Franckford under Carolus Magnus Anno 794 wherein the aforesaid Council was condemned and the Worship of Images rejected which joined with what is above observed of the Iconoclastae i. e. the West herein as well as the East thus far at least witnessing against this so gross Corruption leaves it to be considered whether what occurrs Revel 14. 6 7. may not be referr'd to this Matter the words are And I saw another Angel fly in the midst of Heaven having the Everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the Earth and to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and People saying with a loud Voice Fear God and give Glory to Him for the hour of his Judgment is come and Worship Him that made Heaven and Earth and the Sea and the fountains of Waters Now what will better resemble an Angel flying in the midst of Heaven than such eminent Preachers as the Emperors were What so much make against the Worship of Images as the Everlasting Gospel the Angel is here said to Preach For is not the design of this Doctrine as to fix all Worship to God alone as he is the Almighty Creator of all things So to shew what 't is that brings on the Vials of his Wrath exprest by the Hour of Judgments being come And the certainty of their Ruin who embrace any other Worship For so we read vers 8. And there followed another Angel saying Babylon is fallen is fallen When once given up to Idolatry there 's nothing can prevent her Ruin She may for a while propagate her Corruptions and Persecute those who will not drink of the Wine of the Wrath or Poison for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes rendred of her Fornication but for all that the Decree is past and the Wine of Gods Wrath too is poured out into the Cup of his Indignation vers 10. The Saints may have a time for their Patience vers 12. As it afterwards happened in the furious Persecutions of the Waldenses and Albigenses and whoever would not worship the Beast and his Image and receive his Mark in his Forehead or in his hand vers 9. But 't is a Patience that shall at last be Crowned when the Idol-monger shall be destroyed for this the One is marked with the name of God written in his Forehead ver 1. As the Other is with the name of the Beast vers 9 10 11. I come now to the Vials themselves and first of the general introduction to them Revel 16. 1. which I shall treat of in a distinct Chapter viz. CHAP. X. Of the general Introduction to the Vials Revelations 16. 1. AND I heard a great Voice out of the Temple saying to the seven Angels Go your ways and pour out the Vials of the Wrath of God upon the Earth The Voice out of the Temple speaks it to be from God and to respect the Affairs of the Church and its being said to be a great Voice shews the Terrour it brings with it and the certain Success the things it speaks are to have and that 't is a Voice that will be heard The Angels being bid to go their ways and pour out the Vials makes it evident that it is not the Church in its Purity the Temple from whence this Voice comes that is to be the Subject of these Plagues The Angels not going on this Errand till bid demonstrates as their Obedience to the Commands of their great Master so their unwillingness to be the Executioners of Vengeance till expresly sent Their being called Vials is in allusion to Vessels so called to fignifie the definite measure of Divine Judgments and the manner in which they are poured out Their being Vials of the Wrath of God shews them to be the Effects of his Justice on impenitent Sinners that Justice of his which he executes not till provoked to it but such as when executed there 's no avoiding The Vials full of the Wrath of God being given unto them by one of the four Beasts ch 15. ver 7. for this too is here to be taken in discovers the high regard God hath to his Ministers and the Prayers of his People for of those may be understood the four Beasts ch 4. 6 7 8. it being the same Beast that gives the Seven Vials unto the seven Angels which had Golden Vials full of Odours which are Prayers of Saints for of each of them is this affirmed ch 5. 8. By Earth in this Book I take generally to be signified what is opposite to Heaven so that if Heaven signifie the Church or the Ecclesiastical State Earth will signifie what is Secular and properly of this World i. e. The Earthly and Temporal Power and its Subjects as these stand in opposition to the other But something more seems to be meant by Earth in this Verse viz. as 't is taken for every thing in this Lower Material World and so not only the grosser part of this great System of Nature which we call Earth in distinction from the other parts of it but the Sea Rivers Sun it self with the Circumambient Air are by a Synecdoche of this more eminent part taken for the whole hereby to be understood This I cannot but observe here because the Seven Vials which are afterwards said to be pour'd out on these several parts of the Universe as things are here metaphorically thereby signified are all said here to be poured out upon the Earth CHAP. XI Of the first VIAL AND the first Angel went and poured out his Vial upon the Earth and there fell a noisom and grievous Sore upon the Men which had the mark of the Beast and upon them which worshipped his Image Revel 16. 2. By Earth here as is just now observed is signified what is opposite to Heaven so that if Heaven signifies the Church or Ecclesiestical State Earth will signifie what is Secular and Properly of this World and if so it will intimate this Vial to concern in the first place the whole Roman Empire the Secular Earthly and Temporal Power there in Being but so that as it follows it shall in particular fall on those of its Subjects which had the mark of the Beast and which worshipped his Image And that requires that we consider here 1. what is meant by the Beast 2. What it is we are to understand by his Mark 3. What by his Image And 1. What is meant by the Beast Now 't is evident that by the Beast is to be understood that Power which rose up in the place of what was Imperial For so 't is prophesied 2 Thess 2. 7 8. And so it was represented to St. John in his Vision Revel 13. 11. And I beheld another Beast coming up out of the Earth another in distinction from what was before but a Beast still to shew that 't is the same Power that is still continued though with respect to him who exercises it it is but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Image of the former for
to the executing any grievous Sentence for whom is it all this Drudgery is but for her who like that great Abaddon or Destroyer under whom she Acts Prides herself in the Cruelty For her who if she be as she is the Woman arrayed in Purple and Scarlet-colour it is the Blood of the Saints that hath thus dyed her Robes Rev. 17. 4. And what is the Honour what the part in all this she gives you but to be only the Executioners of so great Impiety and Injustice But let me for methinks it is due to your Majesties to be better treated though who can dissemble the Insolences of that Sorceress towards you retract the Imputation for sure it cannot be with your Royal Consent that such Barbarities are acted No it is the Design of those who menage such Villanies that what they do may be in the Dark For who shall say to a King Thou art Wicked and to Princes Ye arâ—Vngodly Iob 33. 18. Indeed it is not fit this should be in the least surmised therefore they who promote such mischievous Purposes must colour all with Zeal and Piety it is the Cause of God and the Church must countenance the Practice But oh still greater Impiety to interest God himself in the Barbarities they are carrying on And let it not be admired the wicked Wretches so boldly crowd about your Thrones when they are so hardy towards God himself as to make his the Habitation of their Injustice to intitle the most High and Holy One to all the villanies of Hell it self But cannot God but be Iealous against these things Imitate then Royal Sirs your Prince recover his and your Honour from such vile Parasites be pleased to believe that that cannot be of God or Christ which is so contrary to that Clemency which is the radiant Diadem in Heavens Crown let not her being decked with Gold and precious Stones and Pearls let not the Golden Cup in her hand all are but what she hath spoiled you or your Subjects of tempt you any longer to the Abominations and filthiness of Fornication the Kings of the Earth are said to have committed with her Revel 18. 3. Rather as it there follows take not mine but the Admonition of God Himself come out of her that ye be not partakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her Plagues v. 4. But are there yet any among you who are still more dangerously ensnared and out of very Conscience unhappy Conscience to be thus misguided countenance the Romish Interest who think they do God good Service I will not say in Persecuting his Church but in Propagating that mistaken Faith which hath so long done it 'T is I confess a glorious Principle to be for Liberty of Conscience worthy the most Royal Heart to declare that none shall be Prosecuted for meer Religion and may this Charity cover all other Miscarriages But what recompence can that Church make them who thus Sacrifice all to it If at the same time what is Zeal and Piety in those who thus sincerely act in her Cause be but colour cheat and the same design of Cruelty carrying on by Her as when with open violence she invades the Peace and Consciences of Mankind And Oh that my Voice or Pen might reach such Royal Personages as are most concerned herein That they would amongst that hurry and distraction a tottering Cause for such Rome's must be the sentence is gone out against Her she is faln is faln and cannot long stand gives them retire a little within themselves and consider what can be the end of Her who hath so long had it written on her Forehead MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH I would not it becomes me in my duty not to press hard on any Prince but least of all on such whom the World may be apt to think what 's last said more nearly concerns but neither dare I upon this occasion so far to temporize with any as not freely to premonish of the danger especially where it is the only Interest such can have either with God or Man to desert that Communion which hath already betrayed to such irreparable mischiefs And I most humbly ask leave to offer to such a Prince whether to say no more for I may not here enter upon long Argument and Conviction that Religion which bests Consults the Honour of God the Interest of his Vicegerents the Security of the People the Quiet and Peace of Conscience that Religion which in its Precepts is most agreeable to the Principles of Reason and the common notions Mankind hath of Good and Evil whether I say such a Religion or what teaches and acts contrary to all these be the Religion he would choose the Religion fit for Prince or People For my part I would speak to such an one as I would answer it at the great day when Prince and People must all stand naked before God Were I not as well assured that the Romish Church in the Bulk it now stands and hath for these several hundred years stood were that BABYLON spoken of in the Revelation that MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH as I am that 't was Gods Holy Spirit that dictated that and all other Scripture Were I not assured that the Romish Church were chiefly concerned in those seven last plagues or Vials of the Wrath of God mention'd Revel 15. and 16. Chapters Were I not assured that most of those Vials have been already poured out on her and that there is very little behind to compleat her full Doom Were I not assured that those who come not out of her must perish with her and that their and her Fall is near at hand I should not dare as I have here done to appeal to you O Soveraign Princes and thus freely to call you down from your Thrones to consider what is offer'd by one who is the meanest of your Subjects But is it I then or the Truth that calls upon you Is it so mean a Subject that presses upon your Royal State or is it your own Royal State it self your greatest Interest that of your Heavenly as well as Temporal Crown that here bespeaks you In Compassion in Compassion to your Royal selves be jealous at length of that corrupt Communion which can preserve you neither in this nor another World Think not Great Sirs that the Dream of Purgatory an Invention to make men less careful of their Salvation while the day is in which only we can work will then relieve you Think too how cruel their Mercies are who have no better State for their Votaries than what themselves tell you that is Think not the highest Saints will be able to defend you then who when they have done all they can are themselves but unprofitable Servants Luke 17. 10. and can have done no more than was their duty to do Much less think that Images Relicks Crucifixes or whatever other Merchandize
the same Soveraign Power which before was in the Emperors though under another 〈◊〉 name the deadly wound i. e. the blow given by the Goths Vandals and Hunns to the Roman Empire was healed not but that there is another sense in which this may be understood of which afterwards And to shew how 't was He gain'd this it follows v. 13. And He doth great wonders so that He maketh fire to come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of Men which what can that relate to but to that foremention'd Excommunication thundred out against the Emperor called Fire from Heaven because 't was from the Church or under the pretence of that Spiritual Power therein lodged called Heaven in this Book this Fire proceeded and on the Emperor called Earth because of that Earthly or Secular Power committed to him it came down And having advanced so far which as I likewise have before remarkt falls in with the Year 666. it follows v. 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the Earth i. e. the Inhabitants of the Roman Empire by the means of those Miracles which He had power to do in the sight of the Beast saying to them that dwell on the Earth that they should make an Image to the Beast which had the wound by a Sword and did live i. e. having thus prevail'd against the Beast the Roman Empire He sets up a Power like it in Himself making the People who were thus deceived by the means of those Miracles which He had power to do in the sight of the Beast those Excommunications and other Methods I mean by which He had so much lessen'd his Soverainty to assist in setting up his Image in that shew or rather real representation of Soverain Power He had transferred to Himself Whereupon 't is added v. 15. that He had power to give life unto the Beast Breath saith the Margin of the English 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith the Original a Spirit or Spiritual Being unto the Image of the Beast For 't is by Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Censures the Beast thus recover'd exercises his Jurisdiction that the Image of the Beast should both speak as He doth with a Witness in these Anathema's Thunderbolts of Excommunications as they are called or Fire from Heaven and cause that as many as would not Worship the Image of the Beast should be killed which de facto happen'd in the Persecutions rais'd on those who could not submit to the Novelties introduced And He causeth all both small and great rich and poor free and bond to receive a mark in their Right hand or in their Foreheads and that no man might buy or sell save He that had the mark or the name of the Beast or the number of his name None to hope for any Preferment in the Church no nor yet for any Temporal Advantage to be so much as permitted the benefit of common Traffick and Commerce that did not by receiving his mark either in hand or forehead by his having the name of the Beast profess himself entirely to be his For that is done by receiving name from any other or the Number of his name i. e. after such a time at least that the Beast should have attain'd such a Number wholly resign to His Will which Number is set down in the next Verse and a Note prefixt to shew that 't will concern us to know when He arriv'd at this usurpt Power which the Holy Ghost had been describing And that as I before observed must be by looking back to the taking of Rome Anno 410 and from thence reckoning to 1076 the very point when as it hath been said Fire came down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of Men i. e. Gregory the 7th who presided in the Church or Heaven thundred out his Excommunication on the Earth or the Emperor and that in the most publick and solemn manner i. e. in the sight of men I could not well say less than I have on these Points and being by the discourse brought again to mention this great Epocha in the Reign of Antichrist I cannot but take notice that as the Holy Ghost here so manifestly directs us to it so other Writers and among them Baronius however in the dark as to this light that is here given us in it are not sparing to talk of the Power and Prevalency of Antichrist about this time The place in Baronius is Anno 1106 Quod vero pertinet ad Antichristum fuit quidem Opinio non vulgarium Virorum eum hoc fore saeculo revelandum inter alios Norberti viri temporis hujus fama Celeberrimi à quo id se audivisse testatur S. Bernardus Epistolâ ad Gausredum Carnotensem Episcopum The Report was so strong that Paschalis stopt his Journey upon it saith Baronius ibid. Paschalis Papa rogatus à Conventu Moguntino in Galliam Cisalpinam properare itineri se committens ob sparsam famam de proximo Antichristi Adventu Florentiae substitit And before Anno Christi nongentisimo Indictione tertia novum inchoatur saeculum quod sui Asperitate ac boni sterilitate ferreum malique exundantis deformitate plumbeum atque inopia Scriptorum appellari consuevit Obscurum And again 1001. Anno Christi millesimo primo quo novum saeculum inchoatum est c. 'T was the Opinion of some that Antichristus adveniret non longo post tempore Universale Judicium succederet and He saith the many Prodigies which happen'd the year before seemed to foretel it and then which I rather take notice of adds Sed ad ista credenda de Adventu Antichristi Fine mundi satis esse videbantur Romanae Ecclesiae tot saepe iterata a naufragia necnon Corruptio morum quam magnam valde in hoc tempore fuisse in hominibus praesertim Ecclesiasticis Glaber ea videns deplorat Insuper quod ferreum hoc Saeculum ob malorum excrescentiam Auctore Ditmaro diceretur revera esset quod videlicet ut ait Glaber deficeret Religiositas Pontificum marcesceret districtio regularis Abbatum simulque Monasterialis Disciplinae vigor tepesceret ac per illorum Exempla caetera plebs Mandatorum Dei praevaricatrix existeret And if not to depart from the Explication that is before given of those words in Rev. 13. 13. But only farther to illustrate the matter in hand we may understand the coming down of Fire from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of men in the sense our Lord speaks Luke 12. 49. of his coming to send fire on the Earth never was any Age in which it was so much kindled no time wherein what by the intemperate Heats between the Popes themselves as well as between them and the Emperors the World was in a greater Flame And if those of the Romish Church will give others leave to speak after them in this cause can there be any more memorable testimony than what we find to this purpose
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
one Hour with hers Rev. 18. 7 8 9 10. No stand as far off as you can for fear of her Torment hasten away hasten away that the Ruins of her Fall reach you not You see how certainly all is foretold you see how much of this is already begun what is behind for your Kingdoms and what should be more dear to you than your most glittering Crowns for you Souls sake dread and avoid But who can hope to be so happy as to be heard on this Subject when what is here written like the Religion she teaches must be to many of you in an unknown Language and were it worthy to speak in your several Tongues would be sure to find all the Tricks and little Policies of corrupt Courtiers imployed in keeping it from your Knowledge Every thing that is imaginable to bespeak your dislike both of Work and Author to be insinuated into your Royal Ears Is any thing that is new offered what a proper Topick is here to traduce the Man as one who is Forward Pragmatical and Self-conceited Is it deep and Mysterious How much better were it to let alone such unprofitable Speculations and not be over-busie in what our wiser Forefathers were content to be Modest and Ignorant Is it serious and doth he who presumes to Adress you bespeak your Royal Audience with the Sense of his greater Authority from whom he brings the Message is not this to make too bold with ones Superiours and exceed the limits of that Humility which becomes a dutiful Subject Is the Stile in which he writes grave and plain then shall all presently be dull and insipid not fit for a refined Courtier much less for a Prince to lose his time in Is it on the contrary what the most accurate Criticks cannot so easily carp at Is the Author in his Education and Studies one who hath had as great Advantages as others and hath endeavoured to imploy histime to as good purpose as the highest of their fine Wits Then much Learning shall have made Paul mad He is a little Cracked or Enthusiastical or any thing else that may blast an honest Man Or if his Fame be too clear to be directly struck at yet may he not be pitied to Death and out of pretence of high Compassion to a Man of such abilities may it not be represented as a great Vnhappiness that he should have made so ill a choice of his Subject to treat on That in any thing else he would have done better and how great a Misfortune it is that his Talent was not otherwise imployed Or if nothing else will murther his Reputation and neither he nor the Work be otherwise liable to Exceptions yet shall it not be whispered that he is none of Caesar's Friends That your Crowns and Royal Dignities themselves are not safe if it shall be allowed to every Pen to vent such Anti-monarchical Doctrines as have been brought into the World under the pretence of carrying on the Kingdom of Christ and advancing its Power and Triumphs Was not that the very Reason St. Chrysostom gives as is particularly observed p. 16. of this following Treatise why St. Paul speaks so Enigmatically and Obsourely of this Matter in his Epistle to the Thessalonians ch 2 2. v. 5 6 c. Why then should any be so Presumptuous to meddle with such great Mysteries Vnhappy Princes to be thus Treated and yet what Court almost is there or hath ever been where such base Whisperers and Parasites have not made up great part of the Attendants Vnhappy Princes too who must neither see with your own Eyes nor hear with your own Ears but are subject even in what is of highest moment to be misled by the slanders of those whose greatest Merit it is to depress such whose Sincerity and Plain-dealing aims at nothing so much as to establish you upon those Foundations which only can stand And were you at leisure to read all your respective Histories who in all Ages would be found to be the truest Friends to Monarchy those who flattered your Predecessors into Ruin or those who were so hardy as at their greatest Peril to endeavour to recover them from it Or if your great Affairs will not permit such a particular research let me have leave to give it you in an Instance out of that History which you are all concerned to be acquainted with it is that we have upon Sacred Record and in the Truth and Moral of it is beyond all Exception you have the relation of it Kings 1. 22. Ahab King of Israel and Jehoshaphat King of Judah were going out to Battle against the Syrians and Jehoshaphat said unto the King of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the Word of the Lord to Day Upon this the Prophets are gathered together about four hundred Men a full Convocation the question is put shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to Battel or shall I forbear and they said Go up for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the King only Micaiah hath no Summons sent him he had in all likelihood been traduced as one who favoured not the Royal Cause I hate him saith Ahab for he doth not Prophesy good concerning me but evil However at the Instance of Jehoshaphat he is sent for and what is the Issue at first he bids him too the Messenger sent for him had prepared him for it Go and Prosper but upon the King's adjuring that he tell nothing but what is true in the Name of the Lord he then plainly and honestly acquaints him with the danger is huffed for it by the Court Prophets imprisoned by the King and left there to expect the farther effects of his Displeasure when he should return in Peace he never returns in Peace but is slain to fulfil the Words of the honest Prophet he had disgraced Now who were here the most Loyal Those Prophets who said to Ahab go up to Ramoth-Gilead and prosper the words of whom declared good to the King with one Mouth and thereby betrayed him to the sad Fate which so soon overtook him 1 Kings 22. 12 13. Or Micaiah who shewed him Israel scattered upon the Hills as Sheep that had no Shepherd v. 17. Who shewed him the Lord sitting on his Throne and all the Host of Heaven standing by him on his Righthand and on his Left shewed him too leave given to the Lying Spirit to perswade him v. 18 19 20 21 22 23. Who I say of these were then most Loyal I wish it were not too much the Parallel of what seems to be doing in the World for is it not as may be seen in the Explication of the sixth Vial ch 16. p. 127 128. by the three unclean Spirits coming out of the Mouth of the Dragon of the Beast and false Prophet that the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World are to be gathered to the Battle of that great day of God Almighty to their Prince let the Issue speak who now
this saith he Daniel delivers with the greatest clearness 't is Dan. 7. in his Vision of the four Beasts where he tells us v. 8. that among the Ten Horns of the fourth Beast there was to come up another little Horn which is generally agreed to be understood of Antichrist before whom there were three of the first Horns pluckt up by the Roots and behold in this Horne were eyes like the eyes of a Man and a Mouth speaking great things see v. 24 25 ibid. I shall not heap up other Testimonies in this matter the Fathers generally concurring in this opinion of Antichrist's being to succeed to the destruction of the Roman Empire And Cornelius à Lapide in their names makes it the common sense they had of this place that Nero and the Roman Emperours were to with-hold and when they were taken out of the way tunc revelabitur ille iniquus Antichristus then should be revealed that wicked Antichrist on 2 Thessal 2. 6. Now that we may come a little closer to the Matter in hand When was that when was it the Roman Emperors were taken out of the way For if that be made out especially so as to point any thing near the time he mentions I suppose the Author will no longer look upon those 10 Centuries of Sleep and Corruption in the Church as he phrases it Pref. p. 5. to be no more than a Dream of the Reporters but both He and every serious Reader will be awaken'd to see thorow his Nubes Testium at least to own that there was such a Cloudy time such an Eclipse as his own Metaphor is Pref. p. 4. The Church was to suffer I do not say with him for 1000 Years neither more nor less but for a Period in which He and Those for whom He writes will be equally concern'd to free themselves from the charge of many Novelties When I say was it the Roman Emperors were taken out of the way And methinks it should not be difficult to answer the Query especially the Holy Ghost himself having in a manner herein expresly directed us 't is in the 13th of the Revelations v. 10. He that leadeth into Captivity shall go into Captivity He that killeth with the Sword shall be killed with the Sword And to make it the more remarkable he calls up our Attention with that Eminent Saying of our Lord so often made use of by Him in the Gospel when He had some great and notable Lesson to recommend to his Auditors If any man have an Ear let him hear v. 9 and closes it with no less a note of Attention in the following words Here is the Patience and the Faith of the Saints Now who was it who led into Captivity Was it not the Roman Empire that had enslaved the Nations round about Was it not the Roman Empire which had so insolently triumpht over the Christians and made them its Vassals Who was it was the great red Dragon having seven Heads and ten Horns which stood before the Woman cloathed with the Sun which was ready to be deliver'd for to devour her Child as soon as it was born Rev. 12. 1. 5. Was it not the Roman Empire whilst Heathen which by its furious Persecutions endeavour'd to root out Christianity So that 't is not to be doubted who is here to be understood by Him that leadeth into Captivity But then How is it He was led into Captivity Consult their own Annals and you have the Answer For Was not Rome taken first by Alaricus the Goth in the 410 th year after Christ and again in the year 455 by Gensericus Or If not the taking of Rome but the Captivity of the Empire it self be to be understood hereby when could this be better verlfied than when the Empire was torn in pieces and divided into several Kingdoms those ten Horns of which both Daniel and St. John speak by the Goths Vandals and Hunns And when happen'd that but in or about the same Period of 455 or 456 Now then if in either of these Periods viz. of 410 or 455 or thereabout we grant to be the time when He that led was taken out of the way it will unquestionably follow that 'T was then that wicked lawless One was revealed Then was the Birth of Antichrist i. e. of Him who was more eminently to be so Then the time from whence in such a Latitude may be dated that great Eclipse which the Church was to suffer And beginning with either of these we fall upon what in the Event will extremely well answer the Prediction For if we reckon from 410 then will 666 bring us to the Year 1076 which was the Fourth of Hildebrand or Gregory the Seventh who as 't is Rev. 13. 13. made fire to come down from Heaven on the Earth in the sight of Men i. e. as we shall afterwards shew it to be the sense of that Phrase so openly and solemnly Excommunicated the Emperor which if considered in all its Circumstances will be but too plain a Description of that Man of Sin and Son of Perdition who was to oppose and exalt Himself above all that is called God or that is worshipt so that He as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that He is God 2 Thessal 2. 3 4. For what is it to exalt Himself above all that is called God and that is worship but to assume to Himself an Authority over those Higher Powers which God hath ordained those Gods as Princes are stiled in Scripture Psal 82. 1. Joh. 10. 34 35 What as God to sit in the Temple of God shewing Himself that He is God but to take to Himself the Power of Saving or Damning men as He shall think fit to say that he cannot Err which is the Incommunicable Attribute of the divine Nature and arrogate the setting up one and pulling down another which can belong only to the Supreme Governour of the Universe where not to take notice of any thing done by Him before he was Pope by which as I may say He seemed but to be preparing himself for the great Service he was to do the Chruch when advanced to the Pontifical See his carriage in the difference between the Emperor and the Saxons is what I shall first pitch on wherein the Bishops revolting from the Emperor fly to Hildebrand present their Complaints against the Emperor the Pope greedily embraces the Quarrel and so far pursues it as to cite the Emperor to appear at Rome and in case of his refusal threatens Him Excommunication The Emperor terrified herewith sends his Ambassadors to divert Him from his resolution But contrary to the Law of Nations however Baronius labours to contradict this He Imprisons his Ambassadors and having almost destroyed them with Hunger Thirst and Cold sends them out of Rome with the greatest disgrace Upon this the Emperor calls a Council at Wormes and in return hereof cites Hildebrand to appear imagining the Pope to have been thereby
iniquis resisto Fidelibus autem praesto adsum auxilium fero Non enim libens volens hanc sedem conscendi sed invitus lachrymans quod me indignum judicabam qui tam in excelso throno sederem Haec autem dico quia non Ego Vos sed Vos me elegistis gravissimum pondus humeris nostris imposuistis In me autem vestro jusâ—u montem ipsum conscendentem clamantem annunciantem populis eorum scelera filis Ecclesiae peccata mèmbra Diaboli consurrexere ad Sanguinem usque manus suas in me conjecere Astiterunt enim Reges Terrae Principes seculi cum his conjurarunt Ecclesiastici quidam Vulgares in Dominum nos Christos ejus dicentes Dirumpamus vincula eorum projiciamus a nobis jugum ipsorum Hoc autem fecere ut me vel morte vel exilio mulctarent quorum de numero fuit Henricus quem Regem vocant Henricus inquam Henrici Imperatoris filius qui cornua calcem contra Ecclesiam Dei superbe nimium erexit facta conjuratione cum multis Episcopis Italici Germanici Gallicique nominis cujus superbiae vestra adhuc restitit Autoritas qui fractus potius quam ad sanitatem redactus ad me in Cisalpinam perveniens absolutionem Anathematis suppliciter quaesivit Hunc Ego quem ad poenitentiam venisse credideram in gratiam recepi huicque tantummodo communionem reddidi non tamen in Regnum e quo eum in Romana Synodo depuleram restitui nec Regni ut ad Fidem redirent concessi Hoc ideo feci ut si redire in gratiam cum finitimis suis quos semper vexaverat differret reddereque tum res Ecclesiasticas tum profanas ex foedere abnueret cogi ad Officium Execrationibus armis posset Hac opportunitate adjuti quidam Germaniae Episcopi Prineipes ab hac fera Bestia diu vexati in locum Henrici suis Flagitiis regno cadentis ducem suum Rodulphum deligunt qui regia modestia integritate usus statim nuncios ad me misit a quibus intelligerem se coactum regni gubernacula suscipere non esse tamen adeo regnandi cupidum ut non malit nobis quà m regnum pollicentibus obtemperare futurum se in Dei potestate semper ac nostra idque ut arbitremur nos facturum filios obsides pollicitus est Stomachari tum Henricus coepit nos primo quidem precari ut Rodolphum ab occupatione Regni execrationibus propelleremus Dixi me velle videre cui jus competeret eo missurum nuncios qui rem omnem resciscerent meque deinceps judicaturum Uter ipsorum in causa potior habendus esset Vetuit Henricus quo minus Rex a Legatis nostris decerneretur multosque tum Seculares tum Ecclesiasticos interfecit Ecclesias diripuit profanavit atque hoc modo Anathematis vinculis sese illigavit Hanc ob rem fidens in Dei Judicio Misericordia inque Patrocinio beatae Virginis fultus etiam autoritate vestra ipsum Henricum ejusque fautores vinculo Anathematis colligo atque iterum Regiam potestatem ei adimo interdicoque Christianis omnibus illo juramento absolutis quo fides Regibus dari consuevit ne Henrico ulla in re obtemperent Rudolphum in Regem suscipiant quem multi provinciae principes abrogato Henrico in Regem Optimum sibi delegere Eternim par est ut sicuti Henricus ob superbiam contumaciam facultatibus suis privatur ita Rudolphus omnibus gratus pro sua Pietate Religione regia dignitate potestate donetur Agite igitur Apostolorum Sanctissimi Principes quod dixi vestra autoritate interposita confirmate ut omnes nunc demum intelligant si potestis in coelo ligare solvere in terra quoque imperia regna principatus quicquid habere mortales possunt auferre dare non posse Si enim quae ad Deum pertinent judicare potestis quid de his inferioribus profanis censendum est Et si Angelos dominantes superbis principibus vestrum est judicare quid in servos illorum vos debet facere Ediscant nunc Reges hujus Exemplo omnes seculi principes quid in coelo possitis quantique apud Deum sitis ac deinceps timeant Sanctae Ecclesiae mandata contemnere Hoc autem judicium cito in Henricum exercete ut intelligant omnes iniquitatis filium non fortuito sed vestra opera è regno cadere Hoc tamen a vobis optaverim ut Poenitentia ductus in die judicii vestro rogatu gratiam a Domino consequatur O Blessed Peter Prince of the Apostles and Thou O Paul Doctor of the Gentiles afford to me your Ears a little I beseech you and mercifully hear me For ye are the Disciples and Lovers of Truth the things I shall speak are true This Cause I undertake for truth's sake that my Brethren whose Salvation I earnestly desire may be the better satisfied in their Obedience to me may know and understand that relying on your assistance next unto Christ and his Mother always a Virgin I resist the flagitious and unjust but that to the Faithful I am always ready to give aid For I did not by my own choice or willingly mount this Chair but unwillingly and with Tears because I judged my self unworthy to sit in this high Throne Now these things I say because I chose not you but ye have chosen me and laid this most heavy burden on our Shoulders However against me ascending to this high Place by your Command Proclaiming and telling their People their Wickedness and the Sons of the Church their Sins the Members of the Devil have risen up together and laid hands upon me to Murder me For the Kings of the Earth stood up and the Rulers of the World and with these some of the Churchmen and the People have conspired together against the Lord and against us his Christs saying Let us break their Bonds asunder and cast away their yoke from us and this they have done that they might bring us to Death or Banishment of which number was Henry whom they call King Henry I say Son of Henry the Emperor who hath too proudly lift up his horn and heel against the Church of God entring into Conspiracy with many Bishops of Italy Germany and France whose Pride hitherto your Authority hath resisted who being broken rather than restor'd to a sound Mind coming to me on this side the Alps humbly begged Absolution from Excommunication Him whom I believ'd to have come Penitent I have receiv'd into favour restored to Him Communion but not his Kingdom from which I had deposed Him in a Synod held at Rome nor did I grant leave to the Tributaries of the Kingdom to return to their Fealty This I therefore did that if he should delay to be reconciled to his Neighbours whom He had aggriev'd and should
refuse to restore both their Ecclesiastical and Civil Rights He might by Execrations or Censures and Arms be compelled to his Duty Being assisted by this Opportunity some Bishops and Princes of Germany who had been long aggrieved by this wild Beast into the place of Henry who by his great wickedness and forseited the Kingdom chose Duke Rodulphus who with that modesty and integrity which becomes a King forthwith sent Messengers to me by whom I might understand that He was forced to undertake the Government of the Kingdom but however that He was not so desirous of Reigning but that he had rather obey us than those who had promised the Kingdom that He would be always in the Power of God and us and that we might believe that He will do this hath promised to give his Sons Hostages At this Henry began to be incens'd and to beseech us at first that by * * Banning Cursings we would hinder Rudolphus from seizing the Kingdom I said I would see to whom the Right belonged and for that Reason would send Messengers who should take Cognizance of the whole Affair and would judge thereupon whether of them had the better Cause Henry forbad that our Messengers should declare him King and slew many of the Clergy and Laity Robbed and Profaned several Churches and by this means bound himself the faster with the Bonds of an Anathema or Excommunication denounced against him Wherefore trusting in the Judgment and Mercy of God and the Patronage of the Blessed Virgin and supported also with your Authority Henry himself and his Abettors do I bind with the Bonds of an Anathema and the second time deprive him of Royal Authority and forbid all Christians absolved of that Oath whereby Fealty is used to be Sworn to Kings in any thing to obey Henry and that they accept Rudolphus for King whom many of the Princes of the Province or Empire rejecting Henry have chosen to be their good King For 't is fit that as Henry for his Pride and contumacy is deprived of all his Privileges so Rudolphus who is acceptable to all should for his Piety and Religion be endowed with Royal Dignity and Power Go to now therefore ye most most Holy Princes of the Apostles and what I have said interpose your Authority to confirm that all men at length may understand whether you can bind and loose in Heaven and also on Earth are not able to take away or give Empires Kingdoms Principalities or whatever else mortal Men can enjoy For it ye can judge those things which belong to God what are we to think of inferiour and profane things It it belongs to you to judge the Angels who rule over proud Princes what doth it become you to do to their Servants Let Kings and all the Princes of the World now learn by the Example of this Henry what your Power is in Heaven and how great you are with God and let them hereafter dread to contemn the Commands of Holy Church And this Sentence forthwith execute ye on Henry that all may know that 't is not by mere chance but through your Assistance that the Son of Iniquity hath fallen from the Kingdom Only this I would request from you that being led to Repentance He may through your intercession obtain Grace in the Day of Judgment And now And now Whether this be not to have a Mouth speaking great things and Blasphemies Whether this be not to speak as a Dragon let the World judge Nay I was going to say the World hath already judged it For so Aventinus tells us l. 5. p. 352. Annal. Boior that upon this and the great outrages thereon committed by Rudolphus and his Adherents most Men openly as well as privately began to cry out against so great a Villany in publick to curse Gregory and wish all Mischief to this Hildebrand publishing that 't was out of Malice and an intemperate lusting after Rule that he was thus hurried on Headlong and declaring him to be Antichrist Nay farther yet He hath herein judged Himself For was it not hereupon that He undertook to foretel that before the Feast of St. Peter and he did all He could to verifie what he had foretold by tampering with Assassines to murder him Henry should die or lose his Kingdom this He did publickly in a Sermon to the people ascending the Pulpit of St. Peter's and in his Pontifical Habit adding that He would no longer be accounted Pope if this Prophecy should fail as Benno is cited to attest it Histor Magd. Cent. 11. cap. 8. p. 435. Shew any thing like this in any other History whether Civil or Ecclesiastical besides that of Rome and we will give up the Cause and allow any to be Antichrist besides Him whom this concerns we will strike Hildebrand out of the List and He shall not be so much as thought of neither He nor any of his Proud Successors in the day when Babylon is to come into remembrance Rev. 16. 19. It may seem a long Digression what we have here run but it being of so high import towards the clearing up so great a part of the Book of the Revelation as what relates to Antichrist in his Rise Progress and full Growth is I could not well pass by what is here said of Hildebrand especially considering How at the same time that we erre no longer in the Person 't is decreed by the third Roman Council under Him Ut Papae nomen Unicum esset in Universo orbe Christiano nec liceret alicui seipsum vel alium eo nomine appellare that there should be but one who should have the Name of POPE in the whole Christian World and that it should not be lawful for any other to call himself or any one else by that Name so then here 's the mark of the Beast the Name and Number of his Name all concurring in One Anno 1076. For then it was viz. in the same Council in which Hildebrand and depos'd the Emperor that this Name was thus appropriated to the Bishop of Rome As Longus à Coriolano relates p. 317. And 't is very observable what we meet with to this purpose in Aventinus Annal. Boior l. 7. p. 420 421. where the Covetousness Luxury Strife Hatred Envy Ambition c. of the Romish Chair is most highly inveighed against in opposition to the Humility Meekness Patience Charity which the great Shepherd of our Souls gave as the Rules of his Religion and was Himself the great Pattern of them And in particular this Hildebrand of whom we have been speaking is pitcht upon as most guilty of the contrary Vices and that under the express stile of Antichrist the Person who there charges Him is the Chief Priest of Juvavia his words are Hildebrandus ante annos centum atque septuaginta primus specie Religionis Antichristi imperii fundamenta jecit Hoc bellum nefandum speaking of what opposition the Emperors had constantly found from the Popes after
pain for grief and Vexation that all they can say in the defence of their Superstition and Idolatry will never be able to silence Truth Let them do all they can to hold the World in Darkness still by the denying them the use of Scripture but the Day is dawned and the Light is broken forth and will dazzle the Eyes of those Bats and Owls who so much fly from it The Knowledge of God's Word blessed be his holy Name for it will not suffer Men to be so Blind as to be led any longer by such dark Guides let them seeing it is their black doom so to do Blaspheme the God of Heaven let them continue in their Impenitency and not repent of their Deeds but that God whom they Blaspheme is able to recover his own Glory and will give them but too too long a day to repent when they who have so much laboured to support their Kingdom by it shall themselves be reserved in Everlasting Chains of Darkness CHAP. XVI Of the sixth Vial Rev. 16. 12 13 14 15 16. AND the sixth 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 East might be prepared And I saw three unclean Spirits like Frogs come out of the Mouth of the Dragon and out of the Mouth of the Beast and out of the Mouth of the false Prophet For they are the Spirits of Devils working Miracles which go forth unto the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World to gather them to the Battle of that great Day of God Almighty Behold I come as a Thief blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his Garments lest he walk naked and they see his Shame And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew Tongue Amageddon This Vial contains a great variety of matter and Subjects to whom it relates and seems to point at Events which concern not only the fall of Antichrist under the restriction we have hitherto been speaking of him but of all others though not so precisely under that Denomination who with him rise up against the Lord and his Anointed Psal 2. 2. And 't is but necessary we should have this notion of it the business of this Vial being to usher in the Kingdom of Christ on Earth i. e. To open a way for the Return of the Jews and the fulness of the Gentiles which is what that Kingdom will consist in And if so it cannot be imagined how there should be any left to oppose the Purity of the Christian Religion which will be the great Glory of our Lords Reign any of his Enemies remain who shall not be destroyed That indeed his Enemies shall be willing to make a push for it to make their last attempt against his Power is scarce to be doubted for if as it is in the former Vial they repent not after all his Plagues of their Deeds what can be expected but that their Impenitency will hide the things that belong to their Peace from their Eyes and they will use all endeavours to assert their unrighteous Cause What can be expected but that they will band and league together to oppose their common Enemy or if they band not if they enter not into common Leagues and Alliances to this purpose if they continue still at a distance and Enemies to one another yet that they will all conspire in the same Malice against Christ i. e. That the Dragon the Beast and false Prophet will all unite in the common cause of Hell and gather themselves together to the Battle of that great day of God Almighty Such is the precipitate Malice such the blind Envy such the unaccountable Despair of the Devil and his wicked Instruments that though they are certain nothing but ruin can be the Consequence they cannot deny themselves the satisfaction of the attempt Lucifer under whom they have listed will ascend and be like the most high will in his boundless Pride and Ambition be aspiring to set himself above God although he thereby be but preparing his own Hell and fitting himself for everlusting Chains of Darkness But then Chains and Darkness will be their Lot Ruin and Destruction will attend all their Enterprises and that in the Extent Manner and Circumstances of it is what is here more particularly to be considered Now that I shall do in the Method the Vial is delivered 1. I shall consider what is to be understood by the great River Euphrates and the water thereof and how that is to be dried up 2. What by the way of the Kings of the East to be prepared and how the drying up of the Water of the great River Euphrates will prepare their way 3. What is to be meant by the three unclean Spirits like Frogs coming out of the Mouth of the Dragon and out of the Mouth of the Beast and out of the Mouth of the false Prophet 4. Why Christ is said to come as a Thief at this time and to declare those Blessed that shall then Watch 5. The turn he shall give to Affairs in gathering them into a place called in the Hebrew Tongue Amageddon 1. What is to be understood by the great River Euphrates and the Water thereof and how that is to be dried up Euphrates may be taken either literally or in a figurative sense either for the River it self and its Waters in the common Notion we have of these or for those who are Borderers on it and it is the stile the Holy Ghost makes use of Rev. 17. 15. to express Peoples Multitudes Nations and Tongues by Waters If in the first sense we take this viz. For the River it self and its Waters in the common notion we have of these then the drying up the Water thereof under this Vial will be either like what happened in the drying up the Red-Sea for the Children of Israel to pass through it towards Canaan or what hath already happened to Euphrates it self at the taking of Babylon by Cyrus who made wide and deep Trenches whereby to divert it Streams and so came upon that City unawares in the night of their solemn Feast the same Stratagem by which Semiramis and Alexander are likewise reported to have taken it as Frontinus relates l. 3. c. 7. i. e. This will be Either By Miracle God immediately interposing as he then did for the deliverance of his People the same People of Israel as we shall afterwards shew for whom he wrought the former Miracle and in order to his bringing them into the same Canaan or Land of Promise Or By some artificial Stratagem whereby they shall be enabled to open to themselves a passage thorow it But if in the latter Sense Euphrates and its Waters are to be taken viz. for those who are Borderers on or Inhabitants near or about it Then The drying up the Water thereof will be causing the People who thus inhabit or border on or about it like
if it be said of the first of these Beasts that the Dragon gave him his Power and his Seat and great Authority verse 2. as we just now observed 't is said of the other Beast that he spake as the Dragon But that the name of Dragon for so I suppose it to be in this Vial is here given to the one and not to the other I am apt to think may be from the different Grounds on which they act the former Beast i. e. The Emperor standing upon the same Foundation and exercising the same sort of Power that the former Emperors or whatever other his Predecessors did i. e. what is properly Civil The other Beast pretending his title from Religion the title he holds under Christ as his immediate Vicar on Earth said therefore to have two Horns like a Lamb And therefore where they come to be distinctly spoken of as I presume them to be in this Vial the Name of Dragon the common Emblem of the whole Roman Power is given to the one that of Beast for the Dragon he cannot be properly speaking because at the most he is but one of his seven Heads aâ—d that under another Capacity than the others are as pretending to hold from Christ for other ends and purposes than the other Heads received their Power to the Other The first is the Beast too ver 1. But the Beast that was to be as it were wounded to Death and ever after not to live but in that Image this other Beast should give him ver 15. And therefore more eminently may this Beast which gave the other that Life it hath be stiled the Beast as 't is in the following part of this whole Book of the Revelation Distinct indeed they are in all their Actings and therefore may very well be distinctly spoken of the first Beast i. e. The Emperor in the Exercise of Civil Power as he now enjoins it for his distinguishing Character be very well remitted to what the Holy-Ghost makes the common Stile of all the seven Heads or forms of Government in the whole time of the Roman Power i. e. The stile of Dragon the other Beast i. e. the Pope for his Usurpations over the Civil Powers with that Jurisdiction he exercises over them as well as others and that dependance they have on him more eminently and solitarily be said to be the Beast So then by this time it will not be difficult to apprehend whom we are to understand by the Dragon and the Beast Not so much the Old Serpent the Devil or Satan himself as those who act under him The one the more directly under the Relation of a Dragon as to him he the Dragon so expresly is said to give his Power the other under the stile of Beast as it is more particularly ascribed to him that came up out of the Earth i. e. As is before shewed at large as he was to usurp upon the former and come up upon the Ruins of the Empire And this as a Lamb though in the Event he should shew himself to act as a Dragon Which being granted the only difficulty will be whom we are to understand by the false Prophet Whether the deluding Spirit by which these Acted those false Teachers and Seducers which act with or under them or some other Person or state of Men distinct from both And for my part I am inclined to think it must be some third Person or State distinct from the two other For I cannot be of their Opinion who make the Dragon and Beast and false Prophet to be the same no more than I can the three unclean Spirits which come out of their Mouths to be one which being in it self a Contradiction I hope it will not be accounted one to distinguish them But who then shall be this false Prophet Who indeed but he who hath falsly arrogated it to himself Mahomet I mean who is known to have assumed it and it is always given him by his Followers and that in preference to Christ himself the great Prophet of his Church and he who was promised under that Name Deuter. 18. 18. Besides it is a Stile the Dragon and Beast Emperor and Pope let me now call them never assumed And I cannot see why this should not be admitted here if we observe either where the Vial is said to be poured out viz. on Euphrates in which the Turks or Mahometans are so much concerned as is at large shewed in this Chapter and what the work assigned to the three unclean Spirits is viz. To go forth unto the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World a larger district than is any where given to the Roman Empire alone to gather them to the Battle of that great Day of God Almighty 'T is true indeed that the false Prophet afterwards viz. Revel 19. 20. and Revel 20. 10. is a stile under which Antichrist is expressed but then 't is to distinguish him from the Beast not to make him the same with him as also to shew how it was the Beast or Roman Empire was deceived by him as he was a false Prophet in the Doctrines he taught and the Miracles whereby he pretended to confirm the same and what was the consequence thereof that the Deceiver and deceived were to perish together Indeed I can scarce forbear to conjecture at least that this Vial looks farther than is yet exprest for when we have given the utmost Extent we can to the Roman and Mahometan Empires they will come very much short of what is set down here I mean the Kings of the Earth and the whole World which is of too wide a compass to be contained in either of the former Only the Dragon the old Serpent or Satan who is called the God of this World and is most properly so in those places where their Jurisdictions do not reach for it is there to this day the Devil is professedly Worshipped at least he is so in some parts of the Pagan VVorld in the extent of his Territories will take in the whole And I would be willing to hope that the Day is coming when there shall be an end put to such his Usurpations I would hope at the end of this Vial to see the Jews in their Return and the fulness of the Gentiles coming in I would hope to see it is an Event methinks but agreeable to the Battle of that great Day of God Almighty our Lord taking to himself his great Power and Reigning Rev. 11. 17. Or as it is Psal 2. 8. 9. Asserting to himself the Heathen for his Inheritance and the uttermost parts of the Earth for his Possession breaking them with a Rod of Iron and dashing them in pieces like a Potters Vessel And that such a time seems to be at hand will appear by that time we shall have gone though this Vial. This as to the first of these Questions viz. VVhat we are to understand by the Dragon Beast and false Prophet 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.
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
Passion and Interest and avoid the Censure and Prejudices which have usually attended those who have hitherto though with ever so great Care and Industry Fidelity and Piety ingaged in the same undertaking and as he wholly depends upon Thee O Blessed Father Son and Holy-Ghost O most mysterious and adorable Vnity in Trinity Trinity in Vnity whose Nature and Ways are unsearchahle Let him accordingly meet with that success which may make it appear that that blessed Spirit who was promised to guide the Disciples into all Truth and shew them things to come John 16 13. first inspired thy unworthy Servant and moved him to so holy a Work in the discharge whereof to thee O Father Son and Holy Ghost be Praise Glory and Honour to thy distressed Church the use and benefit of what Thou shalt instruct me to deliver and to thy poor Servant Comfort and sure confiderce of thy Assistance and Direction through Jesus Christ my Lord Amen Amen What here follows is the Copy of a Dedication written to the King on the occasion of what is now Published it being written on the same Page with the Prayer above 't is thought fit to add it here without altering it in any thing from what it is in the Manuscript To the K. Octob. 9. 1686. SIRE THE final Ruin of Antichrist is at hand it will not be many Tears before this will he fully compleated it will begin in a very short time the Pope is the great Antichrist the power of the Papacy his Antichristian Kingdom I do not say how this shall be accomplished whether by Noise Confusion and Violence or by the Spirit of the Lord working in the Hearts of Kings and Princes to take away the Power they have so long given to the Beast or by a general Conversion of the Heathen World and coming in of the Jews all conspiring towards the overthrow of Superstition and Idolatry and making Way for the true Kingdom of Christ on Earth in that universal Piety and Holiness which shall prevail throughout the World only that this shall be and that the time is at hand is what I think I can by God's Assistance demonstrate I most dutifully premonish and in the Name of Christ beseech your Majesty not to be found in the RVINS OF ANTICHRIST or to share in his Plagues Your most Dutiful W. Sire As you value either a Temporal or Eternal an Earthly or Heavenly Crown despise not the Warning Let not the Drolls of the Ignorant or Prophane rob you of the Price put in your hand to get Wisdom Prov. 17. 16. FINIS This refers to Page 151. l. 7. And in the Preface to page 15. l. 4. LEst there should be any Mistake about the Period fixt for the Fall of Antichrist which in the Preface p. 15. l. 4. is said to be in the latter end of 1696 or the middle of 1697 whereas p. 151 there is but one of those numbers mentioned viz. 1696 and the other supposed in the different Calculation it is thought fit here for the clearing of both to add the Calculations from whence those Numbers arise which are thus 1260 Days or Years are assigned for the Reign of Antichrist which beginning at 455 after Christ the time upon so many accounts fixed for it as is at large there discoursed gives us 1715 and the odd Days Hours and Minutes in 1260 for that is the number from whence the abatement must be made it being only of that Period the Holy-Ghost so often speaks under the different Measures give us in the whole 18 years and 125 days 9 hours i. e. five days to be taken from every year will in in 1260 years give us 17 years and an half and 5 hours taken like manner out of the said 1260 will make 262 days 12 hours and then for the 49 minutes to be also thus taken out those in 1260 years amount to 42 days and 21 hours For 49 minutes multiplied by 1260 give for the whole number of Minutes 61740 which divided by 60 for hours give 1029 hours and that again by 24 for days gives 42 days 21 hours Now out of 1715 take 18 years and 125 days and 9 hours and that will throw it back to the latter end of 1696 i. e. 125 days and 9 hours in that year which generally speaking I say to be about the later end of that year Not that for the Reasons there mentioned and those p. 146. I would presume so to fix this in a Point as not to allow a great Latitude for the completion of such Predictions which number is to be taken the event must shew and when that comes that will regulate all our Chronology but that it lies within the compass of the numbers there offered I cannot have the least Scruple God Almighty clear up the Minds and Eyes of Men to wait for behold and adore his wonderful Works for I cannot but add it again BEHOLD I COME AS A THIEF The Translation of the Manuscript p. 49. c. is as here follows THIS Book is dated in the Year 1120 and the Title that is prefixed to the Treatise of Antichrist is this As the Smoak goes before the Fire as the Battle before the Victory so the Temptation of Antichrist goes before Glory and then the Book it self follows thus Who Antichrist is Antichrist is the falshood of Eternal Damnation covered with the appearance of Truth and of the Righteousness of Christ and his Spouse Opposed in like manner to the way of Truth of Justice of Faith of Hope of Charity and to a moral Life and the ministerial truth of the Church 't is menaged by false Apostles and most obstinately maintained on all hands Or else Antichrist is a Cheat which hides the Truth of Salvation both in Substantial and Ministerial Matters or else is a fraudulent opposing of Christ and his Spouse and every faithful Member And so it is not any particular Person set in any Degree Office or Ministry i. e. commonly so considered but it is the same falshood opposed to Truth which is covered with and makes shew of Beauty and Piety out of the Church of Christ as in certain Names Offices Scriptures Sacraments and in many other things which sort of Iniquity with its Ministers great and small and all those who with a wicked and blind Heart follow them His names such a Congregation taken together is called Antichrist or Babylon or the fourth Beast or Where or the Man of Sin and Son of Perdition His Ministers are called False Prophets Lyars Ministers of Darkness the Spirit of Error the Where in the Revelation the Mother of Fornication Clouds without Water Autumnal Trees dead and twice pulled up by the Root Waters of the cruel Sea Wandring Stars Balaamites and Egyptians Why called Antichrist He is called Antichrist because being covered and decked with the Livery of Christ and of his Church and of his faithful Members he acts contrary to the Salvation wrought by Christ and truly administred