Souls to call them back or retain them when they are departed out of the Body and of Death it self to keep men from it and therefore fear not for if you were really Dead I could raise you up again All which looks with a Full Eye on that great First Resurrection c. 20. 28 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See Hammond on Matth. 11. and Bishop Pearson on the Creed 19 And upon this assurance stand up upon thy Feet and be of good Courage and Write in a Book unto the seven Churches as I before commanded thee vers 11. the things which thou hast seen already 29 in the representation of the seven Stars and seven golden Candlesticks vers 12 13 16. and 30 write also the things which are now in being in my present Apostolical Church and the things which shall be hereafter successively to the very end of Time 29 It is manifest from the next Verse that this is the true sense of these Words where it is expresly said that the Seven Stars were Seen by him in his Right Hand which are therefore the things he had Seen and were written with the rest of the Preface in a Book to the seven Churches verse 11. 30 Here he is commanded to write the Epistles to the seven Churches the first of which viz. that to Ephesus as we have there shewn refers to the State of the then Apostolical Church beginning at Christ's Resurrection the others to the following successive States of the Churches to the End of the World 20 Which things present and future are the 31 Mystery or the Prophetical and Mystical sense of the seven Stars which thou sawest in my right hand which are the things thou hast seen and not the Mystery to be written concerning them and write the seven Golden Candlesticks i e. the mystery or mystick sense of them also The seven 32 stars are or signifie and represent Gen. 41.26 the Angels 33 or Pastors of the seven Churches and the seven Candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven Churches or are 34 seven Churches that is Bodies of Christians under their several Pastors as well those which are now as those which shall be successively hereafter 31 These words which are of the Accusative Case and put by way of Apposition plainly refer only to the things which are and shall be which are here said to be the Mystery or mystical meaning of the seven Stars which therefore are not referred to as being not themselves the Mystery but the things which were to be mystically explained in the following Epistles And from hence also we are plainly given to understand that the Subject Matter of these Epistles is Mystical and not barely Literal and that they concern things future as well as the present 32 Here is explained what is meant by Stars and Candlesticks whose further mystical meaning as they relate to Churches then in being and to future Successions of them and their Pastors is largely delivered in the following Epistles 33 The Ministring Spirits which attend on God are called Angels in Scripture from their being employed as Messengers in his Service and therefore by the Angels of the Churches must be meant the Pastors of them which are here clearly distinguished from the Churches themselves from their like Office of delivering God's Messages to the People and putting up their Prayers unto him Upon which Account the Jewish Priest is called The Messenger or Angel of the Lord of Hosts Malach. 2.7 where Angel that I may observe this by the way is evidently taken collectively as Dr. Pocock on the Place confesses for the Succession of the whole Jewish Priesthood comprehended there under the common Name of Levi their Father and spoken of as one Person because they were all of the fame Stock and all separated to the same Function And as they are upon this Account called Angels so are they called Stars from their Office of enlightning or instructing others By Angels therefore in this and the following Chapter is meant the Evangelical Ministry represented by Angels as all other Ministerial Agents are in this Prophecy because the present World is subject to Angels under Christ the Head of them and the Angel of the Covenant Whereas the World to come that is the Kingdom of Christ at his last coming as the Apostle speaks Heb. 2.5 is to be ruled by Christ and his Saints and is not to be in subjection unto Angels 34 It is here said That the seven Candlesticks are or signifie seven Churches for so it is in the Greek not the seven Churches which might seem to have determined them to the seven in Asia The Epistles are indeed to be sent to the seven Churches of Asia ver 11. But the mystical meaning of them is not here said to belong to the Angels or to the Seven Churches of Asia only but to Seven Churches and to the Angels of them from whence it is plain that they are prophetical relating to Seven Successions of the Vniversal Church See Mr. * Book 1. Disc 52. and pag. 905. Doctor Moor's Exposition of the Epistle to the Seven Churches Mede CHAP. II. The Text. UNto the Angel or Evangelical Ministry Chap. 1. 20. of the Church of Ephesus that is now planted there and of that Period 1 of the Church which is mystically represented by it write these things saith he that holdeth the Seven Stars in his Right Hand who walketh in the midst of the Seven Golden Candlesticks i. e. Christ the Light of the World who is more immediately present with them to enlighten guide and support them Chap. 1. 13 16 20. Annotations on CHAP. II. 1 This I shall hereafter endeavour to make out to be the principal if not only drift of these Epistles from such Characters and Arguments as shall arise from the Text it self Very good Interpreters and particularly Grotius on Revel 1.11 have thought that the several Successions of the Church here represented are intimated in their very Names according to a way of Allusion made use of in Scripture as well as in Heathen Authors For thus the God of Ekron whose True Name is thought to have been Baal zebachim or the Lord of Sacrifices is called in derision Baal zebub or the Lord of Flies and Belzebul or the Dunghil God And the Prophet Micah 1.14 15. manifestly alludes to the Names of Cities calling Achzib a Lie as if its Name were derived from Cazab which in Hebrew signifies to Lie and the City Mareshah is threatned to be disinherited in allusion to its Name and Adullam is called the Glory of Israel perhaps says Doctor Pocock on the Place from its Situation its Strength or its Beauty or some other Reason probably taken from its Name as the others are although now unknown And such Paronomasia's or Allusions may be more frequent in Scripture than we think for by reason of our Ignorance in the Premitive Language and of the Story and Circumstances of the Places whose Names are alluded to 2
in an Idolatrous Communion who are not of it who yet are obliged actually to leave and forsake such a Communion at some times and in some Cases as Protestants have shewn in their Discourses upon that Controversie of which Cases a Fear of being guilty of its Idolatry is the Chief by which the Title and Priviledge of being God's People is forfeited 2 Cor. 6 14-28 5 For her sins have 8 reached unto Heaven i. e. have been extraordinarily Clamorous and have cryed aloud for Vengeance and God hath 9 remembred her Iniquities i. e. doth now punish her acc rding to her deserts Chap. 16. 19. 8 This is an Allusion to the crying sins of Sodom Nineveh and other wicked Cities which when they are extraordinarily notorious are said to reach Heaven in Scripture Gen. 4 10.11 4.18 20 21.19 13. Jonah 1.2 James 5.4 9 As God's Forgiveness of sin is called his forgetting of it in Scripture so his Punishment of it is called Remembring of it 6 Remember 10 her ye my people even as she rewarded you and double unto her double i. e. abundaâ—tly and utterly destroy her Jerem 17 18.50 14 15. according to her abominable evil works in the cup of Affliction which she hath filled to others fill to her double for she hath impenitently and irreclaimably sinned against me as well as injured you and therefore a double punâ—shment is justly due 10 This Verse refers to the Triumphs and Acclamations of the Saints upon God's Just Judgments on his malicious and irreconcilable Enemies and to their Concurrence in inflicting of them as far as can be thought proper for them See Psalm 58 10. and 137. 2 Thes 1.6 2 Tim. 4 14. 7 How much she hath gloried her self in her Authority and lived deliciously in Pride and Luxury so much torment and sorrow give her as a just Recompence of her sins 2 Thes 1.6 for she saith 11 or hath said in the Pride Carelesness and wantonness of her heart I 12 sit as a Queen i. e. have supream and uncontroulable Authority and am no Widow i. e. I have many Kings and People to defend me and am the Mother and Chief of Cities and Churches Isa 47.7 8. Zeph. 2.15 and shall see no sorrow in the loss of Children or People but shall continue the Seat of Ecclesiastical Power and of Empire 11 This refers to her Pride and Boastings in the Days of her Prosperity and Security 12 Words full of Insolence and Blasphemy and which especially as they lye in the places of the (a) Isa 47 10-15 Zeph. 2.15 Prophets from whence they are taken can be properly spoken only by God alone and plainly refer to the insolent pretences of the Papacy to Supremacy Infallibility and Indefectibility 8 Therefore because of her Pride Security and arrogant pretence to what properly belongs to God alone shall her Plagues come in one day i e. unexpectedly and suddenly Isa 47 9-11 Death and Mournin g and Famine i. e. Variety of punishments which shall bear a conformity to her sins and she i. e. Rome the mystical Bnbylon shall be utterly burnt with 13 fire i. e. shall be utterly destroyed and consumed for strong and powerful is the Lord who judgeth her and therefore able to inflict the severest punishment on her as incredible as the thing may seem to her or others 13 See Dr. Burnet's Theory B. 3.10 9 And the Kings 14 of the Earth who have committed Fornication or Idolatry and lived deliciously with her or in her Communion Verses 3 7. shall bewail her when they shall see the smoak of her burning i. e. the signs of her Torment Gen. 19.28 Ezek. 26 15-21 14 The Ten Kings shall hate the Whore and burn her as is expresly asserted Chap. 17.16 and therefore by these Kings must be meant either some who shall adhere to her even after the punishment inflicted by the Ten Kings or else rather the Kings who died Impenitently in her Communion who are raised to Judgment and first behold her punishment with Terror and then partake with her in it of which see more on the following Chapters 10 Standing afar off for the Fear of her Torment which they know they have deserved and must shortly feel saying in the anguish and horror of their Minds Alas alas that great City Babylon or Rome that once mighty or powerful City for in one hour or suddenly is thy Judgment come and therefore ours cannot be far off 11 And the 15 Merchants of the Earth i.e. the worldly Factors for the Roman Church and those who had compassed Sea and Land to gain advantages by it and Proselytes to it shall weep and mourn over her for or because no man buyeth her 15 Merchandize any more i. e. they could have no more advantage by her Matth. 10 8.23 15. 2. Pet. 2.3 2 Cor. 2.17 Matth. 21.13 12 The Merchandize of Gold and Silver and precious Stones and of Pearls and fine Linen and Purple and Silk and Scarlet i. e. whatsoever was precious and for Ornament the highest Preferments and most gawdy Pomps and Ornaments of that Worldly Church and all Thyne Wood or Sweet Wood for Images Incense and Temples and all manner Vessels of Ivory and all manner Vessels of most precious Wood and of Brass and Iron and Marble i. e. Utensils and Materials of all sorts for their Temples 15 15 This and the following Expressions are taken from Isa 47.15 and Ezek 27. where the Destruction of Babylon and of Tyre Types of the Antichristian City is represented after the same manner And by Merchants of the Earth are meant all the busie and deceitful Negotiators and Factors as the Word is taken Hosea 12.7 for the Papacy who any ways contributed to her Grandeur Idolatry and Superstition whatsoever might serve to those ends being to be understood by the Merchandize here mentioned 13 And Cynamon and Odours and Oyntments and Frankincense i. e. all things gratifying the Senses and to be used in Censings and Unctions and Wine for the Idolatrous Chalice and Oyl for Chrism and fine Flower for the Idolatrous Wafer and Wheat and Beasts and Sheep i. e. necessary Provision and Tithes and Oblations for her Clergy and Horses and Chariots i. e. what belonged to her outward Pomp and Equipage and Slaves i. e. hired (a) See Dr. Ham. on the Place Servants and Attendants and whosoever gives them bodily Service and 16 Souls of Men i. e. those who served them with their Wit and Understanding their Craft and Cunning and were Slaves to them in Soul as well as Body 13 This is taken from Ezek. 27.13 where Slaves or Bondmen are called Souls of Men and hereby may be meant those who served them with their very Souls who pawned their Consciences for them and enslaved their very Souls to them serving them with the utmost of their Craft and intellectual Capacities in contradistinction to them who served them with their Bodily Service only called Bodies or Slaves all sorts of (a) See the Commentators on this Verse Servants being comprehended under those Two Words Dr. Moor also thinks that Souls in
Propriety of the Titles attributed to Christ for he is said to be the faithful Witness that the following Prophecy might be the more readily believed and in Opposition to the Pretences of Antichrist to New Traditions distinct from those delivered by him in his Gospel the intire Revelation of his Father 's Will. 2dly His Resurrection is mentioned because it was the chief Proof of his Divinity and the Ground of our Faith and chiefly because that from thence is taken the Epocha or the beginning of the Account of the Times and Seasons of this Prophecy The other Titles plainly relate to the Efficacy of his Blood alone to our Justification and Sanctification and to our Praises due to him alone in opposition to Merits and Satisfactions Prayers to Saints and Angels and the other Corruptions of the Opposite Antichristian Kingdom 6 And hath made us Kings to Reign on the Earth in his Kingdom Dan 7.27 Rev. 5 10.20 6. and Priests to offer Spiritual Sacrifices 1 Pet. 2.9 Rev. 20.6 unto God and his Father and not unto Saints and Angels to him Christ be Glory i. e. Praise and Acknowledgment of his Perfections and Kingly Dominion for ever and ever in his Everlasting Kingdom Dan. 2.44 Revel 11.15 Amen So be it and so it will be 7 11 Behold he cometh 12 i. e. he will as certainly come as if we saw him now a coming with Clouds i.e. with Power and great Glory Dan. 7.13 Matth. 24.30 and every Eye of all Men shall see him coming and they also which pierced him i. e. the Jews shall see him feel his Power and acknowledge him Isa 40.5 Zach. 12.10 John 19.37 and all Kindreds Tribes or People of the Earth i.e. of the wicked worldly and 13 Antichristian Part shall wail because of him their Judg whom they had provoked Even so 14 Amen i. e. this is a certain Truth to be expected and desired 11 This Verse relates to the coming of Christ in his Kingdom at the last Day when the Jews who crucified him and all other his Enemies shall appear and be judged by him And it is worth noting That according to the Precepts of Art observed by the most Judicious Writers we have here from Verse 5. given us in short at the very entrance of this Prophecy a brief Representation of the chief End and Design of it The Kingdom of Christ of which upon all fit Occasions we are presented with a short View because it is the thing which all the Events Typified in this Book were designed to produce and as it were the Catastrophe of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the World according to Plotinus's Phrase or of all the Transactions which have appeared on the Stage of it 12 A Form of Speech in use with the Prophets denoting the Infallible certainty of what they foretold Or cometh may here signifie he beginneth to come as Verse 1. See * Pag. 145. 150. Dr. Pocock on Joel 13 Earth is taken in this sense sometimes in this Prophecy as we shall see hereafter 14 This Word in Scripture is put to affirm that the thing will be as well as to wish for it and approve it 8 And do not doubt of the Truth and Extent of this Prophecy for I Christ who have revealed it am Alpha 15 and Omega the beginning and the ending who am before all things and shall abide after them for ever saith the Lord Christ which is or The That is and which was and which is to come the Almighty as well as Eternal Jehovah who can bring to pass the Words of this Prophecy from the beginning of it to the end of Time 15 These are the first and last Letters of the Greek Alphabet whereby the Beginning and Consummation of all Things Times and Seasons is ascribed to Christ as the incommunicable Attributes of God also are viz. his Name Jehovah and his Almightiness So that this Verse contains a plain Declaration of the Divinity of our Saviour 9 I John who also am your Brother in the same Faith and Companion in tribulation i. e. a Fellow-sufferer with you and in the Kingdom and patience or patient 15 expectation of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ delayed unto the time of the end Dan. 12 4-13 Rev. 10.4 7. was in 17 Banishment in the Isle that is called 18 Patmos for preaching the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ i.e. the Gospel 16 For so the words seem to signifie and may very well be Translated by a figure common in Scripture for this Kingdom was to have begun in its full Power immediately at Christ's Resurrection and was then expected by the Apostles Acts 1.6 but was still patiently to be waited for until the time of the end to which it was deferred Altho the words may more properly relate to the Patience of Christ or to his own patient Expectation of his Kingdom until the times agreed on with his Father See Chap. 3.10 17 In the time of Domitian about the end of the year of our Lord 95 or the beginning of 96 as Chronologers generally agree 18 Situate in the Archi-pelago about 40 Miles from the Continent of Asia towards Ephesus in the Sea next to the Churches to which he wrote And as Ezekiel and Daniel had their Visions when they were in Captivity so also might it be by way of Correspondence Ordained by God that John should receive this Prophecy in a place of Exile Restraints and places of Recess and Retireme◠from the wicked World affording the fittest dispositions and opportunities for Divine Communications 10. I was in the Spirit 19 i. e. under the immediate Power of it on the 20 Lord's day and 21 heard that is perceived in my Spirit unexpectedly and as it were from behind me a great voice as of a Trumpet i. e. a very loud voice as the sound of the Trumpets on the solemn Festivals Psal 47.5 or in the time of War Zechar. 9.14 to raise my attention and to encourage me and to signifie that Judgments were to be denounced 19 That is I was not in the Body but in a Spiritual Extasie or Rapture under the immediate actings of the Spirit of God representing things to my Soul and not to my Senses 2 Cor. 12.2 20 The First Day of the Week or the Christian Sabbath instituted in Memory of Christ's Resurrection and called The Lord's Day a Phrase never used in the New Testament but with reference to this Day and the Lord's Supper because it was blessed and sanctified by Christ's Resurrection and the Descent of the Spirit intimated here by John's saying that he was then in the Spirit and instituted and set apart by his Authority as the Day in which his Worship was ordinarily and necessarily to be frequented by all Christians And the Day is here punctually expressed which is also exactly observed by Ezekiel and Daniel for the benefit of the Church which is to take notice of Times and Seasons to shew that these
manner and restrained from all sorts of Mischief but because he was to be let loose after the thousand years therefore he is said to be only shut up in the bottomless pit and is not cast into the Lake until afterwards when he is made utterly uncapable of any manner of power or Action against God and his Kingdom for the least season and that to all Eternity And here end the first Triumphs and Conquests of Christ in his Kingdom which begins with the reducing of his Enemies viz. Antichrist the Wicked Nations and the Devil so as to make them his Footstool whom his Father had been subduing for him from his Ascension as is evident from Psalm 110.1 1 Cor. 15.25 5 The duration of this Season is no where determined in Scripture and therefore cannot be positively assigned only if the Tradition of the seven Thousand Years duration of the World prove true it must comprehend that space of Time which will be found wanting to compleat the 7000 Years after the Expiration of the 1000 Years of Christ's Kingdom 4 And I saw 6 Thrones i. e. solemn and glorious preâ—arations for Rule and Judgment Dan. 7.9 and 7 they i. e. the Saints of the most High who come with Christ Chap. 19.14 Dan. 7.13 18 21 22 26 27. Zech. 14.5 1 Thes 4.14 sat 8 upon them i. e. were invested in a Regal and a Judicial Office and 9 Judgment i. e. Power of Governing Sentencing and Punishing was given unto them who sat on the Throne by God and Christ Dan. 7.22 27. and I saw the separate 10 souls of them or of the Persons that we e beheaded for the Witness of Jesus and for the Word of God i. e. the Souls of the Martyrs under the Pagan Emperour of Rome Rev 6.9 10 11. and 11 I saw also the 12 Souls of them which had not worshipped the Beast neither his Image neither had received his Mark upon their foreheads or in their hands i. e. the Faithful Witnesses killed by Antichrist Chap. 6 11. 11 7. 13 15 16. and they i. e. all these Saints and Martyrs 13 lived again in Spiritual and Heavenly Bodies 1 Cor. 15 42-50 and 14 reigned with 15 Chr st a 16 thousand Years 6 This Representation is taken from Dan. 7.9 in allusion to the (a) Mede's Works p. 762. Grot. in Matth. 19.28 Thrones or Seats of the Jewish Consistory or rather in the Opinion of (a) Mede's Works p. 762. Grot. in Matth. 19.28 Grotius to the ancient Custom of the Jews amongst whom the Princes of the Tribes were wont to sit with the King ih publick Assemblies And accordingly This Court of Christ's Kingdom and Grand Assizes of the Day of Judgment is represented as having many Thrones as 1. The Throne of God the Father Dan. 7.9 2. The Throne of Christ in which he was enstated Dan. 7.13 14 upon the Judgment passed upon Antâ—ehrist to shew that Christ's Glorious Kingdom begins not until after that Judgment and Destruction as in this Prophecy the Thousand Years do not enter until after the Battle of Decision which is also called a Judgment Chap. 19. 3. Many Thrones of Saints Dan. 7.10 18 22 26. where the Saints are called The Judgment and are said to he set in Judgment and many Thrones to be set down pitched or erected as the Word ought to be translated at the 9th Verse which Thrones do not belong to the Angels who are not represented as sitting but standing as Ministring and Assisting Spirits 1 Kings 22.19 Is 6.1 Dan. 7.10 7 By a diligent compare of Dan. 7.13 18 c. with Rev. 19.14 17. and this Verse it will plainly appear that the Saints those Armies of Heaven who come with Christ in the Clouds to Judgment are the They here referred to the very They Dan. 7.13 where the like Phrase is used who come with the Son of Man upon the Clouds of Heaven to whom Thrones a Kingdom and a Judicatory are ascribed in (a) Matth. 19.28 Luke 22.30 1 Cor. 6 1-4 Scripture over the Wicked Angels and the World and who have here Thrones given them as a Reward for their Attendance upon Christ in the foregoing Battle to whom alone yet the Victory is ascribed Chap. 19.21 8 To sit upon a Throne denotes in Scripture a continuance in an undisturbed possession of Soveraignty and Dominion with a Right of Judicature as Expositors of the Creed have shewn on the Article concerning Christ's sitting on the Right Hand of the Father 9 This Word signifies Rule and Government in Scripture as well as a Judicial Power Gen. 15 14.19 9.1 Sam. 4.18 Psalm 72.1 2. 10 From this place it may be observed 1. That these were the Souls of the very Martyrs whom he had seen before under the Altar Chap. 6 9-11 the same Expressions being used in both places 2. That they were particularly the Martyrs under the pagan Roman Emperours because they are said to have been beheaded which was a (b) Grot. in locum Roman Punishment 3. That the Soul is Immortal and sleeps not in its separate State because they cry with a loud Voice have Robes given unto them and are admonished to rest for a little season 6 9-11 11 These are distinguished from the former by the interposition of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or And and are evidently as appears from comparing this place with Rev. 6.11 the Witnesses martyred under the Reign of the Beast or Antichrist who were to fill up or compleat the Number of Martyrs and then to Live and Reign together with the Martyrs under the Pagan Emperours 12 Pareus supposes an Ellipsis in this place which may be thus supplied 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. although separate Souls are often spoken of in Scripture in the Masculine Gender Luke 16 19-31 13 They lived that is in their Persons in Bodies suited to the State of the Blessed Milennium for this cannot refer to the Souls here-mentioned which lived before as hath been already observed See also the Notes on the following Verse 14 This as well as almost all the other Expressions in the New Testament concerning the Great Day of Judgment is taken chiefly from Daniel who in the second and seventh Chapters of his Prophecy foretells that during the Times of the Fourth Kingdom evidently proved by several (a) Mede 's Works pag. 711. Dr. Moor'â— Sâ—â—ps Proph 2.13 Dr Gressener s Demonstr B. 2. 6-8 and the Append. Authors to be the Roman the God of Heaven should set up a Kingdom which from small beginnings or an Infant-State likned by Daniel to a (a) Mr. Mede 713 743 c. Stone should by a Divine and Supernatural Power increase so far that at last in the Days of the Ten Kings who are the Ten Toes of the Feet of the Great Image Dan. 2.43 44. it should become a Mountain filling the whole Earth that is a Vniversal and an Everlasting Kingdom after it had put an end to all other Kingdoms particularly that