Treatise on Revelation (Section 1)
heavens & removing the earth out of its place & darkening of the Sun Moon & Stars, & termed a punishing the World for their evil Isa. 13. And so the desolation of Israel is represented by a Chaos. I beheld, saith Ieremy, the earth & lo it was without form & void, & the heavens & they had no light. I beheld the mountains & they trembled. – For thus saith the Lord the whole land shall be desolate. Ier. 4.23. So where Isaiah saith, Hear o heavens & give ear o earth (ch. 1.2) again Sing o ye heavens, shout ye lower parts of the earth, break forth into singing ye mountains, O forrest & every tree therein (Ch. 44.23, & 49.13 Let the world hear. ch. 34.1. he speaks to a world which can hear & sing that is, to a world politick. And so the ruin of Idumea (by which the Iews understand the Roman Empire) he describes by the heavens rolling away as a scroll & their host dissolving & falling down & the mountains melting with blood & the rivers turning into burning pitch & the dry land into burning brimstone (chap. 34) All this is a world politick ruined by war: ffor, saith he, my sword shall be bathed in heaven it shall come down [from thence] upon Idumea, the people of my curse, to judgment: the sword of the Lord is filled with blood &c. So also where Debora saith: They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera (Iud. 5.20) & Moses describes the desolation of Israel by a conflagration of the Earth (Deut. 32.22:) the heaven & starrs & earth are men. ffor nothing is more usual then by the earth to understand the nations of the earth, as in these expressions: Let the earth rejoyce (Psal 97.1) He causeth the earth & them that dwell therein to worship the first Beast Apoc. 13.2 And the same language is also applied to the heavens. Rejoyce ye heavens & ye that dwell in them: wo to the inhabiters of the earth & of the sea. Apoc 12.12. Thus also in the first four Trumpets where the earth & Sea & Rivers & Sun Moon & Stars are gradually smitten, (Apoc. 8) it denotes the smiting of a world politique by the wars of those Trumpets. And where Iohn saith, I saw a new heaven & new earth, for the first heaven & first earth were passed away (Apoc. 21) & Peter after he had described a conflagration of the old heaven & earth subjoyns: Nevertheless we according to his promise look for new heavens & a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (2 Pet. 3.13:) the old & new heavens & earths are old & new worlds politique. ffor the promise which Peter refers to is this. Behold I create new heavens & a new earth & the former shall not be remembred nor come into mind: but be ye glad & rejoyce for ever in that which I create, for behold I create Ierusalem a rejoycing & her people a joy – & the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her – & they shall build houses & inhabit them & they shall plant vineyards & eat the fruit of them, & dye an hundred years old, &c. Isa 65.17, 18, 20, 21. [And whilst the world natural with its severall parts is put for a world politick or great kingdom, its very proper to represent the end of such a kingdom by the end of the world: & accordingly we find in the new Testament the end of the world at Christs second coming frequently put for the end of that great body politick represented in Daniel by the four Monarchies: which figurative way of speaking not being understood by the common people, they have framed a notion as if the world natural should then be at an end. And yet there is nothing more usual in scripture then to put the world for a great body of men, as in these places. Augustus Cesar taxed all the world Luke 2.1. All the world wondered after the Beast Apoc. 13.2. The great Dragon was cast out which deceiveth the whole world Apoc 12.9. These have turned the world upside down Acts 17.6. Ye are the light of the world Mat 5.14 The world is gone after him Iohn 12.19. The world lyeth in wickedness 1 Iohn 5.19 The sins of the world Iohn 1 29. The saviour of the world Iohn 4.42. The Wisdome of this world 1 Cor. 3.19. The Prince of this world Iohn 14.30. And that the end of the world is a phrase of the same kind with these is evident because after that revolution there still continues a race of mortalls on earth, as may appear by comparing Apoc 10.6, 7 with ch.11.15, 18. See also ch 20.8, 9 & ch 21.1, 24, 26 & Dan 7.26, 27 compared with Dan 12. See also Isa 51.5, 6, 11. & 54.8, 9, 10 & 60.20, 21 & 66.22 & Ier 31.33, 36 & 33.20, 21 25, 26, & Ezek 37.25. & Amos 9 14, 15. & Ioel 3.12, 20.]
The first book
Concerning the language of the Prophets
The Preface
The reasons of the usual miscarriages – – – mend what he finds amiss.
Chap. 1
A synopsis of the Prophetick figures.
Now the original – – – following Commentaries upon these figures.
Chap 2
Of the world, heaven & earth, ascending to heaven & descending to earth, rising out of the earth or Waters & falling into them moving from place to place, earthquakes, shaking & passing away of heaven & earth.
The comparison – – – – pass away in the Apoc. ch. 20.11 & 6.14.
Chap. 3
Of things celestial vizt the Sun, Moon & Starrs, light & darkness, darkening smiting or setting of the sun moon & starrs, Eclipsing or turning the Moon into blood, falling of the starrs, New Moons, days & nights, scorching with the Sun's heat , burning with fire, a flaming sword
Chap. 4
Of Meteors, vizt Clouds, riding on the clouds, covering the Sun with a cloud and with smoke, Winds, Whirlwinds, Thunder lightning hail overflowing rain, moderate rain, Dew, living water & want of rain.
Chap 5
Of things terrestrial vizt dry land, sea, rivers, floods, wilderness, embittering of waters, turning them to blood, overflowing of a sea or river, drying up of waters, ffountains, Mountains, Islands, dens & rocks of mountains & hiding men in them, Cities houses & ships.
Chap. 6
Of living things, vizt Trees, hearbs, reeds, & other vegetables, Locusts & other insects, wild beasts, Birds, & ffishes.
Chap. 7
How several kingdoms are signified by several parts of the world, as by the heaven, the earth, the sea, a river, a species of animals, or of vegetables, or any animal or vegetable put for the whole species, as a lyon a Goat a Dragon a Whore, a Frog, a Vine, a Lamb, a Seraphim, a Cherubim And of the trees of life & knowledge & the old Serpent & Beasts worshipped.
Chap. 8
Of the parts of an animal, vizt the head or heads & taile, the horns, the eyes, & seeing, the mouth, & speaking & eating, the voice loud or faint, the hairs, feathers, wings, arms, feet, nails, teeth, serpentine taile, & bones, & of the times of their life & actions
Chap. 9
Of a man or woman in various circumstances, as with a crown or on horsback, or with a sword or bow, or with weights & measures or cloathed in white or in other apparrel or naked, or holding a cup of wine or drinking it, or with a wound or sore or in pain. or pained in child-birth, or bearing a manchild: & of the death of man or beast, & of worshipping them & their images.
Chap. 10
Of the parts of the temple.
Ch. 11.
The third Book
Concerning the method of the Apocalyps & the Allusions therein to the law & history of the Iews.
The fourth book
Concerning the Persons & things prophesied of in the Apocalyps, vizt the 7 Angells two Witnesses, whore Dragon, two Beasts & their horns. 3 Horns pluckt up 7 Horns remaining Horns & their churches.
The fift Book
Concerning the history of the Apocalyps.
Chap | 1. The ten horns |
2 The first six seals opened & six heads of the Dragon & Beast des{ented} | |
3 The seventh head & seven Trumpets & Vials. |
The nature of the serpent being no more changed by one Decree than that of the bow by the other. Tis agreed that Eve was deceived by the Devil & that the Serpent was only a symbol of the Deceiver{;} [Now to make the sign really punished for the crime of the thing signified is absurd & therefore [the curs of the Serpent must be understood really of the Devil only & be spoken of the serpent] tis not to {be} understood that the serpent] & therefore to make the serpent really metamorphised & condemned to creep on his belly & eat dust because the Devil had offended is to punish one thing for anothers fault & make the signe suffer in a litteral sense for the crime of the thing signified which is absurd & unagreeable to the nature & design of Parables. When the ancient sages would have one thing to be represented by another they feigned a metamorphosis of the one into the other & thence came all the ancient Metamorphoses recited by Ovid & other writers. This was their way of making Parables & Moses in this Parable of the Serpent speaks in the language of the ancient wise men.
As water of life given to the thirsty & wine given to drink in the Eucharist signify the doctrine of truth by which men are nourished to life eternal so the wine of fornication in this Cup [in the golden cup of the Whore of Babylon] must signify the doctrine of idolatry by which as with a Philter she entices her lovers to commit spiritual fornication with her & makes them err & reel to & fro like drunken men & become furious in their inordinate affections & passions towards their spiritual mistress. For drunkenness is the type of error & confusion & therefor the Philter by which she inebriated the nations is afterwards called her sorceries by which she deceived them. They are drunken but not with wine, they stagger but not with strong drink For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep, sleep & hath closed your eyes – & the vision of all is become unto you as a book that is sealed – Wherefore, saith the Lord, forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth & with their lips do honour me but have removed their heart far from me & their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men: therefore behold I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people &c. Isa. 29.9, 11, 13. Which is as much as to say that Moses & the Prophets were to Israel as a book that is sealed up so that they consulted them not but worshipped God as they were taught by the precept of men & by imbibing & swallowing this precept became drunk & staggered & slept like men grown senseless with wine; for which reason God would destroy them. To the same purpose it is that Isaiah in another place saith, The Princes of Noph are deceived, they have also seduced Egypt – the Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof; & they have caused Egypt to erre in every work thereof as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Isa. 19.13, 14. And so where God gives the nations the wine cup of his fury to drink that they may be mad & drunken & spue & fall & rise no more because of the sword which he will send amongst them Ier. 25. the meaning is that he will send amongst them the spirit of delusion giddiness & madness whereby they shall be gathered to battel & therein reel & spue up their & perish. & in the same sense he makes great Babylon drink the wine of his fury in the Apoc. The Golden Cup in the hand of the whore of Bab. is said to be full of abominations & filthiness of her fornication & this filthiness is a little before called the wine of her fornication, that is the doctrine of her idolatry.
<5r>will shake, saith he, the heavens & the earth & I will overthrow the throne of Kingdoms. v. 21: And so also by the Apostle Paul, This yet once more, saith he, signifyeth the removing of those things which are shaken – that those things which cannot be shaken may remain: wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved Heb. 12.20, 27. And hence the overthrow of the kingdom of Babylon is represented by shaking the heavens & removing the earth out of her place & darkning of the Sun Moon & stars, & termed a punishing the World for their evil. Isa. 13. And so the desolation of Israel is represented # # by a Chaos. I beheld, saith Ieremiah the earth & lo it was without form & void; & the heavens & they had no light. I beheld the mountains & they trembled – For thus saith the Lord the whole land shall be desolate. Ier. 4.23 Of the same kind is that word in the Apocalyps Rejoyce ye heavens & ye that dwell in them wo to the inhabitants of the earth & sea, chap 12 & again, I saw a new heaven & a new earth; for the first earth was past away chap. 21 & in Isa. Hear O heavens & give ear o earth Ch. 1.2 And so where God saith, All the host of heaven shall be dissolved for My sword shall be bathed in heaven, (Isa. 34.5) & Debora, They fought from heaven, the stars in their courses fought against Sisera (Iud. 5.20) the heavens are humane & the stars are men. And as for the earth, there is nothing more usual then to understand the nations by it as in these expressions. Let the earth rejoyce. Psal. 97.1. He causeth the earth & them that dwell therein to worship the first Beast. Apoc. 13.2. Whence Moses describes the desolation of Israel by a conflagration of the earth Deut. 32
2. This signification of heaven & earth is further confirmed by the significations of ascending & descending. Thou hast said in thine heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, &c. This is spoken of the King of Babylon exalting himself above all Kings & earthly dominions Isa. 14.13. Thy greatness, O Nebuchadnezzar, is grown & reatcheth unto the heaven Dan. 4.22. The little horn waxed great even to the host of heaven Dan. 3.11. And thou Capernaum which art exalted unto heaven Mat. 11.23. How hath the Lord – cast down from heaven to earth the beauty of Israel Lam. 2.1. I will raise a fort against these & thou shalt be brought down & shalt speak out of the ground & thy speech shall be low out of the dust Isa 29.4 So when we say God is in heaven & Christ came down from heaven we meane not that God is in one place more than in another but that he is high in power & dominion, the great king, & that Christ at his incarnation descended from his former greatness or (as St Paul expresses it) he emptied himself of the form of a god & took upon him the form of a servant. For this kind of language was familiar to the ancient orientall nations. If a king If a King see himself, as it were, above the heaven where the stars are, he shal find exaltation & a name above other Kings. Achm. c. 162. ex. Ind. Pers. Æg. By all which it may appear that heaven signifies any high & exalted estate & earth a low one.
3. And whilst ascending & descending signifies rising & falling in honour & power all other local motion in the world natural must signify suitable translation from one office dignity condition & station to another in the world politick. So in Isaiah 22, the captivating of Shebna governor of the Temple is termed driving him from his station or (as the Chalde Paraphrast renders it) from his place, & the substituting Eliakim into his Office & afterwards deposing him iscompared to the fastening of a nail in a sure place & the removing of that nail. So if if mountains or or sands or Candlesticks be moved out of their places it signifies their being translated from their former dominion dignity or condition. And when the woman flees into the wilderness to her place prepared of God she flees to her place of honour & reigning therein. Apoc. 12. So Isaiah puts a place & name in House of God for a dignity or office there ch 56.5 ✝ ✝ And when we say that Christ sits at the right hand of God we meane that he is next to God in dignity ffor this language of putting places for Offices & dignities is familiar even to the western nations.
4. So shaking the parts of the world natural signifies the shaking of the analogous parts of the world politick If a King dram that there is an earthquake in his city or land it portends war of nations & conspiracy against him. This is the doctrine of the Indians, Persians & Egyptians recorded by Achmet c. 144. And in scripture earthquakes & shaking of heaven and earth signify such a shaking as to overthrow kingdoms: as in Isaiah, I will camp against thee round about, & I will lay seige against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee & thou shalt be brought down – thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder & with earthquake & with great noise Isa. 29.3, 6. And where Haggai saith, Yet once more & I will shake the heavens & the earth, Paul gives this interpretation, This yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken.
5. What is meant by passing or rolling away of heaven may be understood by this place of Isaiah. The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations – he hath utterly destroyed them he hath delivered them to the slaughter & the mountains shall flow with their blood, & all the host of heaven shall be dissolved & the heavens shall be rolled together as a scrowl & all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the vine & as a falling figg from the figtree. ffor my sword shall be bathed in heaven, behold it shal come down upon Idumea [that is, say the Iews, upon the Roman Empire] & upon the people of my curse to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood [the two edged sword of his mouth] it is made fat with fatness with the blood of Lambs & Goats with the fat of the kidneys of rams [that is, saith the Chalde Paraphrast, with the blood of Kings & Rulers with the fat of kidneys of Princes] for the Lord hath a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. Isa 34.2. Here the heaven which passeth away is that wherein the sword is bathed & consequently a heaven of great Men, For these are the Lambs & Goats & Rams which the Chaldee Paraphrast well interprets Kings & Princes. ffor such is the signification of the Goat & Ram and other great Beasts in Daniel. In the same sense also doth heaven and earth pass away & the stars fall down in the Apocalyps ch. 20.11 & 6.14.
Chap. III.
Of things celestial, vizt the Sun Moon & stars light & darkness, darkning smiting or setting of the Sun Moon & Stars, Eclipsing or turning the Moon into blood falling of the stars & New Moons.
The signification of the Sun Moon & stars is manifested by these instances. The Sun immutably
< text from f 6r resumes >6. The signification of the Sun, Moon & Stars is manifested by these instances. The Sun immutably represents the King, the Moon the next in power to the King the Planet Venus the Queen, the rest of the greater Stars the great men of the Kingdom Achmet Cap. 16 ex Ind. Pers. & Ægypt. Yet Achmet is mistaken in the doctrine of the Egyptians about the Moon, for they referred the Moon to Isis; & Sextus Empirius[1] tells us more truly that the Egyptians assimilate the Sun to the King & to the right eye & the Moon to the Queen & to the left eye, & the five Planets to Lictors or Staffbearers, & the fixt Stars to the rest of the people. The scriptures in like manner refer the Moon to the Queen & Venus or the Morning Star to the Prince next the King. ffor Lucifer in Isaiah (ch. 14.12) is put for the King of Babylon, suppose in respect of the King of heaven; & in the Apocalyps for Christ, suppose in respect of God the ffather. And when Ioseph dreamed that the Sun Moon & eleven Stars should do obeysance to him, Iacob interprets it of himself his wife & eleven sons comparing his family to a little Kingdom, & his wife as Queen to the Moon. Whenever Christ is represented by the Sun (as in Malachy where he is called the sun of righteousness, & in the Apocalyps where his face is as the sun,) 'tis to denote him King, & then the Church being his wife or Queen is the Moon & the Bishops are the Stars. So in the beginning of the Apocalyps where his face is as the Sun, the seven stars are put for the Angels or Bishops of the Churches, & of the same kind are those stars which the Goat in Daniel, & the dragon in Iohn, cast down from heaven. In Apoc. 19 an Angel standing in the Sun is put for the ruling part or Clergy of Christ's Kingdom, cloathed with the regal authority of Christ. For Angels in this Prophesy are mystical bodies of Bishops & Bishops are Kings & Priests as Melchizedeck was. In Apoc 12 you may conceive the Sun wherewith the woman in heaven is cloathed to be Christ walking in the midst of the Candlesticks or Churches, her crown of twelve Stars to be the Bishops set over her, the Moon under her feet to be the illuminated body of inferior Christians, that is the Church of the Laity spiritually illuminated by her teachers & governours, & the woman her self to be the illuminateing body of Superior Christians or the body of the Clergy who teach & govern. ffor they are the light of the world, the shining body of Christ whereby the rest are illuminated. And as the Moon here signifies the inferior people who are enlightened & governed, & the Sun comprehends the more glorious body of governours, so in any other kingdom the King & people may be considered as Lord & wife or Sun & Moon. ffor at the opening of the sixt seale Apoc. 6.12, the Moon which there became as blood is called the whole Moon to shew that she is composed of a multitude. And hence I conceive it is that whilst the times of the woman & two witnesses are recconed by solary days & years, those of the lay people called the Beast & the Nations in the outward court are recconed by the Lunary periods of months. ✝ ✝ If the world politic or Kingdom considered be an aggregate of many Kingdoms the sun is the aggregate of all the Kings considered as one King & the Moon of all the people. ffor Daniel calls the four Beasts four Kings & yet the third & fouth were aggregated of many single Kings with their Kingdoms & Iohn calls the last head of the Beast the eighth King & yet it was aggregated of tenn Kings with their Kingdoms. And whilst the third part of the Sun was smitten & darkened at the sounding of the fourth Trumpet, Apoc 8.12, you may understand that the sun there was not a single person but an aggregated King. I have sometimes suspected whether the Moon under the womans feet might not refer to the religion of the Iews, or else to that of the heathen, but upon second thoughts I am satisfied that the Sun Moon & Stars in one & the same vision must refer to one & the same mystical heaven.
7. Now the reason why the body of governours & teachers are cloathed with the Sun for enlightning the Lunary multitude will best appear by the significations of light. ffor the Iews called their Doctors & teachers Candles, Lamps, & lights & their doctrine light & so Christ saith of his disciples. ye are the light of the world, & Iohn of Christ that he is the true light which lighteth ever man that cometh into the world: & Belshazzar of Daniel that light & understanding was found in him Dan. 5.14. Send out thy light and truth; they shal lead me Ps. 43.3. Thy word is a Lamp to my feet & a light unto my paths Psal. 119.105. The commandment is a lamp & the law is light Prov. 6.23. A law shal go from me & I will make my judgment to rest for a light to the people Isa. 51.4. Tis spoken also of the glory of Rulers & kingdoms in describing their fall by Darkness, as in the following instances.
I will cause your sun [O Israel] to go down at noonday, & I will darken the earth in the clear day, & I will turn your ffeasts into mourning Amos 8.9. She [Ierusalem] hath given up the ghost, her sun is gone down while it was yet day. Chal Par. Her glory is passed away in her life time. Ier. 15.9. Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shal thy moon withdraw itself, for the Lord shal be thine everlasting light, & the days of thy mourning shal be ended. Chal. Par. Thy kingdom shal no more cease, neither shal thy glory be taken away, &c. Isa. 60.20. The day of the Lord cometh cruel both with wrath & fierce anger to lay the land (i.e. the Kingdom of Babylon) desolate & he shal destroy the sinners out of it: for the stars of heaven & the constellations thereof shal not give their light, & the Sun shal be darkned in his going forth, & the Moon shal not cause her light to shine. – And I will shake the heaven & the earth shall remove out of her place – – Behold I will stir up the Medes against him Isa. 13.10. When I shal extinguish these [o Pharaoh King of Egypt] I will cover the heaven & make the stars thereof dark, & I will cover the Sun with a cloud & the Moon shal not give her light. All the bright stars of heaven will I make dark over thee, & get darkness upon thy land. – ffor thus saith the Lord God, the sword of the King of Babylon shal come upon thee. Chal. Par. When I shal extinguish the splendor of the glory of thy kingdom out of heaven tribubulation shal cover thee, &c. Ezek. 32.7. Get thee into darkness O daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shall no more be called the Lady of kingdoms. Isa. 47.5. Darkness & sorrow Isa. 5.30. See also Ioel 2.10. Ier. 13.16. &c.
If one dream that he sees the Sun in heaven without rays & light, it betokens calamity & dishonour to the King – If he dream that it is eclipsed, it betokens affliction & war to the King – If in his dream he see the Sun Moon & Stars gathered together without light, if he be one of the nobles that darkness betokens his own destruction, but if the King he shall be invaded on all sides by war & fall into affliction. Ind. Pers. & Ægypt. in Achmet. c. 167. And if one dream that the Stars are very dimm, cast down, scattered & cloudy, it betokens the calamity of Princes Nobles & rich men. Pers. & Ægypt. in Achm. c. 168. Where the Sun is darkned & the moon turned into blood (as in Ioel 2.31, Apoc. 6.12) it alludes to the eclipses of the Sun & Moon: ffor in those Eclipses the Sun is black & the Moon of a dusk red colour. The signification is still the same: for blood is the type of death, & the death of a body politick of Men is the dissolution thereof by the ceasing of the government. The falling of the stars from heaven (as in Isa. 34.4, Apoc. 6.13) alludes to the Meteors vulgarly called falling stars & signifies the fall of Princes & great Men. The new moons are of a contrary signification to Eclipses of the Moon & signify the restauration of a dispersed people. Where the Iewish new Moons were celebrated with Trumpets, intimating that their return from captivity should be accompanied with war.
Chap. IV.
Of ffire & Meteors, Clouds, riding on the clouds, covering the Sun with a cloud or with smoke, Winds, Whirlwinds, Thunder, Lightning, Hail, Overflowing rain, moderate rain, Dew, living water & want of rain
ffire is put to signify war – – –
< text from f 9r resumes >9. ffire is put to signify war because bodies of men are represented by things combustible as by trees, ships, Beasts, & as these things wast in the fire so Men are destroyed in war. Then this figure there is scarce any more frequently used in scripture. Say to the fforest of the South – Behold I kindle a fire in thee & it shal devour every green tree in thee & every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, & all faces from the South to the North shal be burnt therein Ezek. 20.47. The house of Iacob shal be a fire & the house of Ioseph a flame, & the house of Esau for stubble & they shall kindle in them & devour them Obad. 18. My determination is to assemble the Kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy Zeph 3.8. So also Moses describes the desolation of Israel & Peter the ruin of the Kingdoms of the world by a conflagration of the earth (Deut. 32.22 2 Pet 3.10.) & the wars whereby mankind is kept out of Paradise Moses signifies by Cherubims (which are armies) with the flame of a sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life Gen. 3.24. 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 – with the 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. Also for flame he puts a sword. Isa. 50.11.
If one dream that he is burnt by a flame he shal perish in war Achm. 159 ex mente Ind. If a King seem to see the pillars of his palace on fire, it signifies the dominion of another & the destruction of the great ones which he hath constituted – And if he see his hair on fire he shall loose his people in war c. 160 ex Pers. et Ægypt. If one dream that the Sun hath scorched him much he will be punished by the King proportionally to the scorching Ind. Pers. & Ægypt. in Achm. c. 167. This respects a single person. Where a nation or people is scorched by the Sun the punishment can scarce be any otherwise then by the King making war upon them, or raising a persecution against them. So when the Palmbearing multitude come out of great tribulation, & 'tis said that the Sun shall not light on them any more nor any heat, for – God shal wipe away all tears from their eyes, this heat plainly represents the tribulaton Apoc. 7.16, 17. And so when the ten Kings burn the whore with fire 'tis to be understood that they consume her by war Apoc. 17.16. And the like of the Sun's scorching men {with} fire & great heat so as to cause them to blaspheme God Apoc. 16.8, 9. And what the burning Sun signifies here, a torch of fire signifies in Zechary Behold I will make Ierusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Iudah, & against Ierusalem – In that day will I make the governour of Iudah like a hearth of fire among the wood, & like a torch of fire in a sheaf; & they shall devour all the people round about. Zech. 12.
10 That a cloud is a multitude may appear by these instances. Thou land thou & all thy bands & many people with thee, Ezek. 38.9. A day of darkness, & gloominess, a day of clouds, 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 it a King with his army like a cloud Ezek 30.18. And so God threatning the overthrow of Pharaoh by Nebuchadnezzar, saith: & when I shall put thee out – I will cover the sun with a cloud & set darkness upon thy land: that is saith the Chalde Paraphrast A King with his Army shall cover thee as a cloud ascends & covers the Sun, Ezek. 32.7. The like signification of smoke see in Isa. 14.31 & Apoc 9.2. In these instances a cloud signifies only numerous armies, but its signification equally extends to any great multitude as may appear out of Heb. 12.1: Wherefore seing we are also compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses &c.: which expression now grown proverbial was doubtless derived from the language of the ancient Prophets & wise men; or at least from the same grounds from which they derived it: which I take to be chiefly the resemblance which a numerous swarm of insects, as also the dust raised by a great multitude of people, have to a cloud.
shalt ascend & come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover theHence riding on a cloud signifies reigning over people. If a King dream that he sits upon the clouds carried whither he will, he shal rule over his enemies & obtain victories & unexpected joy Pers. & Ægypt in Achm. c. 164. So descending & ascending in a cloud is descending and ascending in a multitude. Apoc. 10.1, & 11.12.
11. Clouds being people, the winds with arise from their commotion must signify the commotion & wars of one nation against another in the quarter of the wind. Thus the four winds of heaven strove upon the sea. i.e. the wars of nations whereby the Beasts arose. Dan. 9.1. The wind shall eat up all thy pastures & thy lovers shall go into captivity Ier. 22.22. I will raise up against Babylon – a destroying wind Ier. 51.1. Vpon Elam will I bring the four winds from the four quarters of heaven & will scatter them towards all those winds, & there shall be no Nation whether the outcasts of Elam shall not come. ffor I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their enemies. Ier. 49.36. The wind shall carry them away & the whirlewind shall scatter them. Isa 41.16. I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations Zech. 7.14. The king of the north shall come against him with a whirlwind, with chariots &c. Dan. 11.40. A great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth, & the slain of the Lord &c. Chald. Par. many people shall come openly from the ends of the 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 the Apocalyps the four winds which hurt the earth & sea are the wars of the four first Trumpets.
If a King see the sea much troubled by wind from a known quarter he will be molested by some nations from that quarter, but if he see the sea calm he will peaceably enjoy his kingdom Ind. Pers. & Egypt apud Achm c. 178. If he seem to be taken up & carried from place to place by a wind, he shall undertake a long expedition with success proportional to the strength & quickness of the 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 which he shall be troubled. Pers. & Ægypt. c. 166.
12. Thunder is the voice of a cloud & therefore signifies the voice of a multitude. In allusions to the loud noise of Drums & Trumpets it signifies a battel with victory on that side which thunders. So lightning is fire, & fire is war: and hail (in allusion to the stroke of weapons) is also the tempest of a battel, as you may see by these instances. The Lord thundred in the heavens & the highest gave his voice: Hailstones & coals of fire. Yea he sent out his arrows and scattered them & he shot out lightnings & discomfitted them. Psalm. 18.13. With hailstones of mighty power he made the battel to fall violently upon the nations Eccles. 46.6. The Lord shal cause his glorious voice to be heard, he shal shew the lightning down of his arm with the indignation of his anger, & with the flame of a devouring fire with lightning & tempest & hailstones. ffor through the voice of the Lord shal the Assyrian be beaten down Isa. 30.30. I will camp against thee round about & will lay – seige against thee – & the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away, yea it shall be suddenly Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts with thunder, & with earthquake, & with great noise, with storm and tempest, & the flame of devouring fire Isa. 29.1, 6. The Philistines drew near to battel against Israel, but the Lord thundred with a great thunder that day upon the Philistines & smote them until they cme to Beth-car, Sam. 7.10 See also, Sam. 2.10 & Isa. 28.2 & 60.15. So Ioel describing the battel of the great day saith, The Lord shall roar out of Zion, i.e. Thunder with a roaring thunder ch. 3.16. And in the same sense are thunder lightning & hail constantly used in the Apocaplys ch. 8.6, 7 & 11.19 & 16.18, 21.
If one dream that hail falls on a place he may expect a violent incursion of the enemy; & if he dream that the hail hurt the stalks of corn there shall be slaughter of men in that place proportional to the breaking of the stalks Achm. c. 191, ex Ind. Pers. & Ægypt. If one dream he sees a Dragon struck with lightning, it portends war & ruin to some other King which is an enemy to that country c. 283, ex Ind. Pers. & Ægypt.
As for the mixing fire with hail, Apoc. 8.6 that figure may seem borrowed from the Ægyptian plague of thunder & hail with fire mingled exod. 9 23. But I suppose it alludes also to the frequent mixture of hail with lightning which happens in hot countries, although in our northern regions it is less usuall.
An overflowing rain refers also to war as you may see by this instance. I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains – & I will rain upon him & upon his bands, & upon the many people that are with him an overflowing rain & great hailstones, fire & brimstone. Ezek. 38.22. ffor overflowing waters signify invading people as shall be presently explained. ‡ But moderate rain – – – ‡ But moderate rain & dew & water whereby vegetables & animals are nourished called living water & water of life, signify the graces & gifts of the holy spirit & doctrine of truth whereby men are nourished to everlasting life. My doctrine shall drop as rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb & as the showers upon the grass. Deut 32.2. It is time to seek the Lord till he come & rain righteousness upon you Hos. 10.2. Paul planted, Apollo's watered, 1 Cor. 3.6. Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters – incline your ear & come unto me, hear & your soul shall live Isa 55.1, 3. They have forsaken me the fountain of living waters & hewn out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water Ier. 2:13. The fear of the lord is a fountain of life Prov. 14.27 & 13.14 Vnderstanding is a well-spring of life to him that hath it Prov. 16.22 The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life Iohn 4.14. He that beleiveth in me shall never thirst Iohn 6.35. He shall baptize you with the Holy-ghost. Matt. 3.11 I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh Ioel. 2.28 & Isa. 44.3. If any man thirst let him come unto me & drink. He that beleiveth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters [that is out of his mouth in prophesying or preaching the gospel,] for this he spake of the spirit which they that beleive on him should receive. Iohn. 7.38. Living water shal go out from Ierusalem Zech 14.8, from under the threshold of the Temple Ezek 47 out of the throne of God & of the Lamb Apoc 22 that is the law of God from the Ark into all nations. Isa. 2.3. These have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their prophesy Apoc. 11 that is to make the country of the Beast become a spiritually barren wilderness. ✝ ✝ a region barren of saints. Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit: yea though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of their womb. Hos. 9.16.
Chap. V.
Of things terrestrial, vizt dry land, Sea, Rivers, ffloods, embittering of waters, turning them to blood, overflowing of a sea or river, drying up of waters, ffountains, mountains, Islands, Dens & Rocks of mountains & hiding men in them, Cities, Houses & ships.
These are the significations of the heavens & the things therein The general parts of the earth below are dry land & water & both these are put for inferior people. ffor waters where they are not of life signify people. Dust & waters in general signify people in general, & a Territory a Sea, a River, a flood are put for a body politick or kingdom of such people. He remembreth we are dust. Psal 103.14. He gave them as the dust to his sword & as the driven stubble to his bow Isa 41.2. I exalted thee out of the dust 1 King. 16.2. Psal. 113.7. Who can count the dust of Iacob & the number of the fourth part of Israel. Num 23.10. Chaldea shal be a spoile – the hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land & a desert. Ier 50.10, 12. Wo to the multitude – – – ✱ – – – ✱ Wo to the multitude of many people which make a noise like the noise of the seas & to the rushing of nations that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters. The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters Isa 17.12, 13. The waters of Mirrim shall be desolate Isa. 15.6. Ier. 48.34. The waters where the Whore sitteth are peoples & multitudes & nations & tongues Rev. 17.15. If any man dream he is Lord of the Sea he will be successor in the whole kingdom Ind. Pers. Ægypt. in Achm. chap. 178. So the Chalde Paraphrast for waters substitutes people in Ier. 47.2, & Ezek. 26.19 &c, & for Rivers Provinces in Ezek 32.2 & people Isa 18.7. Provinces in Ezek. 32.2 & people Isa. 18.7
The bitterness of waters signifies affliction of the people & that also chiefly by war & persecution. And if the bitterness be such as to kill living things it signifies the mystical death of kingdoms by war, that is the dissolution of their bodies politique. For bitterness of a people refers chiefly to their affliction by war or persecution. The Egyptians made the lives of the Children of Israel bitter with hard bondage Exod. 1.14. We are in bitter captivity Esther 14.8. They shall be devoured with burning coales & with bitter destruction – the sword withut & terror within Deut. 32.24. The affliction of Israel [i.e. under their enemies] was very bitter 2 King 14.26. The ways of Zion do mourn – all her gates are desolate her Priests sigh her virgins are afflicted & she is in bitterness. Her adversaries are the chief &c. Lament. 1.4. Shall the sword devour for ever & knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? 2 Sam. 2.26. Strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it; the city of confusion is broken down. Isa 24.9. And to aggravate this bitterness the expressions of Gall & wormwood are sometimes used. So Ieremy lamenting Ierusalems captivity, saith, He hath compassed me with Gall & travail – He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood – And I said my strength & my hope is perished from the Lord, remembring mine affliction the wormwood & the Gall Lament 3.5, 15, 19. Her end is bitter as wormwood Prov. 5.4. They have walked after Baalim – therefore thus saith the Lord I will feed this people with wormwood & give them water of Gall to drink. Ier. 9.15. See also Ier 23.15 & 8.14 & Deut 29.18 & 32.32. And so in the Apocalyps the great star burning as it were a Lamp (that is consuming by war) is called wormwood, & the waters on which it falls (that is the people) are said to become wormwood to express their bitter affliction by those wars & many men are said to dye of the bitterness of those waters to express the dissolution of one or more bodies politique of men by those wars Apoc. 8.11.
When a prophesy refers (as is usual to more kingdoms then one the land & waters are put for the people of several regions & dominions. So in the above cited place of Ezekiel where God threatens to rain upon Gog & his people with an overflowing rain, this rain & the earth which it overflows, are the army of Gog & the people of Israel invaded by that army. In Ier 57.42 the kingdom of Babylon – – –
< text from f 13r resumes > <14r>In Ier. 57.42 the kingdom of Babylon is compared to the earth & that of the Medes to the sea overflowing it by an invasion. How is Babylon, saith he, become an astonishment among the nations! the sea (i.e. the kingdom of the Medes) is come upon Babylon, she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof her cities are a desolation &c. So in Isa. 8.7, the kingdom of Iudah is represented by the earth & that of Assyria by an overflowing River. Behold the Lord bringeth upon them the waters of the River strong & many, even the King of Assyria & all his glory; & he shall 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 the neck, And in Ier. 46.8. Egypt is a swelling flood & other nations are the earth, Egypt riseth up like a flood & his waters are moved like the river, & he saith, I will go up and will cover the earth, I will destroy the city & the inhabitants thereof. And in Ier 47.2 the like representation is made of a Northern Nation invading Philistia. Behold waters [that is, saith the Chalde Paraphrast, peoples] rise up out of the north & shall be an overflowing flood, & the inhabitants of the land shall howl at the noise of the hoofes of his strong horses &c. And to the same purpose you may see Isa. 28.17 & 30.28. So then Seas & Rivers within their banks are kingdoms within their own countries, but when they overflow they are invaders of the neighbouring earth. And the like signification & distinction of the earth & waters is observed in the Apocalyps where the nations are distinguished into the inhabitants of the earth & sea, ch. 12, & the Angel sets his right food on the sea, & his left foot on the earth ch. 10; & the four winds hurt the earth at the sounding of the first Trumpet, & the Sea at the sounding of the second, & the ten horned Beast rises out of the sea & the two horned out of the earth. This earth & sea is the Kingdoms of the Dragon & Beast. While the Beast is one entire kingdom he is represented by the sea, but after his division into the ten kingdoms signified by his horns he is called the Rivers at the sounding of the third Trumpet, & the many waters in the wilderness. And so the flood which the Dragon cast out of his mouth since it is a body of water divided from the Dragons body it must signify a kingdom split out of his kingdom by the division thereof.
Now as overflowing of waters signifies excess of power & people & invasion of other kingdoms, so drying up of waters signifies the decay of military strength & the access of the regions of the waters to the dominions of the earth. They shall draw their swords against Egypt – & I will make the rivers dry & sell the land into the hand of the wicked Ezek. 30.12. The Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel Lord – & the waters shal fail from the sea, & the rivers shall be wasted & dryed up – & the brooks of defence shall be emptied & dryed up, & the reeds and flaggs shall wither Isa. 19.5, 6. A sword is upon the treasures of Babylon & they shall be robbed, a draught is upon her waters & they shall be dried up. Ier 50.38. I will dry up her Sea & make her springs dry & she shall become heaps, an astonishment without an inhabitant. Ier. 51.36, 37. And in the same sense is the water of the great river Euphrates (that is of the kingdoms seated upon it) dried up that the way of the king of the east may be prepared Apoc. 16; & also the water of the red sea & rivers of Egypt to make way for the return of Israel from captivity. The Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea & with his mighty wind [of war] shall he shake his hand over the River [Nile] & shall smite it in the seven streams & make men go over dry shod. And there shall be an high way for the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. Isa. 11.15, 16.
The like is to be understood of springs & fountains, as in Hosea where Samaria is called a fountain dryed up. Though Ephraim saith he, be fruitfull among his brethren, an East wind [or war from the east] shall come, the wind of the Lord shall come up from the wilderness, & his spring shall become dry & his fountain shall be dried up – Samaria shall become desolate, for she hath rebelled against her God, they shall fall by the sword &c. Hos. 13.15, 16.
14. Mountains because height is a type of dominion are the cities, which beare rule, & plains the lower people. Of Ierusalems being called a Mountain there are many instances, as in Zech. 8.3. Ierusalem shall be called a city of truth & the mountain of the Lord of Hosts the holy mountain: & 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, & other places & also where the mountain of Gods house is put for Mount Zion & Zion for Ierusalem.
So of Babylon: I will render unto Babylon – all the evil that they have done in Zion – Behold I am against thee O destroying Mountain saith the Lord, which destroyeth all the earth; & I will stretch out mine hand upon thee & roll thee down from the rocks, & will make thee a burnt mountain – 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 which Isaias the son of Amos did see: lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain Chal. Par. upon the city which dwells securely Isa. 13.2.
So of cities in general. I will lay the land most desolate & the pomp of her strength shall cease, & the mountains of Israel shall be desolate Ezek. 33.28. Thou hast said by the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains Chal. Par. to the strong holds of the cities Isa. 37.24.
And because cities are called mountains with respect to their dominion, therefore mountains include also the dominions of cities, as may be seen in Dan 2.35, & Isa. 11.9 where a mountain fills the earth. And so in the Apocalyps it is to be conceived that the mountains & Islands are moved out of their places (ch. 6.14) & flee away (ch. 16.20) in respect of dominion whether civil or religious.
For Islands because they are the inhabited & most elevated parts of the sea, & frequently of a mountanous form (as Tenariff, Saint Hellens, Sicily) signify in the sea what Mountains do on the land. So at the sound of the second Trumpet when a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. Apoc. 8.8: it is to be conceived that the mountain was an high Island. ffor the plague of that Trumpet fell upon the sea & the fire or war wherewith that mountain burnt was a part of that plague. ffor an high mountain to rise out of the sea & or tumble into the sea is of contrary significations & equally respects a sea-Mountain or high Island in both cases; the fall of a city of the earth being represented not by a mountain falling or rolling down into the sea but by its becoming a plain Zech 4.7. This I take to be the signification of Islands of the sea. ffor such Islands are commonly rocky & mountanous. But when flat & made by the drying up of waters they signify the cities or provinces of the waters low in power & made subject to the dominion of the earth. I will destroy & devour at once, I will make wast mountains & hills & dry up all their herbs [that is consume their people] & I will make the rivers [that are the provinces or kingdoms of the waters] Islands & will dry up the pools. Isa. 42.15.
Mountains being cities, its very proper to represent houses & more especially the sumptuous stone buildings of Temples & Palaces by dens & rocks of mountains: their walls being the rocks of Mountains politick, & their inside the Dens where men represented in prophesy by wild Beasts resort. The multitude of the city shall be left, the forts & towers shall be dens for ever Isa. 32.14. Let the inhabitants of the Rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains (i.e. of the cities) Isa. 42.11. Behold I am against thee (the house of David) O inhabitant of the valley & rock [i.e. palace or strong hold] of the plain, saith the Lord; which say: who shall come down against us or who shall enter into our habitations? Ier. 21.13. These instances seem to respect common buildings, those that follow are of Temples. Is this house which is called by my name become a den of Robbers? i.e. an Idol Temple Ier. 7.11. Are ye not the children of transgression, a seed of falshood, inflaming yourselves with Idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks? Isa. 57.5. that is under the Idol Temples, or high places of Tophet which they built for that purpose in the valley of the son of Himmon. Ier. 7.31, & 19.5, & 32.35. The high places [or temples] of [the Idols called] a[3] Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed, the thorn & thistle shall come upon their Altars & they [the Idols] shall say to the Mountains, cover us, & to the hills fall on us, that is to the tops of the mountains & hills which cover their dens Hos. 10.8. The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day & the Idols shall be utterly ✱[4] abolisht, & they shall go into the holes of the rocks & into the caves of the earth for fear of the Lord, Isa. 2.19. In that day shall a Man cast his Idoles – to the Moles & to the Bats to go into the clifts of the rock, & into ✱[5] tops of the ragged rocks for fear of the Lord; vers. 21. Here the Idols, which are to be hid in the rocks, are called by the name of Idols but a little before they were spoken unto as men. Enter into the rock & hide thee in the dust, vers. 10. And so in the Apocalyps they are represented by men & their temples by Dens & rocks. The Kings of the earth & the great men & the rich men, & the chief captains, & the mighty men, & every bondman, & ever freeman hid themselves in the dens & in the rocks of the mountinas; And said to [the tops of] the mountains [which covered the dens] & to the rocks fall on us & hide us Apoc. 6.15. ✝ ✝ For that men should be put for Idols is according to the common way of speaking. For Idols are the images of men, & as we are wont to call the Image of a Beast a Beast & the image of a Bird a Bird so we call the image of a Man a Man. And as this is the commmon way of speaking so it is the language of the Scriptures. Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers yet return to me saith the Lord – she defiled the land & committed adultery with stones & with stocks. Ier. 3.19. I will destroy her vines and her figtrees whereof she said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me – & I will visit upon her the days of Baalim wherein she – went after her lovers & forgot me saith the 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 with them – thou hast committed fornication with the Egyptians great of flesh – thy filthiness was poured out & thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers even with all the Idols of thy abominations Ezek. 16.15, 17, 26, 37. Aholah – doted on her lovers, on the Assyrians her neighbours which were cloathed with blew, Capitains & Rulers all of them desireable young men horsmen riding upon horses. Thus she committed her Whoredoms with them with all them that were chosen Men of Assyria & with all on whom she doted, [even] with all their Idols. Ezek. 23.5. And when her sister Aholibah saw this – she doted upon the Assyrians her Neighbours Capitains & Rulers, cloathed most gorgeously horsmen riding upon horses, all of them desirable young men – & she increased her whoredoms, for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the Images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion girded with girdles upon their loins exceeding in died attire upon their heads, all of them Princes to look to after the manner of the Babylonians, she doted upon them & sent messengers unto them into Chaldea, & the Babylonians came to her into the 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 the use of the Prophets to represent Idols as men where with the 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, young men &c. not much unlike their being called in the Apocalyps in the sixt seal, Kings & great Men, & rich Men & Capitains, & mighty men & bond & free. Apoc. 6.15.
15 Houses by land & ships by sea signify families assemblies & societies of men. So the house of Bethuel Gen 28.2. of Ierubbaal Iud. 8.35. of Millo Iud 9.6, 20. of Saul & David. 2 Sam. 3.1 of Ephraim Iud 10.9 of Ioseph Iud. 1.22 of Levi Psal 135.20. of Iudah 2 Sam 2.4 of Israel, 1 King. 20.31 &c. are their ffamilies, Tribes, & Kingdoms. And the house of God Heb. 10.21. 1 Tim. 3.15 & of Christ Heb. 3.6 is the Church or Assembly of Christians. And when a House is thus taken in a mystical sense, the stones & utensills thereof are the men in the mystical fabrick. Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house 1 Pet. 2.5 Eph. 2.19, 20. The stone which the builders disallowed the same is made the head of the corner Psal 118.22. 1 Pet. 2.6, 7. Isa. 28.16. In a great house there are not only vessels of gold & of silver but also of wood & of earth & some to honour & some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honour. 2. Tim. 2.20. Rom 9.21, 22, 23. So Ieremy represents the Iews by a potters vessel chap. 19.
And as houses at land so ships at sea signify assemblies of men: ships of war being bands of soldiers & Merchant ships religious societies governed by Priests, such as are the parrochial Churches & Congregations of Christians, or the like assemblies of Heathens or Mahometans If a King dream that he sees his ships sending out fire to burn other ships or Countries he shall obtein victories over his enemies proportional to the strength & efficacy of the fire. If he see his own ships burnt it portends ruin to his forces: & if he seem to build a new navy of many ships, according to their number he shall again raise forces more or less powerful against his enemies Achm. c. 181 ex Pers. & Ægypt. So in the Apocalyps the ships destroyed in the wars to which the 2d Trumpet sounds (ch. 8.9) must signifie armies: but merchant ships refer to spirituall trafick. If one dream that he builds a Merchant ship he shall gather an assembly of men to celebrate religious mysteries Achm. ex Ind. c. 180 The merchant city mystically called Tyre shall turn to her hire & shall commit fornication which all the kingdoms of the world & her merchandise & her hire shall be holiness to the Lord. It shall not be treasured nor laid up for her merchandize shall be for them that dwell before the Lord [that is for the Priests] to eat sufficiently & for durable clothing Isa. 23.17, 18. So then Sea Merchants are Priests, {their} ships are their Congregations or Parishes & their merchandise is the hire which the fornicating City (or mystical body of these Priests) receives of her lovers, that is the profits of their Priesthood. And in this sence are the Merchants of Babylon with their ships & merchandise in the Apocalyps chap 18 to be understood.
Chap. VI
Of living things vizt Trees Hearbs reeds & other vegetables, Locusts & other Insects, Wild Beasts Birds & ffishes, the trees of life & knowledge, the old Serpent, a Forest a Garden a Paradise & a Wildernesse.
To put trees for men is a very usual figure – –
will16. To put trees and other vegetables for men is a very usuall figure. spirit of heaviness that they might be called the trees of righteousness the planting of the Lord Isa. 61.3. The same Prophet having told a Parable of Gods Vineyards, afterwards thus interprets it The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel & the Men of Iudah his pleasant plant Isa. 5.7. They shall march with an army & come against Egypt with axes as hewers of wood, they shall cut down her forrest Ier. 46.22. As thorns cut up shall the people be burnt in the fire Isa 33.12. Wickedness burneth as the fire, it shall devour the briars & thorns & shall kindle in the thickets of the forrest, the people shall be as the fewel of the fire which last words explain the rest Isa. 9.19. Howl fir tree for the cedar is fallen because all the mighty are spoiled. Howl O ye oaks of Basham, for the defenced forest Zech. 11.2. How long shall the land mourn & the herbs of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Ier. 12.4. The Lord will cut off from Israel head & tail, branch & rush in one day Isa 9.14. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt which the head or tail – branch or rush may do. Isa 19.15. They were as the grass of the feild & as corn blasted before it be grown up. Isa 37.27. Psal. 37.2 2 Sam 23.4, 6. The good seed (whose blade is a plant) are the children of the kingdom but the tares are the children of the wicked one Matt. 13.38. Every plant which my ffather hath not planted shall be rooted up. I have planted Apollos watered &c. So in the Apocalyps trees & herbs are put for men ffor the Locusts there feed not upon realy green things but upon men Apoc. 9.4.
The Lord hath anointed me – to give them the garment of praise for theThe Chalde Paraphrast for woods sometimes substitutes armies Isa. 10.18, 34, & sometimes cities or people Ier. 21.14 & 9.18. And the Indians, Persians & Egyptians teach: If one dream that he waters & dresses trees he shall be a very great man & a nourisher of the 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 the leaves of trees he shall obtain riches from great men proportional to the leaves. Achmet. c. 151. And if one dream that hail hurt the stalks of corn there shall be slaughter of men in that place proportional to the breaking of the stalks c. 191. And that thorns denote pervers & evil men c. 213.
So in Isa. 19.6 & Ier. 51.32. reeds & flaggs of rivers & things sown by the brooks are put for the men of Kingdoms represented by waters.
17. Because Herbs & other vegetables signify men, therefore such insects as destroy them signify armies of men which in like manner prey upon countries. That which the Palmer worm hath left hath the Locust eaten, & that which the Canker worm hath left hath the caterpillar eaten – ffor a nation is come upon my land strong & without number – he hath lain my vine wast and 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.
<20r>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 the Locusts do the enemy will mischief proportionally Ind. Pers. Egypt in Achm. c. 300. So fflies & Bees are by the Chalde Paraphrast interpreted of hostile armies Isa. 7.18.
Wild Beasts also by reason of their feeding upon vegetables & praying upon one another signify Kingdoms of the earth with their armies. A particular Beast as in Daniels prophesies, signifies a particular kingdom, and Beasts in general kingdoms in general. Come ye, assemble all the Beasts of the field, come to devour (Chald. Par. Those that slay with the sword shall be assembled from all sides: Kings of Nations & their armies shall come to spoil) Ier. 12.9. The burden of the Beasts of the South, i.e. the bands of Egypt Isa. 30.6. Where are the Princes of the Heathen become & such as ruled the Beasts upon the earth, they that had their pastimes with the fowls of the air? Baruch 3.17 I have given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon my servant, & the Beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him, & all nations shall serve him. Ier. 27.6 & 28.14. I will also send wild beasts among you which shall rob you of your children and destroy your cattel & make you few in number & your high ways shall be desolate. Levit. 26.22. So Ezekiel representing the captivity of the Iews by a flock of sheep scattered upon all the face of the earth, saith this flock became a prey & meat to every beast of the feild because there was no sheepherd. Ezek. 34. In Ier. 15.2, 3. & 16.4 Ezek. 5.12, 17 & 14.13, 15, 17, 19, 21; there are described four distinct plagues to befall the Iews, ffamine, Captivity, Sword & Pestilence whereof their captivity is represented by Beasts passing through the Land and spoiling it & making it desolate: so that wild Beasts strictly signify forreign kingdoms which destroy not by the sword only as in civil wars but by spoiling a country & carrying away the prey. So Isaiah ch. 5.29 compares such kingdoms to Lions which lay hold on the prey & carry it away safe so that none may deliver it. The pestilence & famine are in Ier. 15.3 represented by the doggs to tear & the fowls of heaven to devour: the doggs in the towns to tear the carkasses of those that drop down dead & want burial, & the fowls in the fields to devoure the corn , these fowls thence signifying the armies of enemies which eat up & destroy provisions, & thereby create a famine. So in the Apocalyps killing with the sword & with hunger & with death & with beasts of the earth is put for killing with civil wars & with famin & with pestilence & with forreign nations Apoc 6.8. And in Isa. 18.6. ffowls of the Mountains & Beasts of the earth are people of the cities & nations; & in the same sense Beasts & ffowls are to be understood in Daniel: Wheresoever the Children of Men dwell the Beasts of the field & the ffowls of the heaven [that is the kingdoms of the world represented by the earth & heaven] hath he given into Nebuchadnezzars hand & made him ruler over them all, Dan. 2.38. And in Ezekiel: All the fowls of heaven made their neasts in his boughs & under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young & under his shadow dwelt all great nations. Ch. 31.6. And in Ier 12 How long shall the land mourn & the Herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The Beasts are consumed & the Birds because they said He shall not see our last end. Ier 12.4. My heritage is unto me a speckled bird, the birds round about her are against her. Ier. 12.9. The eagle which thou sawest come up from the sea is the kingdom which was seen in the vision of thy brother Daniel 2 Esdras 12.11. My hand ✝ My hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, & as one gathereth eggs that are left Isa. 10.14. Here a birds moving her wing & opening her mouth is put for a kingdoms making war. And in the like sense the fowls of heaven are called to the supper of the great God in the Apocalyps chap 19. And in Hosea, In that day I will make a covenant for them with the Beasts of the field & with the ffowls of heaven & with the creeping things of the ground [that is with the Princes & people of the whole world] & I will break the bow & the sword, & the battel out of the earth, & will make them to ly down safely. Hos. 2.18. So in Isa. 11.6, Beasts are men where tis said that the wolf shall ly down with the Lamb & the Leopard shall ly down with the Kid & the Calf & the young Lyon & the ffatling together & a little child shall lead them & the cow & the Bear shall feed, their young ones shall lye down together, & the Lyon shall eat straw like the ox, & the suckling child shall play on the hole of the Asp, & the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice; they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my mountain ffor the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. These last words explain the rest & shew the peaceable state of Christs Kingdom to be here spoken of {by} the Prophets in other places described more plainly saying that they shall beat their swords into plowshares & their spears into pruning hooks & nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war any more Isa. 2.4. Micah. 4.3. Of Beasts of the earth & fowls of the heaven being put for the people of nations & Kingdoms you may farther see Dan. 4.12, 14. Ezek. 17 23 & 29.5 & 31.6, 13 & 32.4. . So in the Apocalyps the ffowls of the heaven which are called to a great supper of the great God are men represented a little before by the armies {in heaven} as you may understand by comparing the place with Ezek. 39.17.
Fishes are also generally put for men. I will make you ffishers of Men M. 4.19. I will send for many ffishers & they shall fish them, & after will I send for many hunters & they shall hunt them Ier. 16.16. I will take away your posterity with fishhooks Amos. 4.2. Thou makest men as fishes of the sea – they take up all of them with the angle & catch them in their net. – Shal they therefore empty their net & spare continually to slay the nations? Habak. 1.14, 15, 17. In Ezek. 29.4, 5, The King of Egypt is represented by a water dragon or Crocodile & his people by the fishes of the river Nile. In Hosea. 4.3 Zeph. 1.3. & Ezek. 38.20, where the Beasts of the earth, the ffowls of the heaven & the ffishes of the sea are either sacrificed or destroyed by wars, its nonsense to understand any thing by these creatures but Men. And so in the Apocalyps the creatures in the Sea which have life are Men ch. 8.9.
# {of} this tree where he saith My meat is to do the will of him that sent me & to finish his work. Iohn 4.34. This fruit is the bread of life & the hidden Name of the flesh of Christ to be eaten by each, concerning which Christ saith: I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger & he that beleiveth on me shall never thirst. And again: He that beleiveth on me hath everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat Manna in the wilderness & are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof & not dye. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever: & the bread that I will give is my flesh which I will give for the life of the world. – whoso eateth my flesh & drinketh my blood hath eternal life & I will raise him up at the last day. vers Iohn 6.35, 47, 54. The fruit of the tree of life & the river of the water of life (Apoc. 22 & Ezek 47) is this mystical flesh & blood of Christ to be eaten & drunk by faith. ffor this flesh & blood is mystical (Iohn 6.63) & that is the doctrine as the flesh of the Whore of Babylon & such like temporal bodies signifies their temporal wealth so the flesh of Christ signifies the spirituall riches of his incarnation & passion, the acquiring of which by faith is typified by eating the Eucharist.
# These are the significations of vegetables & animals unless when by some peculiar epithite or circumstance they be diverted to some other signification as by calling a Tree the Tree of life or knowledge or a Dragon or serpent the old serpent or the Devil or by making any Beast the object of worship. For the Tree of life with its fruit &c. See two pages above. Insert two pages below what concerns the Tree of life X But the tree of life with its fruit signifies grace & good works, as is manifest both because it nourishes to life eternal & because it grows upon the bank of the river of living water (Ezek 47 & Apoc 22) which water is the spirit & the word or law of God. Solomon interprets the Tree of life to be wisdom (Prov. 3.18) & wholsome doctrine (ch 15.4) & the fruit or works of the righteous (ch. 11.30) And Christ speaks of eating the fruitAnd as the tree of life is mystical so is ye tree of knowledg of good & evil. ffor these are relatives by way of opposition being the trees of life & death: ✝ ✝For the tree of knowledge is the tree of death. In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye. & therefore since the one is the law of God the other must be the inclinations of the flesh. To eat the fruit of this tree signifies the acquiring of some unhappy knowledg or other, but what that knowledge was is difficult to say. Tis called the knowledg of good & evil, that is of happiness & misery, because it brought the knowledge of both. For happiness is never so well understood as when tis lost. Tis the opinion of the Iewish Doctors that Adam eat of this fruit by knowing his wife ffor this is the phrase which Moses uses for carnal copulation. Adam knew his wife (Gen. 4.1 Cain knew his wife vers 17) Adam knew his wife again (vers 25.) Also the consequence of eating this fruit was that Adam & Eve were both ashamed of their nakedness & began to cover their shame with aprons; that Eves conception should be multiplied & she should bring forth children in sorrow & that her desire should thenceforth be to her husband; & that Adam should till the ground in the sweat of his brows & eat of it in sorrow. all which were the natural consequences of their knowing one another. For Adam began then to till the ground in the sweat of his brow & eat of it in sorrow when his seed became too many to be nourished by the spontaneous fruits of the earth. And further, tis added immediately after this sentence that Adam called his wife Eve because she was the mother of all flesh Gen. 3.20: whence it follows that he knew her in Paradise before this sentence. ‡ Twas an opinion also of &c The tree of life & the tree of knowledge are of a contrary nature, so that by knowing one you may know the other. For the one lead to life, the other to death on the day that thou eatest thereof thou shall dye. And therefore since the fruits of the one are such thoughts & actions as lead to life, the fruits of the other may be not only such actions but also such thoughts as lead to death. But what truth there is in the opinions of the Iewish Doctors I leave to be considered Concerning the tree of life tis said that the fruit shall be for meat & the leaves for healing of the nations Ezek 47.12. Apoc 22. By which it should seem that the fruit taken inwardly signifies inward grace & faith by which men are saved & that the leaves applied outwardly are external good works by means of which the nations live peaceably & happily together. And if this be so, then eating the forbidden fruit will rather signify the admission of lust into the mind then the commission of the external act.
A Dragon or serpent, if called the old serpent or the Devil signifies the spirit or evil are sometimes put for the tempers dispositions & persuasions of mens minds much after the manner that we often take death for a substance. Hereby, saith Iohn, we know that he abideth in us by the spirit that he hath given us. Beloved beleive not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many fals Prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the spirit of God; Every spirit that confesseth that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God & every spirit that confesseth not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, & this is the spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heard that it should come & even now already is in the world. 1 Iohn 4. The spirits of God of fals Prophets & of Antichrist are here plainly taken not for any substantial spirits but for the good or evil dispositions & true or fals perswasions of mens minds; & the spirits of all men who confess not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is called in the singular number the spirit of Antichrist, & said to be come into the world as if it were an evil spirit which was to reign therein & deceive all the followers of AntiChrist. And such an evil spirit is the Dragon in the Apocalyps. ffor he is there called the old serpent the Devil & Satan & therefore came into the world at the deception of Eve & hath ever since reigned in it & must reign till he shall be shut up in the bottomless pit. This is that Prince of the Air whom Paul calls the spirit of the world 1 Cor. 2.12 & of whom he saith: In times past ye walked in sins according to the course of the world according to the Prince of the power of the air the sirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience Eph. 2.2 This is that adversary the Devil which as a roaring Lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. 1 Pet. 5.8. By this Devils being cast into the bottomless pit & shut up that he should deceive the nations no more for a thousand years you may know that he is the spirit of delusion reigning in the hearts of men & by his being there called the old serpent you may know that he is that same serpent which deceived Eve. For that old serpent was to continue till the seed of the woman should bruise his head, that is till Christ should vanquish & slay him, which is not yet done. He still reigns & must reign till the end of the world. But then the Word of God (with his army vanquishing the wicked nations & causing the Old serpent to be thrown first into the bottomles pit & then into the lake of fire, bruises his head effectually, & thereby restores to mankind that Paradise with the tree of life which their father Adam at the entrance of this serpent into the world had lost. So then the old Serpent was no more a real serpent then the Dragon in the Apocalyps is a real Dragon or then the Beasts in Iohn & Daniel are real Beasts. Tis only a symbol of the spirit of delusion & therefore the curs of this serpent for deceiving Eve must be interpreted accordingly. Whence I conceive it will amount to no more then this, That because this Spirit had deceived Eve he should be represented by, & symbolically become the most acursed of all beasts, even the serpent which eats dust & goes upon its belly. He that considers well the Parable of Gods setting the rainbow in the heavens will find no difficulty in this of the serpent: the nature # # of the serpent being no more changed in this parable then that of the Bow in that . For tis agreed that Eve was deceived by the Devil & that the Serpent was only a symbol of the Deceiver, & therefore to make the serpent really metamorphised & condemned to creep on his belly because the Devil had offended is to punish one thing for anothers fault, & to make the signe suffer in a litteral sense for the crime of the thing signified: which is absurd & unagreable to the nature & designe of Parables. When the ancient Sages would have one thing to be represented by another, they framed a Metamorphosis of the one into the other, & thence came all the ancient Metamorphoses recited by Ovid & others. This was their way of making Parables, & Moses in this Parable of the Serpent speaks in the language of the ancient wise men, being skilled in all the learning of the Egyptians.
of error delusion & inordinate affections reigning in the world. ffor spirits goodFrom this figure of putting serpents for spirits & spirits or Dæmons for distempers of the mind, came the vulgar opinion of the Iews & other eastern nations that mad men & lunaticks were possessed with evil spirits or Dæmons. Whence Christ seems to have used this language not only as a Prophet but also in compliance with the Iews way of speaking: so that when he is said to cast out Devils those Devils may be diseases unles where it can be proved by the circumstances that they are substantial spirits. For the language of casting out a spirit is used for the cure of a Lunatique Matt 17.15, 18, 19.
Now whilst the earth with its trees & vegetables are put for nations the Prophet uses a Garden or other watered & fertile region for a happy & flourishing people & a dry barren & desolate wilderness for the country of an oppressed wasted & captivated people & beasts in this wilderness for hostile kingdoms which invade & wast this country. So the King of Tyre whilst in a flourishing condition is said to be in Eden the garden of God Ezek. 28.13 & Ephraim like Tyrus to be planted in a pleasant place, but afterwards when he is smitten by the enemy, to have his root dried up. Hos. 9.13, 16. So in Ezek 31.9 where God saith, I have made the king of Babylon fair by the multitude of his branches so that all the trees of Eden that were in the Garden of God envied him: the trees in this Garden (as the Chalde Paraphrast interprets) are the Kings of the eastern nations whereof the Babylonian is the chief & their flourishing kingdoms are the Garden. But when Babylon is to be laid wast the Prophet saith, Chaldea shall be a spoil, the hindermost of the nations a wilderness a dry land & a desart. Ier 50.10, 12. So Ioel describing the invasion of Zion by a mighty foreign army saith, The land is as the Garden of Eden before them & behind them a desolate wilderness. Ioel 2.3 And so God threatens to make Nineveh a desolation & dry like a wilderness a place for beasts of the nations to lye down in. Zeph. 2.13, 15. After this manner do the prophets consider Iudæa before their captivity as a fertile region & during their captivity as a wilderness. The fruitfull place was a wilderness & all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord & by his fierce anger: for thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate Ier. 4.26. Many Pastors have destroyed my Vineyard, they have troden my portion under foot they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness Ier. 12.10. Thy holy cities are a wildernesse, Zion is a wilderness, Ierusalem a desolation. Isa. 64.10. But when they return from captivity their wilderness becomes a paradise & their vanquished enemies a wilderness. The Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her wast places, he will make her Wilderness like Eden & her desart like the garden of the Lord Isa. 51.3 This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden & the wasted & desolate & ruined cities are become inhabited Ezek. 36.35. In that day the mountains shall drop down new wine & the hills shall flow with milk & all the rivers of Iudah shall flow with waters & a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord & shall water the valley of Mittim. Egypt shall be a desolation & Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the Children of Iudah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land: but Iudah shall dwell for ever Ioel. 3.18, 19 And the same language is used in the Apocalyps: for there the Holy City troden under foot by the Gentiles in whose region it rains not in the days of the prophesy of the two Witnesses Apoc. 11, is by reason of this desolation & barrenness called a Wildernesse Apoc. 17 & the nations which make desolate that city are represented by a Beast in the Wilderness. But after the end of those times when the Beast is destroyed & the Saints begin to reign, their new state is represented by a Paradise with a river of the water of life to water it & the tree of life growing upon the banks of the river Apoc. 22.1, 2 & 2.7. The golden age of the first world was a Paradise which man lost by the fraud of the old serpent & out of which he is still kept by the flaming sword: but when the head of that serpent shall be bruised, then shall man recover Paradise & the nations shall beat their swords into plowshares & learn war no more. So then the wilderness in the Apocalyps is according to the language of the Prophets the holy City or Church of God troden under foot by the waters. And this unfolds the language of Daniel where he speaks of taking away the daily sacrifice & placing the Abomination which maketh desolate, that is the idolatry then maketh the Church a desolate wilderness during the captivity.
Chap. VII
How several kingdoms are signified by several parts of the world, as by the heaven, the earth, the sea a River, a species of animals or vegetables, or any animal or vegetable put for the whole species; as a Lion, a Goat, a Dragon, a Whore, a Frog, a Seraphim, a Cherubim.
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18. When the world politic consists of several kingdoms, & by consequence those kingdoms are signifyed by the several parts of the world natural: its reasonable to conceive that if vegetables or any sort of animals be put for any kingdom, the tallest trees & the largest strongest & stoutest Beasts Birds or ffishes be put for Kings & Princes, & other vegetables or animals be put for other men according to their conditions.
So Nebuchadnezzar is represented by a very large tree Dan. 4 And the King of Assyria by a Cedar Ezek. 31. In which Chapter also the Kings & Princes of Israel & Iudah are represented by cedars, ffirtrees, & Chesnut trees, & the holy land by the garden of God. So in Isa 37.24. Thou (Sennacherib King of Assyria) hast said, by the multitude of my chariots am I come up – to the sides of Lebanon, & I will cut down the tall Cedars thereof, & the choise ffirtrees 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 & ffirs substitutes Kings Princes & great Men in Isa. 14.8 & 37.24 & Ezek. 31.5, 8. ffor oaks of Basan Princes of Provinces Isa. 2.13, Zech. 11.2. ffor the 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.
In like manner Ezekiel representing the kingdom of Egypt by the river Nile with all its ffishes, puts the Crocodile or water Dragon for Pharaoh, & Achmet tells us that, A Dragon signifies the person of an hostile King, & serpents according to their bigness the persons of other greater or lesser enemies. If a Dragon appear to a King in a dream, he shall be troubled with the rumor of another King. If any one happen upon a very great golden Dragon adorned on his back with scales as it were with Iewels & make him his own: he shall obtain a kingdom & dominion over the people. Achm. c. 288 Ex Ind. Pers. Ægypt. So Daniel & Iohn put several great Beasts for several Kings & not only for Kings but also for their Kingdoms, the kingdome being the mystical body of the King. In prophesy its very usual to put a singular for a plurall & one thing of any kind for the whole Species: as a great Dragon for the species of Dragons & Serpents; a plant for the species of plants; a ffrogg for the whole species of ffroggs; & in that respect also a single beast or tree is put for a body politique. And it is usually done when the tree or beast has some quality analogous to the quality of the men. So Iacob calls 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 his ravening & devouring: a singular being put for a plural. So Micah represents warlike Zion by a beast with a horn of iron & hoofs of brass. Arise & thresh o daughter of Zion & I will make thine horn Iron & thine hoofs brass & thou shalt beat in pieces many nations. Mic. 4.13. When vegetables or animals are spoken of in general they signify men in general: but when any single tree or beast is described it signifies either a king with his mystical body of the kingdome or some other body politique: the sacred prophesies where they are mystical respecting only great things & seldome or never descending to the consideration of single persons alone without respect to their mystical bodies.
19 When therefore bodies politique are to be represented according to their qualities, such animals are chosen as are most fit to do it. So in Daniel the first of the four Empires was fitly represented by a Lyon becaues of his being head of the Empires & king of the Beasts of the earth politique (Dan 2.38 Ier. 27.7) the second by a Beare because of his voraciousness of riches signified by flesh (Dan 7.5) & because of the fierceness & plenty of Bears in Persia, the third by a Leopard because of his quick & fierce motions, (Dan 8.5, 6, 7) & the fourth by a strange monster because of his strangely mixt power & government (democratical & monarchical civil & ecclesiastical) wherein he was divers from all the other kingdoms. So again in the prophesy of the Ram & Goat the Persians are denoted by the Ram because of their great riches whereof Rams (according to the doctrine of the Eastern nations as Achmet informs us) were a type, & the Greeks are represented by the Goat partly, because ✝[6] Caramus founded the Kingdom of Macedon by following a flock of Goats & thence gave the name of Ægea to the regal city & of Ægeadæ to the people & partly because the Greeks were to take away the daily sacrifice & place the abomination & by consequence to be the most remarkable of Daniels Kingdoms for Idolatry. ffor a Goat is a very salacious animal & like Priapus was worshipped, saith a[7] Diodorus, for his genital part in honour of generation); & lechery is the type of Idolatry. Mendesij in Egypt worshipped Goats & Pan & the b[8] Egyptian Priests succeeding in their fathers Priesthood were first initiated to this God & hence the Theology of the Heathens was much of Pan, Sylvanus, Faunus, Sileni & Satyrs which are Goats deified, & in scripture Goats & satyrs are put for fals Gods & unclean spirits or Devils such as the Heathen worshipped as you may see in Levit 17.7 (Deut 32.17 & 2 Chron. 11.15 , & by comparing Isa 13.21, 22 34.14 with Apoc. 18.2. Whence Goats are put for wicked men Matt 25.32 for Idolaters Zech 10.3 & for heathen kings & kingdoms Isa 14.9 & Ezek 34.17. & 39.18.
And as a lecherous Goat is the type of an idolatrous kingdome so a whorish woman is the type of an idolatrous Church. Nor is there any type more frequent then this. The Church is the wife of God (Ier 3.1, 8 Hosea 2.1, 7) & for her to worship other Gods is to forsake her husband & go a whoring after other Lovers Isa 3. Ezek 16 & 25. Whence it is that no sort of people whatever besides an apostate church of God are mystically represented in prophesy by a whore. ffor none else are even considered as God's wife.
<24r>Now as impure Goats signify both Idolaters & their Gods so also do serpents. For a[9] because of the sprightfulness fiery nature quick & vigorous motions & long life of this animal, the ancient Egyptians (being so taught by Theuth or Mercury the founder of their Theology) reputed the nature of serpents divine; & representing an immortal divinity thereby, b[10] they called them Αγαθοδαίμονας Happy Dæmons or Dæmon-Gods & Cneph the universal spirit & c[11] worshipped them & d[12] on the heads of their Gods they painted the king of serpents the Basilisk, as a symbol of divinity. So also e[13] on the heads or Diadems of their Kings they formed a Serpent as a symbol of sacred majesty: & the f[14] Kings themselves they represented also by serpents, signifying a vigilant King by a watchfull serpent, & a king of the whole world by a serpent turned round, the head biting the tail, with a great house somtimes painted in the middle for a symbol of the habitable world: as Horus relates, who adds that to represent a king ruling over a part of the world they paint a part of a serpent signifying a King by the animal & his rule over a part by a part of the body; but a Governour of the Vniverse they represent by the perfection of the animal, painting a whole serpent: And so also with them, saith he, it signifies the spirit which pervades the whole world. This is the spirit Cneph, & the original of thie Hieroglyphick seems to be their painting g[15] the orbs of the Planets by serpents thus turned round. ffor the Planets were the most ancient of all the heathen Gods, idolatry beginning with the adoration of the starrs. The h[16] same spirit they painted also by a serpent extended at length through the midst of a circle. The Egyptians feigned also Typhon (whom they took for an evil spirit, the principle of all evil & mischief) to have been k[17] transformed into a Crocodile or water Dragon: whence perhaps sprang the fable of the serpent Python; for Python & Typhon are the same. And hence perhaps the eastern interpreters of dreams referred serpents to enemies (as Achmet informs us) & interpreted Dragons of hostile kings & other serpents of other enemies great or little according to the magnitude of the serpents. From all which you may understand why the King of Egypt is so often in scripture represented by a Dragon & also what is meant by the Dragon in the Apocalyps. For this Dragon by his being crowned & giving his throne & power to the Beast is manifestly a kingdom, & by his persecuting the woman & her seed is an enemy to God's people & by his being called that old Serpent the Devil & Satan who deceiveth the whole world he together with his mystical body of evil Angels signifies the heathen Dæmon-Gods severally called Devils & collectively the Devil. Whence it follows that the Kingdom signified by this Dragon must be Idolatrous. In the armies of the Roman Empire both before & after the Empire became Christian, a[18] a flying Eagle was in the standart of every Legion & a Dragon on the standart of every Company & in every Legion there were ten Companies & by consequence ten Dragons. These Dragons as b[19] Ammianus describes them were of a purple colour & so fastened to the top of a long pike, as, like weathercocks, to turn their tails from the wind & to hiss by means of the wind blowing into their jaws opened wide. The bearers of these two sorts of standarts were thence called Aquiliferi & c[20] Draconarij. And to these badges of the Roman Empire, I conceive the Eagle in the second book of Esdras chap 11 & 12 & both the great Eagle & the great red Dragon in the Apocalyps chap 12 do plainly allude. For this Dragon is by all interpreters applied to the Roman Empire.
There is yet another symbol of Idolaters. For Froggs signify both spirits of Devils & societies of men actuated by such spirits in preaching & working miracles for seducing their worshippers of the Beast & his image. Apoc. 15.5. Artemidorus an interpreter of dreams (lib. 2, cap 3) saith that ffroggs signify impostors & scoffers, & Arius Montanus (De arcano serm.) that in being unclean animals & loquacious they signify ffals Prophets. So Grotius (in Apoc 16.13) Ranaæ et impuræ sunt et in cæno versuntur & coaxant nullo cum fructu. Ignaros legis Ranis comparat etiam schemos Rabba. Origen in his 4th Homily on Exodus compares ffroggs to Poets who with an empty & vainglorious cant as with the noise & song of ffroggs have introduced fables into the world. ffor that animal, saith he, is profitable for nothing but to make a noise with vile & petulant clamours. So Aristotle in his Physiognomonicks saith that they whose sides are turgid & as it were blown up, are loquacious & foolish bablers & are referred to ffroggs. And Tzetzi (in Chiliadis 8væ Historia 201) that Aristophanes in Βατράχοις by ffroggs understands clamorous & unseasonable talkers who glory not with reason & judgment, but with senseless & foolish voices after the manner of ffroggs. And that this interpretation was anciently received among the Oriental nations is manifest by the Fable (related by Ovid & others) that when Latona came to the fountain Mele to drink, the Lycij for hindring her & with much ill language railing at her were turned to ffroggs, & so, saith Ovid, they continued litigious & impudent.
Litibus exercent linguas, pulsoque pudore &c.
And to the same purpose it is that Horus (lib. 2 Hierogl. c. 96) tells us that amongst the Egyptians a Frogg was the symbol of an impudent man. So then Froggs in the Apocalyps signify loquacious & clamorous seducers.
When natural animals do not sufficiently answer to king doms the Spirit of Prophesy frames others which do Such is the Leopard with four heads & four wings in Daniel & the Beast with seven heads & ten horns in Iohn & the Cherubims & Seraphims in the other Prophets. These last are usually taken for orders of Angels but really are only Hieroglyphicks formed like animals & signifying people. Ezekiel calls the Cherubims which he saw, living creatures; & the four Seraphims of Isaiah are called four Beasts or living creatures by Iohn. That these animals are hieroglyphics you may know both by the relation which they have one to another a Cherubim being composed of four Seraphims joyned in one body, & by the constant respect they have to the four quarters of the heavens without changing their posture, & also by their many wings & eyes & faces. ffor a Cherubin with four faces & a Beast with many heads are figures of the same kind. The four Seraphims are figures taken from the Standarts or banners of the four squadrons of Israel encamped in the Wilderness & so are also the four faces of a Cherubim & thence both Cherubims & Seraphims are used as the Hieroglyphicks of armies. Whence Ezekiel saith that the noise of the wings of the Cherubims is as the noise of great waters (that is of much people) & the voice of their speech as the noise of an host. The name Seraphim signifies things which are fiery & burn other things, & the name Cherubim (if originally taken from כו רב) signifies much burning; & accordingly Ezekiel[21] describes his Cherubims like burning coals of fire & like the appearance of lamps & of a flash of lightning. Now fire, in the language of the prophets, is war & to burn is to consume by war; & therefore Cherubims & Seraphims being fiery animals signify warlike bodies of men, that is armies. Hence Moses to signify that man is kept out of Paradise by war, places before the Garden Cherubims & the edge of a flaming sword turning every way to keep the way of the tree of life. Paradise is guarded by fiery Beasts & a flaming sword that is (in the language of the Prophets) by armies & the sword of war. Hence also God is seated upon the wings of the Cherubims to signify that he is the Lord of Hosts the King of Israel ffor sitting or riding upon Beasts is the type of reigning over people.
Chap. 8
Of the parts of an animal, vizt the head or heads & tail; the horns; the eyes & seing; the mouth, eating & speaking, the voice, loud or faint; the hairs, feathers, wings, arms, feet, nails, teeth, serpentine tail & bones; & of the times of their life & actions.
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20 Now when the Body natural of any animal is put for any body politique the several members of the one are fitly put for the several analogous parts of the other & particularly the head & tail as two extremes are put, the one for the Court consisting of the governours & honourable Men & ffamily of the King & the other for the vulgar and base people. So Princes Rulers & Leaders are frequently called the heads of the people Num. 17.8, & 25.15. Ios. 22.14. Iud. 10.18 & 11.8, 9, 11. Isa. 7.8, &c. And so are kings 1 Sam. 15.17. Psal. 18.43. Isa. 7.8 & conquerors, Thou hast kept me, saith David, to be head of the heathen; a people whom I knew not shall serve me, strangers shall submit themselves unto me, as soon as they hear they shall be obedient unto me Psal. 18.43. So also are the houses or ffamilies of Kings: Thus saith the Lord unto the Kings house of Iudah. Thou art Gilead unto me & the head of [the forrest politique] of Lebanon, yet surely I will make thee a wilderness & cities which are not inhabited – & they shall cut down thy choice cedars &c. Ier. 22.6. And so in general are ffamilies, people, Courts & Nations which rule over others. So where Isaiah saith of Iudah: ffrom the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it: the Chalde Paraphrast interprets: ffrom the lower people to the Princes. Isa. 1.6. In the same sence is Moses to be understood where he saith to Israel, The Lord shal smite thee in the knees & in the leggs with a sore botch which cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head Deut 28 35. For the sore here spoken of is a plague of war as is manifest by the context. So Moses saith to Israel: Thou shall lend unto many nations & thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head & not the tail & thou shalt be above only & thou shalt not be beneath; if thou wilt hearken unto the commandments of the Lord – otherwise the stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high & thou shalt come down very low: He shall lend to thee & thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be head & thou shalt be the tail. Deut 28.12, 44. The Lord will cut off from Israel head & tail, branch & rush in one day. The ancient & honourable he is the head & the Prophet that teacheth lyes he is the tail Isa. 9.14, 15 & 19.15. So also the Captains are said to be in the head of the people Deut. 20.9, & the rear of an army is called the tail Iosh. 10.19. If one dream he rides on Pharas (that is a generous steed) having a thick set & long tail he shall have a train of attendants or followers answerable to the fullness & length of the tail. Achm. c. 152. ffrom all which it is easy to understand that the army of Euphratean horsmen whose tails were like unto serpents & had heads signify an army of both hors & foot, their tails representing the train of the Army on foot & the heads of the tails being the commanders of the foot. ffor with their tails they did hurt (Apoc. 9.19,) & all fighting Men refer to armies. And for the same reason the tails of the Locusts like scorpions with stings in them Apoc. 9.5, 10 & the tail of the Dragon wherewith he drew the third part of the stars to the earth must signify their armies. ✝ ✝ Tis true that the parts of Nebuchadnezzar's Image from the head to the foot refer not to the office & dignity of the things signified but to the order of time: but this is singular & seems to argue that the Image at its first appearance rose up gradually, as the beasts of Daniel & Iohn did, out of the earth or sea.
So then a head signifies the governing part of a Kingdom. And therefore when a beast has more heads then one they must signify a distinction or division of the Kingdom into so many Dynasties Dominions or particular Kingdoms, or in Daniels language, into so many Kings, whether collateral or successive. So the three heads of the Eagle in 2 Esdr. 12.22, 23 are there interpreted to signify three kingdoms, & the four heads of Daniel Leopard – the four heads of Daniel's Leopard are the four Kings or Kingdoms into which the Greek Empire was divided towards the four winds Dan. 11.4, as is also signified by the four horns of the Goat which the Angel calls four Kingdoms. And so the seven heads of the Apocalyptick Dragon & Beast being successive signify a distinction of their Kingdom into seven successive Kings Dominions or Dynasties. For the Angel calls them seven Kings & describes some of them successive, Apoc. 17.10. ffor as the seven ears of corn & seven kine & the three bunches of grapes & three baskets in the dreams of Pharaoh & his servants signify successive years & days, so may the heads of a Beast be interpreted of successive times. Some interpreting the Apocalyptick Beast of the Roman Empire take the seven heads to be seven forms or sorts of government, Kings, Consuls, Decemviri, Tribunes of the Soldiers with Consular power, Dictators, Emperors, & a seventh which they are not well agreed upon. But this is wholy against the use of the word. ffor heads signify the Kings themselves not the modes or forms of Kings, & become new ones as often as there arise new Kings whether {these} new ones agree with or differ from any of the former in form. Different forms may argue different Kings & heads: but the same fforms will not argue distinct & separate reigns to be the same head. ffor the Leop{ards} heads were all of the same form & yet different Had the aforesaid forms of the Roman Empire succeeded one another in order so that there had been but six changes of government the opinion might have been reasonable: but while there were more then twenty changes, the government by Tribunes Consuls & Dictators being often revived; to number the heads not by the changes of government but by the variety of sorts or modes, so as to take all the government by Consuls both before & after those by Decemviri Tribunes & Dictators for but one head & all that by Tribunes both before & after many Consuls & Dictators for another & all that by Dictators set up now & then by fits for a third is a fansy which I must leave to them to maintain who serve an Hypothesis. For they may as well tell me that all the Kingdoms which succeeded Alexander in the Greek Empire were but one head of the Leopard because they differed not in form of government. And besides this some of those governments were past long before the Roman dominion began to be considered in Prophesy or to make any figure in the world & the government by Kings Dictators & Emperors are monarchical & differ in nothing but the name. Every King leading an army is an Emperor & every Emperor ruling a peole is a king, & every Dictator is a King during his Dictatorship. The Greeks called the Roman Emperors βασιλεις Kings, & we the Kings of Persia Emperors & Charles the great changed the name of King for Holy Emperor without any change at all of the form or mode of the government of his kingdom. The Pope gave him nothing but a new name.
Porphyrius to elude & overthrow the authority of Daniel's prophesy appointed his fourth Beast to the successors of Alexander the great: which being allowed, , the Leopard would have no heads at all, & the fourth Beast would have four unless heads signify something else then we have affirmed.. But this opinion of Porphyrius, as tis contrary to the constant opinion of all the ancient churches, so it has been so effectually confuted by several writers, & the fourth Beast so plainly shewn to be the Roman Empire that I do not think it pertinent to spend words about this mattter. According to Porphyrius the Leopard's four heads & wings which ought to signify so many kingdoms can signify nothing there being but one kingdom of the Greeks during the reign of Alexander: the fourth Beast which ought to be fierce & terrible & strong above the three former Dan 7. will be weaker then they Dan 8 & 11: the ten horns which ought to be ten kingdoms will be but ten single Kings or rather twelve, there being so many Kings of Egypt & Syria before the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes: the little horn which ought to have been of a different kind from the rest & to have rooted up three of them & changed times & laws three years and an half will be of the same kind with the rest as root up none of them & change the laws only three years 1 Mac. 1.54 & 4 52: & the fift Kingdom which was to be greatest & stand for ever & ruin the fourth, will either be that of the Maccabees which was contemptible & of short continuance & did not ruin the fourth, or that spiritual one of the Christians which began almost 200 years after the little horn was vanquished & some years after that Beast was also ceased & so ruined neither. And besides these absurdities the ten horned Beasts of Daniel & Iohn will be different, whereas Iohn tells you that his Beast was like unto the Leopard & his feet as the feet of the Bear & his mouth as the mouth of the Lion Apoc. 13.2. He names Daniel's three first Beasts in order backward & to shew that the Apocalyptic Beast is of their kindred & the fourth of them he assimilates him to them & puts him in the fourth place in the room of Daniel's fourth. He was like the Leopard that is fierce & terrible: his feet were as the feet of the Bear that is flat & fitted to stamp things with in fighting as a Bear doth: his mouth was as the mouth of the Lion that is armed with great & long teeth to tear & devour as a Lion doth: And by partaking of all these qualities he was neither Lion, Bear nor Leopard but a strong monster of a different species: & besides this he rose out of the sea, & had ten horns, & reigned 42 months or three years & an half, & was cast into the lake of fire & the time of his end was when the Word of God came in heaven with many crowns on his head to rule the nations with a rod of iron & reward the saints in judgment. All which things are the manifest character of Daniel's fourth Beast. ffor that Beast was dreadfull & terrible & strong exceedingly & had great iron teeth & brake in pieces & stamped the residue with his feet, & was divers from all the Beasts that were before it & rose out of the great sea & had ten horns & reigned with his little horn three times & an half & was cast into the burning flames & the time of his end was when the judgment was set & the books were opened & the Son of man came in the clouds of heaven to receive an universal & everlasting dominion that nations should serve him. In short the fourth Beast agrees in all things to the Romans in nothing to the Greeks & therefore the heads & wings of the third Beast must be applied to Alexander's successors. For those successors even Daniel himself in two other prophesies divides into four Kingdoms answering to these heads & wings, Dan. 8.8, 22 & 11.4. So then Heads are a type of Kingdoms.
Now the head signifying the honourable part of the kingdom, the several parts of the head as the horns, eyes, mouth & teeth must referr to the honourable men of several faculties together with their mystical bodies of their proper attendants & ministers, & the rest of the body with the tail & feet to the rest of the people. A Horn therefore signifies the Captains & martial great men of the Kingdom invested with their mystical bodies of soldiers & united under one general Commander. ffor as it is the highest part of the head so it is a fighting member wherewith a Beast or Kingdom pushes its enemies & defends it self. So Ezekiel comparing Israel to a flock of Rams & the heathen kingdoms to Goats & describing the dispersion of the one by the other saith, Ye have pusht all the diseased with your horns till ye have scattered them, Ezek. 34.21. And Zedekiah – made him horns of iron & said to the King of Israel – With these thou shalt push the Assyrians untill thou have consumed them 1 King. 22.11 Arise, thresh o daughter of Zion: I will make thy hoofs brass & thy horns iron & thou shalt beat in pieces many people, Micah 4.13. Hence God is called the horn of David & Christ the horn of Israel to save them from their enemies (Psal. 18.2. Luke 1.69, 71.) but properly a horn is considered as the member of a Beast or Kingdom & refers to martial men. So the horn of a King 1 Sam. 2.10, Psal. 89.24 & of a Kingdom Ier. 48.25, Lam. 2.3, 17 is their military force as the contexts shew. And Moses tells you expresly that a Horn signifies an Army. The glory of Ioseph, saith he, is the firstling of his bullock & his horns are the horns of a wild bull: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth, & they are the ten thousands of Ephraim & they are the thousands of Manasseh, Deut. 33.17.
So then a horn is an Army & the horn or horns of And when the horns of any people are numbred, they signify so many distinct & independant armies, that is the armies of so many several Tribes or Principalities or Kingdoms in that people, & therefore rise & are broken of not with the Commanders Princes & Kings but with the military forces of those Tribes Principalities or Kingdoms, & by consequence with the Kingdoms themselves. So in Zech. 1.19, 21, the four horns which scattered Iudah seem to signify the armies of the four Monarchies represented in Daniel by four Beasts. And so in Daniel & Iohn the number rise & fall of the Kingdoms in any Beast is signified by the number rise & fall of the horns of that beast, For the horns are called Kings & interpreted of Kingdoms, that is with respect to their military powers.
a people or kingdom is the army or armies thereof, including the supreme Commanders whether Princes Kings or Emperors.For thô Beasts & their heads & horns are all of them called Kings yet there's a considerable difference in the reason of their significations. ffor a Beast includes both the head & body of the Kingdom, a Head the Horns Eyes & Mouth of the Kingdom but not the body & a Horn neither the body nor the eyes & mouth. Where there is no difference considered between the common people of several kingdoms, there those kingdoms may be represented by one & the same body & tail of a beast with so many several heads as there are kingdoms; as was done in Daniel's Leopard. Where there is no difference considered in the mind & counsel of several kingdoms, there it is not necessary that the Beast which signifies them should have several Heads. He may have but one head with so many horns on it as there are kingdoms; as in the cases of the Goat & ten horned Beasts of Daniel & Iohn. ffor the horns of Iohn's Beast received power as Kings the same hour with the last head of that Beast & therefore grew all upon that head. They had one mind (Apoc 17. ) & therefore one head & one blaspheming mouth of that head (Apoc 13 ) was sufficient for them all. But the eleventh horn of Daniel's Beast being divers from the other ten, has therefore eyes & a mouth peculiar to himself as if he had a different soul. Which shews sufficiently that a horn doth not properly include the eyes & mouth of a Kingdom as a head doth unless they be exprest. A Beast is the whole Kingdom, his head the whole governing part thereof & his horns the whole military part of the government, & all these are kings because they include both the power & persons of kings. For a horn being the highest part of the head doth not only signify the martial force but also the height & glory of the Kingdom. Whence the exalting of a horn is put for the exalting of a Kingdom as in 1 Sam. 2.10. Psal. 89.17 & other places. And accordingly Daniel represents the growth of his Goat in might & glory by the growing up of its little horn to heaven. And for this reason a Horn includes the person of the King not only as soveraign Commander of the military force but also as the highest person in the kingdom. So then a horn signifies properly the aggregate of men wherein the military power & dominion of a kingdom is seated including the person of the King: & therefore the number of horns in any Beast signifies properly the number of supreme military Dominions in any great body of men represented by a Beast, & the rise & fall of Horns signifies the rising & falling of such Dominions & by consequence of Kingdoms.
Some hearing the horns of Daniel's Beasts to be called Kings have taken them for Kings in the language of the vulgar, that is for single persons: which they could never have done had they understood the language of the Prophets. The single persons of Kings are not the forces of Kingdoms. They are not the members wherewith Kingdoms fight & push one another & therefore cannot be the horns of their kingdoms. Daniels Kings are Kingdoms or at least such ruling powers as by the ordinary figures of Rhetorick may be called Kingdoms. The four Beasts are Kings in his language & yet by his own interpretation they are Kingdoms. His Ram with two horns is called the Kings of Media & Persia Dan. 8.20 & yet the Ram neither signifies single persons nor were the Kingdoms of Media & Persia subject to any more then one King when the Goat brake his two horns. Those horns therefore signify the dominions or kingdoms of Media & Perisa without any respect to the person of the King. His Goat is also called the King of Greece vers 21 & yet was a Kingdom conteining many Kings represented by his horns, four of which are expressly interpreted of Kingdoms vers 22: & the first & last must be of the same kind thô called Kings. For in one & the same prophesy & in one & the same sentence of that Prophesy to interpret one horn of a kingdom & another of a single person is such a liberty as is never allowed in common speaking nor can be allowed in the scriptures without straining to serve an hypothesis. Tis by this shamelesse liberty of multiplying the signification of words & types that Interpreters have made the scriptures seem so uncertain & hard to be understood & therefore he that will understand them truly must not admit it. If the great horn was the first King tis in respect of the following horns & therefore they are also Kings & if these Kings are Kingdoms then Kings here signify Kingdoms & so the first & last horn must be kingdoms as well as the other four. All these Kings are of a kind because numbered together, for equivocals are never connumerated. To call a man the first King & kingdoms the next kings is against all rules of speaking. When the first horn was broken off the four next stood up for it & therefore are of the same kind: for the person of Alexander the great was not succeeded by kingdoms but by persons & his kingdom by kingdoms. Compare this prophesy with that of Dan. 11.4, & the interpretation will be evident. ffor the breaking of the great horn is there called the breaking of the Kingdom & dividing it towards the four winds of heaven; & therefore this horn is a Kingdom. So then the two horns of the Ram & the five first horns of the Goat were kingdoms; & there is the same reason of the last; for the horns are all of a kind. But what kingdom is signified by this last horn I shall describe hereafter. So then by the common consent of Moses Daniel & other Prophets, horns signify not the single persons of kings but their military powers dominions & kingdoms.
Some reading in the Apocalyps that the ten Beast to be a kingdom distinct from his horns & the horns alone without their body politique represented by the Beast to be complete kingdoms: which is altogether against the tenour of the Prophetic language: for this is to deprive the Beast of his martial forces & make his armies to be kingdoms distinct from himself. Tis to make him fight with the armies of other kingdoms & push with horns which are not his own. The ten horns in giving their kingdom to the Beast did not give away their Kingdom from them selves to another King, but each gave his kingdom to the body politic compounded of them all & by this gift their kingdom became the Kingdom of the Beast without ceasing to be their own. Should ten men agree to become Merchants & found a Company, each might be said to give his estate or any part thereof to the Company thó there were no Company distinct from them selves. And the case is the same with the ten horns.
horns gave their kingdom to the Beast have fansied theIf it be said that the Beast is distinguished from his horns as another King where he & the Kings of the earth & their armies war against the Word of God & against his army Apoc. 19: I answer that there are other Kings of the earth besides the ten horns; as the Dragon then in being Apoc. 16.13 & 20.2 & the Kings of the east whose way was prepared to this battel Apoc. 10.12. The horns went with the Beast into the lake of fire as members of his body, but the Kings of the earth were (politically) slain with the two edged sword Apoc. 19.21. For these Kings are the rest of Daniels Beasts which had their dominions taken away & their natural lives prolongued when the fourth Beast was given to the burning flames, Dan. 7.12. ffor when the stone cut out of the mountain fell upon the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's Image it brake in pieces all the four Monarchies together, the gold & the silver & the copper & the iron Dan. 4.35, 44 45. So then from these objections there is no reason why we should depart from the tenour of the prophetic language.
Eyes are the light of the body & having much the same signification with Candles or Lamps they referr to skill understanding & instruction. They are therefore in bodies in bodies politique Counselours & Politicians, & in bodies Ecclesiastique Teachers Seers & Bishops. So the Egyptians to signify that understanding & policy ought to be in Kings painted a King by a Scepter with an eye in the top of it. But policy being common to all kingdoms 'tis scarce noted in sacred prophesy. There eyes inferr always to religion. So in the Apocalyps the four Beasts are full of eyes to represent their understanding and quicksightedness in spiritual mysteries. And the Lambs seven eyes are called the seven spirits or Angels of the Churches; & signify their Bishops represented also by the seven Lamps. So the seers or Prophets and Teachers of Gods people under the Law & the Bishops of the Synagogue are to be accounted their eyes, & the eyes of the little horn of Daniels fourth Beast are fals seers Teachers & Bishops of that horn. Achmet tells us that from the doctrine of the Indians that the eyes are the faith sentence & light of the mind: so much as any man dreams to lose of his eyesight, so much viciousness he shall have in his faith. And if any one dreams that he applies a medicine to his eyes whereby he may see better, he shall direct his heart towards God & be solicitous of another life. Achm. c. 52. Whence you may understand the meaning of the advice given to the Church of Laodicea to annoint her eyes with eyesalve that she may see.
23. Speaking & hearing are put for commanding & obeying. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord 1 Sam. 15.20, that is his commandment. I spake unto you & ye would not hear but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord Deut 1.43. Ier. 29.19 &c. Whence a Mouth – – mouth refers to a Lawgiver either civil or sacred accordingly as the Beast is a body politique or ecclesiastique that is to a King or Prophet. Thus besides the mouth of Daniels fourth Beast common to all the kingdoms 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 the other horns have. And what that power was is described plainly. He had a mouth speaking very great things vers 20, even great words against the most high & [thereby] wore out the saints of the most high & thought to change times & laws & they were given into his hand for a time. ver 25. This he did by the power of his mouth, which power must be a legislative one & that in matters of religion, becasue times & laws were given into his hand to change them in opposition to God & the saints This Horn is therefore a fals Prophet.. So where the Image of the Beast Apoc. 13 is said to speak, & cause that as many as would not worship the Image should be killed; it must be by some command or law that they were killed, and the Image is not the 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 where the two horned Beast spake as the Dragon, & the ten horned Beast had a mouth speaking great things & blasphemies it is to be understood of the Laws they made.
The strength or weakness of the voice signifies power or debility. Thou shalt be brought down & shalt speak out of the ground & thy speech shall be low out of the dust & thy voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit out of the ground, & thy spirit shall whisper out of the dust. Isa. 29.4. They shall lay hold on bow & spear, they are cruel & have no mercy, their voice roareth like the sea Ier. 6.23. See Isa 5.29, 20 & Ier. 51.51. If one dream that his voice is become weak & small his life shall be full of grief & affliction Achm. ex Ind. c. 50. If one dream that his voice is increased, his children shall become prosperous, & if he dream that he is hoarse he shall be contemned of his servants. Achm. ex. Pers et Ægypt. c. 51.
24 That the people of a kingdom are to be understood by the hair of any Animal is apparent in Ezekiel who by his hair divided into three parts represents the people of Ierusalem chap. 5. If a King dreams that his hair becomes gray, his people shall become weak – if he dreams that his hair is neat & copious, his people shall have joy & security by victory Achm. ex Pers. c. 21. If a King dreams that his hair comes off in combing his people shall be weakned, & if he dreams that he cuts off his hair, his army shall be diminished according to the measure of his hair cut off. Achm. ex Ægypt. c. 22. If a King dreams that he colours his har, he shall study to adorn his people by lying. Achm. ex Pers & Ægypt. c. 38. So in the Apocalyps the hairs of the Son of man white as snow represent his people cloathed in fair linnen clean & white: which linnen is the righteousness of the Saints Apoc. 19.8. And so the feathers of birds are put for their people 2 Esdras 11 & Ezek. 17.3, 7.
Whence stretching forth of wings signify the stretching forth of the people of a kingdom into several regions by invasion or conquest. The stretching out of the wings of the King of Assyria shall fill the breadth of thy land O Immanuel Isa. 8.8. He shall fly as an Eagle & spread his wings over Moab Ier. 48.40, & 49.22. If wings be numbered they signify the same number of Kingdoms as is evid{ent} by the Leopard in Daniel whose four wings & four heads signify on{e & the} same thing. So where two wings of a great eagle are given to the woman to {fly} into the wilderness it implies a division of a Kingdom into two kingdoms.
25 The fighting members of a pugnacious Beast as teeth, nailes, feet & serpentine tailes are evidently enough the types of armies & squadrons of armies, so the fourth Beast in Daniel is represented with great iron teeth & nailes of brass, for devouring & breaking & tearing in pieces, & so the army of Locusts Ioel. 1.6 & Apoc. 9.8 are represented with teeth of Lyons. And probably the author of the fable of Cadmus had respect to this signification of teeth when he made the Dragons teeth to be the seed of armed soldiers. So Daniel's fourth Beast stamped things with his feet & for that end had his feet armed with nailes of brass & his He Goat stamped upon the Ram; & therefore also fought with his feet. And Micah represents the daughter of Zion by a beast fighting with horns & hoofs. Arise & thresh o daughter of Zion: I will make thy horn Iron & I will make thy hoofs brass & thou shalt beat in pieces many people. Micah 4.13. And that of Ezekiel 32.2 Thou troublest the waters with thy feet the Chald. Paraphrast renders thus, Thou disquietest the peoples with thy armies. But a man's teeth signify those of his family & kindred & the hands & feet of private great men are their servants. Achm. c. 41, 113, 114, 115. Yet his arm signifies strength & power & the arm or arms of a king are put for the martial power of a kingdom. They made them cease by arm & power They [Moab & Amon &c.] have been confederate against thee. Assur also is joyned with them: they have been an arm to the children of Lot. Psal. 83.5, 8. His arm shall rule for him Isa. 40.10. Mine arms shall judge the people Isa. 51.5. I will strengthen the arms of the King of Babylon & the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down Ezek 30.25. That is, saith the Chalde Paraphrast, I will strengthen the Kingdom of the King of Babylon & the Kingdom of Pharaoh shall cease. And in the same sense Daniel in his last prophesy sometimes uses the phrase. She shal not retain the power of the arm Dan. 11.6 the arms of the so{uth} shall not withstand vers 15. And arms shall be overflown with a flood from before him vers 22. And out of him arms shal stand up vers 31. In all these places arms signify military power. Whence breaking a mans arms signifies enfeebling & vanquishing him Psal. 37.17. Ezek. 30.24.
< text from f 38r resumes >26 The bones of a Beast refer to the strength & fortified cities of the Kingdom & the flesh to the riches: So where Ieremiah saith, He hath sent fire into my bones & it prevaileth against them: The Chalde Paraphrast renders, He hath sent fire [that is war] into my cities & subdued them Lam. 1.13. So where Ieremiah saith of Iudah that Nebuchadnezzar hath broken his bones Ier. 50.13, the meaning is that Nebuchadnezzar hath expugned his fenced cities. And where the second of Daniel's four Beasts had three ribs in the mouth between the teeth it seems to respect the imperial cities of three kingdoms Media Persia & Babylonia. Concerning flesh Achmet saith If any one seem to find or eat the flesh of Dragons he shall receive riches proportionally from some great King c. 283 ex Ind. Pers, Ægypt. And if he eat the flesh of a scorpion he shall receive the wealth of an enemy c. 285. The like of the 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 the Indians teach that flesh does universally signify riches & gold. So the Chal. Par. for: They shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm Isa. 9.20 translates: They shall prey every man upon the 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. So to signify the great wealth which the Kings of Persia should heap up it is said to the second Beast: Arise, devour much flesh Dan. 7.5. And the spoiling of the Egyptians by the Israelites is expressed by giving the Leviathan to be meat for them in the wilderness Psal. 74.13. See also Ezek. 29.5. And so in the Apocalyps where the ten Kings hate the whore & eat her flesh & burn her with fire, 'tis to be understood that they seize her wealth & consume her by war. And the like of the ffowls of heaven being filled with the flesh of Kings & Captains & mighty men &c. Apoc. 20. And the same is to be understood in the tradition of the Iews of their feasting in the day of the Messiah on two great Beasts Leviathan & Behemoth, these Beasts being the types of Kingdoms.
‡ Whilst short lived Beasts are put in sacred prophesies for long lived Kingdoms cessary that the short times of their lives measured by the heavenly bodies should be put for the longer times of Kingdoms. So in the Apocalyps where the Locusts continue five months & the Beast 42 months & the woman is fed 1260 days [& the witnesses prophesy all that time & lye dead 3 days & an half] since these short lived creatures are put for long lived bodies politique (as we shall presently shew) the short times of these creatures must in reason signify much longer times of those bodies. Whence the ancient sages had more sorts of days weeks months & years then one. They had their vulgar years & their great years, vulgar months & great months, weeks of days & weeks of years, natural days & days mystical. And therefore where the things prophesied of are mystical its proper to understand their times in a mystical sense. Tis impossible that in the short time of three natural days & an half the peoples, Kindred, tongues & nations that make up the Beast, should see the dead bodies of the two witnesses & they that dwell on the earth (all that worship him chap. 13.7, 8) rejoyce over them & make merry (that is by feasting) & send gifts to one another because the Prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth. Tis inconsistent with the wisdome & majesty of sacred Prophesy to pass over all the long afflictions & persecutions of the several churches & predict with great solemnity how the Church of Smyrna shall suffer a tribulation of ten days if those days be only natural ones. Tis altogether impossible that within the 1290 & 1335 days in Dan 12, which extend from the setting up the abomination Dan 11.31 to the end of the prophesy & to the resurrection of the dead, unless those days be mystical, all the vicissitudes there described concerning the valour & sufferings of the saints, the King that should do according to his will & the Kings of the south & north & their sucessive conquests & fall & after this the time of great trouble should be comprehended.
‡ Whilst short lived Beasts are put in sacred prophiesies for long lived Kingdoms its neKnow therefore that in sacred prophesy a day is put for any long time & both days & times in the plural number are put for years. So Christ calls his life time his day Iohn 8.56 & every man's life time his day (Iohn 9.4) & Iob the life time of the wicked his day (Iob 18.20) # # Iob. 18.20 & Ieremy interprets the day of the visitation of Babylon to be the time thereof Ier. 50.27, 31 & in the Psalms the day of temptation in the wilderness is interpreted to be forty years Psal 95.8, 9, 10 & Ezekiel calls the time of Iuda's prosperity the day of their pride Ezek 10.56 & the time of Iuda's captivity & distress is called the day thereof Obad. 11.12, 13, 14. Lament. 1.12 & the latter times are frequently called the latter day & the time of the last Iudgment the day of judgment – – – – & the time of judgment the day of judgment. So then days are times Now times in the pl. number according to the language of Daniel & Iohn are years. ffor Daniel uses 7 times for seven years (chap. 4) & both he & Iohn use thre times & an half for 3 years & an half, as you may see in the Apocalyps (ch. 17) where a time times & half a time are put equipollent to 1260 days. Tis true that days are sometimes used for longer times as where the six days of the week are by the Iews taken for a type of the worlds continung six thousand years. And so the six days of the Creation may signify not only six years but even six thousand years as the Tyrrhenian Historian in Suidas [in voce τυ᾽ρρ῾ηνία] affirms, or any other six long times. ffor the history of the creation is not in all things litteral. In that Paradise the flaming sword & trees of life & knowledge may be as much figurative descriptions of something we now understand not as the tree of life is in the Paradise to come, & in a parabolical description of the creation a day may be used figuratively as well as other things are especially since there was no light till the end of the first day nor sun till the fourth – . ‡ ‡ to make natural days. The evenings & mornings of Moses respect all parts of the earth alike so that it was evening all over the earth in the beginning of each day of Moses & morning all over it in the end of each day: & therefore his evenings & mornings were not natural ones. ffor had they been natural ones it would have been morning in one part of the earth when it was evening in another.
Tis also true that the Egyptian & Persian interpreters of dreams take every hour of the night for the space of one or two years ( Achmet c. 34) at which recconning days will signify longer periods of times then years. But yet Suidas Grammaticus tells us also that the Egyptians called a day a year. And in sacred prophesies – – – But in sacred prophesy where there is no manifest reason to the contrary days or times are generally taken for years. In Luke 13.32 Christ thus foretells his death & resurrecton a good while before it happened: Go & tell that Fox Behold I cast out Devils & do cures to day & to morrow & the third day I shall be made perfect. In Amos 4.4 three days are in the Hebrew put for three years. In Isa 61 2 & 63.4 a day & a year are used one for another. In Num. 14.34 40, days are made a type of 40 years. In Ezek 4.5, 6 40 days & 390 days are used as types of so many years. In Iona 3.4 some conceive the Prophesy of 40 days to have been fulfilled at the end of 40 years. In Gen. 29.27 & Dan. 9 weeks are put for sevens of years & so in all the Prophesies of Daniel & Iohn to take days for years is much more agreable to the nature of the things there prophesied of them to take them for natual days.
And whilst the Prophets put days for years, a short time in their language is a long time in the language of the vulgar: as for instance in the following passages in the Apocalyps. Behold I come quickly & my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shal be. He that testifieth these things saith surely I come quickly. The Devil is come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. ffive are fallen & one is & the other is not yet come & when he cometh he must continue a short space. It was said unto the martyrs under the Altar that they should rest yet for a little season, untill their brethren which should be killed as they were should be fulfilled. The Revelation of Iesus Christ which God gave unto him to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly & remove thy Candlestick out of its place. Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly & fight against them with the sword of my mouth. I gave that woman Iezabel space to repent of their fornica tion & she repented not. All these sayings are of a kind & signify long times in the language of the vulgar tho represented short ones in the language of the Prophesy: Which same Interpreters not understanding have run into many errors. Christ endeavoured to put his disciples perpetually upon the {expectation} of his second coming that they might be constantly upon the watch. Watch therefore, saith he, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Mat. 24.42, & 25.13. Marc. 13.35 If therefore thou shalt not watch I will come on thee as a thief & thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee Apoc. 3.3. And for this reason he tells them plainly that it was not for them to know the times & seasons which the father hath put in his own power Act. 1 & always exprest himself so about his second coming that they might not think it far off. If a man keep my sayings he shall never tast of death Iohn 8.51, 52. He that beleiveth in me shal never dye Iohn 11.26. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness & are dead: this is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof & not dye. Iohn 6.50. What if I will that he tarry till I come? Iohn 21. There be some standing here which shal not tast of death till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom Mat. 16.28. All these sayings are of a kind & respect the second death but seem designed to make the unwary disciples expect an end of the world before some then alive should dy naturally. ffor which reason he tells them also Ye shall not have gone over the Cities of Israel till the son of man be come & this generation shall not pass away before all these things be fulfilled, & in the Apocalyps describes all the times short which precede his second coming, putting every where days for years & a short space or little season for many ages. All which ways of speaking did not only put the first Christians upon an expectation of Christs coming in their age but also has entrapt some later Interpreters of scripture & put 'em upon applying these prophesies to the siege of Ierusalem by the Romans. Whereas I dare confidently affirm that there is not one prophesy or text in scripture concerning the coming of Christ but what is meant of one of his two personal comings. When he saith, there be some standing here which shal not tast of death till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom: he speaks of eternal death, as is manifest both by the analogy of this text with others mentioned above & by the context: for in the words immediately before he was speaking of life & death eternal & of his coming in glory with his Angels to reward every man according to his works. When he saith this generation shal not pass away &c he means the progeny or nation of the Iews, or more stricktly, this wicked & adulterous generation, this faithless & pervers generation, this generation of vipers, this generation by which the son of man shal be rejected, as the Iews are termed in other places. When all these things shal be fulfilled then shall this generation pass away by the final & total conversion of Israel, & not before. And when he saith Ye shal not have finished the cities of Israel till the Son of man be come: if this be applied to the siege of Ierusalem I answer that if the disciples had not finished those cities before this siege, they have not yet finished them. ffinishing is here put for a total conversion of Israel which is not yet come to pass You may know the sense of the place by the context. ffor in the context before, Christ had said: He that endureth to the end shal be saved & in that after he adds, there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed & hid that shal not be known, & therefore was speaking of his coming to the last judgment. So then these three passages do not enforce the application of the second coming of Christ to the siege of Ierusalem & if these do not I know no other that can, & without necessity the significations of the prophetic phrases are not to be multiplied.
< text from f 39v resumes >Chap. IX.
Of a man or woman in various circumstances, as with a crown or on horsback or with a sword or bow, or with weights & measures, or cloathed in white or other apparrel or naked, or holding a cup of wine or drinking it, or with a wound or sore, or in pain or pained in childbirth or bearing a Man-child. And of the death of man or Beast.
To put a man crowned – – – – –
Chap. X
27. To put a man crowned for a King is an obvious figure: & to put a man riding on a beast for a Ruler or King is a figure as manifest. Gird thy sword upon upon thy thigh O most mighty with thy glory & in thy majesty ride on prosperously Psal. 45.4 The Hebrew is prosper & ride; which the septuagint translates, Go on prosperously & reign & the Chalde Paraphrast, that thou mayst ride upon the throne of the Kingdome. In like manner riding is put for reigning in Deut. 32.13 Isa. 58.14 Psal. 66.12 And so the woman's riding upon her Beast in the Apocalyps is by the Angell expresly interpreted her reigning over the Kings of the earth Apoc 17 And Achmet delivers it for the doctrine of the 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 shall acquire amongst the people fame & great renown & eminence & honour – And if he seem to ride armed on a generous steed he shall obtein power & renown according to his armour chap. 233. Whence the four horsmen in Apoc. 6. are four Rulers or Kings, & their horses are their Kingdoms.
A sword & a bow manifestly denote a warrior & a conqueror as may appeare by these instances. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O most mighty – & in thy majesty ride prosperously – thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things: thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the Kings enemies Psal 45.3, 4, 5 So in the Apocalyps Power was given to him that sat upon the hors to take peace from the earth & that they should kill one another & there was given him a great sword. Apoc 6.4. And out of the mouth of him that sat upon the hors goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations. Apoc. 19.15. If one seem to hold a bow & arrows he shall with joy triumph over his enemies. Achm. c. 249 ex Pers. et Ægypt. Behold a white hors & he that sat on him had a bow & a crown was given unto him & he went forth conquering & to conquer. Apoc. 6.2.
Some have supposed that the Balance in the third Seal might be an emblem of famin, but without ground there being no authority in scripture or in any other authentic writings that I have met with for such an interpretation. There are other ways of expressing famin, as by the tearing of dogs, & where a ballance is mentioned in scripture, it is either with respect to Iudgment 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 & therefore is the embleme of a Iudge For to this sense is also the doctrine of interpreters which runs thus. If in a dream say the Indians one see a Ballance poised in any place let him understand it of a Iudge. And if he have a cause & see the ballance equally poised he shall obtein his right – And if he see the Ballance exact & clean let him know that the Iudge of that place is just, but if it be broken & out of order he is unjust. Achm. c. 15. ex Ind. The author also further relates how they compare the scales to the ears of the Iudge & the weights to the matter pleaded on both sides &c. And adds that measures have the like interpretation but are to be understood of inferior Iudges.
Nakedness being shamefull & ignominious is put for shame confusion & reproach & splendid cloathing for reputation, honour, glory & power & sometimes for those things wherein glory is founded, as for righteousness & good works if the garments be white, or for royal dignity if they be scarlet or purple. The interpretation of garments, say the Persians & Ægyptians, belongs to honour & glory – And if a King cloath any of his nobles with his own garments & the garment be purple he shall confer upon him more glory & power & trust him with his secrets: but if the garment be of another kind he shall grant him less honour according as the garment is – And if a King seem to have a new tincture of purple made, he shall triumph over his enemies – And if any one seem to have lost his garments, this imports misery accordingly as the garments were pretious. Achm. c. 158. ✝ ✝ And in like manner the Indians say: If any one seem to be suddenly made naked & that his secret parts appear openly before the people his secret thoughts shall be laid open & he shall be affected with reproach & grievously vexed. Achm. c. 116. They say also that Apostolick habit is interpreted of a man's faith & if his habit be white his faith shall be proportionally pure, but if sordid, he is impure. Achm c. 157. So in the scriptures nakedness is taken sometimes for want of honour glory & power as where Babylon or Ierusalem are for their whoredoms made desolate & naked by their enemies, Isa 47.3. Ezek. 16.37, 39 & 23.10, 29, that is, say the Chalde Paraphrast & 70 Interpreters, exposed to shame confusion & reproach; & sometimes for wickedness, as where Moses saith, Thy camp shall be holy that God see no naked thing in thee & turn away from thee Deut. 23.14. And in the Apocalyps white cloathing (ch. 3.18 & 7.9 &c) is interpreted the righteousness of the saints (ch 19.9) & the whore's being made naked of her scarlet apparrel & royall orna ments by the tenn Kings ch. 17 signifies their depriving her of regal glory & majesty. So Saint Paul uses cloathing for good & bad works Colos. 3.8, 9, 10, 12 Ephes. 4.22, 24, & Christ a wedding garment for righteousness Matt. 22.11. To the same purpose see also Isa. 59.6, 17 & 61.3, 10 & Psal. 73.6 & 109.18, 19, 29 & Iob. 29.14
The golden cup in the hand of the Whore of Babylon is said to be full of abominations & filthiness of her fornication & this filthinesse is a little before called the wine of the fury of her fornication wherewith she inebriates the inhabitants of the earth & so is a Philtre or love-cup. Now as water of life given to thirsty men & wine given to drink in the Eucharist signifies the doctrine of truth by which men are nourished to life eternal: so the wine of fornication in this Cup must signify the doctrine of idolatry (or as the Apostle Paul calls it, the doctrine of Dæmons & lying miracles) by which as with an enchanted Philtre she entices her lovers to commit spiritual fornication with her, & makes them erre & reel to & fro like drunken men & become furious in their inordinate affections & passions towards their spiritual mistresse. For drunkenness is the type of error, & this her Cup of enchantments is afterwards called her sorceries by which she deceived all nations. They are drunken, saith Isaias of Israel, but not with wine they stagger but not with strong drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep & hath closed your eyes – & the vision of all is become unto you as a book that is sealed – – – Wherefore saith the Lord, forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth & with their lips do honour me but have removed their heart far from me & their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men: therefore behold I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people &c Isa. 29.9, 11, 13. Which is as much as to say that Moses & the Prophets were to Israel as a book that is sealed up so that they consulted it not, but worshipped God as they were taught by the precept of men, & by imbibing & swallowing this precept became drunk & staggered & slept like men grown senseless with wine, for which reason God would destroy them. So then to deceive men by fals doctrine is to make them drunk in the language of the Prophets, & by consequence the wine of fornication is seduction to idolatry. So also to deceive by fals counsels in civil affairs is to make drunk . The Princes of Noph are deceived they have also seduced Egypt – the Lord hath mingled a spirit of error in the midst thereof, & they have caused Egypt to erre in every work thereof as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Isa. 19.13, 14. So where God gives several nations the wine cup of his fury to drink that they may be mad & drunken & spue & fall & rise no more because of the sword which she will send amongst them (Ier. 25.) the meaning is that he will send amongst them the spirit of error distraction & madnesse whereby they shall be gathered to battel & therein reel & spue up their possessions & perish. And in the same sense God makes great Babylon in the Apocalyps drink the wine of his wrath because she had made all nations drink the wine of the fury of her fornication. For in recompense of her deceiving all nations by sorceries he causes three unclean spirits like froggs to deceive her people & gather them by fals miracles to the battel of the great day wherein they stagger & fall.
< text from f 43r resumes >28 A wound or sore if not of a single person but of a people or kingdom signifies a stroke or plague by war famine or pestilence, but chiefly by war. ffor smiting a people or nation is the ordinary scripture phrase for smiting them with the sword: & the proper effect of smiting is a wound: which if it be not bound up & soon healed grows putred, ulcerate, very painful & sometimes incurable. To bind up & heal is to restore a kingdom. Whence if after smiting it be not soon restored & healed, its desolation will be fitly represented a putred & painfull sore. So then by a wound if described great but not of a putred or ulcerate kind we are to understand only a violent & sudden smiting by a prevailing enemy: but if not bound up, if ulcerate, noisome or painfull, a durable & tedious as well as vexatious desolation; & if we shall find these phrases used by the Prophets, Despise not the chastisement of the Almighty, for he maketh sore & bindeth up, he woundeth & his hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles yea in seven shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death & in war from the power of the sword. Iob. 5.18, 20. Again in 2 Cron 6 28, 29 Solomon in dedicating the Temple prays thus for Israel. If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, Locusts or Caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land: whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be, then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore & his own grief, & shal spread forth his hands in this house. Then hear thou from heaven &c. In the Lamentations ch 3.12, the Prophet Ieremy introduces Ierusalem thus bewailing her captivity in Babylon: He (God) hath made me desolate, he hath bent his bow & set me as a mark for the arrow, he hath caused the arrow of his quiver to enter into my loins. So in Ier 10.18, 19. Thus saith the Lord, behold I will fling out the inhabitants of the Land at this once & I will distress them that they may find it so. Wo is me for my hurt, my wound is grievous, but I said truly this is a grief & I must bear it. My tabernacle is spoiled &c. Thus also Isaiah Chap. 1.5, 6, 7. describes the desolation of Iudah, They have provoked the holy one of Israel into anger, they are gone away backward. Why should ye be stricken any more? Ye will revolt more & more. The whole head is sick & the whole heart faint, ffrom the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds & bruises & putrefying sores: They have not been closed neither bound up neither mollified with ointment. And then describing what was thus stricken for their revoltings, what that sickness of the head & heart, those grievous wounds bruises & sores from the foot to head made by that striking which had not been bound up nor anointed, he adds in the next words Your country is desolate, your cities burnt with fire, your land strangers devour in your presence & it is desolate as overthrown by strangers. In like manner Moses in Deut. 28.35 prophetically proscribes the long captivity & dispersion of the Iews into all nations by a botch that cannot be healed from the sole of the foot to the top of the head. So again in Ier. 30.11 &c. Though I make a full end of all nations whether I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee but I will correct thee in measure & will not leave thee altogether unpunished. ffor thus saith the Lord thy bruise is incur
able & thy wound is grievous. There is none to plead thy cause that thou mayst be bound up. Thou hast no healing medicines. All thy lovers have forsaken thee. They seek thee not. ffor I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy with the chastisement of a cruel one for the multitude of thy iniquity because thy sins were increased. Why criest for thine affliction? Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity. Because thy sins were increased I have done these things unto thee. Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured, & all
thine adversaries every one of them shall go into captivity & they that spoil thee shall be a spoil & all that pray upon thee will I give for a pray. ffor I will restore health unto & heal thee of thy wounds saith the Lord becasue they called thee an outcast, saying This is Zion whom no man seeketh after. Thus saith the Lord, behold I will bring again the captivity of Iacob's tents &c. Thus also in Isa. 30.26, His return from captivity is called the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people & healeth the stroke of their wound. ffor which expressions the Targam Ionathan hath In die qua reducet Deus captivitatem populi sui & infirmitatem plagæ ejus sanabit. And to the same purpose it is that the Prophet Nahum chap. 3 19, describing the siege & final desolation of Neneveh by the sword concludes in these words There is no healing of thy bruise: thy wound is grievous: All that hear the bruit of thee shal clap their hands over thee. Thus full is the consent of the prophets in their use of this phrase. So in the Apocalyps ch. 16 in the fift vial at whose pouring out the kingdom of the Beast became full of darkness that is obscured by a cloud of invading enemies its said that they of this kingdom blasphemed God because of their pains & of their sores. And so in the first vial the grievous & noisome sore which fell on the worshippers of the Beast (if we will keep to the use of the phrase) must signify a grievous & tedious plague of war falling on that Kingdom. But the wound of the Beast with a sword being not described a putred ulcerate noisome or painful sore, but a wound healed again, as if it were heaed whilst a green wound, will properly signify only a sudden & remarkable smiting that kingdom & conquering it (for the wound was deadly) & the restitution of it soon after to its former state, without any vexatious & tedious harassing & wasting the conquered subjects in the middle time.
Pain of a nation signifies the same thing with a sore as you may see in the passages quoted in the last Paragraph, & in these: Why is my pain perpetual, & my pain incurable which refuseth to be healed? Ier. 15.18. which words are of Iersusalem lamenting her long captivity & dispersion. Again, Babylon is suddenly fallen & destroyed, Howl for her take Balm for her pain, if so be she may healed. We would have healed Babylon but she is not healed. Ier. 51.8. There shall be no more a Prince in the land of Egypt – I will make Pathros desolate – I will pour out my fury upon Sin the strength of Ægypt, & I will cut of the multitude in No. And I will set a fire in Ægypt. Sin shall have great pain, & No shall be rent asunder & Noph shall have distresses dayly. The young Men of Aven & of Phibeseth shall fall by the sword. Ezek 30.16. So in the Apocalyps c. 16.10. They gnawed their tongues for pain & blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains & their sores. And Apoc. 21.4. Neither shall there be any more pain, that is no more war upon the saints, no more persecution. To which purpose also the expressions there that there shall be no more sorrow nor crying & Apoc. 7.17. God shal wipe away all tears from their eyes: like that of Isaiah Chap. 25.8. He shall swallow up death in victory & the Lord God will wipe away tears of all faces & the rebuke of his people will he take from of all the earth. To which place the two former in Apoc. 7 & 21 seem to referr.
And becasue pain & dolour is used to signfy the labouring of a nation under an enemy, & God used to deliver up his people into the hands of their enemies for Idolatry, hence it is that among the Hebrews the words עצבים, & צירים dolores & תפלצת horror , were used as ordinary names for Idols, as you may see in Hos. 4.17. Psal. 106.36. Isa. 45.16. 1 Kings 15.13. & other places.
But to express the pain & misery of hostile desolations the neater, it is ofter represented by the pains of a woman in travail. And sometimes this pain is put to express the terror & consternation at the evil approaching. Behold a people cometh from the north country – we have heard the fame thereof, our hands wax feeble anguish hath taken hold of us & pain as of a woman in travail. Go not forth into the field nor walk by the way for the sword of the enemy & fear is on every side. Ier. 6.22, 24, 25. To the same purpose see Isa. 13.8. Ier. 48.41 & 49 22 & 50.43. But here we are to conceive the dread of the evil approaching to beare analogy with the fear & fainting of a woman at her pains approaching, & the evil it self with the real pain. And because the Church of God is frequently compared to a woman, therefore is this figure used to express the affliction of the Church under her enemies. Thus our Saviour in Matt. 24.8, 9 & Mark 13.9 describing the future persecutions of the Church calls them ἱοδινας. So Isa. ch. 66.7; speaking of the Iewish Church, saith, Before she travailed, she brought forth, before her pain came she was delivered of a Manchild: which the Chalde Paraphrast thus interprets: Antequam veniat ei tribulatio redempta erit, antequam veniat ei tremor, sicut dolores parturientes, revelabitur Rex ejus Ieremiah also in Ch. 30.6, 7 interprets this figure plainly: We have heard a voice of trembling of fear & not of peace. Ask ye now, saith he, & see whether a man doth travail with child. Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins as a woman in travail; & all faces are turned into paleness? Alas for that day is great so that none is like it. It is even the time of Iacobs trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. – And strangers shall no more serve themselves of him. So in Micah ch. 4.10. Why dost thou cry out aloud? Is there no King in thee? Is thy Counsellour perished? ffor pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain & labour to bring forth o daughter of Zion like a woman in travail: for now thou shalt go forth out of the city & thou shalt dwell in the field, & thou shall go even to Babylon. There shalt thou be delivered. There the Lord shal redeem thee out of the hand of thine enemies. To the same purpose see Isa. 26.17 & Ier. 22.23. And so in the Apocalyps the Church being represented by a woman, whose seed kept the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus to signify her being under a great persecution she is described crying & in pain to be delivered. ffor that this pain & crying signifies a persecution, & that a very violent one, is further exprest by her being cloathed with the Sun the most hot & fiery of all things, & by the Dragon's standing before her & drawing the third part of the stars of heaven with his tail & casting them to the earth: that is by her being agitated with vehement war, for so fire always signifies; & by the Dragon's being her adversary, & with his army dragging and casting down the saints of heaven, whence upon the ensuing victory over the Dragon 'tis added that they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, & by the word of their testimony, & loved not their lives unto the death.
<48r>And as pain in travail signifies labouring under a persecuting enemy, so delivery signifies redemption from the hand of the enemy, the pains then ceasing, & the new born child signifies the new kingdom brought forth upon her delivery: as you may see in the places last cited: Labour to bring forth o daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail – Thou shalt go even to Babylon There shalt thou be delivered: there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. Ier. 22.23. Here after the pangs of desolation & captivity, her delivery at Babylon is expressly called redemption from the hand of the enemy, & what was that but the redemption wrought by Cyrus conquering the proud enemy, & setting the miserable Iews at liberty? And what was the Infant the daughter of Zion brought forth but the new born body politique of the Iews led back from Babylon under Zerubbabel? So again in Isa. 26.17 speaking of the long captivity & final redemption of Israel: Thou hast removed [the nation] far unto all the ends of the earth. Lord in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastning was upon them. Like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain & cryeth out in her pangs, so have we been in thy sight, O Lord, we have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shal live – Come my people – hide thy self as it were for a little moment till the indignation be overpast. ffor behold the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth &c. All which with what follows in the next chapter is as much as to say, that the dispersed Iews were with child of a new polity & laboured as a woman in travail by the fall of their enemies to work themselves deliverance & bring it forth, but brought forth nothing: but at length when the indignation was over God should overthrow their enemies & restore Israel. But in Isa. 66.7 the Prophet is much more plain. Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my names sake [i.e. the Gentiles which dispersed & long hated you & were converted to Christianity] said, Let the Lord be glorified; but he shall appear to your joy & they shal be ashamed. A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the Temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth, before her pain came she was delivered of a Manchild. Who hath heard such things? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day, or shal a Nation be born at once? ffor as soon as Zion travaileth she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth & not cause to be brought forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth & shut the womb? saith the Lord thy God. Rejoyce ye with Ierusalem & be glad with her all ye that love her: rejoyce for joy with her all ye that mourn for her, that ye may suck & be satisfied with the brests of her consolations: that ye may milk out & be delighted with the abundance of her glory. ffor thus saith the Lord, I will extend peace to her like a river, & the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck &c. Here the woman is Zion as the Church first labouring under affliction, then rejoycing after deliverance, & her Man-child is the nation brought forth by her deliverance those who first mourned for her & then rejoyced with her all the sons of the Church first in affliction & then in prosperity. The woman & her child are one & the same people represented by a Woman as they are the Church of God, & by a Man-child as they are a Nation or kingdom new born by victory over their enemies, & differ only in their Rulers & authority, the one having spiritual rulers in things spiritual, the other civil Rulers in things civil. And in like manner in the Apocalyps by the Man-child of which the woman in travail was delivered is to be understood not a single person but a Kingdom brought forth by the Church at her delivery from persecution & consisting of the same persons with the woman, but under different Governours & a different government. A woman & her child are things of the same kind & therefore as the one here represents a multitude so should the other: this a body politique & chiefly the rulers thereof most properly signified by a Male, as that a body ecclesiastick usually signified by a female.
<50r>Death of bodies politique is their dissolution. So where the army of Locusts torment men without killing them, the meaning is not that they kill none of their people but only that they make war upon them without dissolving their kingdom Apoc. 9. And where all living creatures in the Sea died Apoc 16.3 & all were killed that would not worship the Image of the Beast chap. 13.15 & the Beast was mortally wounded by a sword & revived, the death is plainly by a dissolution of their bodies politique or ecclesiastique. And in the same sense the two witnesses, the third part of men, the third part of the creatures in the Sea, the martyr Antipas, {illeg} the fourth Beast in Daniel & the Dragon in Isaias[22] are slain.
[1] Sext. Empir adv. Mathem. l 5. p. 114. l.
[2] a that is, iniquity
[3] a that is, iniquity
[4] ✱ gr. hide or bury them.
[5] ✱ gr. & vulg. lat. holes
[6] ✝ Iustin. l. 7.
[7] a Diodor. l 1 p 55.
[8] b Diodor. ib.
[9] a Sanchoniathon et Philo Biblius
[10]
b Heliogabalus Ægyptios Dracunculos Romæ habuit, quos illi Agathodæmonas appellant Æl. Lamprid.
Phœnices serpentem αγαθοδαίμονα vocant, quemadmodum et Ægyptij Cneph appellant Euseb. lib. 1 Praep. Evan cap. 7.
[11] c Aspides ab Ægyptijs vehementer coli tradidit Phylarchus Hist. l. 12 et ex eo Ælianus l. 17 de An. c. 5. Of the Babylonians, Indians & others worshipping Dragons & Serpents see the apocryphal history of Bel & the Dragon, & Maximus Tyrius dissert. 38.
[12] d. Horus Hierogl. 1.
[13] e. Diodor. l. 1. Aelian l. 6 de Animal. c. 38.
[14] f. Horus Hierogl. 56, 57, 58, 60, 61.
[15] g. Clemens Alex Strom l. 5 p 555.
[16] h. Philo Bibl. apud Euseb.
[17] k. AElig;lian. Hist. l. 10 c. 21.
[18] a Primum signum totius Legionis est Aquila quam Aquilifer portat, Dracones etiam per singulas cohortes a Draconarijs feruntur ad prælium. Modestus de vocab. rei militaris. & Vegetius de re milit. l. 2. c. 13. Vide etiam Vegetium l. 2, c. 6, 7 & l. 3 c. 5. Vexilla horrendis Draconum hiatibus super summas hastas elatis involantia ac pertractus contextis squammis distinctos ventilata jucundissimum simul et formidulosum spectaculum oculis præbent. Greg. Naz. Orat. 1
[19] b Ammianus lib 16 in descriptione pompæ qua Romam ingressus est Constantius, de signis militaribus loquens, Alios, inquit, purpureis subtegminibus texti circumdedere Dracones, hastarum aureis gemmatisque summitatibus illigati, hiatu vasto perflatiles, & ideo velut ira percili sibilantes, caudarumque volumina relinquentes in ventum. Idem eodem libro, in descriptione prælij cujusdam, ait: Quo agnito per purpureum signum Draconis summitati hastæ longioris aptatum &c.
[20] c Vexillum Græcis dicebatur Δρακόντειον & Signifer, Δρακοντειοφόρος & Δρακονάριος. Gloss. Signiferi dicuntur qui signa portant quos nunc Draconarios vocant. Modestus de voc. rei mili
[21] Ezek. 1.
[22] Isa. 21.