the plain and obvious sence thereof clearly testifie Again we have in the Exposition of the nineteenth Chapter verse 1. proved that there is a great multitude of Saints even before the destruction of Rome recalled to life and triumphing in the kingdom of heaven Finally it appeareth from that notable passage Chap. 2.26.27 where Christ saith He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end to him will I give power over the Nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I have received of my Father that whosoever performeth the duty of a Christian to the end of his life and undergoeth a violent death for the name of Christ for I have elsewhere collected that the notion of overcoming when applied to the Saints in the Revelation doth intimate such a death shall be raised up from the dead before the day of judgement to reign over the Nations For can there any such reign be expected after that judgement is once past or did not Christ to whom these Saints are in this respect to be made conformable so come to reign over the Nations Neither doth that passage of Christ John 6.40 This is the will of him that sent me that every one that seeth the Son and believeth on him should have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day Nor that of Paul 1 Cor. 15.22 As in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive but every man in his own order Christ the first fruits afterwards they that are Christs at his coming These passages I say do not a whit withstand the doctrine of an anticipated resurrection which we endeavor to evince out of the book of the Revelation For Christ speaketh of men only as believing on him and Paul of them as dying in the faith and not for the same as the forecited places of the Revelation plainly do Moreover that the Lord Christ Jesus doth now in very deed reign in heaven and so hath done ever since he sat down at the right hand of God and consequently the Saints who are partakers of the first resurrection shall there reign with him is evident from that notable passage or Paul Ephes 1.19 20 21 22. According to the working of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church And from that of Peter 1 Epist 3.21 22. The like figure whereunto even Baptism doth also now save us not the putting away the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience towards God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ who is gon into heaven and is on the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him And also from those of John Rev. 1.5 and Chap. 17.14 In the former of which he saith and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the first begotten from the dead and the Prince or Ruler of the Kings of the earth And in the latter These shall make war with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings he doth not say he shall be King of Kings But what need have I to accumulate texts of Scripture for the proof of this matter when the second and third Chapters of the Revelation are of themselves abundantly sufficient to convince all that are not obstinately bent against the truth that Christ doth now in his own person govern the Church and take care of it for you shall there have clear and undeniable arguments both of the cognisance that he taketh of mens actions and of the protection he affordeth unto such as walk uprightly with him and also of the judgements he executeth on them that either turn aside out of the right way or at least slacken their first love so that I am not a little moved when I perceive many who otherwise seem to own the Gospel so easily giving ear to such a doctrine as asserteth that Christ is not yet in the possession and exercise of his kingdom but shall hereafter reign and that upon the Earth which opinion thwarteth the whole tenor of the New Testament where Christ since his ascension is usually called Lord and annulleth the faith we repose in Christ for to what purpose is it to rely on him for help and assistance if he be not yet in his kingdome and restraineth prayer and worship before him and in a word ushereth in Judaism for there at length this pernicious conceit is wont to center Wherefore seeing I have irrefragably proved that Jesus Christ doth now reign in heaven neither is there so much as one passage in all the Scripture that saith he shall ever reign upon the earth but he himself on the contrary plainly testifieth John 18.36 That his kingdom is not of this world which could not be true were he to reign personally on the earth as worldly Kings are wont to do I conclude that whatsoever Saints are raised up from the dead to reign with Christ during the space of a thousand years before the last judgement must of necessity ascend up into heaven where he is And this is plainly taught us in that forequoted instance of the twowitnesses who being recalled to life go up into heaven in a cloud Chap. 11.12 T is true indeed that the Saints mentioned in the fifth Chapter verse 10. say That they were made Kings and Priests to their God and should reign on the earth But here is no hint of any resurrection and therefore such Saints are to be understood as having not yet been dead did and should reign upon the earth Thus John saith both of himself and the Saints in the seven Churches of Asia Chap. 1. That Christ had made them Kings and Priests to God And consequently it might have been truly affirmed of them that they should reign upon the earth where they were already Kings For whereas it is usually objected that those Saints in the fifth Chapter say of themselves we shall reign upon the earth and therefore did not already reign this is frivolous for inasmuch as they were already Kings as they themselves affirm and some of them sat with their crowns upon their heads it must needs be that they did already reign and so those words we shall reign upon the earth do not intimate the beginning but the continuance of their reign Thus John writeth to certain Christians of his time 1 Epist 5.13 To the end that they should believe on the name of the Son of God which doth not argue that they did not yet believe the contrary
And there were seven Kings five are fallen and one is and the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space And the Beast that was and is not even he is the eighth and is of the seven When he here saith after he had spoken of seven Kings that the Beast is the eighth it must of necessity be meant the eighth King Now that this King is to be an universal one appeareth from the 7. Verse of this Chapter where it is said of him disguized under the name of the Beast that Power Greek Authority was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations Yea the universal Monarchy of the Beast is sufficiently hinted to us by his rising out of the Sea For if by Waters according to the Interpretation given by the Angel Chap. 17.15 are meant Peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues then suitably by the Sea which is the general confluence of the Waters ought to be understood the universality of Mankinde concurring to the advancement of that universal Monarch decyphered by the Beast This Interpretation of mine is further confirmed by the seventh Chapter of Daniel where the Angel explaining to him the Vision of the four great Beasts that came up out of the Sea saith Vers 17. These great Beasts which are four are four Kings which shall arise out of the Earth But those four Kings as every one that is acquainted with History can tell are the Founders of the four universal Kingdoms namely Nebuchadnezzar of the Caldean Cyrus of the Persian Alexander of the Greek Julius Caesar of the Roman When it is further said that the Beast had seven Heads and ten Horns by the seven Heads according to the Interpretation of the Angel Chap. 17 9,10 are meant seven Hills whereon Rome the Birth-place of the Beast as I shall hereafter prove is seated and by the ten Horns as the same Interpreter goeth on to explain it Verse the 12. of the fore-said Chapter are meant ten Kings which shall receive authority as Kings for a while with the Beast And indeed the Crowns that are upon the Horns do of themselves without any Interpretation sufficiently signifie that by the Horns Kings are understood But of these things more largely when we come to the explication of the Chapter aforesaid Finally as for the name of Blasphemy that was upon the seven Heads of the Beast had it been the will of God that we should know it he would have caused John to set it down But seeing it is neither here nor elsewhere expressed or so much as hinted we should be content to be ignorant thereof and not betray the impatient disposition of our mindes by ghessing at it Vers 2. And the Beast which I saw was like unto a Leopard 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 Seat and great Authority So great is the fierceness of the Beast whereby as I before proved an universal Monarch is understood that it is composed of sundry Beasts his Body being like to that of a Leopard whose swiftness in seising on the Prey is noted in the Scripture Hab. 1.8 Their Horses are swifter than the Leopards as also his lying in wait Hos 13.7 As a Leopard by the way will I observe them His Feet or Paws are like to those of a Bear whose chief strength consisteth in his Paws 1 Sam. 17.37 The Lord that delivered me from the Paw of the Bear His Mouth is like to that of a Lion whose ravening with his Mouth is also marked in the Scripture 2 Tim. 4.17 I was delivered out of the Mouth of a Lion Neither is this all but the Dragon whereby the Devil is to be understood as John himself expoundeth it Chap. 12.9 giveth to the Beast his Power which being a Power above Nature the Beast is thereby strengthened to atchieve such things as no natural and humane Power can reach unto The Devil also imparteth to the Beast his Throne and consequently his Dominion over the other evil Spirits of whom he is called the Prince Matth. 12.24 But of this also we will speak more in our Exposition of the 16. Chapter Finally the Devil bestoweth on the Beast great Authority which being different from those things that went before is to be understood of Authority and Dominion over all the World according to that of the 7. Verse where it is said that Power Greek Authority the same Word that is used here in the 2. Verse was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations Where by the the way it is to be observed that the Authority of the Beast is no lawful Authority nor Ordinance or God as being given to him by the Devil and therefore Men are no more obliged to submit out of conscience unto him than unto the Devil that set him up and accordingly when the Saints levy Arms against the Beast and wage war with him though with ill success as being vanquished by him in fight they do not sin against God nor break that holy Commandment of his delivered to them by the Apostle Paul Rom. 13.1 2 c. Vers 3. And I saw one of his Heads as it were wounded to death and his deadly Wound was healed and all the World wondred after the Beast It appeareth by this passage that the Beast shall receive a deadly Wound whether in Battel or by some other accident is uncertain and that the healing of this Wound shall cause all the World to admire him For who would not wonder at such a King as being wounded unto death is notwithstanding afterwards cured seeing this cannot be effected but by supernatural means Thus when King Hezekiah being sick unto death was restored to his health the Cure was not wrought without a Miracle Neither is there any sufficient Reason can be rendered why we should depart from the Letter in the Interpretation of this place But if it be here objected that the Wound which the Beast receiveth in one of his Heads seemeth not to concern him and therefore neither is the Cure thereof likely to draw all the World into the admiration of him in as much as the Heads are seven other Kings I answer that though the Heads do principally denote seven other Kings yet this hindereth not but that one of them may in a less principal manner signifie him also Yea that it doth so we are assured by the Angels Interpretation Chap. 17.11 who saith that the Beast is the eighth King and is of the seven The expounding of which divine Riddle I reserve for the Comment upon that place where I will make it appear that it is the sixth Head that representeth the Beast and consequently we must here understand that Head to be wounded with the Sword Nor is this any whit more strange than that the great Horn between the Eys of the He-Goat Dan. 8.5 should signifie one and the
Domitiano consulare imperium that is to him namely Vespasian with Titus his son the consulship was voted to Domitian the pretorship and consular authority ib. cap. 16. Mox ejurante Frontino Caesar Domitianus praeturam cepit Ejus nomen epistolis edictisque proponebatur Vis penes Mucianum nisi quod pleraque Domitianus instigantibus amicis aut propria lubidine agebat that is Not long after upon the resignation of Frontinus Caesar Domitian took the pretorship his name was prefixt to all Letters and Edicts The power and sway of affairs was in Mucianus save that Domitian either at the instigation of his friends or upon his own pleasure transacted very many things ib. cap. 20. Vespasianus in Italiam resque urbis intentus adversam de Domitiano famam accipit tanquam terminos aetatis concessa filio egrederetur that is Vespasian being intent upon Italy and the affairs of the City heareth an ill report of Domitian as if he had passed the bounds of his age and carried himself with more state then became an Emperours son Suetonius also saith of him in the description of his life Cap. 1. Post victoriam demum progressus Caesar consalutatus honorem praeturae urbanae cum consulari potestate suscepit titulo tenus quam jusdictionem ad collegam proximum transtulit Caeterum omnem vim dominationis tam licenter exercuit ut jam tum qualis futurus esset oslenderet Nec exequar singula contrectatis multorum uxoribus Domitiam Longinam Aelio Lamiae nuptam etiam in matrimonium abduxit atque uno die super viginti urbana officia atque peregrina distribuit mirari se Vespasiano dictitante quod successorem non sibi mitteret that is Domitian after the victory going out and being saluted by the name of Cesar assumed the honour of the City Pretorship with consular authority as to the Title transferring all the jurisdiction to the next Colleague howbeit he did so licenciously exercise all the power of Sovereignty as that he even then shewed what manner of Prince he would afterwards prove For to omit the rest of his actions having abused the wives of many Citizens he took away Domitia Longina that was maried to Aelius Lamia and made her his own wife and distributed in one day above twenty offices belonging either to the City or to foreign parts Vespasian in the mean time ever and anon crying out that he wondred that his son did not also send him a successor ib. chap. 13. Principatum vero adeptus neque in senatu jactare dubitavit patri se fratri imperium dedisse illos sibi reddidisse Pari arrogantiacum procuratorum suorum nomine formalem dictaret epistolam sic coepit Dominus deus noster sic fieri jubet Unde institutum post hac ut ne scripto quidem ac sermone cujusquam appellaretur aliter that is Domitian having obtained the Empire doubted not to boast in the very Senate that he had given the Empire both to his Father and to his Brother whereas they had only restored it unto him with like arrogancy as he endited a formal Letter in the name of his procurators he began thus Our Lord and God commandeth it so to be done whence it was afterwards injoyned that none should either in writing or in speech give him any other Titles This shifting of the Kingly power in Domitian seemeth to be a proof or essay of what shall hereafter happen to him in the same kind For as he was sometimes recalled from a private condition to the Empire so shall he in future ages arise from the dead to be a King as I have before evinced By what the Angel hath here spoken to declare the Mystery of the Beast it is manifest that by the Beast is meant a Man who was alive when this Vision happened to John For the Angel saith expresly Verse 8. that he is It is also manifest that the Beast had already been a King at Rome and should after the decease of his two immediate Predecessours reign there again But who was there in the time of this Vision to whom such a thing doth agree save Domitian about the end of whose Empire Irenaeus saith lib. 5. cap. 3. that this Book of the Revelation was seen Neque enim ante multum temporis so are his words visum est sed paenè sub nostro saeculo ad finem Domitiani imperii Which may be so far true as that perhaps it was not published and commonly known before that time Nevertheless it appeareth from those words of the Angel Five are fallen and one is that it was written in the Reign of Vespasian These things being so I rightly reckon the Kings from Claudius for if you begin either before or after him the words of the Angel will not suit with the truth of the History as it is delivered by sundry grave Writers that lived in or about those times And it is likely that the Angel so ordered the Vision that the computation should begin from Claudius inclusively because he was the first Roman Emperour that imployed his Authority to molest the Christians For Suetonius in the History of his Life cap. 25. telleth us that he expelled the Jews out of Rome as making continual Tumults by the impulsion of Christ whom he as it seemeth doth out of an heathenish malignity call in Latin Chrestus and not Christus as doth also the Authour of that profane Dialogue called Philopatris which is found among the Works of Lucian see Page 1003. of the Salmurian Edition However certain it is out of the sacred story that Claudius expelled the Jews out of Rome by which means Aquila and Priscilla his Wife both believing Jews being forced to quit Rome betook themselves to Corinth Acts 18.2 It is further manifest from what hath been before discoursed that the Beast Domitian is aptly represented with seven Heads because of his relation both to the seven Mountains and also to the seven Kings that were signified by them For he had not onely sometimes reigned in Rome the seven-hilled City but was also born there for so saith Suetonius in the beginning of his Life Domitianus natus est regione urbis sexta ad Malum Punicum that is Domitian was born in the sixth Ward of the City at the Sign of the Pomegranate He was also Son to one of the seven Kings and Brother to another as hath before been shewed Vers 12. And the ten Horns which thou sawest are ten Kings which have received no Kingdom as yet but receive Power as Kings one hour with the Beast 13. These have one minde and shall give their Power and Strength unto the Beast 14. These shall make War with the Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them for he is Lord of lords and King of kings and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful Hitherto the Angel hath spoken concerning the Beast and his seven Heads now he cometh to the
whereof is in the beginning of that verse affirmed but that John would have them to persist in the belief of Christ It is also said in the 22 Chapter of this Prophecy verse the 3. that the Throne of God shall be in the New Jerusalem when nevertheless the ministery of Christ in the heavenly Tabernacle which I have before proved to be the same with the New Jerusalem as he sitteth at the right hand of the Throne of God doth undeniably shew that the Throne of God is already in that City and consequently that the aforesaid passage doth onely imply the continuance of it there Thus have I asserted the doctrine of the first resurrection and shown that the Saints who are raised from the dead after the binding of Satan do reign with Christ in heaven a thousand years From whence it doth necessarily follow that they have knowledge of all the things in the world as Christ hath otherwise how could they be partakers with him in ordering and disposing them But as they are Kings so also Priests of God and Christ and accordingly do serve them both in heaven what by giving honour and glory to them what by interceding with them for the Saints who are in the mean time reigning on the earth For so the pattern of Christ the high priest who doth himself appear before the face of God and make intercession for the Saints seemeth to require Nor need we to fear least the Papists should take any advantage from this doctrine to palliate their superstitious conceits about the Saints for I do not suppose that the Saints who are dead and as Isaiah testifieth are ignorant of us Chap. 63.16 and as Solomon Eccles 9.5 6. averreth know not any thing nor have any more a portion for ever in that which is done under the Sun do pray for them that are here abiding on the earth but only such Saints as are raised from the dead and translated into heaven becoming there not only kings but also Priests of God and Christ No marvel therefore if these persons who thus rise a thousand Years before the rest of the Dead are here pronounced both holy and happy holy for that without holiness it would have been impossible for them to have seen God much less to appear before his face for others and happy because all of them are endued with eternal Life whereas many of them that are raised after the thousand Years are expired are under the Power of the second Death as the sequel of this Chapter will shew I may add as a further accession to their happiness that they have the Privilege of Reigning with Christ over the Nations whereas they that are not raised up till the last Day thereby become incapable of such a Kingdom for as much as Christ shall then put down all Rule and all Authority and Power 1 Cor. 15.24 Vers 7. And when the thousand Years are expired Satan shall be loosed out of his Prison 8. And shall go out to deceive the Nations which are in the four Quarters of the Earth Gog and Magog to gather them together to Battel the Number of whom is as the Sand of the Sea 9. And they went up on the Breadth of the Earth and compassed the Camp of the Saints about and the beloved City and Fire came down from God out of Heaven and devoured them No sooner is Satan loosed out of Prison upon the Expiration of the thousand Years but that profound Tranquillity wherein the World had so long been husht is presently disturbed and Men again embroiled in new Troubles and Commotions For Satan by his cunning Suggestions inciteth the Nations abiding in the four Corners of the World and here comprised under the name of Gog and Magog to levy a great and terrible War Of which Expedition there are two Chapters in the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel namely the 38. and 39. that do discourse at large so as that what is wanting in the Revelation to the full description thereof may from thence be supplyed It appeareth therefore from the Relation of Ezekiel that Gog of which name we finde also a certain Reubenite to have sometimes been 1 Chron. 5.4 is a Prince that shall be in those Times when Satan is loosed out of his Prison and who shall issue out of the Northern parts bringing with him an innumerable Multitude of armed Men into the Land of Israel in hope of a great Booty the Israelites by reason of their former long prosperity being grown exceeding wealthy and dwelling securely without Walls Bars or Gates and having passed through the rest of the Countrey they at length sit down before Jerusalem which is therefore styled the beloved City because the City of the great King and more dear to him than all the dwellings of Jacob so encompass both her and the Army of the Saints there encamped But as it happened formerly at the Battel of Armageddon that the Saints when set in aray against the Enemies had no need to fight it being their strength to sit still and wait for the Salvation of the Lord so fareth it with them here for after a great Earthquake which is wont to be a forerunner of such miraculous Defeats See 1 Sam. 14.15 God causeth the Enemies to smite one another and not only so but also raineth Fire and Brimstone upon them out of Heaven and devoureth them The greatness of which Northern Army doth appear by two notable effects that ensue upon the destruction thereof For the House of Israel is seven Moneths burying them and seven Years burning up the Weapons wherewith they were armed so that they have no need to take any Fewel either out of the Wood or out of the Field during that time But who did ever hear or read that so prodigious an Invasion hath been made by the Northern Nations upon the Land of Israel or indeed by any Nation upon any Land whatsoever since the Book of Ezekiel was written to this very day wherefore the accomplishment of this Prophecy touching Gog and Magog is yet to be expected and consequently when it is said in the beginning of the Revelation that the time is at hand we must not thereupon conclude that whatsoever is related afterwards in that Book was shortly to be performed for this very Chapter of it whereon we now comment containeth the History of above a thousand Years but onely that they should ere long begin to be fulfilled as will easily appear to him that rightly apprehends what the opening of the Seals that are mentioned in the sixth Chapter doth intimate Vers 10. And the Devil that deceived them was call into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where the Beast and the false Prophet are and shall be tormented Day and Night for ever and ever When Gog and Magog are once destroyed Satan who had deceived and incited them to make so terrible a War upon the Saints without just cause is for his labour cast not into the bottomless Pit