represented under the Figure of a Woman and that as with respect to the several successions of Government in the Roman Empire so too with respect to the great Corruptions in the Church which was to be seated in it 2. Her Cruelties likewise are there set forth as under the emblem of a scarlet-coloured Beast ver 3. So by her being drunken with the Blood of the Saints of the Martyrs of Jesus ver 6. And 3. How she is said to come to her End ver 16. viz. By those very Horns or ten Kings who had given their Power and Strength to her ver 13. Hating her and making her desolate and naked and eating her Flesh and burning her with Fire So then the great City here spoken of is Rome as she Reigneth over the Kings of the Earth not Rome as confined within the Walls of the City which bears that name but as she extends her Territories as far as the Roman Empire or as it is now changed into Papal reaches And as to the dividing this City into three parts I shall offer these two Conjectures the first is Monsieur Jurieu's whose Learning Piety and Zeal I extreamly reverence and it is this viz. That upon the Preaching of the Reformers the Antichristian Empire was divided into three Parts one part remained to Antichrist himself one sepaated from him under the name of the Confession of Ausburgh the third under the Confession of them who are simply called the Reformed Sueden Denmark and a great part of Germany make the 2d Part England the united Provinces the Reformed in France the Suisses and port of Germany make the third Here saith he are the three great Parts which divide the Western Church which is the great City The second Conjecture I have to offer in this matter is the Division of it as it is that City which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth And that is as at present and since the Reformation there have been these three distinct Parts of this great City The first of such Kings or Kingdoms that have wholly fallen from her such are all who profess the Protestant Religion Secondly of such which however they have not left her Communion yet have cast off her Supremacy and Infallibility i. e. As the distinction is since taken up are of the Church tho' not of the Court of Rome This I suppose to be verified where-ever the Council of Trent by which Rome subsists is not received and where the Regalia Investitures c. are disputed and where too these or any other the Arcana Imperii the secret Grounds and Foundations by which the Papacy upholds it self have been prosessedly disputed contradicted and by the publick Decrees of their Universities or otherwise declared against or rescinded And then Thirdly of such as still continue in their Obedience to her What follows And the Cities of the Nations fell I take to be but the Consequence of the former for if the great City be Rome in the extent of her Empire or Government lesser Cities will import lesser Governments and their falling with respect to Rome must be a falling from her Laws in being no longer governed by the Papal Decrees the Canon Law or whatever else she Rules by but by their own Models both for their Civil and Religious Government But if still we would have something more particular here why may not the united Provinces and Hans Towns in Germany afford us a Comment on it Sed monum de Tabulà 'T is added And great Babylon came in remembrance before God to give unto her the Cup of the Wine of the fierceness of his Wrath. And every Island fled away and the Mountains were not found This seems to be the great Catastrophe of all every thing else is but preparatory this the consummating of the Judgment of the great Whore And may she soon have this Cup to drink I perswade my self it is not far off What the Cup is is more expresly set down chap. 18. 2. 8. Babylon the Great is fallen is fallen and is become the Habitation of Devils and the hold of every foul Spirit and a Cage of every unclean and hateful Bird this was her Sin this is her Doom Therefore shall her Plagues come in one day Death and Mourning and Famine and she shall be utterly burnt with Fire For strong is the Lord God who Judgeth her When it comes to pass it will explain it self nor shall I therefore add any thing farther on it Only what is to be meant by every Island flying away and the Mountains not being found which is yet behind to be spoken to would be known And for that I content my self with applying the notion of Islands to those numerous Monasteries and Convents and Religious Houses of any sort among them For what is an Island but a part of the Earth environed by the Waters and having no Commerce or Union with the Continent And are not such Houses and Places with respect to the several Countries in which they are divided as it were from the Earth Do they not subsist by Laws and Constitutions of their own Do they not pretend to be sequestred from the rest of the World To have no converse in Worldly Affairs but to be wholly separated to observe the Rules of their several Orders These to me are the Islands here spoken of Islands in respect to their distinct Governments in the same Sense that the great City is the whole Roman or Papal Empire And as for what we are to construe these Mountains of I can see nothing more proper to answer this Allusion than the great and eminent Men among them who in Scripture are so often exprest by Hills or Mountains as Men of low Estate are by the Valleys such are their Bishops Archbishops Cardinals Abbots Priors Generals of their several Orders and highest of all the Pope himself and his Legates Now the flying away of the one and the others not being found signifies the sudden Destruction and Confusion that will overtake them all in that day when all States and Orders their whole Hierarchy with all its Dependants shall at once Vanish And such a Storm follow them that adhere to them exprest by Men i. e. Men of ordinary rank and station the Laity of that Religion such Hail out of Heaven fall upon them as it were by the immediate Hand of God bringing these Judgments on them that wicked and impeniteut Wretches as they are for otherwise they would have taken the Warning and come out of Babylon as it is ch 18. 4. would not have been Partakers of her Sins that they might not have received of her Plagues but cursed Wretches as they are still to adhere to her in her Abominations nothing but Blasphemy is left them they Blasphemed God in the prophane use of his name all the time of their Apostacy they now without looking up to that Heaven from whence these Plagues come Blaspheme him because of the plague of the Hail
other Opinion that great Prince had of me he never thought otherwise of me than as one let it be called Stiffness Moroseness Pride or whatever other name ill Men have for those who turn not with every Wind I am little sollicitous who knew neither how to dissemble or fawn But whatever either then or since hath befallen me I have this to comfort my self with that nothing hath nor I hope ever shall alienate my Zeal from that Truth for which I have desired always to appear I have done it at Court in the University City and where-ever else it lay in my way And if I had nothing else to plead for my Sincerity I think the Dedication of that Sermon to his Majesty presented to him on that very Day and at the very point of time when the Zealous Bigots of the other Religion were hurrying him to his first publick appearance at their Worship the Dedication I say of that Sermon alone in which the Superstitions of Rome and the Impieties of the Jesuits who were then the prevailing Faction are so highly declared against might be alledged for a sufficient proof I am sure it was what was most heinously resented by the Party and the Author as appears by what was afterwards published against him in a Pamphlet of theirs called Good advice to the Pulpits p. 61. had the Honour to be fonnd in that good Company to whieh none I think will deny the stile of the Best of Protestants But if the Cry be once raised what 's mistaken at Court shall be doubly so in the City and from thence soon ecchoed into the Country and the most innocent Person forthwith made the mark of popular Outrage for it is but dressing up the Martyr in Beasts Skins and every dog will be snarling and barking at him nay even those who in their great Understanding know not what it is to be Papist or Protestant nay would it may be be hard put to it if they were to prove in what it is themselves are distinguished even from Brutes shall however in their great Zeal run away with the Cry as if they were the only Skilled Professors in Divinity and Men who have spent all their time in hard Study and made it their Business to live up to that Divinity they profess shall not be thought worthy to offer Sense or Reason to such mighty Sophies And if after all they chance to find their Error what is the Amends is to be made for all beyond this That the Person they thus run on is the most mistaken Man in the World But who bid them thus mistake who bid them first take up an Error and then use all the rudeness untaught nature is guilty of to defend it But what must a Man say then to remove such a Scandal Will it avail to say I Sucked in the greatest detestation of Popery with my Mothers milk that ever since I was able to use my Tongue I forbore not to do it in the abhorrence of its Superstitions and Idolatries Will if nothing else this following Treatise say any thing for its Author in this matter VVhat shall I take O Posterity judge thou of this depraved Age wherein such Apologies are needful to testifie the indignation I cannot but have to be thus Traduced A favourer of Popery Do I believe a Hell a Devil Let Popery and these be loved at once No be it not my Presumption O my God but thy Grace that draws the Profession from me may I if ever Thou bringest the Wheel over thy People in this Nation be the first Witness in this thy great Cause But I am ashamed there should be occasion for any thing of this Nature nor should I have troubled the VVorld with it were it not that those who appear in Print at the same time set themselves up as Marks to be shot at every one spending his Verdict and accepting or rejecting the VVork according to the respect he hath for the Author But most especially thus it happens in Subjects of this nature for how can any one pretend to or hope that the VVorld should believe that be entirely gives up himself and yet certainly without it there can be but little probability of his steering well in it to the conduct of Heaven if at the same time he hath any covert Dissimulation not to say Coldness in the Argument whereof he treats Can a Papist in Masquerade succeding Ages will wonder at the Stile decry Popery discover all the abominations of it fix the Judgment declared against it and besatisfied that the seven last Plagues are but so many degrees of that Ruin which is foretold to belong to the Beast These I think are Incongruities that no wise no good Man can imagine to be consistent and therefore taking for granted that all is defamation and but the effects of downright Malice and Ignorance I will suppose the veil to be taken off the Cloud vanished and my self to be a much better Protestant than those who out of design or from the want of being better informed have raised or entertained the Scandal It may not be altogether improper to mention to whom the Dedication was first intended and that was to my gracious Master King James the Second whose late Royal Favours towards me possibly might be one Reason why that Scandal I have been wiping off was cast upon me but no time ought to blot out my grateful Sense of what was designed though without effect as well as without my seeking it And I hope it may still find that good effect with him if it hath the lot to come to his Royal Hands which his most humble and Dutisul Servant and Subject then designed it to I am sure he knows in his highest Prosperity I never was of those who flattered his Greatness and I am sure he hath that good Opinion of me to believe that in his Troubles I never can be a Shimei And therefore my Hopes are he will in the first place judge me Sincere in that Loyalty I owe to him who is King of Kings and in the second I owe to those who rule under him to whom I am sure I could never have aquitted my self had I not which is the business of this Treatise represented Rome in its true Colours to them that Rome which hath so long usurpt upon their Royalties and can no longer subsist than by the diminution of their Majesties they contribute to it I now proceed to speak of the Work it self the occasion whereof is best seen by the Title Page and whether and how far it hath answered its Title will appear by that time the Reader shall have perused its Contents in which I hope he will not think his Time altogether lost many of the notions he shall there find being wholy new and what none else hitherto hath touched at and all of them coherent as between themselves so with the whole And if sometimes more than one single Event be offered for
chosen Emperor in the place of Lewis whom he had deposed they deny him to be lawfully chosen as being neither chosen nor Crowned in the Places proper for either as also because it was all a clancular proceeding and when there was no Vacancy of the Empire whereupon they chuse King Edward the third of England but he having Affairs of his own to mind returns his Thanks for the great honour done him and waves it The Pope however sends his Legate after the Death of Lewis to absolve the Princes of the Empire who adhered to Lewis on condition they would swear that the Emperor had no Power to depose the Pope and that from thenceforward they would not obey their Emperor unless he be approved as Emperor by the Pope The Ecclesiasticks most readily approve this and the Laicks as fiercely oppose it whereupon the Pope is forced to abate something let me so express it of this great Heat with which they had so long scorched Men and remit this Oath and absolve them from the Excommunication And this may be sufficient to explain this Vial Only here as before it will be asked what is this to the Fall of Antichrist These and such like Instances for many more might be given and particularly in our own Story witness 1. the Controversy between William the second and Urban the second Anno 1097. in the Case of Anselm's appealing to the Pope who was thereupon about to Excommunicate the King but having a little before excommunicated the Emperor Henry the fourth he forbore it lest otherwise Excommunications by being made common might be slighted as also 2. between him and Henry the first in the case of Investitutes in which Anselm likewise opposed the King in behalf of the Pope's Pretensions to them 3. Between him i. e. his Legate and King Stephen and again 4. in the case of the Legatine Powee between him and Henry the Second 5. Between him and King John whom the Excommunicated and Interdicted the Kingdom and upon his submission to him at the instance of Pandulphus at whose Feet he laid down his Crown to be disposed of as the Pope should please which Pandulphus took up and kept it three or four days nor restoring it then but upon condition that he and his Successors should hold the Kingdom of the See of Rome at the annual Tribute of 1000 Marks which was the great occasion of that Slavery in which Rome so long held this our Nation all tending to aggrandize him in his most insolent Tyranny but if so yet 't is too for the Encrease of that Guilt which will at last be so thorowly avenged as will appear by that time we shall have rellected on the following Vials The first whereof i. e. the fifth is directly on Antichrist i. e. The very Seat of the Beast The second or sixth is likewise on Antichrist though so as to affect the whole Seat of the Roman and Mahometan Empires i. e. The Eastern and Western Empires thus joined again for they shall be both then hastening towards the day of Vengeance And as for the third or seventh it is to end in the final Ruin of both and all the Antichristian Powers under them or rather in the Kingdom of Christ set up against Antichrist in its utmost extent in that lasting Triumph he shall then give his Church over him and all other her Enemies But then as in this Vial we have been now speaking of so in that which next follows this will be again to be observed that it is not necessary it should immediately succeed the other or not to be to begin till the other is fully expired no it is necessary in the nature of the thing that several of the Vials should be contemporary with one another forasmuch as they are Punishments for Sin and did not the Sin continue to which Men are often judicially given up the Punishment inflicted for it would not be so agreeable to the manner of Gods proceeding in the ways of his Judgment the Rule being Isaiah 27. 9. By this therefore shall the Iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away his Sin Now then these being spoken of as distinct Vials i. e. The Punishment and Sins which bring them on if instead of having their Iniquity purged Men shall run into more gross and hainous Iniquity if instead of that Fruit they ought to bring forth upon the Chastisement which is to take away their sin they shall fructifie only in Malice and Wickedness if which is the case in these Vials they who are punished for having the Mark of the Beast on them and worshipping his Image shall continue still to wear that Mark and worship his Image which I take to belong to the second third and fourth Vials for on such it is not so properly on the Beast himself they are poured out what can be expected but that the Plague should go along with the Sin that calls for it down And that if the Beast himself do not so immediately suffer in those Vials that it should be because to Him more particular Judgments are reserved or both He and they to go on from one wickedness to another till there be no Remedy 2 Chron. 36. 16. CHAP. XV. Of the fifth Vial Rev. 16. 10 11. AND the fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the seat of the Beast and his Kingdom was full of Darkness and they gnawed their Tongues for Pain And blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their Pains and their sores and repented not of their Deeds What is the seat of the Beast but Rome What the Vial poured out upon his seat but the depriving it of what gives it its Lustre Dignity and Wealth i. e. as it is exprest in the former Vial of its Sun the Pope I mean whose more benign aspect and influence were so highly beneficial to it whilst it was the place of his Residence but being removed thence how is its Greatness and Glory forthwith Eclipsed How all things black and dark and under the thickest Cloud Now when happened this but when Clement the fifth Anno 1305 being chosen Pope in his absence in France called the Cardinals thither and settled his Residence at Avignon 'T was now the City that was full of People sat solitary and became as a Widdow now she that was great among the Nations and Princess among the Provinces became Tributary Lam. 1. 1. She that before received the Riches of so great a part of the World that had so great Honour and Devotion paid to her now sends her Wealth and pays homage herself to another shrine This lasted for seventy four Years together till Gregory the Eleventh brought back his See to Rome but so that after his Death the French Cardinals would have a Pope of their Nation and accordingly chose Clement the 7 th the rest of the Cardinals having chosen Urban the sixth Urban keepeth at Rome but Clement at Avignon The Schism continued
and shall be given up to Eternal Blasphemy bitter Execrations and Cursings the lot of the Damned and being Cursed for Ever But when this shall be will be still the great Enquiry and what to answer to it is difficult for as Christ speaks when the Elders of the People and the chief Priests and the Scribes asked him Art thou the Christ If I tell you shall I say I say it not but if God if Christ if the Holy-Ghost should tell you you will not Believe Luke 22. 67. For it is God it is Christ it is the Holy-Ghost who have already told it it is declared with all the certainty that a Mystery can be declared in this Book of the Revelation The Rise the Progress the Downfal of Antichrist is foretold and yet forsooth we must be tender in the Point and not so much as dare to say that Antichrist is come who or what he is and where is his Seat The Angel may tell John Rev. 17. 7. c the mystery of the Woman and the Beast that carrieth her which hath the seven Heads and ten Horns may shew the place from whence he cometh and whither he goeth ver 8. With all the particularities of his Reign may shew what the seven Heads and ten Horns are when and where to arise ver 9. 11 12. And for whom to drudge ver 13 14. may shew the Extent of the Beast's Empire over Peoples Multitudes Nations and Tongues ver 15. And lest after all any mistake should be about his Seat may so point out the City of his Residence that but one City in the World can answer the Description And that is the City which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth and the City that so Reigned when John saw the Vision the City that hath ever since so Reigned is Rome the Angel I say may thus tell John the Mystery of the Woman and of the Beast but we must be sure to let it be a Mystery still and fix it any where but where it is Oh the shame of the Cowardize of the Christian Oh the reproach of those who have Eyes and will not see But are they willing who ask the question to have it resolved What can be plainer than that 1260 Years is the date of Antichrists Reign This being the time that is allotted to the little Horn Dan. 7. 25. This the time Set for the giving theoutward Court to the Gentiles and the treading the Holy Cities under Foot Rev. 11. 2. This Being the time for the two Witnesses to Prophecy in Sackcloath ver 3. This Being the time that is set for the Flight of the Woman cloathed with the Sun into the Wilderness Rev. 12. 1 6. This being the time in particular for the Beast with seven heads and ten Horns to make War with the Saints Rev. 13. 5 7. Only when these 1260 Years were to begin seems the Difficulty but neither is that so obscure but we may easily point at it I speak not so as to point to the Day or Year because 1. It may be we have no such exact Chronology that we can depend upon for such express and minute Particulars Or 2. Supposing the Masters in this Art should not fail yet we must consider that all great Transactions have a time to come to their Maturity or End and it will be hard for us to fix the very Critical Minute where matters are to be accomplished by Degrees As I do not think that the Fall of Antichrist will be in a Moment no there is to be a Harvest and Vintage Rev. 14. 15. 18. A time to begin to put in the Sickle and may not that have been at the Reformation 'T was certainly a considerable Harvest was then reaped and a time to reap all down This being observed I make no doubt but that it will not be so obscure but we may point at it and as our Lord said Mark 13. 30. may boldly pronounce so near are we to the Completion of these Prophesies this Generation shall not pass till all these things be done And first as to the outward Court of the Temple being given to the Gentiles and treading down the Holy Cities under Foot when could that be but when the Gentile or Heathen-Worship first crept into the Church And as to that if we consult History we shall find reason to fix it not but that it was sooner offering at as we have already observed in the fifth Century it being then as we noted out of Theodoret that the Worship of Saints the Doctrine of second Intercessors and Relicks c. was so far advanced It being then also that Leo the first began so far to exalt his See above those of other Bishops as to call it Cathedram Petri qui appellatur Petra fundamentum the Chair of Peter who is called a Rock and Foundation and to call Peter the Doorkeeper of Heaven the Arbiter and Judge of who were to be bound who to be loosed and then ascribes the Power and Authority of St. Peter to his own Chair and is angry that in the Case of Eutyches as is before there observed they did not reserve the matter to him and therefore pretends he was not rightly Condemned calls himself Ecclesiae Catholicae Episcopum Urbis Romae the Bishop of the Catholick Church of the City of Rome with many other the like Excesses which certainly may be one sense of treading the Holy City under Foot thus to exalt him above all others And then for the tme of the two Witnesses Prophesying in Sackcloth where can we begin that better than in the Testimony which from that time those who were sound in the Faith bore against these and the like Excesses Rather from the time that the two Testamennts God's faithful Wisnesses the Holy Bible began in its Authority to be deprest and and the Fancies and Inventions of Men to take place This was their putting on Sackcloth but so as from that time they never did nor ever shall cease to Prophecy in it till they have Prophesied down all their Enemies Rev. 11. 3 c. The Word of God in the Mouth of his faithful Servants hath and must always witness for him and that with those Effects which are there ascribed to these i. e. of being the Instruments to denounce God's Judgments on those who despise the Warning but in their Witnessing there is another 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Test and that is let their Prophesying in Sackcloth begin when it will yet it must end when the Beast which ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit shall have made War against them have overcome and killed them Rev. 11. 7. i. e. Whenever Antichrist shall have so much Power to banish true Religion as to all outward appearance quite to ruin and destroy the sincere Professors of it so that there is no longer the Face of a Church or any publickly to bear Witness as Christ saith Luke 21. 28. When those things begin to come to
their Territories and striking so great a Consternation into them for it is upon Euphrates in the Sense we give of it in this Vial that the Vial is poured that they every where fly and are scattered should affect to look towards Constantinople or Asia and in the success of such Wars should give that Apprehension to the Eastern and other Princes round about whereupon or for what other cause God in his wise Providence shall think fit they the Princes and Countreis might be named too for they seem to be noted in the Scripture of Truth but I forbear to be too curious in such a matter should forthwith gather together to dispossess them but with that fatal disaster to them all that in this high Project they should clash between themselves and as it is Prophesied Psalm 2. 9. Be dasht in pieces like a Potters Vessel Whereupon the Jews whose right it is and who about that time shall in all likelihood be gathering thitherward should without any the least Opposition seat themselves in their own Land according to the Prophecy given out Zechar. 4. 6. Not by Might nor by Power but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts Suppose too that at or about the same time some Christian Prince leaguing with the Mahometans or otherwise weakning the Papacy by his or his Peoples falling off from Rome should be instrumental in the Downfal of Babylon or those Princes who have already deserted that great Where as she is called Rev. 17. 1. joined with the other of the ten Horns which shall likewise in due time desert her They have no other way to keep their Crowns on their Heads should all conspire to hate her and make her desolate and naked and eat her Flesh and burn her with Fire Rev. 17. 16 Not that I will exclude from hence the Concurrence of the two Witnesses themselves i. e. Those suffering Christians who were to prophecy a Thousand two Hundred and threescore days in Sackcloth as it is said Rev. 11. 3. The same time for 42 Months are made up of so many days that the Court without the Temple was to be given to the Gentiles and the Holy City to be trod under Foot ver 2. of that Chapter For as it is said of them That if any will hurt them fire proceedeth out of their Mouth and devoureth their enemies and if any Man will hurt them he must in this manner be killed v. 5 and ver 6. These have power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophecy And have power over Waters to turn them into Blood and to smite the Earth with all Plagues as often as they will with reference to those Judgments which for their sakes shall be brought upon the Antichristian World so when they shall have finished their Testimony have had War made against them by the Beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless Pit and shall be overcome and killed by him ver 7. But so that their Bodies shall not be suffered to be put in Graves ver 9. No by the Peoples and Kindreds and Tongues and Nations they shall be still kept above Ground for those three days and half as is there exprest they are to lye in the street of the great City The Spirit of Life from God is to enter into them they to stand upon their Feet and great fear to fall upon them which see them ver 11. And they to hear a great Voice from Heaven saying unto them Come up hither and to ascend up to Heaven in a Cloud and their Enemies behold them ver 12. And the same Hour to be a great Earthquake and the tenth part of the City to fall and the names of seven thousand Men to be slain and the Remnant to be affrighted and give Glory to the God of Heaven Which what it can signifie but the reinstating them in the enjoyment of their Rights and Religion for so standing upon their Feet and ascending up to Heaven may import with the great Change that shall thereon ensue in the falling off of one of the ten Kings or Kingdoms into which at the Rise of Antichrist the Roman Empire was divided for that is the tenth part of the great City or Rome as she is said afterwards ch 17 18. to Reign over the Kings of the Earth from all subjection to the Beast And the Names of seven thousand men being to be Slain many point at the overthrow of those who as to any commerce and good they bring to the World are but us the meer Names of men the Priests and Monks I mean with the other parts of their corrupt Hierarchy which in all probability must be then quite extinct slain not so much in their Natural as Politic or Religious Capacity however we shall call it which I suppose to be understood by their being said to be slain in the Earthquake and not with the Sword i. e. abolisht in that great change and Revolution there shall then be And the Remnant being affrighted and giving Glory to the God of Heaven must signifie the Conversion of that 10th part of the City the great City as 't is before v. 8. which in the Book of the Revelation signifies the Antichristian Empire i. e. Rome in the full extent of its Territories as said to Reign over the Kings of the Earth Revel 17. 18. which is said to fall fall from Rome from her Superstitions and Idolatries fall from her as she is Spiritually called Sodom and Egypt where also our Lord was Crucify'd as she in her Corruptions and Tyranny is what the two former were and by her Power for 't was the Roman Governour who sentenced our Lord to the Cross crucified the Lord and hath ever since been crucifying his Members But then how much of this Transaction shall belong to the Witnesses I am not capable to say that they shall have their part in it not only in being themselves restored but in striking Terror into their Enemies in dismaying and disabling them from all opposition I make not the least question The Event must shew how this shall be and things are not so far off that we should be discouraged to wait for the Completion Behold saith our Lord I come as a Thief And how will men wonder that they were so much in the dark as to the Mystery How will they be ashamed that they have no better watcht and kept their Garments That they have walk'd so naked so unprovided for such a day That though the work hath been doing they observ'd it not But if they had it would not have been said Behold I come as a Thief 'T will notwithstanding all the warnings God hath given of it all the preparations there are towards it be sudden be surprizing I repeat it again Behold I come as a Thief I said just now notwithstanding all the warnings God hath given of it i. e. of what is to happen under this Vial viz. the recalling the Jews the
which must be that wherein they are said to be bound for loosing them can have no relation but to their being bound and That seems to be about the end of the eleventh Century when they were driven back by the Romans towards Euphrates the place where they were said to be bound Paulus Jovius relates it to have happened under Soliman their Captain in the time of Godfrey of Bulloign about which time they divided into four Tetrarchies Dynasties or Governments viz. Of Lesser Asia of Aleppo Damascus and Antioch or rather Bagdat for that of Antioch continued but fourteen Years the three first on this side the last beyond Euphrates 'T is true indeed that this division of Sultanies or distinct Governments lasted not till the time they are said to be let loose but that no way hinders why they being the same People under whatever Government they should be called back again to serve the Purposes of Divine Povidence should be called by the same Names or notified under the same distinction that was then amongst them when they were first said to be bound in the great River Euphrates They who were to be loosed and prepared for it for an Hour and a Day and a Month and a Year Rev. 9. 15. are the same with those who before were bound and therefore but reasonable they should have the same Appellation whatever changes or vicissitudes had otherwise happened to them in that long tract of time no less than 396 Years with some other fractions of time intervening for so much a Year viz. 365 Days a Month 30 a Day 1. a Day being taken for a Year and an Hour will contain between the time of this Division if we date it from the erecting the Dynasty or Government of Bagdat which was 1057 for then 't was Tognulbecus General of the Turks was by the Caliph Cajim Biamrilla invested with Royal Robes and inaugurated in the Royal City of Bagdat which falls in with the 449th year of the Turkish Hegira in which Elmachinus the Arabian Historian p. 272 relates it to have been thus performed Now add to 1057 the aforsaid 396 it produces 1453 when the Turks took Constantinople abolished the Eastern Empire and made their Irruptions again into Europe with that success as scarce to find any thing to withstand them What their Progress then was the narrow limits of the present Empire and the Mediterranean Isles sufficiently declare and where it will end only be that commanded them to be loosed can foretel And by this time we are able in some measure to judge when this Vial was to begin viz. When the four Angels whom I have shewed to be meant of the Turks that were bound in the River Euphrates were loosed which we have placed Anno 1453. As to the time when this Vial shall end that must be judged as by the Events here foretold so by what is to succed in the next Vial. CHAP. XVII Of the seventh Vial Rev. 16. ver 17 18 19 20 21. AND the seventh Angel poured out his Vial into the Air and there came a great Voice out of the Temple of Heaven from the Throne saying it is done And there were Voices and Thunders and Lightnings and there was a great Earthquake such as was not since Men were upon the Earth so mighty an Earthquake and so great 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 fierceness of his Wrath. And every Island fled away and the Mountains were not found And there fell upon Men a great Hail out of Heaven every Stone about the Weight of a Talent and Men blasphemed God because of the Plague of the Hail for the plague thereof was exceeding great This Vial as by the Air into which it is said to be poured we understand the vast Circumference of the great System of the World to the more eminent parts whereof viz. the Earth the Sea the Rivers and Fountains of Waters the Sun c. the other Vials refer seems to be the most general of all the Seven and as the Air is common to all that wherein all good and bad breathe and live so will the Events of this Vial respectively affect them For if with respect to the One i. e. the Bed or Enemies of Christ it be said it is done all that was to be executed on them being now fulfilled the same seems applicable to the others i. e. the Good with respect to the end that is now to be put to their Sufferings and the Glory of the Gospel which is thereon to succeed and the manner of expressing it viz. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is done seems to speak as the full Completion of all so the suddenness of these Events upon the Angel's pouring out this Vial as we use to say dictum factum no sooner said than done Every thing before was prepared as for the Ruin of the Enemies of our Lord so for the advancement of his Church He who is said to come as a Thief in the former Vial for the sudden and surprizing manner of his coming hath no farther delay to make in this for the Angel doth but pour out his Vial into the Air and a great Voice comes out of the Temple of Heaven from the Throne saying it is done Which I take the more notice of that if the expiring of the 1260 Years for the Reign of Antichrist should appear to be at or near the end of the sixth Vial the seventh being still to be poured out should not put us to a long expectation of having it fulfilled Christ comes as a Thief to gather them together viz. all his Enemies into a Place called in the Hebrew Tongue Armageddon being there what should hinder but that like the executing the Sentence upon the Conviction and Judgment given on the Offender the utter excision of them should forthwith Succeed And the seventh Trumpet with which I take this Vial to syncronize seems to speak the same For if with respect to that it is said that the Mystery of God should be finished which he had graciously declared 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had declared it as the very good Tydings of the Gospel it self for so what concerns the Ruin of their Enemies must be it is here said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is done all is fulfilled that was there declared And that these syncronize i. e. fall in together and are to be fulfilled at the same time will not the manner in which they are exprest farther instruct us Thus if in this Vial it is said There came a great Voice out of the Temple of Heaven from the Throne it is said in the other the Temple of God was opened in Heaven and there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his Covenant both as to signifie from whence they came for it is added in the one And there were
Lightnings and Voices and Thunderings and an Earthquake and great Hail in the other And there were Voices and Thunderings and Lightnings and there was a great Earthquake c. And there fell upon Men a great Hail c. So that it is the same thing they in the main aim at the chief difference there seems to be is that in the one it is said the Temple of God was opened in Heaven which in the other is exprest only by a great Voice coming thence without restraining its opening to the time of the Vial but then is not that supplied by what weread Rev. 15. 8. where 't is said And the Temple was filled with Smoak from the Glory of God and from his Power and no Man was able to enter into the Temple till the seven Plagues of the seven Angels were fulfilled If none were able to enter in till then then certainly it was not open till then i. e. Opened it was in neither in the Sense I give of it as relating to the free publication of the Gospel i. e. The Word of God or his Testament which in the times of Antichrist was lockt up but now to be seen and perused of all And to this Opening of the Temple seems to agree what we have Rev. 11. 1. Where St. Iohn is bid to rise and measure the Temple of God but to leave out the Court which is without the Temple and measure it not for it is given unto the Gentiles who should tread down the holy City for forty two Months Measuring is the setting certain bounds to any thing accordingly what Iohn is bid to do may be understood of definite and certain Bounds set to the Church in its Purity so that it was not to appear as such again till the Interval that was to Intervene should expire viz. the 42 Months there spoken of that being expired the Limits and Boundaries so set are again removed i. e. The Temple is again opened Religion in its purity professed the Ark of the Testament seen in the Temple the Law which was deposited there so it was commanded Exod. 25. 16. 21. published and to be obeyed by all And its being poured into the Air methinks very plainly speaks this to us for what is the Air but the whole Medium or Vehicle of Light and so may denote all who are capable of being enlightned by the Truth to be the subjects of that clearer or more universal Revelation which is now to be made of it Before which I take to be at the first breaking forth as it were of this Light whether at the Reformation or whatever other time that be applied to 't is said Rev. 14. 6. I saw another Angel fly in the midst of Heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the Earth c. To signifie that it was but a part of the great 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or transparent Orb was then enlightned it was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the middle part or half of Heaven but now it is the whole Orb is made lucid the Gospel every where so shining in its Purity that they must be very much in Love with darkness who shall not now receive the Light the Air will be full of it and it s being so with respect to its Enemies who are to be destroyed by the brightness of our Lord 's coming 2 Thes 2. 8. is sufficient to denominate it one of the Vials of Gods Wrath on them 't is but opening the Eye and all will be clear and transparent no Clouds now to interpose no Storms to divert the Beholders And this possibly is what we are farther directed to by the Voices Thunders and Lightnings in allusion to what was done at the first publishing of the Law Exod. 19. 16. to declare that now the Gospel should be the Law of the World published as by the Voice of God he appearing in the defence of his Truth so by that of his Ministers which may be the reason why it is Voices in the Plural carried on with that Power and Evidence so clear so irresistible in all its Truths that like Thunder and Lightning there should be no stopping the Ears no shutting the Eyes against it no opposing it but at the peril of falling under the immediate stroke of Heaven The Thunder doth not so loudly proclaim the Gospel but that it will as loudly revenge if neglected the Lightning can as well blast the Gainsayers as discover the Truths they ought to receive such will be the Terror and Conviction that will now go along with the Gospel And is it any wonder when this shall be that a great Earthquake should follow saith the Text it shall be such as was not since Men were upon the Earth so mighty an Earthquake and so great An Earthquake we know shakes and unsettles all Houses Villages Towns Cities Hills Valleys Forrests whole Countries with the Inhabitants have felt the Effects thereof This is to be such an Earthquake so mighty and so great as was not since Men were upon Earth I will not say it is to be a meer natural Earthquake though such often have been observed to forerun or accompany great Iudgments and I am apt to think this sort of Earthquakes may usher in or accompany this Vial there have great and extraordinary things of that nature happened in our own times But to such prodigious Events only I do not imagine this to be confined but rather I believe it to direct to something like what God speaks by his Prophet Haggai 2. 6 7. Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and dry Land and I will shake all Nations which St. Paul thus refers to Heb. 12. 26 27. whose Voice then shook the Earth he speaks of the Earthquake that accompanied the giving of the Law of Moses but now he hath promised saying Yet once more I shall shake not the Earth only but also Heaven and this Word yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken The business of this Earthquake will be utterly to remove what in the times of Antichrist prevailed quite to change the whole Face of things and bring in that Evangelical State which to follow the Apostles Expression in the next verse will be a Kingdom which cannot be moved Would we see what were to be the effects of this Earthquake It follows v. 19 20. 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 fierceness of his Wrath. And every Island fled away and the Mountains were not found The great City what it is is sufficiently described in the next Chapter ver 18. where it is said and the Woman which thou sawest is the great City which Reigneth over the Kings of the Earth 'T is Rome that in that Chapter is 1.