Untitled Treatise on Revelation (section 1.1)
Having searched [& by the grace of God obteined \after/ knowleg {sic} in the prophetiqꝫ scriptures, I have thought my self bound to communicate it \for the benefit/ of {sic} others, remembring ye judgment of him who hid his talent in a napkin. For I am perswaded that this will prove of great benefit to those who think it not enough for a sincere Christian to sit down contented with the principles of ye doctrin of Christ such as ye Apostel accounts the doctrin of Baptisms & of laying on of hands & of the resurrection of ye dead & of eternall judgment, but leaving these \& the like/ principles desire to go on unto perfection until they become of full age & by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good & evil. Hebr 5.12
I would not have any discouraged by the difficulty & ill success that men have hitherto met with in these attempts. This is nothing but what ought to have been. ffor it was revealed to Daniel that the prophesies concerning ye last times should be closed up & sealed untill ye time of ye end: but then the wise should understand, & knowledg should be increased. Dan 12.4, 9, 10. And therefore the longer they have continued in obscurity, the more hopes there is that ye time is at hand in which they are to be made manifest. If they are never to be understood, to what end did God reveale them? Certainly he did it for ye edification of ye church; & if so, then it is as certain that ye church shall at length attain to ye understanding thereof {sic}. I mean not all that call themselves Christians, but a remnant, a few scattered persons which God hath chosen, such as without being blinded led by interest, education, or humane authorities, can set themselves sincerely & earnestly to search after truth. For as Daniel hath said that ye wise shall understand, so he hath said also that none of ye wicked shall understand.
Let me therefore beg of thee not to trust to ye opinion of any man concerning these things, for so it is great odds but thou shalt be deceived. Much less oughtest thou to keep to rely upon the judgment of ye multitude, for so thou shalt certainly be deceived. But search the scriptures thy self & that by frequent reading & constant meditation upon what thou readest, & earnest prayer to God to enlighten thine understanding if thou desirest to find the truth. Which if thou shalt at length attain thou wilt value above all other treasures in ye world by reason of ye assurance and vigour it will add to thy faith, and steddy {sic} satisfaction to thy mind which he onely \can/ know {sic} how to estimate who shall {sic} experience it.
That {sic} the benefit wch may accrew by ye understanding \the/ sacred Prophesies & the danger by neglecting them is very great & that ye obligation to study them is as great may appear by considering ye \like/ case of ye Iews at ye coming of Christ. For the rules whereby they were to know their Messiah were the prophesies of the old Testament. And these our Saviour recommended to their consideration in the very beginning of his preaching Luke 4.21: And {sic} afterward commanded the study of them \for that end/ saying, Search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternall life, and these are they which testify of me {sic}: & {sic} at another time severely reproved their ignorance herein, saying to them when they required a sign, Ye Hypocrites can ye can discern the face of ye sky but can ye not discern ye signes of ye times And after his resurrection he reproved also this ignorance in his disciples, saying unto them, O fools & slow of heart to beleive all that the Prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, & to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses & all the Prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Thus also ye Apostles & those who in ye first ages propagated ye gospel urged chiefly these Prophesies and exhorted their hearers to search & see whether all things concerning our saviour ought not to have been as they fell out. And in a word it was ye ignorance of ye Iews in these Prophesies wch caused them to reject their Messiah {sic} & by consequence to be not onely captivated by the Romans but to incur eternall damnation. Luke 19.42, 44.
If then the Prophesies wch concerned the Apostoliqꝫ age were given for ye conversion of ye men of that age to the truth & for the establishment of their faith, & if it was their duty to search diligently into those Prophesies: why should we not think that the Prophesies wch concern the latter times into wch we |And| If God was so angry with ye Iews for not searching more diligently into ye Prophesies wch he had given them to know Christ by: why should we think he will excuse us for not searching into ye Prophesies wch he hath given us to know Antichrist by? For certainly it must be as dangerous \& as easy/ an error for Chistians {sic} to adhere to Antichist {sic} as it was for ye Iews to reject Christ. And therefore it is as much our duty to {illeg} indeavour to know him as be able to know him that we may avoyd him, as it was theirs to know Christ that they might follow him.
are fallen were in like manner intended for our use that in the midst of Apostacies we might be able to discern the truth & be established in the faith thereof, & consequently that it is also our duty to search with all diligence into these Prophesies.Thou seest therefore that this is no idle speculation, no matters of indifferency but a duty of the greatest moment. Wherefore it concerns thee to look about thee narrowly least thou shouldest in so degenerate an age be dangerously seduced & not know it. Antichrist was to seduce ye whole Christian world and therefore he may easily seduce thee if thou beest not well prepared to discern him. But if he should not be yet come into ye world yet amidst so many religions of wch there can be but one true & perhaps none of those that thou art acquainted with it is great odds but thou mayst be deceived & therefore it concerns thee to be very circumspect.
* \migh {sic}/ hear {sic} & not understand & in seeing they might see & not perceive. And as these Parables were spoken to try the Iews so ye mysticall scriptures were written to try us. Therefore beware that thou be not found wanting in this tryall. For if thou beest, the obscurity of these scriptures will as little excuse thee as ye obscurity of or Saviours Parables excused the Iews. Consider \also/ the instructions of or Saviour concerning these latter times by the Parable of the Fig-tree. Now learn a parable of the Figtree, saith he: When his branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that Summer is nigh. So likewise when ye when ye see these things know that it is near even at the doors. — Watch therefore for ye know not what hower your Lord doth come. Wherefore it is thy duty to learn the signes of the times that thou mayst know how to watch, & be able to discern what times are coming on the earth by the things that are already past. If thou doest watch thou mayst know when it is at the door as a man knows that by the leaves of a figtree that Somer is nigh {sic}. But if through ignorance of the signes thou shalt say in thine heart My Lord delayeth his coming; And shalt begin to smite thy fellow servants & to eat & drink with the drunken: Thy Lord will come in a day when thou lookest not for him & in an hower that thou art not aware of, and cut thee asunder and appoint thy portion wth the Hypocrites, There {sic} shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matt 24. If thou doest not watch, how canst thou escape more then other men, For as a snare shall it come on {sic} all \them/ that dwell upon the face of the whole earth. Luke 21.
* Consider how our Saviour taught the Iews in Parables that in hearing they**the {sic} {illeg} same Prophets who foretold or saviours first coming foretold also his second coming; & if it was the main & indispensable duty of ye Church before ye first coming of Christ to have searched into & understood those prophesies aforehand, {illeg} why should it not be as much ye duty of ye Church before his second coming to understand ye same prophesies aforehand so far as they are yet to be fulfilled? Or how knowest thou that the christian church if they continue to neglect, shall not be punished even in this world as severely as ever were the Iews? Yea will not ye Iews rise up in judgment against us? For they had some regard to these prophesies insomuch as to be in generall expectation of or Saviour about that time when he came, onely they were not aware of \the manner of/ his two comings; and were mistake they understood ye description of his second coming, & onely were mistaken in applying that to ye time of his first coming. Consider therefore, if ye description of his second coming was so much more plain & perspicuous then that of ye first, yt ye Iews who could not so much as perceive any thing of ye first could yet understand ye second, how shall we escape who understand nothing of ye second but have turned ye whole description of it into Allegories. And if ye Iews were so severely punished for not understanding ye first more difficult Prophesy, what can we plead who know nothing of ye more perspicuous; & yet \have/ this advantage above them that ye first wch is a key to ye second & was hidden from them is made manifest to us, and yt we have the second also much further explained in the new Testament. Consider how also \Again consider how/ the Apostels instructed ye Churches of the first age in the knowledg of these latter times 2 Thes 2.5. And if it was the duty of those Christians to understand them wch were not to live in them, shall we think |yt| ye knowledg thereof is of no concernment to us.
** Consider thatAgain Consider {sic} also the designe of the Apocalyps. Was it not given for ye use of the Church to guide & direct her in the right way,? And is not this the end of all prophetick Scripture? If there was no need of it, or if it cannot be understood, then why did God give it? But if was ne Does he trifle? But if it was necessary for the Church then why doest thou neglect it, or how knowest thou that thou art in the right way, and yet doest not understand it? * * This was ye principal caus of the reformations which have hitherto been made from ye Roman errors first by Waldenses and Albigenses and then by ye Protestants, & therefore we have reason to beleive yt God foreseeing how much ye Church would want a guide in these latter ages designed this Prophesy for this end & by consequence we may expect that he hath some further counsel to be brought about by the fuller manifestation of it.
< text from f 4r resumes >Lastly consider ye Blessing wch is promised to them that read & study & keep ye things wch are written in that which are written therein, for ye time is at hand, Rev. 1.3. And again to reinforce ye invitation to take these things into consideration, the same Blessing is repeated in Ch 22.7 And does God ever annex his blessings to trifles or things of indifferency? Wherefore be not overwise in thine own eyes conceipt, but as thou desirest to inherit this blessing consider & search into these Scriptures wch God hath given to be a guide in these latter times, & be not discouraged by the gainsaying {illeg} wch these things will meet with in the world.
this Prophesy. Blessed is he that readeth & they that hear the words of this Prophesy & keep the things[They will call thee it may be a \{illeg}/ hot-headed fellow a Bigot, a Fanatiqꝫ, a Heretiqꝫ &c: And tell thee of the uncertainty of these interpretations, & vanity of attending to them: Not considering that the prophesies concerning or Saviour's first coming were of more difficult interpretation, and yet God rejected ye Iews for not attending better to them. And whither they will beleive it or not, there are greater judgments hang over the Christians for their remisness then ever the Iews yet felt. But ye world loves to be deceived, they will not understand, they never consider equally, but are wholly led by prejudice, interest, the prais of men, and authority of ye Church they live in: as is plain becaus all parties keep close to ye Religion they have been brought up in, & \yet/ in all parties there are wise & learned as well as fools & ignorant. There are but few that seek to understand the religion they profess, & those that study for understanding therein, do it rather for worldly ends, or that they may defend it, then for worldl to examin whither it be true wth a resolution to chose & profess that religion wch in their judgment appears the truest. And as is their faith so is their practise. ffor where are the men that do never yeild to anger nor seek revenge, nor disobey governours, nor censure & speak evil of them, nor cheat, nor lye, nor swear, nor use God's name idly in their common talk, nor are \proud nor ambitious nor/ covetous, nor unchast, nor drink immoderately? Where are they that live like ye primitive Christians, that love God with all their hearts & with all their soules & wth all their might, and their neighbour as their selves; & that in what they do well are not rather led by fashions and principles of Gentility then religion, & where those disagree do not account it rudeness to depart from the former? I feare there are but very few whose righteousness exceeds ye righteousness of the Scribes & Pharisees.
This is the guise of ye world, and therefore trust it not, nor value their censures & contempt. But rather consider yt it is ye wisdom of God that his Church should appear despicable to ye world to try the faithfull. For this end he made it a curs under Law to hang upon a tree that the scandal of ye Cross might be a tryall to the Iews; & for ye like tryall of the Christians he hath suffered ye Apostacy of the latter times, as is declared in calling it the hower of temptation wch should come upon all ye world to try them that dwell upon the earth Rev 3.10. Be not therefore scandalised at the reproaches of ye world but rather looke upon them as a mark of ye true church.
And when thou art convinced be not ashamed to profess the truth. ffor {so} \otherwise/ thou mayst become a stumbling block to others, & inherit the lot of those Rulers of ye Iews who beleived in Christ but yet were afraid to confess him least they should be put out of the Synagogue.[1] Wherefore when thou art convinced be not ashamed of ye truth but profess it openly & indeavour to convince thy Brother also that thou mayst inherit at the resurrection the promis made in Daniel 12.3, that they who turn many to righteousness shall shine as the starrs for ever & ever. And rejoyce if thou art counted worthy to suffer in thy reputation or any other way for ye sake of ye Gospel, for then great is thy reward.
But yet I would not have thee too forward in becoming a teacher, like those men who catch at a few similitudes & scripture phrases, & for want of \further/ knowledg make use of them to censure & reproach superiours & rail at all things that displeas them. Be not heady like them, but first be throughly instructed thy self \& that/ not onely in the prophetiqꝫ Scriptures but more especially in the plain doctrines delivered therein so as to put them in practise & make them familiar & habituall to thy self. And when thou hast thus pulled out the beam out of thine own eye then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote out of thy Brothers eye. Otherwise how wilt thou say to thy Brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye & behold a beam is in thine own eye.
Some I know will be offended that I propound these things so earnestly to all men as if they were fit onely for ye contemplation of ye learned. But they should consider that God who best knows ye capacities of men does hide his mysteries from ye wise & prudent of this world and reveal them unto babes {sic}. They were not the Scribes & Pharisees but ye inferiour people who beleived on Christ & apprehended ye true meaning of his Parables & of ye Prophesies in ye old Testament concerning him. The wise men of ye world are often too much prepossest with their own imaginations & too much intangled in designes for this life. One has bought a piece of ground, another has bought five yoke of Oxen, a third has Married a wife, & therefore since they are for ye most part otherwise ingaged it was fit that the halt & poor and ye maimed & ye halt & ye blind & those that are in ye high ways & hedges should be also invited. And God who intended this Prophesy chiefly for their sakes is able to fit their understandings to it. |And it is ye gift of God & not of human wisdom so to understand it as to beleive it.|
Tis true that without a guide it would be very difficult not onely for them but even for ye most learned to understand it right But if the interpretation be done to their hands, I know not why by the help of such a guide they may not by attentive & often reading judgi understanding & judging of it as well as men of greater education. And such a guide I hope this \Book/ will prove: especially if ye judgment of ye Reader be prepared by considering well ye following Rules for inabling him to know when an interpretation is genuine & of two interpretations wch is ye best.
be capable ofIt was the judiciously learned & conscientious Mr Mede who first made way into these interpretations, & him I have for ye most part followed. ffor what I found true in him it was not lawful for me to recede from, & I rather wonder that he erred so little then that he erred in some things. His mistakes were chiefly in his Clavis, & had that been perfect, the rest would have fallen in naturally. Whence may be guessed ye great uncertainty of others who wthout any such previous methodising of ye Apocalyps have immediately fallen upon giving interpretations. ffor so by taking ye liberty to twist ye parts of ye Prophesy out of their natural order according to their pleasure wthout observing wth having regard to the internall characters whereby they were first to be connected, it might be no \very/ difficult matter amongst the great variety of things in the world to apply them more ways then one to such as should have some show of an interpretation. And yet all that I have seen besides ye labours of Mr Mede have been so botched & framed wthout any due proportion, that I could heartily wish those Authors |fear some of those Authors did not \so much as/ beleive their own interpretations, which makes me wish that they| had been moved to more caution by considering the curs yt is annexed to ye end of this Prophesy.
I testify unto every man that heareth the words of ye Prophesy of this book; If any man shall add unto these things God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from
the words of ye book of this Prophesy, God shall take away his part out of ye book of life, & out of ye holy city & from the things wch are written in this book.For to frame fals interpretations is to prejudice men & divert them from the right understanding of this book And this is a corruption equipollent to ye adding or taking from it, since it equally deprives men of ye use & benefit thereof. But yet I hope they did it neither out of ye vanity of appearing somebody in the world, nor out of designe to promote ye externall splendor & felicity of Churches rather then ye internall purity wch is of infinitely more value, nor out of any other temporal ends, but wth an upright heart that God may not lay it to their charge
Yet I could wish that those who make all to be long since past, even in ye Apostels age, had considered that when according to them this Prophesy should have been usefull to ye Church, their interpretations were not so much as thought upon. All sacred Prophesies are given for ye use of ye Church, & therefore they are all to be understood by the Church in those ages for whose use God intended them. But these prophesies were never understood by ye Church in ye former ages: They did not so much as pretend to understand them, nor thought that they concerned their times, but wth one universall consent delivered down to posterity ye famous Tradition of ye Antichrist described therein to come in the latter ages. And therefore since they were never yet understood, & God cannot be disappointed, we must acknowledg that they were written & shall prove for ye benefit of ye pesent & future ages, & so are not yet fulfilled. Wherefore let men be carefull how they indeavour to divert or hinder ye use of these scriptures, least they be found to fight against God.
Considering therefore the great concernment of these scriptures & danger of erring in their interpretation, propound to myself \make use of/ this Method.
it concerns us to proceed wth all circumspection. And for that end I shallFirst I shall lay down certain Rules general Rules of Interpretation, ye consideration of wch may prepare the judgment of ye Reader & inable him to know when an interpretation is genuine & of two interpretations which is the best.
Secondly, To prepare the Reader also for understanding the Prophetiqꝫ language I shall lay down a short description thereof, showing how it is borrowed from comparing a kingdom either to ye Vnivers or to a Beast: So that by the resemblance of their parts the signification of ye figurative \words &/ expressions in these Prophesies may be apprehended at one view & limited from ye grownd thereof. By wch means the Language of ye Prophets will appear \become {sic}/ certain & ye liberty of wresting it to private {illeg} imaginations \be/ cut of. The heads to wch I reduce these words I call Definitions.
Thirdly, These things being premised, I compare ye ꝑts of ye Apocalyps one wth another & digest them into order by those internal characters wch ye Holy-ghost hath for this end imprest upon them. And this I do by drawing them up the substance of ye Prophesy into Propositions, & subjoyning the reasons for ye truth of every Proposition.
And here I cannot but \loudly/ proclaim the admirable & more then humane wisdom that shines in the contexture of this Prophesy & its accurate consent wth all other prophesies of ye old & new Testament.
Fourthly,
Rules for interpreting ye words & language in Scripture.
1. To observe diligently the consent of Scriptures & analogy of the prophetiqꝫ stile, and to reject those interpretations where this is not duely observed. Thus if any man interpret a Beast to signify some great vice, this is to be rejected as his private imagination becaus according to the stile and tenour of ye Apocalyps & of all other Prophetiqꝫ scriptures a Beast signifies a kingdom \body politiqꝫ & sometimes a single person wch heads that body/, & there is no ground in scripture for any other interpretation, excepting that it is sometimes spoken of a single ꝑson 2. To assigne but one meaning to one place of scripture; un {sic} |unles it be by way of conjecture| \or where/ unless it be perhaps by way of conjecture, or where the literal sense is designed to hide ye more noble mystical sense as a shell ye kernel untill such time from being tasted either by unworthy persons, or untill such time as God shall think fit. In this case there may be for a blind, a true literal sense, even such as in its way may be beneficial to ye church. But when we have the principal meaning: If it be mystical we can insist on a true literal sense no farther then by history or arguments drawn from circumstances it appeas {sic} to be true: if literal, \though/ there may be a \also a by/ mystical sense yet we \cannot/ scarce can \scarce/ be \can scarce be/ sure there is one without divine authority for it, & some further arguments for it then a bare analogy. Much more are we to be cautious in giving a double \{illeg}/ mystical sense. There may be a double one, as where ye heads of ye Beast signify both mountains & Kings Apoc 17.9, 10. Or the number But without divine authority or at least some further argument then the analogy and resemblance & similitude of things, we can be sure of cannot be sure that ye Prophesy looks more ways then one. Too much liberty in this kind savours of a luxuriant ungovernable fansy and borders on enthusiasm. For a man cannot be obliged to beleive more meanings of a place then one. If ye place be intended litterally he is not obliged to beleive any mysticall sense, but if mystically, he is not obliged to beleive any \the/ litterall sense. And if two meanings seem equally probable he is obliged to beleive no more then in general yt one of them is genuine untill he meet wth some motive to prefer one side.
Yet this rule is not so to be understood but that the same thing may have divers meaning but then {sic} each meaning is to be collected from a different place |passage or circumstance| of scripture. As when of any thing done under ye Law we collect ye literall truth from \out of/ ye old Testament & a mysticall meaning from \out of/ the new: Or understand ye heads of ye Beast both of Mountains & Kings {illeg} /out of\ Rev 17.9, 10.
Or consider ye nūber of ye Beast as it is ye number of his name Rev 13.17, as it is opposite to ye number of ye churches Rev 7.4 & 21.17 and as it is ye type of some iniquity Rev 15.2.
< text from f 12r resumes >3 {sic}. To keep \as/ close \as may be/ to the same sense of words, especially in the same vision, \(2)/ unless where ye |propriety of ye language or \other/ circumstances plainly require a different signification in divers places| scripture it self declares that there is a double meaning & \(1)/ 3 {sic}. To keep \as/ close \as may be/ to ye same sense of words especially in ye same Vision and to neglect \prefer/ those interpretations where this is not {sic} \most/ duely observed unles ye propriety of ye language any circumstance plainly require a different signification. to reject \prefer/ those interpretations where this is not \best/ observed. Thus if a man interpret ye \{same}/ Beast to signify a kingdom in one sentence & a vice in another \when there is nothing in ye text that does argue any change of signification, sense/, this is to be rejected as a patch & no genuine interpretation. So if a man in ye same or contemporary visions \where ye earth & sea or ye earth & waters stand related to one another/ shall interpret the earth to signify sometimes ye dition of a Kingdom as in ye first Trumpet \{illeg} in chap 12 where ye Dragon came down to ye inhabitants of ye earth & sea, {illeg}/, sometimes Councils as where ye Earth helped ye woman, & sometimes onely a low estate as where ye Dragon was cast into ye Earth, or ye two horned Beast rose up out of ye Earth |ye Dragon was cast into ye earth or the two hornd Beast rose out of the earth| this wavering is not \readily/ to be acquiesced in but such an interpretation to be sought \indeavoured after/ as retains the same signification of Earth in all cases. \✝ vers. pag./ |pag| ✝ So in ye vision of ye whore chap 17 & 18, to take ye Kings of ye earth chap 17 18 over wch ye woman or great city reigned chap 17.18 for any other then the kings of ye earth wch she committed fornication wth \her/ ch 17.2 & 18.3, 9 and lamented her fall ch 18.9, 10 that is for any other then ye 10 \Kings or/ horns {sic} who gave their Kingdom to the Beast of ye Beast she reigned over, is not congruous. |So in ye {illeg} vision of ye whore chap. 17 & 18 to take Kings of ye Earth in chap one sence chap 17.{illeg}2 and ch 18.3, 9 & in another ch 17.18 is is {sic} not harmonius {sic}.|
4 {sic}. To prefer \chose/ those interpretations wch are most according to ye litterall meaning of ye scriptures unles where the tenour & circumstances of ye place plainly require an Allegory. Thus if the {sic} wound by a sword should be interpreted of a spirituall wound, or if {sic} the battel at the seventh Trumpet exprest & {sic} vial exprest by ye concours of Armies, & \by/ a hail-storm with other meteors should be in interpreted {sic} of a spiritual Battel; since there is nothing in the text to countenance such an interpretation, it ought to be rejected as a phantasy, |Where note yt the usuall signification of a prophetic {sic} prophetic figure is in the application of this Rule to be accounted equipollent to ye literall meaning of| a word when ever it appears yt ye Prophets speak in their figurative language. As if they describe the overthrow of nations by a tempest of Hail, thunder, lightning and shaking of ye world, the usuall signification of this figure is to be esteemed ye proper & direct sense of ye place as much as if it had been ye litterall meaning, this being a language as common amongst them as any national language is amongst ye people of that nation.
< text from f 12r resumes >5 {sic}. To acquiesce in that sense of any portion of Scripture \as the true one/ wch results most freely & naturally from ye use & propriety of ye Language & tenor of the context in that & all other places of Scripture to that sense. For if this be not the true sense, then is the true sense uncertain, & no man can attain to any certainty in ye knowledg of it. Which is to make ye scriptures no certain rule of faith, & so to reflect upon the spirit of God who dictated it.
He that without better grounds then his private opinion or the opinion of any human authority whatsoever shall turn scripture from the plain meaning to an Allegory or to any other less naturall sense declares thereby that he reposes more trust in his own imaginations or in that human authority then in the Scripture & by consequence that he is no true beleever. And therefore |ye| opinion of such men how numerous soever they be, is not to be regarded. Hence it is & not from any reall uncertainty in ye Scripture {sic} that Commentators have so distorted it; And this hath been the ye {sic} door through wch all Heresies have crept in & turned out ye ancient faith.
Rules for methodising | construing the Apocalyps.
< insertion from f 12v >Rule 5B. To prefer those interpretations wch, cæteris paribus, are of the most considerable things. ffor it was Gods designe in these prophesies to typify & describe not trifles but ye most considerable things in the world during the time time {sic} of the Prophesies. Thus were the question put whether the three froggs, the \head or/ horn of any Beast, the whore of Babylon, the woman Iezabel, the ffals Prophet, the Prophet Balaam, the King Balac, the martyr Antipas, the two witnesses, the woman cloathed with the Sun \the Manchild {sic} her Son, the Eagle proclaiming Wo/ & the like were to be interpreted of single persons {illeg} or of kingdoms Churches & other great bodies of men: I should by this Rule alone prefer the latter, unless perhaps in any case the single person propounded might be of more note & moment then the whole body of men he stands in competition with, or some other material circumstance might make more for a single person then a multitude.
< text from f 13r resumes >6 {sic}. To make ye visions & parts of ye same \a/ vision succeed one another according to |ye| order of ye narration without any breach or interfering unless when there are manifest indications of such a breach or interfering. For if the order of visions & of their \its/ parts might be interr varied or interrupted at pleasure, they \it/ would be \of/ no certain interpretation, which is to elude them \it/ and make them \it/ no prophesie {sic} but \an/ ambiguitie {sic} like those of ye heathen Oracles.
7 {sic}. In collaterall visions to adjust ye most notable parts & periods to one another: And if they be not throughout equ collaterall, to make the beginning or end of one vision fall in wth some notable period of the other. For the visions are duely proportioned to ye actions & changes of ye times wch they respect by ye following {sic} Rule and therefore they are duely proportioned to one another. \(2)/ But yet this Rule is not over strictly to be adhered to when \ye visions respect divers kingdoms or/ one vision respects ye Church & another ye state \because there may be remarkable revolutions in/. \(1)/ An instance of this you have in suiting ye Dragon to all ye seals ye Beast to all ye Trumpets and ye Whore to ye Wo Trumpets.
8 {sic}. To prefer /choose\ those interpretations /constructions\ wch without straining reduce contemporary visions to ye greatest harmony of their parts. I mean not onely in their proportions as in the precedent rule, but also in their other qualities, \& principally/ so as to make them respect the same actions \For the design of collaterall visions is to be a key to one another & therefore ye way to unlock them without straining must be fitting one to ye other wth all diligence & curiosity. {This} is true {opening} scripture by scripture./ An instance of this you have in ye comparison of ye Dragon's history with ye seales & Trumpets in Prop , & of the Trumpets wth ye seales Vials, {illeg} in Prop &c
<14r>9 {sic}. To prefer \choose/ those interpretations \constructions/ wch without straining reduce things to the greatest simplicity. The reason of this is manifest by the precedent Rule. Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, & not in ye multiplicity & confusion of things. As ye world, wch to ye naked eye exhibits the greatest variety {sic} of objects, appears very simple in its internall constitution when surveyed by a philosophic understanding, & so much ye simpler by how much the better it is understood, so it is in these visions. It is ye perfection of all God's works that they are all done wth ye greatest simplicity. He is ye God of order & not of confusion. And therefore as they that would understand ye frame of ye world must indeavour to reduce their knowledg to all possible simplicity, so it must be in seeking to understand these visions. And they that shall do otherwise do not onely make sure never to understand them, but derogate from ye perfection of ye prophesy; & declare \make it suspicious/ also that their designe is not to understand it but to shuffle it of & confound ye understandings of men by making it intricate & confused.
10 {sic}. In construing ye Apocalyps to \have little or no/ regard to arguments drawn from events of things; For there \becaus there/ can \scarce/ be any certainty in historicall interpretations untill unless the construction be first determined.
11 {sic}. To acquiesce in that construction of ye Apocalyps as ye true one wch results most naturally & freely from ye characters imprinted by the holy ghost on the severall parts thereof for insinuating their connexion, & from the observation of ye precedent rules. The reason of this is ye same wth that of the fift {sic} rule.
Hence if any man shall contend that my Construction of ye Apocalyps is uncertain, upon pretence that it may be possible to find out other ways, he is not to be regarded unless he shall show wherein what I have done may be mended. If ye ways after truth but labours for ye interest of a party. And if ye way wch I have followed be according to ye nature & genius of ye Prophesy there needs no other demonstration to convince it. For as of an Engin made by an excellent Artificer every \a/ man readily beleives yt ye parts are right set together when he sees them joyn truly with one another notwithstanding that they may be strained into another posture; & as every a {sic} man readily acquiesces in ye meaning of an Author how intricate so ever when he sees ye words construed or set in due order according to ye laws of Grammar, notwithstanding yt the words may possibly be forcing {sic} \there may be a possibility of force/ing ye words to some other harsher construction: so a man ought wth equal construction reason to acquiesce in the {sic} construction of these Prophesies when he sees their parts set in order according to their suitableness & the characters imprinted in them for that purpose
wch he contends for be less natural or grounded upon weaker reasons, that very thing is demonstration enough that they are fals, & that he seeks notTis true that an Artificer may make an Engin capable of being wth equal congruity set together more ways then one, & \that/ a sentence may be ambiguous: but this Objection can have no place in the Apocalyps, becaus God who knew how to frame it without ambiguity intended it for a rule of faith.
But it is needless to urge wth this general reasoning the Construction wch I have composed, since the reasons wherewith I have \there/ proved every particular are of that evidence that they cannot but move ye assent of any humble and indifferent person that shall wth sufficient attention peruse them them & cordially beleives the scriptures. Yet I would not have this so understood as to hinder the further search of other persons. I suspect there are still more mysteries to be discovered. And as Mr Mede layed ye foundation & I have built upon it: so I hope others will proceed higher untill the work be finished.
Rules for interpreting the Apocalyps.
12 {sic}. The Construction of ye Apocalyps after it is once deter mined must be made the rule of interpretations; And all interpretations rejected wch agree not with it. That must not be strained to fit history but such things chosen out of history as are most suitable to that.
13 {sic}. To interpret sacred Prophecies of ye most considerable \things &/ actions of those times to wch they are applied. For if it would be weakness in an Historian whilst he writes of obscurer actions to let slip the greater, much less ought this to be supposed in the holy Prophesies which are no other then prophesies \histories/ of things to come.
14 {sic}. To proportion the most notable parts of Prophesy to the most notable parts of history, & ye breaches made in a continued series of Prophesy to ye changes made in history And to reject those interpretations where the parts of and breaches of Prophesy do not thus bear a due proportion to ye parts & changes in History. For if Historians divide their histories into Sections {sic} Chapters & Books at such periods of time where the less, greater & greatest revolutions begin or end; & to do otherwise would be improper: much more ought we to suppose yt ye holy Ghost observes this rule accurately in his prophetick {sic} dictates, since they are no other then histories of things to come. Thus by the great breaches made between the sixt & seventh seal by interposing the vision of ye sealed saints, & between ye sixt & seventh Trumpet by interposing ye vision of the little book, that prophesy is divided into three cardinal parts, & ye middle part subdivided by ye little breach between ye fourth & fift Trumpet made by interposition of ye Angel crying Wo, & all ye other seals & trumpets are as it were less sections. And therefore to these breaches & sections, according to ye rule, must be adapted periods of time wch intercede & disterminate proportional revolutions of history. Again if a Historian should use no proportion in his descriptions but magnify a less thing above a greater or attribute the more courage to ye softer of two persons &c.: we should count it an argument of his unskilfulness. And therefore since the dictates of the Holy-Ghost are histories of things to come, such disproportions {sic} are not to be allowed in them. Thus in Daniel's vision of ye four Beasts, it would be grosly absurd to interpret, as some have \Polititians/ of late have done, the fourth Beast of Antiochus Epiphanes & his successors; since that is described to be ye most terrible, dreadfull, strong, & warlike Beast of all ye four, & the Prophet dwels far longer upon the description of that \then of all the others put together:/ whereas the kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes & his successors was both less & weaker & less warlike then any of the three before him.
15 {sic}. To chose those interpretations wch without straining do most respect the church & argue the greatest wisdom & providence of God for preserving her in the truth. As he that would interpret the actions or letters or actions of a very wise states man, so as thence to know ye council wherewith they are guided & the designes he is driving on, must consider the main end to wch they are directed & suppose they are such as most conduce to yt end & argue the greatest wisdom \& providence/ of the States-man in ordering them: so it is in these Prophesies. They are the counsels of God & so ye most wise, & fittest for ye end to wch they are designed: And that end is the benefit of ye Church to guide her {sic} & preserve her in ye truth. For to this end are all ye sacred prophesies in both the old and new Testament directed, as they that will consider them may easily perceive. |Hence may appear ye oversight of some interpreters whose interpretations if they were true would make ye Apocalyps of little or no benefit \concernment/ to ye Church.| |Perhaps what follows may be better inserted in ye preface.|
| Yet| I meane not that these \Prophesies/ were to con intended to convert the whole world to ye truth. For God is just as well as {sic} merciful, & punishes wickednes by hardening ye wicked & visiting ye sins of ye fathers upon the children. But the designe of them is to try men & convert the best, so yt the church may be purer & less mixed wth Hypocrites & luke-warm persons. And for this end it is that they are wrapt up in obscurity, & so framed by the wisdom of God that ye inconsiderate, ye proud, ye self-conceited, \ye presumptuous/, ye scholist, ye sceptic, they whose judgments are ruled by their lusts, their interest, ye fashions of ye world, their opini esteem of men, \the outward shew of thing/ or other prejudices, & all they who, of how pregnant {sic} natural parts soever they be, yet cannot discern ye wisdom of God in ye contrivance of ye creation: that these \men/ whose hearts are thus hardned in seeing should see & not perceive & in hearing should heare & not understand. For God has declared his intention in these prophesies to be as well that none of ye wicked should understand as yt ye wise should understand, Dan: 12.
And hence I cannot but on this occasion reprove the blindness of a sort of people men who although they have neither better nor other grounds for their faith then ye Scribes & Pharisees had for their religion Traditions, yet are so pervers as to call upon other men for such a demonstration of ye certainty of faith in ye scriptures that a meer naturall man, how wicked soever, who will but read it, may judg of it & perceive ye strength of it wth as much perspicuity & certainty as he can a demonstration in Euclide. Are not these men like ye Scribes & Pharisees who would not attend to ye law & ye Prophets but required a signe of Christ? Wherefore if Christ thought it just to deny a signe to that wicked & adulterate generation notwithstanding that they were God's own people, even \&/ the {sic} Catholiqꝫ Church; much more may God think it just that this generation should be permitted to dy in their sins, who do not onely like ye Scribes neglect but trample upon the law and ye Prophets, & endeavour by all possible means to destroy ye faith wch men have in them, & \to/ make them disregarded. {It is} I could wish they would consider how contrary it is to God's purpose yt ye truth of his religion should be as obvious & perspicuous to all men as a mathematical demonstration. Tis enough that it is able to move ye assent of those wch he hath chosen; & for ye rest who are so incredulous, it is just that they should be permitted to dy in their sins. Here then is ye wisdom of God, that he hath so framed ye Scriptures as to discern between ye good and ye bad, that they should be demonstration to ye one & foolishness to ye other.
And from this consideration may also appear the vanity of those men who regard ye splendor of churches & measure them by the external form & constitution. Whereas God it is more agreable to God's designe that his church appear contemptible & scandalous to ye world to try men. For this end doubtles he suffered ye many revoltings of ye Iewish Church under ye Law, & for ye same end was ye grand Apostacy to happen under ye gospel. Rev . If thou relyest upon ye externall form of churches, ye Learning of Scholars, {illeg} ye wisdom of statemen or of other men of Education; consider wth thy self whither thou wouldest not have adhered to ye scribes & Pharisees hadst thou lived in their days, & if this be thy case, then is it no better then theirs, & God may judg thee accordingly, unless thou chance to be on ye right side, wch as tis great odds may prove otherwise so if it should happen yet it would not scarce excuse thy folly although it might something mitigate it.
Definitions \Prophetic figures/.
The original of the figurative Language of the Prophets was ye Comparison of a Kingdom to ye 1 World {sic} & the parts of the one to ye \like/ parts of the other. And accordingly the 2 Sun signifies ye supreme King \and Kingly power/. The Moon ye next in dignity |that is ye priestly power with ye person or persons it resides in|. The greater stars ye rest of ye Princes or inferior Kings. The 3 Heaven the \th Throne court/ honours & dignities wherein these terrestrial Luminaries & stars are placed, & the 4 Earth & 5 Sea ye (condition of) inferior people. \inferior people. 5 Waters the same. 5. The sea a gathering together of many people into one \large/ dition or body politick, a great kingdom. 5, 21, 25 Rivers & fountains of water, peoples under several heads, many small kingdoms principalities or provinces & {sic} their head cities./ 6 And when there are two sorts of people considered, they are sometimes distinguished by calling one ye earth & ye other the Sea, waters or rivers.
When ye Earth is put to signify any people or aggregate of Nations, then \Moreover {sic}/ a 7 Mountain signifies a city & more especially the head City as Ierusalem or Babylon, & sometimes a 8 Temple \& {illeg} so 9 x Islands signify {illeg} Temples in a Country represented by ye sea/. |10| Dens & Rocks of Mountains ye buildings of Cities or ye ruins of them, & chiefly of great stone buildings such as are Forts, Pallaces & 11 {sic} Temples. 12 {illeg} Trees & Herbs men 13 {sic} Swarms of Insects (as of Locusts) numerous Armies. {illeg} 14 {sic} Wild Beasts \forreign Kingdoms/ Armies \of invaders/. 15 {sic} Other Beasts, as Froggs, other societies or sects of men according to their qualities. Wildernes a country wasted by these Beasts whither it be in 16 {sic} temporal or 17 {sic} spirituall matters. 18 {sic} Flesh riches upon wch they prey. 19 {sic} The Foules of ye Air the things yt are in it, as spirits, or infectious diseases, & sometimes it may be, troops of horsmen, or ye commanders of an Armies {sic} & kingdoms.
When the Sea or Waters are put to signify a people or aggregate of nations, then \Again/ by 19 Islands are meant parcels of ground set apart from ye possessions of ye people \{suppose}/ for ye building of Temples {or Altars} |20 By ships buildings. & By Merchant ships &c.| 20 By Merchant ships buildings for commerce & profit such as are shops to tradesmen & temples to Priests. By a Navy of war-ships an Army. By Rivers {illeg} of men running to and fro \the Provinces \& countries or people/ or ye Nations of a Kingdom/ such as are Armies. 22 {sic} By overflowing floods Invasions. 23 {sic} By drying up of waters the decay of military strength 24 {sic} By Reeds & Flaggs men. 25 {sic} By Fountains of water Cities & towns. 26 {sic} And by Fishes Armies or people.
Hitherto I have considered ye World onely so far as its parts are compared to ye parts of a Kingdom in a due proportion to ye whole: which I chose to do becaus this was ye original of ye figurative language of ye Prophets & therefore must be ye rule to understand it. But it frequently happens that to make ye parts of a Kingdom hold ye better correspondence with one another, & for the more convenience of expressing their mutuall respects & actions & sometimes of considering two or more Kingdoms at once ye Prophets extend some part of ye world to ye whole Kingdom: As ye celestial frame by putting 27 {illeg} the lesser stars, to signify ye common people, & 28 the {illeg} clouds great multitudes of them |\28B/ the Moon a feminine\2/ body\1/ changeable\3/ superstitious illuminated by the sun, a body of people combined in any religion made splendid by the sun that is in any national religion.|; or the terrestrial by putting 29 ye {illeg} tallest Trees for Kings & Princes & lesser Plants or Herbs for ye common people; or any single 30 Beast \Animal/ as a Lyon, Beare, 31 Dragon \Eagle, Lamb, Woman, Man, \or even an/ Angel./ &c, by putting any animal signifies a kingdom the |by putting their parts & qualities to signify the parts & qualities of the Kingdō.| |As| its 32 heads if more then one to signify powers parts of it \distinction of the Kingdom into soe many capital parts/ whether collaterall or successive, 33 {sic} the 34 horns upon any head its Kings or ye subordinate \number of/ Kingdoms belonging to yt head, 34 the 35 eyes political skill & foresight \a politician & more emphatically a prophet/ 35 the 36 mouth \a/ power of commanding & making laws, \{illeg} or promulger of laws \speaker of laws// 36 the 37 teeth Captains & \squadrons other of armies under their several/ Commanders of Armies, 37 {sic} the 38 \Wings & leggs leggs or/ feet Armies, |38| the 39 tayl also Armies if it be of a serpentine form so that ye Beast may fight with it, otherwise onely a train of attendants, 39 & ye 40 body ye rest of ye Kingdom wch is guarded & governed by these parts,. And thus much concerning ye parts of a Kingdom. The chief passions are represented as followeth.
40 Ascending up to heaven signifies great exaltation 41 {sic} Ascending in a cloud exaltation by a multitude of people; & 42 Riding on ye clouds victory &dominion over much people. \Passing away of heaven & earth ye passing/ 42 Covering ye Sun with a cloud or with smoke oppression of ye King by ye armies of an enemy. \Passing away of heaven & earth ye passing away of a kingdom Isa. 34.4./ 43 {sic} Darkning smiting or setting of ye Sun Moon & Stars, ye ceasing of a Kingdom, or desolation of it proportional to ye darknes if it be not totall. 44 {sic} Blacknes of ye Sun & turning the Moon into blood, into blood the splendor of ye kingdom put out & its glory turned into slaughter. \the \religious/ body thereof politically slain/ 45 {sic} Turning water into blood great slaughter of ye people \or at least ye political death of a kingdom. 45B Embittering ✝/ 45B ✝ Embittering of Waters by wormwood vehement affliction of a people & that chiefly by warr. Waters made bitter by wormwood, great \vehement/ affliction of a people & that chiefly by war 46 {sic} The falling of any thing into water the ruin of that thing. 47 {sic} Burning any thing with fire the consuming of it by war. 48 {sic} Being scorched with ye Sun, affliction through war to be caused by the King. \48B Appearing like a fiery substance as ye Sun Apoc. 1.16 burning brass Apoc. 1.15 flames of fire Apoc. 1.14 or cloathed with a fiery substance as \wth/ ye Sun Apoc. 12.1 & 19.17 signifies being in great affliction by war or persecution./ 49 {sic} Earthquakes wars & commotions. 50 {sic} Shaking of heaven & Earth commotions so great as to overthrow Kingdoms. 51 {sic} Winds long & continued series of war. 51 {illeg} Whirlwinds very violent & destructive wars. 52 The more sudden & violent tempests of hail & thunder, the battels therein with loss to that side on wch the tempest falls, whereof ye greatnes is aggravated if the hail stones be described very great or mixed wth fire (i.e. of Lightning) or wth blood. 53 {sic} But rain signifies ye blessing of God \unless it come wth a flood/. And living water or water of life is the gift of ye spirit Ioan 7.38, 39. Apoc that is, saith ye Chalde Paraphrast I have put ye words of my prophesy in thy mouth that & protected thee in ye shaddow of my power that I might say un raise up ye people of whom tis said they shall be multiplied as ye stars of heaven & that I may found ye congregation of whom tis said yt it shall be multiplied as ye dust of ye earth, & say to ye inhabitants of Sion, Ye are my people. And so again in Isa 65.17 Behold I create new heavens & a new earth; & the former shall not be remembred – For behold I create Ierusalem a rejoycing & her people a joy. So again, \in Haggai/ I will shake ye heavens & ye earth & I will overthrow ye throne {sic} of kingdoms Haggai 2.21 {illeg} \Yet {once} more/ I will shake the heaven & ye earth & ye sea & ye dry land & I will shake all nations Hagg. 2.6 Which is afterward thus \by the Prophets/ interpreted \of Kingdoms/ I will shake \saith he/ the heavens & ye earth & I will overthrow ye throne of Kingdoms. 21. Which \And so also ye by ye/ Apostle Paul saith, This yet once more \saith he/ signifieth ye removing of those things wch are shaken – that those things wch cannot be shaken may remain: wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved. Heb. 26
<23r>Besides these there are many other figurative expressions, taken for the most part from more obvious similitudes or affinities of things; 54 {sic} as to represent a Warrior or Potentate by a horsman. 55 {sic} Victoriousnes by a Bow {sic}. 56 {sic} Iustice by a Ballance or Measure. 57 {sic} Martyrs by an Altar. The Church by a 58 {sic} Temple or 59 {sic} Woman \60 Persecution of the Church by ye pains of a woman in travail/. 61 An adulterate Church by a Whore. 62 Idolatry of ye Church by 61 Whoredom or 62 Blasphemy. 63 Idols by Men. 64 The shutting {sic} up of Idols in their Temples or burying them in the ruins thereof by hiding men in Dens & Rocks of Mountains. 64 The fall of Idol-temples upon their Idols by the falling of Rocks\2/ & Mountains\1/ upon men. 65 The throwing down of Idols by ye falling of stars of unto ye earth as figgs fall from a Fig-tree. 65 The throwing down of Idol Temples by the departing of ye heavens as a scroll when it is rolled together. 66 The springing up of new heresies or fals religions by ascention out of the bottomles pit. 67 Error & affliction by drunkenness or a potion. \68A The plague of \Overthrow in/ warr by a wound. 68B A durable plague of war by a Sore/ 68|C| Desolation by nakedness. 69 Slaughter of ye Wicked | Punishing in hell by treading a Winepress. 70 And the end of ye World by a harvest or Vinetage. \Slaying in hell by treading a winepress./ And some others there are wch are either so obvious as need no explaining, or may be more conveniently explained hereafter.
Definitions.
The original of ye Parabolical \figurative/ language of the Prophets is ye Comparison of a Kingdom to ye 1 Frame of Heaven & Earth, & ye parts of ye one to the like parts of ye other. And hence \accordingly/ the 2 Sun signifies ye supreme magistrate, ye {3} Moon ye next in dignity, ye 4 Stars ye rest of ye Court, \or in generall ye glory of ye Kingdom/ 3 ye greater stars ye \rest of ye/ Princes or inferior Kings. 3 Heaven the Court \or {sic} the honours & dignities therein wherein y \these terrestriall/ luminaries & stars are placed/ [Light & Clouds ye splendor glory & exaltation of ye Kingdom.] & 4 Earth & 5 Sea ye \condition of/ inferior people. 6 And when there are [two Kingdoms or] two sorts of people considered, they are some times distinguished by calling one ye Earth & ye other the Sea.
When ye Earth is put to signify any people this or aggregate of Nations, then a 7 Mountain signifies a city & more especially the head City as Ierusalem or Babylon, & sometimes a 8 Temple. 9 Dens & Rocks of Mountains the buildings of Cities or ye ruins of them & chiefly of great stone buildings such as are Palaces & 10 Temples |11 Vegetables men| [Hiding of men in dens & rocks of Mountains ye shutting up of Idols in their Temples or burying them in the ruins thereof. |11 Trees & Herbs men.| The fall of Mountains & rocks upon men, the fall of Idol-temples upon their Idols. Trees ye great & rich men of divers rancks according to ye greatness nature & bignes of ye tree, Oaks, men of strength & power, Cedars & firrs the honourable & rich, Vines ye rich & delicat & sometimes ye wicked. Treading of ye winepres ye slaughter of ye wicked, Shrubs men of middle degree, Herbs or Grass ye inferior people.] 12 Swarms of insects (as of Locusts) numerous Armies. 13 Wild Beasts Armies or Troops of Soulders {sic}. 14 Other Beasts (as \Horses or/ Froggs) other societies or sects of men according to their qualities. 15 Wilderness |a| country {sic} wasted by these beasts whither it be in 15 temporall or 16 spirituall matters. 17 Flesh riches & money upon wch they prey. 18 The Foules of ye Air the things that are in it, as spirits or infectious diseases, & sometimes it may be troops of horsmen, or ye commanders of an Army.
When the Sea or Waters are put to signify a people or aggregate of nations, then by 19 Islands are meant Cities or Temples by 19 Islands parcels of ground set apart from ye propriety possessions of ye people \the Courts of Temples/ for ye building of Temples or Altars. 20 By \merchant/ Shipps Buildings, (& chiefly such as are) for commerce & profit |such| as \are/ (trading towns to Nations,) Shops to Trades-men & Temples to Priests. – to Priests. 21 By a navy of war-ships an Army ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ to Priests. By ffountains of water cities & Townes \or \captains &/ great men/. 22 By rivers ( trains | Armies of men running to & fro such as are Armies [or ye afflux of fforreigners]. 23 By overflowing ffloods = Invasions. 24 By the drying up of {Ri} waters the decay of military strength. 25 By Reeds & Flaggs men \26 By fountains of water cities & towns/ & by 27 ffishes armies, or \{illeg} people other/ bands of men. [Sometimes waters signify riches & then the Sea & Rivers must be interpreted accordingly.]
Hitherto I have considered the univers onely so far as its ꝑts are compared to ye parts of a kingdom in a due proportion \to ye whole/ wch I chose to do becaus this was ye original of ye figurative Language of ye Prophets & therefore must be ye rule to understand it. But it frequently happens that to make ye parts of a kingdom hold ye better Analogy wth one another & for the more convenience of describing \expressing/ their mutuall respects & actions, the Prophets extend & of cond & sometimes of considering two or more kingdoms at once, ye Prophets extend some ꝑt of ye Vnivers to ye whole kingdom: As ye celestiall frame by putting \either ye {illeg} stars/ 28 ye clouds \the lesser stars/ to signify ye common people \& ye 29 clouds great multitudes of them/; or ye terrestriall by putting Herbs for ye common people & ye 30 tallest Trees for Kings & Princes \& lesser plants or herbs for ye common people/; or any single |31| Beast as a Lyon Beare 32 Dragon &c: by putting its 33 Heads if more then one to signify so many parts of it whether collaterall or successive, ye |34| Horns upon any head its Kings or ye subordinate Kingdoms belonging to that head. The 35 eyes \statesmen &/ politicall skill & foresight, ye 36 mouth \Legislators or ye/ power of commanding & making laws, 37 the teeth Captains & other Commanders, The 38 Feet Armies, the 39 Tayl also Armies if it be of a serpentine form |so| that {sic} ye Beast may fight with it, otherwise onely a train of attendants, & ye 40 Body ye rest of ye kingdom wch is guarded & governed by these parts. And thus much concerning ye parts of a kingdom: to wch may be added its passions as followeth
41 Ascending up to heaven signifies great exaltation, 42 Ascending in a cloud exaltation by a multitude of people, \riding on the clouds victory & dominion over much people/ [Rolling away of ye Clouds, ye defection or ceasing of a People] 43 Covering ye sun with a cloud \or wth smoke/ oppression of ye King by the Armies of an enemy, 44 Darkning smiting or setting of ye Sun, Moon & Stars \or very great \oppression &/ desolation or {illeg} equal \proportional/ to ye darknes if it be not total |Turning ye moon into blood the kingdoms glory turned into bloodshed.| / ye ceasing of a Kingdom. 65 Falling of ye stars as a leaf falleth from a tree the throwing down of Idols. |Dissolving or vanishing \rolling away/ of the heavens the ceasing of a kingdom 69 Departing of the Heavens as a scroll when it is rolled together the throwing down of Idol Temples|. Hide |64| Hiding of men in Dens & Rocks of Mountains ye shutting up of Idols in their Temples or burying them in the {sic} ruins thereof 64 ffalling of Mountains & Rocks upon men ye fall of Idol temples upon their Idols] (2) Turning ye Moon into Blood {sic} ye Kingdoms glory turned into slaughter. 46 Turning water into blood great slaughter of ye people. \47 The falling of any thing into water the ruin of that thing/ 48 Burning any thing wth fire ye consuming of it by war. 49 Being scorched by the sun affliction through war to be caused by the King. 50 Earth-quakes Wars & commotions. 51 Shaking of Heaven & Earth commotions so great as to overthrow Kingdoms. 52 {illeg} Winds long & continued series of war whirlwinds {sic} very violent & destructive wars. 53 The \more/ sudden & violent Tempests of Hail \& Thunder &/ (& Thunder) the battels therein wth loss to that side on wch ye Tempest falls, whereof ye greatnes is aggravated if ye Hail stones be described very great or mixed wth \Thunder/ fire (i.e. of lightning) or wth blood. [Rain ye refreshment of a kingdom whither it be by temporall or spirituall blessings.] & 54 Rain the Blessing of God. By Fishes men. By Rivers trains of men running to & fro such as are Armies. \or the afflux of Forreigners/ By Fountains of water Cities & Towns. |&| By overflowing ffloods Invasions. of other countries \By ye drying up of waters ye decay of military strength. By reeds & flags men & by ffountains of water Cities & towns/ Sometimes Waters {sic} signify riches & then ye Sea & Rivers signify must be interpreted accordingly. |And thus far concerning ye parts of a kingdom to wch may be added ye representations of its chief passions as followeth.|
Commotions in ye Kingdom are signified by shaking ye Heaven & Earth, & War by Fire & Meteors. And particularly the blowing of Winds signify long & continued series of war, Whirlwinds very violent Wars
|Earthquakes signify wars & commotions ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~|
The shaking of heaven & Earth signifies commotions in the kingdom |\commotions so great as to/ the overthrow of {sic} Kingdoms by those commotions| (2) Obscurity or duskines of ye Sun Moon & stars ye obscure & afflicted estate of ye Kingdom. (1) Total darknes or smiting of ye Sun Moon Luminaries, falling of ye stars & rolling away of ye clouds, the overthrow of ye Kingdom & departure of its glory. Ascending up to heaven, great exaltation in ye {Kingdome} And |&| Being scorched by ye Sun, affliction through wars to be caused by ye supreme Magistrate. And So \In like manner/ /So also\ the burning of vegetables or other things wth fire, & turning water into \blood/ signify {sic} war. Also Meteors signify wars, & particularly the blowing of winds signify long & continued wars series of wars, Whirlwinds very violent & destructive wars, & the sudden & violent Tempests of Hail & Thunder the Battels therein with loss to that side on wch ye Tempest falls, the greatness of wch is aggravated by describing ye greatness of ye hail stones & by mixing them with fire (i.e. of Lightning) & sometimes wth blood. But rain denotes ye refreshment of a kingdom & that chiefly by \whither it be by temporal or/ by spirituall blessings \*/ * 45 Blacknes of ye Sun & turning ye Moon into blood ye splendor of ye Kingdom put out & its glory turned into bloodshed. And hence waters are sometimes put for sound doctrin, but not for Hæresy.
Hitherto I have considered ye Vnivers onely so far as its parts are compared to ye parts of a Kingdom in a due proportion: wch I chose to do becaus this was ye originall of ye figurative Language of ye Prophets, & therefore must be ye rule to understand it. But it happens some times for that for ye more convenience of describing any subject, the proportions are changed & then ye interpretation must be changed accordingly. Thus although a Tree {be} originally signify an inferior great man, yet if it be represented large beyond proportion so as to reach to ye ends of ye earth it must signify a King whose dominions are proportionally great Dan: 4. So although a Mountain originally signify onely a City, yet if it be so great as to fill ye whole earth, it must by Analogy signify ye kingdoms of ye Earth subject to that City {sic}. Dan 2.35. And in like manner although \wild/ Beasts signify originally signify armies yet if those armies by praying upon their neighbours at length grow into a Kingdom, that Kingdom may from its originall be called a Beast, especially if it continue to be supported by armies, & the Beast be described great & powerfull. And when any Beast as a Lyon, Beare, Dragon Leopard, Dragon or nameles Monster is put for a Kingdom, then ye Heads of ye Beast if more then one signify so many parts of it whither collaterall or successive, the Horns upon any Head its Kings or ye Subordinate Kingdoms belonging to that Head. The eyes politicall skill & foresight, the mouth powr of commanding & making laws, the teeth Captains & other Commanders & the tail & feet Armies, & chiefly footmen.
Besides these there are many other figurative expressions taken for ye most part from more obvious similitudes or affinities of things; as to represent a Warrior {sic} {illeg} or Potentate by a 55 Horsman. Victoriousness by a 56 Bow. Iustice by a 57 Ballance or Measure. Martyrs by an 58 Altar ye Church by a 59 Temple or 60 Woman, An {sic} adulterate Church by a 61 Whore. Idolatry of ye Church by 61 Whoredom or 62 Blasphemy. \63 Idols by men/ The shutting up of Idols in their Temples or burying them in the {sic} ruins thereof by 64 hiding men in Dens & Rocks of Mountains. The fall of Idol temples {sic} upon their Idols by ye 64 falling of Mountains & Rocks upon men The throwing down of Idols by ye 65 falling of stars as a leaf \{illeg} fig/ falleth from a \fig/ tree. The throwing down of Idol temples by ye 65 departing of ye Heavens as a scroll when it is rolled together. Error or affliction by 67 Drunkeness [Distress & poverty \{Petion} - Desolation/ by 68 nakedness.] Glory by clothing wth ye sun. The end of ye world by a harvest or Vintage & some others wch are either so obvious as need no explaining, or may be more conveniently explained hereafter.
66 The springing up of heresies or fals \{illeg}/ religions by 66 ascention out of ye bottomles pit. Moreover, Ascending out of ye bottomles Pit signifies ye springing up of Heresies of fals religions. Ascending up to Heaven great exaltation —— upon their Idols. Throwing | The falling of any thing into water the ruin of that thing. Treading a Winepres great slaughter of ye wicked. Turning water into blood great slaughter of ye people. Turning ye Moon into Blood the Kingdoms glory turned into bloodshed. Treading a winepres great slaughter of ye wicked. Burning &c. Slaughter of ye wicked by \69 treading/ a Winepres. Falling into ye sea ruin of a thing by \its/ being 47 thrown into water[2] Idols by men.
The Proof.
Now although these interpretations by their analogy wth one another & resemblance to the things signified, may seem plain enough, yet that nothing be wanting to establish them, I shall further show their consent wth ye scriptures, & also wth ye translation \interpretations/ of ye Chalde Paraphrast, & wth ye ancient doctrin of ye Eastern Interpreters of as it is recorded by a[3] Achmet an Arabian out of ye ancient monuments of Egypt Persia & India. For since these nations anciently bordering upon ye Hebrews, had great affinity wth them both in language & manners, & therefore we scruple not to learn from them ye use of words & phrases in \translating/ ye scriptures, much less \so wee/ need not scruple to have from them ye use of figurative expressions wherein they were much\perhaps/ better agreed then in \their/ popular languages. For ye Prophets wthout doubt spake in a dialect then commonly b[4] known to ye more understanding sort of men, & many of their types & figures wch are unusual & difficult to us, appear by these records of Achmet to have been very familiar to those eastern nations; at least among their interpreters. Wherefore next after ye authority of ye scriptures I choose {sic} wth c[5] modern interpreters to rely rather upon ye traditions of those ancient Sages then upon ye suggestions of private Phansy \fancy/ I proceed \on these grounds/ to ye proof of ye {sic} interpretations. {illeg}
1. The comparison of a Kingdom to ye world may appear out of Isay 51.16, where ye new founding of ye political world or kingdom of ye Iews is exprest by planting ye heavens & laying ye foundations of ye earth. I have put my words in thy mouth & have covered thee in ye shaddow of mine hand that I may plant ye heavens & lay the foundations of ye earth, & say unto Zion, Thou art my people. See ye Chalde Paraphrast. And in ye same sence is heaven & earth to be taken in Isa:1.2. Hagg:2.21. &c. |And so in ye Apocalyps, Rejoyce ye heavens & ye that dwell in them. Wo to ye inhabiters of ye earth & sea|
2. \The signification of ye Sun moon & stars is manifested by these instances./ When Ioseph dreamed that ye Sun moon & eleven stars should do obeisance to him, Iacob interprets it of himself his wife & {illeg} sons, comparing his family to ye Vnivers as if it were a little kingdom Gen. 37. \‡ Sextus Empirius saith that the Egyptians – – –/ ‡ And Sextus Empirius saith yt ye Egyptians assimilate the Sun to ye King & to ye right eye & ye moon to ye Queen & to ye left eye & the five Planets to Lictors or staff-bearers & the fixt stars to ye rest of ye people {sic}. Sex. Empir. adv. mathem. l. 5. p 114. e. The horn cast down of ye host of heaven & of ye stars to ye grownd. \Yea/ he magnified himself even to ye Prince of the host. Dan 8.10. \{illeg} being ye {illeg} \{illeg}/ the stars are put for the saints, the chief men of the kingdom \church/ so in ye Apocalyps ye seven stars are the Angels of the Church/ that is their Bishops. In wch sense the Moon \also/ may respect ye Church as ye Sun doth ye Kingdom. ffor in ye Kingdom of Christ, the Church is ye Queen, being the wife of ye Lamb Apoc 19. And therefore ye new moons were celebrated by ye Iews as a type of ye \future/ renovation of ye Church. {illeg} And when the church is in a Christian Kingdom, the Priests of any religion may be in the Kingdom. * * For so \in Apoc 12/ where ye Woman in heaven (who is ye church) tramples upon religion, it ye Moon (Apoc 12) it seems to be wth respect to religion. The Eastern nations taught yt ye Sun. – – – – morning star. For it was ye doctrine of ye eastern nations that the Sun – – – – The Sun immutably represents ye king, the Moon the next in power to ye king \[suppose ye Pontifex maximus wth his mystical body of Priests/ the Planet Venus the Queen, the rest of ye greater stars the great men of ye kingdom. Achmet. Chap. 16, ex Ind. Pers. & Ægypt. Yet Lucifer wch is the same wth Venus does sometimes signify a king, as in Isa 14.12, where the king of Babylon is called by this name: suppose in respect of God or Christ ye King of kings, or perhaps in respect of ye king of ye Medes whom {sic} was \some describe/ a greater king then that of Babylon. {illeg} |And so Christ is called ye morning star.| |Here Christ being ye Prince or Sun of righteousness (as he is called in Mal. 4.2) the stars are put for ye Saints.|
3. Thou hast said in thine heart I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my Throne above ye stars of God, I will sit also upon ye mount of ye congregation in ye sides of ye North. I will ascend above the heights of ye clouds, &c. This is spoken of ye king of Babylon exalting himself above all Kings & earthly dominions. Isa 14.13. Thy greatnes [O Nebuchadnezzar is grown & reacheth unto ye heaven Dan. 4.22. And thou Capernaum wch art exalted unto heaven Mat. 11.23. How hath ye Lord – cast down from heaven to earth ye beawty of Israel. Lam. 2.1. If a King see himself, as it were, above ye heaven where the stars are, he shal find exaltation & a name above other kings. Achm. c. 162, ex Ind. Pers. Æg. By all wch it may appear that heaven signifies any high & exalted estate, & earth a low one.
4 There is nothing more usuall then to put ye Earth for ye nations of ye earth, or for ye common people of any great Kingdom: as in these expressions. Let all ye earth prais ye Lord. He causeth ye earth & them that dwell therein to worship ye first Beast Rev 13.12. Hear o heavens & give ear o earth Isa 1.2 4 To avoyd as much as may be those interpretations wch make ye scriptures tautologise. Thus where it is said Wo to ye inhabitants of ye earth & of ye Sea,] to inter \Rev 12 12/ make ye Earth & ye sea \to interpret ye \inhabitants of the/ Earth & of the Sea of 2 divers forms \peoples/ in {illeg}/ \of two sorts of people in Rev 12.12./ Or to interpret ye \victory over ye/ Beast & \over/ his Image & \over/ mark {sic} & \over the/ number of his nam \of his name/ of four different distinct \kinds of victories in Rev 15.2/ things in this sentence I saw them that had g t v o t b & o. h. m. & o. t. n. o. h. n &c Rev 15 must be accounted more legitimate then to [{illeg} earth & sea &] (confound their significations) needles re superfluous repetitions.
Thus – when there is nothing in ye {illeg} text yt may argue such any such change of signification. common people & ye tallest trees for Kings & Princes; or any single Beast as a Lyon, Beare, Dragon &c by
<28v>Dust. Who can count ye dust of Iacob & ye number of ye fourth part of Israel Num 23.10. Dust thou art Gen 3.19. He remembreth we are dust: as for man his days are as grass as a flower of ye field so he flourisheth. ffor ye wind passeth over it & it is gone. Psal 103.14, 15. He gave them as ye dust to his sword & as ye driven stubble to his bow. Isa 41.2. I exalted thee out of ye dust 1 King. 10.2. Psal 113.7 He made them like ye dust by thrashing
< text from f 29r resumes >5. \✝/ ✝ Wo to ye multitude of many people wch make a noise like ye noise like ye noise of ye seas & to ye rushing of nations that make a rushing like ye rushing of mighty waters. The nations shall rush like ye rushing of many waters Isa 17.12, 13. The waters of Nimrim shal be desolate. Isa 15.6. Ier 48.34. The waters where ye whore sitteth are peoples & multitudes & nations & tongues Rev. 17.15. I saw a Beast rise out of ye sea. i.e. out of ye aggregate of ye waters where ye whore sitteth Rev. 13.1. How is Babylon become an astonishment among ye nations! the Sea (i.e. ye Kingdom of ye Medes) is come upon Babylon, she is covered wth ye multitude of ye waves thereof, her cities are a desolation &c Ier 51.42. If any man dream he is lord of ye sea he will be successor in the whole kingdom. Ach. c. 178 Ind. Pers. Ægypt. in Achmet, chap 178. So the Chalde Paraphrast for waters substitutes people in Ier. 47.2 & Ezek 26.19 &c.
6. Hurt not ye earth nor ye sea, Rev 7.3. that is ye two sorts of people signified by the earth & ye sea as is expounded in chap. 12.12. Wo be to ye inhabitants of ye earth & |of| ye Sea. ffor these are two sorts of people becaus ye earth was hurt in ye first Trumpet & ye sea in ye second. Much after ye same manner ye Egyptians in ye old Testament ye Egyptians are distinguished from other nations; they being usually represented by ye watry element because of ye overflow of Nilus. ✝ ✝ Thus in Ier 46.8 Egypts invading forreign territories is compared to a flood covering ye Earth. The like representation is also made of Syrias invading Iudah Isa. 8.7 & of a Northern nation's invading Philistia Ier 47.2 {illeg} So ye Medes invading the Kingdom of Babylon are compared to a sea coming in upon her as covering her wth its waves as if Babylo So in Ier. 51.42 the Kingdom of ye Medes is compared to a Sea & that of Babylon to a land wch yt Sea breaks in upon. And so I conceive ye universal dition of ye 4 Empires is {illeg} represented in Dan 7 by a great Sea to distinguish it from ye rest of ye earth: wch similitude I take to be retained also in ye Apocalyps, considering ye analogy of these two Prophesies. And so I conceive in Dan. 7, ye \universal/ dition of the four Empires is represented by a great sea to distinguish it from ye rest of ye earth.
7. Of Ierusalem's being called a Mountain there are many instances, as in Zech. 8.3. Ierusalem shall be called a city of truth & ye mountain of ye Lord of hosts ye holy mountain. So in Dan. 9.16. Let thy fury be turned away from thy city Ierusalem thy holy Mountain. The like in Dan 9.20. Ier 17.3 Isa. 27.13, & 66.10, &c.
So of Babylon. I will render unto Babylon – all ye evil that they have done in Zion – Behold I am against thee O destroying mountain saith ye Lord wch destroyest all ye earth – thou shalt be desolate for ever. Ier. 51.24, 25, 26. Who art thou O great Mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain. Zech. 4.7. The burden of Babylon wch Isaias ye son of Amos did see: lift ye up a banner upon ye high mountain. Chal. Par. upon ye city wch dwells securely Isa. 13.2.
So of Cities in general. I will lay ye land most desolate & ye pomp of her strength shall cease & ye mountains of Israel shall be desolate. Ezek. 33.28. Thou hast said, by ye multitude of my Chariots am I come up to ye height of ye mountains. Chal. Par. to ye strong holds of ye Cities. |Isa. 37.24.|
Sometimes a mountain is extended to signify ye whole dition of a City as in Dan 2.35, & Isa. 11.9, much after ye same manner that a king is sometimes put for his kingdom.
8. And sometimes it signifies only a Temple. Ierusalem shall become heaps, & ye mountain of ye house as ye high places of ye fforrest: but in ye last days it shall come to pass yt ye mountain of ye house of ye Lord shall be established in ye top of ye mountains & it shall be exalted above the hills, &c. i.e. above all other temples. Mica, 3.12. A voice was heard upon ye high-places. – Return ye backsliding children – in vain is salvation hoped for from ye hills & from ye multitude of ye mountains: truly in ye Lord or God is ye salvation \& height/ of ye buildings & height of their Altars, whence they \& their Altars/ are frequently called high places in scripture notwithstanding that they are sometimes in valleys; as in Ier. 7.31. They have built ye high places of Tophet wch is in ye valley of ye Son of Hinnon.
of Israel. Ier. 3.21, 22. The reason of this signification of a Mountain I suppose is that Idol temples were usually placed upon the tops of mountains as may appear out of Deutr. 12.2. Ye shall utterly destroy all ye places wherein ye nations wch ye shall posses served their Gods upon ye high mountains & upon ye hills: & also becaus of ye greatnes < insertion from f 30v >9. And {sic} when \as/ Mountains signify Temples \in a countrey represend {sic} by ye Earth so/ Islands signify altars, becaus of their being flat like Islands, & elevated a little above ye ground as Islands are above ye Sea \Temples/ in a countrey represented by the Sea. Apoc
< text from f 31r resumes >10. That Dens & Rocks signify buildings is obvious from ye resemblance wch Dens have to their Rooms or to ye cavities of their ruins, & Rocks to their outside. And moreover yt this is their meaning in scripture may appear by ye following instances. The multitude of ye city shall be left, the forts & towers shall be Dens for ever Isa 32.14. I will make Ierusalem heaps & a Den of Dragons Ier. 9.11. The pride of thine heart, (O Edom,) hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clifts of ye Rock whose habitation is high, that saith in his heart, who shall bring me down to ye grownd. Obad. 3. This is an allusion to ye high country of ye Edomites, but yet I take it to be meant rather of their sumptuous buildings & pallaces then natural rocks, because it is made a character of their pride, & it is no argument of pride to dwell merely to dwell in a high & rocky country. In ye same sense I understand also ye following places. Let ye wildernes & ye cities thereof lift up their voice, ye villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let ye inhabitants of ye Rock sing, let them shout from ye top of ye mountains (i.e. of ye Cities.) Isa. 42.11. Behold I am against thee (ye house of David) O inhabitant of ye Valley & rock of ye plain, saith ye Lord; wch say: who shall come down against us or who shall enter into or habitations? Ier. 21.13. Behold I am against thee o destroying mountain (i.e. Babylon) saith ye Lord – I will roll thee down from ye rocks & make thee a burnt mountain. Ier. 51.25. They shall destroy the walls of Tyrus & break down her towers, & I will also scrape her dust from her & make her like ye top of a rock. Ezek 26.4, 14.
11 {sic}. To these instances of common buildings may be added those two that follow of Temples. Is this house wch is called by my name become a Den of Robbers? i.e. an Idol Temple. Ier. 7.11. Are ye not ye children of transgression a seed of falshood, inflaming yor selves wth Idols under every green tree, slaying ye children in ye valleys under ye Clifts of ye rocks? Isa. 57.5. that is, under |ye| Idol temples, or high places of Tophet wch they built for that purpose in ye Valley of ye Son of Hinnon Ier 7.31, & 19.5, & 32.35. Other instances of this see in ye comment on Fig. 64.
12 {sic}. The Lord hath annointed me – – to give them ye garment of prais for ye spirit of heavines that they might be called ye Trees of righteousnes ye planting of the Lord. Isa. 61.3. The vineyard of ye Lord of hosts is ye house of Israel, & ye men of Iudah his pleasant plant. Isa. 5.7. They shal march wth an army & come against Egypt wth Axes as hewers of wood, they shall cut down her Forest. Ier. 46.22. Wickednes burneth as ye fier, it shall devour ye briars & thorns & shall kindle in ye thickets of ye forest – the people shall be as ye fewel of ye fire. wch last words explain ye rest Isa. 9.19. Howl ffir tree for ye Cedar is fallen becaus all ye mighty are spoiled: Howl O ye {sic} oaks of Bashan, for ye defensed fforest Zech. 11.2. How long shall ye land mourn & ye herbs of every field wither for ye wickednes of them that dwell therein. Ier 12.4. The good \seed/ (whose blade is a called χορτος \plant/) are ye children of ye kingdom but ye tares are ye children of ye wicked one. Mat. 13.38. Every plant wch my ffather hath not planted shal be rooted up. I have planted Apollos watered &c.
The Chalde Paraphrast for woods sometimes substitutes armies Isa 10.18, 34, & sometimes cities or people Ier. 21.14 & 9.18. And ye Indians Persians & Egyptian {sic} teach: If one dream that he waters & dresses trees he shall be a very great man & a nourisher of ye people. And if a king dream that he plants trees he shall institute new Magistrates. And if a Plebeian dream that he gathers into his house ye leaves of trees, he shall obtein riches from great men proportional to ye leaves, &c. Achmet. chap. 151. |And if one dream yt {illeg} hail hurt ye stalks of corn there shal be slaughter of men in that place proportional to ye breaking of ye stalks. c. 191.|
13 {sic}. Becaus Herbs & other Vegetables signify men, therefore such insects as destroy them signify armies of men wch in like manner prey upon countries. That wch ye Palmer worm hath left hath ye Locust eaten, & that wch ye Canker worm hath left hath ye Caterpiller eaten – – For a nation is come up upon my land strong & wthout number – he hath laid my vine wast & barked my figtree, he hath made it clean bare & cast it away, the branches thereof are made white Ioel 1.4, 6. See also Ioel 2.2, 25.
Locusts are generally referred to a multitude of enemies – If any king or Potentate see Locusts come upon a place, let him expect a powerfull multitude of enemies there: & look what hurt ye Locusts do the enemy will do mischief proportionally. Ind. Pers. Ægypt. in Achmet. c. 300.
14 {sic}. Wild beasts also by reason of their feeding upon vegetables, & preying upon one another signify armies \Kingdoms of the Earth with their armies. A particular Beast, as in Daniels prophesies, signifies a particular kingdom, & Beasts in general kingdoms in general./ Come ye, assemble ye all ye Beasts of ye feild, come to devour. Chal. Paraphr. Those that slay wth ye sword shall be assembled from all sides: Kings of nations & their armies shall come to spoile. Ier 12.9. The burden of ye Beasts of ye South i.e. ye bands of Egypt. Isa. 30.6. I have given all these lands into ye hand of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon my servant, & ye beasts of ye field have I given him also to serve him, & all nations shal serve him. Ier. 27.6. & 28.14. I will also send wild beasts among you wch shall rob you of your children & destroy yor cattel & make you few in number, & your high ways shall be desolate. Levit. 26.22. In Ier. 15.2, 3. Ezek. 5.|12,| 17, & 14.13, 15, 17, 19, 21; there are described four distinct kinds of plagues to befall ye Iews, Famin, Captivity, Sword, & Pestilence, whereof their captivity is represented by beasts passing through ye Land & spoiling it & making it desolate: so that wild beasts strictly signify forreign armies \kingdoms/ wch destroy not by ye sword only as in civil wars, but by spoiling a country & carrying away the prey. The famin also is represented in Ier. 15.3 by doggs to tear, becaus of ye greediness of this animal \hungry/ Beast who usually leaves nothing behind him for others to feed upon; & perhaps also becaus his tearing may represent ye gnawing of a hungry stomach. And in ye same place ye Pestilence is represented by Fowls of ye heaven to destroy because ye infection of ye Pestilence is in ye air & seizes a man from thence.
15 {sic}. Artemidorus another \writer/ about ye interpretation of prophe tic dreames, saith that Froggs signify Impostors & scoffers. lib. 2. chap 3. ✝ ✝ Ranæ \&/ impuræ sunt et in cæno versantur et coaxant nullo cum fructu. Ignaros Legis ranis comparat etiam Schemos Rabba. Grot in Apoc 16.13. Ranæ immunda animalia et loquacia pseudoprophetas significant, sicut scriptum est, Et vidi de ore Draconis et de ore Bestiæ et de ore Pseudoprophetæ spiritus tres immundos in modum ranarum. Arias Montanus De arcano serm.
< text from f 34r resumes >16 {sic}. The land is as ye garden of Eden before them & behind them a desolate wildernes Ioel 2.3. The fruitful place was a wildernes & all ye cities thereof were broken down Ier. 4.26. &c
17 {sic}. The woman [i.e. ye Church] fled into ye wilderness, Rev. 12.6. He carried me away in ye spirit into ye wilderness, & I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured Beast full of names of blasphemy, Rev. 17.3. Authors usually interpret ye wilderness here of gentilism spreading over ye Christian world: in wch opinion is Clemens Alexandrinus, Origen, Hilary, Ierom, Ambrose &c as may be {sic} seen in Alcazar. And I take it to \perhaps it may/ be ye same wth that desolation spoken of by Daniel & or Saviour wch was to be made by setting up ye abomination: but yet I take that to be a temporal as well as a spiritual desolation.
18 {sic}. First ye King of Assyria hath devoured Israel, & last this Nebechadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. Ier. 50.17. The Princes of ye house of Israel – eat ye flesh of my people & flay their skins from of them, & they break their bones & chop them in pieces, &c. i.e. by exaction & oppression Micah 3.3. So to signify ye great wealth wch ye Kings of ye Meds {sic} & Persians should heap up, it is said to ye second Beast: Arise, devour much flesh. Dan. 7.5. And ye spoiling of ye Egyptians by ye Israelites is expressed by giving ye Leviathan to be meat for them in ye wilderness, Psal. 74.13 See also Ezek 29.5. To ye same purpose ye Ind. Pers & Egyptian Magi teache \Achmet saith/ If any one seem to find or eat ye flesh of Dragons he shall receive riches proportionally from some great king. c 283, ex Ind. Pers. Æg. And if he eat ye flesh of a scorpion he shall receive ye wealth of an enemy c 285. The like of ye flesh of other Beasts in c. 269, 272, 274 &c. And if his own flesh seem to grow plump he shall grow rich proportionally c 87 ex Ind. And in general he saies ye Indians teach yt fflesh does universally signify riches & gold.
So ye Chalde Paraphrast for: They shall eat every man ye flesh of his own arm, Isa. 9.20, translates: They shall prey every man upon ye substance of his neighbour. And so for: The fatness of his flesh shall wax lean Isa. 17.4, he translates The wealth wherein his glory consisted shall pass away.
19 {sic}. Wheresoever ye body is thither will ye eagles be gathered together Luke 17.37. that is where ye bodies of ye saints are at the coming of or Lord, thither will ye angels go to carry them up into the air to meet ye Lord at his coming Mat. 24.31, & Luke 1 Thes. 4.17. How ffowls of ye Air are somtimes also put for infectious diseases see ye comment upon Fig 13: |And sometimes for armies, see|
19. Since ye sea & waters signify people, ye extent of ye sea will answer to ye extent of ye possessions of ye people, & Islands to parcels of ground exempted from their possessions for sacred uses: namely to ye courts of temples, & more especially to ye Altars wch were raised a little above ye grownd as Islands above ye sea. And this interpretation is favoured by ye custome of ye old Romans to call those houses Islands wch were on all sides disjoyned from others; whereof ye far greater part of Rome consisted: wch appellation is in Durantus de Rit. Eccl. Cath. l. 1, c. 3, sec. 2, applied to temples by reason of their being separate from common houses.
20. Ships are Sea-houses, \or if you please sea towns/ & merchant-ships trading sea \towns/ houses, \or towns/ & consequently must signify Temples \& their parishes/ where Priests are ye merchants. If one dream he builds ships he shall grow rich proportionally to ye number of them. This Achmet c 180 relates as ye doctrine of ye Egyptians & Persians & in ye same chapter adds this for ye Doctrine of ye Indians. If one dream yt he builds a merchant ship he shall gather an assembly of men to celebrate myster religious mysteries.
21. If a king So war-ships must signify tents, ye habitations of an army. If a king dream yt he sees his ships sending out fire to burn other ships or countries he shal obtein victories over his enemies proportional to ye strength & efficacy of ye fire: If he see his own ships burnt it portends ruin to his forces: And if he seem to build a new navy of many ships, according to their number he {sic} shal again rais forces more or less powerful against his enemies. Achm. c. 181. ex Pers. & Ægypt.
21. |22| Behold ye Lord \✝/ ✝ His breath as an overflowing stream shall reach to ye midst of ye neck to sift ye nations with ye sive of vanity – ffor through ye voice of ye Lord [wch is as ye sound of many waters Ezek 43.2 Apoc. 1.15. or of a multitude Dan 10.6] shal the Assyrian be beaten down – & in battels of shaking will he fight against them Isa 30.28, 31, 32. The hail [that is war] shal sweep away the refuge of lies, & the waters shal overflow ye hiding place – when ye overflowing scourge shal pass through then shal ye be troden down by it. Isa 28.17, 18. Egypt riseth up like a flood & his waters are moved like ye rivers, & he saith, I will go up & will cover ye earth, I will destroy ye city & ye inhabitants thereof Ier 46.8. Behold ye Lord bringeth upon them ye waters of ye river strong & many, even ye King of Assyria & all his glory: & he shal come up over all his channels & go over all his banks, & he shall pass through Iudah, he shall overflow & go over, he shall reach even to ye neck Isa 8.7. Behold waters [Chal. Par. Peoples] rise up out of ye north & shall be an overflowing flood – & ye inhabitants of ye land shall howl at ye noise of the hoofs of his strong horses &c. Ier. 47.2. Whence it appears that armies \people/ wthin their own country {sic} are like rivers wthin their banks, but when they invade other countries they are overflowing floods.
23. 24. And as overflowing signifies excess of power \& people/ so ye drying up of waters must on ye contrary signify ye decay & weakening of it {sic} nation: of wch signification take these instances. They shall draw their swords against Egypt – & I will make ye rivers dry & sell ye land into ye hand of ye wicked. Ezek. 30.12. The Egyptians will I give over into ye hand of a cruel lord – & ye waters shall fail from ye sea & & {sic} ye river shal be wasted & dryed up – & ye brooks of defence shal be emptied & dried up, & ye reeds & flaggs shall wither Isa 19.5, 6. \✝/ ✝ A sword is upon the treasures of Babylon & they shall be robbed a drought is upon her waters & they shal be dried up. Ier 50.38 ✝ I will dry up ye her Sea & make her springs dry & she shall become heaps, an astonishment without an inhabitant. Ier 51.36, 37. Where note that as trees & hearbs in Fig. 11, so here reeds & flaggs signify men.
In Ezek 32.3, The Chalde Paraphrast for Rivers substitutes Provinces: & ye Records of Achmet compare Rivers sometimes to men & sometimes to riches wch flow to ye King as riches to ye sea.
25. And in what sence soever rivers are taken, fountains will most naturally signify towns Cities, the permanent heads of these flowing waters.
26. Behold I am against thee Pharaoh King of Egypt ye great Dragon yt lieth in ye midst of ye waters his rivers – I will put my hooks in thy chaws & I will cause ye fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy sides scales – & I will leave thee thrown into ye wildernes, thee & all ye fish of thy rivers. Ezek. 29.4.
27. The great stars relate to ye nobles & ye rest of ye stars to ye whole world. Achm. c. 167, ex Ind. Pers. Ægypt.
28 Thou shalt ascend & come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover ye Land thou & all thy bands & many people wth thee, Ezek. 38.9. A day of darknes & gloomines, a day of clouds an a great people & a strong, &c. Ioel 2.2. A cloud shal cover Egypt & her daughters shal go into captivity. i.e. a cloud of enemies, or as the Chalde Paraphrast interprets, a King wth his army like a cloud, Ezek. 30.18. In these instances a cloud signifies only numerous armies, but it's signification equally extends to any great multitude, as may appear out of Heb 12.1: Wherefore seeing we are also compassed about wth so great a cloud of witnesses &c: wch expression now grown proverbial was doubtles derived from the language of ye ancient Prophets & wise men, or at least from ye same grounds from wch they derived it: wch I take to be chiefly ye resemblance wch a numerous swarm of insects, as also ye dust raised by a great multitude of people, hath to a cloud.
Sometimes clouds are put to signify adversity, & by Interpreters they are applied also to wisdom in regard of their sublimity.
29. Nebuchadnezzar is represented by a tree Dan. 4. And ye King of Assyria by a Cedar Ezek. 31: In wch Chapter also ye Kings & Princes of Israel & Iudah are represented by Cedars, Fir trees, & Chesnut trees, & ye holy land by ye garden of God. So in Isa. 37.24 Thou (Sennacherib) King of Assyria) hast said, by ye multitude of my chariots am I come up — to ye sides of Lebanon & I wil cut down the tall Cedars thereof, & ye choise fir-trees thereof. See also Zech. 11.2. Isa. 2.13, & 10.19, 33, 34. Ier. 22.7. Ezek. 20.47 &c.
The Chalde Paraphrast for Cedars & Firs substitutes Kings Princes & great men in Isa. 14.8, & 37.24 & Ezek. 31.5, 8. For Oaks of Basan Princes of Provinces Isa 2.13, Zech. 11.2. For ye Fir & Mirtle just & good men Isa. 55.13 & for Briars & Thorns wicked men Isa 55.13 & 9.18. And so Achmet in c. 151, 165 & 200 is very particular in sorting several kinds of trees to several sorts of men.
30 It is usually supposed yt ye vices of nations were ye reason why in Daniel & ye Apocalyps \Revelations/ they are represented by Beasts, & this may be sometimes allowed for a secondary reason especially in ye revelations, but I cannot think it the authentic reason becaus a beast may as well be taken in a good sense as in a bad one. For Christ is represented by a Lyon as wel as Nebuchadnezzar, & some of ye 12 tribes are characterized {sic} by beasts in Iacob's blessing as well as ye 4 Monarchies in Daniel's visions: And therefore I must rather derive this type from armies whereby kingdoms are usually founded & upheld. For since armies are wild Beasts by Fig: 13, it is thence very natural to put a Beast for any kingdom wch was originated from armies & frequently imploys them like a ravenous Beast to prey upon its neighbours. And this ye prophetiqꝫ doctrine of Iacob may teach us who called Iudah a Lyon from his getting the prey & being Prince of the Tribes; Issachar an Ass from his being in slavery, Dan a serpent from his laying stratagems & Benjamin a wolf from ravening & devouring ye prey. And so descriptions of ye beasts in Daniel almost wholly respect their politic{illeg} constitution & pugnaciousnes excepting what is said of ye little horn. And in ye Revelation {sic} although ye two-hornd Beast be not represented pugnatious, yet its merchants (chap 18) supply ye place of armies since they prey upon ye Kings of ye earth by their sophistical merchandise no less then ye other by force.
31. Among ye Beasts yt represent Kingdoms I reccon ye Dragon one. A Dragon signifies ye person of a hostile King & serpents according to their bigness ye persons of other greater or lesser enemies. If a Dragon {sic} {illeg} appeare to a King in a dream, he shall be troubled wth ye {illeg} rumor of another King. If any one happen upon a very great Dragon golden Dragon adorned on his back wth scales as it were of Iewels, & make him his own: he shal obtein the |a| Kingdom & dominion over ye people. Achm. c. 288 ex Ind. Pers. Ægypt. According to this Doctrine ye Apocalyptic Dragon is a very proper emblem as well of ye Roman Emperors & Empire wch was so great an enemy to ye church as of ye Devil that arch-enemy to mankind. But there seems to be in this emblem a further mystery; namely to insinuate a comparison of ye oppression of ye church under ye Roman Empire to ye Egyptian Bondage as if that were a type of this. For it is observable that although ye Iews had many enemies yet none but Pharaoh is represented by a Dragon in ye old Prophets. And he is so represented as may be seen in Ezek 29.3. Isa 51.9. Psal 74.13, & 27.1, in wch last places Pharaoh in respect of ye overflowing Nilus is also called Leviathan as if he were a water Dragon like that in ye Apocalyps who cast out of his mouth water as a flood. And so in Psalm 74 he is represented wth many heads like ye same Apocalyptic Dragon. But for ye fuller analogy of these two Dragons I refer you to ye comment on Rev. 11.8
32. Heads are sometimes collateral parts of a Kingdom as ye four heads of ye Leopard in Dan. 7.6. But if ye Kingdom be divided into both collateral & successive parts, then may ye successive parts be represented by heads as in ye Apocalyptic
Beast whose seven heads appear to be successive by ye saying that five are fallen & one is & ye other is not yet come Rev. 17.1033. A horn is used to signify strength & power & that sometimes of a single person as in 1 Sam. 2.10. 2 Sam. 22.3. Psal. 18.2, & 89.24; sometimes of a body politic \or kingdom/ as in Psal. 148.14. Ier. 48.25. Lament. 2.3, 17. And hence it is sometimes put for ye kingdom it self as in Zech. 1.19, 21. & |so| in Daniel & ye Apocalyps ye horns of Beasts are put to signify ye number of Dynasties, Dominions, or Kingdoms of wch ye universal kingdom represented by ye beast is constituted. Some interpreters have applied these horns to signify ye persons of Kings but wthout ground, for although they are called kings in Daniel & ye Apocalyps yet it's plain that by a king we are not there to understand a single person but ye whole race of kings \in each kingdom/ according to ye saying, Rex non moritur: & not only ye whole race but of kings but ye \dominion or/ Kingdom it self. ffor in Dan 8.20 the Ram wth two horns is called ye kings of ye Media {sic} & Persia, & yet ye Ram neither signifies single persons nor were ye kingdoms of ye Media {sic} & Persia subject to any more then one king when ye Goat brake his two horns: ♁ ♁ So in vers 22 the Goats four horns are \expresly/ interpreted four Kingdoms. And in vers 21 where ye Goat is called the King of Grece by ye King is to be understood the Kingdom. ffor this King conteins five other {sic} Kings \at least/: the great horn between his eyes called the first King & the other four horns wch as you heard are Kingdoms \besides the little horn wch rose up after them/. By ye first King indeed is usually understood not ye Kingdom but ye person of Alexander only: but this {illeg} through inadvertency. ffor ye first horn is called the first King not in respect of personal successors {sic} but in respect of y no where spoken of in this prophesy, but in respect of ye four wch in ye next words are said upon the {b} to stand up for it. The great horn says ye Angel, is ye first King. Now that being broken wheras four stood up for it &c. The last four \Kings/ therefore being Kingdoms, the first must be so too, els it cold {sic} not be ye first of them. Besides in that it is said, the great horn was broken & for it came up four notable ones, its evident that they were all of a kind. ffor the four \kingdoms/ came up not for or in liew of Alexander's person but in liew of his kingdom. This great horn, this first Kingdom of ye Greeks was upon Alexanders death broken & for it came up four others. The breaking off the Horn imports ye same ✝ ✝ ffor as by the breaking the Rams two horns is signified, not the death of Darius but the dissolution of his Kingdomes of Media & Persia at his death: so unless we will depart from the Analogy of the prophesy, by breaking ye Goats horn we must not understand Alexander's death but the breaking & dividing of his Kingdom thereupon. Yea the spirit himself in another place alluding to this, expresses thus much. When ffor this denotes not the death of Alexander but the breaking & dividing of his kingdome as is exprest in Dan 11.4 When he (ye King of Greece) shall stand up, his kingdom shal be broken & shall be divided towards ye four winds And again, His Kingdom shal be pluckt up for others besides those. Dan. 11.34 Eyes denote a Seer, that is, according to ye Iewish language, a Prophet. ffor beforetime in Israel when a men {sic} went to enquire of God, thus he spake: Come & let us go to ye Seer. ffor he that was afterward called a Prophet was beforetime {sic} called a Seer, 1 Sam. 9.9. And hence the name of a Vision so frequent in scripture {illeg} for a Prophesy. A seer may be more generally expounded of any one that hath \any/ understanding & politick {sic} person according to that Ægyptian hieroglyphick of a Scepter with an eye on ye top to signify ye understanding \foresight/ & policy requisite in a king. But I suppose in sacred prophesies we are to regard chiefly \chiefly/ the Iewish way of speaking. |Yet with {illeg}|
35 As an Eye signifies a seer of ye most eminent kind so a mouth signifies not any speaker but a speaker of the most eminent kind, yt is, a dictator of Laws, this difference that when there is only an occasional mention of eyes as common \& natural/ to animals (as for instance of ye Goats Eyes Dan. 8.5, 21) they signify only that {illeg} policy & counsel wch is \naturally/ to be met with in all kingdoms. But when their {sic} description {sic} an extraordinary & emphatical mention of them, \is emphatical & not according to ye course of natur/ they signify a Seer in the extraordinary \& supernatural/ sense. Thus the Lambs \seven/ eyes are Apoc 5.6 are signify \called/ the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Apoc. 5.6. Which spirits in the beginning of the Apocalyps are \in liew of the holy Ghost/ joyned with God & Christ the ffather & the Son; & Grace wished from them together with ye ffather & Son to signify that the Holy Ghost or prophetick Spirit is denoted by them. Whence some ancients have called the holy spirit, spiritum septemplicem. According to wch way of speaking the seven eyes will signify the sevenfold prophetick spirit of ye Lamb, by wch as it were wth a prophetick \power & energy &/ lights he beholds \& overlooks/ all ye earth. So \As is again {illeg}/ in Zech. 4.10 these spirits \where these spirits/ are called ye eyes of ye Lord which run to & fro ye {sic} whole earth: an expression alluding to a mans eyes rolling to & fro. Again where ye four Beasts are said to be full of eyes within before & behind & their wings to be full of eyes within, this denotes them to signify prophetic multitudes. ffor as Beasts they signify multitudes & this the rather because of their many eyes, & I shall elswhere shew these Beasts \multitudes are/ Christians. Now their \{double}/ eyes in their wings \because not without but only/ within denote an internal faculty of seing that is, \their/ intellect & this illuminated \illuminated/ not barely by the light of nature but illumination of by ye Spirit because they were \are/ not mere men but Christians \servants & worshippers of the living God Apoc 4.8, 9./ And their \eyes/ before & behind signify not a faculty of seing \only/ things present round about. (for this then why had they not eyes {illeg} on both sides & all over \as well as before & behind/) but only a faculty of seing things future & past, & this {illeg} \and this/ is ye perfect character of a Prophet {illeg} |And accordingly Apoc 5.9,10 you have them \with the Elders/ thus prophesying Thou hast slain & hast redeemed us to God by thy blood &c, & we shall reign on ye earth:| |So| the eyes of ye little horn in Daniel cap 7 I conceive signifies that horn to be a Seer of an extraordinary supernatural kind: One whose eyes are \not spirits of truth like the Lambs eyes but/ lying spirits: A fals prophet {illeg} ffor did those eyes signify only policy & cunning the other horns would have eyes as well as this though it may be not so good ones: under these eyes it is to be conceived that the Beast hath other eyes suitable to nature to signify the policy of all the kingdoms denoted by all the horns, that of the little horn as well as the rest. And therefore ye eyes wch the little horn has besides these, such as none of the other horns have, must signify a further faculty of seeing such as no horn has but this. It is not therefore a Politician only but a seer of a higher kind such as ye Iews mean a Prophet by or to speak in ye Iewish language, a prophet, though a fals one.
So then in all these instances where eyes are described in an extraordinary way they signify a Seer of a Prophetick kind & so by their analogy & consent confirm the interpretation.
35. And as eyes signify the chief kind of seing wch ye body represented by the animal is capable of, so a mouth for speaking & speaking with it where the words spoken are not set down, signifies ye highest kind of speaking, that is dictating \{illeg}/ of laws & those by civil authority if ye thing speaking be a body politick, or by divine authority if a body prophetick or Theological. Thus besides the mouth of the 4th beast Dan 7th common to all ye kingdom signified by the horns (Dan 7) the little horn has another mouth proper to himself to signify his having a legislative power of such a kind as none of ye other horns have. And what that power was {sic}, is there described plainly. He had a mouth speaking very great things vers 20, even great words against the most high & [thereby] wore out ye saints of the most high {sic}, & thought to change times & laws & they were given into his hand for a time vers 25. This he did by ye power of his mouth, wch must be a legislative one \& that in matters of religion/ because times & laws were given into his hand & these to change them in opposition to God & the saints. So where the Image of ye Beast Apoc 13 is said to speak & cause that as many as would not worship ye Image should be killed; it must be by some law that they were killed, & ye Image is not ye officer that killed them but the author of their being killed, that is the lawmaker. It spake & caused them to be killed that would not worship it; that is, It spake with authority so as to cause them to be killed that would not obey its voice. Speaking & causing here are ἕν διὰ δυοιν. So again where the two horned Beast spake as ye Dragon & ye ten horned Beast had a mouth like ye Lyon (the first of Daniels four Beasts signifying ye kingdom of Babylon) & spake great things & blasphemies against God: we are to understand that these beasts (each according to his authority) made Idolatrous laws & constitutions such as ye diabolical Dragon & Babylonian Lyon made before. And so by the prophesying of ye two witnesses we are to understand their promulging & {illeg} spreading ye laws & word of God according to ye utmost power they are able to speak with. For this their prophesying is opposed to ye speaking or prophesying of ye fals prophet, & \so/ signifies \here/ not foretelling future things by the immediate revelation, but ‡[6] the preaching to ye world the word of God according to ye right interpretation & meaning of it & propagating it \in Gods name/ wth all the authority they are able; as on ye other hand ye fals Prophet uses all his authority to propagates lyes & fals interpretations & other lies in ye name of his God, pretending the authority of his God, as ye true prophets do yt of theirs; to make his sentences pass for law & gain to himself a law making power in matters of religion.
36. Teeth signify bands or squadrons of soldiers under the several commanders because with these the Beast fights & devours ye flesh of other beasts that is conquers & swallows up neighbouring kingdoms. Hence to express &c . . . . .So in vers 21 ye Goat is called ye king {sic} of Greece \that is the kingdom. ffor this King conteins five others, the first King signified by the great horn &/ & in vers 22 ye |his| four horns are interpreted four kingdoms.
34 Eyes being ye chief organs by wch a man acquires knowledge are ye most proper emblem thereof. Hence we call sagacity sharpsightednes. Hence also was yt known Hieroglyphic of ye Egyptians: A scepter wth an eye on ye top of it to signify ye policy & foresight requisite in a king.
35 In Dan. 7 ye little horn had a mouth speaking great things against ye most high & thought to change times & laws.
36. Teeth must signify great men because they are in the head, & those soldiers because they are ye chief instruments wherewith a Beast fights. Hence to expres ye fortitude of ye fourth Beast, it is described wth great iron teeth. And so ye Locusts Ioel 1.6 & Rev. 9.8 are represented wth teeth of Lyons. And probably ye Author of ye fable of Cadmus had respect to this signification of teeth when
he made ye Dragons teeth to be ye seed of armed soldiers.37 {sic}. The feet very fitly represent common souldiers \armies/. For as they are ye most active members, & ye lowest parts of ye Beast, & serve to support him, & to move upon, & to fight with: so Armies are much in motion, & the lowest of ye people, & ye support of ye Kingdom & by them kingdoms are supported \& carried/ to & fro, & they are ye members wherewth kingdoms fight. This interpretation is also evident by ye visions of Daniel: for ye ten hornd Beast, to signify ye use & power of his feet in fighting is represented wth nails of brass & said to stamp {sic} wth his feet what he devoured not wth his teeth: wch is as much as to say, [yt what [ye Princes left ye inferior soldies {sic} spoiled, or] yt those neighbouring nations wch were not devoured \by perfect conquest/ & incorporated into ye dition of this Empire, were yet, awed & bruised wth its armies. And so ye he-Goat stamped upon ye Ram & therefore fought wth his feet. And yt of Ezekiel 32.2, Thou troubledst the waters wth thy feet; the Chalde Paraphrast renders thus: Thou disquietedst ye peoples wth thy armies. |The nailes or claws serve to represent ye division of ye armys into squadrons each under its commander. Of Wings see Isa. 8.8.|
38 The tayl also, at least where feet are not considered, may properly represent armies as being ye train & hinder end as it were of a kingdom. Achmet saith: If one dream he rides on Pharas (i.e. a generous Steed) having a thick set & long tayl, he shal have a train of attendants or followers answerable to ye fulness & length of ye tayl, c. 152. And by analogy ye tail of a pugnacious Beast must be a train of Soldiers. And this is confirmed in that ye Euphratean horsmen were said to do hurt wth their tails, yt is to fight wth them, & therefore least that should seem improper their tails are described to be like serpents to represent y m capable of fighting wth them. And for ye same reason end ye Locusts are described wth stings in their tails. |See Deut 28.8, 43, 44.|
39 The several members of a Beast being appropriated to signify as is described above, there remains only ye body to signify ye people. In Dan. 7.15 ye body being put for ye carcas signifies ye
whole beastBesides these there may be other ways of representing a kingdom, as if a great fish be put for a King & lesser fishes for his subjects Ezek. 29.4. Or ye sea for a King & rivers for his subjects, &c.
40 That ascending up to heaven in a cloud signifies great exaltation may appear by ye notes on Fig 3.
41 {illeg} And because clouds signify multitudes of people by Fig: 28 therefore ascending in a cloud will signify exaltation in or by a multitude & riding on ye clouds the subduing & reigning over much people. If a King dream yt he sits upon ye clouds carried whither he will, he shal rule over his enemies & obtein victories & unexpected joy. Pers: & Ægypt: in Achmet. c 164.
42 {sic}. And so covering ye sun wth a cloud or smoke will signify oppression of a King by advers enemies. Thus God threatning ye overthrow of Pharaoh by Nebuchadnezzar saith: And when I shall put the out – I will cover ye Sun wth a cloud – & set darknes upon thy land: wch ye Chalde Paraphrast renders thus: A King wth his army shall cover thee as a cloud wch ascends & covers ye Sun. Ezek. 32.7. The same is to be understood of obscuring a kingdom by smoke as in Isa. 14.31. Thou whole Palestine art dissolved, for there shall come from ye north a smoke, &c.
43 {sic}. I will cause your Sun [O Israel] to go down at noon day, & I will darken ye earth in ye clear day & I will turn yor feasts into mourning Amos 8.9. She [Ierusalem] hath given up ye ghost, her sun is gone down while it was yet day. Chal: Par: Her glory is passed away in her life time Ier. 15.{illeg}9. Thy sun shall no more go down neither shall thy moon wthdraw it self for ye Lord shall be thine everlasting light & the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Chal: Par: Thy Kingdom shal no more cease neither shall thy glory be taken away, &c. Isa. 60.20. The day of ye Lord cometh cruel both wth wrath & fierce anger to lay ye land (i.e. ye Kingdom of Babylon) desolate, & he shall destroy ye sinners out of it: for ye stars of heaven & ye constellations thereof shall not give their light, & the sun shal be darkned in his going forth & ye Moon shal not cause her light to shine – Behold I will stir up ye Medes against him Isa. 13.10. When I shal extinguish thee [O Pharaoh King of Egypt] I will cover ye heaven & make ye stars thereof dark & will cover ye sun with a cloud & ye moon shall not give her light. All ye bright stars of heaven will I make dark over thee & set darknes upon thy land. – For thus saith ye Lord God, ye sword of ye King of Babylon shal come upon thee. Chal: Par: When I shall extinguish ye splendor of ye glory of thy kingdom out of heaven tribulation shall cover thee, &c. Ezek. 32.7. Get thee into darkness O daughter of ye Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called ye Lady of Kingdoms Isa. 47.5. Darknes & sorrow Isa 5.30. See also Ioel. 2.10. Ier. 13.16 &c
If one dream yt he sees ye Sun in heaven wthout rays & light, it betokens calamity & dishonour to ye King – If he dream yt it is eclipsed, it betokens affliction & war to ye King. – If in his dream he see ye sun moon & stars gathered together wthout light, if he be one of ye nobles that darknes betokens his own destruction, but if ye king he shall be invaded on all sides by war & fall into affliction. Ind. Pers. & Ægypt. in Achmet. c. {illeg} 167. And if one dream yt ye stars are very dimm, cast down, scattered & cloudy, it betokens ye calamity of Princes Nobles & rich men. Pers. & Ægypt. in Achm. c 168.
44 {sic}. Yet ye celestial bodies are not to be interpreted so strictly of ye persons of Kings & Princes but that ye Sun & Moon may sometimes be used to signify in general ye splendor & glory of a kingdom in as much as ye Sun is ye glory of ye world by day & ye moon by night: for thus ye Chalde Paraphrast interprets {sic} them in Ier. 15.9, & Isa. 60.20. And so where ye woman is said to be clothed wth ye sun & ye moon under her feet, Rev. 12, ye Sun & moon signify ye glory of ye righteousnes of Christ wherewith the Church is to be clothed, & of her own righteousnes wch she is to put off but yet be supported by it as it borrows splendor from that sun & shines as it were by reflexion. And so where ye Sun is turned into blackness & ye moon into blood Ioel 2.31, & Rev. 6.12, I had rather understand it in general of ye splendor of ye Kingdom put out & ye glory turned into bloodshed then interpret it only of ye King & ye next in dignity: for ye perishing of those two persons infers not ye overthrow of ye Kingdom; whereas in Ioel ye turning of ye Sun into darknes & ye moon into blood is made ye description of that universal overthrow of ye gentile Kingdoms & mighty slaughter of all their armies wch is to happen at ye great day of God Almighty, as is at large described in ye next chapter.
As for ye Moons being turned into blood, ye expression seems borrowed from ye dusky reddish colour of ye moon in a partial Eclips wch is here rather alluded unto then ye darknes of a total eclips that ye great slaughter of ye nations may be exprest by calling ye colour blood. ffor yt this word was intended for an expression of their bloodshed is plain by the precedent sentence. I will shew wonders in ye heavens & in ye earth, blood & fire & pillars of smoke (i.e. slaughter & war.) To wch is subjoyned by way of explication: The sun shall be turned into darkness & ye moon into blood before ye great & terrible day of ye Lord come.
45 {sic}. Since waters signify people, ye turning them to blood must signify slaughter of ye people. Thus ye desolation of Moab is exprest by saying: The waters of Dimon shall be full of blood Isa: 15.9. Compare this with Fig:
46 {sic}. To expres ye ruin of old Babylon Ieremiah commanded Serajah saying: When thou hast made an end of reading this book, thou {illeg} shalt bind a stone to it & cast it into ye midst of Euphrates, & thou shalt say, Thus shal Babylon sink &c Ier 51.63. So to expres ye ruin of new Babylon a mighty Angel took up a stone like a great Milstone & cast it into ye sea saying: Thus wth violence shall that great city Babylon be throne {sic} down &c. Rev: 18.21. And to these two places the casting the great mountain into the sea Rev. 8.8 seems to allude: especially since that Moun tain signifies also a city by Fig: 7, not to mention here that it is ye very same wth new Babylon. And so by A analogy, ye falling of ye great star upon ye rivers Rev 8-10 must signify ye ruin of some great Prince. To wch purpose ye Indian Interpreters teach us: If one dream he sees ye stars fall into ye sea, let him understand thereby a slaughter of men to be caused by ye king & if ye king have this dream, he shal see a very great slaughter or mortality of {illeg} his people. Achm: c: 170.
47 {sic}. Fire is put to signify war because men are represented by things combustible as trees, ships, Beasts, {&c} & as these things wast in ye fire so men are destroyed in war. Then this figure there is scarce any more frequently used in scripture. Say to ye Forrest of ye South, – Behold I will kindle a fire in thee & it shall devour every green tree in thee & every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched & all faces from ye south to ye north shall be burnt therein Ezek. 20.47. The house of Iacob shal be a fire & the house of Ioseph a flame & ye house of Esau for stubble, & they shall kindle in them & devour them Obad. 18. In that day will I make ye governours of Iudah like a hearth of fire among the wood & like a torch of fire in a sheaf, & they shall devour all ye people round about Zech. 12.6. The strength of the battel – hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not, it burned him yet he laid it not to heart, Isa. 42.25. The Lord called thy name a green Olive tree — wth ye noise of a great tumult he hath kindled a fire upon it Ier 11.16. See also Isa: 56.15, 16. Ier: 21.14, & 48.45. & Ezek. 19.12 & 30.8 &c
The Chalde Paraphrast for burning substitutes slaying Isa. 42.25, & for fire & flame armies of enemies strong & powerful as fire Ier. 11.16. & 48.45. &c.
If one dream yt he is burnt by a flame he shal perish in war Achm. c. 159. ex \mente/ Ind. If a king seem to see the pillars of his palace on fire, it signifies ye dominion of another & ye destruction of ye great ones wch he hath constituted. — And if he see his hair on fire he shall loos his people in war. c. 160 ex mente Pers. & Ægypt.
Sometimes fire signifies trial & purgation by consuming what is evil, as in Mal. 3.2.
48 {sic} If one dream that ye sun hath scorched him much he will be punished by ye king proportionally to that scorching Ind. Pers. & Ægypt, in Achm. c 167. This respects a single person, & hence it is easy to collect that if a nation be much scorched by ye sun, ye affliction wch it portends must be through wars raised by ye king, as well because burning or scorching denotes war {sic} by ye precedent figure as because there is no meanes whereby a king may afflict a whole nation so easily & so much as by war.
49 {sic} If a king dream that there is an earthquake in his City or Land it portends war of nations & conspiracy against him Ind. Pers & Ægypt. in Achm c 144.
50 {sic} But ye shaking of heaven & earth imports more then then {sic} this, namely ye subverting Kingdoms & turning things as it were upside down. For of Haggai 2.6 where it is said: Yet once more & I will shake ye heavens & the earth, &c St Paul gives this interpretation, that this Yet once more &c signifies ye removing of those things that are shaken Heb. 12:27. And Haggai himself a little after makes ye same interpretation vers. 22; where repeating ye prophesy he saith: I will shake ye heavens & the earth & will overthrow ye throne {sic} of kingdoms & I will destroy ye strength of ye Kingdoms of ye heathen &c. To the same purpose see also Isa. 13.13, & 14.16, & Ioel 3.16.
51 {sic} The four winds of heaven strove upon the great sea i.e. ye wars of nations whereby ye beasts arose. Dan 9.1. The wind shall eat up all thy pastures & thy lovers shal go into captivity Ier 22.22. I will rais up against Babylon a a destroying wind Ier. 51.1. Vpon {sic} Elam will I bring ye four winds from ye four quarters of heaven & will scatter them towards all those winds, & there shal be no nation whether ye outcasts of Elam shal not come. For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies. Ier 49.36. The wind shal carry them away & ye whirlwind – shall scatter them Isa. 41.16. I scattered them with a whirlwind among all ye nations Zech. 7.14. The king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, wth chariots &c Dan 11.40. A great whirlwind shal be raised up from the coasts of ye earth, & ye slain of ye Lord &c Chalde Par: Many people shal come openly from ye ends of ye earth Ier 25.32. So in Ezek 19 12 for: The east wind dried up her fruit, the Chalde Paraphrast substitutes: A king strong as a parching wind slew her people. |In like manner in ye Apocalyps the four winds wch hurt ye earth & sea are ye wars of ye four first Trumpets. {illeg}|
If a king see ye sea much troubled by wind from a known quarter he will be molested by some nation from that quarter, but if he see ye sea calm he will peaceably injoy his kingdom Ind. Pers. & Ægypt. apud Achm. c 178. If he seem to be taken up & carried from place to place by a wind, he shal undertake a long expedition wth success proportional to ye strength & quickness of ye wind. Ind. c 165. If a king in a journey seem to be hindred by a wind he shall receive a messenger from a remote kingdom by wch he shall be troubled. Pers & Ægypt. c 166.
52. The Lord thundred in ye heavens & ye highest gave his voice: Hailstones & coales of fire. Yea he sent out his arrows & scattered them & he shot out lightnings & discomfitted them Psal. 18.13. \With hailstones of mighty power he made ye battel to fall violently upon ye nations. Eccles 46./ The Lord shal cause his glorious voice to be heard he shal shew ye lightning {sic} {sic} down of his arm wth ye indignation of his anger & wth ye flame of a devouring fire wth lightning & tempest & hailstones. For through ye voice of ye Lord shall ye Assyrian be beaten down Isa. 30.30. I will camp against thee round about & will lay – seige against thee —– & ye multitude of ye terrible ones shall be \as/ chaff that passeth away, yea it shal be suddenly. Thou shalt be visited of ye Lord of hosts wth thunder & wth earthquake & with great noise, wth storm & tempest & ye flame of devouring fire. Isa. 29.1, 6. The Philistines drew neare to battel against Israel, but ye Lord thundred wth a great thunder that day upon the Philistines & smote them until they came to Beth-car. 1 Sam: 7.10. See also 1 Sam. 2.10 & Isa. 28.2 & Ioel 60.15. So Ioel describing the battel of ye great day saith, The lord shal roar out of Zion, i.e. Thunder wth a roaring thunder. ch. 3.16. |And in ye same sense are thunder lightning & hail constantly used in ye Apocalyps ch 8.6 & 11.19 & 16.18, 21.|
If one dream that hail falls on a place he may expect place proportional to ye breaking of ye stalks. Achm. c 191. ex Ind. Pers & Ægypt. If one dream he sees a Dragon struck wth lightning, it portends war & ruin to some other king wch is an enemy to that country c 283 ex Ind. Pers. & Ægypt.
a violent incursion of ye enemy; & if he dream that ye hail hurt ye stalks of corn there shal be slaughter of men in that placeAs for ye mixing fire with hail \Apoc. 8.6/ that figure may seem borrowed from ye Ægyptian plague of thunder & hail wth fire mingled Exod. 9.23. But I suppose it alludes also to ye frequent mixture of hail wth lightning wch happens in hot countries although in our northern regions it is unusuall.
53 {sic}. My doctrin shal drop as ye rain my speech shall distill as ye dew, as ye smal rain upon ye tender herb, & as ye showers upon ye grass Deutr. 32.2. He shal come down like rain upon ye mown grass, as showers upon \water/ ye earth. In his days, shal ye righteous flourish & abundance of peace so long as ye moon endureth Psal. 72.6. Break up your fallow grownd, for it is time to seek ye Lord till he come & rain righteousness upon you Hosea 10.12. See also Isa: 55.10. Hos: 6.3. &c. So ye Indians teach: Rain is to be interpreted of God's mercy & granting or prayers. Achm. c. 171.
The same is to be understood of watering any place to make it fruitful, or of giving water to drink. Whence water is often put for true doctrin & grace, & springs of water for eternal life. Iohn 4.14. Isa 12.3, & 44.3, & 58.11. &c.
54. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh o most mighty wth thy glory & thy majesty, & in thy majesty ride on prosperously Psal. 45.4. The Hebrew is prosper & ride, wch ye seventy translate Go on prosperously & reign; & ye Chalde Paraphrast, That thou mayst ride upon ye throne of the kingdom. In like manner riding is put for reigning in Deutr: 32.13. Isa: 58.14. Psal 66.12. And so the
woman's riding upon her beast is interpreted her reigning over the kings of ye earth. Apoc. 17. And Achmet delivers it for ye doctrin of ye Indians Persians & Egyptians, That a generous steed denotes eminence & dignity, & vulgar horses inferior nobility & glory – – – And if one dream he rides on a nimble & mettlesome hors, he shal acquire amongst ye people fame & great renown & eminence & honour. – And if he seem to ride armed on a generous steed he shal obtein power & renown according to his armour c. 233.55. If one seem to hold a bow & arrows he shall wth joy triumph over his enemies. Achm: c. 249. ex Pers. & Ægypt.
56 Some have supposed that ye Ballance {sic} in ye third seale (Rev. 6.) might be an emblem of famin, but wthout ground, there being no authority either in scripture or other authentic writings, that I have met wth, for such an interpretation. There are other ways of expressing famin, as by ye tearing of doggs Ier: 15.3: & where ye Ballance is mentioned in scripture it is either wth respect to judgment as in Iob. 31.6. Psal: 62.9. Dan: 5.27. or to Iustice as in Hosea 12.7. Micah 6.11. Prov: 16.11. &c. And to ye same purpose is ye doctrine of ye Indian interpreters; wch runs thus. If in a dream one see a ballance poised in any place let him understand it of a Iudg: And {sic} if he have a cause & see ye Ballance equally poised he shall obtein his right. – And if he see ye Ballance exact & cleane let him know yt ye judg of that place is just, but if it be broken & out of order he is unjust. Achm: c. 15. The Author also further relates how they compare ye scales to ye ears of ye Iudg & ye weights to ye matter pleaded on both sides &c. And adds that measures have ye like interpretation, but are to be understood of inferiour Iudges.
57. Martyrdom is a kind of sacrifice: for ye sacrifices under ye law were but a type of or Saviour's death. And hence St Paul when his Martyrdome approached purpose sense is that to ye Philippians: Yea & if I be offered upon ye sacrifice & service of yor faith, I joy
said: I am now ready to be offered (gr. sacrificed) & ye time of my departure is at hand. 2 Tim: 4.6. And to ye same58. The Temple of God is holy wch Temple ye are 1 Cor. 3.17. What agreement hath ye Temple of God wth Idols? for ye are ye temple of ye living God 2 Cor. 6.16. The man of sin as God sitteth in ye temple of God 2 Thes. 2.4.
59. Nothing is more obvious then ye Churche's being frequently represented in scripture by a woman, ye spouse of Christ: as in ye Canticles. Rev 12 & 19.
60. To assimilate sharp affliction to ye pains of a woman is also a plain figure: whence if yt woman be ye Church, her pains in travel must be an emblem of her persecution. Thus or Saviour in Mat. 24.8, 9, & Mark 13.9 describing ye persecution of ye Church calls them ὠδινας So Isaiah ch. 66.7. speaking of ye Iewish Church saith, Before she travailed she brought forth before her pain came she was delivered of a man child. wch ye Chalde Paraphrast thus interprets Antequam veniat ei tribulatio redempta erit, antequam veniat ei tremor sicut dolores parturientis revelabitur rex ejus. Ieremiah also in ch 30.6, 7 interprets this figure plainly: Ask ye now, saith he, & see whether a man doth travail wth child: wherefore do I see every man wth his hands on his loins as a woman in travail, & all faces are turned into palenes? Alas for that day is great so yt none is like it, it is even the time of Iacob's trouble but he shal be saved out of it.
61. The Idolatry of ye Iews is almost every where in scripture called going a whoring after other Gods. See Isa. 3. & Ezek. 16, & 25 &c. And though all their neighbours were Idolaters more then they yet none but they are reproved for it under ye character of committing whoredom. And ye reason is plain. ffor as they were considered as married to ye true God (Ier. 3.1, 8, 14. Hosea 2.1, 7 &c so ye other nations had as it were contracted wedloc wth
fals Gods, insomuch that they are called ye Gods of those nations as ye true God was ye God of ye Iews. Yet Nineveh is once called a Harlot (Nahum 3.4) but not for bare Idolatry.62. That Idolatry is sometimes termed blasphemy may be seen in these instances. In this yor ffathers have blasphemed me in that they have committed a trespas against me. For when I had brought them into ye land – then they saw every high hill & all the thick trees, & they ofered their sacrifice Ezek. 20.28. Your ffathers — have burnt incense upon ye mountains & blasphemed me upon the hills. i.e. by invoking other Gods Isa. 65.7. And so in ye Apocalyps, although blasphemy need not there be wholly limited to Idolatry, yet ye names of blasphemy upon ye whore's Beast are well interpreted by Grotius to be ye names of Idol-Gods by wch ye true God is blasphemed whilst men attribute that to them wch is due only to him.
63. That Idols may be called men is according to the common way of speaking: for they are images of men, & as we are wont to call ye image of a Beast a Beast & ye image of a bird a bird so we call ye image of a man a man. And as this is ye common way of speaking so it is ye language of ye scriptures. Thou hast played the harlot wth many lovers yet return to me saith ye Lord – she defiled ye Land & committed adultery wth stones & wth stocks. Ier: 3.1, 9. I will destroy her vines & her figtrees whereof she said, These are my rewards yt my lovers have given me — & I will visit upon her ye days of Baalim wherein she – went after her lovers & forgot me saith ye Lord. Hos: 2.12. Thou pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by — thou madest thy self Images of men & didst commit whoredom wth them — thou hast committed fornication wth ye Egyptians great of flesh — thy filthines was poured out & thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms wth thy lovers even wth all ye Idols of thy abominations Ezek. 16.15, 17, 26, 37. Aholah {sic} – doted on her lovers, on ye Assyrians her neighbours wch were clothed wth blew, Capitains & Rulers all of them desirable young men, horsmen riding upon horses. Thus she committed her whoredoms wth them, wth all them that were chosen men of Assyria & wth all on whome she doted, [even] wth all their Idols Ezek: 23.5. And when her sister Aholibah saw this — she doted upon ye Assyrians her neighbours Capitains & rulers clothed most gorgeously, horsmen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men — & she increased her whoredoms, for when she saw men pourtrayed upon ye wall, ye Images of ye Chaldeans pourtrayed wth Vermilion girded wth girdles upon their loins, exceeding in died attire upon their heads, all of them Princes to look to, after ye manner of ye Babylonians, she doted upon them & sent messengers unto them into Chaldea, & ye Babylonians came to her into ye bed of love, i.e. when she saw their Idols she doted upon them & sent for others to be made in their likeness & set up in her own land. vers 11.
By these instances it may appear that it is according to ye use of ye Prophets to represent Idols as men wherewith ye Church commits adultery & not only so but to call them by the names of those men whose Gods they are, or whose likeness they bear, as Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Princes, Capitains, Rulers, Horsmen, Youngmen, &c: not much unlike their being called in the sixt seal, Kings, & great men, & rich men, & Capitains, & mighty men, & bond & free. See Fig.
64. In Fig. 10 & 63 we {sic} have shewed yt ye Prophets put men for Idols, & Dens & Rocks of Mountains for their temples: & ye reason of ye thing requires that {illeg} they should be thus interpreted where men are said[7] to hide themselves in Dens & rocks of mountains & say to ye mountains & rocks, fall on us & hide us. For rocks & mountains must here signify buildings because of their falling, & men must signify Idols because to hide in Dens or holes of Rocks or to cover wth falling mountains, that is to shut {sic} up in buildings or bury in ye ruins of them is ye proper way of destroying Idols but not a proper way of destroying men. But ye use of these expressions will best appear out of scripture where they are appropriated to ye demolishing of Idolatry. The high places of Aven \[or temples] of [ye Idols called] a[8] Aven [are iniquity] the/ /Aven\, ye sin of Israel, shal be destroyed, ye thorn & thistle shal come upon their Altars & they \[the Idols]/ shal say to ye mountains, cover us, & to ye hills fall on us \that is to ye tops of ye mountains & hills, or the \rocks &/ coverings of the dens of ye Idols./ Hosea 10.8. The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day & ye Idols shall he utterly *[9] abolish, & they shal go into ye holes of ye rocks & into ye caves of ye earth for fear of ye Lord. Isa: 2.19. In that day shal a man cast his Idols — to ye Moles & to ye Bats to go into ye clefts of ye Rock, & into ye *[10] tops of ye ragged rocks for fear of ye Lord. vers. 21. Here ye Idols wch are to be hid in ye rocks are called by ye name of Idols but a little before they were spoken unto as men. Enter into ye rock & hide thee in ye dust vers 10. And therefore since ye men here spoken unto are Idols, by men hiding themselves in rocks must be understood Idols shut up in their temples or buried in ye ruins thereof.
65. The falling of ye stars & departure of ye heavens according to ye precedent interpretations of stars & heaven will signify ye fall of great men & ye departure of ye glory of a Kingdom. And because Idols are sometimes considered as men by Fig 63 therefore this embleme may be applyed either to a Kingdom of Idols or to a kingdom of men as ye circumstances shal require. Thus St Stephen calls ye Idol of Rempham a star, saying: Ye took up ye Tabernacle of Moloch & ye star of your God Rempham, figures wch ye made to worship them. Acts 7.43. It is indeed being \were/ ye Images of supposed celestial Gods were thence in scripture called Gods, & ye host of heaven: & ye analogy between ye univers & a kingdom will be more perfect when things wch relate to heaven are represented by ye heavenly bodies, & ye parts of a kingdom wch respect ye earth by things on ye earth, then when they are confounded together. Yea, this the scripture seems to insinuate when it calls Idols as well as stars ye host of heaven. And therefore |And besides the stars were a part of ye heathen Idols, & its an ordinary figure to attribute the names of things of a kind to one another| We {sic} need not \therefore/ doubt to interpret stars of Idols & heaven of their honour & dignity or rather of ye orbicular roofs of their Temples, when ever that interpretation will best agree wth ye circumstances; And then it as it does in this ffigure. For here ye allusions to ye falling of figgs from a figtree & to ye rolling of a scroll together do by striking ye imagination wth an Idea of local motion make it a more lively representation of ye ruining of a kingdom of Idol-Gods then of a kingdom of men. For ye stars falling to ye earth as figgs fall from a ffigtree do most lively represent falling Idols & heaven departing as a scrol when it is rolled together ye roof of a temple \(the Idol's heaven)/ gradually taken off or cleaveing asunder at its being thrown down.
less usual to represent Idols by the stars, but it is more proper because theyAs for ye use of this Figure, there are but two places where it occurs, Isa:34.4. & Rev: 6.13, 14. The first of these seems to respect that universal overthrow of ye Gentiles so often prophesied of in Scripture: at wch time Idolatry is to be universally & for ever demolished as may hereafter appear by comparing Rev: 9.20 & 11.15. wth Isa: 2.17, 18, 19 & Zech 13.2 &c. The other place is at ye sixt seale when Idols were to be universally abolished but not for ever: of wch more hereafter.
66. What is meant by ascending out of ye bottomles pit may be seen in Rev: 20 where ye putting an end to delusions & fals religions is exprest by shutting up ye Dragon
in ye bottomles pit that he shoud deceive ye nations no more till ye thousand yeares should be fulfilled; & ye springing up of new delusions at ye end of that time, by his being let out again to deceive ye nations.67. A Potion or Drunkenness sometimes signifies great affliction & misery as in Ier 25.15. Ezek. 23.33. Rev: 14.10. & sometimes error as in Isa: 29.10: They are drunken but not wth wine, they stagger, but not wth strong drink, for ye Lord hath poured out upon you ye spirit of deep sleep & hath closed yor eyes. And accordingly in Rev: 17 by ye inhabitants of ye earth being made drunk wth ye wine of ye whore's fornication must be understood their being infatuated & seduced to Idolatry by her delusions. For it is said in chap: 18.23 that by her deadly poison (ἐκ του φαρμακου were all nations deceived; that is, by ye wine of ye poison of her fornication {illeg}|ἐκ| του θυμου ὄινου του θυμου as it is called in vers 3 & 8. for θυμὸς signifies as well poison as wrath, & her cup is to be supposed as it were a Philtre or love potion, such as whores were said of old to administer for inciting love, & for that end to compose it of such poisonous medicaments as might work by stupefying & infatuating those to whome they gave it.
68. Where ye Iewish nation is represented by a whore, her threatned distress & desolation is often exprest by making her naked, as in Ier: 13.22, 26. Ezek: 16.37. Hosea 2.3. & ye like of ye virgin daughter of Babylon in Isa: 47.3.
69. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel & thy garments like him that treadeth ye winefat? I have troden ye wine-press alone — for I will tread them in
mine anger — & their blood shal be sprinkled upon my garments Isa: 63.2, 3. Proclaim ye this among ye Gentiles, Prepare war &c Put ye in ye siccle for ye harvest is ripe; come get ye down for ye press is full ye fats overflow, for their wickednes is great. Multitudes, multitudes &c Ioel 3.13. The Lord shall give a shout as they that tread ye grapes against all ye inhabitants of ye earth — he will plead wth all flesh, he will give them yt are wicked to ye sword Ier 25.30. See also Lament. 1.15. Ezek. 15.2. & Deutr. 32.32.The reason of this figure is ye resemblance between effusion of blood & expressing ye juice of grapes.
70. The signification of a harvest or Saviour has given us Mat. 13.39
[1] see Ezek. 3.18
[2] Rev 18.21 Ier 51 63
[3] a See Mr Mede's acount of this book
[4] b Of the knowledge of ye Eastern wise men in interpretations see Gen. 41. Acts 7.22. Dan. 1.17.
[5] c. H. Grotius, Mr Mede, Dr Moor.
[6] ‡ See Exod 7. 1 Num 11.\25/, 27. 1 Sam 10.5, 6. 1 Chron 25.1, 2 3. 1 Sam 18.10 & 19.23. 1 King 18.29. 1 Sam 19.20. Mat 7.15, 22 & 24.11, 24 &c Mat 11.13. 1 Cor. 11.5. 1 Ioan 4.1. Iudeth 6.2. Nehem 6.7. Wisdom 14.28
[7] Rev. 6
[8] a that is iniquity
[9] * gr. hide or bury them.
[10] gr: \& vulg. lat./ holes