according to the sense of all Interpreters on that place of the Apocalypse and the thing is evident from the Text it self But how like to this description of Christ in the Apocalypse this of the Angel here appearing to Daniel is I shall take notice in my exposition of the Vision I will only observe for the present that there being so pompous an Introduction to the Vision of the Scripture of Truth which reaches from the times of the Persian Empire to the end of the World that there must be most remarkable matters revealed therein such as concern not only the Iews but the Christian Church as well as them or else the Gate will be too big for the City 1. In the Third year of Cyrus King of Persia * namely in the Third year of the Persian Monarchy begun upon the death of Darius the Mede who immediately succeeded Belshazzar the Grand-child of Nebuchadnezzar A thing was revealed unto Daniel whose name was called Belteshazzar There are Three names that occurr in Daniel that sound like one another in the Hebrew but are not the same The first is of the Grand-child of Nebuchadnezzar called Belshazzar in the Hebrew it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is compounded of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies Thesaurum colligere where Grotius interprets it Belus est cujus opes q. d. In Beli potestate sunt opes imperia The other two names in Hebrew belong both to Daniel and have a distinction in writing and signification but they are writ alike in the English viz. Belteshazzar and so other languages make no discrimination But here in the Hebrew the name that was given to Daniel by Ashpenaz the Prince of the Eunuchs is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Iunius in Gregorius Gregorii his Lexicon sanctum interprets Beli abdita thesaurizans from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 absconditum though with something an hard Hypallage and from the Pronoun 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is thesaurizare Which sounds as if they would make Daniel Arcanorum Beli thesaurarium the Treasurer of the Secrets of Belus understanding thereby the God of the Babylonians which new name partly because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of a large and indifferent signification and may signify simply Dominus and partly because he could not help it he bore as well as he could But here in this Vision there is a variation of the writing and it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being put before 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence Grotius would have it to signify as if it were compounded of these parts of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Preposition and Noun put together will signifie latenter and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ignis and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hostis Latenter ignis hosticus And Daniel calls himself so says he signifying that thereby what he had predicted did suddenly and unexpectedly come to pass upon the Babylonians But yet though he a little changed the writing of his name the sound being so near that which was given him by Ahpenaz Master of the Eunuchs he thought fit to record it here as well as his own genuine name Daniel which by long disuse in those parts was in a manner buried in oblivion and therefore he thought requisite to record this more known name of his that it might be more certain to those Nations that this was his Prophecy To this sense Calvin writes upon the place But indulging to a little liberty and putting 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Belteshazzar may signify Homo host is in abscondito whereby Daniel cries quits with them For when they would have besmeared him with the name of their Idol Bel as if he were a professed Client of his this little change of the name declares himself to be inwardly a downright enemy to the Babylonish Idolatry though always a faithfull subject to the Kings of Babylon as all good men are to their Princes be they of what Religion they will though they never close with the palpable erours and gross mispractices therein And the thing was true that is to say the matter that was communicated unto him was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chidah a prophetick Parable or Aenigm such as was communicated hitherto unto him under the Types or Figures of an Image of various Metalls and of severally shaped Beasts and therefore wanted an interpretation but it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Emeth a matter declared plainly and apertly without any such Riddles or figurative Involutions But the time appointed was long that is this clear and plain Prophecy or Vision of the Scripture of Truth without any Aenigmatical shadows which begins at the next Chapter and reaches to the end of Daniel comprehends a long extent of time even from the beginning of the Persian Empire to the end of the World or Conflagration as is exprest in the Apocalypse And he understood the thing and had understanding of the Uision that is he understood the aforesaid Prophecy of the Scripture of truth for Vision is here as much as Prophecy as I noted above it wanting no Interpretation as those Aenigmatical Prophecies did This further confirms that that passage and the thing was true is to be understood as I have expounded it viz. that the matter was plainly delivered without any Aenigmatical Figure or Symbols of Beasts or Statues as in the former Prophecies Otherwise if and the thing was true should be understood in that other sense as opposed to False it would imply that the foregoing Visions were not true than which nothing can be more false or absurd 2. In those days i.e. On a certain time in that Third year of Cyrus King of Persia after the adversaries of the Iews notwithstanding the gracious Decree of Cyrus had so prevailed with Caâ—…byses his Son his Father being busy in a foreign War against the Scythians and others as to hinder the building of the Temple as it is recorded in Ezra Ch. 4. That they hired Counsellers against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus King of Persia. I Daniel was mourning thrée full Wéeks And the reason thereof I have already specified the Hebrew has it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Three Weeks of days in counter-distinction to the Seventy Weeks in the foregoing Prophecy which signify Weeks of years that when in any Prophecy it self of Daniel Years or Weeks or Days are mentioned and nothing intimated to the contrary it may be presently taken for granted that it is to be understood of Prophetical Years Weeks and Days Which being an observable Rule in Daniel the putting days for years can bring no obscurity on the Prophecy
rather Superstition as whose very nature is to abuse that Religious inclination in humane Souls by making them swattle away their love and zeal upon false objects and to spend their obedience on the vain inventions of men by making them rely on the falsly supposed merits of Saints and to depend upon the person and Trumperies of an ignorant or deceitful Priest instead of having their sure repose in the richness of the mercy of God through Christ Iesus our Lord. To whom if we be immediately united by faith and love and shew our love by endeavouring sincerely to our power to keep His commandments this is the plain and compendious way to salvation All other Interposals of humane invention are but distractions and obstacles thereto and wicked elusions of the power and comfort of the Gospel of our Lord Iesus This seems to be the sound and savoury sense of the Homilies of the Church of England and that in opposition to that Aegyptian servitude and vile bondage that Gods people were held in under the Church of Rome And certainly it must have been a most loathsome slavery and a sight intolerable to as many as whose eyes God had opened to see the whole scope of the Gospel thus â—…luded for filthy lucre's sake by the wretched inventâ—â—ns of men besides the sordidness and foulness of 〈◊〉 intermingled therewith Which made the sâ—…ate of that Church intolerable to as many as God had visited with his saving grace and had made to understand this mystery of Iniquity by the illumination of his holy Spirit insomuch that it was more tolerable to them to quit this world and life itself than to comply with such horrid Impieties How can we then whom God long since has delivered out of this vile bondage and have sung that Triumphal Song of Moses and the Lamb return again into Sodom and Aegypt How can we desert a Religion to the Witnesses whereof God has given so ample a witness in that blessed and Apostolick Reformation in raising them from the dead after three days and an half according to prediction and calling them up into the Political Heavens and setting them to rule in high places How can we return like a dog to his vomit to a vomit cast out and lying so long time cold and sour in the dirt and mire a vomit cast out as nauseous to all that is sound or sacred in the faculties of a man Nauseous to the outward senses and inward senses Nauseous to common Reason Nauseous to the principles of Logick and all sound Philosophy so nauseous to all these was that figment of Transubstantiation forged for the gain and honour of the Priesthood but quite repugnant to all the abovesaid faculties of man and nauseous to all common honesty and modesty to obtrude such an impossible fiction upon deluded people and to make them profess it whether they will or no for fear of being cruelly and barbarously murdered which must be exceeding nauseous to all such as have but the least sense of Iustice or humanity remaining in them How shall we again incorporate with that Church whom the Spirit of God has so plainly as well as the Homilies of our Church of England declared to be the Whore of Babylon May we take the Members of Christ and make them the members of an Harlot How shall we forsake the Kingdome of Christ and make our selves subjects of the Popedome which out of St. John and the Prophet Daniel to say nothing of St. Paul three sufficient Witnesses I trow to put an end to this controversy is most evident to be the Kingdome of Antichrist If treason and rebellion against an earthly Prince be so hainous a crime as most certainly it is what a crime is rebellion and treason against him who is assuredly King of Kings and Lord of Lords even the Lord Christ Iesus And lastly How can we turn our backs of a Religion unless we will wilfully run into eternal perdition that has all the assurance of truth against that of the Church of Rome that the heart of man can wish or his curiosity require Is the vote of Primitive antiquity of any value that stands for us the Church for the first four hundred years being the very platform of our Reformation Has Sense common Reason the Rudiments of Logick the sound Principles of Philosophy any weight with them all these assuredly witness for us against the impossible figments and fond forgeries of the Church of Rome Has Morality and indispensable Principles of common Honesty which the pretence of no Religion ought in any wise to deface Has the eternal law of God and Nature implanted in our hearts any right to be appealed to we right willingly appeal to it how innocent the Form of our Religion is as to this and how foul and obnoxious will be found the Principles of the Papacy And finally has the attestation of Scripture and bloud of Martyrs some hundred thousands of innocent and holy Souls burnt and massacred by these Antichristian Persecutors have such serious Testimonies any force with them then have we even a cloud of Witnesses in the behalf of the Truth of our Reformed Religion against the impious corruptions of the Church of Rome The plain places of Scripture expresly condemn the worship of Images the praying in an unknown tongue the communicating but in one kind and the like And the Prophecies do not onely declare the Church of Rome to be the Whore of Babylon and the Pope Antichrist but those that professed the faith of the Reformed Churches to be the Witnesses to be the Martyrs of Iesus and the Saints of the most High Such a Seal is there set to the truth of the profession of the Reformed Religion against the enormous corruptions of Popery even by the bloud of infinite numbers of the serious and faithful servants of our Lord Christ that I may not say even by the bloud of Christ himself Who gave himself and shed his most precious bloud on the cross for his Church that he might sanctify it and cleanse it as with the washing of water by the word of God and the Pope keeps the word of God from the knowledge of the people that they may wallow in the black mire of ignorance and the filth of Idolatry for the gain of Holy Church Christ the true Bridegroom gave himself for his Church that he might present it to himself a glorious Church most illustriously shining forth in the fruits of the Spirit and the works of real Righteousness declared in the Gospel But the Pope blasphemously arrogating that Title of Sponsus Ecclesiae to himself has debauched the Church not presenting it a glorious Church to Christ her true Husband but in a whorish pompous dress contrary to the Christian mans very promise in Baptism to forsake the pomps and vanities of this wicked world presents it to himself a garisâ—… gorgeous Idolatrous Church for the satisfaction of his own pride and lust And whenas
very bad sighted that does not plainly perceive the said Empire to be the Greek or Macedonick 7. After this I saw in the night Uisions In this Divine or supernatural Dream communicated to me from God And behold a Fourth Beast that is A Fourth Empire and particularly the Roman For what Empire should succeed the Greek or Macedonick Empire but the Roman that vanquished it as the Greek the Persian and the Persian the Babylonian That this Fourth Beast or Fourth Empire is the Roman Empire I have so fully and evidently demonstrated against Grotius in my Synopsis Prophetica Book 2. Ch. 13. that no rational man I think if he read considerately what I have written can ever for the future doubt thereof And how suitable the description is in the Vision all along we shall now see Dreadfull and terrible and strong excéedingly and it had great Iron téeth As this Fourth Kingdom is also represented in the Vision of the Image by the Iron Legs thereof to which you may also refer that it is said here to be strong exceedingly For so is that Metal And the courage cruelty and exceeding largeness of the Roman Empire must needs make it dreadfull and terrible Which some conceive it to have been in so great a measure as no one wild Beast could be a sufficient Symbol to set off the terrible cruelty thereof Amongst othâ—â— Specimens of which that bloudy and salvage Peâ—â—eution First of the Pagan Roman Empire againâ—â— the Primitive Christians and then of the Pagano-Christian against the Waldenses and Albigenses and innumerable others that professed and stuck to the pure Christian Faith is astonishing and ineffable and exceeding the Salvageness of any wild Beast whatsoever that we may not want a reason why this Fourth Beast is without Name It devoured and brake in pieces and stamped the residue with the Féâ—…t of it that is The Romans subdued and brought under many Kingdoms and Nations devoured their Wealth and incorporated them into their Empire and whom they could not so perfectly subdue yet they harassed their Countries and by inriching some of their Clients by giving others Lands or Revenues to them they trampled upon those whom they could not so perfectly devour and digest into the body of their Empire Illa igitur astuta liberalitas says Calvin vocatur conculcatio quòd Residuum quia scilicet non poterant vorare absumere suis dentibus pedibus suis calcarent See Calvin upon the place And it was diverse from all the Beasts that went before it Forasmuch as they being absolute Monarchies this Fourth Beast consisted of Two Consuls and a Senate Dictators also were sometimes chosen and in after times of a Mingle-mangle of Popes and Emperors c. And it had Ten Horns answering to the Ten Toes of the Iron Legs of the Image that is to say This Roman Empire was at last divided into Ten Kingdoms as the Greek Empire was into Four That these Ten Horns belong to the Roman Empire Grotius himself is fain to acknowledge in his Commentary on the Apocalypse though with might and main he endeavours to distort and obscure the sense of that Book to the utmost he can But by Virtue of the Apocalyptick Synchronisms and the clear and undeniable sense of the Seventeenth Chapter of that Book these Ten Horns must be the Roman Empire divided into Ten Kingdoms after the Empire became Christian and was beginning to Pagano-Christianize and grow Idolatrous again This therefore is the time and there the Ten Horns of the Beast 8. I considered the Horns Which is said by Daniel to excite us to a close consideration of these Horns to see what we can espy there And behold there came up among them another little Horn. And this more especially was the object of Daniel's and ought to be of our consideration what this little Horn that is said to be another Horn among them indeed but distinct from them may mean This little Horn therefore is an Additional to the Ten Horns here as the Two-horned Beast and the Whore are Additionals to the Ten-horned Beast Apoc. Ch. 13. and 7. Which most peculiarly is the Papal Polity or Hierarchy Now let us see how this suits with the Text. Before whom there were thrée of the First namely of the First Kind and First mentioned viz. Secular Horns pluckâ—… up by the roots Vatablus his Translation has it out of the Chaldee Tria autem ex cornibus prioribus evulsa sunt à facie ejus Whereby is signified only the removal from before his Face they stood in his light it seems Whereas they would have or had fixed themselves so near him to his prejudice he made shift to get them pull'd away But this you must conceive could not be till the Pope had ascended unto that rampancy of Power that he would excommunicate Emperours and depose them if need were or absolve their Subjects from Allegiance and seize their Lands In which time the Pope becoming the Monarch as it were of the Roman Empire the Emperours so called whether Greek or German may well take their places among the Ten Horns especially the Secular Empire of old Rome being dissolved which gave the Name or Title to the Roman Empire as Macedonia did to the Macedonick Empire This premised what Mr. Mede says on this Text is very agreeable That the Three Horns pulled away from before the little Horn is the power extending into Italy of the Greek Emperours of the Lombards and of the Franks continued in the Empire of Germany All these Three Powers or Horns he made shift to rid himself of that he might the more easily domineer in Italy without any Corrival as is sufficiently made out by History And behold in this Horn were eyes like the eyes of a man This is another main observable in this little Horn that it had eyes when none of the rest are said to have so Which is a notorious difference and hugely significant of a Power that will pretend to lead all the rest of the Horns as being themselves destitute of sight And the Papal Hierarchy how cunning and quick-sighted a Polity it has been all Histories ring of it and how far they pretend and how active Assistants they are even in Civil Affairs But I conceive this does not exhaust all the meaning of these eyes in the little Horn and of the other Horns having none Which may more peculiarly represent the difference betwixt this Hierarchical Power in the Empire and the Secular of the Ten Kings who in matters of Faith and Religion are to have no eyes of their own but to profess and believe as this Horn who pretends to have the only eyes tells them and to be led in a blind implicit Faith and Profession of whatsoever this seeing Horn declares to be Articles of the Christian Religion and requisite to salvation And this little Horn having this hank upon them you may be sure will require them to believe such things as tend