the Congregation because the Cloud abode thereupon and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle And the Priests at the Dedication of Solomon's Temple are said To be unable to enter into the House of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had silled the Lords house 2 Chron. 7.2 So that we ought not to hunt after Mysteries when the Scripture giveth us no intimation of them Chap. 16. Vers 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 Exposition THe heavenly Priests aforesaid being now furnished by means of the Saints on Earth with the Vials of Gods wrath are commanded by a loud voice out of the Temple in Heaven to pour them out upon the Earth Not that the greatest part of them are not to be poured out upon other parts of the World but by a Figure of Deficiency that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Greeks are wont to phrase it the Earth onely is named both because the first is expresly said to be poured out upon the Earth it self and also all the rest of the Vials though poured out upon other places yet have relation to the Earth and the Inhabitants thereof Vers 2. And the first 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 The first Vial as we said before is poured out upon the Earth and the effect thereof is a sore and evil Boil arising on them that had the Mark of the Beast and worshipped his Image In the explaining of which Vial as well as of the rest I see no need of betaking our selves to an Allegory For if Moses and Aaron by sprinkling Ashes of the Furnace towards Heaven caused it to become a Boil breaking out with Blains upon the Egyptians Exod. 9.8 9 10. Why may we not as well conceive that the pouring out of a Vial on the Earth by an Angel may produce the same effect upon the Worshippers of the Beast And how then is this plain Interpretation not to be embraced when we finde in the Scripture that the same Plague did formerly happen to such as had been great Oppressours of Gods people Vers 3. And the second Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sea and it became as the Blood of a dead man and every living soul died in the Sea The wickedness of the Beast and his Worshippers is exceeding great No marvel therefore if their Plagues be not onely the same with those that happened to the wicked of former times but also exceeding them as being purposely suited by God to their impiety Of which sort is this Plague of the second Vial the pouring out of which into the Sea turneth not the third part thereof onely as Chap. 8.8 but all its Waters into Blood so that every living Soul therein perisheth By this means they are debarred of fishing in the Sea which must needs draw with it the ruine of many thousands that depend thereon for their livelihood The same may also be said of their traffiquing by Sea For the Waters thereof becoming Blood like that of a dead man they are not onely unserviceable to those many uses wherein Mariners are wont to imploy them but also by reason of their stench and thickness are altogether unfit to be sailed in this Plague therefore is very great Vers 4. And the third Angel poured out his Vial upon the Rivers and Fountains of Waters and they became Blood 5. And I heard the Angel of the Waters say Thou art righteous O Lord which wast art and shalt be because thou hast judged thus 6. For they have shed the Blood of Saints and Prophets and thou hast given them Blood to drink for they are worthy 7. And I heard another out of the Altar say Even so Lord God Almighty true and righteous are thy Judgements The turning of the Sea into Blood though it be a great Plague is yet insufficient to punish so outragious sinners as the Worshippers of the Beast wherefore the vengeance of God cometh yet closer to them by the pouring out of this third Vial into the Rivers and Fountains of Waters whereby they also become Blood So that now these Wretches can hardly with digging about the Rivers and Fountains get Water for their necessary uses For neither is it suitable to conceive that they were supplied any other way than the Egyptians their Predecessours in cruelty had been in the like calamity See Exod. 7.24 And that they had some such supply is evident by their surviving to undergo the other following Plagues which could not have come to pass had they been deprived of all means to get Water And this Plague is so agreeable to their sin as it had been in former times to that of the Egyptians that the Angel of the Waters who had power to turn them into Blood doth extoll the signal Justice of God herein pronouncing them worthy to have Blood given them to drink who had not spared to shed the Blood of Saints and Prophets And not onely he but also that other Angel which attendeth at the Altar in Heaven For he having formerly desired the Sickle-bearing Angel to make a clean riddance of the wicked whose sin was now ripe Chap. 14.18 must needs rejoyce at the equity of Gods dealing in the pouring out of this Vial which could not but cause many of them to perish But it is not to be passed over without animadversion that when the Worshippers of the Beast are here said to have Blood given them to drink because they had shed the Blood of Saints and Prophets this argueth that the pouring out of this Vial and consequently of the rest there being the same reason of them all happeneth within the compass of the three years and an half that the Tyranny of the Beast lasteth yea towards the latter end of that space in as much as these Plagues have relation to the cruelty that had been before exercised towards the Saints and Prophets and therefore it is likely that the pouring out of these seven Vials taketh not up more time than the smiting of Egypt with the ten Plagues did which were all accomplished within the space of one Year For Moses was eighty years old when he began to speak unto Pharaoh Exod. 7.7 and but an hundred and twenty when he died Deut. 34.7 the last forty years of which term he had spent in leading the Israelites in the Wilderness Deut. 29.5 so that there remaineth but the eightieth year of his Life wherein to inflict those ten Plagues upon Egypt Vers 8. And the fourth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sun and Power was given unto him to scorch Men with Fire 9. And Men were scorched with great Heat and blasphemed the Name of God which hath Power over these Plagues and
they repented not to give him glory The sin of them that worship the Beast and receive his Mark as it is greater than that of evil Men in former times so is it also of a new kince and unheard of in the World before And therefore God provideth here for it a new Plague the like whereof is not to be found in all the Scripture For the fourth Vial being poured out upon the Sun causeth it to scorch Men with fire and that in a very grievous manner But it any one here object that should the Sun the common Luminary of the World but destitute of life and understanding have such a Power given to it the Saints also would not be untouched I answer that the words of the Text imply the contrary saying that such as were scorched by the Sun blasphemed the Name of God and repented not to give him glory whereby it appeareth that none but impenitent sinners do feel this Plague the Sun by the marvellous direction of God sending down fire upon them but casting out a chearing light upon the righteous Thus we read Exod. 14.20 that the cloudy Pillar did at the same time cause darkness to the Egyptians and light to the Israelites We read also Dan. 3.22 27. that the fiery Furnace which killed the Caldeans that did but approach thereunto did not so much as singe an Hair of the three pious Jews that were thrown into the midst thereof And let this consideration be taken along with us in reading the story of all these Plagues that they are so ordered as that no hurt redoundeth to the righteous from them God making a way for their escape As we see it did happen to the Israelites who though dwelling in Egypt were yet untouched with any of the ten Plagues thereof For albeit their immunity be not mentioned till the fourth Plague which was that of Flyes concerning which God saith I will sever in that day the Land of Goshen in which my People dwell that no Swarms of Flies shall be there to the end thou maist know that I am the Lord in the midst of the Earth Exod. 8.22 yet reason sheweth that the same is to be understood in all the foregoing Plagues for as much as they were sent of purpose to punish the Egyptians for their cruelty towards Gods people In like manner though it be not here expresly said that the Sun did not scorch the Saints but onely the wicked yet must it in reason be supposed to have so fallen out and the aforesaid intimation out of the Text sheweth as much Vers 10. And the fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Seat of the Beast and his kingdom was full of darkness and they gnawed their Tongues for pain 11. And blasphemed the God of Heaven because of their pains and their sores and repented not of their deeds As some other of the Plagues that God inflicted upon the Beast and his Worshippers are the same with those that he formerly inflicted upon Pharaoh and his People so also is this For the fifth Angel pouring out his Vial upon the Throne of the Beast which is without question as suitable a means to procure darkness as the stretching out of Moses hand towards Heaven his Kingdom that extendeth it self over the face of the whole Earth is thereupon darkned The extremity of which Plague is such that it causeth Men to gnaw their Tongues for pain For consider how grievous a thing it is to be bound for several days together in chains of thick and palpable darkness for it would be unreasonable to think that this darkness of the Beasts Kingdom should be inferiour either in duration or grosness to that of Egypt so as neither to see one another nor to arise out of their places Howbeit we are not to imagine that the Saints of this time as well as the Israelites heretofore during this dismal Fog that bespreads the face of all the Earth have not light in their dwellings seeing this Plague together with the rest is ordained of God for the punishment of their Adversaries and so ought not to involve both alike And this is sufficiently hinted according to the observation on the pouring out of the fourth Vial by the blasphemies that these Prisoners of darkness are said to vent against God the Authour of this and the other Plagues whereas to blaspheme God is so enormous a crime that it is impossible it should be incident to the Saints Wherefore I may truly bespeak the People of God that shall be in the Reign of the Beast with the words of Isaiah Chap. 60.2 of his Prophecy Behold the Darkness shall cover the Earth and gross Darkness the People but the Lord shall arise upon thee and his glory shall be seen upon thee Vers 12. 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 Vers 13. 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 Vers 14. 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 battel of that great day of God Almighty Vers 15. Behold I come as a thief Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame Vers 16. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Ar-mageddon By Euphrates must needs here be meant that River which runneth by Babylon properly so called and emptieth it self into the Persian Gulph For this River rising in Armenia and traversing all Mesopotamia and Caldea lyeth as a bar in their way that come out of the eastern Countreyes of Persia Tartaria India and China towards the land of Israel whither the kings here spoken of are to march with their Armies Neither is it a new thing that a river should be dryed up to give way to Princes and their hosts For we read in the scripture that Jordane was turned back to the end Joshua and the Israelites might in a terrible manner go over without interruption into the land aforesaid Jos 3.17 But as the River Euphrates is miraculously dryed up by the Angel for the speedier passage of the eastern Kings so cometh not it to pass without a miracle that they are drawn to undertake so desperate a design as to fight against Christ and his Saints for three unclean spirits do by working miracles incite not onely the foresaid Eastern Kings but also all the Kings of the world to the performance of this exploit And for as much as these are seen to proceed out of the mouth of the Dragon and of the Beast and of the false prophet this argueth that not onely the Dragon but also the Beast to whom the Dragon is said
AN ESSAY To the Explaining of the REVELATION WHEREIN Amongst other things of great moment is clearly proved that by the Beast is meant an Universal Monarch which shall hereafter arise out of the Roman Empire That there shall be a Fifth Kingdom upon the Earth namely that of the Saints together with the manner thereof And that the New Jerusalem is a City properly so called which God hath reserved in Heaven for the Saints Revel 1.3 Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this Prophecy and keep those things which are written therein Prov. 30.5 6. Every word of God is pure Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a Liar LONDON Printed by Henry Hills and are to be sold by George Sawbridge dwelling on Ludgate-hill at the Sign of the Bible 1661. A PREFACE TO THE READER THe Revelation is the most excellent of the P rophetick Books contained in the Scripture as being the Abstract of them all and therefore as the best things are most liable to abuse it hath been shamefully intreated by the greatest part of those that have undertaken to explain the same For it seemeth by their Expositions that they imagine this to be such a Portion of holy Writ whereon men are onely to exercise their Fancies and to suspend the use of Reason whilest they inquire into the sense thereof Neither did I ever finde such monstrous Interpretations imposed on any other Book whether sacred or profane For instance when John doth in the first Chapter wish Grace and Peace to the seven Churches of Asia from the seven Spirits that are before the Throne of God by these say they is meant the holy Spirit who is said to be seven either because of his manifold operations or because he wrought in the seven Churches But by what instance taken out of any Authour either sacred or profane can they avouch such an Interpretation Who ever heard that a single person as the holy Spirit is should either for his many Works or for his working in sundry places be termed Seven And how should any man ever reach the meaning of our word if took to our selves the liberty of speaking thus Again when it is in the 11. Chapter spoken of two Witnesses these say they are the Old and New Testament or Magistracy and Ministry But where in the Scripture are two Witnesses that prophesie or two Prophets for so the Witnesses are there in the 10. Verse expresly styled put otherwise than for two men endued with a prophâ—tick spirit Yea can it without the greatest absurdity be said of any but two men that they prophesie clad in Sackcloth that if any one goeth about to hurt them Fire issueth out of their Mouths and devoureth their Adversaries that they have Power to shut Heaven and turn the Waters into Blood and smite the Earth with every Plague as often as they please that when they have finished their Testimony they are killed and their dead Bodies lie three Days and an half in the Street of a certain City In fine that after the three Days and an half the Spirit of Life from God enters into them so that they stand upon their Feet and afterwards ascend up into Heaven in a Cloud whilest their Adversaries stand looking on them Is it possible for the wit of man with any congruity to Reason and to the words of the Text to draw these things either to the Old and New Testament or to the Magistracy and Ministry Grant once that we may with our mystical Interpretations evade the literal Truth of things so plainly delivered in the Scripture I would fain know what certainty is to be had there or how any thing should ever be proved from thence Likewise we are told in the History of the two Witnesses that they shall prophesie a thousand two hundred and sixty Days This term of time say they signifieth a thousand two hundred and sixty Years a Day according to the usage of the Prophets being put for a Year to which purpose they allege Numb 14.3 34. where it is said Your Children shall wander in the Wilderness forty Years and bear your Whoredoms untill your Carcases be wasted in the Wilderness After the number of the Days in the which ye searched the Land even forty Days each Day for a Year shall ye bear your iniqu ties even forty Years And Ezek. 4.5 6. where it is said I have laid upon thee the Years of their iniquity according to the number of the Days three hundred and ninety Days so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the House of Israel And when thou hast accomplished them lie again on thy right side and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the House of Judah forty Days I have appointed thee each Day for a Year But in neither of these two places are Days to be drawn out into Years Otherwise when it is said in Numbers that the Israelites were forty Days a searching the Land of Canaan we must understand that they spent forty Years about it which every one seeth to be absurd Likewise when Ezekiel lay upon his left side three hundred and ninety Days for the iniquity of Israel and on his right side forty Days for the iniquity of Judah by this reckoning he would have lien on his sides four hundred and thirty Years Wherefore the words in Numbers import no more than that whereas the Israelites had spent forty Days in searching the Land their Children should answerably thereunto wander forty Years in the Wilderness So also doth the passage in Ezekiel signifie that forasmuch as Israel and Judah had now gone a whoring from God for the space of four hundred and thirty Years the Prophet should accordingly lie four hundred and thirty Days upon his sides to bear their iniquity I conclude therefore that it is contrary both to Scripture and Reason to understand by the thousand two hundred and sixty Days that the Witnesses shall prophesie any other than such Days as are properly so called consisting of four and twenty Hours a piece Finally it is said of the Carcases of the two Witnesses that they shall he unburied three Days and an half in the Street of the great City where our Lord was slain which is the most evident description of Jerusalem that can be given this City say they is meant of Rome because our Lord was put to death by the Roman Power 'T is true indeed that a Deputy of the Roman Emperour did crucifie our Saviour Christ but may it therefore be affirmed that he was crucified at Rome Are we wont to say that a thing is done at such a place when it is done onely by the Authority of him that hath his imperial Seat there What man that was in his wits did ever express things in this manner Certainly did the Revelation speak at such a rate as these men imagine it would be the most ridiculous piece that ever was penned and the Authour thereof
to give his throne Chap. 13.2 together with the False Prophet who is said to exercise all the power of the Beast before him Chap. 13.11 12. have dominion over the evil spirits to send them to and fro in the earth This so great an expedition of all the Kings in the world combining to cut off the people of God at a blow is in it self very apt to strike a terrour into the Saints were no river dried up to give way to any of the Kings aforesaid and so to make them flinch from their faith and Piety wherefore the admonition here given by Christ is very seasonable who comparing his coming to that of a thief because of the suddenness thereof for when his Enemies shall say Peace and safety then sudden destruction shall seize upon them pronounceth them happy who in so perillous a time hold fast the garments of their righteousness whereby the nakedness of their sins committed in the time of Ignorance is kept from appearing to their shame As for the place which these Kings aforesaid make their Randezvouz it is here called Armageddon that is the mount of Megiddo For Har in Hebâ—ew signifieth a mount and Mageddon is the same with Megiddo a City belonging to Manasseh Jos 17.11 which is there written by the Greek interpreters Mageddo and hath here the letter N added thereunto by John Thus the City which Luke Chap. 9.10 calleth Bethsaida is by Matthew with the addition of an N termed in Greek Bethsaidan Chap. 11.21 But as the letter N is added to the end of the Hebrew word aforesaid so is the letter or rather aspiration of h taken away from the beginning thereof whilest it is written Armageddon as it fareth with the Hebrew word Hallelujah Psal 146.1 which in Greek is written both there and also in the Revelation Chap. 19.1 Allelujah without the letter or aspiration H. Now the mount of Megiddo seemeth to be chosen of God rather then another place towards which all the Kings of the earth must draw their Armies against that of the Saints because this City had been of old renowned for the wonderful defeat that Barak with ten thousand men at his feet gave to the potent host of Jabin King of Canaan who was a mighty oppresser of the Israelites Judg. 4.2 6. compared with chap. 5.19 20. where in Deborahs song of victory it is said the Kings came and fought then fought the Kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo they took no gain of money They fought from heaven the stars in their courses fought against Sisera For the memory of the miraculous discomfiture that hapned to Sisera the Captain General of Jabins Army and to the Kings of Canaan that sided with him against Gods people is of great influence upon the hearts of the Saints to make them expect the like overthrow to be given to the Beast and the Kings his followers in the same place Vers 17. 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 Vers 18. 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 Vers 19. And die 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 Vers 20. And every island fled away and the mountains were not found Vers 21. 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 God had already plagued the Beast and his worshippers in the other three Elements of Earth Water and Fire as appeareth by the history of the first third and fourth vials Wherefore that all nature may be armed against so out-ragious offenders this last vial is poured out into the Air. Which is no sooner done but a loud voice is heard out of the temple in Heaven from the Throne saying It is done This voyce is rightly ascribed to God himself that sitteth upon the throne rather then to any other person about or under the Throne as we see it come to pass Chap 19.5 because we find him speaking after the same maner Chap. 21.5 6. He that sat upon the throne said Behold I make all things new And he said unto me Write for these words are true and faithful And he said unto me It is done As therefore in that place it signifieth that there is a period set to the duration of the world so doth it here intimate that no more vials of wrath are to be poured out forasmuch as the wrath of God is accomplished by this last The voyces thunders and lightnings that follow hereupon are all fore-runners of the great and sore Judgements that God is about to bring upon the inhabitants of the earth For thus we see the plagues pertaining to the seven trumpets ushered in Chap. 8.5 6. Among those Judgements an Earthquake is one affirmed here to be the greatest that ever hapned since God created man upon the earth the truth whereof will appear to us if we consider the several effects of this Earthquake For first it sundreth Jerusalem into three parts to wit by the sinking of the intermediate buildings into the ground for no other division is wont to be the effects of an Earthquake And of this Cities shaking about this time we have a more ample relation Chap 11.13 For that Jerusalem is here meant by the great City is evident in that it is distinguished from great Babylon and the other Cities of the nations or Gentiles Wherefore there remaineth no other City to be understood but that of the Jews Jerusalem which hath this very appellation of a great City given to it Chap. 11.8 Another effect of this unusual Earthquake is the falling of the Cities of the Heathen many of which seem to be overturned thereby as it is wont to happen in such shakings A third effect or at least a consequent thereof is the coming of great Babylon into remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of his fierce wrath Not that God had before forgotten her but because he did not then so remember her as to execute his fierce wrath upon her that business being reserved for this time The maner of which execution you may read at large in the 18. Chapter The fourth effect is the removal of every Island and the sinking of the mountains which afterwards ceased to appear These two things shall either come to pass as they are here related for so the others that go before are undoubtedly to be fulfilled or else they onely denote the great alteration that shall happen over all the world by the erecting of
the fifth Kingdom upon the defeat of the Beast and all the Kings of the earth that side with him For in this sense is the like removal understood Chap. 6.14 After this earthquake and the dire effects thereof cometh another Judgement very terrible namely that of Hail which is wont to be bred in the Air the place into which this seventh vial is poured and thereof God himself saith to Job Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail which I have reserved against the time of trouble against the day of battel and war Job 38.22 23. Accordingly we read not onely that this was one of the ten plagues of Egypt Exod. 9.23 24 25. but also that God did cast down great Hailstones from Heaven upon the Amorites at the battel of Gibeon so that more died with the Hail-stones then they whom the Children of Israel slew with the sword Josh 10.5 11. Nevertheless it is likely that neither the Hail-stones of Egypt nor those of Canaan were equal in bigness to them that fall down from Heaven upon the worshippers of the Beast For they are said to be about a talent apiece Now though we cannot certainly tell how much a talent weighed yet are we sure that the weight thereof was very great inasmuch as the branched Candlestick of the tabernacle and all the vessels thereof are by the appointment of God to be made of one talent of Gold Exod. 25.31 39. But this plague worketh no better effect upon men then the former ones did For they are so enraged with the greatness thereof that they cannot forbear to vent Blasphemies against God himself Which sheweth that the end of these Plagues is not to reform those on whom they are sent for undoubtedly such as are come to that height of impiety as to worship the Beast yea the Dragon himself are altogether incurable but onely to punish and torment them for their wickedness and so to set off the Riches of Gods grace towards the Righteous whom he hath appointed to Salvation Chap. 17. Vers 1 2. And there came one of the seven Angels which had the seven Vials and talked with me saying unto me Come hither I will shew unto thee the Judgement of the great Whore that sitteth upon many Waters 2. With whom the Kings of the Earth have committed Fornication and the Inhabiters of the Earth have been made drunk with the Wine of her Fornication The Exposition FOr as much as upon the pouring out of the seventh Vial Great Babylon is said to come in remembrance before God that he might give her the Cup of the Wine of his fierce Wrath and this was a thing of great importance to be clearly known for we finde by experience how much hurt the inadvertency of the time and persons appointed of God for the inflicting of this punishment hath done to Christians one of the seven Angels aforesaid cometh to John profering to shew him the Judgement of that great City which according to the usage of the Scripture elsewhere as Isai 1.21 23.15 16 17. Ezek. 16.2 3 35 he calleth an Harlot with whom the Kings of the Earth have had to do and been intoxicated with the Wine of her Fornication The meaning of which Allegory I will unfold when I come to the fourth Verse Vers 3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the Wilderness and I saw a Woman sit upon a Scarlet coloured Beast full of Names of Blasphemy having seven Heads and ten Horns When the Angel is here said to carry John away in the Spirit into the Wilderness this argueth that his Body continued where he was before and that he was onely in the Spirit of his minde hurried away Thus Paul writing to the Colossians Chap. 2.5 saith Though I he absent in the flesh yet I am with you in the spirit joying and beholding your order and the stedfastness of four Faith in Christ Not that in the substance of his Spirit he was not as well absent from them as in his body otherwise how could he indite that Epistle but because that in the cogitation of his Spirit he was present with them and beheld their Christian behaviour God revealing the same unto him as it here hapned to John to see this wonderful Vision in the Wilderness where as it seemeth the Judgement of Rome was represented unto him rather than in the place of his personal abode because that City is described both in this and also in the following Chapter as ready to become a Wilderness and Habitation of Devils and an Hold of every unclean Spirit and a Cage of every unclean and hateful Bird. All which Creatures are noted in the Scripture to haunt desolate places See Isai 13.20 21 22. 34.13 14. Jer. 50.39 Matth. 12.43 It is further very suitable to represent this City by the name and feature of a Woman because in the Prophets of old whose Language and Descriptions the Revelation every where followeth nothing is more usual Thus Samaria and Jerusalem are brought in as two Women Ezek. 23.1 2 3 4 Who the Scarlet Beast is on whom the Woman sitteth and which is depainted with that colour either for the abundance of Blood which he was to shed or for his kingly Dignity or for both is afterwards declared by the Angel together with the meaning of his seven Heads and ten Horns But for the names of Blasphemy whereof he is full it is neither here nor elsewhere so much as intimated what they be wherefore it would be no less than impudency in us to undertake a description of them Vers 4. And the Woman was arayed in Purple and Scarlet colour and decked with Gold and precious Stone and Pearls having a golden Cup in her Hand full of Abominations and filthiness of her Fornication No marvel if this Woman which sitteth on the Scarlet Beast be so richly and royally attired for Rome decyphered by her being the Seat of the Empire and receiving both the Spoils and Tributes of all the Nations in the World must needs be infinitely rich which was indeed the cause of her corruption in point of manners making her now reach out the golden Cup of her Abominations and whorish filthiness as she had done that of her whorish wrath before Chap. 14.8 For whereas she had in the times of her strict Discipline by her valour and marvellous cunning brought all Nations under her yoke being now on the contrary grown extremely loose and vicious all manner of debauchery and lewdness did distill from her as from the Head into the Body of the whole Universe so that she is in the following Verse styled The Mother of the Abominations of the Earth Vers 5. And upon her Forehead was a Name written Mystery Babylon the Great the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth As the Servants of God had his Name written on their Foreheads and the Inhabitants of the Earth that of the Beast so also hath the stately Woman that John saw in the
ten Horns that are upon him which be expresly telleth us as you see here that they are ten Kings who did not yet reign but should receive Authority together with the Beast Nevertheless out of what particular parts of the World these Kings shall arise he doth not shew or intimate So that we must of necessity be ignorant of that circumstance either till the thing it self be accomplished or at least till God be pleased to make a Revelation thereof Onely it appeareth out of Daniel Chap. 7.24 25. that they shall start up out of the fourth universal Kingdom that is the Roman For that this Prophecy of the Beast and his ten Horns is the same with that of Daniel in the Chapter aforesaid will easily appear if you diligently compare both the passages together By so doing you will finde that the Beast in the Revelation is in Daniel called the little Horn in as much as the Actions the Confederates and the time of their Tyranny are exactly the same in both Howbeit the time is but short that these ten Kings shall reign together with the Beast for the Angel saith it shall be one hour which Expression of one hour though it be not strictly and properly taken for the twelfth part of a Day it being impossible for the ten Kings to perform all that is here foretold of them in the space of such an hour yet doth it confessedly signifie a short period of time as other like passages of the Scripture will inform us Thus Paul 1 Thess 2.17 saith We Brethren being taken from you for a short time time Greek for the time of an hour in presence not in heart endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire And Philemon 15. Perhaps he therefore departed for a season Greek an hour that thou mightest receive him for ever Now for as much as I have before evinced that the Beast doth personate Domitian the Roman Emperour and no such thing as the starting up of ten new Kings and their Confederacy with him is said in History to have yet happened to him I judge I may firmly and undoubtedly conclude that this must hereafter be fulfilled when he shall arise from the Dead to rule again The next thing that the Angel mentioneth is the agreement of the ten Kings not whereby they stand well affected towards one another but whereby they all give their Power and Authority to the Beast who setteth himself against Gods people For as to any good correspondence between them in relation to their particular estates they are so far from it that they can no more cleave together than Iron be mixed with Clay Yea though an union be endeavoured by Alliance yet can it not be effected as we are taught by the famous Vision of Nebuchadnezzar Dan. 2.43.44 For that these Kings mentioned in this second Chapter are the same with those of the seventh is apparent as from other circumstances so from the Universal Kingdom out of which they rise and also from their very number in that they are designed by ten horns in the one Chapter and by ten toes in the other Lastly he saith of these Kings that they shall make war with the Lamb Not that they use hostility against the very person of Christ for he being glorified with his Father in the heavens is altogether uncapable of having violence offered to him but because they are armed against the Saints of whom Christ is the head and Captain Thus Abijah the King or Judah exhorteh Jeroboam and the house of Israel from fighting against God when they were about to assail his people 2 Chron. 13.12 Behold saith he God himself is with us for our Captain and his Priests with sounding Trumpets to cry alarm against you O children of Israel fight ye not against the Lord God of your Fathers for ye shall not prosper Moreover that the Saints also put themselves in aray against those Kings appeareth not only from what is plainly affirmed hereof Chap. 19.19 where it is said I saw the Beast and the Kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war with him that sat on the horse and against his army but may sufficiently be deduced from that very expression of making war which is here simply and without limitation used by the Angel as I have before proved in mine exposition on Chaep 13.7 But in vain is hostility used by those Kings against Christ for he being as the angel further saith a King of Kings and Lord of Lords can easily subdue them as we see it come to pass in the foresaid nineteenth Chapter Again they that are with him that is on his side as this form of speech doth elsewhere sometimes signifie see Luke 11.23 He that is not with me is against me are called to the Communion of the son of God 1 Cor. 1.9 and chosen to salvation 2 Thes 2.13 and faithful in Christ Jesus Ephes 1.1 and therefore such as the fidelity and goodness of Christ will not suffer so cruelly to be cut off at a blow by these Kings who gather their forces to Armageddon to that purpose But these words aswell as that of warring before used imply that the Saints do muster and imbody themselves in an army namely that they may when their Captain Christ Jesus hath defeated the Beast and all the Kings of the earth with the sword of his mouth erect the fifth Kingdom according to that of Daniel Chap. 7.21 22. I beheld and the same horn that is the little horn whom I before proved to be the same with the Beast in the Revelation made war with the Saints and prevailed against them until the antient of days came and Judgement was given to the Saints of the most high and the time came that the Saints possessed the Kingdom Vers 15 And he saith unto me The waters which thou sawest where the whore sitteth are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues The waters where the harlot sitteth are not only with truth but also with great fitness and elegancy said by the Angel to be Peoples and Nations both because of the violent rushing of men when they are once stirred and likewise of the noise which they make resembling that of waters when they dash against the rocks Thus. Isa Chap 17.12 saith Wo to the multitude of peoples which make a noise like the noise of the Sea and to the rushing of Nations that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters And Jeremiah saith of old Babylon the Type of Rome as it seemeth by the Revelation Chap. 51.55 The Lord hath spoiled Babylon and destroyed out of her the great voice when her waves do roar like great Waters a noise of their voice is uttered Whence it is that the stilling of the Tumult of the People is well ranked by the Psalmist with the quieting of the noise of the Seas Psalm 65 7. Now Rome is said to sit upon these Waters because being the Seat of
the dead triumph in the Kingdom of heaven is evident from the description there given of them For it is said that they were come out of the great tribulation so it is emphatically expressed in the Greek and therefore intimateth that they weee set free from death the chiefest of all tribulations and also were clothed in white Robes and stood before the throne of God being put into such a condition that they should no more hunger nor thirst because the Lamb should feed them and lead them unto living fountains of water No one of which things agreeth either to men here living on the earth or to the souls of such as are departed this life Now the reason that inciteth these Saints in heaven with loud and redoubled voices to cry Allelujah that is Praise the Lord for so this word originally Hebrew doth signifie see Psal 146.1 is the justice of God who as it is here said had both judged that great Harlot which with the lewdness of her whoredome corrupted the earth whereof we have before spoken in our exposition on the seventeenth Chapter and also had avenged the blood of his servants at her hand and this vengeance is taken in so strange a maner that it is not to be parrallelled in all the holy scripture save in the prediction concerning the judgement of God against Bozrah and the land of Idumea whereof we read Isa 34.6 7 8 9 10. and which is not yet come to pass for though many Cities have been burned with the fire of men yea Sodom and Gomorrah with the fire of God from heaven yet hath it not been known that any City after it was once fired did send up the smoak of her burning for ever and ever as it is here affirmed of Rome Which circumstance alone doth sufficiently prove that the prophecy held forth in this book concerning the destruction of Rome is not yet fulfilled forasmuch as she notwithstanding all the sackings and firings that have since hapned to her is yet standing and that in great state and splendor so far is she from being made a desolation and perpetual burnings Vers 4. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne saying Amen Alleluja The action of the Saints in heaven who give honour and glory to God for executing judgement upon Rome is seconded by the Saints on earth who prostrating themselves before God declare their approbation of what the others had done by saying Amen Alleluja For though the Saints here spoken of are in the vision introduced as being in heaven yet this hinders not but that the true place of their abode is the earth no more then the ascent of John into heaven in a vision and his viewing the things therein contained Chap. 4.1.2 make him in the mean time cease from being a true and real inhabitant of the Isle Patmos for these four and twenty Elders together with the four living creatures I have already proved in mine exposition of the fifteenth Chapter to be the Disciples of Christ in the four quarters of the world Howbeit the four and twenty are both here and else where in the Revelation distinguished from the rest because as the very name of Elders given to them doth import the Pastours of the Church are by them signified And this number of the Elders seemeth to be modelled from the four and twenty Orders of the Priests under the Law 1 Chron. 24.7 8. into whose room the Ministers of the Gospel are come that the people of God might never want some to watch over them in relation to the good of their souls Vers 5. And a voice came out of the throne saying Praise our God all ye his servants and ye that fear him both small and great The praising of God is a thing so comely in the Saints that they are here though upon a new accompt as will appear from that which followeth incited by a voice from the throne to do it again which voice is not to be ascribed to God himself although it proceedeth from his throne but to some other person that is under or about the same and hath him that sitteth on the throne for his God as the voice it self doth intimate when it saith Praise our God all ye his servants If it be further demanded what maner of person the author of the voice should be whether a glorified Saint or an Angel I answer that it rather seemeth to be an Angel because we finde the like exhortation used by an Angel Chap. 14.6 7. As for the Servants of God whom the voice speaketh unto seeing they are distinguished from those that fear God this sufficiently hinteth that they are not meerly pious men but such as besides their piety are imployed by God in the work of the Ministery and in particular bear the office of prophets in the Church for so the servants of God when differenced from them that fear God are elsewhere understood in this book of the Revelation see Chap. 11.18 where it is said That thou shouldest give the reward unto thy servants the Prophets and to the Saints and them that fear thy name small and great Now that many Prophets will then exist when these things are to be accomplished I have before shewed in the exposition of the fourteenth Chapter Vers 6. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thundrings saying Alleluja for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth Vers 7. Let us be glad and rejoyce and give honour to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made her self ready Vers 8. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen clean and white for the fine linen is the righteousness of Saints Though the destruction of the wicked be an inducement to praise the name of God and to rejoyce yet is the salvation of the righteous as being in it self a work more excellent and glorious of far greater efficacy to stir up the Saints to the performance of these two things Hence it is that the acclamation here made is more loud and solemn then the others that went before For John saith That he heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and as the voice of many waters and as the voice of mighty thundrings saying Alleluja The reason of which unusual Exultation that I may confirm what I even now asserted is in the first place said to be the Reign of God namely upon the Delivery of the Kingdom into the Hands of the Saints For though God was long before said in the Scripture to be the King of all the Earth Psal 47.7 yet in as much as to reign if you speak properly is to rule and govern by Laws the Reign of God over all the World may in this sense be rightly said to commence with the Kingdom of the Saints And that