Fragment on the Revelation of Daniel (section 7.3j)

As Daniels Prophesies consist of two parts a Vision or Prophesy, & an Interpretation of the Prophesy, so doth the Apocalyps. The Prophesy ends with the sounding of the seventh Trumpet & the Interpretation begins with the words And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, & there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his testament &c

The Prophesy begins with opening the seals of the prophetick book shut up by Daniel till the time of the end. And the first six seals are opened successively in one continued order of time: but the times which follow the affairs of the sixth seale & begin with the opening of the seventh seale are thric{e} described. First by the sealing of the 144000 servants of God in their forheads to preserve them from the plagues wherewith the four winds were to hurt the earth & the sea &c at the sounding of the first four trumpets; & by the great multitude which appeared afterwards coming out of the great tribulation with palms in their hands. Secondly by the opening of the seventh seale & sounding of the first six Trumpets. And thirdly by the descent of an Angel with the Book of Prophesy opened in his hand & Iohn's prophesying again out of it concerning a second Temple which he describes by measuring the court of the Temple or separate place & the court of the Altar or Priests court, & the court of them that worship therein or the new Court called in the second Temple the weomens court: & his leaving the outward Court or Court of the people unmeasured because it is given to the gentiles during forty & two months or a thousand two hundred & sixty prophetic days which signify so many years, during all which time the two witness{es} were to prophesy in saccloth & smite the Earth with the plagues of the Trumpets

These Witnesses were called the two Candlesticks standing before God , that is two of the seven golden Candlesticks which had been placed in the first Temple, & were now placed in the second. That Temple stood till the Woman fled into the wilderness & the Dragon by the assistance of the two horned Beast made war upon the remnant of her seed, & by excommunication dissolved all their Churches for not receiving the mark & name & number of the Beast, & then a new Temple was built as is signified by the command to measure the Courts of the Temple & altar & them that worship therein & to leave out the outward Court & measure it not because it is given to the Gentiles. The outward Court is the outward form of religion & Church government. This was given to the Gentiles who received the mark & name & number of the Beast, & trode down the holy City forty & two months; & those that worship in the inward Court, the Court of sincerity & truth, are the 144000 who were sealed with the seale of God out of all the twelve Tribes of Israel, & stand on mount Sion & on the sea of glass with the name of God in their foreheads. And those among them who teach & testify the truth are represented by two of the seven Candlesticks remaining in the second Temple, as being propagated from the Churches of Smyrna & Philadelphia who suffered tribulation & kept the word of Gods patience. The other five churches of Asia were found faulty & threatned if they did not repent, but these two were without fault, & so were the only two Candlesticks fit to represent the 144000 which were without fault. And as the seven Candlesticks or Churches of Asia joyntly & severally were types of the whole Church Catholick & with their Lamps illuminated the whole during the times of the first Temple without dividing that whole Church into seven parts: so the two Candlesticks or two Churches of Asia were types of those that worshipped in the inward Court of the second Temple & illuminated them with their lamps during all the times of that Temple, without dividing them into two parts.

& have power ( like Elijah & Moses{)} to stop heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophesy & to turn the waters into blood & to smite the earth with all plagues, the plagues of the Trumpets & Vials of wrath. After this triple description of the times of the seventh Seal, the seventh Angel sounds, & when he begins to sound the mystery of God is finished as he hath declared by his servants the Prophets. For then the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of God & his Christ & he reigns thenceforward for ever & ever, & the dead are judged.

The Beasts & Elders therefore represent the primitive Christians of all nations, the worship of these Christians in their Churches is here represented under the form of worshipping God & the Lamb in the Temple, God for his benefaction of creating all things & the Lamb for his benefaction of redeeming us with his blood. God as sitting upon the Throne & living for ever & the Lamb as exalted above all for the merits of his death. And I heard saith Iohn the voice of many Angels – – – – – that liveth for ever & ever.

to make an Image to him, that is to assemble a body of men like him in point of religion. And he had power to give life & authority to the Image so that it could both speak and (by dictating) cause that all men should be killed, who would not worship it, that is, that all bodies ecclesiastical should be dissolved who would not venerate the authority & dictates of the Image. And he causeth all men to receive a mark

The Interpretation of this Prophesy begins with the opening of a door in heaven, & the vision of a woman representing the primitive Church Catholick & of a persecuting Dragon representing the heathen Roman Empire. And this Prophesy continues downwards till the servants of God are sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads & the rest receive the mark of the Beast, & further till the everlasting Gospel is preached to every nation & kindred & tongue & people by which the two witnesses ascend up to heaven in a cloud & become the palm-bearing multitude, & till great Babylon is fallen once & again, & till the patience of the saints in the great tribulation, & till the day of Iudgment represented by the harvest & vintage. Then the Prophet returns back to the vision of them that worshipped in the inner court of the temple & saw them standing there as it were on the sea of glass, having gotten the victory over the Beast & over his Image & over his mark & over the number of his name when all the rest received his mark in their foreheads. And then the seven Angells which had the seven last plagues pour out their Vialls of wrath which denote the same plagues with those of the Trumpets. For in both cases the first plague falls upon the earth the second upon the sea, the third upon the rivers & fountains of water, the fourth upon the sun, the fift upon those that had not the seal of God in their foreheads & upon the seat of the Beast, the sixt upon the great river Euphrates, & the seventh introduced the day of judgment. Then the Prophet returns back to the times next preceding the ascent of the Beast out of the abyss or sea & the rise of his ten horns & describes this Beast & his horns & the woman sitting upon him in the wilderness, & proceeds in the description till the day of judgment. These are the three parts of the Interpretation.

For understanding this Prophesy, the allusions which it hath to the Feast of the seventh month & to the worship of God in the Temple are also to be considered. On the first day of that month the High Priest dressed the lamps in the morning. And this is alluded in the first vision where the Son of man in the habit of the High Priest appears in the midst of the seven candlesticks with seven starrs in his right hand which are the seven lamps appearing like a rod of seven starrs as it were in his right hand while he dresses them. And this dressing he performs by sending seven Epistles to the Angels of the Seven Churches of Asia represented by the seven starrs, & by those Angels to their Churches represented by the Candlesticks. These Epistles contein admonitions against the approaching Apostacy & therefore relate to the state of the primitive Church when that Apostacy began to work strongly & before it prevailed. The visions at the opening of the first four seales relate only to the state of the Roman heathen Empire. So long the primitive Church continued in its purity, & then it began to want admonitions. And the Apostacy prevailed at the opening of the seventh seal.

After the Lamps were dressed, a Trumpet sounded to the morning sacrifice. And Iohn saw the door of the Temple opened, & standing at the eastern gate of the peoples court he {saw that} a throne was set videlicet the Mercy seat upon the Ark of the Testament respected by the Iews as the throne of God Exod 25.22. & Levit 16.2 & Num. 7.89. & Psal. 99.1. And he that sat on it was to look upon like Iasper & Sardine stone, that is of a Olive colour the Iews being of that colour And a rainbow was about the throne the embleme of glory & an argument that the sun shined then in the east. And round about the throne were four & twenty seats, the 24 chambers of the Princes of the Priests twelve on each side of the Priests Court; & upon the seats 24 Elders, sitting with crowns on their heads, the Princes of the 24 courses of the Priests. And out of the Throne proceeded lightnings & thundrings, the fire of the Altar at the morning sacrifice & the song of the Levites at the Eastern Gate of the Priests court appearing to Iohn like lightnings & thundrings proceeding from throne. And there were seven lamps burning in the Temple before the throne which are the seven spirits of God that is the Angels of the seven Churches of Asia. And before the throne was a sea of glass clear as Crystal, the brazen sea between the Porch of the temple & the altar filled with water cleer as crystal. And in the midst of the throne & round about the throne, were four Beasts full of eyes before & behind, that is one before the throne & one behind the throne appearing to Iohn as in the midst of the throne & one on either side to represent by the multitud{e} of their eyes the people standing in the four sides of the peoples Court. And the first Beast was like a Lion, & the second was like a calf, & the third had the face of a man & the fourth was like a flying Eagle. The

The Nicolaitans used weomen in common & coloured over their practi       ses by pretending the authority of Nicolas one of seven Deacons of the primitive       Church of Ierusalem Act. VI.5. But here they are put figuratively for the disciples of Tatian & Montanus who refined the opinions of the Gnosticks & coloured over their spiritual fornication with a pretence of Christianity & under that pretence crept silently into the Churches.

And when the Lam{b} had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And Iohn saw the seven Angels which stood before the throne (called the seven spirits of God & represented by the seven eyes of the Lamb) & to them were given seven trumpets. And another Angel (representing the High Priest) came & stood at the Altar having a golden Censer. And there was given him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden Altar which was before the throne. This relates to the solemnity on the tenth day of the month called the feast of expiation. The custome was on other days in the morning for one of the Priests to take fire from the Altar in a Silver Censer – – – – – – & therefore it is called much inccense. After this the Angel took the Censer & filled it with fire of the [great] Altar & cast it to the earth, that is, – – – – – drink offerings at those sacrifices.

In this Prophesy the festivals of the seventh month are alluded unto & the dressing of the Lamps & performing of the morning sacrifice hith{er}to described may be understood to be upon the morning of the first day of that month. Vpon the tenth day of this month the High Priest read the law of Moses to the people, & for this end he studied it seven days together videlicet upon the 3^d, 4^th, 5^t, 6^t, 7^th, 8^th, & 9^th. And in allusion to this practise the Lamb opens the seven seals of the book successively. And when he had opened the seventh seale there was silence for half an hour, the people praying silently without in the time of incense (Luke. 1. And an Angel
representing the High Priest, came & stood at the great Altar having a golden censer to take fire from thence. And there was given him much Incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden Altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended upon before God out of the Angels hand, that is out of the censer in his hand while he went into the most holy place And the Angel took the censer & filled it with fire of the Altar & cast it upon the earth, that is on the ground without the sanctuary for burning of the Bullock & Goat for the sin offering. Levit 16. 12, 13, 27. And there were voices & thundrings & lightnings & an earthquake; the voices & thundrings alluding to the singing of the Levites at the sacrifice, & the lightnings to the flame of the fire.

The day of Expiation was followed by the feast of the seventh month which began on the 115^th day of the month o{f} & this Feast was kept seven days together with great sacrifices, at which the Priests sounded their Trumpets & the Levites sang with loud voices & played upon musicall instruments. And in allusion to this, seven Angels sound their Trumpets & seven thunders utter their voices at seven great warrs considered as sacrifices.

But it is to be observed that the times between the opening of the seventh Seal & the sounding of the seventh Trumpet are described four times & the descriptions begin with the words And after these things, that is after the visions of the sixt seal. First by the sealing of 144000 out of all the tribes of Israel & by the palm bearing multitude appearing with palm branches in their hand; Secondly by the sounding of six of the Trumpets; Thirdly by the seven thunders uttering their voices & by a declaration that when the seventh Angel should begin to sound the mystery of God should be finished. & fourthly by measuring the Temple & Altar & them that dwell therein & giving power to the two witnesses to prophesy till the sounding of the seventh Trumpet should sound. The first begins with the words And after these thing{s} that is after the visions of the first six seals. Iohn adds. And after these things I saw four Angels stand on the four corners of the Earth holding the four winds that they should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree, that is, the Angels of the first four Trumpets which preceded the wo-trumpets And the four Angels who were to sound those Trumpets were commanded that they should not hurt the earth & the sea & trees till the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads. This se{a}ling therefore was performed when the Angels of the Trumpets upo{n the} opening of the seventh seale appeared with their Trumpets & ready to sound so soon as the servants of God were sealed. This sealing of 144000 out of the twelve Tribes of Israel & leaving all the rest unsealed signifies the same thing with measuring the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein & leaving out the court which is without the Temple. And therefore these two visions are contemporary to one another & commence at the same time with the opening of the seventh seale.

Now the measuring of the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein & leaving the outward Court unmeasured signifies the building of a new Temple without a outward Court, & therefore the times of the second Temple begins with the opening of the seventh seal. In this Temple were only two Candlesticks supplied with oyle by two Olive trees, & these are called the two witnesses. In the first Temple were seven golden candlesticks representing the seven Churches of Asia. Five of these in the Epistles to the seven Churches were found fault with & exhorted to repent. These were laid aside & only the other two which were blameless & in a state of persecution affliction & poverty were propagated down into the second Temple.

After these things the seventh Angel sounded & the time of the dead came that they should be judged. And thus ended the prophesy of the seals & Trumpets. But as in Daniel every Vision {it}{that}{if} is followed with an interpretation: so here in Iohn all this Prophesy is repeated by way of interpretation. And the Interpretation begins with these words And the Temple of God was opened in heaven & there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his Testament. By the Ark you may know that this was the first Temple In this Temple appeared a Woman cloathed with the sun representing the primitive Church & a great red Dragon representing the old Roman heathen Empire. And she brought forth a Man-child representing the first Christian Empire of the Romans that was erected by the victorys of Constantine the great over Maxentius & Maximinus [& the Dragon or heathen Empire was cast out of heaven by the fall of Licinius, & coming down among the common people] And at length a two-horned Beast rising out of the Earth or Greek Empire put an end to the times of the first Temple by causing them that dwell on the earth to make an image to the Beast which caused as many as would not worship it should be killed & by causing all men to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead & that no man might buy & sell save he that had the mark or name of the Beast. And then those who are excommunicated for not receiving the mark stand on mount Sion with Lamb to the number of 144000. Then follows the preaching of the gospel to all nations spoken of in Matthew 24.14. And then the double fall of Babylon is proclaimed & succeeded by the harvest & vintage at the end of the world.

Then the Prophet returns back to the time of opening the seventh seal, & sees those that get the victory over the Beast & his image & mark stand on the sea of glass, that is, the 144000 who stood on Mount Sion with the Lamb & who were sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel. These are they who worshipped in the second Temple & were measured there & represented by the two candlesticks & called the two witnesses. And while these stand on the sea of glass, seven Angels pour out seven Vialls of wrath which are the drink offerings to the seven sacrifices at which the seven Trumpets sounded & the seven thunders uttered their voices.

And then the Prophet returns back to the time of the sixt seal when five of the heads were fallen & the sixt was & describes the reign of the Woman upon her Beast untill the double fall of Babylon, & then goes on to the resurrection of the just called the first resurrection & represented before by the harvest, & further unto the general resurrection represen{illeg}ted before by the vintage.

^{[Editorial Note 2]}But first there are 144000 sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel For when the visions of the first six seales were described, Iohn adds: And after these things I saw four Angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree till the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads. These are the Angels of the first four Trumpets which preceded the Wo-trumpets & And therefore this sealing was when the Angels of the Trumpets appeared upon opening of the seventh seal & stood ready to sound so soon as the servants of God should be sealed This sealing of 144000 out of all the twelve Tribes of Israel & leaving the rest unsealed answer to the measuring of the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein & leaving the outward Court unmeasured

^{[Editorial Note 3]}After the first six seales were opened & their visions described Iohn begins a new scene of things with these words: And after these things I saw four Angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth nor on the sea nor on any tree till the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads. And then he Subjoyns a fourfold description of the times which followed the affairs of the sixt seal. The first is by the sealing 144000 with the seale of God out of all the twelve Tribes of Israel. This sealing was performed before the hurting of the earth & trees at the sounding of the first Trumpet & of the sea at the sounding of the second. And people sealed continued while the Trumpets sounded untill the Palmbearing multitude appeared in the great Hosannah which was on the seventh day of this feast.

The second was by opening the seventh seal & sounding the first six Trumpets.

The third was by the seven Thunders uttering their voices, & a declaration that when the seventh Angel should begin to sound the mystery of God C{ouc}hed in the seven thunders should be finished.

And the fourth was by measuring the Temple & Altar & them that worship therin, that is their courts & giving power to the two witnesses to prophesy. For the measuring of the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein & leaving the outward court unmeasured for the Gentiles signifies the same thing with sealing the 144000 out of all Israel with the seal of God leaving the rest to receive the mark of the Babylonian Beast. ^{[Editorial Note 4]} those that are sealed & worship in this Temple being one & the same with the two witnesses.

Now the measuring the Temple & Altar & them that dwell therein is a type of building a new Temple & this is the second Temple because the outward Court is omitted. And therefore the times of the second Temple commenc{e} with the opening of the seventh seal.

^{[Editorial Note 5]}In this Temple the actions between the primitive Church represented by a Woman & the heathen Roman Empire are described untill the Empire becomes divided & a tenhorned Beast rises out of the Sea to represent the western Empire, & a two-horned Beast out of the Earth to represent the Eastern Church, & all men are killed who will not worship the image of the Beast. This puts an end to the times of the first Temple & beginns the times of the second. Then all men receive the mark or name of the Beast except the 144000 who are sealed with the name of God in their fore{}{}heads & then stand on mount Sion with the Lamb. Then follows the preaching of the Gospel to all nations spoken of in Matthews Gospel chap. 2{4.}14. And then the double fall of Babylon is proclaimed. And then follows the harvest & vintage at the day of Iudgement.

Vpon the tenth day of the month a young bullock was offered for a sin offering for the High Priest & a goat for the sins of the people. & lots were cast upon two Goats to determin which of them should be Gods lot for the sin offering, & the other Goat was called Azazel the scape Goat. And the High Priest in his linnen garments, took a censer full of burning coales of fire from the golden Altar & his hands full of sweet incense beaten small & went into the most holy place within the veil, & put the incense upon the fire & sprinkled the blood of the bullock with his finger upon the mercy seat & before the mercy seat seven times: & then killed the Goat which fell to Gods lot for a sin offering & brought his blood within the veile & sprinkled it also seven times upon the mercy seat & before the mercy seat. And the he went out to the {A}ltar & sprinkled it also seven times with the blood of the bullock & as often with the blood of the Goat. And after this he laid both his hands upon the head of the scape Goat & confessed over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel & all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the Goat & sent him into the wilderness by the hands of a fit man & the Goat carried with him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited. Levit. XVI, & IV. And while the High Priest was doing these things in the most holy place & at the altar the people continued in silence at their devotion. Then the high priest went into the holy place & put off his linnen garments & put on other garments, & sent the bullock & the Goat of the sin offering to be burnt without the camp with fire taken in a Censer from the Alt{a}r. And as the people went home from the temple they said to one another, God seal you to a good new year. And in allusion to all this, upon opening of the seventh seale there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And an Angel stood at the Altar having a golden Censer, & there was given him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended up before God (in the most holy place) out of the Angels hand. And the Angel took the Censer & filled it with fire of the altar & cast to the earth (without the camp for sacrifi{s}{c}ing the Goat which fell to Gods lot.) For the high priest being Christ himself the bullock is omitted And at this sacrifice there were voices & thundrings (of the music of the temple) & lightnings (of the sacred fire) & an earthquake. And synchronal to these things was the sealing of 144000 out of all the twelve tribes of Israel with the seal of God in their forheads while the rest of the twelve tribes received the mark of the Beast & the Woman fled from the Temple into the wilderness to her place upon his back. As is represented by casting lots upon the two Goats, sacrificing Gods lot, & sending the scapegoat <5r> into the wilderness loaden with the sins of the people

Vpon the fifteenth day of the month, & the six following days there were very great sacrifices — — — — — into seven successive parts. The seven days of this feast were called the feast of Tabernacles & during these seven days the children of Israel dwelt in booths & rejoyced with palm branches in their hands. And to this alludes the multitude with palms in their hands which appeared after the sealing of the 144000, & came out of the great tribulation with triumph at the battel of the great day to which the seventh Trumpet sounds.

In the interpretation of this prophesy the woman in heaven cloathed with the sun — — — — — — — — — — & other idolatrous churches.

When by the flight of the woman & the warr which the Dragon went to make upon the remnant of her seed, the 144000 are sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel & the rest receive the mark of the beast & thereby the first temple is destroyed, Iohn is bidden to measure the temple & the Altar (that is their courts) & them that worship therein (which wewere the 144000 on mount Zion & upon the sea of glass) but the court that is without the temple (the peoples court.) to leave out & measure it not because it is given to the gentiles (those that receive the mark of the beast) & the holy city they shall tread under foot forty & two months (videlicet all the time that the Beast makes warr & that the woman sitts upon his back.) And the two witnesses prophesy 1260 days (that is all the same time) cloathed in sackcloth. These have power (like Elijah ) to shut heaven that it reign not (at the sounding of the first trumpet ,) & to turn the waters into blood (at the sounding of the second) & to smite the earth with all plagues (those of the trumpets) as often as they will These prophesied at the building of the second temple like Haggai & Zechary These are the two Olive trees (or churches which supplied the lamps with oyle Zech. IV. These are the two Candlesticks or Churches standing before the God of the earth. Five of the seven churches of Asia (those in prosperity) are found fault with & exhorted to repent — — — — — — in all places & times to the end of this prophesy.      ^[1]

The vision therefore of the 144000 & of the palmbearing multitude extends to the sounding of the seventh trumpet & therefore is synchronal to the times of the seventh seale.
— out of the twelve tribes, became the two witnesses in opposition to those two fals churches, & the name of two witnesses once imposed remains to the true church of God in all times & places to the end of the prophesy.