Fragment on the Epistles to the Seven Churches (section 7.3h)
For confirming what has been said, it may not be amiss to give a short explication of the seven Epistles.
Vpon the opening of the fift seale, the affairs of the Church begin to be considered as was said above, & the Church is represented by a Woman appearing in \temple of/ heaven & pained in travail & bringing forth a Manchild before her flight from to|h|e Temple into the spiritually barren wile|d|erness: & in this state she is admonished by seven Epistles sent to the \seven/ Angels of the seven Churches wch by them are \under the type of dressing/ the seven lamps illuminating \them that {illeg} wch illuminate/ the whole Temple . {sic} , & dress that they may illuminate it the better
|In| The first Epistle is to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus, Christ saith, I have something against thee because thou hast left thy first love Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen & the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly & fight will remove thy Candlestick quickly out of its|his| place place {sic} except thou repent. But this thou hast that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans wch I also hate. And this reproof answers perfectly well to the state of the Church in the first twenty years of the reign of Dioclesian & Maximianus, thus described by Eusebius.
When Eusebius had brought down his Ecclesiastical history to the r|R|eign of Dioclesian & the Episcopacy of Caius & Marcelline Bishops of Rome & Cyrill bishop of Antioch \& Dioclesians Persecution was at hand/ , he thus describes the state of the Church. Qualem quantam gloriam simul ac libertatem doctrina – – – – in religionem nostram affecti erant benevolentiam. And a little after. Iam vero quis innumera bilem hominum quotidie ad fidem Christi confugentium trubam, quis numerum – – – – – – – – – quasi tyrannidem quandam contentissima sibi vindicantes; tunc demum juxta dictum Hieremiæ obscuravit dominus in ira sua filiam Sion & dejecit de cœlo gloriam Israel. And to this state of the Church agrees the first of the seven Epistles . |t|o the \Angels of the/ seven Churches of Asia, that to the Church of Ephesus . I have something against \thee/ , saith Christ to the Angel of the Church of Ephesus, because thor|u| hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen – – – – – – wch I also hate. By the doctrine of the Nicolaitans I understand spiritual fornication coloured over with a pretence of Christianity.
The persecution of Dioclesian began in the year of Christ 302 & lasted two ten years in the eastern Empire & two years in the western. And to this the state of the Church the second Epistle, that to the Church of \in/ Smyrna agrees. I know, saith Christ, thy works & tribulation & poverty, ( but thou art rich, ) & I know the blasphemy of them \ ( the Nicolaitans ) / who say they are Iews & are not but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things wch thou shalt suffer. Behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison \that ye may be tried/ & ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithfull unto death & I will give the{e} a crown of life. The tribulation of ten days can agree to no other persecution then that of Dioce|l|esian, it being the only persecution wch lasted ten years. By the Blasphemy of them that say they are Iews & are not {bu} but are of the synagogue of Satan, I understand the Id\ol/atry of the Nicolaitans who called themselves Christians w|b|ut were not Christians of wch but of the Church of Idolaters.
These Id Nicolaitans are complained of in t|also| in the third Epistle as men that held the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block to|be|fore the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to Idol{e}|s| & to commit spiritual fornication. For Balaam taugh|t| the Moabites & Midianites to tempt Israel f|b|y their Weomen & invite them to the sacrifices of their Gods. Num. 25 & 31. They are complained of also in the fourth Epistle under the |the Woman who now began| name of the Woman Iezebel, that is, the Church of the Nicolaitans, called the synagogue of Satan in the second & sixt Epistles , | : | \she is Babylon &/ the Woman |wch now began to fly into the wilderness. |
And in the sixt Epistle, that to the Church of Philadelphia Christ saith, Because thou hast kept the word of my patience \ [ in the reign of Iulian the Apos/ I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation wch shall come upon all the earth \wold {sic}/ to try them that are his dwell upon the earth. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God, \& he shall go no more out, / & I will write upon him the name of my God &c that is; Because in the reign of Iul The Emperor Iulian the Apostate thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which, by the womans flying into the wilderness & the Dragons making war with the remnant of her seed, she & the killing of all that will not worship the Image of the Beast, shall come upon all the world to them that dwell on them try them that dwell on the earth, & to distinguish them by sealing the one with the name of God in their forehead & marking other with the mark of the Beast; & at that time I \will/ make him that overcometh, a pillar in the second Temple of my God, & he shall go no more out \of it/ . And at the same time I will write upon him the name of my God in his forehead. So then the Christians of the Church of Philadelphia, as many of them as overcome are sealed wth the seal of God & placed in the second Temple & go no more out. And the same is to be understood of the Church of Smyrna. These are therefore the two Pillars & the two {Cansticks}{Cansticks {sic}} & the two Witnesses in the second Temple. And the witnesse{s} are looked upon in this Prophesy as the posterity of those two Churches, the other five being faulty.
The reign of Constantine the great from the time of his victory over L|c|onquering Licinius, was monarchical over the whole Roman Empire. Then the Empire became divided between the sons of Constantine reigning at Rome & Constinople {sic} : for And then it was united under Constantius by his victory over Magnentius. And to the affairs of the Church in these three |successive| periods of time, the Epistles to the Angels of the Churches of \in/ Pergamus Thyatira, & Sardis seem to relate. After the reign of Iulian & his successor Iovian who reigned but five months, the e|E|mpire became divided again between Valentinian & Valens. And then the Church in the Epistle to the Angel of the Church in Laodicea is reprehended as luke-warm, & threatned to be spewed out of Christs mouth. She said that she was rich and increased in goods & had need of nothing ( in outward appearance ) & knew not that she was ( inwardly ) misrably wetched {sic} \& miserable/ & poor & blind & naked & for her luke-warmness deserved to be spewed out of Christs mouth.
Mr Mede hath explained the Prophesy of the fist|rs|t six Trumpets not much amiss. If he had observed that the prophesy of pouring out the Vialls of wrath is synchronal to that of sounding the Trumpets, his Commentary \Explanation/ would have been more complete. It remains that we expect with patient|c|e till the event of things discovers the times wch God hath hitherto put into his own breast. The first four plagues are represented T l The warrs {at} \sacrifice/ to wch the first four Trumpets sound &c
The sacrifices of \on/ the first four days of the Feast of Tabernacles, is|at| wch wch {sic} the first four Trumpets sound, & the first four Vials of wrath are poured out, are represented by the four winds to the four corners of ye earth. The first was an east wind, the second a west wind, the third a south wind, the for|u|rth a north wind with respect to the City of Rome.
The first plague fell upon the Earth & signifies the invasion of \{all the}/ Greek Empire \& Pannonia/ //It commenced A.C. 396\ & is thus touched upon by Ierom. \ by the Gothi|s|{cs} \& other/ nations between the dea presently after the death of Theodosius.
The second plague fell \commenced A.C. 406 & fell upon the sea or Western Empire & principally/ upon T|G|aul & Spain by the invasion inrode of the Visigoths, Vandals, Alans, Sueves, Ostrogoths, Burgundians by wch \It commenced A.C. 406|7| & in these wars Rome was sackt &/ the western Empire was broken into ten kingdoms , | . | It commenced A.C. 406.
The third was the invasion of Afric by the Vandals & Alans A.C 428. And by this war Afric was taken from the Romns|an|s, & Rome was sackt a second time & Italy much wasted{ . | , |} |& by the Western Empire after the taking of Rome| The fourth dwindled away & ceased in Augustulus{ . | , | |the Heruli succeeding him, |} The fourth whom the Vandals had called into Italy, succeeding him.
The fourth began with the invasion of Italy by the Ostrogoths A.C. 492.
<2r>The third fell upon the {illeg} rivers & fountains of waters, that is, upon the western Empire now divided into many kingdoms, & commenced with the invasion of Afric by the Vandals A.C. 428. And by this war Afric was taken from the Van|Rom|ans, & \Rome was sackt a second time & Italy much infested by sea. / Italy infested by sea. {sic}
The fourth fell upon the Sun Moon & Stars, that is upon the Western Emperor & the remainder of his dominions, &|I|t began A.C. 476 when Odoacer king of the Heruli sei invaded Italy & seized the dominions of Augustulus the last of the western Emperors , | . | & \It/ was continued by the warrs which the Ostrogoths under Theoderic made upon Heruli the Heruli & wch Bellisarius afterwards made upon the Ostrogoths, & wch the Lombards afterwards made upon the Italy when they invaded it. And in all these wars Italy was miserably wasted & Rome twice taken.
The fift Trumpet sounds|d {sic}| to the wars wch the king of the south \ ( as he is called ( according to|by| Daniel ) / made in the time of the end in pushing at the king who had done according to his will & magnified himself above every God, & worshipped Mahuzzims.
And the sixt sounded to the warrs wch the \Daniels/ king of the north \ ( according to Daniel/ made \in coming/ against the same king who did \had done/ according to his will, in coming against him like a whirlwind & overflowing it|his| \kingdom/ & in conquering also Iudæa, Egypt Libyia & Ethiopia.
The time \Prophesy/ of the first Trumpet was \lasted/ 12 years, that of the second 21 years that of the third 48 \years/ , that of the fourth \about/ 1{3}|5|8 \years/ that of the fift about 6{644}|22|4|| & years & according to this progress that of the sixt may last above 800 or 1000 years \last/ be|u|t still longer. But it is not for us to know the times & seasons wch God hath put in his own Breast. Daniel calls the reign of the kings of the kings of the South & North the time of the end, & tells us that at the time of the end many shall run to & fro & knowledge shall be encreased & that none of the wicked shall understand but the wise shall understand. B|A|nd \this/ is represented in Iohn by the two Witnesses prophesying 1260 years in saccloth, & then ascending up to heaven in a cloud {&} with the everlasting gospel to preach the everlasting Gospel to those \to all nations/ against \those/ that worship the Beast & his Image & receive his mark. And w|W|hen the little horn of Daniels fourth Beast had overcome three of the ten kings, then & times & laws were given into his ten hands then the two Witnesses began to prophesy in sackcloth put on sackcloth. They prophesy in sackcloth 1260 years, then are are slain by the Beast, rise again, & upon the double fall of Babylon prophesy | ( represented by the eating of the her flesh & the fall of the tenth part of ye great city. ) | with \great/ success & became a great multitude as is represented by their ascending up to heaven in a cloud or great multitude &| . And| at length \by the influe{the}|nce{s}| of the three froggs they/ fall into the great tribulation, And \&/ at the battel of the great day to wch the seventh Trumpet sounds, come out of it with Palm-branches in their hands, & the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of God & Christ, & many that s new Ierusalem descends out of heaven, & many that sleep in the dust awake, some to everlasting life & some to everlasting shame & contempt. But when these things shall come to pass we are not \yet/ to know. before The prophesy was given not to enable Christians to predict things, but to establish the religion wch shall be set up by these predictions \of the Prophets/ when they come to pass.
V
At the sounding of the fift Trumpet an Angel \a/ star fell from heaven to the earth ( Manhomet by Apostacy, ) & the star opened the bottomless pit ( to let out a fals religion ) & there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smok of a furnace ( a great number of disciples ) & there came out of the smoke locusts ( a military power like ) locusts ( for multitude ) And wch were to hurt \only/ the men wch have not the seale of God in their forehead, but not to kill them & \to/ to\r/ment them five months but not to kill them |that is not to overthrow the Greek Empire. | And the locusts were like horses prepared to the battel & had faces like men & hair like weomen ( the Arabians wearing their hair long behind ) & the sound of their wings was as the sound of Chariots of many horses running to the battel. And they had a a king over them, the Calif reigning first at Damascus & then at Bagdad. And they had tailes like unto Scorpions ( armies of foot ) & stings in their tailes. And the fift Angel poured out of the seat of the B out his Vial upon the seat of the Beast & his kingdom was full of darkness & they gnawed their tongues for pain. The Saracens invaded Syria \Persia/ Egypt, Libya & Afric & made frequent attempts upon Euro \& Spain/ harrased the Italy & France. Locusts live about five months & in allusion thereunto it \is/ said that twice that they should torment men five months. They reigned began their reign at Damascus A.C. 6{illeg}
The fift & sixt Trumpets sounded to the warrs wch the kings of the sout & north ( according to Daniel made upon the king who did according to his will, & magnified himself above every God.
Rut. l. 21. After Latine Empires write. In the latter end of Nero's reign when the Roma{ns} began the siege of Ierusalem, the Iew Christian Iews seeing Ierusalem compassed with arm{ies} fled from Iudea & Peter & Iohn \some of them/ came into Asia minor with many of the even Christian converted Iews. And \Peter & Iohn/ Peter went on to Corinth & thence to Rome where he wrote his two Epistles & was soon after crucified, but Iohn staying in Asia was banished to Patmos by the Romans as being the head of a party of Iews with whom they were at war. And copies there Iohn wrote his Apocalyps. As the old Prophets had their several styles so had Iohn had his proper style. At his first coming from Iudæa where he had been used to the Hebrew language his|e| mixed hebraisms with his Greek, but {s}af & this is the style of the Apocalyps, But when he had conversed longer with the Greeks in Asia he wrote his Gospel with fewer hebrisms & intermixt Apocalyptic figures, such as were his calling Christ the Word of God, & in putting light & darkness for good & evil knowledge & ignorance \& the light of the world/ & the Lamb of God, & the light of the world, & putting light & darkness for good & evil, knowledge & ignorance. And this way of speaking makes the style of the Apocalyps his Gospel more lofty then that of other Evangelists.
Sr
I received your kind present of a roll of Brawn & return my hearty thanks for your kind present \the same remembrance/ of me. I was glad lately to hear of your good health & wit|s|h you may continue long to do good by yo
When copies of the Apocalyps were sent to the Churches, Paul wrote his Epistle to the \dispersed/ Hebrews wch is a Commentary upon the Apocalypt|s| . In the beginning of this Prophesy Christ is represented in the habit of the High Priest dictating Epistles to the seven Chu Angels of the Churches. And t|T|he first ten chapters of this Epistle are a comp|m|entary upon the vision of Christ \appearing/ in the form of the High Priest in the beginning of the Apocalypt|s| . ☉☉ In the 4th chapter he saith the Apostle calls this High Priest the w|W|ord of God more quick & powerfull then a two edged sword wch plainly relates to the vision of Christ a a white horse appearing in heaven opens & one sitting upon him whose name was called the word of God, & who ha out of whose mouth went a \forth a short/ two edged sword. In the eleventh chapter the Apostle mentions the city wch hath foundations &|w|hose builder & maker is God & wch is|n| the next chapter he calls the city of the living God, the heavenly Ierusalem prepared for the general assembly of them \spirits of just men made perfect/ who are written in heaven |&| the spirts {sic} of just men made perfect: And in the same {illeg} all which alludes to the new Ierusalem with twelve foundations described in the end of the Apocalyps. And in the same 12th chapter he uses the phrase of a clout|d| of witnesses , a phrase not to be met with in any {illeg} former author except the Apocalyps where the two Witnesses ascend up to heaven in a cloud. And again
The two Epistles of Peter have also much relation to the Apocalyps.
