.</P>
<P N="7">7 Of the tribe of Simeon were &s;ealed twelve thou|&s;and. Of the tribe of Levi were &s;ealed twelve thou|&s;and. Of the tribe of I&s;&s;achar were &s;ealed twelve thou&s;and.</P>
<P N="8">8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were &s;ealed twelve thou&s;and. Of the tribe of Jo&s;eph were &s;ealed twelve thou&s;and. Of the tribe of Benjamin were &s;ealed twelve thou&s;and.</P>
<P N="9">9 After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, &s;tood before the throne, and before the Lamb, cloathed with white robes, and palms in their hands;</P>
<P N="10">10 And cried with a loud voice, &s;aying, Salva|tion to our God, which &s;itteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.</P>
<P N="11">11 And all the Angels &s;tood round about the throne, and about the elders, and the four bea&s;ts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and wor|&s;hipped God,</P>
<P N="12">12 Saying, Amen: Ble&s;&s;ing, and glory, and wi&s;e|dom, and thank&s;giving, and honour and power, and might be unto our God, for ever and ever, Amen.</P>
<P N="13">13 And one of the elders an&s;wered, &s;aying unto
<PB N="238" REF="125">me. What are the&s;e which are arayed in white robes? and whence came they?</P>
<P N="14">14 And I &s;aid unto him, Sir, thou knowe&s;t. And he &s;aid to me, The&s;e are they which came out of great tribulation, and have wa&s;hed their robes, and made them white in the bloud of the Lamb.</P>
<P N="15">15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and &s;erve him day and night in his temple: and he that &s;itteth on the throne &s;hall dwell among them.</P>
<P N="16">16 They &s;hall hunger no more, neither thir&s;t any more, neither &s;hall the Sun light on them, nor any heat.</P>
<P N="17">17 For the Lamb which is in the mid&s;t of the throne, &s;hall feed them, and &s;hall lead them unto li|ving fountains of waters: and God &s;hall wipe away all tears from their eyes.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P>HItherto of the fir&s;t &s;ix Seals, which reach from the be|ginning of the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> into the fore part of the <HI>Per|gamenian</HI> Succe&s;&s;ion, ju&s;t till the Commencement of the A|po&s;ta&s;ie. And from thence to the end of the &s;ixth Trum|pet (and the &s;even Thunders on purpo&s;e &s;upply the place of the &s;eventh) is the time of the Sealed ones.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. After the opening of the &s;ix Seals he &s;aw the Mi|ni&s;ters of God's power in making war and peace, and blu&s;ters in the World, and that at that time they held all in peace as for any Incur&s;ions of the <HI>Barbarians</HI> into the Empire, &s;o that the&s;e winds blew down no buildings on the Earth, nor cau&s;ed &s;hipwrecks on the Sea, nor broke off branches of Trees, nor tore them up by the root: Hou|&s;es, Ships and Trees in analogy &s;ignifying Political Fa|bricks
<PB N="239" REF="125">and Con&s;titutions. And the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Kingdom in <HI>Daniel</HI> is expre&s;ly repre&s;ented by a Tree.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2, 3. <HI>From the Ea&s;t.</HI> The Original is <HI>[Anatole]</HI> which word is one of the Titles of Chri&s;t, he being the Day-&s;pring from on high that has vi&s;ited us. <HI>Having the Seal of the living God.</HI> Having a Commi&s;&s;ion from Chri&s;t, to &s;et a mark of protection on &s;uch certain men from the imminent de&s;truction now coming upon the Empire, and he therefore cries to the four Angels, who had the power to rai&s;e Tempe&s;ts of War and inva&s;ion on the Empire, to for|bear to bring in tho&s;e Tempe&s;ts of the Barbarians till he had marked out the &s;ervants of God for deliverance and protection. Which in&s;inuates the a&s;&s;ured Providence of Chri&s;t over his true Church in all that confu&s;ion and cor|ruption, that would be under the fir&s;t &s;ix Trumpets. The impre&s;s therefore of this protective Seal, though in the <HI>Cor|tex</HI> of the Prophecy it &s;eems to be done at once, has its fulfilling all along the &s;ix Trumpets, which is about twelve hundred years.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>The number of them,</HI> which is not <HI>numerally</HI> to be under&s;tood, but <HI>Symbolically</HI> denoting the condition of the &s;ealed. For in the hundred forty four thou&s;and, the <HI>Chi|liads</HI> or thou&s;ands, are <HI>Cubical</HI> numbers and denote <HI>Stability</HI> or Con&s;tancy, but the&s;e <HI>Chiliads</HI> being &s;aid to be one hundred forty four, that number being a <HI>Square</HI> who&s;e root is <HI>twelve</HI> &s;hews in what they are thus &s;table, <HI>viz.</HI> in the pure Apo|&s;tolick Faith. <HI>Of all the Tribes of the Children of I&s;rael,</HI> name|ly, the twelve Patriarchs being put for the twelve Apo|&s;tles, and the children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> for the Church of Chri&s;t, of which the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> are here a Type, as they are in the Epi&s;tle to the Church in <HI>Pergamus,</HI> in which <HI>Pergamenian</HI> interval this &s;ealing begins.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. The order is much inverted and confounded in this numbring the twelve Tribes, be&s;ides that <HI>Dan</HI> is left out, and <HI>Ephraim</HI>'s name is &s;uppre&s;&s;ed; becau&s;e the&s;e two Tribes were the Ring-leaders to idolatry, (<HI>Judg. chap.</HI> 17.18.) But <HI>Juda</HI> is here put before <HI>Reuben,</HI> becau&s;e Chri&s;t was of the Tribe of <HI>Juda.</HI> But <HI>Reuben</HI> keeps the &s;econd
<PB N="240" REF="126">place as by Birth-right, it being fit he &s;hould yield it to no other, e&s;pecially his courage having been &s;o notable in the battels of the Lord, <HI>Numb.</HI> 3. and <HI>Jo&s;.</HI> 4. <HI>Gad's</HI> valour al&s;o has purcha&s;ed him the next place, be&s;ides that <HI>Elias</HI> and <HI>Jehu</HI> the de&s;troyers of <HI>Baal</HI> and his wor&s;hip were of the Tribe of <HI>Gad.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. The Tribe of <HI>A&s;er</HI> al&s;o is notable, for the wo|man of <HI>Sarepta</HI> that entertained <HI>Elias</HI> that great Champion again&s;t the <HI>Baaliti&s;h</HI> idolatry, and for <HI>Anna</HI> the Prophete&s;s that gave Te&s;timony to Chri&s;t, when he was pre&s;ented in the Temple. And the&s;e were the fir&s;t four Sons of <HI>Leah.</HI> But now <HI>Nepthali</HI> is here placed, and <HI>Mana&s;&s;es</HI> before their Seniours, <HI>Simeon, Levi, I&s;&s;achar</HI> and <HI>Zabulon,</HI> the former becau&s;e that Tribe is &s;o much ennobled by the &s;tory of <HI>Barac</HI> the Conquerour of <HI>Si&s;era,</HI> and for <HI>Capernaum</HI> that See as it were of that great Bi&s;hop of Souls Je&s;us Chri&s;t, who&s;e re&s;idence was &s;o much at <HI>Capernaum</HI> a City of <HI>Galilee</HI> that belongs to <HI>Nepthali,</HI> that he was thence called a <HI>Galilean:</HI> And the latter for the feats of <HI>Gideon</HI> the de&s;troyer of the Altar of <HI>Baal,</HI> who was of the Tribe of <HI>Mana&s;&s;es,</HI> as was al&s;o <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> upon whom the Spirit of <HI>Elias</HI> re&s;ted and was &s;ent to anoint <HI>Jehu</HI> King that &s;ore executioner of <HI>Jezebel.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7, 8. The&s;e four la&s;t Sons of <HI>Leah</HI> are ranked ac|cording to their birth, there being nothing eximious in them; or if there was, it being blotted again by &s;ome con|trary mi&s;carriages, there was no occa&s;ion of breaking the order of their birth. The Tribe of <HI>Jo&s;eph</HI> here is put for the Tribe of <HI>Ephraim</HI> and his name &s;uppre&s;&s;ed, becau&s;e of the foul faults of that Tribe in <HI>Micha, Jeroboam</HI> and <HI>Ahab,</HI> all <HI>Ephraimites,</HI> and <HI>Benjamin</HI> juniour of all rightly placed la&s;t. But upon this account of the whole we &s;ee the order|ing of the names of the Tribes is &s;o fitted, as to repre&s;ent a Company zealous for <HI>Chri&s;t,</HI> and as zealous again&s;t <HI>An|tichri&s;t</HI> (as being that Virgin company with the Lamb on Mount <HI>Sion,</HI> chap. 14.) and again&s;t &s;piritual Whoredom, which is Idolatry. This pure Apo&s;tolick Church did Chri&s;t &s;eal and keep &s;afe, even during all that dangerous time, under the &s;ounding of the fir&s;t &s;ix Trumpets.</P>
<PB N="241" REF="126">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>In white robes, and palms in their hands.</HI> This part of the vi&s;ion therefore &s;hoots beyond the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> and <HI>Thyatirian</HI> intervals of the Church, and begins with the <HI>Sardian,</HI> which enjoys that promi&s;e to him that over|comes, that he &s;hall have power over the Nations, that is, whole Nations, Tongues and People are now become open profe&s;&s;ours of the pure Apo&s;tolick Faith; This is the effect of their Victory, and the &s;ign thereof the Palm-branches in their hands: They are the &s;ame with them that have got the Victory over the Bea&s;t his image and his mark, and the number of his name, and &s;ing the &s;ong of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Lamb, <HI>chap.</HI> 15. which is the Commencement al&s;o of the <HI>Sardian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, which &s;ignifies a &s;ong of joy; As it is &s;aid in the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Salvation unto our God,</HI> &amp;c. namely, becau&s;e he has thus delivered his <HI>I&s;rael</HI> from the Antichri&s;tian bon|dage and per&s;ecution they were under in the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> and <HI>Thyatirian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. What is here &s;aid may &s;eem to &s;trike farther into the <HI>Millennial</HI> Ages of the Church, in which Ange|lical times the con&s;ent and Harmony of heaven and earth will be more full and Univer&s;al, and more perfectly united and accorded. So that it is no wonder, it is &s;aid that the Angels jointly with the Elders, and four Bea&s;ts did fall be|fore the Throne on their faces and wor&s;hip God.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>And power and might,</HI> by which the&s;e happy and heavenly times are brought upon earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. That is to &s;ay, how comes the true Apo&s;tolick Church in the&s;e days that are here fore&s;een, to be &s;o pro|&s;perous and victorious? For to be cloathed in white, &s;ig|nifies &s;o in the prophetick &s;tyle.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. The meaning is, that the&s;e times of the Church which are &s;o pro&s;perous as well as Holy, they are &s;o in Virtue of the great Tribulation, their Predece&s;&s;ours in|dured under the cruel and bloudy per&s;ecutions of Anti|chri&s;t: So that they have wa&s;hed their Robes as it were, and made them white in the bloud of the Lamb: That is, the &s;ufferings of Chri&s;t in his true and living members un|der
<PB N="242" REF="127">Antichri&s;t, were the <HI>in&s;trumental</HI> cau&s;e of the &s;plendid and pro&s;perous condition of the ble&s;&s;ed times here prefigu|red in or near the <HI>Millennium,</HI> as the bloud of the Lamb in the u&s;ual &s;en&s;e is ju&s;tly deemed the <HI>Meritorious</HI> cau&s;e thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>And &s;erve him day and night.</HI> Ever thankfully mindfull of the evil they are delivered from, and of the great good they enjoy. <HI>Shall dwell among them.</HI> For the&s;e are the times of <HI>Jehova Shammah,</HI> of the Tabernacle of God among&s;t men, the times of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>They &s;hall hunger no more,</HI> &amp;c. They &s;hall not be fal&s;-fed nor hunger &s;tarved by deceitfull Teachers, that cannot impart to them the bread of life, nor rai&s;e the Spi|rit of life in them by their Mini&s;try (as being devoid of it them&s;elves) whereby their hunger and thir&s;t may be &s;atis|fied. <HI>Neither &s;hall any Sun light on them,</HI> &amp;c. There &s;hall no political Power what&s;oever tyrannize over their Con|&s;ciences, and by their per&s;ecution force them, as was u&s;ual under Antichri&s;t, to a &s;aple&s;s, &s;en&s;le&s;s, heartle&s;s, nay gro&s;ly &s;uper&s;titious and idolatrous Religion, again&s;t their own judgment, and inward &s;en&s;e of things.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. For Chri&s;t him&s;elf by his Spirit, and by true &s;pi|tual Guides and Governours &s;hall feed them, &s;hall guide and govern them, and lead them to living Fountains of waters, and direct them into the di&s;pen&s;ation of life, the Renovation of their inward man into the living Image of God. <HI>And God &s;hall wipe all tears,</HI> &amp;c. They &s;hall be no more calamitous by the wrong and per&s;ecutions of bloudy Tyrants, whether &s;piritual or temporal. For the true Apo&s;tolick Church, &s;hall then be an impregnable City or Polity of it &s;elf, the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> as it is de&s;cribed, <HI>Apoc. chap.</HI> 21. nor &s;hall <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog</HI> ever have their Wills upon it. This is the &s;en&s;e of this Tran&s;ition from the fir&s;t &s;ix Seals to the opening the la&s;t, and reaches from the beginning of the corrupt part of the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> in|terval to the end of the <HI>Laodicean.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="8" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="243" REF="127">
<HEAD>CHAP. VIII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>An entrance into the Vi&s;ion of the &s;even Trumpets, commencing with the opening of the &s;eventh Seal, and reach|ing to the end of the World, or of the</HI> Sealed-book-prophecy. <HI>A Devotional Introduction to the &s;ounding of the Trumpets of the &s;even Angels. The &s;ounding of the four fir&s;t Trum|pets. The Concomitants of the fir&s;t, Hail and Fire mingled with bloud, denoting the Incur&s;ion of the Barbarous Nations into the</HI> Roman <HI>Empire. Of the &s;econd, A great Moun|tain burning with fire ca&s;t into the Sea, &s;ignifying the taking of</HI> Rome <HI>by</HI> Alaricus <HI>and the &s;ad con&s;equences thereof. Of the third, A Star falling from Heaven named</HI> Wormwood, <HI>intimating the Extinction of the We&s;tern</HI> Cae&s;areate. <HI>Of the fourth, The third part of the Sun, Moon and Stars &s;mitten, betokening</HI> Rome<HI>'s being de&s;poiled again of the &s;plendour of her u&s;ual Magi&s;trates. A warning given by an Angel of great Calamities, accompanying the &s;ounding of the three following Trumpets.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND when he had opened the &s;eventh &s;eal, there was &s;ilence in heaven about the &s;pace of half an hour.</P>
<P N="2">2 And I &s;aw the &s;even Angels which &s;tood before God; and to them were given &s;even trumpets.</P>
<P N="3">3 And another Angel came and &s;tood at the Altar, having a golden cen&s;er; and there was given unto him much incen&s;e, that he &s;hould offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar, which was before the throne.</P>
<P N="4">4 And the &s;moke of the incen&s;e which came with the prayers of the Saints, a&s;cended up before God, out of the Angels hand.</P>
<PB N="244" REF="128">
<P N="5">5 And the angel took the cen&s;er, and filled it with fire of the altar, and ca&s;t it into the earth: and there were voices, and thundrings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.</P>
<P N="6">6 And the &s;even angels which had the &s;even trum|pets, prepared them&s;elves to &s;ound.</P>
<P N="7">7 The fir&s;t angel &s;ounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with bloud, and they were ca&s;t up|on the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green gra&s;s was burnt up.</P>
<P N="8">8 And the &s;econd angel &s;ounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was ca&s;t into the &s;ea; and the third part of the &s;ea became bloud:</P>
<P N="9">9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the &s;ea, and had life, died; and the third part of the &s;hips were de&s;troyed.</P>
<P N="10">10 And the third angel &s;ounded, and there fell a great &s;tar from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters:</P>
<P N="11">11 And the name of the &s;tar is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, becau&s;e they were made bitter.</P>
<P N="12">12 And the fourth angel &s;ounded, and the third part of the &s;un was &s;mitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the &s;tars; &s;o as the third part of them was darkened, and the day &s;hone not for a third part of it, and the night likewi&s;e.</P>
<P N="13">13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the mid&s;t of heaven, &s;aying with a loud voice, Wo, wo, wo to the inhabiters of the earth, by rea&s;on of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels which are yet to &s;ound.</P>
<PB N="245" REF="128">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>SIlence in Heaven,</HI> &amp;c. This is &s;poken in allu|&s;ion to the cu&s;tome in the Service of the Temple, where, though in the former part of their Ser|vice, while the Sacrifices were offered, the Temple rang again with their loud Mu&s;ick, yet in the time of incen&s;e all were &s;ilent, and in their tacit Devotions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. This he &s;aw during this &s;ilence, or at the begin|ning thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. Things repre&s;ented in Heaven pre&s;igure things here on earth, and the&s;e Ceremonies of the Temple, the Devotions of the Chri&s;tians, who&s;e prayers are here re|pre&s;ented as coming up in remembrance before God. Which is expre&s;&s;ed in this Judaical way or Ceremony of the Temple, by the giving to this Angel as to a Prie&s;t much incen&s;e, that he &s;hould offer it with the prayers of all Saints upon the golden Altar which was before the Throne, an&s;wering to the Altar of incen&s;e overlaid with Gold that &s;tood before the <HI>Sanctum Sanctorum.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. That is, the de&s;ire of the true Church, who are of one mind with God, a&s;cended up before God as incen&s;e out of a Prie&s;t's hand, and was known and accepted with him. Their prayers in all likelyhood were in general for the Pre&s;ervation of the Church, and &s;uppre&s;&s;ion of both the old and new growing Abominations of the Em|pire, and what the Will of God is therein, is &s;ignified in the following ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. The&s;e things betoken the wrath of God to be poured upon the bloudy per&s;ecuting <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, a|gain&s;t whom the Souls of the &s;lain under the Altar had call|ed for vengeance, <HI>chap.</HI> 6.10. The great Tempe&s;ts and Commotions that &s;hould befall it are thus expre&s;&s;ed in the general, and as an effect of the foregoing groans and cries of God's aggrieved people.</P>
<PB N="246" REF="129">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. And therefore tho&s;e Tempe&s;ts and Calamities, will now more particularly be de&s;cribed in the &s;everal &s;oundings of tho&s;e Angels that have the &s;even Trumpets.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>Hail and fire mingled with bloud,</HI> &amp;c, that is, A thundering Hail-&s;torm with fire, whereby is &s;ignified the &s;urious incur&s;ion of the Barbarians into the Empire. And the mention of <HI>bloud</HI> &s;eems on purpo&s;e to be added, that there may be no mi&s;take, as if this &s;torm was to be up|on trees and gra&s;s, and earth, (though the&s;e be named) which bleed not, but upon men of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire great and &s;mall, <HI>Trees</HI> &s;ignifying the great ones, and <HI>Gra&s;s</HI> the common people. And that it is under&s;tood of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, the [third part] plainly intimates: Which [third part] does not &s;ignifie the third part of the <HI>Ro|man</HI> Empire, but &s;imply the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, this Em|pire being the third part of the known World in St. <HI>John</HI>'s time. So that here as in other places hereafter [third part] is not to be taken <HI>Numerally</HI> or proportionally, but <HI>Symbolically</HI> as a Character of the <HI>Ro|man</HI> Empire. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place. The impletion of this Trumpet began about the year 395. when <HI>Alaricus</HI> invaded the Empire with an infinite number of <HI>Goths</HI> and other Barbarians, e&s;pecially in the Ea&s;tern part thereof, hara&s;&s;ing it for &s;ive years together. And in the year 401. the &s;ame <HI>Alaricus</HI> with <HI>Goths, Alans, Hunns</HI> broke into <HI>Italy</HI> al&s;o and be&s;ieged <HI>Honorius</HI> the Emperour in <HI>Ha&s;ta,</HI> and &s;o terrified the Inhabitants of <HI>Italy,</HI> that they were in a manner all ready to leave their dwellings. See farther in Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his expo&s;ition on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>A great mountain,</HI> &amp;c. that is to &s;ay, A great City, namely <HI>Rome</HI> it &s;elf, (for &s;o <HI>Mountain</HI> &s;ignifies in the prophetick &s;tyle, and <HI>Sea</HI> the extent of juri&s;diction or dominion) which was taken by <HI>Alaricus</HI> King of the <HI>Goths</HI> (after the death of <HI>Stilico</HI>) who, <HI>Anno.</HI> 410. made a new and more fatal expedition into <HI>Italy.</HI> This ca&s;e, I &s;ay, of this City being taken by <HI>Alaricus,</HI> was as if a burning Mountain had been ca&s;t into the Sea, the Earthine&s;s and Fieryne&s;s thereof, being &s;o contrary and mi&s;chievous to
<PB N="247" REF="129">water. And &s;o was this condition of the City of <HI>Rome</HI> to the Territories and Juri&s;diction <HI>thereof,</HI> which <HI>Sea</HI> &s;ig|nifies, the number <HI>three</HI> or <HI>third</HI> being the Character of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire. For upon this taking of the City did pre&s;ently en&s;ue the dilaceration or tearing in pieces of the <HI>Roman</HI> Juri&s;diction into many Kingdoms, &s;o that the entire|ne&s;s of the <HI>Roman</HI> dominion was plainly de&s;troyed. See farther in Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his expo&s;ition of the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. That is, the <HI>Roman,</HI> both men and profitable Con&s;titution of things were altered, and cea&s;ed to be what they were. Which here in Analogy to <HI>Sea</HI> are intimated to be <HI>Fi&s;hes,</HI> they being the living Creatures proper to the Sea, and plainly &s;aid to be &s;hips. The&s;e now had lo&s;t their former propriety, and they are no longer the entire <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, but each re&s;pective Kingdoms, to which they belong, to &s;ay nothing of the real de&s;truction of many.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Burning as it were a lamp.</HI> As if it were that fair Comet called <HI>Lampadias,</HI> which betokens the great|ne&s;s of the Prince it denotes, and al&s;o the <HI>&s;hortne&s;s</HI> of his reign. <HI>The third part of the Rivers,</HI> &amp;c. The burning of it denotes the mi&s;chief to the Rivers and Fountains, it is &s;aid to fall into. Which Rivers are <HI>Provincial</HI> Magi&s;trates or Armies, and the Fountains of water provincial Cities. And there is mention again of the <HI>third part,</HI> that you may know the prediction belongs to the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire. And it is no wonder this &s;alling Star or Comet &s;hould be looked up|on as &s;o mi&s;chievous to Rivers and Waters, when natu|ral Hi&s;tory &s;peaks of falling Comets that have drunk up whole Rivers, &s;o decorous is the Repre&s;entation.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. The condition of this Prince's reign was &s;uch, that the <HI>Roman</HI> Territories were &s;o full of affliction and calamity, that their Life was <HI>bitter</HI> to them, be&s;ides the &s;laughter of many in Wars. Now this Prince was the <HI>We&s;tern Cae&s;ar,</HI> who from the time that <HI>Gen&s;ericus</HI> &s;acked and pillaged <HI>Rome</HI> (which was <HI>Anno.</HI> 455, by which time the Empire was actually divided into ten Kingdoms) &s;trug|ling with Death for a while, in the &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e in|con&s;iderable and unfortunate <HI>Cae&s;ar</HI>'s <HI>Avitus, Majo<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">anus, Se|verus,
<PB N="248" REF="130">Anthemius, Olybrius, Glycerius, Nepos,</HI> at la&s;t expired in <HI>Augu&s;tulus,</HI> into which name the We&s;tern <HI>Cae&s;ar</HI> had dwind|led, and under which that <HI>Cae&s;areate</HI> was quite extingui&s;h|ed by <HI>Odoacer</HI> King of the <HI>Herules,</HI> to the <HI>bitter</HI> Mi&s;ery of the Fountains and Rivers, the Cities and Magi&s;trates pro|vincial. Thus did the third Trumpet &s;ound the &s;ad final fate of the We&s;tern <HI>Cae&s;areate,</HI> under the figure of a great falling Star called <HI>Wormwood,</HI> which <HI>Odoacer</HI> ca&s;t down and extingui&s;hed, and reigned him&s;elf King of <HI>Italy,</HI> &s;ixteen years, who re&s;tored to <HI>Rome</HI> her Con&s;ulate which he had taken away before. And King <HI>Theodoricus</HI> that vanqui&s;h|ed him, and &s;ucceeded him, &s;o rebuilt <HI>Rome</HI> and re&s;tored to it all the ancient Magi&s;tracies, Honours and Privile|ges belonging to it, that bating the Memory of her Me|&s;ery and Infancy, &s;he &s;eemed perfectly recovered to her former Glory and Felicity, and thus &s;he continued through the reign of &s;everal Succe&s;&s;ours of <HI>Theodoricus.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. The meaning is, that under this Trumpet there is nothing of the <HI>Roman</HI> Lu&s;tre of the lower or higher de|gree left, (for that this belongs to <HI>Rome,</HI> the wonted Cha|racter [third] plainly &s;hews.) There is no longer now at la&s;t any <HI>King</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> denoted by the <HI>Sun,</HI> nor <HI>Con|&s;ular</HI> power, nor <HI>Senatorian,</HI> nor the power of other known ancient Magi&s;trates of <HI>Rome</HI> denoted by the <HI>Moon</HI> and <HI>Stars,</HI> but the City at la&s;t (namely after that from the year 542. in the <HI>O&s;trogothick</HI> War by <HI>Beli&s;arius</HI> and <HI>Nar&s;es, Ju|&s;tinian</HI>'s Generals, it was deprived of the Con&s;ular power, and after taken twice by <HI>Totilas</HI> and burnt, and re-taken by <HI>Nar&s;es,</HI> and a little after &s;truck to the ground by thun|der and lightning and tempe&s;t, being de&s;poiled of all an|cient Ranks of <HI>Roman</HI> Magi&s;tracy) &s;unk to that ignoble and ob&s;cure Title of the <HI>Dutchy</HI> of <HI>Rome,</HI> and after was forced to pay tribute to <HI>Ravenna</HI> (under the <HI>Exarchate</HI>) a City that before had been &s;ubject to her. In which inglo|rious &s;tate &s;he continued till the year 750. Which year is the <HI>Epocha,</HI> of that notable interval of the Kingdom of the <HI>Saracens</HI> from the beginning of the <HI>Caliphate</HI> of the <HI>Aba|&s;idae</HI> (who fir&s;t made <HI>Eagdad</HI> their imperial &s;eat) to the ta|king
<PB N="249" REF="130">of the &s;aid <HI>Bagdad</HI> by <HI>Togrulbec</HI> King of the <HI>Turks,</HI> which was in the year 1055. which is worth the noting, for a pa&s;&s;age in the following Chapter.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>Wo, Wo, Wo,</HI> &amp;c. The&s;e Woes are denounced again&s;t the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, who by this time, be&s;ides the guilt of the bloud of the primitive Martyrs, had in a gro&s;s manner lap&s;ed into a kind of a Pagano-chri&s;tian ido|latry, which they would more notoriou&s;ly be found in un|der the&s;e following Trumpets, and in cruel Per&s;ecutions of the Apo&s;tolick members of the Church, that would not &s;ubmit to their Idolatrous Pagano-chri&s;tiani&s;m. Wherefore vengeance proportionable to their redoubled wickedne&s;s &s;hall be poured down upon them, under the voices of the Trumpets of the three Angels that are to come.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="9" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. IX.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The Vi&s;ions of the fifth and &s;ixth Trumpets. At the &s;ounding of the fifth Trumpet, to a Star fallen from Hea|ven is the key of the bottomle&s;s pit given, to rai&s;e from thence by</HI> Mahomet <HI>that Doctrine of darkne&s;s, and to Pro&s;elyte the</HI> Saracens <HI>thereto here called</HI> Locu&s;ts, <HI>with tails like Scorpions, which &s;hall &s;orely vex the</HI> Roman <HI>Empire by their Incur&s;ions, but not quite de&s;troy it. The Name of their King. At the &s;ounding of the &s;ixth Trumpet, the</HI> Euphratean <HI>Hor&s;emen, the</HI> Turks, <HI>are let loo&s;e quite to de&s;troy the Ea&s;tern Empire. The Impenitence of the We&s;tern part of the Empire notwith|&s;tanding the&s;e great judgments on the Ea&s;ten and their per|&s;i&s;ting &s;till unreformed from their Idolatry, murthering of the Saints and other Abominations.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND the fifth angel &s;ounded, and I &s;aw a &s;tar fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomle&s;s pit.</P>
<P N="2">2 And he opened the bottomle&s;s pit, and there a|ro&s;e a &s;moke out of the pit, as the &s;moke of a great
<PB N="250" REF="131">furnace; and the &s;un and the air were darkened, by rea&s;on of the &s;moke of the pit.</P>
<P N="3">3 And there came out of the &s;moke locu&s;ts upon the earth; and unto them was given power, as the &s;corpions of the earth have power.</P>
<P N="4">4 And it was commanded them that they &s;hould not hurt the gra&s;s of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but onely tho&s;e men which have not the &s;eal of God in their foreheads.</P>
<P N="5">5 And to them it was given that they &s;hould not kill them, but that they &s;hould be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a &s;corpion, when he &s;triketh a man.</P>
<P N="6">6 And in tho&s;e days &s;hall men &s;eek death, and &s;hall not find it; and &s;hall de&s;ire to dye, and death &s;hall flee from them.</P>
<P N="7">7 And the &s;hapes of the locu&s;ts were like unto hor&s;es prepared unto battel; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.</P>
<P N="8">8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.</P>
<P N="9">9 And they had brea&s;t-plates as it were brea&s;t|plates of iron, and the &s;ound of their wings was as the &s;ound of chariots of many hor&s;es running to bat|tel.</P>
<P N="10">10 And they had tails like unto &s;corpions, and there were &s;tings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.</P>
<P N="11">11 And they had a King over them, which is the angel of the bottomle&s;s pit, who&s;e name in the He|brew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.</P>
<PB N="251" REF="131">
<P N="12">12 One wo is pa&s;t, and behold there come two woes more hereafter.</P>
<P N="13">13 And the &s;ixth angel &s;ounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God,</P>
<P N="14">14 Saying to the &s;ixth angel which had the trum|pet, Loo&s;e the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.</P>
<P N="15">15 And the four angels were loo&s;ed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to &s;lay the third part of men.</P>
<P N="16">16 And the number of the army of the hor&s;emen were two hundred thou&s;and thou&s;and: and I heard the number of them.</P>
<P N="17">17 And thus I &s;aw the hor&s;es in the vi&s;ion, and them that &s;ate on them, having brea&s;t-plates of fire, and of jacinct, and brim&s;tone: and the heads of the hor&s;es were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths i&s;&s;ued fire, and &s;moke, and brim&s;tone.</P>
<P N="18">18 By the&s;e three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the &s;moke, and by the brim&s;tone, which i&s;&s;ued out of their mouths.</P>
<P N="19">19 For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto &s;erpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.</P>
<P N="20">20 And the re&s;t of the men which were not killed by the&s;e plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they &s;hould not wor&s;hip devils, and idols of gold, and &s;ilver, and bra&s;s, and &s;tone, and of wood, which neither can &s;ee, nor hear, nor walk:</P>
<P N="21">21 Neither repented they of their murthers, nor of their &s;orceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.</P>
<PB N="252" REF="132">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>A Star fall from Heaven.</HI> Reade out of the Ori|ginal [A Star <HI>fallen</HI> from Heaven.] And as by a <HI>Star</HI> an <HI>Angel</HI> is &s;ignified (&s;ee <HI>Synop&s;. Prophetic.</HI> lib. 1. cap. 8. &s;ect. 14.) &s;o a <HI>fallen</HI> Star &s;ignifies a <HI>lap&s;ed</HI> Spirit or fal|len Angel, a <HI>Devil</HI> if you will, and the having the key gi|ven him of the bottomle&s;s pit, denotes his <HI>Power</HI> in the Kingdom of darkne&s;s, of which a key is the Symbol.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. There aro&s;e an hot and helli&s;h zeal, conjoined with dark ignorance for the Impo&s;turous Religion of <HI>Ma|homet,</HI> in&s;omuch that the Go&s;pel of the Sun of Righteou&s;|ne&s;s was in danger to be clouded and eclip&s;ed by the over|running force and fal&s;e pretences of <HI>Monothei&s;m,</HI> and of a more pure wor&s;hip in <HI>Mahometi&s;m.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. Under this dark, ignorant and fal&s;e pretence, the <HI>Saracens</HI> profe&s;&s;ours of this fal&s;e Religion, &s;pread them&s;elves over the Earth, who&s;e deadly &s;ting and poi&s;on in their Scorpion-tails was the fal&s;ne&s;s of their Religion, which they transfu&s;ed at the <HI>end</HI> of their Conque&s;ts. That was the <HI>poi&s;onous &s;ting</HI> to all con&s;cientious Chri&s;tians, and to others it was at lea&s;t <HI>poi&s;on</HI> if not a <HI>&s;ting.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>That have not the &s;eal of God,</HI> &amp;c. Which inti|mates, that notwith&s;tanding the gra&s;&s;ation of the&s;e Impo|&s;tours the truly Apo&s;tolick Church would be kept &s;afe. And there is mention made of <HI>men</HI> in oppo&s;ition to green things and trees; and to in&s;inuate that the&s;e <HI>Locu&s;ts</HI> were al&s;o <HI>men,</HI> not mere Infects. For Locu&s;ts do not fall upon men, but up|on gra&s;s and trees.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>They &s;hould not kill them,</HI> that is, That the&s;e <HI>Sa|racens</HI> &s;hould indeed infe&s;t the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, but not de|&s;troy it quite, as after happened by the <HI>Euphratean</HI> Hor&s;e|men. <HI>Should be tormented five months,</HI> that is, During the time of the&s;e <HI>Saracens</HI> lying upon it called here five months, in allu&s;ion to the time of Locu&s;ts, who live about that &s;pace of time, as Naturali&s;ts relate. But their continuance in
<PB N="253" REF="132">vexing <HI>Italy</HI> was not much above five months of years, if that may be particularly glanced at. <HI>As the torment of a Scorpion,</HI> &amp;c. Le&s;&s;er at fir&s;t, but increa&s;ing upon him that is &s;truck. And the &s;troke being by the <HI>Serpentine</HI> Tail of the Locu&s;ts &s;hews the poi&s;on and &s;ting to be <HI>Diabolical,</HI> and to cau&s;e &s;uc h Vexations of mind, as that poi&s;on is apt to breed. And as the poi&s;on of a Scorpion is <HI>White</HI> as <HI>Ap|pollodorus</HI> relates, &s;o it is that perver&s;ly pretended <HI>Mono|thei&s;m</HI> of the&s;e <HI>Saracens</HI> that looks &s;o fairly and innocent|ly on't, with which they might perplex and torment the minds of the un&s;ealed, and &s;orely di&s;quiet their Con|&s;ciences. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his expo&s;ition on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. The fear of death and horrour of Con&s;cience did &s;o vex men, and fill them with Anxiety, that it was wor&s;e than death it &s;elf to be in &s;uch perpetual danger and un&s;ettledne&s;s of things, wor&s;e than the Chri&s;tians are now in, under the <HI>Turks,</HI> which were a de&s;irable condition to them, rather than the&s;e perpetual renewed Vexations from the <HI>Saracens,</HI> in who&s;e hands tho&s;e parts of the Empire they invaded, were not to be &s;ettled as afterward it came to pa&s;s in the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> inva&s;ion, who &s;eized on the Ea&s;tern part of the Empire and &s;etled there, &s;o that the Empire there was not onely <HI>vexed but killed,</HI> extingui&s;hed or put an end to, and the minds of the Conquered at quiet.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>Like unto hor&s;es prepared to battel,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>i. e.</HI> Ready harne&s;&s;ed, as it is &s;aid afterwards, that they have Brea&s;t-plates of Iron, which &s;hews the courage of the&s;e <HI>Saracens,</HI> and their well appointedne&s;s for War. And their &s;ucce&s;s was accordingly, as is &s;ignified by their <HI>Crowns</HI> of <HI>Gold</HI> on their heads. Which &s;hews their Victory over &s;o many Nations and Kingdoms. For in the &s;pace of eighty years or a little more, they acquired to that &s;atanical King|dom of <HI>Mahomet, Pale&s;tine, Syria,</HI> both <HI>the Armenias,</HI> all <HI>A&s;ia Minor</HI> in a manner, <HI>Per&s;ia, Judaea, Aegypt, Numidia,</HI> all <HI>Bar|bary</HI> to the River <HI>Niger, Lu&s;itania</HI> and <HI>Hi&s;pania;</HI> Nor were they &s;tinted here, but won al&s;o a great part of <HI>Italy</HI> even to the Gates of <HI>Rome.</HI> To which you may add <HI>Sicily, Candia, Cyprus</HI> and the re&s;t of the <HI>Mediterranean</HI> I&s;lands. And la&s;t|ly,
<PB N="254" REF="133">they are &s;aid to have the faces of men, the better to a&s;&s;ure us they are no <HI>In&s;ects,</HI> or mere locu&s;ts, nor a mere <HI>Bea&s;t-like</HI> Empire, becau&s;e no Idolaters.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. They are &s;aid to have the hair of Women, not for any effeminacy or cowardize in them, but to &s;hew what Countrey men they are, that they are derived from the <HI>Arabians,</HI> who&s;e cu&s;tome it was to wear long hair on their head un&s;horn, and an head-tire like Women. And their teeth as the teeth of Lions, that &s;hews that they were very di&s;patchfull of their prey, who could devour &s;o many King|doms in &s;o little time as was above noted.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. Their Brea&s;t-plates of Iron import them well armed, and of an Iron courage: And here is mention of wings in allu&s;ion to the figure of Locu&s;ts, who al&s;o make a noi&s;e with their wings when they fly, but the &s;ound of Chariots, of many Hor&s;es running to battel, implies that they are indeed men and great Warriours, that with great <HI>&s;wiftne&s;s, noi&s;e</HI> and terrour ran down all before them. Witne&s;s the above mentioned Conque&s;ts, which were &s;o &s;peedy, &s;o large and &s;o many.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. They are of the <HI>Serpentine</HI> kind, of the ancient <HI>Serpent</HI> that was alway an enemy to the Son of God and his Kingdom, and this Scorpion-tail denotes that with their Conque&s;ts, they would bring in a Religion contrary to that of Chri&s;t, and de&s;troy the wor&s;hip of the Son of God un|der an ignorant Pretence of <HI>Monothei&s;m,</HI> as if the Chri|&s;tian Religion were incon&s;i&s;tent with the wor&s;hip of one God, whereas the more di&s;tinct knowledge of that one God does not make us le&s;s <HI>Monothei&s;ts</HI> than they. This is the <HI>up&s;hot</HI> of their <HI>Victories,</HI> and the very <HI>&s;ting</HI> and <HI>poi|&s;on</HI> their Atchievements end in. And their power to hurt men five months, is to vex and hurt the Empire particu|larly but not quite to de&s;troy it as the <HI>Turks</HI> did after|wards. Nor is it &s;aid here to hurt the <HI>third</HI> part of men as in the former Trumpets, becau&s;e their Inva&s;ions were not<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="UOM" EXTENT="1 letter">r &s;trained to the Empire, but ran over other va&s;t tracts of the habitable World al&s;o. But they are &s;aid to hurt men <HI>five</HI> months, in allu&s;ion to the Life of Locu&s;ts as I noted above.</P>
<PB N="255" REF="133">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. This King is the &s;ame with the fallen Star, to whom was given the Key of the bottomle&s;s Pit, it being an En&s;ign of his power in the Kingdom of darkne&s;s as I noted above. This was the &s;upreme Captain of the&s;e Troops of Locu&s;ts, that is <HI>Saracens,</HI> and his name betokens his nature. For both <HI>Abaddon</HI> and <HI>Apollyon</HI> &s;ignifie a de|&s;troyer, which is a fit Title, he being the Captain of &s;uch numerous Troops, that de&s;troyed &s;o many mens bodies by War, and their Souls by a fal&s;e Religion in oppo&s;ition to Chri&s;tianity, reproaching it as if it maintained the wor|&s;hip of more Gods than one. Which malicious pretence &s;eems al&s;o to be glanced at in tho&s;e very names, <HI>Abaddon</HI> alluding to <HI>Adad,</HI> as if it were <HI>Ab-Addon,</HI> and <HI>Apollyon</HI> to <HI>Apollon, Apollo,</HI> both which names according to this allu|&s;ion &s;ignifie, ONE, As if this Angel of the Aby&s;s and his Locu&s;ts, &s;tood up for the wor&s;hip of one God, and that the Chri&s;tians wor&s;hipped many, becau&s;e they wor&s;hip the <HI>Holy Trinity,</HI> which nothing but their ignorance of that My&s;tery, and their malice could make them conclude to be incon&s;i&s;tent with the <HI>&V;nity</HI> of the Deity. Which pa&s;&s;age therefore of the Vi&s;ion is no &s;mall countenance to the do|ctrine of the Trinity of the Godhead.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>There come two woes more,</HI> namely under the founding of the next two Trumpets, which therefore as the former may well be called <HI>Wo-trumpets.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. For <HI>John</HI> rapt thus into Heaven, the Temple and the throne of God was, as it were, continually repre|&s;ented to him, and &s;o the golden Altar which is the Altar of incen&s;e. And incen&s;e is the Symbol of the prayers, and breathing of the pure Apo&s;tolick Church oppre&s;&s;ed and afflicted under that Antichri&s;tian and Idolatrous con|&s;titution of things e&s;tabli&s;hed by the &s;econd <HI>Nicene</HI> Council, and the fourth <HI>Lateran.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>Loo&s;e the four Angels,</HI> &amp;c. Let loo&s;e the <HI>Turks</HI> upon the idolatrous Empire. For that Angels &s;ignifie men under their conduct, is a frequent Apocalyptical figure. And the number <HI>four,</HI> may either relate to tho&s;e four more notable <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> Soltanies, on that and this &s;ide <HI>Ephrates,</HI>
<PB N="256" REF="134">that of <HI>Bagdad,</HI> that of <HI>Cae&s;area Cappadociae</HI> or <HI>Iconium,</HI> that of <HI>Aleppo</HI> and that of <HI>Dama&s;cus;</HI> touching which, &s;ee Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> on the place; or <HI>four</HI> may &s;ignifie onely Symbo|lically, as it does in <HI>Cabbali&s;m,</HI> and intimate the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> Sultanies at large, and the <HI>Turks</HI> not to be confined to <HI>Eu|phrates</HI> or <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> but to be let into <HI>Europe,</HI> even to the ta|king of <HI>Con&s;tantinople.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. This term of time is another Indication, that the <HI>Turks</HI> are meant here. For <HI>Trogulbec</HI> Prince of the <HI>Turks,</HI> the City <HI>Bagdad</HI> being taken by him, had his impe|rial Robes put upon him, and was inaugurated Emperour of the <HI>Turks</HI> by the Caliph <HI>Chaiim Biamvilla</HI> in the year 1057. And from this year to the year 1453. when <HI>Con|&s;tantinople</HI> was taken, is a prophetical day and a month, and a year, that is 396. years. The&s;e <HI>Turks</HI> were prepared again&s;t a determinate time, even at the expiration of 396. years, for to &s;lay the <HI>third</HI> part of men, not vex onely as the <HI>Saracens</HI> did, but put an end to the <HI>Ea&s;tern Roman</HI> Empire, for [third] is a Character of the <HI>Roman</HI> Em|pire as I have already noted. Which accordingly came to pa&s;s at the taking of <HI>Con&s;tantinople,</HI> and &s;wallowing there|upon the whole <HI>Roman</HI> Empire in the Ea&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. Here is a va&s;t definite number put for a great indefinite number, &s;o great that the number could not &s;o well be di&s;covered by the eye, as &s;ignified by Speech. The numerou&s;ne&s;s of the Army intimates they are <HI>Turks,</HI> as al&s;o in that there is no notice taken of <HI>Foot,</HI> but onely of <HI>Hor&s;e,</HI> the Greek Hi&s;tory u&s;ually calling the <HI>Turks Per&s;ians,</HI> which &s;ignifies <HI>Hor&s;emen.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. Tho&s;e Hor&s;emen when they &s;hot off, the Air betwixt them, and the light of the beholder &s;eemed fiery at the fla&s;hing of the Powder, and then of a jacinth colour through the blew &s;moke, and after filled his no&s;trils with the &s;eent of Sulphur. Which &s;hews that this Vi&s;ion be|longs to the times &s;ince the invention of Gunpowder by <HI>Berchtoldus Niger,</HI> Anno 1380. Nor were the Hor&s;es heads like heads of Lions for &s;hape, but for the roaring noi&s;e that &s;eemed to come from them at their Riders di&s;|charging
<PB N="257" REF="134">their Pi&s;tols or Carbines, as it is &s;aid that out of their mouth i&s;&s;ued fire, &s;moke and brim&s;tone.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>The third part of men killed,</HI> i. e. The <HI>Roman</HI> Empire in the Ea&s;t was not onely vexed and annoyed, but utterly vanqui&s;hed and de&s;troyed by the&s;e <HI>Centaures,</HI> as I may call them, the <HI>Turks,</HI> the&s;e <HI>Per&s;ians</HI> or <HI>Pera&s;him</HI> men on Hor&s;eback, including both the &s;hapes in one appella|tion. Which <HI>Centaures</HI> are &s;et out &s;till more mon&s;trou&s;ly, as killing men by the fire and by the &s;moke and brim&s;tone which i&s;&s;ued out of their mouths, as it may &s;eem at a di|&s;tance when they let off their Fireguns and Pi&s;tols.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. As in the Scorpio-locu&s;ts before, a Mon&s;ter made up of a Locu&s;t, and of a Scorpion, to &s;ignifie the <HI>Sa|racens,</HI> &s;o here is a Mon&s;ter made up of an <HI>Hor&s;e</HI> and a <HI>Man</HI> (as the Locu&s;ts were &s;aid to have faces like men, as neither of them being Idolaters) a <HI>Centaur</HI> as it were, to &s;ignifie the <HI>Turks,</HI> and have Serpents tails whereby they are &s;aid to hurt men, &s;ignifying the &s;ame venome or mi&s;|chief of <HI>Mahometi&s;m.</HI> For they are &s;aid to have heads in the&s;e tails, I, and had mouths too I warrant you, to &s;peak and tempt the vanqui&s;hed as the old <HI>Serpent</HI> did <HI>Eve</HI> from their obedience to God and Chri&s;t, not onely upon that fal&s;e pretence, as if we Chri&s;tians were guilty of <HI>Polythei&s;m,</HI> becau&s;e we wor&s;hip the Holy Trinity, but al&s;o upon a pre|tence, then too lamentably true, that the Chri&s;tian Church was defiled with intolerable &s;uper&s;titions and idolatries, adding the per&s;ecution of all tho&s;e that would not &s;ub|mit to their wicked inventions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>By the&s;e plagues,</HI> The re&s;t of the men, that is, the <HI>We&s;tern Roman</HI> Empire that was onely vexed not killed by the plagues of the <HI>Scorpio-Locu&s;ts</HI> and <HI>Euphratean Cen|taures,</HI> for all this &s;ad example of God's &s;everity on the <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> for the like Crimes, did not repent of their wicked and impious inventions, nor cea&s;ed they to wor&s;hip <HI>Demons</HI> (See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> in his notes on this ver&s;e) middle invi|&s;ible Powers betwixt God and men, whether Angels or the Souls of men departed; and in reference to them Idols of Gold, Silver, Bra&s;s, Stone and Wood, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And
<PB N="258" REF="135">that their mode of idolatry here is by <HI>Statues,</HI> not by <HI>Pi|ctures,</HI> this is another In&s;inuation that the <HI>We&s;tern</HI> Church is here under&s;tood.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. They repented not of their murtherous Per&s;e|cution of innocent Souls, for not &s;ubmitting to their ido|latrous Rites and Cu&s;toms, nor of their impo&s;turous ex|orci&s;ms, and Enchantments of &s;everal things to holy pre|tended u&s;es, nor of their unnatural uncleanne&s;s of all &s;orts upon the Hypocritical profe&s;&s;ion of a &s;ingle Life, nor of their cunning trick, of cheating the people of their Money, by &s;etting up Images for men to bring oblations to, by their Merchandizes of hallowed Cro&s;&s;es, Beads, Medals and the like Trumperies and Deceits. This univer&s;al impeni|tency of the We&s;tern part of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire added to the <HI>Turks</HI> over-running the Ea&s;tern is the entire <HI>Vi&s;um</HI> of the &s;ixth Trumper, or &s;econd <HI>Wo trumpet;</HI> which there|fore ends with the <HI>Thyatirian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, or at the ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es, <HI>chap.</HI> 11.14. And the &s;eventh Trumpet Synchronizeth with the <HI>Sardian, Philedelphian</HI> and <HI>Laodicean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ions and equalizeth them all put together.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="10" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="259" REF="135">
<HEAD>CHAP. X.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>A Vi&s;ion Introductory to the third main Prophecy reaching from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World, called the</HI> Opened-book-prophecy. <HI>A mighty An|gel appeareth with the Book un&s;ealed or opened in his hand. He &s;upplies the place for the pre&s;ent of the &s;ound of the &s;e|venth Trumpet by his voice roaring like a Lion. During the &s;pace of this roaring &s;even Thunders utter their voices.</HI> John <HI>is bid to omit the &s;etting down what the &s;even Thunders &s;pake, in this place. The Angel &s;wears there &s;hall be no more time than what the &s;ounding of the &s;eventh Trumpet takes up of equal &s;pace with his roaring di&s;tributed into &s;even Thunders. By a voice out of Heaven, as at the</HI> Sealed-book-prophecy, John <HI>is here bid to take the Opened-book out of the Angel's hand and eat it, which done he is told, that he mu&s;t now Pro|phe&s;ie again before many People, Nations and Kings.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I &s;aw another mighty angel come down from heaven, cloathed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the Sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.</P>
<P N="2">2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he &s;et his right foot upon the &s;ea, and his left foot on the earth,</P>
<P N="3">3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, &s;even thunders ut|tered their voices.</P>
<P N="4">4 And when the &s;even thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven, &s;aying unto me, Seal up tho&s;e things which the &s;even thunders uttered, and write them not.</P>
<PB N="260" REF="136">
<P N="5">5 And the angel which I &s;aw &s;tand upon the &s;ea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven,</P>
<P N="6">6 And &s;ware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth and the things that therein are, and the &s;ea and the things which are therein, that there &s;hould be time no longer:</P>
<P N="7">7 But in the days of the voice of the &s;eventh an|gel, when he &s;hall begin to &s;ound, the my&s;tery of God &s;hould be fini&s;hed, as he hath declared to his &s;er|vants the prophets.</P>
<P N="8">8 And the voice which I heard from heaven &s;pake unto me again, and &s;aid, Go, and take the little book which is open, in the hand of the angel, which &s;tandeth upon the &s;ea, and upon the earth.</P>
<P N="9">9 And I went unto the angel, and &s;aid unto him, Give me the little book. And he &s;aid unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it &s;hall make thy belly bitter, but it &s;hall be in thy mouth &s;weet as honey.</P>
<P N="10">10 And I took the little book out of the angels hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth &s;weet as honey: and as &s;oon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.</P>
<P N="11">11 And he &s;aid unto me, Thou mu&s;t prophe&s;ie again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.</P>
<PB N="261" REF="136">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P>THE <HI>Euphratean</HI> Hor&s;emen having over-run and de|&s;troy'd, and fully &s;eized on the <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> part of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire under the &s;ixth Trumpet, natural Method will prompt us to expect that what follows in this Prophe|cy of the <HI>Sealed-book,</HI> which is the &s;eventh Trumpet, &s;hould refer to the <HI>We&s;tern</HI> parts of the Empire, and concern the highe&s;t Dominion there, the Papal Hierarchy, that Anti|chri&s;t that exalts him&s;elf above all that is called God or wor&s;hipped. Such Alterations therefore mu&s;t the &s;eventh Trumpet, di&s;tributed into &s;even Thunders (as the &s;eventh Seal was into &s;even Trumpets) contain, as declare the downfall of Antichri&s;t and enlarging the Kingdom of Chri&s;t in the&s;e parts of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire, and over the whole Earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. This other mighty Angel cloathed with a cloud, a thick cloud charged with Thunder, is an Angel di&s;tinct from the &s;even Trumpet-Angels, and &s;teppeth here in, to &s;upply the place and occupy the &s;pace of the &s;eventh, but is indeed Chri&s;t him&s;elf, the Rain bow on his head, as that in the Vi&s;ion of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> betokening his Divinity, as coming in the glory of God the Father. And his face like the Sun, as he appeared to <HI>Saul,</HI> and in the mid&s;t of the golden Candle&s;ticks farther intimates the &s;ame. And his feet as Pillars of fire betoken his great wrath, and his coming to judge and take vengeance of his Enemies.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>A little book open.</HI> Which contains all the Vi&s;i|ons of the Prophecy of the Opened-book, as we at fir&s;t noted. And his &s;etting his right foot on the Sea, and his left on the Earth, may either &s;ignifie his laying claim to, or &s;eizing his right by Sea and Land, or his intended Tri|umph over the Ten-horned Bea&s;t out of the Sea, and Two-horned Bea&s;t out of the Earth, <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Clay. See <HI>chap.</HI> 13.11.</P>
<PB N="262" REF="137">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>As when a Lion roareth.</HI> Which is a notable in|timation that it is Chri&s;t the Lion of the Tribe of <HI>Juda.</HI> And his loud roaring being in&s;tead of the &s;ounding of the &s;eventh Trumpet, mu&s;t be of equal extent with it, but it &s;ets off in general the anger and victorious terrour of Chri&s;t in a&s;&s;aulting and overcoming the Kingdom of An|tichri&s;t or the Papal Hierarchy, and glorious erection and continuance of his own Kingdom to the end of all things. The&s;e in general are the affairs of this la&s;t &s;pace of the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy,</HI> that is, of the &s;eventh Trumpet, who&s;e &s;ound this <HI>roaring</HI> &s;upplies. <HI>And when he had cried.</HI> The Original has it, When he did cry, or while he did cry. <HI>Se|ven Thunders uttered their voices.</HI> And therefore the&s;e &s;e|ven Voices of the &s;even Thunders, are like the &s;even Soun|dings of the &s;even Trumpets, which divide the &s;eventh Seal into &s;even Intervals, &s;o the&s;e the &s;eventh Trumpet into &s;even Intervals. The &s;even Voices of the&s;e Thunders may be &s;even <HI>Bath Cols,</HI> that is, &s;even Oracles or Voices deli|vered in the Thunder, and the la&s;t might betoken the Turning of the Earth into a Lake of fire by Thundering and Lightening, as if this were that voice, Go ye accur&s;ed in|to everla&s;ting fire. To which is equipollent that Lake of fire, <HI>chap.</HI> 20.15. And this dividing the &s;eventh Trum|pets &s;pace into Thunders, may be for that very rea&s;on made choice of, the la&s;t being not a Metaphorical, but na|tural or rather &s;upernatural Thunder. whereby the Earth will be &s;et on fire, and al&s;o becau&s;e it &s;utes &s;o well with that allu&s;ion to <HI>Laodicea combu&s;ta,</HI> from whence al&s;o the <HI>Laodi|cean</HI> Interval, which reaches to this Conflagration, is de|nominated. But this plainly implies that the&s;e Thunders reach to the end of the World, which mu&s;t needs &s;top that fond conceit, that they precede the &s;eventh Trum|pet.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Seal up tho&s;e things that the &s;even Thunders ut|tered:</HI> With an allu&s;ion to this Sealed-book of Prophe|cies, as if he &s;hould &s;ay, Though the &s;eventh Seal be o|pened, yet as to this part thereof let it be as &s;ealed again, for it is needle&s;s here &s;o particularly to declare things,
<PB N="263" REF="137">touching the de&s;truction of the Papal Hierarchy, as al&s;o other matters, For thou &s;halt write them afterwards. For &s;o the <HI>Biblia Regia, Andreas,</HI> and others reade the Origi|nal, <HI>viz.</HI> And thou &s;halt write them hereafter, (not, <HI>[And write them not</HI>) namely in the Opened-book-prophe|cies, where the&s;e affairs of the de&s;truction of Authoriti&s;t and the advancement of Chri&s;t's Kingdom &s;hall be more fully and particularly delivered. Which is a marvellous manner of Tran&s;ition from the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy</HI> to the <HI>Opened-book-prophecy,</HI> and &s;utable to the u&s;ual Maje&s;tickne&s;s of this Book of the Apocalyp&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Lifted up his hand to Heaven,</HI> as u&s;ing that u&s;ual Ceremony of po&s;ture in &s;wearing. See <HI>Dan.</HI> 12.7.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. This is a mighty and vehement a&s;&s;everation, but it is concerning a thing that &s;unk fle&s;h and bloud are too too incredulous of, <HI>viz.</HI> That the &s;tage of this Earth mu&s;t have an end at the la&s;t Thunder, which will bring upon it the Conflagration at the expiration of the <HI>Laodicean</HI> Inter|val. But the &s;ame <HI>Amen</HI> whom we meet with, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 3.14. does as earne&s;tly aver it here. For he &s;aith upon Oath (the Original being rightly pointed and tran&s;la|ted)</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>That there &s;hall be time no longer,</HI> viz. here on Earth, (and from that nece&s;&s;ary term of the <HI>Exit</HI> of the <HI>Vi&s;um</HI> of the &s;ixth Trumpet in the foregoing Chapter) <HI>&s;aving in the days of the voice of the &s;eventh Angel, when he &s;hall &s;ound, and the my&s;tery of God be fini&s;hed, as he has de|clared to his &s;ervants the Prophets;</HI> i. e. When tho&s;e Predic|tions &s;hall be fulfilled, which in &s;uch a My&s;tical and Symbo|lical &s;tyle God hath foretold by his Prophets, <HI>I &s;aiah, Da|niel</HI> and <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> and others, which reach to the very end of the World, or of the &s;tage of things on this Earth. See Dr. <HI>H. M</HI> his Notes, and the An&s;wer to <HI>S. E.</HI> his Remark on the place. And let us in the mean time note, That this earne&s;t A&s;&s;ertion of the Angel, be&s;ides that weighty point, implies al&s;o, that the &s;even Thunders are included in the &s;eventh Trumpet, there being no Regre&s;s here into the time of the &s;ixth, and no time left but that of the &s;e|venth
<PB N="264" REF="138">according to the Oath of the Angel. And this is the fir&s;t part of this marvellous Tran&s;ition from the Pro|phecy of the <HI>Sealed,</HI> to that of the <HI>Opened</HI> Book. In which fir&s;t part the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy</HI> is fini&s;hed, and the &s;even Thunders &s;ettled in the &s;eventh Trumpet thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>And the voice which I heard from Heaven,</HI> [as of a Trumpet] (that may be under&s;tood by an u&s;ual Apo|caly ptick Ellip&s;is) at the beginning of the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy. In the hand of the Angel,</HI> namely, in the hand of Chri&s;t, now in the form of an Angel, as before in the form of a Lamb, and fir&s;t of all in the High Prie&s;t's Habit, according as the whole Revelation of this Book, con&s;i|&s;ling of three main Prophecies, with their Introductory Vi&s;ions, is &s;aid to be the Revelation of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> chap. 1.1.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. Though the knowledge of future things may be plea&s;ant and tempting to the curious Reader of this Book, yet when he &s;hall thoroughly dige&s;t it or under&s;tand it, it will be bitter by rea&s;on of the &s;everal &s;ad and bitter things contained in it: As the &s;ad per&s;ecution of the Primitive Chri&s;tians in the <HI>Smyrnean</HI> Succe&s;&s;ion of the Church, and the foul Apo&s;taie of the Church under the reign of Anti|chri&s;t or the Whore of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and the mo&s;t barbarous per&s;ecutions of them that will not &s;ubmit to her wicked and Idolatrous Tyranny; And there is bitterne&s;s enough for her too at the la&s;t, which makes her Paramours &s;o loth to under&s;tand this Book of Prophecies aright.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>My belly was bitter,</HI> that is, my &s;tomach was bitter. Which is a Pre&s;iguration of the condition of tho&s;e that &s;hall reade this Book, and rightly dige&s;t it, that is, truly under&s;tand it, as I noted before.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>Thou mu&s;t Prophe&s;ie again.</HI> This third Introduc|tory Vi&s;ion, And the voice from Heaven as of a Trumpet, as in the beginning of the two former Prophecies, And the fini&s;hing of the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy</HI> in the former part of this Introductory or Tran&s;itionary Vi&s;ion, with this intimation, that he mu&s;t Prophe&s;ie again as before (which was not expounding of Prophecies, but uttering them)
<PB N="265" REF="138">does plainly in&s;inuate, that (tho&s;e other two Prophecies reaching from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World) he mu&s;t again Prophe&s;ie of affairs reach|ing from the beginning of the Church to the end of the World, and that this <HI>Opened-book-prophecy</HI> is &s;uch, of the &s;ame extent of time with the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy,</HI> though it differ in this, That the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy</HI> chiefly &s;ets out the fate or &s;tate of the <HI>Empire,</HI> this the fate or &s;tate of the Church. <HI>Before many peoples,</HI> &amp;c. that is, To their faces, &s;o that they may all under&s;tand how they are con|cerned in this Prophecy of the Opened-book. And thus is this Vi&s;ionary Tran&s;ition from the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy</HI> to the Vi&s;ionary Tran&s;ition from the <HI>Sealed-book-prophecy</HI> to the <HI>Opened-book-prophecy</HI> in both the parts thereof fully fini&s;hed. Now follow the Vi&s;ions them&s;elves of the O|pened-book-prophecy, and that in a &s;ufficiently natural and rational order, tho&s;e Vi&s;ions reach from the begin|ning of the Church, being placed fir&s;t, as &s;hall be no|ted.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="11" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="266" REF="139">
<HEAD>CHAP. XI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The fir&s;t Vi&s;ion of the</HI> Opened-book-prophecy <HI>rea|ching from the beginning of the Church to the end of the &s;e|venth Vial.</HI> John <HI>is bid to mea&s;ure the Inner</HI> (open <HI>Place or) Court of the Temple, the</HI> vi&s;ible <HI>Primitive Church. The</HI> vi&s;ible <HI>Church after that or</HI> Outer <HI>Court is troden under foot by the Gentiles forty two months, while the two Witne&s;&s;es prophe&s;ying in &s;ackcloth one thou&s;and two hundred &s;ixty days are warred again&s;t by the Bea&s;t, and &s;laughtered three days and an half, or three times and an half, &s;ignified by the</HI> 1260 <HI>days. After three days [or Times] and an half the Wit|ne&s;&s;es in the Reformation begun by</HI> Luther <HI>are rai&s;ed to life, and the tenth part of</HI> Babylon <HI>or the great City ruined, which is the clo&s;e of the &s;ound of the &s;ixth Trumpet. An entrance into the &s;pace of the &s;eventh Trumpet, with &s;olemn Doxolo|gies for this partial fall of</HI> Babylon, <HI>or Chri&s;t's re&s;uming in part his Kingdom into his own hands. Brief glances upon the affairs of the</HI> Vials <HI>comprized within the fir&s;t Thunder of the &s;eventh Trumpet.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel &s;tood, &s;aying, Ri&s;e, and mea&s;ure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that wor|&s;hip therein.</P>
<P N="2">2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and mea&s;ure it not; for it is given unto the Gen|tiles: and the holy city &s;hall they tread under foot forty and two months.</P>
<P N="3">3 And I will give power unto my two witne&s;&s;es, and they &s;hall prophe&s;ie a thou&s;and two hundred and three&s;core days cloathed in &s;ackcloth.</P>
<P N="4">4 The&s;e are the two olive-trees, and the two can|dle&s;ticks &s;tanding before the God of the earth.</P>
<PB N="267" REF="139">
<P N="5">5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he mu&s;t in this man|ner be killed.</P>
<P N="6">6 The&s;e have power to &s;hut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to bloud, and to &s;mite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.</P>
<P N="7">7 And when they &s;hall have fini&s;hed their te&s;timo|ny, the bea&s;t that a&s;cendeth out of the bottomle&s;s pit, &s;hall make war again&s;t them, and &s;hall overcome them, and kill them.</P>
<P N="8">8 And their dead bodies &s;hall lie in the &s;treet of the great city, which &s;piritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where al&s;o our Lord was crucified.</P>
<P N="9">9 And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, &s;hall &s;ee their dead bodies three days and an half, and &s;hall not &s;uffer their dead bo|dies to be put in graves.</P>
<P N="10">10 And they that dwell upon the earth &s;hall re|joice over them, and make merry, and &s;hall &s;end gifts one to another; becau&s;e the&s;e two prophets tormen|ted them that dwelt on the earth.</P>
<P N="11">11 And after three days and an half, the Spirit of life from God entred into them: and they &s;tood up|on their feet, and great fear fell upon them which &s;aw them.</P>
<P N="12">12 And they heard a great voice from heaven, &s;aying unto them, Come up hither. And they a&s;|cended up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them.</P>
<P N="13">13 And the &s;ame hour was there a great earth|quake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the
<PB N="268" REF="140">earthquake were &s;lain of men &s;even thou&s;and: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.</P>
<P N="14">14 The &s;econd wo is pa&s;t, and behold, the third wo cometh quickly.</P>
<P N="15">15 And the &s;eventh angel &s;ounded, and there were great voices in heaven, &s;aying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Chri&s;t, and he &s;hall reign for ever and ever.</P>
<P N="16">16 And the four and twenty elders which &s;ate be|fore God on their &s;eats, fell upon their faces and wor|&s;hipped God.</P>
<P N="17">17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wa&s;t, and art to come; becau&s;e thou ha&s;t taken to thee thy great power, and ha&s;t reigned.</P>
<P N="18">18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead that they &s;hould be judged, and that thou &s;houlde&s;t give reward unto thy &s;ervants the prophets, and to the &s;aints, and them that fear thy Name, &s;mall and great, and &s;houlde&s;t de&s;troy them which de&s;troy the earth.</P>
<P N="19">19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was &s;een in his temple the ark of his te&s;ta|ment: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thundrings, and an earthquake, and great hail.</P>
<PB N="269" REF="140">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>And there was given to me,</HI> &amp;c. What is con|tained in this Chapter is plainly a prophe|tical Vi&s;ion, and it immediately following <HI>John</HI>'s eating the <HI>Opened-book,</HI> and his being bid to Prophe&s;ie, it is plainly the fir&s;t Vi&s;ion of the <HI>Opened-book-Prophecy.</HI> Which Pro|phecy being u&s;hered in with the like pomp, as that of the <HI>Churches</HI> and <HI>Sealed Book</HI> are, commenceth as high as they, and has the &s;ame <HI>Epocha.</HI> Be&s;ides, that it were an headle&s;s bu&s;ine&s;s to make this Vi&s;ion to commence with the &s;eventh Seal or fir&s;t Trumpet, and hugely immethodical, the Vi|&s;ion in the next Chapter mo&s;t a&s;&s;uredly beginning as high as the two former Prophecies of the <HI>Churches</HI> and <HI>Sealed Book:</HI> Wherefore <HI>John</HI> being bid to mea&s;ure the Temple and the Altar, that is to &s;ay, the <HI>Court</HI> wherein the Tem|ple and the Altar &s;tood, (See <HI>Exod.</HI> 40.33.) <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Area</HI> thereof, not the Temple nor the Altar more than the men wor&s;hipping there (which is a Key to the &s;en&s;e of the Vi&s;ion) it declares that that time of the Church from the beginning thereof, that an&s;wers in proportion to the <HI>Inner</HI> Court of the Temple compared with the <HI>Outer,</HI> is Symmetral or &s;utable to the rule of the world, nor the Apo&s;ta&s;ie yet come, (its <HI>Epocha</HI> being 394) within which time the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> and <HI>Smyrnean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ions are included. And the corre&s;pondence is admirable betwixt the <HI>Smyrne|an</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, and that part of the Court where the Altar &s;tood, when &s;o many Martyrs as &s;o many Holocau&s;ts were &s;acrificed in Te&s;timony to the truth of the Chri&s;tian Reli|gion; the &s;pace where the Altar of Holocau&s;ts &s;tands fall|ing in with the &s;pace of time of the <HI>Smyrnean</HI> per&s;ecutions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>But the Outer Court of the Temple.</HI> For &s;o it is to be rendred out of the Original, that is, the <HI>Area</HI> of the <HI>Outer</HI> Court: which plainly in&s;inuates that the <HI>Area</HI> of the <HI>Inner</HI> Court, where the Temple and Altar &s;tood, was al&s;o intimated before <HI>leave out, and mea&s;ure it not,</HI> the Ori|ginal
<PB N="270" REF="141">has it, <HI>ca&s;t out,</HI> as rejectaneous. For it is not Com|men&s;utable to the rule of God's word and Apo&s;tolick faith and Practice, but contrary and repugnant. Which time of the Church is for the greate&s;t part of the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ion, and all the <HI>Thyatirian</HI> in which they are &s;aid to eat things &s;acrificed unto Idols. <HI>For it is given to the Gentiles,</HI> &amp;c. That is, a kind of Pagano chri&s;tianity &s;hall vi&s;ibly do|mineer for forty two months of years, that is, 1260 years. Which is the &s;ame proportion of <HI>time</HI> to the Commen&s;u|rate <HI>time</HI> of the vi&s;ible Church under the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> and <HI>Smyr|nean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion and a little farther, that the proportion of <HI>&s;pace</HI> the <HI>Outer</HI> Court has to the <HI>&s;pace</HI> of the <HI>Inner</HI> Court, which proportion is as 1260 to 360, that is, the outer Court contained the inner three times and an half in large|ne&s;s, &s;o that the Apo&s;ta&s;ie began in the year 394.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>&V;nto my two Witne&s;&s;es.</HI> The&s;e mournfull Wit|ne&s;&s;es are &s;aid to be two, though never &s;o many, partly by rea&s;on of the Type, to which they allude, <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Aaron, Eliah</HI> and <HI>Eli&s;hah, Zorobabel</HI> and <HI>Je&s;huah,</HI> who &s;hewed their Zeal for the purity of God's wor&s;hip again&s;t the Idolatry in the Wilderne&s;s, in the <HI>Baaliti&s;h</HI> idolatry, and in the Captivity of <HI>Babylon:</HI> Partly in allu&s;ion to things, Magi&s;tracy and Mini&s;try, Old Te&s;tament and New, <HI>&amp;c. A thou&s;and two hundred and three&s;core days,</HI> &amp;c. The works of darkne&s;s were numbred by <HI>Months,</HI> the <HI>Moon</HI> be|ing the ruler of the Night, the works of righteou&s;ne&s;s by <HI>days,</HI> of which the <HI>Sun</HI> is Moderatour. And la&s;tly, their being clothed in Sackcloth, denotes the &s;adne&s;s of heart and low condition of &s;uch holy Apo&s;tolick men during this time.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Two Olive trees,</HI> &amp;c. See <HI>Zachary,</HI> chap. 4.11. whereby the two Olive trees upon the right &s;ide of the Can|dle&s;tick, and the left is under&s;tood <HI>Zorobabel</HI> and <HI>Je&s;huah</HI> tho&s;e &s;aithfull &s;ervants of God in the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> captivity, and the time of the mournfull Witne&s;&s;es is the very time of the Whore of <HI>Babylon.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Fire proceedeth out of their mouth,</HI> &amp;c. This allu&s;ion is to <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and <HI>Elias,</HI> who did really bring down
<PB N="271" REF="141">fire upon their enemies, but here it is to be under&s;tood My&s;tically of the fire of the Spirit: As it is &s;aid of the man in <HI>E&s;dras</HI> coming out of the Sea. And he &s;hall de|&s;troy them without labour by the law which is like unto fire, 2 <HI>E&s;dr.</HI> 13.38. In which &s;en&s;e is to be under&s;tood their <HI>killing</HI> them that hurt them, <HI>viz.</HI> by the power of the Spirit in conviction and prayer. The&s;e are the Wea|pons of their Warfare.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>The&s;e have power to &s;hut heaven that it rain not,</HI> &amp;c. This is figuratively &s;poken by a prophetical <HI>Metalep&s;is</HI> or <HI>Zoopoeia</HI> of the &s;econd kind, attributing that to their Acti|vity, or it may be <HI>Oral</HI> denunciation, which is onely a con&s;e|quence of their condition, they having no power to &s;way things in Church or &s;tate. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place. The <HI>Rain</HI> here <HI>hindred</HI> is the &s;ound Apo&s;tolick do|ctrine and heavenly Influence thereof, the allu&s;ion is made to that of <HI>Elias,</HI> 1 <HI>Kin.</HI> 17. or <HI>Luk.</HI> 4.25. And &s;o they are &s;aid to turn waters into bloud, becau&s;e their Apo&s;tolick preaching of the Go&s;pel of meekne&s;s and peace does not take place. And to &s;mite the Earth with all plagues as often as they will, that is, as often as occa&s;ions offer them&s;elves. For particular occa&s;ions an&s;wer in Analogy to particu|lar Acts of Will in this prophetick <HI>Zoopoeia.</HI> Or it may be under&s;tood of denouncing all manner of plagues as of|ten as they will. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his expo&s;ition and Notes on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>Shall be a fini&s;hing of their Te&s;timony.</HI> (So it is to be read out of the Original) that is, as they &s;hall be performing their witne&s;&s;ing to the truth, again&s;t all the Im|po&s;tures and Idolatries of this &s;piritual <HI>Aegypt</HI> (as the plagues intimate it to be) the Bea&s;t, either out of a Pit of the earth or depth of the Sea, the <HI>two-horned</HI> or <HI>ten|horned</HI> Bea&s;t &s;hall oppo&s;e them and overcome them, as to the power of this World, and kill them. So that they &s;hall be politically dead all of them, and &s;ome (as it happened to the <HI>Walden&s;es</HI> and <HI>Albigen&s;es</HI> and others) be &s;lain in a na|tural &s;en&s;e. No &s;ooner &s;hall they begin to perform their Office of witne&s;&s;ing to the truth, but they &s;hall find them|&s;elves
<PB N="272" REF="142">&s;uppre&s;&s;ed and de&s;titute of power and &s;o <HI>Politically</HI> dead, as their Re&s;urrection is al&s;o political, as you &s;hall hear anon.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. The&s;e Witne&s;&s;es as to any political power or life being dead Carca&s;&s;es (as it is &s;aid of the people of the Jews in a political &s;en&s;e, Shall the&s;e dry bones live?) &s;hall be in being &s;till, though in this political death, in the large Juri&s;diction of that great City, which is My&s;tically called <HI>Sodom</HI> and <HI>Aegypt,</HI> and the City where our Lord was cru|cified, that is, <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> that killeth the Prophets, that far extended idolatrous Church, that for their uncleanne&s;s up|on their pretence of vowed Celibate is here called <HI>Sodom; Aegypt</HI> for the &s;lavery they keep the people of God in, and the old <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> for per&s;ecuting the Prophets the true Profe&s;&s;ours of the Apo&s;tolick Chri&s;tianity.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Shall &s;ee their dead bodies,</HI> &amp;c. Thus devoid of all political Life and Power. <HI>Three days and an half,</HI> that is, for three times and an half, <HI>Day,</HI> &s;ignifying the &s;ame that <HI>Time</HI> in &s;ome Ca&s;es. But here it is &s;aid, three days and an half, <HI>for Decorum</HI> &s;ake that in the out-&s;ide of the letter they may not &s;eem to Prophe&s;ie, and be dead at the &s;ame time, nor lye too long unburyed and unrevived. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Apology</HI> at the end of his <HI>Expo&s;ition of the vi&s;ions of Daniel.</HI> But the not &s;uffering their dead bodies to be put in the Grave, implies that they are kept &s;afe in view, though out of all power and &s;o politically dead.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. They who&s;e hearts and minds dwell upon earth|ly things, the&s;e will ever rejoyce when the two Witne&s;&s;es are &s;lain, and more jollily and freely congratulate one ano|ther, the Enjoyment of their Honours and Church-prefer|ments &s;hared among&s;t them, becau&s;e the&s;e two Prophets tormented them, but could now doe &s;o no more, they be|ing quite out of place and power, and being ever defeat|ed in their attempts to amend things.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>And after three days and an half,</HI> that is, After a time and times, and half a time now current. For that mea&s;ure in <HI>Daniel</HI> is that <HI>Authentick</HI> intended mea&s;ure (how|ever varied into 42 months, 1260 days, and three days
<PB N="273" REF="142">and an half for other purpo&s;es) to mea&s;ure the <HI>Medial</HI> vi&s;ions by. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Arithmetica Apocalyptica,</HI> and the <HI>nine Queries</HI> with the Notes in his <HI>Paralipomena Prophe|tica.</HI> But in that it is here &s;aid, <HI>After</HI> three days and an half, that plainly implies the ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es to be the <HI>fi|nal</HI> I&s;&s;ue of the 42 months War again&s;t them and the Saints. But the Spirit of Life here entring into them, intimates they began to have &s;ome political power, favour and inte|re&s;t with the Great ones, and their &s;tanding on their feet, that they were countenanced and &s;upported for the very profe&s;&s;ion &s;ake, of the pure and Apo&s;tolick faith which they witne&s;&s;ed, which ca&s;t the Pagano-chri&s;tians into great fear they &s;u&s;pecting what may be the i&s;&s;ue thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Great voice from heaven,</HI> &amp;c. A powerfull com|mand from the political Heaven (in which political Suns, Moons, Stars, Kings, Princes and Governours &s;hine) that the Apo&s;tolick Religion be e&s;tabli&s;hed, and the Idolatrous per&s;ecutive papal Hierarchy be aboli&s;hed, and the <HI>Evangelici</HI> be advanced to the highe&s;t degrees and dignities in Church and State. Of which their a&s;cending up to Heaven in a cloud is an Emblem. And their ene|mies beheld them thus a&s;cending, and you may be &s;ure, with a malicious and envious eye.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. And at this very time there was a mighty change and commotion in affairs, and no le&s;s than the tenth part of the City of <HI>Babylon</HI> fell, that is, of the <HI>Ro|man</HI> polity or Hierarchy, and there were &s;even thou&s;and names of men, that is, an huge Company of men depen|ding on that Polity (that is, on the <HI>&s;eventh</HI> head of the Bea&s;t) wholly &s;lain in a <HI>Political</HI> &s;en&s;e, deprived of power and their Revenues. For this number is to be interpret|ed not <HI>Arithmetically,</HI> but <HI>Symbolically.</HI> And the re&s;t of that party was affrighted and &s;urprized, they &s;itting be|fore as a Queen in the <HI>Thyaterian</HI> interval which thought &s;he &s;hould find no &s;orrow.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>The &s;econd woe is pa&s;t,</HI> that is, the Interval of the &s;e|cond Wo-trumpet here endeth, namely, in the Re&s;urrection of the Witne&s;&s;es or the late ble&s;&s;ed reformation. And that ge|neral
<PB N="274" REF="143">impenitence in this We&s;tern part of the Empire is now expired with this &s;econd Woe, &s;o many parts there|of cea&s;ing to wor&s;hip <HI>Daemons,</HI> and Idols of Gold and Silver, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And here likewi&s;e the <HI>Thyatirian</HI> interval expires, nor is the fal&s;e Prophete&s;s <HI>Jezebel</HI> any longer per|mitted to &s;educe the people to commit Fornication, and to eat things &s;acrificed to Idols; and that promi&s;e to the Church in <HI>Thyatira</HI> fulfilled, That he that overcometh &s;hould have power over the <HI>Nations</HI> or <HI>Gentiles,</HI> tho&s;e that had trod down the <HI>Outer</HI> Court to the &s;econd month of the la&s;t <HI>Hexamenon,</HI> or la&s;t <HI>Semitime</HI> of the &s;even, which an&s;wer to the forty two months, wherein they are &s;aid to have trod it down. So that the re&s;idue of this Vi&s;ion runs on into the <HI>Sardian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the Church, into the time of the &s;even Vials. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Apology</HI> and the <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to <HI>S. E.</HI> his remarks thereon, and thou wilt be a&s;&s;ured of the truth here delivered. <HI>The third woe cometh quickly,</HI> that is, the third Wo-trumpet or &s;eventh Trumpet, who&s;e fir&s;t thunder is charged with the &s;even la&s;t plagues. This Trumpet immediately &s;ucceeds the &s;ixth, the <HI>Vi&s;um</HI> of the &s;ixth being fulfilled in the ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. Several Kingdoms and Principalities as pledges of the re&s;t, being recovered here already by Chri&s;t out of the hands of the Tyrannical Antichri&s;t by the late Refor|mation, the &s;eventh Trumpet commenceth with great Ac|clamations of joy in heaven for the &s;ucce&s;s, and with hap|py pre&s;ages of the continuance of Chri&s;t's reign, that what|ever Cha&s;ti&s;ements may come upon the Church of <HI>Sardis</HI> for her neglects or imperfections, yet this Kingdom of Chri&s;t which has begun, &s;hall never fail, but he &s;hall reign to the end of the World, through the <HI>Sardian, Philadel|phian</HI> and <HI>Laodicean</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. The&s;e Princes in heaven are &s;aid thus to doe, betokening what tho&s;e Princes and Potentates on earth, that were our noble <HI>Reformers,</HI> would doe, or how devoutly they would be affected for &s;o ble&s;&s;ed a Reformation. For they were in a manner Slaves to the Pope before. And &s;o their Doxology here is more e&s;pecially recorded.</P>
<PB N="275" REF="143">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>And ha&s;t reigned.</HI> Ha&s;t given &s;o glorious a Spe|cimen of thy Power, and that thou rule&s;t in the King|doms of men, and ha&s;t thus happily begun the reign of thy Chri&s;t, for the &s;ubduing utterly at la&s;t the Kingdom of Antichri&s;t. The beginning of the <HI>&s;eventh Trumpet</HI> is the beginning of the <HI>Sardian</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion, and of the <HI>&s;even Vials,</HI> and the Commencement of them all is with prai&s;es and Acclamations for this fir&s;t au&s;picious Victory of Chri&s;t, over Antichri&s;t or the papal Hierarchy. For the word <HI>Sardis</HI> &s;ignifies a <HI>Song of Joy.</HI> And <HI>here</HI> is the thanksgiving of the Elders, and at the beginning of the <HI>Vials,</HI> the Song of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Lamb. Now what follows in this Chap|ter, being after the &s;eventh Trumpet begun to &s;ound, mu&s;t needs run into the time of the <HI>Vials,</HI> the Vi&s;ion begun in the next Chapter plainly Commencing as high as the be|ginning of the Church, as is manife&s;t at fir&s;t &s;ight, where|fore in the following ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. The <HI>Nations</HI> being &s;aid to be angry, denotes the anger and exulcerated rage of the <HI>Gentiles,</HI> which trod under foot the <HI>Outer</HI> Court, which &s;o dementated them, that it made them impotently attempt &s;uch things that would render them execrable, odious, or de&s;picable to all the World, this therefore glances at the <HI>fir&s;t Vial.</HI> And whereas it is &s;aid <HI>thy wrath</HI> is come, and the time of the dead that they &s;hould be <HI>Judged,</HI> &amp;c. this &s;eems to allude to the <HI>third Vial.</HI> Thou art righteous O Lord, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t <HI>Judged</HI> thus. For they have &s;hed the bloud of Saints and Prophets, and thou ha&s;t given them bloud to drink for they are worthy. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his expo&s;ition on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>And the Temple of God was opened,</HI> that is, Stood open, not ju&s;t then opened, but as early as the Doxology of the Elders, as in Chapter 15. Out of which the &s;even Angels having the &s;even la&s;t Plagues are &s;een to come. But there is nothing here taken notice of in this Temple, but that the Ark of the Te&s;tament was &s;een, which im|plies that at this time God will have an eye to his ever|la&s;ting Covenant made with the Jews, which therefore
<PB N="276" REF="144">glances at the &s;ixth Vial, which Interpreters u&s;ually under|&s;tand of the calling of the Jews. And the Lightnings and Voices, and Thundrings, and an Earthquake and great Hail is plainly a de&s;cription of the &s;eventh Vial. So that this whole Vi&s;ion in this Chapter begins with the fir&s;t <HI>Epo|cha</HI> of the Church, and endeth with the &s;eventh Vial or the fir&s;t Thunder.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="12" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The fir&s;t part of the &s;econd Vi&s;ion of the</HI> Opened|book-prophecy (<HI>Synchronal to the fir&s;t, but reaching to the end of chap.</HI> 14.) <HI>wherein a Woman, the Primitive Church, is repre&s;ented cloathed with the Sun, and in pangs of childbearing (the pains of Per&s;ecution) in endeavouring to bring off the</HI> Roman <HI>Emperours to Chri&s;tianity. Which done, &s;he flies into the Wilderne&s;s.</HI> Michael <HI>and his Angels, that is, Chri&s;t with his Martyrs fight with the</HI> Dragon, <HI>the</HI> Roman <HI>Pagan per&s;ecutive Powers, and prevail. The</HI> Dragon <HI>ca&s;t out of Heaven per&s;ecutes the Woman while &s;he is flying into the Wilderne&s;s. He is wroth and intends War again&s;t her &s;eed.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND there appeared a great wonder in heaven, a woman cloathed with the &s;un, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve &s;tars:</P>
<P N="2">2 And &s;he being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.</P>
<P N="3">3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven, and behold, a great red dragon, having &s;even heads, and ten horns, and &s;even crowns upon his heads.</P>
<PB N="277" REF="144">
<P N="4">4 And his tail drew the third part of the &s;tars of heaven, and did ca&s;t them to the earth: and the dragon &s;tood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as &s;oon as it was born.</P>
<P N="5">5 And &s;he brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.</P>
<P N="6">6 And the woman fled into the wilderne&s;s, where &s;he hath a place prepared of God, that they &s;hould feed her there a thou&s;and two hundred and three&s;core days.</P>
<P N="7">7 And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought again&s;t the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels:</P>
<P N="8">8 And prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.</P>
<P N="9">9 And the great dragon was ca&s;t out, that old &s;er|pent, called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was ca&s;t out into the earth, and his angels were ca&s;t out with him.</P>
<P N="10">10 And I heard a loud voice &s;aying in heaven, Now is come &s;alvation, and &s;trength, and the king|dom of our God, and the power of his Chri&s;t: for the accu&s;er of our brethren is ca&s;t down, which ac|cu&s;ed them before our God day and night.</P>
<P N="11">11 and they overcame him by the bloud of the Lamb, and by the word of their te&s;timony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.</P>
<P N="12">12 Therefore rejoyce, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Wo to the inhabitants of the earth, and of the &s;ea: for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, becau&s;e he knoweth that he hath but a &s;hort time.</P>
<PB N="278" REF="145">
<P N="13">13 And when the dragon &s;aw that he was ca&s;t unto the earth, he per&s;ecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child.</P>
<P N="14">14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that &s;he might flee into the wilderne&s;s, into her place; where &s;he is nouri&s;hed for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the &s;er|pent.</P>
<P N="15">15 And the &s;erpent ca&s;t out of his mouth water as a floud, after the woman; that he might cau&s;e her to be carried away of the floud.</P>
<P N="16">16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and &s;wallowed up the floud which the dragon ca&s;t out of his mouth.</P>
<P N="17">17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her &s;eed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the te&s;timony of Je&s;us Chri&s;t.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. THis woman is the Primitive Apo&s;tolick Church before the Apo&s;ta&s;ie; cloathed with the <HI>Sun</HI> the pure light of the Go&s;pel or Sun of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and crowned with <HI>twelve Stars,</HI> as who&s;e glory and crown it was to keep clo&s;e to the doctrine and practice of the twelve Apo&s;tles, not yet either <HI>Judaizing</HI> or <HI>Paganizing,</HI> but kee|ping the <HI>Moon</HI> under her foot, the <HI>Pagan</HI> Idolatrous works of darkne&s;s, and the <HI>Judaical</HI> Rites and Super&s;titions or|dered by the Moon, the Empere&s;s of the Night.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. The&s;e &s;harp Throes &s;ignifie the cruel cutting Per|&s;ecutions the Primitive Church was under, and the many Martyrdoms they did &s;uffer before that promi&s;e of Chri&s;t was made good to them. Fear not little flock, for it is my
<PB N="279" REF="145">Father's good plea&s;ure to give you the Kingdom. That this is the true meaning of this Vi&s;ion of the Woman, is mani|fe&s;t both from the Naturalne&s;s thereof, the con&s;ent of In|terpreters, and the gro&s;s defect there would be in this <HI>Opened-book-prophecy;</HI> For unle&s;s this and the &s;ight of <HI>Mi|chael</HI> with the Dragon be under&s;tood of the Per&s;ecutions of the Primitive Church, there is nothing that prefigures them in this whole Prophecy, which is extremely ab&s;urd.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. The great red <HI>Dragon,</HI> bloudy and cruel is the <HI>Roman</HI> Pagan Empire, the &s;even Heads betoken &s;even &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ive &s;orts of Government, but all Idolatrous Heads, as being Heads of the <HI>Dragon;</HI> revived again in the healed Bea&s;t, and all &s;even crowned, to &s;hew they are <HI>Men</HI> or Ma|gi&s;trates, not <HI>Hills;</HI> but the ten Horns, that belong to the &s;eventh Head, uncrowned, to &s;hew that the Bea&s;t here was purely Pagan, and come no farther than to the &s;ixth Head, the <HI>Pagan</HI> Cea&s;ars.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>And his tail,</HI> &amp;c. His Military Train or Ar|mies had &s;ubdued in St. <HI>John</HI>'s time the <HI>third</HI> part of the Kingdoms and Principalities of the then known World. <HI>And the Dragon &s;tood before the woman,</HI> &amp;c. The <HI>Roman</HI> Pagan Emperours and their Mini&s;ters, the Devil a&s;&s;i&s;ting, watched as clo&s;e as they could, that the Church of Chri&s;t never &s;hould come to &s;uch power as to have an Emperour of their own Religion, and &s;o the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire come in|to their hands, but as &s;oon as any thing appeared tending that way, they endeavoured betimes to qua&s;h it and de|feat it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>She brought forth a man-child,</HI> &amp;c. But notwith|&s;tanding all their envious and malicious watchfulne&s;s the woman brought forth a Man-child, a My&s;tical Chri&s;t or Chri&s;tian People, that at la&s;t would make them&s;elves Ma|&s;ters of the Empire, and rule the wicked Per&s;ecutive Pa|gans with &s;uch &s;everity as they de&s;erved. <HI>And her child,</HI> &amp;c. He was advanced to the <HI>Imperial</HI> Dignity, called the Throne of God, as Magi&s;trates are called <HI>Elohim,</HI> Gods, in Hebrew, becau&s;e they are God's Vicegerents. This Prediction was plainly fulfilled when <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> turned Chri&s;tian.</P>
<PB N="280" REF="146">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. But a little after this external pro&s;perity of the pure Apo&s;tolick Church, and deliverance from the pre&s;ent Pagan Per&s;ecution, &s;he was yet fain to take &s;helter in the Wilderne&s;s, the outward Catholick Church becoming little better in a &s;hort time. Which her &s;peedy flight intimates, though that Wilderne&s;s-&s;tate came rather &s;o &s;wiftly upon her than &s;he into it, but it is a Prophetick <HI>Hypallage.</HI> Yet however here &s;he was more &s;afe than under the Pagan red Dragon. And thus &s;he was to continue 1260 days Pro|phetical, that is, years, or rather for a time, and times, and half a time, which is here &s;ignified by tho&s;e days, to intimate that it is the <HI>pure</HI> Apo&s;tolick Church here meant by the Woman in the Wilderne&s;s, di&s;tinct from the gor|geous <HI>Whore</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s, <HI>chap.</HI> 17. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. This War in Heaven betokens the like to come upon Earth, and this &s;ight betwixt <HI>Michael</HI> and the <HI>Dragon</HI> implies the invi&s;ible A&s;&s;i&s;tences and Oppo&s;itions of Angels good and bad, the one on the Primitive Chri&s;tians &s;ide, the other on the Pagan Empire's &s;ide, during that &s;trong Conflict betwixt the Church and the Pagans, their Per&s;ecu|tours in the <HI>Ephe&s;ine</HI> and <HI>Smyrnean</HI> Succe&s;&s;ion, with which the <HI>pangs</HI> of the <HI>woman</HI> in travail does al&s;o &s;ynchronize, and cannot begin later than this &s;ight without gro&s;s di&s;order and immethodicalne&s;s.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8, 9. This Victory of <HI>Michael</HI> over the Dragon (that old Serpent, with whom Chri&s;t had no &s;mall comba|ting long before, and called the Devil and Satan as a Re|proacher and Oppo&s;er of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t in all pla|ces and ages, and who &s;educeth the whole World into fal&s;e and Idolatrous wor&s;hip) &s;ignifies the de&s;truction of the Empire as <HI>Draconick</HI> and Idolatrous, and that none of that foul &s;tamp &s;hould be in high places of the Empire, but &s;uch as were profe&s;&s;ed Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>The kingdom of our God, and the power of his Chri&s;t.</HI> This is contemporary with the affairs of the &s;ixth Seal, or rather with the clo&s;e thereof, and the commence|ment of the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> Interval. <HI>Accu&s;ed them before
<PB N="281" REF="146">God,</HI> &amp;c. What the Devil is &s;aid to do concerning <HI>Job,</HI> accu&s;e him before God, the Pagans are here under&s;tood to do before the Emperours and other Magi&s;trates of the Empire, rai&s;ing mo&s;t wicked calumnies again&s;t the Chri|&s;tians, as <HI>Thye&s;tean</HI> Suppers, Ince&s;ts, Adulteries, Murthers, Con&s;piracies again&s;t the State, and what not.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. The Dragon was overcome through the Merits of Chri&s;t crucified on the Cro&s;s, and by the con&s;tancy of adherence, in the Martyrs, to the truth of the Go&s;pel, they loving not their lives unto death. This Ver&s;e makes it plain that this battel is under&s;tood of the courage and &s;ufferings of the Primitive Martyrs under the Pagan Powers, and that it was fought here on Earth, whatever was done in Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Rejoice ye heavens,</HI> &amp;c. Rejoice ye Angels and holy Martyrs, and ye al&s;o in the Political Heaven, in high places and offices under the Chri&s;tian Emperours. But wo to the lower multitude. For the Devil enraged with his downfall, will &s;tickle to do as much mi&s;chief among&s;t them as he may in behalf of his <HI>pure</HI> Pagani&s;m, which was now, he &s;aw, likely to continue but a &s;hort time. Wherefore he will find out &s;ome fetch to &s;trengthen the common people in their Pagani&s;m, and di&s;&s;ettle others in their Chri&s;tian profe&s;&s;ion. See ver&s;e 15.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. When the Dragon was reduced to &s;uch a low ba&s;e condition, an envious, revengefull, per&s;ecuting tem|per ro&s;e in him again&s;t the woman, the true Apo&s;tolick Church.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. The two wings of a great Eagle is the then <HI>Roman</HI> Chri&s;tian Empire (of which an Eagle is the Sym|bol) divided into <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> and <HI>We&s;tern,</HI> and &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ed of the&s;e two wings &s;he is &s;aid to <HI>fly</HI> into the Wilderne&s;s, by a Prophetick <HI>Hypallage,</HI> becau&s;e the Wilderne&s;s condition of the Church would come &s;hortly upon her. In which &s;he was &s;afe from the red Pagan per&s;ecutive Dragon, and was there to continue for a time, and times, and half a time, or &s;even Semitimes, which are the mea&s;ure intended for the <HI>Medial</HI> Vi&s;ions. See <HI>Arithmetica Apocalypt.</HI> Query. 1.</P>
<PB N="282" REF="147">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. But before the commencement of this Time the Serpent, as attempting to overwhelm her before &s;he could reach the appointed place, &s;pews out of his mouth the water of Here&s;ie and Contention, that &s;ore Divi&s;ion of the Church by rea&s;on of that Here&s;ie of <HI>Ariani&s;m,</HI> ho|ping that the Church that &s;tood out the hotte&s;t Per&s;ecu|tions with invincible valour again&s;t the red Dragon, may now peri&s;h by the over&s;preading of Here&s;ie and inte&s;tine Divi&s;ion, this furious Controver&s;ie hardening the hearts of the unconverted people, and &s;taggering the Converted in their faith and profe&s;&s;ion.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>The earth helped the woman,</HI> &amp;c. namely, <HI>Da|niel</HI>'s Clayi&s;h Earth, the Eccle&s;ia&s;ticks gathered into Oe|cumenical Councils; as that fir&s;t Council at <HI>Nice,</HI> and o|ther Orthodox Councils opening their mouths, and de|claring again&s;t <HI>Ariani&s;m,</HI> by their Authority &s;ettled the minds of the people, and at la&s;t quite dried up this floud of Here&s;ie and Contention, as a Torrent is dried up by the chinks and gapings of the dry Earth. Haply al&s;o there may be an Allu&s;ion to [Oecumenical] which implies Earth in it. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>And the Dragon was wroth,</HI> &amp;c. The former wicked project failing, the wrath of the Dragon was a|gain incen&s;ed again&s;t the Woman crowned with twelve Stars and the Moon under her feet, the pure Apo&s;tolick Church; and he went to make war with the remnant of her &s;eed, tho&s;e namely which &s;he was to bring forth while &s;he abides in the Wilderne&s;s, which will approve them|&s;elves her genuine off-&s;pring by keeping the Command|ments of God, who forbids us making of any graven I|mage, to bow down to it or wor&s;hip it, and enjoins us to wor&s;hip, &s;erve and pray to him&s;elf alone. <HI>And have the Te&s;timony of Je&s;us.</HI> For the Te&s;timony of Je&s;us is the Spi|rit of Prophecy; in which &s;en&s;e the two Witne&s;&s;es are &s;aid to Prophe&s;ie as well as to Witne&s;s. The Te&s;timony there|fore of Je&s;us is to witne&s;s to the Go&s;pel of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, through an a&s;&s;urance of the truth thereof from the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Life in the new Birth.
<PB N="283" REF="147">From which living Principle they are firmly enabled to witne&s;s again&s;t the wicked Inventions of an Apo&s;tatized Church, and do loath them and dete&s;t them. For they are not dead ve&s;&s;els that will receive whol&s;ome liquour and poi&s;on alike, but the living Creation of God; and therefore have an Antipathy again&s;t all the works of the Devil, gro&s;s Super&s;tition, Impo&s;ture, Idolatry, Cruelty, lying Impo&s;&s;bilities in&s;tead of true Miracles or My&s;teries, and what other Inventions of the old Serpent that &s;edu|ceth the whole World. Again&s;t &s;uch Witne&s;&s;es therefore you may be &s;ure this Dragon will make War, who in this Chapter is de&s;cribed under one &s;ingle Figure of a red Dra|gon, the <HI>Roman</HI> Pagan Emperours being <HI>Pontifices Maxi|mi</HI> as well as <HI>Cae&s;ars;</HI> but in the following Chapter, this Draconical Power is divided into two, as if there were <HI>Imperium in Imperio,</HI> the <HI>Papal</HI> or <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> Hierarchy di|&s;tinct from the <HI>Cae&s;arean</HI> Maje&s;ty or <HI>Secular</HI> Powers.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="13" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="284" REF="148">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The &s;econd Part of the &s;econd Vi&s;ion of the</HI> Open|ed-book-prophecy. <HI>A Bea&s;t (the</HI> Roman <HI>Empire grown Idolatrous again) ri&s;eth out of the Sea with &s;even Heads and ten Horns. His forty two months</HI> prevailing <HI>War a|gain&s;t the Saints. Another Bea&s;t with two Horns (the Ido|latrizing Hierarchy) cometh up out of the Earth,</HI> viz. <HI>out of</HI> Daniel<HI>'s Clay, and cau&s;eth an Image to be made of the former Bea&s;t (of the Dragon or</HI> Pagan <HI>Idolatrous</HI> Roman <HI>Empire) by re-introducing Pagan-like Super&s;titions and Ido|latries. He puts life into this Image, whereby men are forced both to wor&s;hip the &s;aid Image, and to receive the mark of the two-horned Bea&s;t, unle&s;s they will forfeit the privilege of trade and trafick for a livelihood. The Name and Number of the Bea&s;t importing the</HI> Roman <HI>Hierarchy.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I &s;tood upon the &s;and of the &s;ea, and &s;aw a bea&s;t ri&s;e up out of the &s;ea, having &s;even heads, and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of bla&s;phemy.</P>
<P N="2">2 And the bea&s;t which I &s;aw was like unto a leo|pard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his &s;eat, and great authority.</P>
<P N="3">3 And I &s;aw one of his heads, as it were woun|ded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondred after the bea&s;t.</P>
<P N="4">4 And they wor&s;hipped the dragon which gave power unto the bea&s;t: and they wor&s;hipped the bea&s;t, &s;aying, Who is like unto the bea&s;t? who is a|ble to make war with him?</P>
<PB N="285" REF="148">
<P N="5">5 And there was given unto him a mouth &s;peak|ing great things, and bla&s;phemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.</P>
<P N="6">6 And he opened his mouth in bla&s;phemy again&s;t God, to bla&s;pheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwelt in heaven.</P>
<P N="7">7 And it was given unto him to make war with the &s;aints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nati|ons.</P>
<P N="8">8 And all that dwell upon the earth &s;hall wor&s;hip him, who&s;e names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb &s;lain from the foundation of the world.</P>
<P N="9">9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.</P>
<P N="10">10 He that leadeth into captivity, &s;hall go into captivity: he that killeth with the &s;word, mu&s;t be killed with the &s;word. Here is the patience and the faith of the &s;aints.</P>
<P N="11">11 And I beheld another bea&s;t coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a Lamb, and he &s;pake as a Dragon.</P>
<P N="12">12 And he exerci&s;eth all the power of the fir&s;t bea&s;t before him, and cau&s;eth the earth, and them which dwell therein, to wor&s;hip the fir&s;t bea&s;t, who&s;e deadly wound was healed.</P>
<P N="13">13 And he doeth great wonders, &s;o that he ma|keth fire come down from heaven on the earth in the &s;ight of men,</P>
<P N="14">14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of tho&s;e miracles which he had power to do in the &s;ight of the bea&s;t, &s;aying to them that dwell on the earth, that they &s;hould make an image
<PB N="286" REF="149">to the bea&s;t which had the wound by a &s;word, and did live.</P>
<P N="15">15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the bea&s;t, that the image of the bea&s;t &s;hould both &s;peak, and cau&s;e that as many as would not wor&s;hip the image of the bea&s;t, &s;hould be killed.</P>
<P N="16">16 And he cau&s;eth all, both &s;mall and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:</P>
<P N="17">17 And that no man might buy or &s;ell, &s;ave he that had the mark, or the name of the bea&s;t, or the number of his name.</P>
<P N="18">18 Here is wi&s;edom. Let him that hath under|&s;tanding count the number of the bea&s;t: for it is the number of a man; and his number is &s;ix hundred three&s;core and &s;ix.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>AND I &s;tood,</HI> &amp;c. The vulgar <HI>Latine</HI> has it (which Mr. <HI>Mede, Cornelius &agrave; Lapide, Alca|zar</HI> and the generality of Interpreters follow) <HI>And he &s;tood,</HI> that is, the <HI>Dragon</HI> &s;tood on the Sand of the Sea ex|pecting the Appearance of the Bea&s;t of his own Rai&s;ing. For the old Serpent was at the bottom in all the doings that turned the Chri&s;tian <HI>Roman</HI> Empire into a Bea&s;t again, which is here de&s;cribed. Who&s;e &s;even Heads and ten Horns &s;hew him to be the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire; but the <HI>Crowns</HI> on his Horns, to be that Empire <HI>actually</HI> divided into ten King|doms. Which was a doing as the Empire was again relap|&s;ing into a new kind of Pagani&s;m, and the <HI>name</HI> of <HI>Bla&s;phe|my</HI> on all its Heads &s;hews that even in this <HI>la&s;t</HI> or <HI>&s;eventh</HI> Head with ten Horns crowned, it was more or le&s;s Idola|trous (for &s;o <HI>Bla&s;phemy</HI> here &s;ignifies) and therefore a Bea&s;t.</P>
<PB N="287" REF="149">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. And this Bea&s;t is likened to a Leopard, the <HI>Greek</HI> Kingdom for its being divided into many, to a Bear the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> Kingdom, becau&s;e this was governed much by the Coun&s;els of their Clergy as the <HI>Per&s;ian</HI> by their <HI>Magi,</HI> to a Lion the <HI>Babylonian</HI> Kingdom, for its condemning men to fire and fagot, as the King of <HI>Babylon</HI> to the fiery furnace, for not &s;ubmitting to Idolatry. And whereas the Dragon is &s;aid to give his power, the word <HI>Power</HI> from the Originial, is as much as <HI>Forces</HI> or <HI>Armies,</HI> his evil An|gels or wicked Spirits, and their Weapons and Artillery, the external pomp of Images or Idols, and &s;uch gro&s;s fur|niture of their wor&s;hip, whereby they overcome and cap|tivate the feeble Phancies of the people. And la&s;tly, his giving him his Seat or Throne, and great Authority im|plies onely, that this <HI>Paganechri&s;tian Imperial</HI> Power, is the genuine Succe&s;&s;our, as <HI>Idolatrous,</HI> to the Imperial Power <HI>Pagan.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Wounded to death,</HI> namely, in the &s;ight of the <HI>Dragon</HI> with <HI>Michael</HI> and the Holy <HI>Martyrs,</HI> who were Con|querours at la&s;t, and converted <HI>Con&s;tantine</HI> and the <HI>Roman</HI> Pagan Empire, to Chri&s;tianity. But in <HI>this</HI> &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of time, under which the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire is here repre&s;ented to <HI>John,</HI> it is recovered again into its former idolatrous condition, and the deadly wound was healed by the in|troducing a kind of <HI>Paganochri&s;tiani&s;m.</HI> And all the World were mightily taken with the thus healed Bea&s;t, he both gratifying them with his <HI>outward</HI> &s;pecious &s;hew of <HI>Chri&s;tia|nity</HI> that &s;eemed &s;o contrary to the <HI>Dragon,</HI> and al&s;o having the a&s;&s;i&s;tence of the Dragon, <HI>viz.</HI> the Dragon-like idola|tries, and carnal Sen&s;e-&s;triking Rites of wor&s;hip, and the tricks and delu&s;ions of his wicked Spirits at their Images and Altars to deceive the people.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Which gave power to the Bea&s;t.</HI> The repetition here is <HI>Elliptical,</HI> as is frequent in the <HI>Apocalyp&s;e.</HI> But the Sen&s;e is, they wor&s;hipped the Dragon which had given him his Armies, his Throne and great Authority, as if he had &s;urrendred the&s;e to him as his genuine Succe&s;&s;our, and they are &s;aid to wor&s;hip <HI>Him</HI> in wor&s;hipping the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI>
<PB N="288" REF="150">(who was as well <HI>Draconick</HI> as Chri&s;tian) &s;o far as they gave obedience to the revived <HI>Paganical</HI> and idolatrous Rites of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> who&s;e Fiends or Goblins might plea&s;e them&s;elves to receive that wor&s;hip at their Altars or Ima|ges, that they had by their jugling tricks and fal&s;e Mira|cles re-introduced into the Church, and flear among&s;t them&s;elves at the Impo&s;ture, that they made the Church in &s;o gro&s;s a Sen&s;e become the wor&s;hippers of <HI>Devils</HI> as it is &s;aid in the &s;ixth Trumpet. See Dr. <HI>Brevint,</HI> his <HI>Sa|muel and Saul at Endor. Who is able to make War,</HI> &amp;c. Things are &s;o well &s;etled this Paganochri&s;tian way, and &s;o accommodately to all mens likings, that neither <HI>Jew</HI> nor <HI>Pagan</HI> can be able to di&s;&s;ettle the Peace of the Em|pire in this point.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. Farthermore this Bea&s;t &s;pake great and enor|mous Bla&s;phemies, made decrees for Idolatries of &s;everal &s;orts. For <HI>Bla&s;phemy</HI> in Scripture often &s;ignifies Idolatry, and he was to continue or make War <HI>pro&s;perou&s;ly</HI> for forty two months, that is for a time or times, and half a time expre&s;&s;ed here by forty two months, as the <HI>Gentiles</HI> tread|ing under foot the <HI>Outer</HI> Court, is to Characterize them as Children of the <HI>Night,</HI> of which the <HI>Moon</HI> is Governe&s;s.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>Again&s;t God, to bla&s;pheme his Name.</HI> By giving his incommunicable Name to Idols or Images, or <HI>Name</HI> may &s;ignifie <HI>Per&s;on,</HI> and &s;o his Per&s;on is bla&s;phemed by <HI>Idolatry</HI> in wor&s;hipping any other Per&s;on be&s;ides God or Chri&s;t. <HI>And his Tabernacle,</HI> viz. The body of Chri&s;t, which is the li|ving Tabernacle of God, the gro&s;s abu&s;es put upon it upon the account of <HI>Tran&s;ub&s;tantiation</HI> is obvious for every one to note. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place. <HI>And them that dwell in Heaven,</HI> i. e. Saints and Angels, whom they do reproach in that they &s;et up Idols, by the in&s;tigation of evil Spi|rits, and do call the&s;e Idols by the names of the Saints or Angels, and impute the tricks playd at their Altars or Images in behalf of Idolatry, to the <HI>Saints,</HI> when they are the delu&s;ions of the&s;e <HI>Goblins</HI> or <HI>Devils.</HI> Be&s;ides it is a gro&s;s reproach to the Saints and Angels, to &s;uppo&s;e they will accept of <HI>Religious</HI> wor&s;hip, and &s;o prove <HI>Rebels</HI> to God.</P>
<PB N="289" REF="150">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>To make war with the Saints,</HI> &amp;c. To oppo&s;e them and &s;ubdue them, and keep them under all along, that they &s;hall have no &s;way in the Empire to hinder or redre&s;s Corruptions, as it was &s;aid before of the mourn|full Witne&s;&s;es, that they were <HI>Politically</HI> dead all the three times and an half in a manner. But in &s;ome part of this time the War and &s;laughter or killing is not My&s;tical but Proper. For by the War again&s;t the <HI>Walden&s;es</HI> and <HI>Albigen&s;es</HI> in <HI>France,</HI> were killed ten hundred thou&s;and. By the Inqui&s;i|tion within thirty years an hundred and fifty thou&s;and. And <HI>Sanders</HI> the <HI>Je&s;uite</HI> reports an infinite number of <HI>Lollards</HI> and <HI>Sacramentarians</HI> through <HI>Europe,</HI> burnt with fire and fagot, but excu&s;es the matter as not done by the <HI>Pope</HI> and <HI>Bi&s;hops,</HI> but the <HI>&s;ecular</HI> Magi&s;trate, that is, <HI>Jezebel</HI> excites, but <HI>Ahab</HI> the &s;ecular Power commands to be executed her bloudy Sugge&s;tions again&s;t <HI>Naboth,</HI> tho&s;e that have the Witne&s;&s;es of Je&s;us the Spirit of Prophecy, as is el&s;ewhere explained. <HI>And power was given him,</HI> &amp;c. namely, that he might per&s;ecute and force men to Idolatrous wor&s;hip in all the parts of the Empire.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. And all who&s;e minds are fixed on earthly things, &s;hall obey his idolatrous Edicts and Commands, namely, &s;uch as are not of the number of the <HI>called</HI> and <HI>cho&s;en</HI> as they are termed, <HI>chap.</HI> 17. Nor of tho&s;e that are <HI>redeemed from the Earth,</HI> as they are de&s;cribed, <HI>chap.</HI> 14. For tho&s;e will ever &s;tand out till they get the Victory over the Bea&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. For this was a remarkable intimation and worth the ob&s;erving, as al&s;o that which follows in the next ver&s;e, of a Parabolical con&s;truction.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. That power which in the forty two months War of the Bea&s;t <HI>domineers</HI> &s;o, and forces men to their Idolatrous wor&s;hip, &s;hall at la&s;t be led captive into the Truth, and they that kill now with the <HI>&s;word</HI> of <HI>Per&s;ecution,</HI> &s;hall be &s;lain with the <HI>&s;word</HI> of the <HI>Spirit,</HI> which is the Word of God, an&s;werable to the Witne&s;&s;es, &s;laying their enemies by the fire that comes out of their mouth. Which victory was obtained in the re&s;urrection of the Witne&s;&s;es, and partial fall of <HI>Babylon,</HI> from about the middle of the &s;econd month,
<PB N="290" REF="151">to the middle of the fifth of the la&s;t <HI>Hexamenon</HI> or <HI>Semi|time,</HI> viz. in the late ble&s;&s;ed Reformation begun by <HI>Luther.</HI> This was the promi&s;e, and the patience, and Faith of the Saints were exerci&s;ed in expecting when God would make good his word.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>Coming out of the Earth.</HI> Out of <HI>Daniel</HI>'s clayi&s;h Earth, as it &s;ignifies <HI>chap.</HI> 12. <HI>v.</HI> 16. where <HI>Oecumenical</HI> Councils are glanced at, which though laudable in them|&s;elves, yet the two horned Bea&s;t grew out of them, by the abu&s;e of that power of determining Controver&s;ies of Re|ligion, when once they had got the Cu&s;tome not to mind what was true and Chri&s;tian, but what was for intere&s;t of Holy Church, though never &s;o worldly and &s;ecular. Out of this grew the greatne&s;s of the <HI>two horned</HI> Bea&s;t, who&s;e <HI>two horns</HI> allude either to the pretence of their power from the Lamb Chri&s;t of <HI>binding</HI> and <HI>loo&s;ing,</HI> or to the Bi&s;hops <HI>two horned Miter,</HI> or to the two chief Summities of the Sa|cerdotal Hierarchy univer&s;al, <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> and <HI>We&s;tern,</HI> the two <HI>Patriarchates</HI> of <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI> and <HI>Rome.</HI> And in that he is &s;aid to <HI>&s;peak</HI> like a <HI>Dragon,</HI> it denotes his making decrees for Idolatrous practices, and for the per&s;ecuting of &s;uch as would not &s;ubmit to them. This was the voice of the old <HI>Dragon.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>All the power of the fir&s;t Bea&s;t,</HI> viz. His whole power he hath in Religion. For the power of approving things in Religion, and pa&s;&s;ing it into a Law, is in the <HI>&s;ecular</HI> &s;upreme Magi&s;trate, not in the Clergy. But this <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> Hierarchy claimed <HI>all</HI> this Power, and exerci&s;ed it accordingly in the behalf of the <HI>former</HI> Bea&s;t, as he &s;uc|ceeded the <HI>Dragon</HI> in his <HI>Dragon</HI>-like power and Proper|ties. And under pretence of this power in matters of Re|ligion, he maketh men to wor&s;hip the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> Bea&s;t the <HI>Dra|gon him&s;elf</HI> (as appears from <HI>chap.</HI> 12.3.) <HI>recovered</HI> heal|ed or revived. But by what art this was done, follows in the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>He doth great Wonders,</HI> &amp;c. As if he were another <HI>Elias</HI> to fetch down fire from heaven. But this is not literally, but My&s;tically to be under&s;tood, <HI>viz.</HI>
<PB N="291" REF="151">of the <HI>thundering</HI> Excommunications of the <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> Hie|rarchy, whereby tho&s;e that did not obey the voice of this Bea&s;t, though it was the voice of the <HI>Dragon</HI> appointing idolatrous wor&s;hip, were rent off from the Church and made obnoxious to <HI>eternal Fire.</HI> See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place, what is a greater wonder-working Power than this? And yet this great wonder this two horned Bea&s;t does in the &s;ight of men, that is, they are &s;uch fools as to believe he does it. And <HI>Gregory</HI> the &s;eventh, when he had excommunicated the Emperour <HI>Henry</HI> the fourth, &s;aid he was <HI>Fulmine afflatus,</HI> Thunder-&s;truck by him. The&s;e things I confe&s;s, are rather a &s;hew of Miracles than Mira|cles, but Antichri&s;t was to come with <HI>lying</HI> and <HI>feigned</HI> Miracles. And if there might be any thing extraordinary, it is imputable to the forces of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> the evil Spi|rits that were bequeathed by the <HI>Dragon,</HI> to the Apo&s;ta|tizing Empire, and the two horned Bea&s;t claiming and ac|cepting the power of ordering the Empire in matters of Religion they naturally fell to his &s;hare.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. But whether by the&s;e &s;hews of Miracles, or real odd things done by the forces of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> the <HI>two horned</HI> Bea&s;t &s;o deceives the World thereby, that he per|&s;uades them to make an image to the Bea&s;t that had the wound by the Sword (namely, in the fight with <HI>Mi|chael</HI> and the Martyrs, who overcame this Bea&s;t, <HI>viz.</HI> the <HI>Dragon</HI> and his <HI>pure</HI> Pagani&s;m) and by this means he lived or revived again, <HI>i. e.</HI> The old <HI>Dragon</HI> or Pagan &s;uper|&s;tition and idolatry was very lively re-introduced in this Image the <HI>two horned</HI> Bea&s;t made by making the Empire thus idolatrous.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. And this Image was no Spiritle&s;s Image, &s;lug|gi&s;h and harmle&s;s like an inanimate Statue. For the <HI>two-hor|ned</HI> Bea&s;t had a way to transfu&s;e &s;pirit and life into it, and make it &s;peak and command that as many as would not wor|&s;hip, that is, obey the Image of the Bea&s;t, namely, <HI>him&s;elf,</HI> the <HI>&s;ecular</HI> Idolatrous power of the Empire, &s;hould be killed. Which power of &s;o commanding to kill, which is the Spirit of the Image of the Bea&s;t is derived from the <HI>two-horned</HI>
<PB N="292" REF="152">Bea&s;t or <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> Hierarchy, the <HI>Image</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> ha|ving no power to kill any one for matters of Religion, but whom the <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> power has declared Heretick. Then is he delivered up to the <HI>&s;ecular</HI> Power, or <HI>ten hor|ned</HI> Bea&s;t. For the two-horned Bea&s;t (as they Hypocri|tically excu&s;e them&s;elves) kills none him&s;elf, but delivers up to the &s;ecular Magi&s;trate, according to this very Pro|phecy.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. And this <HI>Image of the Bea&s;t</HI> cau&s;es all &s;orts and degrees of men, to receive a mark as Souldiers or Servants do of their General or Ma&s;ter, that is, they mu&s;t make open profe&s;&s;ion to whom they belong.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. No man not marked with the name of the <HI>two-horned</HI> Bea&s;t (for Antichri&s;t will have his marked Soul|diers as well as Chri&s;t has his) or the number of his Name, that has not either his name in <HI>Letters</HI> or in <HI>Fi|gures,</HI> containing the number which the Letters of his name make according to their numeral value, that is, he that profe&s;&s;eth not him&s;elf of the Faith of this <HI>Sacer|dotal</HI> Hierarchy, &s;ignified by this two-horned Bea&s;t, may neither buy nor &s;ell, but they are excommunica|ted for Hereticks, with whom by the very Sentence of their Synods, there is to be no Negotiation. But now <HI>who</HI> this <HI>two-horned</HI> Bea&s;t more particularly is, is hinted Aenig|matically in the following ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. Here is a dark Riddle, let him that has skill that way, number the number of the Bea&s;t. For it is not &s;o &s;trange a number, but that it may be numbred by the Art of <HI>Man,</HI> and his number is 666. which is to be num|bred no otherwi&s;e than by the extraction of the &s;quare Root, which is 25. Which is marvellou&s;ly applicable to the City and Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> as 12 the Root of 144. to the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>My&s;tery of Godli|ne&s;s,</HI> lib. 5. chap. 16. &s;ect. 8. And that you may be &s;ure this Sacerdotal Hierarchy of <HI>Rome</HI> is more &s;pecially aimed at in this Vi&s;ion, take another ea&s;ie Sen&s;e of it [It is the number of a man] that is, of a Man's name. For a|bove there is mention of the number of his Name: And
<PB N="293" REF="152">his name will prove <GAP DESC="foreign"> <HI>(Latinos.)</HI> For tho&s;e Letters in their numeral value make ju&s;t, 666. which is a Cabba|li&s;tical device, and by the <HI>Cabbali&s;ts</HI> called <HI>Gematria.</HI> From whence we &s;ee that the pinch of this Prophetick Vi&s;ion at la&s;t lights more particularly on the Pope of <HI>Rome</HI> and his Clergy. Who&s;e Bi&s;hops in Sub&s;criptions at Councils are &s;tyled, the <HI>Latine</HI> Fathers. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="14" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The third Part of the &s;econd Vi&s;ion of the</HI> Opened-book-prophecy. <HI>A de&s;cription of the hundred forty four thou&s;and</HI> &s;ealed ones <HI>on Mount</HI> Sion <HI>with the Lamb, which are the fir&s;t fruits to God and the Lamb, and the</HI> Souldiers <HI>again&s;t whom the</HI> prevailing <HI>War of the Bea&s;t was for forty two months. An Angel Preaches the Everla&s;ting Go&s;pel, and warns the Idolatrous Empire of the judgments of God again&s;t the Paganochri&s;tian Idolatry introduced into the Church. Another Angel brings the joyfull News of the</HI> partial <HI>fall of</HI> Babylon, <HI>which mu&s;t needs be accompanied with the Ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es. Several glances at the Affairs of the &s;even Vials (that work the final de&s;truction of</HI> Babylon, <HI>and are comprized within the fir&s;t Thunder of the &s;eventh Trumpet) &s;et out by the voice of a</HI> third Angel; <HI>By a voice from Hea|ven touching a</HI> fre&s;h good &s;ucce&s;s <HI>of the death of the</HI> Mar|tyrs; <HI>By the</HI> Harve&s;t, <HI>and la&s;tly, by the</HI> Vintage <HI>or Wine|pre&s;s troden without the City, the bloud reaching up to the Hor&s;e-Bridles.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I looked, and lo, a Lamb &s;tood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thou&s;and, having his Fathers name written in their foreheads.</P>
<P N="2">2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thun|der:
<PB N="294" REF="153">and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:</P>
<P N="3">3 And they &s;ung as it were a new &s;ong before the throne, and before the four bea&s;ts, and the elders: and no man could learn that &s;ong, but the hundred and forty and four thou&s;and, which were redeemed from the earth.</P>
<P N="4">4 The&s;e are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins: the&s;e are they which follow the Lamb whither&s;oever he goeth: the&s;e were redeemed from among men, being the fir&s;t-fruits un|to God, and to the Lamb.</P>
<P N="5">5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.</P>
<P N="6">6 And I &s;aw another angel fly in the mid&s;t of hea|ven, having the everla&s;ting go&s;pel, to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,</P>
<P N="7">7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come: and wor&s;hip him that made heaven and earth, and the &s;ea and the fountains of waters.</P>
<P N="8">8 And there followed another angel, &s;aying, Ba|bylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city; becau&s;e &s;he made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.</P>
<P N="9">9 And the third angel followed them, &s;aying with a loud voice, If any man wor&s;hip the bea&s;t and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,</P>
<P N="10">10 The &s;ame &s;hall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he &s;hall be tormented
<PB N="295" REF="153">with fire and brim&s;tone in the pre&s;ence of the holy angels, and in the pre&s;ence of the Lamb:</P>
<P N="11">11 And the &s;moke of their torment a&s;cendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no re&s;t day nor night, who wor&s;hip the bea&s;t and his image, and who|&s;oever receiveth the mark of his name.</P>
<P N="12">12 Here is the patience of the &s;aints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Je&s;us.</P>
<P N="13">13 And I heard a voice from heaven, &s;aying unto me, Write, Ble&s;&s;ed are the dead which dye in the Lord, from henceforth: Yea, &s;aith the Spirit, that they may re&s;t from their labours; and their works do follow them.</P>
<P N="14">14 And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one &s;ate like unto the Son of man, ha|ving on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a &s;harp &s;ickle.</P>
<P N="15">15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that &s;ate on the cloud, Thru&s;t in thy &s;ickle and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harve&s;t of the earth is ripe.</P>
<P N="16">16 And he that &s;ate on the cloud, thru&s;t in his &s;ickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.</P>
<P N="17">17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he al&s;o having a &s;harp &s;ickle.</P>
<P N="18">18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the &s;harp &s;ickle, &s;aying, Thru&s;t in thy &s;harp &s;ickle, and gather the clu&s;ters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.</P>
<PB N="296" REF="154">
<P N="19">19 And the angel thru&s;t in his &s;ickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and ca&s;t it into the great wine-pre&s;s of the wrath of God.</P>
<P N="20">20 And the wine-pre&s;s was troden without the city, and bloud came out of the wine-pre&s;s, even un|to the hor&s;e-bridles, by the &s;pace of a thou&s;and and &s;ix hundred furlongs.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. THE Lamb here on Mount <HI>Sion</HI> is Chri&s;t again&s;t Antichri&s;t, and the Company with him having his Fathers Name written in their foreheads are the <HI>marked Souldiers</HI> of the <HI>Lamb,</HI> an&s;wering to the <HI>Souldiers</HI> of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> employ'd in the forty two months war again&s;t them, in the foregoing Chapter. In&s;tead of receiving the <HI>mark</HI> of the <HI>two-horned</HI> Bea&s;t in their right hand, or on their foreheads, they have the <HI>Name</HI> of <HI>God</HI> the <HI>Father</HI> and his <HI>Son</HI> marked on their <HI>foreheads,</HI> that you may &s;ee who&s;e Souldiers they are, and in that they are &s;aid to be 144 Re|giments or <HI>Chiliads,</HI> it denotes that they are pure Apo&s;to|lick Chri&s;tians, the Square Root of 144 being 12. This Root 12 therefore denotes the Apo&s;tolick Church as the Root 25 the Church apo&s;tatizing.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. This is the de&s;cription of the Angelical Mu&s;ick in Heaven, where multitudes of Angels prai&s;e God and the Lamb, the voice of many Waters and Thunder being Sym|bols of a multitude &s;peaking or &s;inging together.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. This Song of the Angelical Quire is the joy that ari&s;eth from the New Nature, or the <HI>Divine</HI> Nature added to the <HI>Animal</HI> Nature, and is the &s;ame in Men and Angels, I mean <HI>Regenerate</HI> Men, who thereby are made partakers of the <HI>Divine</HI> Nature as well as the Angels. None could learn this Song, or know what belongs to the Joys of the New Birth or Divine Life rai&s;ed in us, that &s;tate of Righteou&s;|ne&s;s, and Peace, and Joy in the Holy Gho&s;t, but the 144000
<PB N="297" REF="154">redeemed from the Earth, that is, from the earthly Sen&s;e and Wi&s;edom that favours onely the things of this World, and of the fle&s;h.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. The&s;e are they that have &s;o holy and cha&s;t a &s;en&s;e in the duties of divine wor&s;hip, that they abhor from every thing that has any &s;hew of violating that Loyalty and Fidelity they owe to God or Chri&s;t, to whom alone they are betrothed, and therefore they have nothing to doe with the Daughters of <HI>Babylon</HI> that famous Strum|pet, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the earth. But they follow the Lamb, are led by his word and &s;pirit, not by a blind implicit Faith in a Church, not onely fallible, but fallacious and deceitfull, mo&s;t of their Cor|ruptions both in doctrine and wor&s;hip, being upheld for their own worldly Intere&s;t. But the&s;e were redeemed from the Rabble of the deluded, being the fir&s;t fruits after the Apo&s;ta&s;ie begun of Apo&s;tolick Chri&s;tians, and but an hand|full in compari&s;on of tho&s;e multitudes, that will appear after the fir&s;t di&s;&s;olution of the Papal Tyranny.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. In the&s;e there was no Hypocri&s;ie or di&s;&s;embling, but they profe&s;&s;ed the truth from their hearts and concealed it not, and though at the Tribunal of <HI>Antichri&s;t,</HI> they are condemned for <HI>Hereticks,</HI> and deemed men not worthy to live or dye an ordinary death, yet before the <HI>Throne</HI> of <HI>God,</HI> and in his Judgment they are <HI>holy</HI> and <HI>upright</HI> men.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. I &s;aw another Angel, di&s;tinct from this Quire of Angels, flying in the mid&s;t of Heaven, that he might be &s;een and heard of all the Chri&s;tian world, as well the <HI>We|&s;tern</HI> as <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> Empire, reminding them of the everla&s;ting righteou&s;ne&s;s, Law or Religion, that Chri&s;t according to <HI>Daniel</HI> was to bring in, which is the pure Apo&s;tolick do|ctrine, un&s;ophi&s;ticated with the Super&s;titions and Idola|tries of either <HI>Greek</HI> or <HI>Roman</HI> Church, which Hay and Stubble is to be burnt up, but that Apo&s;tolick Go&s;pel to be <HI>eternal,</HI> never to fail but to &s;pread over all.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>Fear God,</HI> &amp;c. None but God the Father and the Son with the Spirit, who created all things, is to be wor&s;hipped. <HI>The Gods that have not made the Heavens and
<PB N="298" REF="155">the Earth, they &s;hall peri&s;h from the Earth, and from under Heaven,</HI> as the Prophet <HI>Jeremy</HI> foretells. This is a plain declaration again&s;t giving any Religious wor&s;hip to any but God alone, and a Commination or threatning ill &s;ucce&s;s, and heavy Judgement to all Saint-wor&s;hippers and Image-wor&s;hippers, or whatever other idolaters in the <HI>Greek</HI> or <HI>Roman</HI> Church. The voice of this Angel (which is the voice of holy Men, pre&s;aging and declaring the Judgments of God again&s;t the idolatrous and bloudy Em|pire) may commence as high as the fir&s;t Wo-trumpet, and might be loude&s;t upon the taking of <HI>Con&s;tantinople,</HI> and the &s;ubduing the whole <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> Empire to the <HI>Turk.</HI> Which manife&s;ted that the hour of God's judgment was come upon the Idolaters indeed, though the <HI>We&s;tern</HI> Church would take no notice thereof, nor repented of the works of their hands, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> chap. 9.20. And therefore if we hear news of the hand of God upon the we&s;tern Church al&s;o, I mean upon the idolatrous Hierarchy thereof (which is more particularly &s;tyled <HI>Babylon</HI>) by the next Angel, we need not be much &s;urprized.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. This con&s;iderable, though but partial <HI>fall</HI> of <HI>Ba|bylon,</HI> the great City, or Hierarchical Polity, which is the i&s;&s;ue of the forty two months War of the Bea&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> re|lates to the Reformation begun by <HI>Luther,</HI> when &s;o many Kingdoms, Principalities and Provinces fell off from the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> and was a pledge of her farther Ruine. And this was becau&s;e &s;he had made all Nations, the <HI>Ea|&s;tern</HI> as well as the <HI>We&s;tern</HI> Church (as may be ob&s;erved in the Popes activity at the &s;econd <HI>Nicene</HI> Council, and his excommunicating the <HI>Iconocla&s;t</HI> Emperours) drink of the Philtre &s;he had mingled for them, the Love-poi&s;on, or Love-potion of her Fornication, by which is plain|ly under&s;tood <HI>Idolatry,</HI> And here ends the <HI>Thyatirian</HI> in|terval.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9, 10, 11. <HI>And the third Angel,</HI> &amp;c. The foregoing Angel being the Me&s;&s;enger of the fall of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and con&s;equently of the ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es, what follows belongs to the times of the Vials in the <HI>Sar|dian</HI>
<PB N="299" REF="155">interval. And therefore this third Angel more par|ticularly relates to the effu&s;ion of the fourth Vial in the My&s;tical &s;en&s;e, whereby is mo&s;t fully evidenced the dam|nable condition of them, that yield obedience to the Bea&s;t and his Image (the &s;piritual and &s;ecular power, in &s;uch things as are idolatrous, and are the very &s;trokes and Lineaments of the Image of the Bea&s;t) and who make pro|fe&s;&s;ion of, or promote and Countenance the Romi&s;h ido|latrous Religion, they &s;hall drink of the Cup of bitter|ne&s;s and Malediction from the Lord, and be condemned to tho&s;e infernal and eternal flames. This is the condition (as the My&s;tical &s;en&s;e of the fourth Vial al&s;o imports) of them, who under the voice of this third Angel, &s;hall per|&s;i&s;t in the gro&s;s Idolatries and other foul corruptions of the Church of <HI>Rome. And they have no re&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. Truth again&s;t the Church of <HI>Rome</HI> will be then &s;o clear, that no man that has any Con&s;cience can be of that profe&s;&s;ion, but it will lye exceeding unevenly in his mind, and put him in a re&s;tle&s;s and un&s;atisfied condition, it appearing &s;o mani|fe&s;tly again&s;t all Sen&s;e, Rea&s;on, Hone&s;ty, Loyalty, and a|gain&s;t all tho&s;e &s;ound and &s;acred Principles that God hath implanted in the nature of man, wherefore in tho&s;e days no hone&s;t hearted Chri&s;tian will indure to &s;ubmit to the Church of <HI>Rome.</HI> From whence is what follows in the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Here is the Patience of the Saints.</HI> This is the time, <HI>viz.</HI> under the voice of this third Angel, or under the fourth Vial, in the My&s;tical &s;en&s;e thereof, wherein the Patience of the Saints will be tryed, the carnal power of the Enemy, endeavouring to force them again&s;t &s;o great light (at which that power is the more inraged) to &s;ubmit to their Idolatrous and Antichri&s;tian Doctrines, and Pra|ctices by cruel Per&s;ecutions. <HI>Here are they that keep the Commandments,</HI> &amp;c. Here are they that keep to the pure Faith and Doctrine of Chri&s;t and his Apo&s;tles. And &s;urely God will in due time give to the &s;ufferings of &s;uch holy and &s;incere Souls &s;uitable Succe&s;s, as is intimated in the follow|ing ver&s;e.</P>
<PB N="300" REF="156">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>That dye in the Lord,</HI> &amp;c. That have dyed as Martyrs in witne&s;s to his truth, again&s;t the abominable cor|ruptions of that idolatrous Church. From henceforth are they ble&s;&s;ed, that is, from this time of the <HI>Sardian</HI> inter|val which falls in with the <HI>fifth Vial,</HI> under which the King|dom of the Bea&s;t &s;hall be full of darkne&s;s, and the Scales turned con&s;iderably, and nearer approaches made toward the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> &s;tate, which commenceth with the <HI>reign</HI> of the <HI>Spirit,</HI> as the <HI>Cabbali&s;ts</HI> call it, and therefore it fol|lows, <HI>Yea &s;aith the Spirit.</HI> The Spirit that is to bring on tho&s;e days, &s;ets his Seal thereto, that not onely tho&s;e Mar|tyrs &s;hall re&s;t from their labours, but that their works &s;hall follow them, that is, the good effect or &s;ucce&s;s of their works and labour here, which are the <HI>hoped Con&s;equences</HI> thereof, <HI>viz.</HI> The overthrow of that Salvage and barba|rous Tyranny of a bloudy idolatrous Church, and the far|ther advancement of Chri&s;t's Kingdom.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. This is Chri&s;t that Son of man in <HI>Daniel,</HI> who is &s;aid to come with the clouds of Heaven, as if they were his Chariot, and Dominion and Glory and a Kingdom, as here a Crown, is &s;aid to be given unto him; And that he him&s;elf here appears with his Sickle in his hand to reap, is very agreeable to what was intimated before of the <HI>reign</HI> of the <HI>Spirit,</HI> and the approach thereof: For what he is &s;aid to doe by him&s;elf, is by the Mini&s;tery of his Spirit in Counterdi&s;tinction to humane and carnal means.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. This other Angel repre&s;ents the holy Church, and her earne&s;t and &s;incere devotion for the enlargement of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t, as Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> has noted, and is more expre&s;ly &s;ignified by his crying a loud to the Angel, &s;it|ting on the cloud to thru&s;t in his Sickle, becau&s;e the harve&s;t of the Earth is ripe; like that of our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour him|&s;elf. <HI>Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to the harve&s;t.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>And the Earth was reaped,</HI> viz. That Crop that belonged to that &s;ea&s;on, which is about the <HI>&s;ixth Vial,</HI> which Syncronizeth with the <HI>Lambs Bride.</HI> And therefore by this Harve&s;t in all likelyhood the gathering of the Jews to the
<PB N="301" REF="156">Faith of Chri&s;t is prefigured, which will prove a farther enlargement of his Kingdom; the&s;e Kings of the Ea&s;t, as they are called in the &s;ixth Vial, being adjoined thereto. But the mo&s;t Univer&s;al Conque&s;t of all follows in the next Repre&s;entation, which &s;ynchronizeth with the &s;eventh Vial.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>Which is in Heaven,</HI> &amp;c. This Angel being to be Vintager, there is mention made of <HI>Heaven</HI> to intimate his <HI>Heavenly</HI> Mi&s;&s;ion, that he is &s;ent from God, and imme|diately a&s;&s;i&s;ted by his Spirit. The appearance of which <HI>reign</HI> of the <HI>Spirit</HI> will be eminent under this &s;eventh Vial which &s;ynchronizeth with the Vi&s;ion of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e with a &s;harp &s;word coming out of his mouth, as this Angel is &s;aid to have a &s;harp &s;ickle, which fitly an|&s;wers to the &s;harp &s;word. Both of them &s;ignifie the cutting <HI>Convictivene&s;s</HI> of the Word and Spirit in the powerfull Mi|ni&s;ters of Chri&s;t in tho&s;e days.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>Came out from the Altar,</HI> &amp;c. The Altar as el&s;e|where, in the Apocalyp&s;e, is a Symbol of the &s;acrifice of Martyrdom. And here is mention of fire, becau&s;e that kind of Martyrdom was &s;o frequently inflicted by that mur|therous Church of <HI>Rome.</HI> And this Angel's crying out to the other to thru&s;t in his &s;harp &s;ickle, is for vengeance a|gain&s;t this Den of cruel Murtherers and Idolaters, by the Conver&s;ion of &s;uch a multitude as would be &s;ure to over|run them and overpower them. For the grapes are fully ripe, &s;ays he, that is, &s;ome are in a full ripene&s;s and rea|dine&s;s for <HI>Conver&s;ion,</HI> and others by rea&s;on of their heinous &s;infulne&s;s and ob&s;tinacy are fully ripe for <HI>utter de&s;truction.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Into the great Wine-pre&s;s of the wrath of God.</HI> Men were pre&s;&s;ed in con&s;cience upon the &s;harp Convicti|ons by the powerfull Mini&s;ters of Chri&s;t, with &s;orrow for their &s;ins, and the wrath of God again&s;t them&s;elves was kindled in them: As the Apo&s;tle writes to the <HI>Corinthians</HI> concerning the like Conviction. What carefulne&s;s it wrought in you, what indignation, what vehement de&s;ire, what revenge. Here Chri&s;t that is &s;aid to tread the Wine|pre&s;s of God's wrath alone, treads and &s;queezeth out the corrupt bloud of <HI>Edom.</HI> And in the Vi&s;ion which is paral|lel
<PB N="302" REF="157">to this, <HI>chap.</HI> 19. his Ve&s;ture is &s;aid to be dipt in bloud, and that he treadeth the Wine-pre&s;s of the fiercene&s;s of the wrath of Almighty God. Which plainly &s;hews that the&s;e two Vi&s;ions tend to one and the &s;ame thing.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>Troden without the City,</HI> i. e. This powerfull <HI>Conviction</HI> neither begun in, nor reached to the City of <HI>Ba|bylon</HI> the <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy or Polity (for wood and &s;tone is not here meant, but a Polity or Society of men) as is ob&s;er|vable in the &s;eventh Vial, that though the Cities of the <HI>Nations</HI> fell by tho&s;e powerfull <HI>Boanerge&s;es,</HI> yet this <HI>Baby|lon</HI> the great, though Hail-&s;tones of a Talent weight fell upon them, were not converted nor convinced in their con&s;cience, but bla&s;phemed God, becau&s;e of the plague of the Hail, it was &s;o exceeding great. And in the Vi&s;ion of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e, <HI>chap.</HI> 19. the <HI>fal&s;e Pro|phet</HI> with the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> were taken alive and their power aboli|&s;hed, but it was the re&s;t onely that were <HI>&s;lain</HI> with the <HI>&s;word</HI> that proceeded out of the mouth of him that &s;ate on the white Hor&s;e. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place. The bloud coming out of the Wine-pre&s;s, even to the Hor&s;e-Bridles, this again &s;hews plainly that the Vi&s;ion of the <HI>Rider of the white Hor&s;e</HI> and his Company, and this of the <HI>Wine-pre&s;s</HI> is all one, and that there the garment of that Rider was &s;een dipt in bloud. And there being &s;o deep a Lake of bloud, of &s;uch an extent as of &s;ixteen Hecatontads or Centuries of furlongs equal to two hundred miles; that al&s;o a&s;&s;ures us, that this &s;laughter is not literally, nor the Number nu|merically, but &s;ymbolically to be under&s;tood, the Root of <HI>&s;ixteen</HI> being <HI>four,</HI> a Symbol of <HI>&V;niver&s;ality</HI> with the <HI>Py|thagorcans</HI> and <HI>Cabbali&s;ts.</HI> Wherefore this &s;ignifies a va&s;t, large, and, as it were, univer&s;al Victory of the Go&s;pel, in the battel of that <HI>great</HI> Day of God Almighty, to which the Kings of the Earth and of the <HI>whole World</HI> are gathered, and the defeat is <HI>proportionable.</HI> For upon this defeat all the Kingdoms of the World will become the Kingdoms of God and of his Chri&s;t. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place, and his Notes, and his <HI>Paralipomena Prophetica,</HI> chap. 48. and the An&s;wer to <HI>S. E.</HI> his Remarks.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="15" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="303" REF="157">
<HEAD>CHAP. XV.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The fir&s;t Part of the Vi&s;ion of the &s;even Vial-Angels, which precedes the pouring forth of the &s;even Vials under the &s;eventh Trumpet, whereby the Bea&s;t and</HI> Babylon <HI>are wholly de&s;troy'd. A more ample Doxology for the Partial fall of</HI> Babylon <HI>and Ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es. After this Doxology the &s;even Angels coming out of the Temple, one of the four Bea&s;ts giveth them &s;even golden Vials. The more di&s;turbed and clouded State of the Church during the pouring out of the Vials.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I &s;aw another &s;ign in heaven, great and marvellous, &s;even angels, having the &s;even la&s;t plagues, for in them is filled up the wrath of God.</P>
<P N="2">2 And I &s;aw as it were a &s;ea of gla&s;s mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the bea&s;t, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, &s;tand on the &s;ea of gla&s;s, having the harps of God.</P>
<P N="3">3 And they &s;ing the &s;ong of Mo&s;es the &s;ervant of God, and the &s;ong of the Lamb, &s;aying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; ju&s;t and true are thy ways, thou King of &s;aints.</P>
<P N="4">4 Who &s;hall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorifie thy name? for thou onely art holy: for all nations &s;hall come and wor&s;hip before thee; for thy judg|ments are made manife&s;t.</P>
<P N="5">5 And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the te&s;timony in heaven was opened:</P>
<PB N="304" REF="158">
<P N="6">6 And the &s;even angels came out of the temple, having the &s;even plagues, cloathed in pure and white linen, and having their brea&s;ts girded with golden girdles.</P>
<P N="7">7 And one of the four bea&s;ts gave unto the &s;even angels, &s;even golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.</P>
<P N="8">8 And the temple was filled with &s;moke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the &s;even plagues of the &s;even angels were fulfilled.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P>THE two foregoing Vi&s;ions of this <HI>Opened-book-prophecy</HI> reached from the beginning of the Church to the end of the la&s;t Vial, comprizing the <HI>Ephe&s;ine, Smyrnean, Perga|menian, Thyatirian, Sardian,</HI> and part of the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Interval. This Vi&s;ion therefore beginning later, accor|ding to right method is &s;et after the two former, it com|mencing but with the <HI>Sardian</HI> Interval.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>The &s;even la&s;t plagues.</HI> Which therefore in all rea&s;on are to be in the <HI>la&s;t Wo-Trumpet,</HI> and the &s;econd <HI>Wo-Trumpet</HI> was pa&s;t at the Ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es. And therefore the effu&s;ion of the Vials mu&s;t be after the Ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es. <HI>Is filled up the wrath of God,</HI> Namely again&s;t the Bea&s;t or <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy, which was puni&s;hed con&s;iderably at the Ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es, the Reforma|tion begun by <HI>Luther;</HI> but before the&s;e Vials be over, in the cup which &s;he has filled, it will be filled to her double.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>A Sea of gla&s;s mingled with fire.</HI> This alludes to the Red Sea, congealed as it were into two Walls of Gla&s;s or Ice, on which the Angel in a Pillar of fire going before the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> &s;hined al&s;o, and the &s;ulvidne&s;s of the Sand of
<PB N="305" REF="158">the Sea made the mixture more like fire. <HI>Had gotten the victory over the Bea&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. In the two foregoing <HI>Synchro|nal</HI> Vi&s;ions there is mention of a forty two months <HI>War</HI> be|twixt the Saints or Witne&s;&s;es, and the Bea&s;t, and no victo|rious I&s;&s;ue &s;ignified thereof, but that of the partial fall of <HI>Babylon</HI> and the then Ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es. Who then can be tho&s;e here, that have got the victory over the Bea&s;t but tho&s;e Saints or Witne&s;&s;es that bore the brunt of the 42 months, or the three times and an halfs War in the fore|going Vi&s;ions, and are &s;aid here to have got free from the Bea&s;t and his Image, both the <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> and <HI>Secular</HI> Idola|trous power, that they could be no longer per&s;ecuted by them for not &s;ubmitting to their Pagan-like Abominati|ons, nor be forced to &s;wear into the forms of that fal&s;e Church by a &s;lavi&s;h implicit faith, nor profe&s;s them&s;elves <HI>Latine</HI> or <HI>Roman</HI> Catholicks (the Name of the Bea&s;t) but free Apo&s;tolick Chri&s;tians. <HI>Stand on the Sea of Gla&s;s.</HI> On the &s;hore of that Sea that was converted into Gla&s;s or Ice, when they pa&s;&s;ed through it as newly e&s;caped the Per&s;ecu|tion of that <HI>Roman Pharaoh.</HI> Who was overthrown Hor&s;e and Man in the <HI>Red Sea,</HI> that is, by the Prote&s;tants Profe&s;&s;i|on, that they were onely ju&s;tified by the <HI>bloud</HI> of Chri&s;t and the &s;anctification of his <HI>Spirit,</HI> which is re&s;embled to <HI>fire.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3, 4. <HI>And they &s;ing the Song of Mo&s;es,</HI> &amp;c. They &s;ing the Song of the Lamb, of which the Song of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> was but a Type, but the Occa&s;ions &s;o like one another, that the Song may indifferently &s;erve both. But in the mean time it is plain here, that <HI>Rome</HI> is that Spiritual <HI>Aegypt</HI> wherein the Witne&s;&s;es were &s;lain, and the Bi&s;hop of <HI>Rome</HI> the <HI>Pharaoh</HI> thereof; And that this Song of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Lamb an&s;wers to the Doxology of the Elders upon the Ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es, <HI>chap.</HI> 11. and the joyfull News of the fall of <HI>Babylon,</HI> chap. 14.8. and that as it is manife&s;t here that the <HI>full</HI> effu&s;ion of the Vials follows this Song of the Lamb, &s;o a more imperfect <HI>glancing</HI> at them follows the &s;aid Doxology of the Elders, and the joyfull News of the fall of <HI>Babylon. Shall come and wor&s;hip before thee.</HI> This
<PB N="306" REF="159">implies, that this fir&s;t Victory is but the fir&s;t fruits of that enlargement God intends for the Kingdom of his Son, and that therefore it is the Victory of the above-&s;aid Wit|ne&s;&s;es.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>And after that I looked,</HI> Namely, After this Tri|umphal Song of the Harpers that had got the Victory over the Bea&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> For it is ab&s;urd to conceive a Triumphal Song before the Victory, or this Victory to be of the Pri|mitive Chri&s;tians over the Pagans, becau&s;e of the Image of the Bea&s;t, and his Mark, and the Number of his Name. But it mu&s;t be an <HI>external vi&s;ible</HI> Victory of the Prote&s;tants over the Pagano-chri&s;tians, as that pa&s;&s;age of the Song im|plies. For thy judgments are manife&s;t. <HI>The Temple of the Tabernacle of the Te&s;timony in Heaven was opened,</HI> namely, After this Song of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Lamb <HI>John</HI> &s;aw it &s;tand open, as it in all likelihood &s;tood open after the Doxo|logy of the Elders, <HI>chap.</HI> 11. though mention of its &s;tan|ding open is not made till the Ark of the Covenant is &s;aid to be &s;een there.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. They are cloathed in Prie&s;tly attire as being Heavenly Prie&s;ts belonging to that Heavenly Temple, that is to &s;ay, as being &s;o repre&s;ented, but &s;ignifie Mini|&s;ters of this vengeance here upon Earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. That one Bea&s;t is the fir&s;t Bea&s;t the <HI>Lion,</HI> it be|ing a Military Bea&s;t, and a Bea&s;t of anger and courage; And the Vials being &s;aid to be full of the wrath of <HI>God,</HI> intimates that the&s;e Mini&s;ters were to be actuated not by any <HI>private</HI> &s;pleen, but by the <HI>ju&s;t wrath</HI> of <HI>God,</HI> which bur|neth onely again&s;t ob&s;tinate Hypocrites and Sinners. And here the Angels <HI>not receiving</HI> their Vials till after the Song of <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> and the Lamb, or of the ri&s;en Witne&s;&s;es; this a|gain a&s;&s;ures us, that the effu&s;ion of the Vials is after <HI>their</HI> Ri&s;ing, after the &s;ixth Trumpet.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. There will be much cloudine&s;s and confu&s;ion in God's exerting his glorious power in taking vengeance on the Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet by the effu&s;ion of the Vials, till he be taken and ca&s;t out into the Lake of fire and brim|&s;tone, and &s;o all Idolatrous and Tyrannical Power be a|boli&s;hed
<PB N="307" REF="159">under the &s;eventh Vial. No &s;ettlement till then, nor any entring into the Temple decyphered by the Tem|ple of God, <HI>chap.</HI> 11.1. But then will the Temple be|come Symmetral again, and commen&s;urable not onely to the Reed of a <HI>Man,</HI> but of an <HI>Angel,</HI> nor to a Reed any way <HI>combu&s;tible,</HI> but to a <HI>golden</HI> Reed. This is to be un|der the &s;econd Thunder, that immediately follows the &s;e|venth Vial.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="16" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The &s;econd Part of the Vi&s;ion of the &s;even Vial-An|gels. The pouring forth the &s;even Vials on the Earth,</HI> viz. <HI>on</HI> Daniel<HI>'s Clay or the two-horned Bea&s;t. The Effect of the Effu&s;ion of the fir&s;t, Intoxicating Rage in the marked &s;laves of the Bea&s;t. Of the &s;econd, The fixt &s;ettlement of Kingdoms and Nations again&s;t Popery. Of the third, Exe|cution done on the Emi&s;&s;aries of the Bea&s;t. Of the fourth, A more than ordinary Light ca&s;t on Scripture-Prophecies, and Conver&s;ion of &s;ome mighty Potentate to the pure Go&s;pel. Of the fifth, The defeat of the Infallible Chair and di&s;con|&s;olate State of</HI> Rome. <HI>Of the &s;ixth, Some changes in the</HI> Turki&s;h <HI>Empire conjoined with the Conver&s;ion of the</HI> Jews. <HI>Of the &s;eventh, The full and final de&s;truction of impenitent</HI> Babylon <HI>or the Bea&s;t, and the Conver&s;ion of innumerable multitudes of Infidels to the Reformed Chri&s;tianity.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I heard a great voice out of the temple, &s;aying to the &s;even angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.</P>
<P N="2">2 And the fir&s;t went, and poured out his vial up|on the earth; and there fell a noi&s;ome and grievous
<PB N="308" REF="160">&s;ore upon the men which had the mark of the bea&s;t, and upon them which wor&s;hipped his image.</P>
<P N="3">3 And the &s;econd angel poured out his vial upon the &s;ea; and it became as the bloud of a dead man: and every living &s;oul died in the &s;ea.</P>
<P N="4">4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became bloud.</P>
<P N="5">5 And I heard the angel of the waters &s;ay, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wa&s;t, and &s;halt be, becau&s;e thou ha&s;t judged thus:</P>
<P N="6">6 For they have &s;hed the bloud of &s;aints and prophets, and thou ha&s;t given them bloud to drink; for they are worthy.</P>
<P N="7">7 And I heard another out of the altar &s;ay, Even &s;o, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.</P>
<P N="8">8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the &s;un; and power was given unto him to &s;corch men with &s;ire.</P>
<P N="9">9 And men were &s;corched with great heat, and bla&s;phemed the name of God, which hath power o|ver the&s;e plagues: and they repented not, to give him glory.</P>
<P N="10">10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the &s;eat of the bea&s;t; and his kingdom was full of darkne&s;s, and they gnawed their tongues for pain,</P>
<P N="11">11 And bla&s;phemed the God of heaven becau&s;e of their pains and their &s;ores, and repented not of their deeds.</P>
<P N="12">12 And the &s;ixth 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 Ea&s;t might be prepared.</P>
<PB N="309" REF="160">
<P N="13">13 And I &s;aw three unclean &s;pirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the bea&s;t, and out of the mouth of the fal&s;e prophet.</P>
<P N="14">14 For they are the &s;pirits of devils, working mi|racles, which go forth unto the Kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the bat|tel of that great day of God Almighty.</P>
<P N="15">15 Behold, I come as a thief. Ble&s;&s;ed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, le&s;t he walk naked, and they &s;ee his &s;hame.</P>
<P N="16">16 And he gathered them together into a place, called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon.</P>
<P N="17">17 And the &s;eventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the tem|ple of heaven from the throne, &s;aying, It is done.</P>
<P N="18">18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings: and there was a great earthquake, &s;uch as were not &s;ince men were upon the earth, &s;o migh|ty an earthquake and &s;o great.</P>
<P N="19">19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fiercene&s;s of his wrath.</P>
<P N="20">20 And every i&s;land &s;led away, and the mountains were not found.</P>
<P N="21">21 And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every &s;tone about the weight of a talent: and men bla&s;phemed God, becau&s;e of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeded great.</P>
<PB N="310" REF="161">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>O&V;T of the Temple,</HI> &amp;c. Out of which the An|gels had come forth, <HI>chap.</HI> 15.6. <HI>&V;pon the Earth.</HI> Upon <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Earth or <HI>Clay,</HI> the Eccle&s;ia&s;tick Body moulded into that Polity which is called the two-horned Bea&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>His Vial upon the Earth.</HI> In that &s;en&s;e of Earth that was intimated before, namely, on the Papal or Anti|chri&s;tian Hierarchy. This Vial therefore is <HI>immediately</HI> poured on the Earth, &s;everal of the other <HI>reflexively</HI> or con&s;equentially. But the Angels are bid all of them to pour the Vials on the Earth &s;ome way or other, <HI>v.</HI> 1. <HI>A noi&s;ome grievous &s;ore.</HI> This is an <HI>Aegyptian</HI> plague, as the Earth on which it is inflicted, <HI>Aegypt,</HI> &s;piritually &s;o called, that holds the My&s;tical <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> the Apo&s;tolical Chri&s;tians in bondage. This plague therefore &s;ignifies the fury and envy, wherewith the minds of the Pontifician Party were extremely enraged and exulcerated (driven by evil Spirits, from the Lord, as in the ca&s;e of <HI>Saul</HI>) again&s;t the Ri&s;en Witne&s;&s;es. Which devili&s;h di&s;temper did &s;o dementate them, that they made them&s;elves &s;till more execrable and odious by their impotent and un&s;ucce&s;sfull attempts again&s;t them that God had thus exalted above their reach. This therefore is the plain and ea&s;ie &s;en&s;e of the effu&s;ion of the fir&s;t Vial, and an&s;wers to [The Nations were angry] <HI>chap.</HI> 11.18.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Sea</HI> in the Prophetick &s;tyle &s;ignifies the gathering together of people into one Polity or Kingdom; And here in this <HI>Aegyptian</HI> plague &s;uch Dominions mu&s;t be under|&s;tood as were <HI>Papal.</HI> And the Sea turned into bloud, and the fi&s;hes all dead in it, &s;ignifies the deadne&s;s and hopele&s;|ne&s;s of the Pontifician affairs upon the <HI>full &s;ettlement</HI> of the Reformation in &s;uch Principalities and Kingdoms. The Ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es and partial fall of <HI>Babylon</HI> is like
<PB N="311" REF="161">the Victory of the <HI>Heros</HI> on the white Hor&s;e under the &s;e|venth Vial, but the <HI>&s;ettlement</HI> of the Reformation prefigu|red by the effect of the &s;econd Vial is like the De&s;cent of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> under the &s;econd Thunder. See the An|&s;wer to <HI>S. E.</HI> his Remarks on this place; and al&s;o <HI>Paralipo|mena Prophetica,</HI> chap. 51. Qu. 13.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. As <HI>Sea</HI> &s;ignified above Politically, &s;o <HI>Rivers</HI> and <HI>Fountains</HI> of waters or Springs, mu&s;t, that are the Heads of Rivers, and both come from the Sea and return thither a|gain, <HI>viz.</HI> the water of them. A <HI>Sea</HI> therefore here be|ing a Kingdom or Polity, the Rivers mu&s;t be <HI>Emi&s;&s;ary</HI> Pow|ers of the &s;aid Kingdom, whether Armies or other Agents with tho&s;e that head them and govern them, who may be deemed the <HI>Spring-Heads</HI> of them, they taking their direc|tions and motions from them, and depending on them as Rivers do on their Springs. And this being an <HI>Aegyptian</HI> plague again, the turning the&s;e Rivers into bloud is the putting to Death the Emi&s;&s;aries of the My&s;tical <HI>Aegypt</HI> for their <HI>trea&s;onable</HI> Attempts again&s;t Kings or Princes, and the &s;ettled Religion and Government of the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. The Angel of the waters, the Prefects of the mul|titudes of People, &s;ays, Thou art ju&s;t, O <HI>Jehovah,</HI> thou great Judge and King for doing thus.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. Becau&s;e they have &s;hed the bloud of &s;o many Saints and Prophets, namely in the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> Interval, in which thy faithfull Martyr <HI>Antipas</HI> was &s;lain with the &s;word, be&s;ides many other Butcheries and Ma&s;&s;acres of the people of God. For which they de&s;erve to drink of the &s;ame cup them&s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. And another Angel out of the place of the Tem|ple where the Altar &s;tood, and where &s;o many burnt-offerings were made, &s;aith, <HI>Even &s;o Lord God Almighty,</HI> &amp;c. For I can witne&s;s what a number of innocent Souls were burnt with fire and &s;aggot in the <HI>Thyatirian</HI> Interval of the Church, becau&s;e they would not &s;ubmit to the gro&s;s Super|&s;titions and Idolatries, and incredible, nay impo&s;&s;ible Fig|ments of the <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy, and &s;o were made burnt-offerings or &s;acrifices to their intolerable Avarice, Ambiti|on and Tyrannical cruelty.</P>
<PB N="312" REF="162">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Sun</HI> may have here either a <HI>Political</HI> or <HI>My&s;tical</HI> &s;en&s;e. <HI>My&s;tically</HI> under&s;tood, it may be the Word of God, which is a Lamp unto our feet, and a Light unto our paths, as the great Lamp of the Univer&s;e is naturally under&s;tood to be. Wherefore clear Explications of the Word of God, the Prophetical parts e&s;pecially, whereby the dete&s;table and damnable condition of tho&s;e that adhere to <HI>Babylon</HI> or An|tichri&s;t is di&s;covered, is the Effu&s;ion of the fourth Vial in this fir&s;t &s;en&s;e, which vexes, &s;corches and enrages the Ponti|&s;icians very &s;orely.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. They are &s;o vext that they bla&s;pheme the Name of God, and rather vilifie the Scriptures and the Spirit that wrote them, than repent them of their &s;ins, and give glory to God by acknowledging the Truth. And this may go for the <HI>My&s;tical</HI> &s;en&s;e of the Effu&s;ion of the Vial on the Sun. But, Sun, <HI>Politically</HI> taken, may be under&s;tood of the grea|te&s;t Secular Power within the Papal Juri&s;diction. Where|fore if any <HI>German</HI> Emperour, or any Potentate as con&s;i|derable as the <HI>German</HI> Emperour &s;hould be &s;o illuminated with the true knowledge of the Go&s;pel, as cordially to re|&s;ent the cau&s;e thereof, the general Reformation that any &s;uch Potentate would introduce into his Kingdom or Em|pire, will &s;corch, and burn, and vex the Va&s;&s;als of the <HI>two-horned</HI> Bea&s;t at the very heart, and &s;o will prove the pour|ing out the Vial on the <HI>Sun</HI> in the mo&s;t proper <HI>Political</HI> &s;en&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. In a <HI>My&s;tical</HI> &s;en&s;e corre&s;pondent to the for|mer, the Seat or Throne here of the Bea&s;t, <HI>viz.</HI> of the <HI>two-horned</HI> Bea&s;t, may be the &s;ame that <HI>Cathedra,</HI> the pre|tended <HI>infallible</HI> Chair of that <HI>P&s;eudoprophet.</HI> To the de|tection of who&s;e frauds the Vial poured out on the Sun, <HI>My&s;tically</HI> under&s;tood, may prepare the way, and the peo|ple under this fifth Vial be generally convinced of the fal&s;e pretence of the Papal Hierarchies <HI>Infallibility.</HI> The fal&s;e light of which vain pretence being once removed, they mu&s;t needs find them&s;elves much in the dark, their Reli|gion being &s;uch as neither <HI>Scripture, Rea&s;on, Common &s;en&s;e,</HI> nor any thing el&s;e that has any Authority with it can afford
<PB N="313" REF="162">any light to, &s;o that his Kingdom is full of darkne&s;s; and they gnaw their tongues for pain, becau&s;e this cheat of In|fallibility being di&s;covered by the clear demon&s;tration of the Apo&s;ta&s;ie of the Church, out of the Prophecies, they are quite left in the dark, hopele&s;s and helple&s;s, and know not now what hank to have over the people, who before were made to believe any thing which made for the Church-mens power and gain, upon the Pretence of the Infallibility of their Church.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. The Event of &s;o great manife&s;tations of Truth was &s;o vexatious to them, that they reproached the Authour of it, the Spirit of God and Holy Scriptures, nor repen|ted they of their deeds. So hardened was the heart of this <HI>Pharaoh,</HI> the King of this Spiritual <HI>Aegypt,</HI> nor would he let the people of God go, to &s;erve him according to his own Commands and Precepts. And this may be the <HI>My&s;ti|cal</HI> meaning of this fifth Vial. But <HI>Politically</HI> under&s;tood, the Seat of this two-horned Bea&s;t is the &s;ame with the Seat of the Whore, who is &s;eated on the &s;even-hilled <HI>Rome.</HI> And in this &s;en&s;e it bodes ill to that City, as if it would be taken again under this Vial, as it has been often; or at lea&s;t, as if from the effects of the former Vial, <HI>Politically</HI> under&s;tood, there would be a great deadne&s;s of Trade to that greate&s;t Merchant of the great men of the Earth, and &s;o great un|frequentedne&s;s, ob&s;curity and darkne&s;s would &s;eize his prin|cipal &s;eat.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. The <HI>Euphratean</HI> Hor&s;emen are the <HI>Turks,</HI> as we have noted in the &s;ixth Trumpet. This Vial therefore &s;ig|nifies &s;uch a mutation of affairs in the <HI>Turki&s;h</HI> Empire, as will make for the joining of the <HI>Jews,</HI> and it may be &s;ome other Ea&s;tern people, and their Princes or Per&s;ons of note, with the Church of Chri&s;t; as being either converted, or in a near preparation to Conver&s;ion to his Go&s;pel, as may appear from <HI>chap.</HI> 19. <HI>v.</HI> 7, 8. For the marriage of the Lamb's wife there immediately precedes the battel of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e, which undoubtedly is the &s;ame Vi&s;ion in effect with the &s;eventh Vial. Be&s;ides the Ark of the Covenant, <HI>chap.</HI> 11.19. &s;hews that the <HI>Jews</HI> are
<PB N="314" REF="163">concerned in the &s;ixth Vial; and the Harve&s;t, <HI>chap.</HI> 14. <HI>v.</HI> 16. that they are then to be converted to the pure Go|&s;pel of Chri&s;t, and this to the di&s;-intere&s;t a&s;&s;uredly of the <HI>two-horned</HI> Bea&s;t. Thus mutually do tho&s;e places illu&s;trate one another. And hitherto reach the &s;ix fir&s;t Vials; which, according to our interpretation of them, either directly or reflexively are all poured on the Earth, <HI>Daniel</HI>'s Clay or the two-horned Bea&s;t, according to command, <HI>v.</HI> 1.</P>
<P>The Scene of the &s;eventh Vial now begins, which con|tains the Conflict and Victory of the <HI>true Apo&s;tolick</HI> Church of Chri&s;t, (which are one part in this Battel) over the <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> part the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> which are the other part, and over the <HI>Infidel</HI> Party which profe&s;s not Chri&s;t; and this is the third part under the <HI>Dragon.</HI> Which <HI>Tripartition</HI> is worth the noting for the better under&s;tan|ding the matters of the &s;eventh Vial.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. The&s;e Frogs are the Emi&s;&s;aries, Orators, Ne|gotiators or Solicitors of the affairs of the <HI>Dragon,</HI> and of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> the two Parties oppo&s;ite to the <HI>Apo&s;tolical</HI> or <HI>Evangelical</HI> Party. And they have the &s;hape of Frogs for their earthline&s;s and &s;limy uncleanne&s;s, to betoken the wi&s;edom they act from, that it is earthly, &s;en&s;ual and devili&s;h.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>The Spirits of Devils,</HI> &amp;c. The&s;e Frogs &s;aid to be the Spirits of Devils, are yet to be interpreted of Men under the&s;e Spirits or evil Angels Conduct, according to the genius or &s;tyle of the Apocalyp&s;e. And Frogs, in who&s;e &s;hape the&s;e wonder-working Spirits are, &s;ignifie En|chanters and Juglers (according to the <HI>Onirocriticks</HI>) pre|&s;tigious Deceivers of the people by fal&s;e Miracles, feigned Vi&s;ions, and the like; which haply may be more peculiar to the <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> Party, the Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet. But the Frog out of the <HI>Dragon</HI>'s mouth, his Miracles may be, be&s;ides tho&s;e of <HI>unlawfull Magick,</HI> pre&s;tigious demon&s;tra|tions to prove the frivolou&s;ne&s;s of all <HI>Revealed</HI> Religion at lea&s;t, the better to harden the hearts of the Kings of the Earth again&s;t the pure and Apo&s;tolick Chri&s;tians. <HI>To ga|ther them to the battel,</HI> &amp;c. For as that wi&s;edom which is
<PB N="315" REF="163">from above is pure and peaceable, &s;o this earthly and de|vili&s;h wi&s;edom delights in confu&s;ion and bloud. <HI>Of God Almighty.</HI> Under who&s;e conduct are the <HI>Evangelical</HI> Party or the pure <HI>Apo&s;tolical</HI> Chri&s;tians.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. This defeat of fal&s;e and ineffectual Religions, will be a &s;urprizing Providence to all tho&s;e that Hypocriti|cally &s;hroud them&s;elves under them, in&s;tead of being cloa|thed with the everla&s;ting Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, tho&s;e that cover with a covering, but not of God's Spirit, that they may add &s;in to &s;in. But at this time God will pluck off the covering from all Nations, and the Vail of Hypocri&s;ie from off the people, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 25.7. which is an intimation that this Battel is not &s;o much carnal as &s;piri|tual.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. By the over-ruling Providence of God they were brought into this place <HI>Armageddon,</HI> which in the He|brew &s;ignifies the de&s;truction of their Armies; but there is nothing yet done toward their di&s;comfiture, for the &s;e|venth Vial is not yet poured out. And therefore by a Com|mutation of Iconi&s;ms (&s;ee Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes, and the An&s;wer to <HI>S. E.</HI> his Remark on the place, and Query 6. on <HI>chap.</HI> 51. of <HI>Paralip. Prophet.</HI>) the Event of this Congre&s;s is &s;et out in another form, this huge Camp of all the Ar|mies on both &s;ides being turned into one mighty City, which is called the <HI>great City,</HI> con&s;i&s;ting of the <HI>&V;niver&s;ality</HI> of <HI>Cities</HI> con&s;idered as one, and over this City is the &s;eventh Vial poured out into the air, as follows.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>It is done.</HI> This is a firm Decree, &s;ignified by the voice out of the Temple from him that &s;its on the Throne, and a full a&s;&s;urance by his Spirit univer&s;ally in the hearts of his &s;ervants the Evangelical Party, that their Mini&s;try &s;hall &s;ucceed, and that there will be an utter over|throw of Antichri&s;t, and a con&s;ummate enlargement of the Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. There was &s;uch a &s;trange Mutation of affairs in the World, as was never known or recorded in any Hi&s;tory of former times: Of &s;uch mighty efficacy was the preach|ing of the pure Go&s;pel in the power of the Spirit by the
<PB N="316" REF="164">Speaking-party of the Army of Chri&s;t again&s;t the forces of the <HI>Infidels</HI> and <HI>Antichri&s;t.</HI> For this is the meaning of tho&s;e Voices, and Thunders, and Lightenings, that it was the promulgation (by tho&s;e <HI>Boanerge&s;es</HI>) of the Law of the Son of God, which is like unto fire, as is related in <HI>E&s;dras, E&s;dr.</HI> chap. 13.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>And the great City was divided into three parts, viz.</HI> As there were three parts in the great Camp; The <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> Party; the purely <HI>Heathen</HI> and <HI>Infidel</HI> Party, and the pure <HI>Evangelical</HI> Party: But this Tripartition is named immediately after this great Earthquake, as if it were the effect of it, for the more hand&s;ome embelli&s;hing the outward <HI>Cortex</HI> of the Prophecy. <HI>And the Cities of the Nations fell,</HI> i. e. the <HI>Heatheni&s;h</HI> or <HI>Infidel</HI> Party were <HI>Thun|der-&s;truck</HI> by the&s;e <HI>Boanerge&s;es,</HI> and converted to the faith of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t in the &s;implicity and purity thereof. <HI>And great Babylon,</HI> &amp;c. The <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> Hierarchy with her Adherents, the Whore of <HI>Babylon,</HI> as &s;he is called in the following Chapter, are here met withall to the purpo&s;e, and forced to drink of the cup of the fiercene&s;s of God's wrath, to be arraigned, judged and puni&s;hed according to the heinou&s;ne&s;s of her crimes.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. Their Temples and other con&s;ecrated places were taken from them, and they were deprived of their Dignities, or of the a&s;&s;i&s;tence of the great ones of the Earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. <HI>&V;pon men a great Hail,</HI> &amp;c. namely, upon <HI>Baby|lon</HI> or the Antichri&s;tian Party. So that all her goodly Trees were &s;poiled and &s;tript of their both leaves and fruit, their boughs broke down, and their &s;tocks beaten bare even to the inmo&s;t Bark. Which being a <HI>different</HI> &s;ucce&s;s of this con|flict, upon the&s;e, this Hail-&s;torm is mentioned <HI>apart</HI> by it &s;elf at the end of all. <HI>And men bla&s;phemed God,</HI> &amp;c. The hearts of this <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> Party were &s;till hardened, even in this la&s;t <HI>Aegyptian</HI> plague inflicted on them, and proper therefore to them. And their rage and impatience under their calamity made them &s;peak evil of the ways of God, which yet are altogether Righteou&s;ne&s;s and Truth. The
<PB N="317" REF="164">Cities of the Nations fell by <HI>Thunder,</HI> but <HI>Babylon</HI> the &s;ame with <HI>Aegypt</HI> is de&s;troyed by an <HI>Aegyptian</HI> Plague, <HI>Hail.</HI> Which plainly again &s;ignifies to us the difference of tho&s;e two parties, the one <HI>Infidel,</HI> the other <HI>Antichri&s;tian.</HI></P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="17" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>A more full de&s;cription of the</HI> Object <HI>of the fore|going Effu&s;ion of the Vials, (by one of the Vial-Angels)</HI> viz. <HI>of the</HI> Whore <HI>or</HI> two-horned <HI>Bea&s;t. A woman arrayed in Purple and Scarlet, with a golden Cup in her hand &s;itting on a Bea&s;t full of Names of</HI> Bla&s;phemy, <HI>having &s;even Heads and ten Horns. The Title of the Woman, My&s;tery,</HI> Babylon <HI>the great Mother of Harlots,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>The Name of the Bea&s;t, [That was, is not, and yet is]. The Interpretation of the &s;even Heads and ten Horns by the Vial-Angel. That five of the Heads were gone in S.</HI> John<HI>'s time. And the &s;ixth the Pagan</HI> Cae&s;ars <HI>then in being. That the &s;eventh was the Head (after the Chri&s;tian</HI> Cae&s;ars) <HI>under which the Bea&s;t that was, is not, and yet is, again full of Names of Bla&s;phemy, bears the Whore the joint-will of the ten Horns being &s;o for a time. Who yet after, hate her and burn her with fire. That this Whore is</HI> Roman, <HI>indicated both from the &s;even Hills, and in that no Polity &s;eated on &s;even Hills ruled over the Earth in S.</HI> John<HI>'s time but the</HI> Roman.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND there came one of the &s;even angels which had the &s;even vials, and talked with me, &s;ay|ing unto me, Come hither, I will &s;hew unto thee the judgment of the great whore, that &s;itteth upon many waters:</P>
<P N="2">2 With whom the Kings of the earth have com|mitted fornication, and the inhabiters of the earth
<PB N="318" REF="165">have been made drunk with the wine of her fornica|tion.</P>
<P N="3">3 So he carried me away in the &s;pirit into the wilderne&s;s: and I &s;aw a woman &s;it upon a &s;carlet-coloured bea&s;t, full of names of bla&s;phemy, having &s;even heads, and ten horns.</P>
<P N="4">4 And the woman was arayed in purple and &s;car|let-colour, and decked with gold and precious &s;tones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations, and filthine&s;s of her fornication.</P>
<P N="5">5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINA|TIONS OF THE EARTH.</P>
<P N="6">6 And I &s;aw the woman drunken with the bloud of the &s;aints, and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Je&s;us: and when I &s;aw her, I wondred with great admiration.</P>
<P N="7">7 And the angel &s;aid unto me, Wherefore did&s;t thou marvel? I will tell thee the my&s;tery of the wo|man, and of the bea&s;t that carrieth her, which hath the &s;even heads and ten horns.</P>
<P N="8">8 The bea&s;t that thou &s;awe&s;t, was, and is not; and &s;hall a&s;cend out of the bottomle&s;s pit, and go in|to perdition: and they that dwell on the earth &s;hall wonder (who&s;e names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world) when they behold the bea&s;t that was, and is not, and yet is.</P>
<P N="9">9 And here is the mind which hath wi&s;edom. The &s;even heads are &s;even mountains, on which the woman &s;itteth.</P>
<PB N="319" REF="165">
<P N="10">10 And there are &s;even Kings; five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he mu&s;t continue a &s;hort &s;pace.</P>
<P N="11">11 And the bea&s;t that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the &s;even, and goeth into perdition.</P>
<P N="12">12 And the ten horns which thou &s;awe&s;t are ten Kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as Kings one hour with the bea&s;t.</P>
<P N="13">13 The&s;e have one mind, and &s;hall give their power and &s;trength unto the bea&s;t.</P>
<P N="14">14 The&s;e &s;hall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb &s;hall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with him, are called, and cho&s;en, and faithfull.</P>
<P N="15">15 And he &s;aith unto me, The waters which thou &s;awe&s;t, where the whore &s;itteth, are peoples, and mul|titudes, and nations, and tongues.</P>
<P N="16">16 And the ten horns which thou &s;awe&s;t upon the bea&s;t, the&s;e &s;hall hate the whore, and &s;hall make her de&s;olate, and naked, and &s;hall eat her fle&s;h, and burn her with fire.</P>
<P N="17">17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the bea&s;t, untill the words of God &s;hall be fulfilled.</P>
<P N="18">18 And the woman which thou &s;awe&s;t, is that great city, which reigneth over the Kings of the earth.</P>
<PB N="320" REF="166">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P>IN the foregoing Chapter, <HI>v.</HI> 19. there was a &s;hort glance at the Arraignment, Accu&s;ation and Condemnation of the Whore of <HI>Babylon.</HI> But her de&s;truction being the main &s;cope of all the Vials, this argument is more fully pro&s;ecuted in this and the following Chapter.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>The judgment of the great Whore,</HI> &amp;c. The Ar|raignment, Accu&s;ation and Condemnation of the <HI>Antichri|&s;tian</HI> Idolatrous Hierarchy of <HI>Rome,</HI> &s;eated among&s;t many people, who&s;e Juri&s;diction &s;preads far and wide, and who pretends to be the Church univer&s;al.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. With whom the ten Kings (<HI>v.</HI> 12.) have joined in Idolatrous wor&s;hip, and the Inhabiters of the Earth been &s;o inflamed, &s;o intoxicated and dementated with the un|whol&s;ome heat of Idolatrous zeal, that it has made them quarrel with all Oppo&s;ers or De&s;pi&s;ers of their fair <HI>Diana,</HI> and &s;o &s;otti&s;h, &s;ecure and heedle&s;s, that they have lain expo&s;ed to all the deceits and injuries this cunning <HI>Circe</HI> could put upon them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>A &s;carlet-coloured Bea&s;t.</HI> Who&s;e colour denotes Tyrannical Cruelty as well as Imperial Maje&s;ty. By this is under&s;tood the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire. <HI>Full of Names of Bla|&s;phemy,</HI> i. e. full of Titles or Kinds of Idolatry. Full of Gods, &s;o <HI>Grotius</HI> interprets it, under&s;tanding it of the Pa|gan Empire; but Mr. <HI>Mede</HI> would render it, Full of De|mons, or Souls of departed Saints religiou&s;ly wor&s;hipped to the reproach of them&s;elves and their Maker, under&s;tan|ding it of the Pagano-chri&s;tian Empire. The &s;even Heads and ten Horns the Angel interprets, <HI>v.</HI> 9.12.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Was arayed in Purple,</HI> &amp;c. This idolatrous Hie|rarchy, the Patriarchs or Popes e&s;pecially, and Cardinals, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> have this imperial colour and Richne&s;s, very gorge|ou&s;ly apparelled upon occa&s;ions in their rich Copes and
<PB N="321" REF="166">co&s;tly Miters, to &s;ay nothing of the furniture of their Al|tars. <HI>A golden Cup,</HI> &amp;c. An enchanted Cup or Philtre, an intoxicating Love-potion, to inflame the Empire again with an Whori&s;h de&s;ire after Idols. And the very Metal of the Cup is <HI>Magick</HI> enough to intoxicate the brains of their Clergy, with the fumes of Ambition and Covetou&s;|ne&s;s, who are not enriched with the Golden gifts of their Church, but &s;o far as they a&s;&s;i&s;t and abet the Idolatry thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>Was a name written.</HI> In allu&s;ion to &s;ome impu|dent Harlots, who had their Names written on their Fore|heads. <HI>My&s;tery, Babylon the Great,</HI> &amp;c. The fir&s;t word is a Key to the re&s;t, intimating that <HI>Babylon</HI> is here to be un|der&s;tood as <HI>Sodom,</HI> and <HI>Aegypt,</HI> chap. 11.8. &s;piritually, <HI>viz.</HI> of a Chri&s;tian Polity or Hierarchy, &s;o degenerated in|to unchri&s;tian Tyranny and Idolatry, that it is My&s;tically called <HI>Aegypt,</HI> in the above-&s;aid Chapter, and here <HI>Babylon</HI> the great. <HI>Babylon</HI> as holding the Children of God in &s;uch an hard Captivity, and propagating the wor&s;hip of <HI>Baalim,</HI> Demons or fal&s;e Gods, <HI>viz.</HI> what is analogous thereto. <HI>Great,</HI> as pretending to be the Church Catho|lick or Univer&s;al, and indeed having a large Juri&s;diction in the Chri&s;tian World. <HI>Mother of Harlots,</HI> in reproach to her affectation of being called <HI>Holy Mother</HI> the Church, while &s;he is &s;o unholy, as to be the Authour of the Abomi|nations of the Earth, that is, of Idols or Image wor&s;hip, which are called <HI>Abominations</HI> in Hebrew. This Whore of <HI>Babylon</HI> therefore is the &s;ame with the two-horned Bea&s;t, with the Horns of a Lamb, as pretending to be a <HI>Chri&s;tian</HI> Hierarchy, but &s;peaking as a <HI>Dragon, i. e.</HI> decreeing Ido|latries and bloudy Per&s;ecutions. As <HI>here,</HI> one part of the charge again&s;t this Whore of <HI>Babylon,</HI> is Idolatry. And her bloudy Per&s;ecutions follow in the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. To be drunk with the bloud of the Saints, &s;hews her exce&s;&s;ive and un&s;atiable Cruelty in per&s;ecuting them, not onely burning them with fire and faggot, but de&s;troying them with repeated Ma&s;&s;acres, in&s;omuch that &s;he is found to exceed the bloudine&s;s and cruelty of the Pagans again&s;t
<PB N="322" REF="167">the primitive Chri&s;tians under the red Dragon. <HI>I wondred with great admiration,</HI> that God &s;hould permit &s;o great im|piety and wickedne&s;s and &s;o great Pro&s;perity to Con&s;ort to|gether. But that <HI>John</HI> might the better under&s;tand the Com|prehen&s;ion of God's ways, and Providence over his Church, the Angel unfolds the Riddle to him.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>And ten Horns,</HI> namely, On his <HI>&s;eventh</HI> Head, as appears from the eleventh and twelfth ver&s;es of this Chapter.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>The Bea&s;t which thou &s;awe&s;t,</HI> his Name is [that was and is not, and &s;hall a&s;cend out of the bottomle&s;s Pit, and go into perdition] and &s;carce any longer a Name is it than that written on the Woman's forehead. And the in|timating that it is his Name is omitted by a Prophetical Ellip&s;is. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place. But the occa&s;ion of this Name is taken from the time when the Empire had become Chri&s;tian, and had cea&s;ed to be a Bea&s;t, that is, to be idolatrous, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> For then it was true of it, that <HI>it was,</HI> viz. a Bea&s;t under the &s;ix fir&s;t Paganizing Heads, but now under the pure Chri&s;tian <HI>Cae&s;ars,</HI> the &s;e|venth King, though not the &s;eventh idolatrous Head, he <HI>is not,</HI> for the Empire cea&s;eth to be a Bea&s;t then as not idola|trous, but it was true then, that the Empire would be|come a Bea&s;t again a&s;cending out of the bottomle&s;s Pit, or the Sea, the latter denoting multitudes of People, of which the Bea&s;t would con&s;i&s;t, the other the Original of this horrid Apo&s;ta&s;ie into Idolatry again, as coming from the Pit of Hell it &s;elf, and the deceits of the Devil, which is the &s;tate of the Empire under the eighth King, or &s;e|venth head of the Bea&s;t. But to mitigate St. <HI>John's</HI> won|derment, there is at la&s;t added in this Name. [And go into perdition] which implies, that the Apo&s;tolical &s;tate of the Empire &s;hall not endure always, but in due time be utterly aboli&s;hed, and &s;o the Bea&s;t cea&s;e to be for ever. The&s;e &s;everal conditions of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire as to Religi|on, are thus Skilfully comprized in this Name of the Bea&s;t. <HI>And they that dwell on the Earth &s;hall wonder,</HI> &amp;c. See <HI>chap.</HI> 13. <HI>v.</HI> 3. All are &s;educed to follow this Bea&s;t, unle&s;s the
<PB N="323" REF="167">elect of God &s;uch as are afterwards termed, the called, cho&s;en and faithfull. <HI>That was, is not, and yet is.</HI> Who&s;e name is &s;o, and mo&s;t properly &s;o called, under the &s;eventh Head, being the very &s;ame with the <HI>Image</HI> of the Bea&s;t, <HI>chap.</HI> 13, 14. For the Paganochri&s;tian Empire was not properly the <HI>&s;ame Pagan</HI> Empire, but rather the <HI>Image</HI> thereof, and the &s;tate thereof is fitly expre&s;&s;ed in this pre&s;ent Name. The Bea&s;t [that was] as being idolatrous as before, [is not] as not being that <HI>Old Pagan</HI> idolatrous Empire [and yet is] as being &s;o <HI>Pagan-like</HI> idolatrous. Which name nece&s;&s;arily imports, that the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire is here under|&s;tood in that &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of time, wherein it had apo&s;tati|zed from the pure Chri&s;tian wor&s;hip into Idolatry, and that therefore the Woman that rides this Bea&s;t can be no Pagan Polity, but the <HI>Paganochri&s;tian</HI> Hierarchy. So that the Name again, as I &s;aid before, is contrived to &s;et off the different &s;tates of the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire as to <HI>Religion.</HI> Which is the main Scope of this Vi&s;ion, as is farther ma|nife&s;t from the <HI>Whore's</HI> riding the Bea&s;t, as well as the Bea&s;ts being &s;aid to be full of Names of <HI>Bla&s;phemy.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Here is the mind,</HI> &amp;c. Here lyes the meaning of a great <HI>Arcanum</HI> or &s;ecret. For the Greek word <HI>Sophia</HI> &s;eems &s;o to in&s;inuate. For wi&s;edom is according to her name, and is not manife&s;t to the vulgar. <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tic.</HI> chap. 6.2. <HI>Seven mountains,</HI> &amp;c. Which haply has a glance at <HI>Con&s;tantinople</HI> as well as at <HI>Rome,</HI> both the&s;e Cities having &s;even mountains, and the Greek clergy having corrupted the <HI>Ea&s;tern</HI> Church, as well as the Latine clergy the <HI>We|&s;tern.</HI> And the horns of the two-horned Bea&s;t, we did above interpret of the&s;e two Patriarchates, <HI>Rome</HI> and <HI>Con|&s;tantinople.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>And there are &s;even Kings,</HI> viz. &s;ignified by the <HI>&s;even Heads</HI> of the Bea&s;t, and therefore <HI>Idolatrous</HI> &s;orts of Sovereignties. Six <HI>Pagan,</HI> and the &s;eventh <HI>Paganochri&s;tian,</HI> otherwi&s;e there are <HI>eight</HI> Kings if you take the pure Chri&s;ti|an Kings in, or <HI>eight</HI> Heads of the <HI>Empire,</HI> though not of the <HI>Bea&s;t,</HI> the Empire under the pure Chri&s;tian King cea&s;ing to be a Bea&s;t. Wherefore as by the <HI>Name</HI> of the Bea&s;t, &s;o by
<PB N="324" REF="168">the <HI>Enumeration</HI> of the <HI>Heads</HI> of the Bea&s;t or Empire, the &s;tate of the Empire is &s;et out as to Religion. Which is the main Scope of the Vi&s;ion, as any one that is not gro&s;ly &s;tupid or willfully blind, cannot but ea&s;ily di&s;cern. <HI>Five are fallen,</HI> viz. Kings, Con&s;uls, Con&s;ular Tribunes, De|cemviri, Dictatours. The&s;e Sovereign <HI>Pagan</HI> Magi&s;trates had pa&s;&s;ed away in St. <HI>John's</HI> time. <HI>And one is,</HI> viz. the <HI>Pagan Cae&s;ars,</HI> the&s;e were in being in his time. <HI>And the other is not yet come.</HI> The other King of a quite different nature. For the Enumeration now is of <HI>Kings,</HI> in the lar|ge&s;t &s;en&s;e. Wherefore the other quite different King, as the Greek word [allos] implies, is the <HI>pure Chri&s;tian Cae|&s;ars,</HI> who were not in St. <HI>John's</HI> time. <HI>Continue a &s;hort &s;pace.</HI> The &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the pure Chri&s;tian Emperours will la&s;t but a while, the Apo&s;ta&s;ie not long after being to come in.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>And the Bea&s;t that was, and is not.</HI> Which above was called the Bea&s;t that was, and is not, and yet is, the Head &s;uppo&s;e of this Bea&s;t, whether <HI>Cae&s;arean</HI> before all the ten Horns had got Kingdoms, or <HI>Hieratical</HI> when the Pope had perkt up above the Emperours or <HI>Cae&s;ars;</HI> or <HI>Hie|raticopolitical,</HI> which is mo&s;t likely, the Whore which is the <HI>Hieratical</HI> power, riding this Bea&s;t and guiding and ru|ling the Head and Horns thereof, as they came up from the very beginning of the Apo&s;ta&s;ie; this complex <HI>Paganochri|&s;tian</HI> Head, made up of <HI>Sacerdotal</HI> and <HI>&s;ecular</HI> Sovereign power, the Sacerdotal being Predominant in what this Vi|&s;ion mainly aims at, <HI>viz.</HI> Matters of Religion, as riding the Bea&s;t and guiding the Head and Horns, I &s;ay, this com|plex Sovereignty <HI>is the eighth King.</HI> But though it be the eighth King, yet it is &s;aid, <HI>And is of the &s;even,</HI> as be|ing <HI>Paganochri&s;tian,</HI> and con&s;equently <HI>Idolatrous,</HI> and there|fore of the &s;even Kings, fir&s;t mentioned, <HI>v.</HI> 10. and &s;igni|fied by the <HI>&s;even Bla&s;phemous</HI> or idolatrous Heads of the Bea&s;t. It is to wit, the &s;eventh of the &s;even. So that though there be <HI>eight Kings,</HI> yet there are but <HI>ju&s;t &s;even Heads</HI> of the Bea&s;t, the Empire cea&s;ing to be a Bea&s;t, under the &s;eventh King, the pure Chri&s;tian <HI>Cae&s;ars. And
<PB N="325" REF="168">goeth into Perdition.</HI> In part, at the ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es in the &s;eventh <HI>Semitime.</HI> But at la&s;t his idolatrous Power and Tyranny will be quite aboli&s;hed under the &s;eventh Vial, as is al&s;o &s;uppo&s;ed in &s;everal pa&s;&s;ages in the Lamen|tation over <HI>Babylon,</HI> in the following Chapter.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Which have received no Kingdom as yet,</HI> &amp;c. that is to &s;ay, in St. <HI>John</HI>'s time, and &s;utably hereunto there is no mention of Crowns on the ten Horns, though it be the &s;ame Bea&s;t with that, <HI>chap.</HI> 13. who&s;e ten Horns are Crowned. But what follows &s;upplies the omi&s;&s;ion of the Crowns on the Horns, in that they are &s;aid to receive Power as Kings, <HI>one hour</HI> with the <HI>Bea&s;t. i. e.</HI> As the Em|pire was healing into the Image of old Pagani&s;m, and be|came a Bea&s;t again, the&s;e Kings or Commanders of the bar|barous Nations that invaded the Empire, were catching at and &s;eizing on Kingdoms, &s;ome &s;ooner &s;ome later, till a|bout the year 456 they were all &s;ped. Which &s;hews plainly to what time the Bea&s;t relates, that bears the Whore. And as the <HI>Paganochri&s;tian Cae&s;ars fir&s;t,</HI> &s;o <HI>they</HI> with <HI>him</HI> after became the &s;ecular, or Civil part of the <HI>Hieraticopolitical</HI> Head of the Bea&s;t, which is the &s;eventh or la&s;t Head.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. The&s;e ten Kings &s;hall be of one Paganochri&s;tian Religion, whereby the Empire had again become a Bea&s;t, and be ready by force of Arms if need be, or by what o|ther Power or Authority they have, to maintain this Bea&s;t, in its <HI>Bea&s;tly,</HI> that is, in its <HI>Idolatrous</HI> condition, and Pa|gan-like Super&s;titions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. The&s;e ten Kings, the Horns of the ten horned Bea&s;t, &s;hall War with the Lamb, with the Saints and Wit|ne&s;&s;es, but &s;hall be foiled in the Conclu&s;ion: In part of the partial fall of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es, and utterly defeated in the battel of the Rider on the white Hor&s;e, who is there followed by tho&s;e on white Hor&s;es, that are called and cho&s;en, and faithfull, and there|fore will be &s;ure to &s;tick to him, that has the Right and Title of being King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and has a ju&s;t claim to all the Dominions of the Earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>Are Peoples and multitudes,</HI> &amp;c. Even all the Nations and People in the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire.</P>
<PB N="326" REF="169">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. This has been done in its mea&s;ure in the Re|formation, when &s;o many Kingdoms and Principalities for|&s;ook the Church of <HI>Rome,</HI> but may be farther, that is, more extendedly fulfilled under the fourth and fifth Vials <HI>Politi|cally</HI> under&s;tood.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>Put in their Hearts to fulfill his Will.</HI> Which is to be under&s;tood in &s;uch a Sen&s;e as God is &s;aid in <HI>Exodus</HI> to harden <HI>Pharaoh</HI>'s heart from letting the people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> go. <HI>&V;ntill the words of God &s;hall be fulfilled.</HI> For in <HI>Da|niel,</HI> chap. 7. it is plainly &s;aid of the little Horn, which there takes upon him to change Times and Laws, that they &s;hall be <HI>given</HI> into his hands for a time, and times and half a time, which therefore is a time <HI>determinate</HI> by God. But then it follows. But the judgment &s;hall &s;it, and they &s;hall take away his Dominion, in part, within the &s;eventh <HI>Semitime,</HI> but by pouring out of the Vials con&s;ume it and de&s;troy it, till there be an end of it. And the little Horn, is the Whore of <HI>Babylon,</HI> or the two horned Bea&s;t as is proved, <HI>Synop&s;. Prophet. lib.</HI> 2. <HI>c.</HI> 14.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>Which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth,</HI> That is, which reigned in St. <HI>John</HI>'s time over the Kings of the Earth, whereby it is manife&s;t, that <HI>Old Rome</HI> is under|&s;tood, not <HI>New Rome,</HI> or <HI>Con&s;tantinople.</HI> For no Polity &s;eated upon &s;even Hills, but what was there, reigned over the Kings of the Earth in St. <HI>John</HI>'s time. The &s;en&s;e therefore in brief is this. The woman which thou &s;awe&s;t riding on the Bea&s;t, who&s;e name is, [That was, is not, and yet is] is that great City that now ruleth over the Kings of the Earth, namely <HI>Rome;</HI> who&s;e Inhabitants (and Polity there, or Sovereign power) though flowing &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ively, are accounted one and the &s;ame City, becau&s;e included within the &s;ame reputed Walls and Buildings, as that is reputed one and the &s;ame River that flows betwixt the &s;ame Banks, though the &s;ame water do not continue for a day together: Therefore the ruling Power or Hierarchi|cal Polity of &s;even-hilled <HI>Rome</HI> in <HI>Italy</HI> (as the two hor|ned Bea&s;ts name is <HI>Latinos</HI> in the other Vi&s;ion, <HI>chap.</HI> 13.) is this Woman that rides the Bea&s;t, that was, is not, and
<PB N="327" REF="169">yet is, and mo&s;t Principally concerned in this Vi&s;ion. Which contains as it were, the Arraignment of her <HI>Per|&s;on,</HI> de&s;cribed from her Quality and Dignity, being Queen or Empre&s;s, as it were of the <HI>whole</HI> Empire, as appears by the Bea&s;t &s;he rides on; and from her gorgeous Ap|parel, and from her Palace or chief place of Re&s;idence &s;even-hilled <HI>Rome.</HI> But the <HI>Crime</HI> or <HI>Charge</HI> again&s;t her is, the corrupting the whole Empire with Idolatry and murthering the Saints of God, and Martyrs of Je&s;us. Her condemnation or puni&s;hment &s;he is doomed to, is very co|piou&s;ly and pompou&s;ly &s;et out in the Chapter following.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="18" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XVIII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>Both the partial and final fall of</HI> Babylon <HI>predicted by a mighty Angel. And her ruinous &s;tate de&s;cribed toge|ther with the cau&s;e of her ruine. A voice from Heaven there|fore warning men to come out of her before &s;he be overwhelm|ed, and they with her in this ruine. Redoubled vengeance threatned her according to the exce&s;s of her Cruelty, Luxury and Pride. The bewailing of the Kings of the Earth over her, who committed fornication with her. The wofull lamen|tation of the Merchants of the Earth over her, becau&s;e no man buyeth her Merchandize any more. The mo&s;t lamenta|ble howling of the Ship-ma&s;ters, at her &s;o &s;udden de&s;olation. And the joy of the Holy Apo&s;tles and Prophets. The utter de&s;truction of</HI> Babylon <HI>prefigured by a Mil&s;tone ca&s;t into the Sea. With a Repetition of the Rea&s;on of this her utter ruine,</HI> viz. <HI>Her Worldly greatne&s;s and great Worldline&s;s, her Im|po&s;tures and Sorceries, and the Bloud of the Prophets and Saints, and of all that were &s;lain upon the Earth.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND after the&s;e things I &s;aw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightned with his glory.</P>
<PB N="328" REF="170">
<P N="2">2 And he cried mightily with a &s;trong voice, &s;ay|ing, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is be|come the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul &s;pirit, and a cage of every unclean and hatefull bird.</P>
<P N="3">3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the Kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the mer|chants of the earth are waxed rich through the abun|dance of her delicacies.</P>
<P N="4">4 And I heard another voice from heaven, &s;aying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not parta|kers of her &s;ins, and that ye receive not of her plagues:</P>
<P N="5">5 For her &s;ins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembred her iniquities.</P>
<P N="6">6 Reward her even as &s;he rewarded you, and dou|ble unto her double, according to her works: in the cup which &s;he hath filled, fill to her double.</P>
<P N="7">7 How much &s;he hath glorified her &s;elf, and lived deliciou&s;ly, &s;o much torment and &s;orrow give her: for &s;he &s;aith in her heart, I &s;it a Queen, and am no widow, and &s;hall &s;ee no &s;orrow.</P>
<P N="8">8 Therefore &s;hall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and &s;he &s;hall be utterly burnt with fire: for &s;trong is the Lord God who judgeth her.</P>
<P N="9">9 And the Kings of the earth, who have commit|ted fornication, and lived deliciou&s;ly with her, &s;hall bewail her, and lament for her, when they &s;hall &s;ee the &s;moke of her burning,</P>
<P N="10">10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment,
<PB N="329" REF="170">&s;aying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that migh|ty city: for in one hour is thy judgment come.</P>
<P N="11">11 And the merchants of the earth &s;hall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth her merchandi&s;e any more:</P>
<P N="12">12 The merchandi&s;e of gold, and &s;ilver, and pre|cious &s;tones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and pur|ple, and &s;ilk, and &s;carlet, and all thyine-wood, and all manner ve&s;&s;els of ivory, and all manner ve&s;&s;els of mo&s;t precious wood, and of bra&s;s, and iron, and mar|ble.</P>
<P N="13">13 And cynamome, and odours, and ointments, and frankincen&s;e, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and bea&s;ts, and &s;heep, and hor&s;es, and chariots, and &s;laves, and &s;ouls of men.</P>
<P N="14">14 And the fruits that thy &s;oul lu&s;ted after, are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly, are departed from thee, and thou &s;halt find them no more at all.</P>
<P N="15">15 The merchants of the&s;e things which were made rich by her, &s;hall &s;tand afar off, for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,</P>
<P N="16">16 And &s;aying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was cloathed in fine linen, and purple, and &s;carlet, and decked with gold, and precious &s;tones, and pearls:</P>
<P N="17">17 For in one hour &s;o great riches is come to nought. And every &s;hip-ma&s;ter, and all the com|pany in &s;hips, and &s;ailers, and as many as trade by &s;ea, &s;tood afar off,</P>
<P N="18">18 And cried when they &s;aw the &s;moke of her burning, &s;aying, What city is like unto this great city?</P>
<PB N="330" REF="171">
<P N="19">19 And they ca&s;t du&s;t on their heads, and cried, wee|ping, and wailing, &s;aying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had &s;hips in the &s;ea, by rea&s;on of her co&s;tline&s;s: for in one hour is &s;he made de&s;olate.</P>
<P N="20">20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apo&s;tles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her.</P>
<P N="21">21 And a mighty angel took up a &s;tone like a great mil&s;tone, and ca&s;t it into the &s;ea, &s;aying, Thus with violence &s;hall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and &s;hall be found no more at all.</P>
<P N="22">22 And the voice of harpers, and mu&s;icians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, &s;hall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craft&s;man, of what&s;oever craft he be, &s;hall be found any more in thee, and the &s;ound of a mil&s;tone &s;hall be heard no more at all in thee;</P>
<P N="23">23 And the light of a candle &s;hall &s;hine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride &s;hall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth, for by thy &s;orceries were all nations de|ceived:</P>
<P N="24">24 And in her was found the bloud of prophets, and of &s;aints, and of all that were &s;lain upon the earth.</P>
<PB N="331" REF="171">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. IN the foregoing Chapter was the <HI>Arraignment</HI> of the Whore of <HI>Babylon,</HI> in this is the declaration of her Puni&s;hment. [<HI>Another Angel from Heaven having great power,</HI> &amp;c. This great and glorious Angel intimates the Greatne&s;s and Illu&s;triou&s;ne&s;s, for Zeal al&s;o and Piety, of tho&s;e Per&s;onages of high place, that will concern them&s;elves in the pulling down <HI>Babylon.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>With a &s;trong voice,</HI> &amp;c. He declareth the &s;en|tence again&s;t the great Whore with a &s;trong and &s;trenu|ous voice, in token of the a&s;&s;uredne&s;s and certainty of the execution thereof. <HI>Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.</HI> Which words either &s;ignifie (as <HI>chap.</HI> 14.8.) the thing newly done, and then there will plainly be an <HI>Hy&s;terology</HI> in that warning voice, <HI>v.</HI> 4. Or el&s;e they may &s;ignifie the <HI>imminent</HI> mi&s;chief to <HI>Babylon,</HI> &s;o nearly imminent and <HI>cer|tain</HI> as if it were done, and therefore her fate is phra&s;ed in the Time pa&s;t or preter perfect ten&s;e. And then the warn|ing voice, <HI>v.</HI> 4. may come betwixt <HI>this</HI> Prediction and <HI>actual</HI> fall of that great City both <HI>partial</HI> and <HI>final;</HI> nor is to be re&s;trained to the fir&s;t Reformation begun by <HI>Luther,</HI> but to reach to her utter ruine under the &s;eventh Vial, as is inti|mated by that de&s;cription of her ruinous condition, &s;he having become an Habitation of Devils, an Hold of foul Spirits, and a Cage of unclean and hatefull Birds, as the utter de&s;olation of the literal <HI>Babylon</HI> is de&s;cribed in <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> chap. 13.21. But by the&s;e Devils, foul Spirits and un|clean Birds, are under&s;tood men, &s;uch as are mentioned, <HI>Apoc.</HI> chap. 22.15. Such dolefull creatures will haunt the Ruines of de&s;olate <HI>Babylon.</HI> See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. For all Nations have drunk of her poi&s;onous Philtre or Love Cup, and &s;he has corrupted the ten Kings of the Empire with the Abominations of her idolatry; And the Eccle&s;ia&s;tick Merchants, called Merchants of the <HI>Earth,</HI> to denote their Earthly-mindedne&s;s, and in reproach to their
<PB N="332" REF="172">fal&s;e pretended <HI>Spirituality,</HI> are grown ra&s;h from the Luxu|riancy of her wealth, and the Spur to get it, their indul|ged Luxury.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>Another voice from Heaven,</HI> Pre&s;ently &s;ucceeding the former, that declared the <HI>imminent</HI> or &s;udden down-fall of <HI>Babylon, v</HI> 2. <HI>Come out of her my People.</HI> Which there|fore is a Commi&s;&s;ion, nay a Command from heaven to the fir&s;t Reformers, and all others after to for&s;ake the Com|munion of the Church of <HI>Rome, That ye be not partakers of her &s;ins,</HI> &amp;c. by being at her Ma&s;&s;es and other Idolatrous wor&s;hip, and &s;o receive of her plagues, whether in this World, or in the World to come.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>For her &s;ins have reached unto heaven,</HI> &amp;c. And called for vengeance there in the ears of God, who will repay her in part at the ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es, but pay her home under the &s;eventh Vial, when her power &s;hall be ut|terly aboli&s;hed as it follows,</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. Spare her not, but puni&s;h her &s;everely for all her Abominations and Wickedne&s;&s;es. This is a predicti|on of what will come to pa&s;s under the &s;eventh Vial.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. By how much &s;he has magnified her &s;elf, and lived Pompou&s;ly and Luxuriou&s;ly by &s;o much fuller fill her Cup of vexation and grief. <HI>I &s;it as a Queen,</HI> &amp;c. Thus &s;he might &s;ay in the <HI>Thyatirian</HI> interval before the Refor|mation, and boa&s;t her &s;elf an Empre&s;s, and the Bride of the Lamb, the Spou&s;e of Chri&s;t, the onely Holy Catho|lick Church, and declare all Di&s;&s;enters from her Here|ticks, and that &s;he &s;hall &s;ee no &s;orrow. Thus I &s;ay might &s;he boa&s;t in the <HI>Thyatirian</HI> interval. And if by the <HI>de|merits</HI> of the reformed Churches, &s;he ever recover into that plight again, yet the great Doom will certainly be executed upon her as it follows in the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. Therefore unexpectedly, and contrary to her boa&s;tfull pre&s;ages &s;hall this <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy be <HI>Politically</HI> killed, deve&s;ted of all Power and Authority, whence will be mourning and famine, &s;carcity and poverty to requite their Luxury before. And in the highe&s;t degree &s;hall that be fulfilled which is written, <HI>chap.</HI> 17.6. They &s;hall make
<PB N="333" REF="172">her de&s;olate and naked, and &s;hall eat her fle&s;h and burn her with fire. For &s;trong is he that judgeth her, and there is neither Wi&s;edom &s;trength nor coun&s;el again&s;t the Almighty.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. And the Kings of the Earth that have been of the &s;ame idolatrous Profe&s;&s;ion with her, and have lived Luxuriou&s;ly with her, this Religion being accommodated to the <HI>Gu&s;to</HI> of great men, it is no wonder that &s;ome of the Kings or Princes of the Earth bewail her burning.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>For in one hour is thy Judgment come.</HI> But though her judgment be come in one hour, yet the execution of it may take up a con&s;iderable time. And this de&s;cription belongs as well to the time of the <HI>Partial</HI> fall of <HI>Babylon,</HI> and ri&s;ing of the Witne&s;&s;es as to the latter Vials, and e&s;pe|cially the la&s;t of all.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. The Merchants of the Earth, as I noted above, are Eccle&s;ia&s;tick or &s;piritual Per&s;ons, which in reproach to their Worldline&s;s in their pretended holy and &s;piritual Functions, are here called the Merchants of the <HI>Earth.</HI> And the Merchandize which no man buyes any more, de|notes the <HI>u&s;ual Traffick</HI> in the <HI>Roman</HI> Church, where all is &s;uppo&s;ed to pa&s;s or to be di&s;po&s;ed of for money or earth|ly Intere&s;t, which now cea&s;eth, as &s;he her &s;elf cea&s;eth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. No man buyeth her Merchandize of Gold, Sil|ver, pretious &s;tones, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> the rich attire of tho&s;e higher parts of the Whore, as you may &s;ee in the foregoing Chapter, fit for Popes, Cardinals, and other great Per&s;o|nages of the <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> body and their Officers. No Thyine wood for the Roof of Temples or carved Idols that are incen&s;ed, no Images or other Uten&s;ils of Ivory, pretions Wood, Bra&s;s, Iron or Marble.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. No traffick any longer in Aromatick Odours, Oiles or Ointments for &s;acred Unctions. No man will partake any longer of her <HI>Panis benedictus,</HI> nor ta&s;te of her Idol-wafer made of the fine&s;t flower, nor &s;ip of the wine of her Chalice, though &s;he &s;hould offer it to the lips of the Laity. For their idolatrous Ma&s;s &s;hall cea&s;e, and their be &s;prinkling of Sheep and other cattel by the Friars of St.
<PB N="334" REF="173"><HI>Anthony,</HI> and other profits i&s;&s;uing from them &s;hall cea&s;e al&s;o, and the redemption of Souls out of Purgatory for money. And la&s;tly, the Merchandize of Chariots, Hor&s;es and Slaves, that is of &s;uch Dignities in their Church, as who&s;e Equipage is to go with their Coach and Hor&s;es, and Lacquies to run by them, this among&s;t the re&s;t will fail in the ruine and de&s;olation of <HI>Babylon.</HI> See. Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. Tho&s;e great and opime preferments and Dig|nities, which thy ambitious and worldly mind &s;o long|ingly hankered after, tho&s;e fat and fair Objects that make Mens mouths run a-water &s;o, in this full <HI>Babyloni&s;h</HI> Market, where every thing is to be had for money and nothing without it, all the&s;e goodly things are vani&s;hed never to appear again.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>The Merchants of the&s;e things,</HI> Whether Buyers or Sellers. <HI>Stand a far off,</HI> &amp;c. being &s;olicitous for them|&s;elves, nor able to help her.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>That great City.</HI> That great Hierarchical Po|lity. <HI>Cloathed in fine Linen, and Purple and Scarlet,</HI> &amp;c. the very habit of the Whore above de&s;cribed, (<HI>chap.</HI> 17.) and not a City of &s;tone and brick.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>For in one hour,</HI> &amp;c. The &s;en&s;e is, &s;uch as in ver&s;e 10. <HI>And every Ship-ma&s;ter,</HI> &amp;c. that is, every <HI>Nauclerus,</HI> or Rector of a Pari&s;h, the Church whereof is his &s;hip. It &s;eems therefore to give a glance at the <HI>Ba|byloni&s;h</HI> Churches, abu&s;ed to gainfull Idolatries and Super|&s;titions. Where they &s;ell the u&s;e, the &s;ight or po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of &s;everal con&s;ecrated things, exchange Souls out of Purga|tory for money, and turn the very word of God into an adulterated piece of ware or Merchandize, 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 2.17. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place, and in his Notes.</P>
<P N="5"><HI>V</HI> 18. Like that of the Mariners Lamentation over <HI>Tyrus,</HI> that great City for Merchandizing (which I know not, that <HI>Rome</HI> was ever &s;o famous for?) What City is like <HI>Tyrus! Ezech.</HI> 27.32.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>That great City.</HI> That great Sacerdotal Poli|ty, wherein were made rich all the Ship-ma&s;ters in the
<PB N="335" REF="173">Sea, (in &s;uch a Sen&s;e as is hinted above) out of that trea|&s;ure of Dignities, Preferments and Offices, wherewith &s;he was inabled to enrich the&s;e Merchants, &s;ome in one degree &s;ome in another, but now &s;urprizedly, and unex&s;pectedly is &s;he de&s;olate. The&s;e three la&s;t ver&s;es are taken out of <HI>Ezechiel</HI>'s Lamentation over <HI>Tyre,</HI> that City &s;o <HI>Notorious</HI> for Merchandizes in the <HI>literal</HI> Sen&s;e, and <HI>Rome</HI> not being <HI>&s;o,</HI> it naturally implies, that we mu&s;t under&s;tand it of <HI>My|&s;tical</HI> Merchandizes, as hath been above declared.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. Rejoyce ye heavenly minded over the&s;e Mer|chants of the Earth, and ye that are the Teachers of the pure Apo&s;tolick doctrine, be ye glad that the Lord hath avenged the bloud of your Predece&s;&s;ours upon her, the bloud of the <HI>Walden&s;es</HI> and <HI>Albigen&s;es,</HI> and the re&s;t of the holy Martyrs of Je&s;us.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. The &s;en&s;e is, That at la&s;t there will be an utter ruine and abolition of this idolatrous City or Polity, namely the pouring forth of the &s;eventh Vial. And the mighty Angel &s;ignifies the mighty Agents under him, that &s;hall effect it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22, 23. All this may be nothing el&s;e but a Prophe|tick <HI>Hyla&s;mus</HI> &s;etting out one &s;ingle thing, <HI>viz.</HI> the de|&s;truction, &s;ilence and va&s;t &s;olitude of this idolatrous Hie|rarchy, by the ab&s;ence of &s;uch gro&s;s and &s;en&s;ible Objects, as occur in a City inhabited, as the noi&s;e of Mu&s;icians, the hammering and knocking of Artificers; the grinding of Mills, the light of Candles in the Night, and the &s;inging and dancing at Weddings and the like; Or el&s;e in a <HI>My&s;tical</HI> &s;en&s;e by a <HI>Diori&s;m,</HI> The <HI>Mu&s;ick</HI> may be, that at their Idolatrous wor&s;hip, The <HI>Artificers,</HI> the Hammerers out of &s;ubtile devices in Theology and Church policy for the Intere&s;t of this Hierarchy, The <HI>&s;ound</HI> of the <HI>Mill|&s;tones</HI> their fraudulent profit. The <HI>light</HI> of <HI>Candles,</HI> that of their con&s;ecrated Candles, or Candles burning upon Altars, or before Images; and la&s;tly, the voice of the <HI>Bridegroom</HI> and the Bride, the pro&s;elyting Countries and Provinces, and con&s;iderable Per&s;onages to the <HI>Roman</HI> Church, of which the Pope for&s;ooth, pretends to be the Bridegroom.
<PB N="336" REF="174">So that every &s;uch pro&s;elyting, is as it were a new Wed|ding betwixt the Pope and the pro&s;elyted. But the voice of this Bridegroom and Bride, &s;hall now be heard there no more. Hitherto the de&s;truction of <HI>Babylon</HI> is de&s;cribed, the particular <HI>Rea&s;ons thereof</HI> follow, which are three. Two in the remaining part of this 23. ver&s;e; The fir&s;t, The <HI>Riot</HI> and <HI>Loraline&s;s</HI> of the&s;e My&s;tical Merchants, who are the great men of the Earth, and greatly Worldly, Ambitious, Covetous and &s;en&s;ual, which is the very E&s;&s;ence of an earthly mind. The other, the debauching the World with <HI>Idolatry,</HI> carried on with a pretence of power plainly <HI>Magical</HI> in changing the Elements in Tran&s;ub&s;tan|tiation, and charming of Images into wonderfull powers and vertues, with other Magical feats and Necromantick &s;tories of Apparitions of Saints and all in order to introduce or &s;upport Idolatry, whence Idolatry is here indigitated by Sorcery or <HI>Witchcraft.</HI> And what is that Cup in the hand of the Whore, but a <HI>Philtrum</HI> or Love-potion made with <HI>Magical</HI> charmes, and of horrid Ingredients. And what is the being deceived by the&s;e <HI>Sorceries,</HI> but the being &s;e|duced into <HI>Idolatries</HI> by them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. Here's the third Rea&s;on of the de&s;truction of the <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy, their <HI>bloudy Cruelty.</HI> And there is laid to their charge, not onely the bloud of <HI>Prophets</HI> and <HI>Saints,</HI> that is, of faithfull Preachers, and Expounders of the Go&s;pel, and other pious men that &s;tuck to the truth re|vealed, but the bloud of all that have been &s;lain upon the Earth. So great Incendiaries have the Pope and his Emi&s;&s;a|ries been, and di&s;turbers of the Peace of Chri&s;tendom. But that it &s;hould be the <HI>&s;ecular</HI> Merchants of <HI>Rome,</HI> that are the&s;e <HI>Sorcerers</HI> or <HI>Magicians,</HI> and <HI>Murtherers</HI> of the <HI>Saints</HI> and <HI>Prophets,</HI> and the &s;hedders of <HI>all</HI> the bloud &s;pilt in Chri&s;tendom, is &s;uch a &s;en&s;le&s;s conceit, that nothing can be more wooden or plumbous.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="19" TYPE="chapter">
<PB N="337" REF="174">
<HEAD>CHAP. XIX.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>A</HI> Doxology <HI>of the true Church for God's</HI> Judg|ment <HI>on the Whore, in oppo&s;ition to the foregoing</HI> lamenta|tion <HI>of her Friends and Paramours. A great Acce&s;&s;ion, to the Kingdom of Chri&s;t by the calling of the</HI> Jews, <HI>&s;et out by the Marriage of the Lamb with his Spou&s;e made ready for him, which is glanced at al&s;o in the</HI> &s;ixth Vial <HI>and the Vi&s;i|on of the</HI> Harve&s;t. John <HI>overjoy'd at the News, would wor&s;hip the Angel, but is forbidden by him. A new Repre|&s;entation of the battel of the great Day of God Almighty un|der the &s;eventh Vial. The mighty</HI> Heros <HI>on the white Hor&s;e with a &s;harp &s;word coming out of his mouth, who&s;e Name is the</HI> Word of God. <HI>His ve&s;ture dipt in bloud, and his treading of the Wine-pre&s;s alluding to the Wine-pre&s;s trod without the City, bloud reaching to the Hor&s;e-bridles. The I&s;&s;ue of this War, the</HI> Bea&s;t <HI>and</HI> fal&s;e Prophet <HI>taken</HI> alive, <HI>not &s;lain, by the &s;word, and therefore ca&s;t into a Lake of fire, wherein the Be&s;tial and P&s;eudoprophetical Power is di&s;&s;olved. But the</HI> Infidel <HI>Party</HI> &s;lain <HI>with the</HI> &s;word <HI>coming out of the</HI> Heros<HI>'s mouth the living Word of God; And &s;o are conver|ted to the infinite joy of all good men and Angels. And hi|therto reach the</HI> &s;even <HI>Vials comprized in the</HI> fir&s;t Thunder <HI>of the</HI> &s;eventh Trumpet.</P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND after the&s;e things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, &s;aying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our God:</P>
<P N="2">2 For true and righteous are his judgments; for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the bloud of his &s;ervants at her hand.</P>
<PB N="338" REF="175">
<P N="3">3 And again they &s;aid, Alleluia. And her &s;moke ro&s;e up for ever and ever.</P>
<P N="4">4 And the four and twenty Elders, and the four bea&s;ts fell down, and wor&s;hipped God that &s;ate on the Throne, &s;aying, Amen; Alleluia.</P>
<P N="5">5 And a voice came out of the throne, &s;aying, Prai&s;e our God, all ye his &s;ervants, and ye that fear him, both &s;mall and great.</P>
<P N="6">6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great mul|titude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thundrings, &s;aying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.</P>
<P N="7">7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made her &s;elf ready.</P>
<P N="8">8 And to her was granted, that &s;he &s;hould be ar|rayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine li|nen is the righteou&s;ne&s;s of &s;aints.</P>
<P N="9">9 And he &s;aith unto me, Write, Ble&s;&s;ed are they which are called unto the marriage-&s;upper of the Lamb. And he &s;aith unto me, The&s;e are the true &s;ay|ings of God.</P>
<P N="10">10 And I fell at his feet to wor&s;hip him: and he &s;aid unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-&s;ervant, and of thy brethren that have the te&s;timony of Je&s;us: wor&s;hip God: for the te&s;timony of Je&s;us is the &s;pirit of prophecy.</P>
<P N="11">11 And I &s;aw heaven opened, and behold, a white hor&s;e; and he that &s;ate upon him was called faithfull and true, and in righteou&s;ne&s;s he doth judge and make war.</P>
<P N="12">12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on
<PB N="339" REF="175">his head were many crowns; and he had a name written that no man knew but he him&s;elf.</P>
<P N="13">13 And he was cloathed with a ve&s;ture dipt in bloud: and his name is called, The Word of God.</P>
<P N="14">14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white hor&s;es, cloathed in fine linen, white and clean.</P>
<P N="15">15 And out of his mouth goeth a &s;harp &s;word, that with it he &s;hould &s;mite the nations, and he &s;hall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the wine-pre&s;s of the fiercene&s;s and wrath of Almighty God.</P>
<P N="16">16 And he hath on his ve&s;ture, and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.</P>
<P N="17">17 And I &s;aw an angel &s;tanding in the Sun; and he cried with a loud voice, &s;aying to all the &s;owls that fly in the mid&s;t of heaven, Come and gather your &s;elves together unto the &s;upper of the great God;</P>
<P N="18">18 That ye may eat the fle&s;h of Kings, and the fle&s;h of Captains, and the fle&s;h of mighty men, and the fle&s;h of hor&s;es, and of them that &s;it on them, and the fle&s;h of all men, both free and bond, both &s;mall and great.</P>
<P N="19">19 And I &s;aw the bea&s;t, and the Kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war a|gain&s;t him that &s;ate on the hor&s;e, and again&s;t his army.</P>
<P N="20">20 And the bea&s;t was taken, and with him the fal&s;e prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the bea&s;t, and them that wor&s;hipped his image.
<PB N="340" REF="176">The&s;e both were ca&s;t alive into a lake of fire burning with brim&s;tone.</P>
<P N="21">21 And the remnant were &s;lain with the &s;word of him that &s;ate upon the hor&s;e, which &s;word proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their fle&s;h.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. THis Doxology in Heaven is but a Re&s;emblance of what in tho&s;e times will be done by the true Church on Earth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>Which did corrupt the Earth,</HI> &amp;c. Debauching the <HI>Roman</HI> Empire with Idolatry. Which therefore cannot be under&s;tood of <HI>Rome</HI> Pagan. For the parts of the Empire then, were Idolatrous of them&s;elves. <HI>The bloud of his &s;er|vants,</HI> &amp;c. The cau&s;es of the de&s;truction of the <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy was their <HI>Idolatry</HI> and their <HI>Cruelty</HI> again&s;t the Profe&s;&s;ours of pure Chri&s;tianity, as was ob&s;erved at the end of the foregoing Chapter.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Her &s;moak ro&s;e up for ever and ever.</HI> In &s;uch a &s;en&s;e as is &s;aid of the de&s;truction of <HI>Idumaea, I&s;a.</HI> 34.10. It &s;hall not be quenched night nor day, the &s;moak thereof &s;hall go up for ever, from generation to generation it &s;hall lye wa&s;te, none &s;hall pa&s;s through it for ever and ever.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. The whole truly Catholick and Apo&s;tolick Church prai&s;ed and glorified God upon the utter de&s;truction of the Whore, the <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy, in oppo&s;ition to the <HI>Lamen|tation</HI> of her Paramours or Antichri&s;tian Party. And as the <HI>Kings</HI> of the Earth, <HI>chap.</HI> 18.9. are &s;et in the fir&s;t place bewailing her, &s;o the <HI>Elders</HI> here are placed fir&s;t in this Doxology for her de&s;truction. And this reaches to the end of the Vials. In the re&s;t of the Chapter there is a Regre&s;s to the &s;ixth and &s;eventh Vial.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>A voice came out of the Throne;</HI> namely, the voice of Chri&s;t. This an&s;wers to the Son of man, who puts in
<PB N="341" REF="176">his &s;ickle, and reaps the <HI>Harve&s;t,</HI> chap. 14.14. which im|mediately precedes the treading of the <HI>Wine-pre&s;s,</HI> which &s;ynchronizeth with the following Vi&s;ion of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e, as that with the &s;eventh Vial. <HI>Prai&s;e our God,</HI> &amp;c. This is the voice of Chri&s;t as he is Man. See <HI>John</HI> 20.17. <HI>Apoc.</HI> 3.13.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. The many Waters and Thundrings are Symbols of Multitudes of people prai&s;ing God for the glorious ap|pearance of his enlarged Kingdom, the waters of <HI>Euphrates</HI> being dried up to make way for the Kings of the Ea&s;t to join in one Communion with the pure Church of Chri&s;t. This therefore &s;ynchronizeth with the &s;ixth Vial.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. That is to &s;ay, The people of the <HI>Jews</HI> are now in a readine&s;s to join with the Holy Catholick and Apo&s;to|lick Church of Chri&s;t, and that is a ground of the greate&s;t joy imaginable. For if the ca&s;ting away of them be the reconciling of the World, what &s;hall the receiving of them be but life from the dead? <HI>Rom.</HI> 11.15.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. It was granted to her to be cloathed with the everla&s;ting Righteou&s;ne&s;s of the Go&s;pel of Chri&s;t, which con&s;i&s;ts not in meats and drinks, but in a true rectitude of mind, peace of con&s;cience, and joy in the Holy Gho&s;t; that being thus cloathed, &s;he may not be found at the &s;e|venth Vial among&s;t the number of the naked then, to their great &s;hame.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed are they,</HI> &amp;c. O thrice happy they that &s;hall &s;ee tho&s;e times and partake of them, and celebrate the E&s;pou&s;als of the people of the <HI>Jews</HI> to Chri&s;t their Bride|groom and true Me&s;&s;ias, as he will then be acknowledged. <HI>The&s;e are the true &s;ayings,</HI> &amp;c. As unlikely as it may &s;eem to men that the&s;e dry bones &s;hall live again, (as the <HI>Jews</HI> are repre&s;ented in that Vi&s;ion of <HI>Ezekiel</HI>) yet the thing will certainly come to pa&s;s.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>And wor&s;hipped him.</HI> This he did, being &s;o full of joy and tran&s;port at &s;o tran&s;cending good news touch|ing the <HI>Jews</HI> his Countreymen. For whom S. <HI>Paul</HI> al&s;o had &s;o great a zeal, <HI>Rom.</HI> 9. <HI>See thou do it not,</HI> &amp;c. For it &s;hould &s;eem the Mien of his face conjoined with the po&s;ture
<PB N="342" REF="177">of his body, betray'd &s;uch a pitch of veneration as was more than civil, and not due nor warrantable from one fellow creature to another. Be&s;ides, that this Angel and <HI>John</HI> (as al&s;o others of his quality) were fellow-in&s;pired Souls, both endued with the Spirit of Prophecy, which is the Te|&s;timony of Je&s;us. For no man can &s;ay Je&s;us is the Lord, but by the Holy Gho&s;t, 1 <HI>Cor.</HI> 12.3. They cannot be true and faithfull witne&s;&s;es of Je&s;us out of love and loyalty to him, but they mu&s;t be in&s;pired by his Spirit. Such a Spirit of Prophecy was in the two Witne&s;&s;es, <HI>chap.</HI> 11. who&s;e faith was &s;o &s;trong, that they could &s;uffer the utmo&s;t for the Truth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>And I &s;aw Heaven opened.</HI> Now follows the Vi&s;ion that &s;ynchronizeth with the treading the <HI>Wine-pre&s;s,</HI> and with the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> which will give admirable light to both. <HI>A white Hor&s;e.</HI> An Hor&s;e with his Rider doth &s;ignifie Rule and Command, and the colour, <HI>White,</HI> pro|&s;perous &s;ucce&s;s. <HI>And he that &s;ate upon him,</HI> &amp;c. The Rider is the <HI>Eternal Word</HI> incarnate, once cruci&s;ied on the Cro&s;s to draw all men unto him. In the &s;eventh Vial there was mention of the battel of the great day of God Almighty, but no mention there of any <HI>Armies,</HI> or of any <HI>Captain</HI> of the Forces. Lo! here is the <HI>Commander</HI> of the Army, Chri&s;t him&s;elf, who in righteou&s;ne&s;s doth judge and make war.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>His eyes were as a flame of fire.</HI> Symbols of a piercing di&s;cernment and inflamed anger again&s;t &s;in and impenitent &s;inners, as it was &s;aid even now, who in righ|teou&s;ne&s;s doth judge and make war. <HI>Many Crowns.</HI> For the Kings of the Ea&s;t by this time had &s;ubmitted to him, be&s;ides what might be done under the fourth Vial. <HI>That no man knew but him&s;elf.</HI> This in brief &s;ignifies the incomprehen&s;i|blene&s;s and imper&s;crutablene&s;s of the Divinity of our Savi|our. He alone that is it being able to comprize it.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>A ve&s;ture dipt in bloud.</HI> This relates chiefly to his <HI>Pa&s;&s;ion,</HI> and partly to the Vi&s;ion of the Treading the <HI>Wine-pre&s;s,</HI> where bloud is &s;aid to a&s;cend up to the Hor&s;e-bridles, whence his garments would be dipt in bloud. And is a &s;ign that the&s;e two Vi&s;ions, this and that of the <HI>Wine|pre&s;s</HI>
<PB N="343" REF="177">tend to the &s;ame thing. And it is no wonder his garment <HI>alone</HI> is &s;aid to be dipt in bloud, and none of his followers, it being intended as a Symbol of his <HI>bloudy Pa&s;&s;ion,</HI> and he is &s;aid, <HI>E&s;ay</HI> 63. to tread the <HI>Winc-pre&s;s</HI> a|lone. All his Victories are to be imputed to his alone <HI>Pa&s;&s;ion</HI> and Mi&s;&s;ion of the <HI>Spirit. Called the word of God, viz.</HI> Incarnate and once crucified. But in this Triumph of the living Word, the written Word al&s;o will have a &s;hare. Which the fal&s;e Prophet or Idolatrous Hierarchy of <HI>Rome</HI> had not onely &s;ilenced, but mo&s;t barbarou&s;ly had troden down tho&s;e <HI>innate</HI> Principles of <HI>Morality</HI> and <HI>Rea|&s;on,</HI> that the Eternal Word had implanted in the Souls of men, and by terrour and cruel force did what &s;he could to &s;mother, &s;tifle and extingui&s;h them. But here the Scene is changed, and the pure Word of God like a Valiant <HI>Heros</HI> triumphs over the corrupt, &s;uper&s;titious, idolatrous and contradictious Doctrines and In&s;titutes of a company of deceitfull and deceivable men, which in this Vi&s;ion is called the <HI>fal&s;e Prophet.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>And the Armies,</HI> &amp;c. Here be the <HI>Evangelical Armies</HI> (as before we noted the Commander) which be|long to the battel of the great day of God Almighty under the &s;eventh Vial. <HI>In fine linen, white and clean.</HI> A &s;trange kind of Armature, if it were to be under&s;tood literally of &s;uch a battel as Souldiers ordinarily fight in the field. White <HI>armour, bright</HI> and <HI>&s;hining</HI> had been more proper for a <HI>literal</HI> War of righteous Warriours. And that this <HI>white linen</HI> has no bloud on it, though the Ve&s;ture of their Commander has, and that <HI>before</HI> the battel, is a farther confirmation that his Ve&s;ture dipt in bloud denotes his <HI>Pa&s;&s;ion,</HI> and that the War is <HI>My&s;tical.</HI> As what follows does &s;till more evidently prove to any one that has his eyes open to truth.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>And out of his mouth goeth a &s;harp Sword,</HI> &amp;c. This again &s;hews, that this is no <HI>Carnal</HI> warfare, when, as before this great <HI>Heros</HI> was called the <HI>word of God,</HI> &s;o here a <HI>&s;harp Sword,</HI> is &s;aid to come out of his <HI>mouth,</HI> the wea|pon wherewith he &s;mites the Nations, in allu&s;ion to that
<PB N="344" REF="178">of <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> chap. 11.4. And he &s;hall &s;mite the Earth with the Rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips &s;hall he &s;lay the wicked. Which <HI>Forerius</HI> and <HI>Alapide</HI> inter|pret, (I may add al&s;o <HI>Calvin</HI>) of the victory of the word of God over wicked men, &s;laying them <HI>as &s;uch,</HI> and con|verting them to a quite contrary &s;tate. And thus is Chri&s;t &s;aid by the Spirit of his mouth, 2 <HI>The&s;.</HI> 2. to con&s;ume the man of &s;in, that is, by the power of the word as <HI>Calvin</HI> expre&s;ly interprets it, and compares it with that of <HI>E&s;ay.</HI> Read al&s;o <HI>E&s;dras.</HI> Book 2. chap. 13. v. 4.10.38. <HI>And &s;hall rule them,</HI> &amp;c. This alludes to <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 2.9. where out of the Original it is <HI>Conteres eos,</HI> Thou &s;halt <HI>brui&s;e them,</HI> intimating that <HI>Contrition</HI> of heart which the living word will effect &s;ea&s;onably and powerfully attacking the ene|mies of Chri&s;t's Kingdom. <HI>He treadeth the Wine-pre&s;s,</HI> &amp;c. He treadeth the Wine-pre&s;s and that <HI>alone,</HI> as it is &s;aid in <HI>E&s;ay,</HI> as his Ve&s;ture <HI>alone</HI> is here &s;aid to be dipt in bloud, and among&s;t this whole company on white Hor&s;es, he <HI>alone</HI> is &s;aid to ride weaponed, <HI>viz.</HI> with a Sword com|ing out of his mouth. Is this likely then to be a <HI>literal</HI> or <HI>car|nal</HI> Warfare, or is not this rather the My&s;tery, that the vi|ctory in this battel is wholly to be attributed to the <HI>bloudy Pa&s;&s;ion,</HI> and to the promi&s;ed <HI>Spirit</HI> of Chri&s;t in his Evangeli|cal Armies, who &s;hall preach the word, (which is the Sword of the Spirit) with &s;tupendious power and &s;ucce&s;s, Chri&s;t alive in the&s;e this Evangeli&s;ts, &s;etting out mo&s;t pathe|tically and effectually the weight and merit of his endear|ing <HI>Pa&s;&s;ion</HI> on the Cro&s;s, and now fulfilling in the mo&s;t am|ple manner, what he predicted of his &s;uffering there, That he &s;hould draw all men unto him? And this is that which &s;queezes &s;o the Grapes in the <HI>Wine-pre&s;s,</HI> that bloud rea|ches to the Hor&s;e-bridles for 1600. furlongs together.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. This &s;heweth the Royal de&s;cent of Chri&s;t, even according to the fle&s;h, as if he had laid claim to this Sove|reignty, by de&s;cent from <HI>David</HI> the King, as it is &s;aid chap. 22. I am the root and Off-&s;pring of <HI>David,</HI> and the <HI>bright</HI> morning Star, the root of <HI>David</HI> as to his Divi|nity, and the Off-&s;pring of <HI>David</HI> as to his Humanity, to
<PB N="345" REF="178">whom the utmo&s;t parts of the Earth are promi&s;ed, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 2.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>An Angel &s;tanding in the Sun,</HI> &amp;c. In the mo&s;t bright and Glorious light of the Go&s;pel (for by Angel is under&s;tood men under his Governance) or Holy word of Prophecy, as Sun is interpreted in the fourth Vial, by the illumination whereof they were able to play the au&s;picious Heralds, and proclaim the victory on the Evangelical par|ties &s;ide, before the battel.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>And the fle&s;h of Hor&s;es, and them that &s;it on them,</HI> &amp;c. That is, The fle&s;h of Hor&s;emen, by an <HI>Hendiadis,</HI> a figure that divides into two, which &s;hould be &s;poke as one. <HI>And the fle&s;h of all men,</HI> &amp;c. The&s;e are certainly tho&s;e that are &s;lain by the Sword of him that &s;ate upon the white Hor&s;e. For the Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet are ca&s;t <HI>alive</HI> into the lake of fire and brim&s;tone, and Fowls that follow Ar|mies, do not feed upon men before they be killed. Where|fore the &s;lain with the Sword, are the convinced and con|verted by the powerfull preaching of the word, which is &s;aid to be &s;harper than any two-edged Sword. And this fea&s;t of the <HI>Fowls</HI> (which with the <HI>Cabbali&s;ts</HI> &s;ignifie <HI>Spi|rits</HI>) is the <HI>Joy</HI> of <HI>Angels,</HI> who if they rejoyce &s;o much at the Conver&s;ion of one &s;ingle <HI>&s;inner,</HI> what mu&s;t they doe at the Conver&s;ion of whole Countries and Kingdoms, to the true faith in Chri&s;t? See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19 <HI>And I &s;aw the Bea&s;t,</HI> The <HI>two-horned</HI> Bea&s;t, or <HI>ten-horned</HI> Bea&s;t, or both, which is one part of the Adver&s;a|ries of the <HI>Evangelici,</HI> that follow the illu&s;trious <HI>Heros</HI> on the white Hor&s;e. <HI>And the Kings of the Earth,</HI> &amp;c. The <HI>Infidel</HI> party, the other Adver&s;aries of the above &s;aid <HI>Heros,</HI> who with his Armies makes up the <HI>Tripartition</HI> I ob&s;erved in the treading the <HI>Wine-pre&s;s,</HI> and in the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> which is another Argument of Coincidency of the&s;e three Vi&s;ions. <HI>Gathered together,</HI> &amp;c. Which exactly an&s;wers to, and makes a &s;upplement of what is wanting, chap. 16. v. 16. This therefore is the Army that was gathered together in <HI>Armageddon.</HI></P>
<PB N="346" REF="179">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. The remainder of the ten-horned Bea&s;t, and with him the fal&s;e Prophet mentioned al&s;o in the &s;eventh Vial, that wrought miracles before the ten-horned Bea&s;t, whereby he deceived tho&s;e that received the mark of the two-horned Bea&s;t (See <HI>chap.</HI> 13. <HI>v.</HI> 13, 16, 17.) the &s;ame with this fal&s;e Prophet; and the Wor&s;hippers of his image, the &s;ecular power of the Empire which he had debauched into the image of the Pagan, by introducing the old Ido|latry under new names; both the&s;e, the Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet were ca&s;t <HI>alive</HI> into the lake of fire and brim&s;tone, that is to &s;ay, they <HI>not</HI> being <HI>&s;lain</HI> by the Sword of the Ri|der of the white Hor&s;e, <HI>i. e.</HI> being unconvinced and un|converted, their Idolatrous power and Tyranny was abo|li&s;hed, whether they would or no.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. <HI>And the Remnant,</HI> &amp;c. Read out of the Ori|ginal. <HI>But the re&s;t,</HI> that is, the <HI>other</HI> of the <HI>two</HI> parties that oppo&s;ed the Evangelical Armies, namely the <HI>Infidel</HI> party were <HI>&s;lain</HI> with the Sword of him that &s;ate upon the Hor&s;e, which here again is expre&s;ly &s;aid to come out of his mouth, to intimate to us, that this part of the execution is <HI>&s;piritual,</HI> and their &s;laughter <HI>Conviction</HI> and Conver&s;ion, nor can it be under&s;tood of a <HI>Command to kill</HI> this remnant, for by a <HI>Command</HI> certainly were the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Pro|phet</HI> ca&s;t into the lake of fire, and &s;o they al&s;o would be <HI>killed</HI> by the Sword that cometh out of the mouth of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e, which is a point blank Con|tradiction to the Text, that makes this difference betwixt the execution upon the <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> party, the Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet, and that on the <HI>other</HI> party, The former is the ca&s;ting them <HI>alive</HI> into a lake of fire, the other, the <HI>be|ing &s;lain</HI> with the Sword coming out of the mouth of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e. Which is another palpable a&s;&s;urance, that the&s;e three Vi&s;ions of the <HI>Wine-pre&s;s,</HI> of the <HI>&s;eventh Vial,</HI> and <HI>this</HI> of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e, do mainly intimate a <HI>My&s;tical</HI> or <HI>Spiritual</HI> War, and whatever &s;tirs there may then be, that they will be onely coincident or concomitant. <HI>And all the Fowls were filled with their fle&s;h,</HI> i. e. All the holy Angels were fea&s;ted and filled with
<PB N="347" REF="179">the Joy of their Conver&s;ion. How the three Parties in the&s;e three Vi&s;ions exqui&s;itely an&s;wer one another, namely that of the Wine-pre&s;s, the &s;eventh Vial, and this pre&s;ent Vi&s;ion, <HI>viz.</HI> The Grape-treaders, the Boanerge&s;&s;es, and the Army of the Heros on the white Hor&s;e, as the <HI>Evangelical</HI> party. The City without which the Wine-pre&s;s is troden, <HI>Babylon</HI> the Great, or Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet, And Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet again, as the <HI>Antichri&s;tian</HI> party. The Grapes gathered and pre&s;&s;ed, The Dragon or Cities of the Nations. The &s;lain by the Sword of the Rider of the white Hor&s;e, as the <HI>Infidel</HI> party, of this See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place. Such plain Congruity of things one would think might convince any that are not willfully obdurate.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="20" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XX.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>Satan laid hold on by an Angel, the Keeper of the botomle&s;s Pit under the &s;econd Thunder. This old Serpent bound by this Angel, under the third Thunder for a thou&s;and years. The Government of the World adjudged to the Righ|teous, the true Church of Chri&s;t for the &s;ame thou&s;and years. The fir&s;t and &s;econd Re&s;urrection. The loo&s;ing of Satan un|der the fourth Thunder. The Holy City be&s;ieged by</HI> Gog <HI>and</HI> Magog <HI>under the fifth, but holding out till the Conflagration. Chri&s;t come to Judgment and the general Re&s;urrection under the &s;ixth Thunder. The Conflagration or Lake of fire, which is the &s;econd Death, under the &s;eventh.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I &s;aw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomle&s;s pit, and a great chain in his hand.</P>
<P N="2">2 And he laid hold on the dragon that old &s;erpent,
<PB N="348" REF="180">which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thou|&s;and years.</P>
<P N="3">3 And ca&s;t him into the bottomle&s;s pit, and &s;hut him up, and &s;et a &s;eal upon him, that he &s;hould de|ceive the nations no more, till the thou&s;and years &s;hould be fulfilled: and after that he mu&s;t be loo&s;ed a little &s;ea&s;on.</P>
<P N="4">4 And I &s;aw thrones, and they &s;ate upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I &s;aw the &s;ouls of them that were beheaded for the witne&s;s of Je&s;us, and for the word of God, and which had not wor&s;hipped the bea&s;t, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Chri&s;t a thou&s;and years.</P>
<P N="5">5 But the re&s;t of the dead lived not again untill the thou&s;and years were fini&s;hed. This is the fir&s;t re&s;urrection.</P>
<P N="6">6 Ble&s;&s;ed and holy is he that hath part in the fir&s;t re&s;urrection: on &s;uch the &s;econd death hath no power, but they &s;hall be prie&s;ts of God, and of Chri&s;t, and &s;hall reign with him a thou&s;and years.</P>
<P N="7">7 And when the thou&s;and years are expired, Sa|tan &s;hall be loo&s;ed out of his pri&s;on.</P>
<P N="8">8 And &s;hall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battel: the number of whom is as the &s;and of the &s;ea.</P>
<P N="9">9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compa&s;&s;ed the camp of the &s;aints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.</P>
<PB N="349" REF="180">
<P N="10">10 And the devil that deceived them, was ca&s;t in|to the lake of fire and brim&s;tone, where the bea&s;t and the fal&s;e prophet are, and &s;hall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.</P>
<P N="11">11 And I &s;aw a great white throne, and him that &s;ate on it, from who&s;e face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.</P>
<P N="12">12 And I &s;aw the dead &s;mall and great, &s;tand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of tho&s;e things which were written in the books, according to their works.</P>
<P N="13">13 And the &s;ea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man ac|cording to their works.</P>
<P N="14">14 And death and hell were ca&s;t into the lake of fire: this is the &s;econd death.</P>
<P N="15">15 And who&s;oever was not found written in the book of life, was ca&s;t into the lake of fire.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P>HItherto the Vi&s;ions of the <HI>Opened-book</HI> have reached no farther than to the end of the <HI>la&s;t Vial,</HI> which takes up the forepart of the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Interval. The Re&s;idue of the Vi&s;ions take up the following part of the <HI>Philadel|phian</HI> Interval, and the whole <HI>Laodicean,</HI> or the &s;ix la&s;t Thun|ders, as the Effu&s;ion of the Vials did the fir&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. <HI>An Angel from Heaven,</HI> denotes a Commi&s;&s;ion from God. <HI>The bottomle&s;s Pit,</HI> the Pri&s;on of Evil Spirits, the Dungeon of the <HI>Rephaim.</HI> And the <HI>Key</HI> thereof &s;igni|fies the having Power and Authority to doe things there,
<PB N="350" REF="181">the very Kingdom of the Devil being &s;ubject to the power of God. And the <HI>great Chain</HI> is the power of <HI>Legi&s;lation,</HI> or of making Laws, which are bonds and iron chains to tye up the wicked from doing mi&s;chief. Wherefore the Antichri&s;tian and Infidel Power or Polity being broken or aboli&s;hed, by this Angel from Heaven are under&s;tood tho&s;e per&s;ons empowered from God to make Laws for the more &s;ure &s;upport of the recovered Kingdom of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>And he laid hold on,</HI> &amp;c. By the&s;e expre&s;s &s;evere Laws touching the indi&s;pen&s;able duties of a Chri&s;tian, not in&s;ignificant trifles and &s;uper&s;titions, is that old Serpent the Devil or Satan, that is, the wicked ones of what deno|mination &s;oever, to be laid hold on. This is the Con&s;ti|tution of the <HI>new Polity</HI> after the aboli&s;hing of the <HI>Antichri|&s;tian Tyranny.</HI> Which con&s;titution of things being &s;ettled and di&s;patched under the &s;econd Thunder, then follows the binding of him a thou&s;and years, which is the time of the third Thunder, and of the ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Millennium,</HI> properly &s;o called; which reaches to the end of the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Interval.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>Shut him up and &s;et a &s;eal upon him,</HI> &amp;c. There|fore during the happy <HI>Millennium</HI> of the reign of Chri&s;t, he is as clo&s;e a Pri&s;oner as can be imagined or expre&s;&s;ed. Whence it is plain this <HI>Millennium</HI> is not yet come. The parable is of the Devil, but &s;o as to be under&s;tood of his Children here on earth, to be kept under with Iron or Adamantine chains of rigid inviolable Laws, nor per|mitted to doe any thing that is really profane, wicked or Antichri&s;tian, nor to tempt or &s;educe others to doe it: There will be no publick Permi&s;&s;ion or Connivence for &s;uch things. This is the <HI>Political</HI> &s;en&s;e which is the main, and mo&s;t a&s;&s;ured &s;en&s;e of the Devil's being bound up for a thou&s;and years; touching his <HI>phy&s;ical</HI> or <HI>literal</HI> chaining up in the Dungeon of the <HI>Rephaim,</HI> &s;ee the <HI>An&s;wer</HI> to the <HI>Remarker</HI> on the place, and <HI>Paralipomena Prophetica,</HI> chap. 19. <HI>Be loo&s;ed a little &s;ea&s;on,</HI> namely, in the <HI>Laodicean</HI> interval, the Evangelical party growing more cool and remi&s;s, and the Church degenerating in many from the &s;tate of <HI>Philadel|phia,</HI>
<PB N="351" REF="181">to that of <HI>Laodicea;</HI> of whom Chri&s;t complains in his Epi&s;tle to her. This loo&s;ing of Satan for order and di&s;tinctne&s;s &s;ake, is conceived to happen under the fourth Thunder.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>And I &s;aw Thrones,</HI> &amp;c. This Vi&s;ion looks back (as is u&s;ual in the Apocalyp&s;e) and commenceth with the &s;econd Thunder: Then were there Judges &s;itting upon Thrones, and gave judgement touching the Chri&s;tian <HI>Confe&s;&s;ours,</HI> that wor&s;hipped not the Bea&s;t, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> and <HI>be|headed Martyrs.</HI> Of the&s;e two di&s;tinct &s;orts it is &s;aid in common, that they <HI>lived,</HI> as being true of both, and <HI>reigned</HI> with Chri&s;t, not <HI>a</HI> thou&s;and years, but as the Original has it, <HI>the</HI> thou&s;and years, <HI>viz.</HI> of the <HI>Millennium,</HI> the Martyrs in <HI>Heaven,</HI> (though not in a &s;tinted &s;en&s;e) where Chri&s;t is <HI>Per&s;onally</HI> pre&s;ent, the other with their Suc|ce&s;&s;ours on <HI>Earth,</HI> where Chri&s;t is pre&s;ent by his <HI>Spirit,</HI> The&s;e in Bodies <HI>Terre&s;trial,</HI> tho&s;e in <HI>Cele&s;tial</HI> and glorified. An early privilege peculiar to the Martyrs. And there|fore it follows,</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>But the re&s;t of the dead lived not again,</HI> (Much le&s;s were revivificated into cele&s;tial bodies, as the Martyrs were) <HI>till</HI> the <HI>thou&s;and years were fini&s;hed,</HI> where the phra&s;e [lived again] being made u&s;e of, and unproper to relate to the Confe&s;&s;ours, with tho&s;e that &s;ucceeded them, they being con&s;idered as <HI>continuedly alive</HI> on earth, it mu&s;t needs re&s;pect tho&s;e that are &s;aid to be <HI>beheaded,</HI> to intimate their privilege above others, that they <HI>lived again</HI> at the begin|ning of the <HI>Millennium,</HI> but the re&s;t of the dead not till af|ter the <HI>Millennium,</HI> nay not till the end of the <HI>Laodicean</HI> interval, under the &s;ixth Thunder. <HI>This is the fir&s;t Re&s;ur|rection,</HI> This namely, of the Martyrs according to the opi|nion of the primitive Fathers, and that intimation to the Church in <HI>Smyrna,</HI> chap. 2.11. when &s;o many Chri&s;tian Martyrs &s;uffered. He that overcometh &s;hall not be hurt of the &s;econd Death, as to whom belongeth the <HI>fir&s;t Re&s;ur|rection</HI> accordingly as here follows in the next ver&s;e;</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>On &s;uch the &s;econd Death,</HI> &amp;c. namely, The lake of fire (<HI>v.</HI> 14.) into which <HI>Hades,</HI> or the whole Re|gion
<PB N="352" REF="182">of mortality is ca&s;t, the Earth being &s;et on fire. But they that have obtained their glorified body, as the Mar|tyrs do in the fir&s;t Re&s;urrection, they are &s;ped already, and are &s;afe from this fate. And being holy and divine Souls, cloathed in glorified bodies, &s;hall &s;erve God in his heavenly Temple, and &s;hall reign with Chri&s;t in the Kingdom of his Father, not <HI>the</HI> thou&s;and years of the <HI>Millennium</HI> onely, but as the Original has it <HI>a</HI> thou&s;and years <HI>Symbolically</HI> un|der&s;tood, which being the <HI>Cube</HI> of <HI>Ten.</HI> which compre|hends all number, &s;ignifies a &s;teady permanent reign even to all Eternity.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. But when <HI>the</HI> thou&s;and years (as it now varies again in the Original) of the <HI>Millennium</HI> are expired, that is, at the Expiration of the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> interval, and the beginning of the <HI>Laodicean,</HI> Satan will be loo&s;ed again, the ancient zeal of the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Church, and &s;trictne&s;s of di&s;cipline, being overmuch relaxated, and wickedne&s;s will get head again, namely, under the fourth Thunder.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Gog and Magog. Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog</HI> are tho&s;e no|torious enemies of the people of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> (<HI>Ezech.</HI> chap. 38. and 39.) who therefore here typifie the enemies of the holy Chri&s;tian and Apo&s;tolick Church, of which <HI>I&s;rael</HI> was a Type. <HI>The number of whom was as the &s;and of the Sea.</HI> So much had wickedne&s;s increa&s;ed by the not &s;till endea|vouring with that wonted Vigour the amplification of Chri&s;t's Kingdom, and by Relaxation of di&s;cipline in the <HI>Laodicean</HI> &s;tate of the Church, though purity of external wor&s;hip, was &s;till retained among&s;t them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>On the breadth of the Earth,</HI> Which implies the &s;warming and &s;preading of their Forces. <HI>The camp of the Saints.</HI> The camp wherein were many Saints according to various degrees of Sanctity, and &s;everal right <HI>Philadel|phian</HI> &s;pirits, but all Saints as to the purity of external wor&s;hip. <HI>And the beloved City,</HI> The My&s;tical <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> or pure Church of Chri&s;t, and beloved of him for the rea|&s;ons even now mentioned. Expo&s;itours univer&s;ally agree, that <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> is here meant, and <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog,</HI> the ene|mies of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> &s;uits well thereto. And what beloved City
<PB N="353" REF="182">can this be, but that new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> who&s;e name is writ on the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Church, <HI>chap.</HI> 3.12. (and is &s;aid to come down out of Heaven from God) though now in the <HI>Laodicean</HI> interval. For &s;he is that <HI>everla&s;ting Pillar</HI> in the Temple of God, which endures to the end of all, though under a new denomination of <HI>Laodicea.</HI> And as &s;he is &s;aid to come <HI>out of Heaven</HI> from God, &s;o it is plain &s;he is &s;till <HI>on Earth,</HI> being be&s;ieged by <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog:</HI> and is called here onely the beloved <HI>City</HI> not <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> as the papal Hierarchy, <HI>chap.</HI> 11.13. is onely called the <HI>City</HI> not <HI>Baby|lon.</HI> But here is an attempt it &s;eems of taking this <HI>Jeru|&s;alem,</HI> and bringing again the righteous under the Power and Tyranny of the wicked, <HI>viz.</HI> at the latter end of the <HI>Laodicean</HI> interval under the fifth Thunder. But before they could effect their wicked enterprize, the day of Judg|ment overtakes them, as plainly appears from the re&s;idue of this and the whole following ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Into the lake of fire and brim&s;tone,</HI> The &s;ame which is afterwards called the <HI>&s;econd Death,</HI> and here the Devil, Bea&s;t and fal&s;e Prophet, the whole Antichri&s;tian rabble are &s;aid to be tormented in it, for ever and ever. Which &s;hews plainly that the day of Judgment puts an end to the &s;iege of the beloved City, and that they hold out till then.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>And I &s;aw.</HI> Read out of the Original. For I &s;aw, <HI>&amp;c. And him that &s;ate on it,</HI> namely, Chri&s;t come to <HI>Judgment</HI> at the end of the <HI>Laodicean</HI> interval (under the &s;ixth Thunder) from whence <HI>Laodicea</HI> has its name. <HI>The earth and the heaven fled away,</HI> not that they were both de&s;troyed, but the Glory of his Maje&s;ty was &s;o great, that they &s;eemed to vani&s;h before him, the eyes of the Specta|tours being &s;o wholly filled with the brightne&s;s of his pre&s;ence.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. This is a de&s;cription of the general Re&s;ur|rection, which is a good while after the <HI>Millennium</HI> be ex|pired. The Books opened, allude to Rolls and Records in Courts of Judicature among&s;t men. And that au&s;pici|ous Title of the <HI>Book of Life,</HI> &s;ignifies that they who&s;e
<PB N="354" REF="183">names are found there, &s;hould be &s;entenced as worthy of eternal Life, and e&s;cape the &s;econd Death. And that the dead are Judged according to what is written in the&s;e Books, intimates that in this general A&s;&s;izes, none &s;hall be con|demned for what he is not guilty of, but be judged ac|cording to his works, recorded and proved out of the&s;e Books.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. The de&s;cription is farther continued, And the Sea &s;aid to give up the Dead, that is, tho&s;e that were drown'd, and Death or Pe&s;tilence all manner of death by di&s;ea&s;es, and briefly Hell, that is, <HI>Hades,</HI> the whole Re|gion of decea&s;ed Souls, or this Sphear of Mortality, into which they are congregated at this general A&s;&s;izes, all exhibited their dead to the view of all. And the divine <HI>Neme&s;is</HI> proportioned Puni&s;hments, or rewards to every one according to their doings. Hitherto are the Tran&s;|actions of this general A&s;&s;izes, and the pa&s;&s;ing of Judg|ment on tho&s;e that are called to the Bar, which takes up the &s;ixth thunder. But in the &s;eventh there is thundering and lightning properly &s;o called, as is intimated, <HI>v.</HI> 9. And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them: So here,</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. <HI>And death and hell were ca&s;t into the lake of fire,</HI> that is, This whole Region of Mortality, above which the Spirits of Devils and damned Souls cannot emerge, but are chained and confined to this caliginous Atmo&s;phere, will be &s;et on fire at the la&s;t Thunder, which together with Eruptions from beneath, will cau&s;e a dreadfull Con|flagration, and the earth be turned as it were into one great lake of &s;ire, and &s;o <HI>Laodicea</HI> become <HI>Laodicea combu&s;ta.</HI> This is the &s;en&s;e of the&s;e words. And Death and Hell were ca&s;t into the lake of fire, that is, This fire was ca&s;t into them by an <HI>Hypallage.</HI> See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place. And this is the <HI>&s;econd Death,</HI> as the <HI>fir&s;t Death</HI> is the Death of this body. This is to be de&s;troyed both Body and Soul in Hell, <HI>Mat.</HI> 10.28.</P>
<PB N="355" REF="183">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. <HI>In the Book of Life,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>i. e.</HI> In the Book of Life, of the Lamb as a faithfull Souldier and true mem|ber of his Kingdom. He who&s;e name was not found writ|ten there, was ca&s;t into the lake of fire and underwent the &s;ame doom with the Apo&s;tate Spirits. Which implies, that tho&s;e which were found in that Book of Life, were de|clared heirs of eternal Life to reign with Chri&s;t for ever in Heaven, in the Kingdom of his Father, as he promi&s;es in his Epi&s;tle to the Church of <HI>Laodicea,</HI> chap. 3.21.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="21" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXI.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>The Creation of a new Heaven and a new Earth, or the de&s;cending of the New</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>from God out of Hea|ven, betokening a</HI> New Polity <HI>oppo&s;ite to that of</HI> Baby|lon <HI>now aboli&s;hed, and to be effected under the &s;econd Thun|der. A brief de&s;cription of this New</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>State. A &s;hort de&s;cription of the &s;tate of the godly after this life, and the doom of the wicked. A more large and glorious de&s;crip|tion of the New</HI> Jeru&s;alem <HI>&s;etting out the ble&s;&s;ed State and</HI> Polity <HI>of the Church of Chri&s;t in his</HI> Millennial <HI>Reign. The Names of the twelve Tribes of</HI> I&s;rael <HI>written on her twelve Gates. The twelve Foundations of the Wall, with the Names of the twelve Apo&s;tles in&s;cribed on them. The City mea&s;ured with a</HI> golden <HI>Reed by an</HI> Angel, <HI>and the form thereof found Cu|bical. The City of pure Gold tran&s;parent as gla&s;s. The twelve foundations of the Wall of twelve pretious &s;tones, all tending to the &s;afety of the City, and con&s;erving the</HI> Phila|delphian <HI>State thereof. The twelve Gates of Pearl. What the Temple of the City. No Sun nor Moon there. To whom the Gates of the City &s;tand open, and who are &s;hut out.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND I &s;aw a new heaven, and a new earth: for the fir&s;t heaven and the fir&s;t earth were pa&s;&s;ed away; and there was no more &s;ea.</P>
<PB N="356" REF="184">
<P N="2">2 And I John &s;aw the holy city, new Jeru&s;alem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.</P>
<P N="3">3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven, &s;aying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they &s;hall be his peo|ple, and God him&s;elf &s;hall be with them, and be their God.</P>
<P N="4">4 And God &s;hall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there &s;hall be no more death, neither &s;or|row, nor crying, neither &s;hall there be any more pain: for the former things are pa&s;&s;ed away.</P>
<P N="5">5 And he that &s;ate upon the throne, &s;aid, Behold, I make all things new. And he &s;aid unto me, Write: for the&s;e words are true and faithfull.</P>
<P N="6">6 And he &s;aid unto me, It is done: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a-thir&s;t, of the fountain of the water of life, freely.</P>
<P N="7">7 He that overcometh, &s;hall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he &s;hall be my &s;on.</P>
<P N="8">8 But the fearfull, and unbelieving, and the abo|minable, and murtherers, and whoremongers, and &s;orcerers, and idolaters, and all lyars &s;hall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brim|&s;tone: which is the &s;econd death.</P>
<P N="9">9 And there came unto me one of the &s;even An|gels, which had the &s;even vials full of the &s;even la&s;t plagues, and talked with me, &s;aying, Come hither, I will &s;hew thee the Bride, the Lambs wife.</P>
<P N="10">10 And he carried me away in the &s;pirit to a great and high mountain, and &s;hewed me that great City, the holy Hieru&s;alem, de&s;cending out of heaven from God,</P>
<PB N="357" REF="184">
<P N="11">11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a &s;tone mo&s;t pretious, even like a Ja&s;per|&s;tone, clear as cry&s;tal:</P>
<P N="12">12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve Angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of I&s;rael.</P>
<P N="13">13 On the Ea&s;t three gates, on the North three gates, on the South three gates, and on the We&s;t three gates.</P>
<P N="14">14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundati|ons; and in them the names of the twelve Apo&s;tles of the Lamb.</P>
<P N="15">15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to mea&s;ure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.</P>
<P N="16">16 And the city lieth four &s;quare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he mea&s;ured the city with the reed, twelve thou&s;and furlongs: the length, and the breadth, and the height of it are equal.</P>
<P N="17">17 And he mea&s;ured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the mea&s;ure of a man, that is, of the Angel.</P>
<P N="18">18 And the building of the wall of it was of Ja&s;per, and the city was pure gold, like unto clear gla&s;s.</P>
<P N="19">19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garni&s;hed with all manner of pretious &s;tones. The fir&s;t foundation was Ja&s;per, the &s;econd Saphir, the third a Chalcedony, the fourth an Emerald,</P>
<P N="20">20 The fifth Sardonix, the &s;ixth Sardius, the &s;e|venth Chry&s;olite, the eighth Beryl, the ninth a To|pas, the tenth a Chry&s;opra&s;us, the eleventh a Jacinct, the twelfth an Amethy&s;t.</P>
<PB N="358" REF="185">
<P N="21">21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, every &s;everal gate was of one pearl, and the &s;treet of the city was pure gold, as it were tran&s;parent gla&s;s.</P>
<P N="22">22 And I &s;aw no Temple therein: For the Lord God Almighty, and the Lamb, are the Temple of it.</P>
<P N="23">23 And the City had no need of the Sun, neither of the Moon to &s;hine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.</P>
<P N="24">24 And the nations of them which are &s;aved, &s;hall walk in the light of it: and the Kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.</P>
<P N="25">25 And the gates of it &s;hall not be &s;hut at all by day: for there &s;hall be no night there.</P>
<P N="26">26 And they &s;hall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.</P>
<P N="27">27 And there &s;hall in no wi&s;e enter into it any thing that defileth, neither what&s;oever worketh abo|mination, or maketh a lie: but they which are writ|ten in the Lamb's book of life.</P>
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. A <HI>New Heaven and a new Earth,</HI> as if it were a new Natural Heaven and Earth upon the Con|flagration (immediately mentioned before) of the former. But this is but the artificial embelli&s;hing of the outward <HI>Cortex</HI> of this Book of Prophecies in this place, by a <HI>Lem|mato&s;ynechia,</HI> which is as palpable and a&s;&s;ured an <HI>Apocalyp|tick</HI> Figure as any is ob&s;erved, by Rhetoricians in other Authours. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his Notes on the place. And that Earth here is joined with Heaven, it implies that a &s;tate not merely in Heaven, but on Earth is de&s;cribed. For there is no Earth in Heaven. <HI>For the fir&s;t Heaven,</HI> &amp;c. For
<PB N="359" REF="185">the former <HI>Polity,</HI> in the Prophetick &s;tyle, &s;ignified by Hea|ven and Earth, that is, the Tyrannical and Idolatrous Po|lity of the <HI>Bea&s;t</HI> and <HI>fal&s;e Prophet,</HI> or great City of <HI>Babylon,</HI> was now aboli&s;hed, as appears by <HI>chap.</HI> 19. <HI>v.</HI> 20. <HI>And there was no more Sea.</HI> No unquiet multitudes of the wicked like the raging Waves of the Sea foaming out their own &s;hame, <HI>Jude</HI> 13. Tumults, war and bloud&s;hed was under that Polity that is ca&s;t into the Lake of fire, <HI>chap.</HI> 19.20. which was the Reign of <HI>Antichri&s;t.</HI> But now the Reign of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> is at hand, the true <HI>Molchi&s;edeck</HI> King of <HI>Salem</HI> or <HI>Je|ru&s;alem,</HI> King of Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and Prince of Peace. This Vi&s;ion therefore goes back to the &s;econd Thunder.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. <HI>The holy City New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> &amp;c. The truly Holy City, not pretended Holy Church, and the <HI>new Jeru&s;alem,</HI> not that <HI>old</HI> Prophet killing <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> which oppo&s;ition betwixt the&s;e two <HI>Jeru&s;alems,</HI> &s;hews they are both <HI>on Earth,</HI> and that the <HI>new</HI> &s;ucceeds in&s;tead of the <HI>old.</HI> And the <HI>Jeru|&s;alem</HI> above that S. <HI>Paul</HI> mentions, <HI>Gal.</HI> 4.16. is the pure Apo&s;tolick Church on Earth, which &s;he may, as <HI>A&s;trea</HI> is &s;aid to have done, &s;eem to have left, during the domi|neering Reign of <HI>Babylon,</HI> but is here &s;aid to come down from God again out of Heaven. Which plainly &s;hews it is a renewed Polity here <HI>on Earth,</HI> &s;ettled after the de&s;tructi|on of the Whore of <HI>Babylon</HI> by a Council truly Holy and truly Oecumenical, by men of pure and upright &s;pirits, full of that wi&s;edom which is from <HI>above,</HI> whenas the Con|&s;titution of the City of <HI>Babylon</HI> or <HI>old Jeru&s;alem</HI> was from that wi&s;edom which is from <HI>beneath,</HI> and is earthly, &s;en&s;ual and devili&s;h. <HI>Prepared as a Bride,</HI> &amp;c. Which again &s;hews it is a de&s;cription of a &s;tate <HI>on Earth,</HI> not in Heaven. For not <HI>preparation,</HI> but perfection and po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion belongs to that &s;tate. But &s;he is prepared as a <HI>Bride,</HI> by way of <HI>An|tithe&s;is,</HI> not as a <HI>Whore</HI> to commit fornication with the Kings of the Earth as <HI>Babylon</HI> did. This Con&s;titution of things is &s;ettled under the &s;econd Thunder, after which immedi|ately follows the <HI>Millennial</HI> Reign of Chri&s;t in this <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> de&s;cribed in the following Ver&s;es.</P>
<PB N="360" REF="186">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. This ver&s;e &s;eems to be a Paraphra&s;e on that &s;hort name of <HI>Ezechiel</HI>'s City, <HI>chap.</HI> 48.35. <HI>Jehovah &s;hammah,</HI> The Lord is there. But that de&s;cription of the City by <HI>Eze|chiel,</HI> denotes a &s;tate of the Church on <HI>Earth,</HI> therefore this does al&s;o that alludes to it. Be&s;ides that it is &s;aid here ex|pre&s;ly. Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men. If he <HI>Tabernacle</HI> with Men it mu&s;t be on earth, as the term [Men] implies, Earth being their u&s;ual abode. But if they were conceived in Heaven, they &s;hould be rather &s;aid to <HI>Ta|bernacle</HI> with <HI>God</HI> in his proper abode. But he is with them here on Earth by his Spirit, and by his Power to guide them into all truth, and keep them from all evil. As it follows,</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. <HI>And God &s;hall wipe away all tears from their Eyes,</HI> This reign of Chri&s;t in the <HI>Millennium,</HI> will be with that Equity, goodne&s;s and &s;weetne&s;s that no good heart &s;hall need to be oppre&s;&s;ed with grief, nor to expre&s;s his grief with tears. For there will be no more <HI>Death,</HI> no bloudy Ma&s;&s;acres of the faithfull Witne&s;&s;es of Chri&s;t, or burning them at the &s;take, as was done under the Tyranny of the great Whore. No <HI>&s;orrow</HI> for the lo&s;s of Friends, thus barbarou&s;ly murthered. No <HI>clamours</HI> again&s;t gro&s;s In|ju&s;tice and Cruelty, or <HI>crying out</HI> for the Tortures inflicted on poor innocent men for a good Con&s;cience toward God. Nor any more <HI>pain</HI> by noi&s;ome and weari&s;ome Impri&s;on|ment, or what other hard&s;hips for their Te&s;timony to the truth. For the former Polity is pa&s;&s;ed away, the bloudy Whore or fal&s;e Prophet, with the Bea&s;t are now in the lake of fire that burns with brim&s;tone. And <HI>Babylon</HI> the Great like a Mil&s;tone &s;unk into the bottom of the Sea, never to ri&s;e again.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>All things new,</HI> A new Heaven and a new Earth, wherein dwelleth righteou&s;ne&s;s. And when he is bid &s;o earne&s;tly to &s;et it down for a truth, that there will be this <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> &s;tate &s;o Holy, happy, and &s;ecure from all evil, it is a plain Indication, that &s;uch a &s;tate <HI>on Earth</HI> is a&s;&s;er|ted, for who doubts but that the &s;tate in Heaven is &s;uch.</P>
<PB N="361" REF="186">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>It is done.</HI> The thing is as &s;ure as if it were done already. This is a farther confirmation to him of the truth of this &s;tate, and that it will be <HI>on Earth.</HI> For <HI>John</HI> could not doubt, but that all would go well in Heaven. <HI>I am Alpha and Omega,</HI> &amp;c. I comprehend all within the compa&s;s of my Providence and Power. Therefore never di&s;tru&s;t, but that what I have told will come to pa&s;s, and farther things al&s;o. For this &s;eems to reach into the <HI>Lao|dicean</HI> interval, and what follows in the re&s;idue of this ver&s;e and the two next, to appertain to the la&s;t Judgment of all. The eternal reward of the good, and Puni&s;hment of the wicked. Chri&s;t here promi&s;&s;eth to him, that doth &s;eriou&s;ly de&s;ire and endeavour after everla&s;ting Life, ac|cording to the methods of the Go&s;pel, to give it him free|ly, he need not buy it with large &s;ums of money, as was u&s;ually in that Merchandizing City of <HI>Babylon.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. He that overcometh the Fle&s;h, the World and the Devil, God will be his God and he his Son, and if Sons then Heirs, Heirs of God, and joynt Heirs with Chri&s;t in the glorious Kingdom of his Father, and this certainly comprizeth all that heart can wi&s;h. And this is the promi&s;e to the Church of <HI>Laodicea,</HI> to him that o|vercomes, that he &s;hall &s;it down with Chri&s;t in his Throne, even as he overcame and was &s;et down in his Fathers throne. Where throne plainly implies a Kingdom.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. As before was &s;et down the reward of the God|ly, &s;o here the Puni&s;hment of the wicked, e&s;pecially &s;uch as <HI>Babylon</HI> abounded withall. They have their part in the lake burning with fire and brim&s;tone, which is the &s;econd Death. Which therefore undoubtedly is the Conflagrati|on under the la&s;t Thunder. Which plainly &s;hews, that from the &s;econd ver&s;e to the ninth, is a brief de&s;cription of the affairs of the Church, from the &s;econd Thunder to the end of the World. Now as after a brief mention of the ruine of <HI>Babylon, chap.</HI> 16. <HI>v.</HI> 19. there is a large de&s;|cription of her, and her de&s;truction, <HI>chap.</HI> 17. and 18. &s;o here after a brief intimation of the &s;tate of the <HI>New Je|ru&s;alem,</HI> there is a more full and glorious de&s;cription there|of,
<PB N="362" REF="187">from the ninth ver&s;e following of this Chapter, to the &s;ixth of the next.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. The Vial-Angel mentioned here, was in all like|lihood the &s;ame that before &s;hewed him the Judgment of the great Whore, as if he &s;hou'd in&s;inuate, that the Vial-Angels were &s;o bu&s;ie in ruining the Polity of <HI>Babylon,</HI> or the <HI>Old</HI> Prophet-killing <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> becau&s;e they had in their eye the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> that &s;hould &s;ucceed her, which plain|ly implies that the new <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> is a &s;tate here <HI>on Earth.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. The mountain great and high, denotes the height, power and dignity, the pure Apo&s;tolick Church is then arrived to, which is called the <HI>Great</HI> City, as being the Church Catholick &s;pread far and wide, and the <HI>Holy</HI> Jeru&s;alem, as being the truly Holy Catholick and Apo|&s;tolick Church, not a Synagogue of Idolaters, Sorcerers and Murtherers, and to de&s;cend out of <HI>Heaven</HI> from God, as who&s;e Con&s;titution and In&s;titutes are not the <HI>Carnal</HI> in|vention of men, but the <HI>pure</HI> Laws of the <HI>God of Heaven,</HI> and the living Dictates of his Spirit.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>Having the Glory of God.</HI> Not as the Phari|&s;ees in the <HI>Old Jeru&s;alem,</HI> that &s;ought Glory one of ano|ther, but were &s;trangers to that Glory which is of God, the Glory of true approved wi&s;edom and un&s;potted righ|teou&s;ne&s;s. <HI>Like a Ja&s;per &s;tone clear as Cry&s;tal.</HI> The <HI>Lu|minary</HI> of this City, which was in&s;tead of a <HI>Sun,</HI> is likened to a mo&s;t pretious &s;tone, the <HI>Ja&s;per</HI> &s;tone clear as Cry&s;tal, by which I conceive is under&s;tood the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t.</HI> And the times of the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> are <HI>Regnum Spiritus,</HI> as the <HI>Cabbali&s;ts</HI> call them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>The twelve Tribes of the children of I&s;rael.</HI> The number twelve is &s;acred in Holy Scripture, for the twelve <HI>Patriarchs</HI> &s;ake, and the twelve <HI>Apo&s;tles.</HI> The former are mentioned here, the latter <HI>v.</HI> 14. and both concur in this <HI>New</HI> City of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> and &s;ignifie the time thereof to be when <HI>Jew</HI> and <HI>Gentile</HI> &s;hall accord in one faith, and be one &s;heepfold, which again denotes this <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> &s;tate to be <HI>on Earth.</HI> But if it were under&s;tood merely of the &s;tate of the Church in Heaven, what it can &s;ignifie worthy the
<PB N="363" REF="187">Spirit of Prophecy is not ea&s;ie to imagine. The twelve Angels at the twelve Gates, may &s;ignifie either the <HI>Guard</HI> of <HI>Angels</HI> to keep the City, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 127.1. Or el&s;e the <HI>Pa|&s;tours</HI> under the&s;e twelve Angels, ready to admit Converts into the Church from all quarters of the world, as it fol|lows in the next ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. This plainly alludes to the de&s;cription of the number, and &s;ite of the Gates, <HI>Ezech.</HI> chap. 48.30. Which again &s;hews, that this <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> &s;tate is to be <HI>on Earth.</HI> And there are three Gates again&s;t every quarter, in token that Converts are to be admitted to the Profe&s;&s;ion of their Faith in the Holy Trinity, at their Bapti&s;m as <HI>Grotius</HI> and others have noted. Nor does this &s;ea&s;on being <HI>Regnum Spiritus,</HI> &s;uperannuate this Sacrament, <HI>Acts</HI> 10.47. And the names of the Children of <HI>I&s;rael</HI> are &s;aid to be written on the Gates, becau&s;e a <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> di&s;pen&s;ation, that is, the keeping and ob&s;erving an external rule of Life as well as we can, which is the effect and &s;um of &s;incere Repen|tance, gives us admittance into the di&s;pen&s;ation of the Spi|rit of Life in the new Birth. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. This &s;heweth the pure Apo&s;tolicalne&s;s in this con&s;titution of the Church, and in&s;inuates what a &s;afety thereto this Apo&s;tolicalne&s;s is. For walls are for &s;afety, and the&s;e are the very Foundations of the walls.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. The Church, <HI>Apoc.</HI> 11. was mea&s;ured there by a man, but this new &s;tate of things by an <HI>Angel,</HI> that <HI>&s;im|ply</HI> with a Reed, this with a <HI>golden</HI> Reed. Which implies, that this new &s;tate of things will as much &s;urpa&s;s that &s;tate of the Church, though <HI>Symmetral</HI> to the Reed it was then mea&s;ured with, as Angels do men, and a golden Reed, an ordinary combu&s;tible one; as there indeed was within tho&s;e fir&s;t four hundred years (which are accounted the <HI>Symme|tral</HI> times of the Church) that which was combu&s;tible, and ought to be con&s;umed. But the pure word of God, and Spirit of love abide for ever. But in the mean time this mea&s;uring of the Church with a combu&s;tible Reed, <HI>chap.</HI> 11. and here with a golden Reed, this <HI>Antithe&s;is</HI> implies the &s;tate of them both to be here <HI>on Earth.</HI></P>
<PB N="364" REF="188">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. The &s;quarene&s;s of the City is a Symbol of righ|teou&s;ne&s;s. The length, breadth, and height being equal, declares it of a <HI>Cubical</HI> form, and con&s;equently not to be a <HI>City</HI> but a <HI>Polity,</HI> and not to &s;ignifie Walls and Hou&s;es but Men. And that the &s;olid content of the City is &s;aid to be twelve thou&s;and furlongs, it denotes the con&s;titution of things <HI>entirely Apo&s;tolical,</HI> and that it is more peculiarly de&s;cribed in oppo&s;ition to the <HI>Roman</HI> Hierarchy, the <HI>Perime|ter</HI> of the Cube <HI>twelve thou&s;and furlongs</HI> being the circuit of <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> as the <HI>Perimeter</HI> of the Cube <HI>twenty five thou&s;and furlongs</HI> (which twenty five is the root of the number of the Bea&s;t) is according to Mr. <HI>Potter,</HI> the circuit of <HI>Rome;</HI> who has al&s;o noted the <HI>Anti&s;techalne&s;s,</HI> or Counter-corre|&s;pondence of the twelve Gates, Angels, Tribes, Foun|dations in the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> to the twenty five Gates, Pa&s;tours, Pari&s;hes, Cardinals in the City of <HI>Rome.</HI> Which is again another plain Indication that the &s;tate of the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> is a &s;tate here <HI>on Earth.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>The mea&s;ure of a man, that is of the Angel,</HI> viz. in the &s;hape of a man, and who&s;e mea&s;uring is to be under|&s;tood <HI>humano more,</HI> by extracting the &s;quare root. Now the root of 144 is Twelve, which &s;hews the height and thickne&s;s of the Wall; and being Twelve, it denotes a|gain the pure Apo&s;tolicalne&s;s of the frame thereof, and the &s;trength of it from the Apo&s;tolick Fabrick. And that the <HI>pure Apo&s;tolicalne&s;s</HI> of this City is &s;o much inculcated, is certainly in <HI>oppo&s;ition</HI> to the Corruptions of the <HI>Roman</HI> Church, &s;o contrary to Apo&s;tolical doctrine and practice. Which &s;hews plainly that the &s;tate of the Church <HI>on Earth</HI> is prefigured by this New <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18. <HI>Was of Ja&s;per.</HI> So <HI>Jahalom,</HI> the Hebrew word is rendred by the Septuagint, and is the harde&s;t Gem that is, unconquerable by Hammer or Fire; whence the <HI>Greeks</HI> call it <HI>Adamas,</HI> as <HI>Pliny</HI> tells us. Wherefore the Wall be|ing &s;aid to be made of this Stone, &s;ignifies how firm and inexpugnable it is. And is a Symbol of invincible patience and fortitude, without which the re&s;t of the vertues &s;ignifie little in the day of trial. <HI>Pure gold like unto clear gla&s;s.</HI>
<PB N="365" REF="188">Which therefore re&s;embles the Amber in <HI>Ezekiel</HI>'s Vi&s;ion, that Divine Element of Regeneration. But the golden colour is the tincture of the Spirit of <HI>Love</HI> or <HI>Charity,</HI> which is &s;ignified by <HI>Gold</HI> in this Vi&s;ion where&s;oever it is mentioned, Gold being by far the mo&s;t noble of all Me|tals, mo&s;t pure and mo&s;t permanent, as the Apo&s;tle &s;aith Charity is, which never fails, whatever becomes of other gifts or graces. And this City is in the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> In|terval of the Church, who&s;e proper character is <HI>Divine Love.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 19. <HI>Were garni&s;hed,</HI> &amp;c. that is to &s;ay, the beauty of them was the garni&s;hing, but the &s;ub&s;tance of them the &s;afety of the City, which is the end for which Walls are built. <HI>Was a Ja&s;per.</HI> That by <HI>Ja&s;per</HI> was &s;ignified the Holy Spirit that is &s;aid to be the Luminary of the City, I have noted above. But he is here again the fir&s;t foundation of the Wall, the principal ground of their &s;trength and &s;afety, according to tho&s;e phra&s;es of the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 3.16. &s;trengthned with might by his Spirit, and rooted and <HI>groun|ded</HI> in love, <HI>i. e.</HI> having your <HI>foundation</HI> in love. So it is in the Original. Which is this Spirit of Love, the fir&s;t foun|dation of the Wall of this City. And this <HI>Ja&s;per,</HI> which in Hebrew is <HI>Jahalom,</HI> is &s;aid to have the vertue of moving <HI>conjugal</HI> affection, which again &s;utes well with the New <HI>Je|ru&s;alems</HI> being the Spou&s;e of the Lamb. And perfect love ca&s;teth out fear, and is &s;tronger than Death. <HI>The &s;econd a Saphir.</HI> A &s;tone of the colour of the Heavens, a Symbol of Heavenly-mindedne&s;s, and is &s;aid to be an Amulet again&s;t lu&s;t, and therefore a fit means to keep the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem</HI> in her <HI>pure Philadelphian</HI> condition, that is to &s;ay, in the <HI>Holy</HI> and <HI>Divine Love,</HI> which is counter-di&s;tinct to lu&s;t and wantonne&s;s, of which &s;ome Sects that have pretended too early to this <HI>Philadelphian</HI> &s;tate, have been, I fear, over|ju&s;tly &s;u&s;pected. <HI>A Chalcedony.</HI> A kind of Carbuncle, a glowing Gem like fire, which &s;ignifies holy zeal, and keeps the <HI>Philadelphians</HI> from &s;inking into the nau&s;eous &s;tate of lukewarmne&s;s, which is &s;o &s;everely reprehended in the Church of <HI>Laodicea,</HI> and which brings <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog</HI> on
<PB N="366" REF="189">them at la&s;t. <HI>An Emerald.</HI> Smaragdus, the Hebrew word is <HI>Bareketh,</HI> &s;o named from ca&s;ting out <HI>Lightning</HI> as when it <HI>Thunders;</HI> whence it is al&s;o called <HI>Ceraunius.</HI> This de|notes the &s;afety of the City by tho&s;e <HI>Boanerge&s;es,</HI> Preachers of the Go&s;pel in the Power of the Spirit, &s;uch as appeared under the &s;eventh Vial, and battered down the Cities of the Nations; who &s;erve al&s;o here for the pre&s;erving their own City, better than Canoneers of a City playing from the Walls thereof.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20. <HI>A Sardonix.</HI> A &s;tone of a threefold colour, be|neath <HI>black,</HI> in the mid&s;t <HI>white,</HI> and above <HI>reddi&s;h.</HI> This is a Symbol of the due frequenting of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, as the Gates of the City with the Angels, <HI>i. e.</HI> Pa&s;tours or Bi&s;hops to admit Converts to the Sacrament of Bapti&s;m, is a Note of the retaining that Sacrament. The <HI>black</HI> therefore at the bottom is the <HI>Death</HI> of our Lord, the foundation of this &s;olemnity that celebrates his Death till he come; the <HI>White</HI> the Bread, and the <HI>Red</HI> the Wine, the Elements that are made u&s;e of in the celebration of his Supper. And this is a good hold on the Church from relap&s;ing into Heatheni&s;m again, as &s;ome Enthu&s;ia&s;ts have &s;eemed too prone to doe. <HI>A Sardius.</HI> In Hebrew called <HI>Odem</HI> from its red bloudy colour; which intimates our du|ty of preferring our faith before our lives, and al&s;o of re|membring tho&s;e horrid Cruelties and bloudy Butcheries un|der the Pagan and Paganochri&s;tian Polities, and &s;o to re|tain an eternal aver&s;ation and watchfulne&s;s again&s;t &s;uch de|te&s;table Religions. Which therefore is one part of the Wall of &s;afety about the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem. A Chry&s;olite.</HI> A &s;tone which hath its denomination from <HI>Gold.</HI> Whether the Phi|lo&s;opher's &s;tone be here glanced at, let the Chymi&s;ts con&s;i|der. But that it &s;trengthens the Intellect, chaceth away folly and faint-heartedne&s;s, and encrea&s;eth wi&s;edom and con&s;tancy of mind, is the opinion of <HI>Lithologers.</HI> It is al&s;o an obvious Symbol of the <HI>firmne&s;s</HI> of <HI>Love,</HI> whereby the&s;e &s;tones of the living City of God are held fa&s;t together, which is an egregious ground of &s;afety indeed. <HI>A Beryl.</HI> A &s;tone excellent to make <HI>Collyriums</HI> or Eye-&s;alves of, the
<PB N="367" REF="189">want of which is upbraided to the Church of <HI>Laodicea.</HI> Wherefore it is a good prop from the falling into the <HI>Laodicean</HI> &s;tate, and for the keeping the Church &s;afe in the <HI>Philadelphian,</HI> being enabled by a due quick-&s;ightedne&s;s to fore&s;ee a far off how to order their affairs for their &s;ecurity again&s;t the Rabble of <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog. A Topaze.</HI> It has its name from the Hebrew word <HI>Paz,</HI> which &s;ignifies <HI>Aurum &s;olidum,</HI> &s;olid Gold, or Gold well purified, for that makes it the more &s;olid. This is that Gold tried in the fire, which Chri&s;t coun&s;els the <HI>Laodicean</HI> Church to buy of him, for want of which &s;he had become &s;o poor and mi&s;erable. This <HI>To|paze</HI> therefore may well be a &s;tone in the Wall of the <HI>Phila|delphian</HI> Church, to keep her &s;till in that condition, it &s;ig|nifying pure love firmly radicated in the Divine Element of Regeneration. <HI>A Chry&s;opra&s;us.</HI> A Gem of an <HI>au&s;tere</HI> co|lour, as <HI>Grotius</HI> and others have noted, but the <HI>golden</HI> co|lour being mixt with it, it &s;ignifies <HI>Animum &s;ubtri&s;tem &amp; benignum,</HI> the be&s;t temper of mind in the world, and mo&s;t like to our ble&s;&s;ed Saviour's. This is a great Con&s;ervative of the Reverence that is due to holy per&s;onages, when light|ne&s;s and mirth dimini&s;heth their e&s;teem. And tho&s;e, whom by this artifice they would win, ordinarily feed onely on the &s;weet of their Conver&s;e, but let the whol&s;ome alone: like fi&s;hes that have a trick to nibble away the bait, and avoid the Hook. Such a &s;evere guard therefore over our Conver&s;e, contributes al&s;o to the guard and &s;afety of the City. <HI>A Jacinth.</HI> A &s;tone of a bright clear Sky-colour, which therefore &s;ignifies that inward cheerfulne&s;s, calmne&s;s and &s;erenity of mind in this &s;tate of the Regenerate, which the Apo&s;tle calls Righteou&s;ne&s;s, Peace and Joy in the Holy Gho&s;t; which they having once ta&s;ted, they will be ever unwilling to be deprived of, and therefore never like to relap&s;e from the &s;tate of <HI>Philadelphia</HI> or the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem. An Amethy&s;t.</HI> This &s;tone, according to its Name, is an A|mulet again&s;t drunkenne&s;s, &s;o frequent a vice in the <HI>Sardi|an</HI> Church, to be drunk with wine and &s;trong drink, as it was for the Whore of <HI>Babylon,</HI> to be drunk with the bloud of Saints and Martyrs. But the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Church keeps
<PB N="368" REF="190">free from this debauchery, whereby &s;he is &s;ecured from er|ring in Vi&s;ion, and &s;tumbling in Judgment, and from the Armies of <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog,</HI> which would &s;oon invade the City&mdash;<HI>Somno vincque &s;epultam,</HI> overwhelmed with &s;leep and wine. So nece&s;&s;ary a &s;tone therefore for the &s;afety of the City, is this <HI>Amethy&s;t</HI> to be placed in the Wall there|of.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 21. The Gates being Inlets into the City this truly holy Church, they &s;ignifie the entrance by Bapti&s;m, and are &s;aid to be of <HI>Pearl,</HI> the colour of that Gem &s;hewing the mildne&s;s and innocent child-like meekne&s;s of tho&s;e that are fit to enter, as our Saviour has declared. See <HI>Mat.</HI> 18.2. And the Greek name of this Gem, in allu&s;ion to the Hebrew words <HI>Mar-garon,</HI> which &s;ignifies either <HI>bitter Conflict,</HI> or <HI>bitter Rumination,</HI> that may evidently denote a farther Re|qui&s;ite in tho&s;e that be admitted, &s;incere <HI>Repentance</HI> for what is pa&s;t, and a <HI>&s;tout Re&s;olution</HI> of re&s;i&s;ting all tempta|tions to &s;in for the future. The whitene&s;s al&s;o of the &s;tone may intimate the wa&s;hing away the guilt and &s;tain of &s;in in the Sacrament of Bapti&s;m. But now for the &s;treet of the City. <HI>Forum &V;rbis,</HI> as <HI>Grotius</HI> notes, the publick place where they meet and tran&s;act affairs, it is &s;aid to be <HI>pure gold,</HI> like to <HI>tran&s;parent gla&s;s,</HI> becau&s;e they doe all things <HI>bon&acirc; fide,</HI> in pure love and &s;incerity, as if they were tran&s;|parent one to another, and could &s;ee one anothers hearts and thoughts.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 22. There was no <HI>Judaical</HI> Temple like that in the <HI>Old Jeru&s;alem,</HI> con&s;i&s;ting of a gro&s;s <HI>material Edifice</HI> with the <HI>Divine Re&s;idence</HI> in it. But the eternal uncircum&s;cribed Deity is the <HI>Object</HI> of their wor&s;hip; and the Lamb inclu|ding the whole body of Chri&s;t, the holy Catholick Church, is the <HI>Hou&s;e</HI> wherein he re&s;ides, the &s;ame with the City it &s;elf, which from his Pre&s;ence there, is called <HI>Jehovah Sham|mah,</HI> Ezek. 48.35. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> on the place.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 23. <HI>No need of the Sun,</HI> &amp;c. No need of any <HI>&V;niver|&s;al Patriarch</HI> or Prelate for a <HI>Sun,</HI> or an <HI>&V;niver&s;al Mo|narch</HI> for the <HI>Moon,</HI> as &s;ome would fan&s;ie the Pope and
<PB N="369" REF="190">Emperour to have been. <HI>For the glory of God did lighten it;</HI> that is, the Spirit of God, which is compared to the <HI>Ja&s;per</HI> &s;tone, <HI>ver&s;e</HI> 11. which is &s;aid to be the <HI>Luminary</HI> thereof; this is the <HI>Sun</HI> or Supreme Power thereof, which alone is able to hold all together. <HI>And the Lamb is the light thereof,</HI> namely by &s;hedding the promi&s;ed efficacy of his Spirit into it. The Kings therefore of tho&s;e many Kingdoms, that in tho&s;e days become the Kingdoms of Chri&s;t, &s;hall have no other Supreme Head over them but Chri&s;t him&s;elf, but be as the four and twenty Crowned El|ders before the Throne of the Lamb, and have no other Superiour, neither Patriarch nor Monarch but he. See <HI>E&s;ay.</HI> 24.23.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 24. Here the Nations of them that are &s;aved, and the Kings of the Earth that are mentioned, do plainly in|dicate that this Vi&s;ion concerns the State of the Church here <HI>on Earth.</HI> And that the converted Nations and Kings that are &s;aved, walk not in a blind implicit faith, but are Converts to the Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Spirit, where the Word and the Spirit, which with the Lamb is &s;aid to be the light of this City, are the Rule, not the dark Decrees of both a fallacious and fallible Polity of men that adulte|rate doctrine for their worldly intere&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 25. <HI>There &s;hall be no Night there;</HI> No adver&s;ity nor ignorance in this <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Interval, while the eternal Spirit of Love &s;hines upon them. And therefore they will be always ready at every one of their twelve Gates, &s;tanding open to all the four quarters of the World, to ad|mit all &s;ingle-hearted and &s;incere Pro&s;elytes.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 26. <HI>Honour of the Nations into it.</HI> This again &s;hews that it is under&s;tood of the State of the Church <HI>on Earth.</HI> And implies, that the be&s;t Spirits, and the mo&s;t noble and con&s;iderable per&s;ons of all Nations will flow in to them, and be pro&s;elyted by them to the pure Apo&s;tolick faith of Chri&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 27. But no per&s;on of a &s;candalous conver&s;ation, none that commit Idolatry (though the Whore of <HI>Babylon</HI> would admit none but &s;uch) no Legend-mongers nor obtru|ders
<PB N="370" REF="191">of ab&s;urd and impo&s;&s;ible Doctrines, &s;uch as the Arti|ficers of <HI>Babylon</HI> forged for filthy lucre-&s;ake, none &s;uch may enter into this City, who&s;e Gates are pure Pearl. But onely &s;uch who are noted up in the Book of the Lamb, as breathing after a life &s;utable to his.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="22" TYPE="chapter">
<HEAD>CHAP. XXII.</HEAD>
<ARGUMENT>
<P>ARG. <HI>A continuation of the De&s;cription of the</HI> New Je|ru&s;alem. <HI>The River of water of life running down from the Throne of the Lamb. The trees of life on each &s;ide the River. No cur&s;e nor fulminant Excommunications again&s;t Princes, but the meek Throne of the Lamb. No Night of Ignorance the Mother of Impo&s;tures, but the light of the Lord &s;hines through all. A &s;trong a&s;&s;everation of the Angel, that the things hitherto delivered are true.</HI> John <HI>prone again to wor&s;hip him, is forbid by him &s;o to doe; That the words of the Prophecy of this Book are not to be &s;ealed, the time of their orderly completion being at hand: And Providence gi|ving no &s;top, but leaving both the wicked, and well inclined to the liberty of their own wills, but all to be rewarded according to their works by him, which is the fir&s;t and the la&s;t. Who may enter into the holy City, and who excluded. The things of this Book &s;ent, as it were of one entire Epi&s;tle, to the &s;e|ven Churches in</HI> A&s;ia. <HI>The earne&s;t de&s;ire of Chri&s;t's Spou&s;e after this</HI> New Jeru&s;alem <HI>&s;tate. A very earne&s;t A&s;&s;ertion that there will be &s;uch a State of the Church, with the penalty of tho&s;e that would either le&s;&s;en it or adulterate it. An Epi|&s;tolar Conclu&s;ion to this entire Book of Prophecies &s;ent as one continued Epi&s;tle to the Church &V;niver&s;al.</HI></P>
</ARGUMENT>
<P>AND he &s;hewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as cry&s;tal, proceeding out of the Throne of God, and of the Lamb.</P>
<PB N="371" REF="191">
<P N="2">2 In the mid&s;t of the &s;treet of it, and of either &s;ide of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month? and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.</P>
<P N="3">3 And there &s;hall be no more cur&s;e, but the Throne of God, and of the Lamb &s;hall be in it, and his &s;ervants &s;hall &s;erve him.</P>
<P N="4">4 And they &s;hall &s;ee his face, and his name &s;hall be in their foreheads.</P>
<P N="5">5 And there &s;hall be no night there, and they need no candle, neither light of the Sun, for the Lord God giveth them light, and they &s;hall reign for ever and ever.</P>
<P N="6">6 And he &s;aid unto me, The&s;e &s;ayings are faithfull and true. And the Lord God of the holy Prophets &s;ent his Angel to &s;hew unto his &s;ervants the things which mu&s;t &s;hortly be done.</P>
<P N="7">7 Behold, I come quickly: ble&s;&s;ed is he that kee|peth the &s;ayings of the prophecy of this book.</P>
<P N="8">8 And I John &s;aw the&s;e things, and heard them. And when I had heard and &s;een, I fell down to wor|&s;hip before the feet of the Angel, which &s;hewed me the&s;e things.</P>
<P N="9">9 Then &s;aith he unto me, See thou doe it not: for I am thy fellow &s;ervant, and of thy brethren the Pro|phets, and of them which keep the &s;ayings of this book: wor&s;hip God.</P>
<P N="10">10 And he &s;aith unto me, Seal not the &s;ayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.</P>
<P N="11">11 He that is unju&s;t, let him be unju&s;t &s;till: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy &s;till: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous &s;till: and he that is holy, let him be holy &s;till.</P>
<PB N="372" REF="192">
<P N="12">12 And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work &s;hall be.</P>
<P N="13">13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the fir&s;t and the la&s;t.</P>
<P N="14">14 Ble&s;&s;ed are they that doe his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.</P>
<P N="15">15 For without are dogs, and &s;orcerers, and whoremongers, and murthers, and idolaters, and who&s;oever loveth and maketh a lie.</P>
<P N="16">16 I Je&s;us have &s;ent mine Angel, to te&s;tifie unto you the&s;e things in the Churches. I am the root and the off-&s;pring of David, and the bright and morning Star.</P>
<P N="17">17 And the Spirit and the Bride &s;ay, Come. And let him that heareth, &s;ay, Come. And let him that is athir&s;t, come. And who&s;oever will, let him take the water of life freely.</P>
<P N="18">18 For I te&s;tifie unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man &s;hall add unto the&s;e things, God &s;hall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.</P>
<P N="19">19 And if any man &s;hall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God &s;hall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy City, and from the things which are written in this book.</P>
<P N="20">20 He which te&s;tifieth the&s;e things, &s;aith, Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even &s;o, Come Lord Je|&s;us.</P>
<P N="21">21 The grace of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t be with you all. Amen.</P>
<PB N="373" REF="192">
<DIV3 TYPE="notes">
<HEAD>The NOTES.</HEAD>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 1. THis River of Water of life from the Throne of God is the faithfull and effectual admini&s;tra|tion of Ju&s;tice, and pouring forth holy and whol&s;ome Doc|trines and Monitions in the demon&s;tration of the Spirit by them that are in the highe&s;t Authority in this City of God. Which authority is under&s;tood by the Throne of God, and of the Lamb, who in right of his Father is Supreme Go|vernour of all, and the immediate Actuatour of his Vice|gerents. See the Prophet <HI>Amos,</HI> chap. 5.24. <HI>Let judgment run down as waters, and righteou&s;ne&s;s as a mighty &s;tream.</HI> And <HI>Eccle&s;tia&s;tic.</HI> 24.25. where wi&s;edom, and under&s;tanding, and the doctrine of knowledge are compared to the Rivers of Paradi&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 2. This Ver&s;e is &s;o plain a Tran&s;cript out of the Vi&s;ion of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> chap. 47.12. that here it is manife&s;t a|gain, that the de&s;cription of that City being generally un|der&s;tood of a State of the Church here <HI>on Earth,</HI> this is &s;o to be under&s;tood al&s;o. Be&s;ides that pa&s;&s;age of the Leaves being for the healing of the Nations, confirms the &s;ame. For there is no want of Medicines and healing in Heaven. <HI>Was there the tree of life,</HI> that is, Trees of life, el&s;e how could they be on this &s;ide and that &s;ide the River. Which Trees, according to the Prophetick &s;tyle, &s;ignifie great Men, <HI>Gran|dees</HI> in Church and State, and are called Trees of life in oppo&s;ition to the &s;tate of the wicked, whom <HI>Jude</HI> (v. 12.) calls Trees, who&s;e fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, <HI>&amp;c. And yielded their fruit every month:</HI> So unce&s;|&s;ant are they in the bringing forth the fruits of true Faith, which are good works. Here &s;eems to be an Allu&s;ion to <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 1.3. and 72.7. The &s;en&s;e therefore is, That by the free current of Ju&s;tice, and the countenancing pure doc|trine from the Higher Powers, which the Throne of God intimates, holy and good men both in Church and State, will be in authority and e&s;teem to manage the affairs of
<PB N="374" REF="193">Chri&s;t's Kingdom, obliging all unto them by their Chri|&s;tian goodne&s;s and equity, which is the con&s;tant fruit which they bear. <HI>For the healing of the Nations,</HI> i. e. The people of tho&s;e &s;everal Nations which are then brought under the Empire of Chri&s;t. It is an in&s;inuation of the gentle, but effectual healing <HI>di&s;cipline</HI> which will be in this <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Interval. Tho&s;e are the Leaves of the&s;e Trees to heal the &s;ores of the people, by gently drawing away the corrup|tion, whatever may be remaining in them.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 3. <HI>No more cur&s;e.</HI> No more furious Papal Anathe|ma's or Excommunications to depo&s;e Kings and Princes, and to involve the Chri&s;tian World in bloud. <HI>But the Throne of God and of the Lamb,</HI> &amp;c. The meek Empire of the Lamb of God &s;hall obtain after the Tyranny of the bloudy Antichri&s;t, or two-horned Bea&s;t, who wore the Horns of the <HI>Lamb,</HI> fal&s;ely pretending to be his Vicar, but &s;poke like the <HI>Dragon</HI> decreeing Idolatries and barbarous Per&s;ecutions.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 4. They &s;hall enjoy the full light of the glory of God in the face of Je&s;us Chri&s;t. His Life and Spirit will be mo&s;t &s;en&s;ibly revealed in them, and it will be plain to all from their outward conver&s;ation, who&s;e they are, and to whom they belong, <HI>viz.</HI> That they are the faithfull &s;ervants of Je&s;us.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 5. <HI>No Night there.</HI> No ignorance, nor any per&s;ecu|tion for not being ignorant, and for not admitting of things bla&s;phemous and impo&s;&s;ible. That ignorance is the Mother of Devotion, will be out of date in tho&s;e days. Which prin|ciple &s;ate like the darkne&s;s of mid-night on the Church, du|ring the time of the Idolatrous Hierarchy. <HI>No Candle.</HI> No factitious lights or fal&s;e in&s;tructions of carnal men. <HI>Nor light of the Sun.</HI> No pretended <HI>Infallibility</HI> of the <HI>Pope,</HI> whom his flatterers make the univer&s;al Sun of the Chri&s;tian World, and put the <HI>Emperour,</HI> like the <HI>Moon,</HI> under his feet. <HI>God giveth them light,</HI> namely, by his <HI>Word,</HI> and by his <HI>Spirit,</HI> and they &s;hall be no longer &s;laves to the cunningly contri|ved opinions of men; and in this freedom of the light of the Word and Spirit &s;hall they reign for ever and ever.
<PB N="375" REF="193">Nor &s;hall the numerous Rabble of <HI>Gog</HI> and <HI>Magog</HI> be able to take the City.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 6. <HI>The&s;e things are faithfull and true;</HI> namely, The&s;e Predictions of the excellent State of the Church in the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Interval, de&s;cribed or &s;et out by the <HI>New Jeru|&s;alem;</HI> As &s;tupendious as it may &s;eem to fle&s;h and bloud, yet it is a mo&s;t certain truth. Which vehement a&s;&s;everation again plainly implies it a State <HI>on Earth.</HI> For any one that believes an Heaven hereafter, as S. <HI>John</HI> did, will ea&s;ily ac|knowledge it to be as happy, holy and glorious, as is here de&s;cribed. But here it will not be ami&s;s briefly to declare, that though there be &s;o many and &s;o certain marks to a&s;&s;ure us, that by this <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> here de&s;cribed, is &s;ignified a State of the Church here <HI>on Earth,</HI> yet I que&s;tion not, but that the de&s;cription is &s;uch, that it is an intended <HI>Type</HI> of the State of the Church properly Triumphant in <HI>Hea|ven,</HI> and that as the <HI>Jewi&s;h</HI> Church was a Type of the <HI>Chri|&s;tian</HI> Church at large, &s;o this <HI>excellent</HI> State of the Chri&s;tian Church on Earth, &s;ignified by the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem,</HI> is a <HI>Type</HI> of the Church Triumphant in <HI>Heaven,</HI> &s;o tran&s;cendently there holy, happy and glorious. I &s;ay it is an <HI>intended Type</HI> of Heaven, and &s;o fitly is the Clo&s;e of all the Vi&s;ions reaching to the la&s;t Thunder, when the wicked &s;hall wal|low in the fiery lake, and the godly be tran&s;lated into that glorious State, the <HI>Archetypal Jeru&s;alem</HI> in Heaven, of which the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> on Earth was but a <HI>Type.</HI> But this is a thing not to be in&s;i&s;ted on in the&s;e &s;hort Notes. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Paralipomena Prophetica,</HI> chap. 20. <HI>And the Lord God,</HI> &amp;c. But the Lord God of the holy Prophets has &s;ent his Angel to &s;hew unto his &s;ervants, not onely things at &s;uch a di&s;tance, but the things al&s;o nearer at hand, to be done under the fir&s;t &s;ix Seals.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 7. <HI>Behold I come quickly.</HI> To &s;upport my Church in her <HI>Smyrnean</HI> Condition, under the &s;econd, third, fourth and fifth Seals, and to deliver her from her Per&s;ecutions un|der the &s;ixth. And ble&s;&s;ed is he that ob&s;erveth what is writ|ten in the Prophecies of this Book for his own direction and comfort.</P>
<PB N="376" REF="194">
<P><HI>V.</HI> 8. <HI>Which &s;hewed me the&s;e things.</HI> And among&s;t o|ther things the great glory of the Church Univer&s;al &s;et out by the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem.</HI> Which did &s;o overcome him with joy, as that a&s;&s;urance did of the Conver&s;ion of his own Countrey-men the Jews, that again he was carried away into the greate&s;t affection and veneration for the Me&s;&s;enger of &s;uch enravi&s;hing News.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 9. <HI>Of thy brethren the Prophets,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>viz.</HI> of tho&s;e that truly believe in, and bear witne&s;s of Je&s;us Chri&s;t by the in&s;piration of the Holy Gho&s;t, and of &s;uch as under|&s;tand and believe the &s;ayings of this Book, and have faith and courage to act accordingly, which no man can do but by the Power of the Spirit of God. <HI>Wor&s;hip God.</HI> Accor|dingly as our Saviour has pre&s;cribed; <HI>Thou &s;halt wor&s;hip the Lord thy God, and him onely &s;halt thou &s;erve.</HI></P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 10. <HI>Seal not the &s;ayings,</HI> &amp;c. As if they concerned onely times a-far off, or many Ages to come. <HI>For the time is at hand,</HI> viz. The time of exerci&s;ing the faith of the true followers of Chri&s;t, and of the &s;alvage cruelty of their Enemies. Fir&s;t, the faith of the <HI>Smyrnean</HI> Chri&s;tians under <HI>Pagani&s;m,</HI> and then of the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> and <HI>Thyatirian</HI> Evan|gelici under a <HI>Paganochri&s;tian</HI> Synagogue. The faith of the one, and the foul cruel &s;pirit in the other, would be &s;till more and more manife&s;ted to the World. Divine Provi|dence admini&s;tring occa&s;ion for the di&s;covering both in their colours, not forcing the wills of either by his ab&s;o|lute Omnipotency; whence it follows in the next Ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 11. <HI>He that is unju&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. Let their unju&s;t Cruelty, and barbarous Per&s;ecution, and foulne&s;s of life, and filthi|ne&s;s of Idolatry go on in the <HI>Pagan,</HI> and afterwards in the <HI>Paganochri&s;tian</HI> Polity; till they are ripe for judgment, I will not &s;top them: And let the righteous encrea&s;e more and more in Hone&s;ty of Conver&s;ation, and Purity in Reli|gion, and Zeal again&s;t all Idolatry, not refu&s;ing the A&s;&s;i&s;ten|ces of my &s;pirit and grace.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 12. <HI>Behold I come quickly,</HI> &amp;c. namely, to judgment, and will aboli&s;h the <HI>Pagan</HI> Religion, and &s;et up the Chri|&s;tian under the &s;ixth Seal, in the reign of <HI>Con&s;tantine,</HI> and
<PB N="377" REF="194">judge the Whore the Idolatrous Hierarchy, under the <HI>&s;ixth Trumpet,</HI> and utterly de&s;troy her under the <HI>&s;eventh Vial;</HI> and he that is righteous, growing &s;till more righteous; and he that is holy, &s;till more holy, introduce the glorious State of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> under the <HI>&s;econd Thunder.</HI> The&s;e things are within the compa&s;s of my Providence and Power, For,</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 13. <HI>I am Alpha and Omega,</HI> &amp;c. I am the fir&s;t and the la&s;t, and my Kingdom &s;hall out-la&s;t all Kingdoms, neither &s;hall any Power upon Earth &s;urvive my reign in the Holy City <HI>Jeru&s;alem.</HI> Whence follow the words of S. <HI>John,</HI> as relating to tho&s;e times, in the next Ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 14. Ble&s;&s;ed are they that walk uprightly according to the external Word or Law, that they may be baptized at la&s;t into the di&s;pen&s;ation of the Spirit of life in the New Birth, and thus entring through the Gates, may become true members of this <HI>living</HI> Church of Chri&s;t, the <HI>New Je|ru&s;alem,</HI> and enjoy all the holy and healing Privileges there|of which have been above de&s;cribed.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 15. Without are bruti&s;h, ob&s;cene, Athei&s;tical men, and jugling pretenders to Miracles, and <HI>Kaini&s;h</HI> per&s;ecutours had they but power, and in the mean time gro&s;s Idolaters, and either Lovers of lying Legends, or Inventours of them. The&s;e unclean Birds are kept out of the New <HI>Jeru&s;alem,</HI> but have their di&s;mal Haunts in the Rubbi&s;h and Ruines of the demoli&s;hed <HI>Babylon,</HI> as hath been noted above.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 16. <HI>In the Churches,</HI> Alluding to the &s;even Churches in <HI>A&s;ia,</HI> which &s;ignifie the whole &s;ucce&s;&s;ion of the truly Ca|tholick and Apo&s;tolick Church to the end of the World. The whole Book of the Apocalyp&s;e is, as it were, one Epi|&s;tle to them all, as they are concerned in their &s;everal &s;uc|ce&s;&s;ions. <HI>Root and Off-&s;pring of David.</HI> This may denote his <HI>Divinity</HI> and <HI>Humanity,</HI> and the being the Son of <HI>David</HI> the true <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> his right to the Kingdoms of the Earth, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 2.8. And from the greatne&s;s and glory of his King|dom he is here called, <HI>the bright Morning Star,</HI> though in the <HI>Sardian</HI> Interval, onely the Morning Star. Whence it &s;eems to glance at the beginning of the <HI>Philadelphian</HI> Inter|val,
<PB N="378" REF="195">and re&s;pect the <HI>Heros</HI> on the white Hor&s;e with <HI>many Crowns</HI> on his Head, which &s;utes well with the &s;aying of S. <HI>John</HI> in the following Ver&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 17. <HI>And the Spirit and the Bride &s;ay, Come.</HI> The <HI>Spi|rit,</HI> becau&s;e this is the Commencement of tho&s;e times that are properly called the <HI>Reign</HI> of the <HI>Spirit</HI> by the <HI>Cabbali&s;ts.</HI> And the voice of the <HI>Bride</HI> is added to &s;ignifie the Churches earne&s;t de&s;ire of a &s;ettlement of things into the glorious condition of the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> upon the de&s;truction of the bloud-drunken Idolatrous <HI>Babylon. Let him that heareth, &s;ay, Come;</HI> that is, let him pray for the Acceleration of &s;o glo|rious a &s;ettlement of things. And then our Saviour &s;peaks (for it &s;eems to be a kind of Dialogue from ver&s;e 10. to the la&s;t.) <HI>And let him that is a-thri&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. He that &s;incerely hun|gers and thir&s;ts after righteou&s;ne&s;s, and who&s;oever has a will and de&s;ire, let him come and enjoy the happy Privileges of this <HI>living</HI> City of God freely without money, as the Pro|phet &s;peaks, <HI>I&s;a.</HI> 55.1.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 18, 19. <HI>For I te&s;tifie to every man,</HI> &amp;c. The con|nexion betwixt the&s;e two Ver&s;es, and the foregoing Ver&s;e, is this: It is a rea&s;on to enforce the acceptance of his &s;o earne&s;t invitation to the enjoyment of the de&s;cribed condi|tion, in that the condition is &s;o certainly de&s;tined, and &s;o good and perfect, that if any one pre&s;ume to adulterate the &s;ame by adding any incongruous humane Inventions there|to, he &s;hall incur the plagues written in this Book, whe|ther they concern this life, or the &s;ulphureous lake of fire, which is the &s;econd Death. And if he be &s;o faint-hearted, or of &s;o little faith, as to conceit there will never be &s;uch an excellent State of the Church on Earth, he &s;hall lo&s;e his part in the Holy City and Book of Life, he &s;hall never be able to enter into the ble&s;&s;ed <HI>New Jeru&s;alem</HI> State neither here, nor in its Antitype, in Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>V.</HI> 20, 21. <HI>Surely I come quickly,</HI> viz. for the fulfilling the Vi&s;ions of the fir&s;t &s;ix Seals, and what &s;ynchronizeth with them, to &s;upport his Church in their <HI>Smyrnean</HI> af|fliction, and to defeat their Enemies under the &s;ixth Seal. To which S. <HI>John</HI> an&s;wers, <HI>Amen, Even &s;o come Lord Je|&s;us.</HI>
<PB N="379" REF="195">This was &s;ea&s;onable for him to &s;ay in his time, That Chri&s;t would come and judge the Dragon; As it was &s;ea&s;on|able for the Church in the <HI>Pergamenian</HI> and <HI>Thyatirian</HI> Inter|val, and is now in the <HI>Sardian,</HI> to &s;ay, Come Lord Je&s;us to judge the <HI>Paganochri&s;tian</HI> Hierarchy quite to be aboli&s;hed under the &s;eventh Vial; And in the <HI>Laodicean</HI> Interval, to &s;ay, Come Lord Je&s;us to that General Judgment, when death &s;hall be &s;wallowed up in victory, and all the Saints &s;hall be tran&s;lated into the incorruptible &s;tate of Heavenly bli&s;s and glory. And this whole Book being a general Mo|nitory <HI>Epi&s;tle,</HI> as it were, to the Church Univer&s;al through|out all Ages, he &s;utably concludes with the u&s;ual form of Valediction in the Epi&s;tles of the Apo&s;tles. <HI>The grace of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> &amp;c. See Dr. <HI>H. M.</HI> his <HI>Expo&s;ition</HI> and <HI>Notes</HI> upon the&s;e four la&s;t Ver&s;es.</P>
</DIV3>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
