3rSect.
VX.
Of the relation which the Prophesy of Iohn
hath to the Book of the Law of Moses &
to the
worship
of God in the Temple
The Festivals of the Iews prescribed in their seventh month prescribed
by the Book of the Law were shadows of things to come, & that of the
seventh month is much alluded unto the Apocalyps.
On the first day of that month the High Priest dressed the Lamps
in the morning. And this is alluded unto in the first Vision where the Son of
man in the habit of the High Priest appears as it were in the midst in
(that is or over against) the midst of the seven candlesticks with seven
starrs in his right hand, wchwhich 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 is performed by sending seven Epistles to the
Angels of the seven Churches of Asia represented by the seven starrs, & by
those Angels to the seven Churches represented by the seven Candle
sicks. These Epistles contein admonitions against the approaching
Apostacy, & therefore relate to the times when that Apostacy began
to work strongly & before it prevailed. It began to work in the Apostles
days, & was to work till the Man of Sin should be revealed: but it
was sometime before it began to put the Church in danger. The
visions at the opening of the first four seals relate only to the state
of the heathen Roman Empire & so long the primitive Church continued
in its purity. Then it began Her affairs began to be considered at the opening of the fift seal, & then she began to decline & to to want admonitions, & the Apostacy pre
vailed at the opening of the seventh Seal. Whence the admonitions in these ☉☉ seven Epistles
seals. The seven Angels to whom those Epistles were sent answer to the seven
Amarcelim who were Priests & chief Officers of the Temple & had joynlly
the keys of the gates of the Temple & those also of the Treasuries, & the
direction appointment & oversight of all things in the Temple.
After the Lamps were dressed Iohn he saw the door of the Temple
opened & by the voice as it were of a Trumpet was called up to the
eastern gate of the eastern great Court to see the visions as behold a
throne was set, vizt the Mercy seat upon the Ark of the Testament
wchwhich the Iews respected as the Throne of God between the Cherubims
Exod. 25. 2. Psal. 99. 1. And he that sat on it was to look upon like
Iasper & Sardine stone, that is of an olive colour, the Iews people
of Iudea being of that colour. And (the Sun being then in the east)
a rainbow was about the throne, the embleme of glory. And round
about the throne were four & twenty seats: the chambers of the
the four & twenty Princes of the Priests, twelve on the south side
& twelve on the north side of the Priests Court. And upon the
seats were four & twenty elders sitting with crowns on their heads
the P cloathed in white rainment with crowns on their heads.
the Princes of the 24 courses of the Priests cloathed in linnen. And
out of the throne proceeded lightnings & thunderings; 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 & thunderings proceeding from the throne. And
there were seven lamps of fire burning in the temple before
the throne, which are the seven spirits of God represented in the beginning of this prophesy by seven starrs.. And before the
throne was a sea of glass clear as crystall; the brazen sea
between the Porch of the Temple & the Altar filled with
water cleer as crystall. And in the midst of the Throne &
round about the Throne were four Beasts full of eyes before
& behind; that is, one Beast before the throne & one behind it appear
ing to Iohn as in the midst of the throne, & one on either side
of it in this crest about it, to represent by the multitude 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
people of Israel encamped in the wilderness encamped round about the Tabernacle4r Tabernacle. On the east side were three tribes under the
standard of Iudah, on the west were three tribes under the
standard of Ephraim, on the south werwere three tribes under the standard of of Reuben, & on the north were three tribes under
the standard of of Ephraim of Dan. Num. 2. And the standard of Iudah was
a Lion, that of Ephraim an Ox, that of Reuben a man, & that of
Dan an Eagle as the Iews affirm. Whence were framed
the hieroglyphicks of Cherubims & Seraphims to represent
the people of Israel. A Cherubim had one body with four
faces, the faces of a Lion, Ox, Man & Eagle looking to the
four winds of heaven without turning about, as in Ezekiels
Vision. And four Seraphims had four faces the same four faces
with four bodies, one face to every body. The four Beasts
are therefore four Seraphims standing on the four sides
of the peoples court, the first in the eastern side in with the
form head of a Lion, the second in the western side with with the form head head
of an Ox, the third in the southern side with with the head head of
a Man & the fourth on the northern side with with the head head of
an Eagle; & all four signify all the twelve tribes of Israel
out of which the hundred forty & four thousand were
sealed. Apoc. 7. 4. And the four Beasts had each of them six wings
as in Isaiah's Vision, ch. 6. two to a tribe, in all twenty & four wings
answering to the twenty & four stations of the people. And they
were full of eyes within, or under their wings. And they rest not
day & night (or at the morning & evening sacrifices) saying
Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty wchwhich was & is & is to come. These
animals are therefore the Seraphims wchwhich appeared to Isaiah in
a Vision like this of the Apocalyps,
the Lord sat upon a throne in the Temple, & the Seraphims each
with six wings cried Holy, holy, holy Lord of hosts. And when those
animals give glory & honour & thanks to him that sitteth upon
the throne, who liveth for ever & ever, the four & twenty Elders [go into the Temple
&
fall down & worship before him that sat on the throne, & worship
him that liveth for ever & ever, & cast their crowns before the throne
saying Thou art worthy o Lord to receive glory & honour & power:
for thou hast created all things, & for thy pleasure they are & were created.
At the morning & evening sacrifices, so soon as the sacrifice was
laid upon the Altar, & the drink offering began to be poured
out, the trumpets sounded & the Levites sang by courses three times,
& every time when the trumpets sounded the people fell down &
worshipped. Three times therefore did the people worship, to express
which number the Beasts cry Holy, holy, holy. And the song being
ended the people prayed standing till the solemnity was ended. And
in the mean time the Priests went into the Temple, & there fell
down before him that sat upon the throne, & worshipped.
And Iohn saw in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne, a
book written within & on the backside, the prophetic book of the Law laid
laid up in the right side of the Ark, which by the festival of the seventh
month predicted these things. It was written within wthwith a prophesy & on
the backside wthwith an interpretation of that prophesy. As Daniels Visions
consisted of two parts, a Prophesy & an Interpretation thereof so doth
Iohn's. The writing within was seen within at the opening of the seals & that on the backside when all the seals were opened & the book unfolded, & the last leaf turned over. And the Book was sealed with seven seals, which none was
found worthy to open but the Lamb of God. And lo in the midst of the
throne & of the four Beasts & in the midst of the Elders, that is
at the foot of the Altar, stood a Lamb as it had been slain
[the morning sacrifice] having seven horns [wchwhich are the seven
Churches] and seven eyes wchwhich are the seven spirits of God sent
forth into all the earth. And the Lamb came & took the book out
of the hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had
taken the book, the four Beasts & four & twenty Elders fell down before5r before the Lamb having every one of them Harps & Vials
full of odours which are prayers of the Saints. And they sung
a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the book & open
the seals thereof: for thou wast slain & hast redeemed us with
thy blood to God wit by thy blood out of every kindred & tongue &
nation & people & nation, & hast made us to unto our God kings &
priests & we shall reign oner the earth. 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 round about the throne & the Beasts & the Elders,
& the numbers of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and
thousands of thousands; saying with a loud viocevoice, Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain to receive power, & wisdome, & riches, & strength,
& honour & glory & blessing. And every creature which is in hea
ven & on the earth & under the earth & in the sea such as are
in the sea & all that are in them heard I saying, Blessing & honour
& glory & power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne & unto the
Lamb for ever & ever. And the four Beasts said Amen. And the
four & twenty Elders fell down & worshipped him that liveth for
ever & ever. This was the worship of the primitive Christians.
It was the custome for the High Priest seven days before
the Fast of the seventh month to continue continue constantly
in the Temple & study the book of the Law that he might be
perfect in it against the day of Expiation, wherein the service
wchwhich was various & intricate was wholy to be performed by himself; part
of wchwhich service was reading of the Law to the people. And to promote
his studying it, there were certain Priests appointed by the Sanhedrim
to be with him those seven days in one of his chambers in the Temple
& there to discourse with him about the Law & read it to him & put him
in mind of reading & studying it himself. And this his opening & reading
the Law those seven days is alluded unto in the Lambs opening the
seven seals. Conceive that those seven days begin in the evening before each day, for
the Iews began
their day in the
evening, & that
& that the solemnity of the Fast begins in the morning of the
seventh day.
It was t
The seventh Seal was therefore opened on the day of Expiation
& then there was silence in heaven for half an hour, And an Angel
(the High Priest) 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.
The custome was on other days for one of the Priests to take
fire from the great Altar in a silver Censer but on this day
for the High Priest to take fire from the great Altar in a Golden
Censer; and when he was come down from the great Altar, he
took incense from one of the Priests that brought it to him, &
went with it to the golden Altar: & while he offered the
incense the people prayed without in silence, which is the
silence in heaven for half an hour. And when the High Priest
had laid the incense on the Altar, he carried a Censer of it
burning in his hand, into the most holy place before the Ark. And
the smoke of the incense with the prayers of the saints ascended
up before God out of the Angels hand. On Other days there was a
certain measure of incense for the golden Altar: on this day
there was a greater measure quantity for both the Altar & the
most Holy, & therefore it is called much incense. After this the Angel6r Angel took the Censer & filled it with fire of (great)
Altar & cast it to the earth, that is, by the hands of the Priests
who belong to his mystical body he cast it to the earth without
the Temple for burning the Goat which was the Lords Lot. And
at this & other concomitant sacrifices untill the evening sacri
fice was ended, there were voices & thundrings & lightnings &
an earthquake; that is, the voices of the High Priest reading
the Law to the people, & other voices & thundrings of the
trumpets & temple musick at the sacrifices, & lightnings of
the fire of the Altar
The solemnity of the day of Expiation being finished the
seven Angels sound their Trumpets at the great sacrifices of the
seven days of the feast of the Tabernacles, & at the same sacrifices the
seven Thunders utter their voices, wchwhich are the Music of the Temple
& singing of the Levites intermixed with the sounding of the Trum
pets, & the seven Angels pour out their Viols of Wrath, which
are the drink-offerings of those sacrifices.
When six of the Seals were opened, Iohn said, And after
these things, (that is, after the visions of the sixt Seal) 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. And I saw another Angel ascending
from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a
loud voice to the four Angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth
& the sea, saying with a loud voi Hurt not the earth nor the sea
nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of orour God in their
foreheads. This sealing alludes to a tradition of the Iews that upon
the day of Expiation all the people of Israel are sealed are
sealed up in the books of life & death. For the Iews in their
Talmud tell us that in the beginning of every new year, or first Buxtort in
Synagoga Iudai
ca, c. 18, 21.
day of the month Tisri (the seventh month of the sacred year) three
books are opened in judgment; the book of life in wchwhich the names
of those are written who are perfectly just, the book of death in
which the names of those are written who are Atheists or very
wicked, & a third book of those whose judgment is suspended till
the day of expiation, & whose names are not written in the
book of life or death before that day. The first ten days of this
month they call the penitential days, & all those days they
fast & pray very much, & are very devout, that on the tenth
day their sins may be remitted & their names may be written
in the book of life, wchwhich day is therefore called the day of
Expiation. And upon this tenth day in returning home from
their Synagogues they say one to another, God the creator seal
you to a good year. For they conceive that the books are
now sealed up, & that the sentence of God remains unchanged
henceforward to the end of the year. And the same thing is
signified by the two Goats upon whose foreheads the High
Priest yearly in the days of Expiation lays the two lots inscribed
For God & For Azazel, Gods lot signifying the people who
are sealed with the name of God in their foreheads, & the lot
Azazel those who which was sent into the wilderness, representing
those who receive the mark & name of the Beast & go with into the
wilderness with the great Whore & her Beast.
The servants of God being therefore sealed in the day of Expi
ation, conceive that this sealing is synchronal to the visions which ap
pear upon opening the seventh seal, & that the Angels which
hold the four winds were the first four of the seven Angels which
stood before God upon opening the seventh seal were seen standing
before God; & that upon their holding the blustering noisy winds there
was silence in heaven for half an hour during the offering of incense; & that while the servants of God
were sealing, the Angel with the golden Censer offered their prayers wthwith
incense upon the golden Altar & read the Law: & that so soon as they were sealed the winds7r the winds hurt the earth at the sounding of the first Trumpet & the
Sea at sounding of the second, these winds being the wars to which the first
four Trumpets sounded. For as the first four Seals are distinguished from the
three last by the appearance of four horsemen towards the four winds of hea
ven, so the warrs of the first four Trumpets are distinguished from those of the
three last by representing these by four winds & the others by three great
Woes.
In one of Ezekiels Visions when the Babylonian captivity
was at hand, six men appeared with slaughter weapons, & a seventh
who appeared among them cloathed in white linnen & had a
writers ink horn by his side, is commanded to go through the midst
of Ierusalem & set a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh
& cry for all the abominations done in the midst thereof; & then
the six men (like the Angels of the first six Trumpets) are com
manded to slay those men who are not marked. & Conceive therefore
that the hundred & forty four thousand are sealed to preserve them
from the plagues of the first six Trumpets; & that at length by the
preaching of the everlasting gospel to all nations they grow into a great multitude, &
at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet come out of the great
tribulation with Palms in their hands: the kingdoms of this world
by the war to wchwhich that Trumpet sounds becoming the kingdoms
of God & Christ. For the solemnity of the great Hosannah was
kept by the Iews pon the seventh or last day of the Feast of
Tabernacles: the Iews upon that day carrying Palm-branches
in their hands, & crying Hosannah.
After six of the Angels with slaughter weapons (answer
ing to six of the six men with slaughter weapons) had sounded
their Trumpets, the Lamb in the form of a mighty Angel, came
down from heaven cloathed with a cload, & a rainbow upon his
head, & his face was as it were the sun & his feet as pillars
of fire [the shape in wchwhich Christ appeared in the beginning
of this Prophesy,] & he had in his hand a little Book open; the
Book wchwhich he had newly opened. For he received but one Book
from him that sitteth upon the throne, & he alone was worthy
to open & look on this Book. The writing was seen at the
The book was written within & on the backside, & the writing was seen
within at the opening of the seals, & the book being now opened &
unfolded the writing became visible also on the backside being com
posed of synchronal Prophesies.And he set his right foot on the
sea & his left foot on the earth & cryed with a loud voice
as when a Lyon roareth. It was the custome for the High-
Priest on the day of Expiation to stand in an elevated place
in the peoples court at the eastern gate of the Priests court
& read the law to the people while the Heifer & the Goat
wchwhich was the Lord's lot, were burning without the Temple.
Conceive him standing in such a manner that his right foot
might appear to Iohn as it were standing on the sea of
glass, & his left foot on the ground of the House: & that
he cried with a loud voice in reading the Law in the day
of Expiation. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered
their voices. Thunders are the voice of a cloud, & a cloud signifies
a multitude, & this multitude may be the Levites who sang with
thundering voices & plaid with musical instruments at the great
sacrifices on the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles: at which
times the Trumpets also sounded. For the Trumpets sounded & the
Levites sang alternately three times at every sacrifice. And
therefore the prophesy of the seven thunders is nothing else then
a repetition of the prophesy of the seven Trumpets in another
form. And the Angel wchwhich I saw stand upon the sea & upon the
earth, lifted up his hand to heaven & swore by him that liveth
for ever & ever that [after the seven thunders] the mystery of God should
be finished there should be time no longer, but in the days of the voice
of the seventh Angel when he should begin to sound, the mystery of
God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets. The voices8r The voices of the Thunders therefore last to the end of this world
& so do those of the seven Trumpets.
And the voice which I heard from heaven, saith Iohn,
spoke to me again & said Go & Take the little book &c And
I took the little book out of the Angels hand & ate it up, &
it was sweet in my mouth sweet as honey, & as soon as I had
eaten it my belly was bitter. And he said unto me, Thou must
prophesy again before many peoples & nations & tongues & kings.
This is an Introduction to a new prophesy, to a repetition of
the prophesy of the whole book, & alludes to Ezekiels eating a
a roll or book spread open before him & written within & without
& full of lamentations & mourning & wo, but sweet in his mouth.
Eating & drinking signify acquiring & possessing, So eating
flesh is put for acquiring riches Dan. 7. 5, 23. Eating Christs flesh
& drinking his blood for beleiving on him & receiving his doctrine
(Iohn 6) & the heaven of the Pharis & eating the Book is
becoming inspired with the prophesy conteined in it. It in
plies being inspired in a vigorous & extraordinary manner
with the prophesy conteined in it. It implies a being inspired
of the whole book, & therefore signifies a lively repetition
of the whole prophesy by way of interpretation, & beginns
not till the first Prophesy, that of the Seals & Trumpets is
ended. It was sweet in Iohn's mouth, & therefore begins not
with the bitter prophesy of the Babylonian captivity, & the
Gentiles being in the outward court of the Temple & treading
the holy city under foot, & the prophesying of the two Witnesses
in sackcloth, & their smiting the earth with all plagues &
being killed by the Beast: but so soon as the prophesy of the
Trumpets is ended, it beginns with the sweet prophesy of the
glorious Woman in heaven, & the victory of Michael over
the Dragon; & after that, it is bitter in Iohn's belly by a
large description of the times of the great Apostacy.
And the Angel stood [upon the earth & sea] saying, Rise, mea
sure and measure the Temple of God & the Altar & them that
worship therein, that is, their courts with the buildings thereon,
vizt the square Court of the Temple called the Separate place,
& the square Court of the Altar called the Priests Court, & the
Court of them that worship in the Temple called the new Court:
but the [great] Court which is without the Temple, leave out
& measure it not, for it is given to the Gentiles, and the Holy
City shall they tread under foot forty & two months. This mea
suring hath reference to Ezekiels measuring the Temple of Solo
mon to That The signify that is should be rebuilt in the latter day. But the whole There
the whole Temple was measured to signify that it should be re
built in the latter days: Here the courts of the Temple & Altar &
them that worship therein are only measured to signify the
building of a second Temple for those that only that are sealed
out of all the twelve tribes of Israel & worship in the inward
Court of sincerity & truth: & Iohn is commanded to leave leaveng out the outward Court
or outward form of religion & Church Government because
it is given to the Babylonian gentiles. For the glorious
Woman in heaven, the remnant of whose seed kept the com
mandments of God & had the testimony of Iesus, continued
the same Woman in outward form after her flight into the
wilderness whereby she quitted her former sincerity &
piety & quitted became the great Whore. she lost her chastity but not her outward beauty form & beauty shave. And while the Gentiles
trode the holy city under foot, & worshipped in the outward
Court, the two Witnesses (represented perhaps by the two feet
of the Angel standing on the sea &
with fire proceeding out of their mouth, & 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 as often as
they will, that is, with the plagues of the seven trumpets & Vialls
of wrath; & at length are slain rise again from the dead
& ascend up to heaven in a cloud; & then the seventh
Trumpet sounds to the day of judgment.
The Prophesy being finished Iohn is inspired anew by
the eaten book, & begins the Interpretation thereof with
the words, And the Temple of God was opened in heaven
& there was seen in his Temple the Ark of the Testament: By the ark you may
know that this
was the first
Temple for the
second Temple
had no Ark. And
there were light
nings & voices &
thundrings & an
earthquake & great
hail. These answer
to the wars in the
Roman Empire
during the reign of
the four horsmen
who appeared
upon opening
the first four
seals. And there
appeared a great
wonder in heaven,
A Woman cloath
ed with the Sun
In the Prophesy the affairs of the Church begin to be describ
ed at the opening of the fift Seal, & in the Interpretation the affairs of the Church beings
at the same time with the Vision of the Church in the
form of a Woman in heaven. There she is persecuted &
here she is pained in travel. The Interpretation proceeds down to
the day of judgment represented by a harvest & vintage &
then returns back to the to the sealing of the servants of God & marking the rest wthwith the mark of the Beast & then it proceeds down to day of judgment times of measuring
times of opening the seventh seal & interprets the prophesy
of the seven Trumpets by the pouring out of seven Vials of
wrath. And the Angels wchwhich pour them out, come out of the Temple of the
Tabernacle; that is, out of the second Temple; for the Tabernacle
had no outward Court. ‖ Then it returns back again to the times of mea
suring the Temple & Altar & of the Gentiles worshipping
in the outward Court & the Beast killing the Witnesses in
the street of the great City, & interprets those things by
the vision of a Woman sitting on the Beast drunken with
the blood of Saints, & proceeds in the interpretation, down
wards to the fall of the great City & the day of judgment.
‖ The whole Prophesy of the book of the Law is therefore
repeated & interpreted in these Visions which follow those of
sounding of the seventh Trumpet, & begin with that of the
Temple of God opened in heaven. Only the voices of things wchwhich the seven
Thunders uttered were not written down, & therefore not interpreted.
11r
Sect. X
Of the relation which the Prophesy
of Iohn hath to those of Daniel
and of the Subject of the
Prophesy.
The whole scene of Sacred Prophesy is composed of three
principal parts; the regions beyond Euphrates represented by the
two first Beasts of Daniel; the Empire of the Greeks on this
side of Euphrates represented by the Leopard & by the He Goat, &
the Empire of the Latines on this side Greece represented by the
Beast with ten horns. And to these three parts the phrases of the
thir part of the Earth, Sea, rivers, trees, ships, stars, sun & Moon
relate. I place the body of the fourth Beast on this side Greece
because the three first Beasts of the four Beasts had their lives prolonged after
their dominion was taken away & therefore belong not to the body
of the fourth. He only stamped them with he feet.
By the Earth the Iews understood the great continent of
Asia & Afric to which they had access by land; & by the Isles
of the Sea they under the places to which they sailed by sea
& particularly all Europe. And hence in this Prophesy the Earth
& Sea are put for the nations of the Greek & Latin Empires
The third & fourth Beast of Daniel are the same wthwith
with the Dragon & ten horned Beast of Iohn, but with this
difference. Iohn puts the Dragon for the whole Roman
Empire while it continued entire because it was entire
when that Prophesy was given; & the Beast he considers not till
the Empire became divided; & then he puts the Dragon for
the Empire of the Greeks & the Beast for the Empire of the
Latines. And hence it is that the Dragon hath crowns upon his heads
& not upon his horns & Beast have common heads & common horns
But the Dragon hath crowns only upon his heads & the Beast
only upon his horns, because the Beasts Horns & his reigned not before
they were divided from the Dragon, & when the Dragon gave
the Beast his throne, the ten horns received power as kings
the same hour with the Beast. The heads are seven successive
kings. Four of them were the four horsmen wchwhich appeared at
the opening of the first four Seals. In the latter end of the
sixt head or seale considered as present in the visions, it is
said, Five of the seven kings are fallen, & one is & another
(being wounded
to death with a sword) he is the eighth & of the seven. He
was therefore a collateral part of the seventh. The horns
are the same with those of Daniels fourth Beast described
above.
The four horsmen which appear at the opening of the first four
seales have been well explained by Mr Mead, excepting that
I had rather continue the third to the end of the reign of the
the three Gordians & Philip the Arabian, those being kings from the
south, & begin the fourth with the reign of Decius & continue it till
the reign of Dioclesian. For the fourth horsman sat upon
a pale horse, & his name was Death & Hell followed with him
& power was given them over to kill unto the fourth part of
the earth, with the sword & with hunger famine & with the plague
& with the Beasts of the earth or armies of invaders & rebells: & such11r such were the times during all this intervall. Hitherto the Roman
Empire continued in an undivided Monarchical form exept rebelli
ons; & such it is represented by the four horsmen. But Dioclsi
an divided it between himself & Maximianus, A. C. 285. & it continued it
in that state divided state till the victory of Constantine the
great over Licinius A. C. 323. which put an end to the heathen perse
cutions set on foot by Constatntine the great Dioclesian & Maxi
mianus & described at the opening of the fift seal. But this
division of the Empire was imperfect: the whole being still
under one & the same Senate. The same victory of Con
stantine over Licinius be (a heathen persecutor,) began the
fall of the heathen Empire described at the opening of the Sixt
seal. And the Visions of this Seal continue till after the reign
of Iulian the Apostate, he being a heathen Emperor & reign
ing over the whole Em Roman Empire.
The affairs of the Church being to be considered at
the opening of the fift Seal as was said above. And then
she is represented by a Woman in the Temple of heaven
clothed with the Sun of righteousness & the Moon of Iewish
ceremonies under her feet, upon her head & a crown of twelve starrs (the
relating to the twelve tribes of Israel, & to the twelve Apostles. under her feet. When she fled from the Temple into the
wilderness she left in the Temple a remnant of her seed who kept the
commandments of God & had the testimony of Iesus, & there
fore before her flight she represented the true primitive Church of God at her
first appearance tho afterwards she degenerated like Ahe
lah & Aholibah. In Dioclesians persecution she cried
travelling in birth & pained to be delivered. And in the end
of that persecution (by the victory of Constantine A. C. 312 over Maxentius A. C. 312) she brought forth a manchild, such a
child as was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, a Chris
tian Empire. And her child (by the victory of Constan
tine the great comes over Lacinus A. C. 323) was caught up to
God & his throne. And the Woman (by the division of
the Roman Empire into the Greek & Latine Empires)
fled from the Dragon Temple into the wilderness of the Latine Empire
where she is found afterwards sitting upon the Beast & upon
seven mountains & is called the great city wchwhich reigneth
over the kings of the earth, that is over the ten kings wchwhich give
their kingdom to her Beast.
But before her flight there was war in heaven between
Michael & the Dragon (the Christian & the heathen religions,)
& the Dragon that old serpent called the Devil & Satan
who deceiveth the whole world (the heathen religion) was
cast out to the earth, & his Angels were cast out with
him. And Iohn heard a voice in heaven saying, Now is
come salvation & strength & the kingdom of orour God, & the
power of his Christ. For the accuser of our brethren is
cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb & by the word of their testimony. And they loved not
their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoyce ye heavens & ye
that dwell in them. Wo be to the inhabiters of the Earth &
sea (or people of the Greek & Latine Empires,) fore the
Devil is come down amongst you having great wrath
because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
And when the Dragon saw that he was cast downfrom
the Roman throne, & the Man-child caught up thither, he persecuted the Woman which brought
forth the Man-child, & to her (by the division of the Roman
Empire between the sons of Constantine the great reigning
cities of Rome & Constantinople A. C. 330) were given two wings of a great
Eagle (the symbol of the Roman Empire) that she might fly from the Temple
into the wilderness of Arabia to her place upon teh Beast. at Babylon mystically so called. And at the same
time the Serpent (by the same division ☉☉ there of the same Empire between the sons of Constantine the great, A. C. 337)) cast out out of his mouth waters as a flood13r flood (the Western Empire) after the Woman that he might cause
her to be carried away by the flood. – And the Earth (or Greek
Empire) helped the Woman & opened her mouth & swallowed
up the flood (by the victory of Constantius over Magnetius ), A. C. 353) & thus
the Beast was
wounded to death
with a sword.
And the Dragon was wroth with Dragon was wroth with
the Woman & opened her mouth (in the reign of Iulian the
Apostate A. C. 361) & (by a new division of the Empire between Valen
tinian & Valens A. C. 364)) went from her into the eastern Empire
to make war with the remnant of her seed wchwhich she left
behind her when she fled. And thus the mortal hand of the Beast was healed the Beast revived And by the next division of
the Empire wchwhich was between Gratian & Theodosius, A. C. 369, the
Beast with ten horns rose out of the seas, & the Beast
with two horns out of the Earth, and by the last division
thereof wchwhich was between the sons of Theodosius, A. C. 395, the Dra
gon gave the Beast his throne power & throne & great
authority. And the ten horns received power as kings
the same hour with the Beast, or within twice the time
that there was silence in heaven.
At length the Woman arrived at her place place of temporal as well as spiritual dominion upon the back
of the Beast where she is nourished for a time times &
half a time form the face of the Serpent; not in his king
dome but at a distance from him. She is nourished by the
Merchants of the earth three times or years & an half,
or 42 months, or 1260 days; & in this prophesy days are
put for years. During all this time the Beast was acted
& she sat upon him, that is reigned over him, & over the
ten kings who gave their kingdom to him, & she was drunk
en with the blood of the saints. And by all these circum
stances she is the eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast,
who reigned with a look more stout then the other ten,
& was of a different kind from the rest, & had eyes &
a mouth like the Woman, & made war with the saints
& prevailed against them & wore them out, & ha changed
times & laws, & had them given into his hands untill a
time times & half a time. The characters of the Woman
& little horn of the Beast agree perfectly. In respect of her spiritual
dominion she was his church & re temporal dominion
she was a horn of the Beast, in respect of her spi
ritual dominion she rode upon him in the form of a woman & was his Church
& committed fornication with the ten kings.
And the second Beast which rose up out of the earth
was the Church of the Greek Empire. For it had two horns
like those of the Lamb & therefore was a Church,
& it spoke as the Dragon & therefore was of his reli
gion, & it rose up out of the earth & by consequence
in his kingdom. It is called also the fals Prophet that
wrought miracles before the first Beast (not within in
but before him) by wchwhich he deceived them that received
the mark of the Beast & worshipped his Image. When
the Dragon went from the Woman to make war with the
remnant of her seed, this Beast arising out of the earth
assisted him in that war, & caused the earth & them that
dwell therein to worship the authority of the first Beast whose mortal wound
was heald,
& 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
& by dictating cause that as many as would all religions bodies of men
who would not worship the authority of the Image should be14r be mystically killed. And he causeth all men to receive
a mark in their right hand or in their forehead & that
no man might by or sell save he that had the mark
or the name of the Beast or the number of his name.
all the rest being excommunicated by the Beast wthwith two
horns. ♀♀ Thus the Beast after he was wounded to death with a sword
& revived, was deified as the heathens were used to deify their
kings after death, & had an Image erected to him: & his
worshippers were initiated in this new religion by receiving
the mark or name of this new God or the number of his name,
And by killing all that will not worship him & his Image, the first
Temple is demolished, & a new Temple is built for them that
will not worship him; & the outward Court of this new Temple
(or outward form of a Church) is given to the Gentiles who worship the Beast & his Image, &
they that will not worship him receive are sealed with the name of God in
their foreheads & retire into the inner court of this new Temple.
And these are the 144000 sealed out of all the twelve tribes
of Israel & called the two witnesses as being the sealed out
out derived from
the two wings given to Woman of the Woman while she was flying into the wilderness.. These appear to Iohn in the
inward Court of the second Temple standing on mount Sion
with the Lamb, & as it were on the sea of glass. Thus the Woman fled from the first Temple
through the Wilderness of Arabia to Babylon. And the
Dragon by the assistance of the two-horned Beast made
war upon the remnant of her seed; & the first Temple
being destroyed a new one was built, & the Gentiles
took possession of the outward Court of this Temple
& trode the holy City under foot; & out of all the
twelve Tribes of Israel, there were only 144000
sealed with the name of God in their foreheads, & these
worship in the inner Court of the second Temple, & appear to Iohn in this Court standing
on Mount Sion with the Lamb, & (as it were) on the
sea of glass. These are the saints of the most High, &
& the Host of heaven & the holy people spoken of by
Daniel, as worn out & trampled under foot & destroyed
in the latter times by the little horses of his fourth
Beast & He-Goat.
And while the Gentiles tread the Holy city under foot
God gives power to his two Witnesses & they prophesy in
sackcloth all the 1260 days. They are called the two
candleticks Olive Trees with relation to the two Olive
trees wchwhich in Zecharys Vision (ch. 4) stand on either side
of the golden Candlestick to supply the Lamps with oyle
& Olive trees according to the Apostle Paul represent
Churches Rom XI. They supply the lamps with oyle by
maintaining teachers. They are also called two Can
dlesticks, & Candlesticks in this Prophesy signify Chur
ches, the seven Churches of Asia being represented by
seven Candlesticks. Five of those Churches were found
fualty, & threatned if they did not repent; the other two
were without fault, & so their Candlesticks were fit to be
placed in the second Temple. These were the Churches
of in Smyrna & Philadelphia. They were in a state of tribu
lation & persecution & the only two of the seven in such a
state; & so their Candlesticks were fit to represent the Churches in afflicti
on in the times of the second Temple, & the only two that
were fit. The two Witnesses ware not new Churches. They
are the posterity of the primitive Church, the posterity of the two wings of the Woman, & so are fitly
represented from by two of the primitive Candlesticks. Conceive
therefore that when of the first Temple was destroyed
& a new one built for them that worship in the inner Court,
two of the seven Candlesticks were placed in this new Temple
When Eusebius had brought down his Ecclesiastical
History to the reign of Dioclesian, he thus describes the state
of the Church. Qualem quantamque gloriam simulac liberta
tem doctrinæ veræ erga supremum Deum pietatis a Christo
primum hominibus annunciata, apud omnes Græcos pariter
et barbaros ante persecutionem nostra memoria excitatam
consecuta sit, nos certe pro nostra memoria merito ex
plicare non possumus. Argumento esse possit Imperatorum
benignitas erga nostros: quibus regendas etiam provincias
committebant, omni sacrificandi metu eos liberantes ob sin
gularem quo in religionem nostram affecti erant benevo
lentiam15rlentiam. And a little after: Iam vero quis innumerabilem
hominum quotidie ad fidem Christi confegientium turbam,
quis numerum ecclesiarum in singulis urbibus, quis illus
tres populorum concursus in œdibus sacris, cumulate possit
describere? Quo factum est ut priscis ædificys jam non
contenti, in singulis urbibus spatiosas ab ipsis fundamen
tis extruerent ecclesias. Atque hæc progressu temporis
increscentia, et quotidie in in ebius & majus et melius
proficiscentia, neclivor ullus atterere, nec malignitas
dæmonis fascinare, nec hominum in sidiæ prohibere un
quam potuerunt, quamdiu omnipotentis Dei dextera
populum quum, utpote tali dignum præsidio, texit atque
custodijt. Sed cum ex nimia libertate in neglig entiam
ac desidiam prolapsi essemus; cum alter alteri invi
dere atque obtrectare cœpisset; cum inter now quasi
bella inestina gereremus, verbis tanquam armis qui
busdam hastisque nos mutuo vulnerantes; cum Antisti
tes adversus Antistites populi in populos collisi, jurgia
ac tumultus agitarent; denique cum fraus et simulatio
ad summum in altiæ culmen adolevisset: tum divina
ultio levi brachio ut solet, integro adhuc ecclesiæ
statu & fidelium turbis libere convenientibus, sensim
ac moderate capit in nos cæpit animadvertere; orsa
primum persecutione ab ys qui militabant. Cum vero
sensu omni destituti de placando Dei numine ne cogita
remus quidem; quin potius instar impiorum quorundam
res humanas nulla providentia gubernari rati, alio quoti
die crimina alys adjiceremus: Cum Pastores nostri spreta
religionis regula, mutuis inter se contentionibus decer
tarent, nihil alud quam jurgia, minas, æmulationem,
odia ac mutuas inimicitias aplificare studentes; prin
cipatum quasi tyrannidem quandam contentissime sibi
vindicantes: tune demum, juxta dictum Hieremiæ,
obscuravit Dominus in ira sua filiam Sion, & dejecit
de cœla gloriam Israel, — per Eccliarum scilicet
subversionem &c. This was the state of t Church just
before the subversion of the Churches in the beginning of
Dioclesians persecution: & to this state of the Church
agrees the first of the seven Epistles to the Angels of the
seven Churches, that to the church of in Ephasus. I have
something against, thee saith Christ to the Angel of that Church,
because thou hast left thy first love. Remember there
fore from whence thou art fallen & repent & do the first
works, or else I will come unto thee quickly & will
remove thy candlestick out of its place except thou repent.
But this thou hast that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicola
itans, wchwhich I also hate. The Nicolaitans used weomen in
common, & coloured over their practices by pretending the
authority of Nicolas one of the seven Deacons of the pri
mitive Church of Ierusalem. But here in this Prophesy they are put figura
tively for the disciples of
over their spiritall fornication with a pretence of Christianity,
& under that pretence crept silently into the Churches.
The persecution of Dioclesian began in the year of Christ
302, & lasted ten years in the eastern empire & two years in
the western. And to this state of the Church the second Epistle, that to16r that to the Church of Smyrna, agrees. I know, saith Christ,
thy works & tribulation & poverty (but thou art rich,) & I
know the blasphemy of them (the Nicolaitans) who say they
are Iews & are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan. Feare
none of those things wchwhich thou shalt suffer. Behold the
Devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried
& ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithfull unto
death & I will give thee a crown of life. The tribulation
of ten days can agree to no other persecution then that of
Dioclesian, it being the only persecution which lasted ten
years. By the blasphemy of them that say they are Iews
& are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan, I under
stand the idolatry of the Nicolaitans who falsly said they
were Christians.
These Nicolaitans are complained of also in the third
Epistle as men that held the doctrine of Balaam who taught
Balac [the king] to cast a stublingstumbling block before the children of Israel
to eat things sacrificed to Idols & to commit spiritual for
nication. For Balaam taught the Moabites & Ammonites Num. XXV. 1, 2, 18.
& XXXI. 16.
Midianites to tempt & invite Israel by their weomen to commit fornication & invite
them & to feast with them at the sacrifices of their Gods.
They are also complained of in the fourth Epistle
under the name of the woman Iezabel which calleth
herself a Prophetess & teacheth & seduceth the servants
of Christ to commit fornication & to eat things sacrificed
to Idols. This Woman began now to fly into the
wilderness, & in the second & sixt Epistles she is called
the Synagogue of Satan.
In the sixt Epistle, that to the Angel of the
Church of Philadelphia, Christ saith: Because thou
hast kep the word of my
The reign of Constantine the great from the time
of his conquering Licinius, was monarchical over the
whole Roman Empire; Then the
divided between the sons of Constantine reigning at
Rome & Constantinople; & then it was united under
Constantius by his victory over Magnentius. And to the
affairs of the Church in these three successive periods
of time, the third fourth & fift epistles, that is, those
to the Angels of the Churches in Pergamus, Thyatira
& Sardis, seem to relate. And the next Emperor was Iulian
a heathen.
In the sixt Epistle, that to the Angel of the Church
of Philadelphia, Christ saith: Because thou hast kept
the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from
the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the
world to try them that dwell upon the earth. — Him
that overcometh will I make a pillar in the Temple
of my God, & he shall go no more out, & I will write
upon him the name of my God, &c. that is, Because
in the reign of the Emperor Iulian the Apostate
thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep
thee from the hour of temptation, wchwhich by the Woman's
flying into the Wilderness, & the Dragon's making war
with the remnant of her seed, & the killing of all that
will not worship the Image of the Beast, shall come
upon all the world to try them that dwell on the earth, and to17r & to distinguish them by sealing the one with the name
of God in their foreheads, & marking the other with the
mark of the Beast. And him that overcometh I will
make a pillar in the temple of my God & he shall go no
more out of it. And I will write upon him the name of
my God in his forehead. So then the Christians of the
Church of Philadelphia, as many of them as overcome,
are sealed with the seal of God & placed in the second
Temple, & go no more out. And the same is to be
understood of the Church in Smyrna. These two Churches with their posterity are there
fore the two pillars & two Candlesticks & the two
witnesses in the second Temple.
After the reign of Iulian & his successor Iovian
who reigned but five months, the Empire became divi
ded again between Valentinian & Valens. And then the
Church catholic, in the Epistle to the Angel of the Church of
Laodicea is reprehended as luke-warm, & threat
ned to be spewed out of Christs mouth. She said that
she was rich & increased in goods & had need of nothing
(being in outward prosperity;) & knew not that she
was (inwardly) wretched & miserable & poor & blind &
naked. She is therefore spewed out of Christs mouth.
at the opening of the seventh seal. And this puts an end to the times of the first Temple.
Mr Mead hath explained the Prophesy of the first six
Trumpets not much amiss. If he had observed that the
prophesy of pouring out the Vialls of wrath is synchro
nal to that of sounding the Trumpets, his explanation
would have been more complete.
The sacrifices on the first four days of the feast of
Tabernacles at which the first four Trumpets sound
& the first four Vials of wrath are poured out, are
slaughters in four great warrs & these warrs are represented by four winds to the four corners of the
earth. The first was an east wind, the second a west
wind, the third a south wind & the fourth a north
wind with respect to the city of Rome the old metro
polis of the Empire Roman Empire. And winds signify
warrs These four plagues fall upon the third part of the earth, sea, rivers, sun moon & starrs, that is upon the earth sea rivers sun moon & starrs of the third part of the whole scene of these prophesies of Daniel & Iohn. The Romans were much infested by the invasions of
barbarous nations in the end of the reign of the Emperor
Valans. But those warrs were fully stopt by the Emperors
Gratian & Theodosius in the beginning of the reign of
Theodosius A. C. 379 & 380. And thence forward the Em
pire remained quiet from forreign armies till the death
of Theodosius, A. C. 395. And then they four winds So long the four winds were held, & at the death of that Emperor
they began to blow.
The plague of the eastern wind at the sounding of
the first Trumpet was to fall upon the earth, that is, upon
the nations of the Greek empire. And accordingly, after
the death of Theodosius the Goths, Sarmatans, Hunns, Isau
rians & Astonians invaded & miserably wasted Greece,
Thrace, Asia minor, Armenia, Syria, Egypt Libya &
Illyricum for ten or twelve years together.
That of the western wind at the sounding of the
second Trumpet, was to fall upon the sea or western
Emp
turning it to blood. And accordingly in the year 407, that
Empire was began to be invaded by the by the Visigoths, Vandals, Ailans, Sueves,18r Sueves, Astrogoths Burgundians, Ostrogoths, Heruli, Quades, Gepides,
& by these warrs was broken into ten kingdoms & miserably
wasted, & Rome (the burning mountain was beseiged & taken by the Ostrogoths in the beginning of these
miseries.
That of the southern wind was to be performed executed at the
sounding of the third Trumpet by a great star burning as
it were a lamp & falling from heaven upon the rivers & fountains of
waters [the western Empire now divided into many kingdoms]
& to turn them into wormwood & blood & make them bitter. And accord
ingly the king of the Vandals in Spain in the year 427
fell from his dominion in Spain in the year & with his
people the Vandals & Alans invaded Afric & by a
vexatious war took it from the Romans; & infested also
the Sea-coasts of Europe by a pyratical war, & took Sicily, Sardinia, Cosica, Eabusus, Majorca Minorca & sackt
Rome & wasted Italy & sackt Rome.
That of the northern wind at the sounding of the
fourth Trumpet, was to cause the Sun Moon & Starrs
(that is the western Empiror & his great men) to be
darkened, & to continue sometime in darkness. And accord
ingly Odoacer king of the Heruli invaded Italy A. C.
476, & seized the dominions of Augustulus the last of
the western Emperors. This plague was continued by
the wars which the Ostrogoths made upon the Heruli
& wchwhich Bellisarius afterwards made upon the Ostrogoths
& the Lombards soon after upon the Romans by invad
ing Italy & chiefly Lombardy. And by all these warrs
Italy was miserably wasted & almost depopulated & Rome thrice taken.
These plagues fell upon the third part of the
earth, sea, rivers, Sun, moon & starrs; that is, as I inter
pret, upon the earth, sea, rivers, sun, moon & starrs of
the third part of the whole scene of these prophesies
of Daniel & Iohn.
The fift Trumpet sounded to the warrs which
the king of the south (as he is called by Daniel)
made in the time of the end, in pushing at the king
who had done according to his will. This plauge
began with the opening of the bottomless pit, which
denotes the letting out of a fals religion, the smoke
wchwhich came out of the pit signifying the multitude
wchwhich embraced that religion, & the Locusts wchwhich
came out of the smoke the armies wchwhich came out of
that multitude. And this pit was opened to let out smoke & locusts into the Roman Empire regions of the four monarchies. And their king was the Angel of
the bottomless pit, or chief governour as well in
religious as civil affairs. Swarms of Locusts arise in
Arabia fœlix & in scripture armies of Arabians are
compared to them grasshoppers. Iudg. 8. 5 & 7. 12. And the bottomless pit was opened to let out smoke & Locusts into the Roman Empire when
the Saracens began to invade it, A. C. 634. They Locusts live but five months. But these Locusts reigned first at
Damascus & then at Bagdat, F & were to continue five months &
five months that is ten months or 300 years at both at both places. And accord
ingly they lost all their temporal dominion to the Turks A. C.
934 began to reign at Damascus A. C. 637, built Bagdat A. C. 766,
lost Afric to Mahadis A. C. 910, Media & Hircania to the Dailamites A. C.
931 Chorasam & all Persia to the Dailamites between the years 927
& 935. Mesopotamia & Miafarezen to the Turks Nasiraddaulas A. C. 930, Syria &
Egypt to
Bagdat A. C. 936 surrendered all the rest of his temporal power to Mahomet18v Mahomet the son of Rajia king of Wasit in Chaldea & made him Emperor of
Emperors. But Mahomet within two years lost Bagdat to the
Turks & thenceforward Bagdat was sometimes in the hands
of the Turks & sometimes in the hands of the Saracens
till Togrulbea (called also Togra, Dogrissa, Tangrolipix & Sadoc)
conquered Chorasan & Persia & A. C. 1055 added Bagdad to his
Empire making it the seat thereof. His successors Olub-Arslam
began his reign A. C. 1063, & & Melechsah conquered the regions upon
Euphrates, & these conquests upon the death of Melesah broke
into the several kingdoms of seated upon that river Armenia, Mesopota
mia Syria & Cappadocia seated upon Eufrates
The sixt Trumpet sounded to the warrs which Da
niel's king of the north made against the same king who
did according to his will, in coming In these warrs the king of the north came against the king of Greeks against him like a
whirlwind & in overflowing his kingdom the empire of the Greeks, & in conquering
also Iudæa Egypt Libya & Ethiopia. These warrs com
menced A. C. 1258 when the four kingdoms of the Turks
seated upon Euphrates, that of Armenia major seated
at Miyapharekin, Megarkin or Marpropolis that of Mesopotamia seated at Mosul,
that of Syria seated at Aleppo & & comprehending Damascus, & that of Cappadocia seated19r seated at Iconium, were invaded by the Tartars
under Hulacu, & driven into the western parts of
Asia minor, where they made war upon the Greeks
& erected the present Empire of the Turks, & extended
it over all those regions described by Daniel. And A. C.
1453 Constantinople & overthrew the Greeke Empire from the
Olub-Arslookam began to conquer the nations upon Eufrates wchwhich split into the four kingdoms. And from the beginning of this reign of Malechsah Olub Arslam A. C. 1063 to the taking of
Constantinople A. C. 1453, was an hour & a day & a month
& a year, or 391 yea prophetic days, which are years.
The first of these six plagues lasted about 12 years
the second about 21 years, the third about 49 years, the
fourth about 160 years, the fift about 620 years; & accord
ing to the progression the sixt may last seven or eight
hundred years or above. It☉ ☉ It lasts till the ten kings hate the Whore & the two Witnesses are slain revive & ascend up to hea
ven in a cloud with the everlasting gospel to preach to all nations, & it ends with the fall of the tenth part of the great city
wchwhich is therefore to fall by the hand of the Turks. And soon after
follows the great tribulation & the sounding of the seventh Trumpet to the battel of the great day to wchwhich
the three froggs gather the nations against the word of God & his arms on white horses, & out of wchwhich the innumerable multitude of all nations comes wthwith palms branches in their hands. But all these revolutions may take up a considerable time. And it is not for us to foreknow – – – breast.. But it is not for us to foreknow
the times & seasons wchwhich God hath put in his own breast. ends with the fall of the tenth part of the great city wchwhich therefore is to fall by the hand of the Turks And soon after follows the great Tribulation. But it is not for us to foreknow
the times & seasons wchwhich God hath put into his own breast.
21r
Chap X.
Of the relation
wchwhich the Apocalyps hath to the propheses of Daniel.
The Apocalyps was is written in the same style & language wthwith the prophesies of Daniel & hath the
same relation to them wchwhich they have to one another, so that all of them together make but one complete
prophesy. The Dragon den signifies the same dominion with the He Goat in the reign of his last
horn that is the whole Roman Empire untill the Empire becomes divided; & after the division the
Dragon signifies the Eastern part thereof th descended from Iavan, & the Beast the wetsern part thereof repre
sented by the rest of Daniels fourth Beast. in the reign of his ten horns The Woman riding upon the Beast is represented in Daniel
by the last horn last horn of the Beast wchwhich had eyes & a mouth & whose look was more stout
then his fellows. The remnant of the Woman and before her flight into the wilderness she is represented in Daniel by the host
of heaven. ## When the Woman fled from Mout Sion into the wilderness she left on mount Sion a remnant of her seed on mount Sion
who kept the commandments of God & had the testimony of Iesus; And out of whom (in
the war wchwhich the Dragon made upon them) were sealed the 144000 whom Iohn saw
remaining on mount Sion, & in whose mouth was found no lye. Five of the re These witnesses are represented
in Daniel called the saints of the most High whom the little horn of his fourth Beast shall weare
out during a time times & half a time that is during the reign of the & to whom the kingdom
& dominion & greanessgreatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given afterwards be given The remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God & have the testimony
of Iesus & out of whom in the war wchwhich the Dragon made upon them were sealed the 1440 who thousand in whose
mouth was found no lye, & who are that is the two witnesses represented by two of the seven candle
sticks ei, are in Daniel called the saints of the most High whom the little Horn of his fourth Beast
shall weare out untill during a time times & half a time, & to whom the kingdom & dominion & great
ness of the kingdome under the whole heaven shall afterwards be given. For they had the testimony of
Iesus & remain
Daniel was commanded to seal up the book of Prophesy, & Christ the Lamb of God takes the
book out of the hand of him that sitteth upon throne & opens the seven seales thereof &
& thereby distinguishes the times to come into seven successive parts. And the visions wchwhich appear upon opening the seales denote the things to be done in time of every seale. The scene of the visions is the Temple. There God is represented by sitting upon a throne
And the book of the law whose festivalls & ceremonies above the Ark between the Cherubims, & the Princes of the 24 courses of the Priests by 24 Elders
crowned sitting in their chambers in the Priests court are represented by 24 Elders crowned sitting on thrones,
& the people in the four sides of the peoples court by the four Beasts wchwhich were the standards
of the four squadrons of the people of Israel encamped on the four sides of the Tabernacle in
the wilderness. And the book of the law, whose ceremonies & festivals were prophetic, & wchwhich
was laid up in the right side of the Ark, was reprented in the right hand of him that sat upon the
throne. sealed with seven seales And the morning sacrifice was represented by a Lamb as it were slain at the foot
of the altar. And the Lamb took the book & opened the seales successively, & thereby
distinguishes Daniel was commanded to seale up the book of prophesy, & the Lamb of
God takes this book out of the hand of him that sits upon the throne & opens the
seven seales thereof successively & by doing so distinguishes the times to come into
seven successive parts. And the visions wchwhich appear upon opening the seales denote
the things to be done in time the time of every seale. Four of those The visions at opening the
first four relate only th to the temporal affairs of the Roman Empire, & the fift
begins with the affairs of the Church. For the Churches founded by the preaching of
the Apostles lasted in their fervency during the opening of the first four seales
& needed no new admonitions till before the opening of the fift.
The morning service of the Iews began with dressing of the Lamps. And in the
festival of the seventh month the High Priest dressed them. And in allusion thereunto
Iohn saw one like unto the son of man in the High Priests habit, as it were in the midst
of the (or as it were over against the midst) of the seven golden Candlesticks. And he
had in his right hand a rod of seven starrs, the seven lamps appearing in a right line
like a rod of seven starrs in his right hand while he dressed them. And the seven
Candlesticks represent the seven are said to represent be the seven Churches of Asia wchwhich
were under the government care of Iohn the Apostle, & the seven starrs the Angels of those
Churches, that is the Bishops; & he dressed them by seven admonitory epistles
sent to those Angels against the approaching apostacy. And these admonitions relate to
the times of the fift & sixt seales.
At the opening of the fift seal followed a signal persecution wchwhich was that
of Dioclesian: & at the opening of the sixt followed the end of a world polytic wchwhich
was that of the heathen Roman Empire. wchwhich This Empire fell in the reign of Constantine the
great & his sons, was revived by Iulian the Apostate & ended fell again in the
reign of Valentinian & Valens & revived no more. The time wchwhich follows the
opening of the seventh seal is divided into seven successive parts by the sounding of
seven Trumpets successively. And the same division is represented also by the seven
thunders & by the seve pouring out of seven Vials of wrath. This is done with
allusion to the great sacrifices on the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles, the seven Trumpets
alluding to the sounding of the Trumpets by the Priests at the b of those
seven days, the seven thunders to the singing of the Priests at the same sacrifices & the
seven Vialls of wrath to the drink offerings poured out at the same sacrifices on
those seven days. And as all Daniels Prophesies consist of two parts; a Prophes an intro
ductory Prophesy & an Interpretation: so doth Iohns. The Prophesy seventh
sounding of the seventh Trumpet, & the Interpretation begins21v begins with the words: And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, & there was seen
in his Temple the arc of his testament.
In the primitive times of Christianity these seven Candlesticks by their Lamps illuminated the
temple, that is the Church catholick. In And in dressing these lamps five of them are found faulty & three are
admished to repent & threatned to be removed out of their places or spewed out of Christs mouth
& punished with death & with the sword of his mouth if they repented not: but two of them wchwhich were in affliction (viz
(the Churches of Smyrna & Philadelphia) were without fault & those remained on Mount Sion to illuminate the second
Temple & are called the two Witnesses. & in relation 400 Candlesticks or Churches There are the 144000 on Mount Sion who had the testimony of
Iesus & in whose mouth was found no lye. And their adversaries who prophesy against them & speak
as the Dragon being his Church, are called the fals Prophet & the Prophet Balaam who cast a taught
stumblin Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, & are represented by a Beast erecting an Image or Council to the erect
& wthwith two horns the & to eat things sacrificed to idols, the Gods of the Moncks & clergy of Alexandria
& Antioch & worship the image of the Beast & the two horned Beast who & to worship
the Beast & his Image
And lotts were cast upon them, & Gods lot was sacricedsacrificed. There was also a bullock offered for the sins
of the people. And first the H. Priest cloathed in linnen garments took a censer of burning coals
of fire from the golden Altar & his hands full of sweet incense – – – continued in silence
at their devotion. Then the High priest went into the Holy place & put off his linnen garments
– – – – – earth to burn them. And as the people went home from the temple they said
to one another God seale you to a good new year. And in allusion to all this at the opening
of the seventh seale there is silence in heaven for half an hour, & then incense is offered
wthwith the prayers of the saints upon the golden altar. And the Angel fills a censer with fire of the
altar & casts it to the earth. And 144000 are sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel
for Gods lot & the woman flyes into the wilderness with those that receive the mark of the
Beast & gets upon his back. And hence the seating of the 144000 is synchonal to the silence
in heaven for half an hour & to the incense offered with the prayers of the saints.
In And on the tenth day, there were lots were cast upon two Goats to wchwhich represented the people, the one called Gods lot
was sacrificed to him, the other called Azazel
people poured upon his head.
And on the tenth day, the people was represented by two goats, & lots were cast upon
them & the goat wchwhich fell to Gods lot was sacrificed to him, & the other goat loaded with the
sins of the people was sent into the wilderness. And in allusion thereunto the twelve
tribes of Israel, that is, the or Church catholic, is now divided into two lots, the woman which
now flies from the temple into the wilderness with those that receive the mark of the Beast & worship his image & the other lot the remnant of her seed wchwhich
keeps the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus, the one & remain on mount
Sion with the name of God on their foreheads. The One lot the twelve tribes of Israel out of wchwhich the 144000 except the 144000 wchwhich are sealed
are sealed out of them with the seale of God in their foreheads, the other 144000 sealed in their foreheads with the seale of God. An These at
length put on sacloth & prophesy 1260 days in sack-cloth, & the woman at the same time the women
arrives at her place in the wilderness of riches honour & power upon the back of her beast in the wilderness & reigns
over him all the same 1260 days or 42 months or a time times & half a time. This Beast
is Daniels fourth f Beast. And the Dragon is Daniels He-goat, that is the whole Roman
Empire untill it becomes divided into the eastern & w Greek & Latine Empires; & after
that division, he is the Greek Empire alone. And the Image of the Beast is a Council
the seven churches of Asia.
On the tenth day of the month two Goats were brought into the temple to represent the people goodness
one the elect & the other the reprobate & lots were cast upon them, & Gods lot was sacrificed to him,
& the other Goat said to be for Azazel called Azazel or the scape-Goat was sent into the wilderness loaded with the sins of the people
And in allusion to this — seven churches of Asia
Upon the fift sent
During the casting of lots, & sending the
On the
When the Goat for the Lord was slain, together with a bullock, for a sin offering, the High
Priest took a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar & his hands full of sweet incense beaten
small & went into the most holy place within the vail & sprinkled the blood of bullock with his finger
upon the mercy seat easwardeastward seven times & then killed the goat of the sin offering & brought his
blood in within the vail & sprinkled it also upon the mercy seat & before the mercy seat. And
then he went out to the Altar & sprinkled it seven times with the blood of the bullock & as often with that
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. And while the high priest was doing
these things in the most holy place & at the
private devotion. And to this alludes the silence in heaven for half an hour wchwhich followed
upon opening the seventh seale. Then the High priest went into the holy place & put off
his linnen cloaths & garments & put on other cloaths & came out & sent the bullock &
the Goat of the sin offering to be buntburnt without the camp. And a censer of was filled with
fire of the alter & carried with them & fell cast on the earth to burn them. And at this
sacrifice there were voices & thundrings & lightnings & an earthquake (of the music of the temple)
& lightnings (of the full sacred fire) & an earthquake. And the seven Angels wchwhich had the
seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound And as the people departed from the temple
they said
unto in the Apocalyps before the Angels wchwhich were to hurt the earth & the sea begin to sound
their trumpets.
In the interpretation of this prophesy the woman before she flyes into the
wilderness, represents the primitive church catholic illuminated wthwith the seven lamps
in the seven golden candlesticks wchwhich are the seven churches of Asia. And the
Dragon signifies the same empire with the Daniels He goat in the reign of his last
horn, & with Danie that is, the whole Roman empire untill it become divided into the Greek
& Latin empires; & after that division the Greek Empire alone. And the Beast is
Daniels fourth Beast, that is the whole E that is the Empire of the latines & is included in the body of the Dragon before
the division, & after the division is the Latin Empire alone. And hence the Dragon &
Beast have the same heads & horns, but the heads are croned upon the Dragon &
the horns upon the Beast. When Before the woman fled into the wilderness she bought
was being with child (of a Christian Empire) cried travailing (in Dioclesians persecution,) & pained to be delivered
& the Dragon (the heathen Empire) stood before her to devour her child as soon as it was born
And she brought forth a man child who (at length) was to rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron iron. And her child was caught up unto God & to his throne (in the Temple) & the
woman fled (from the temple on mount Sion) into the wilderness [of Arabia ] to Babylon]
where she hath a place (of riches honour & dominion upon the back of the Beast)
prepared of God, that they should feed her there 1260 days. And there was war
in heaven (between the heathen & new Christian Empire) And the Dragon was cast
out that old serpent wchwhich deceiveth the whole world (the spirits of heathen idolatry) he was (by the victory of Constantine over Maximus
was Maxentius & Maximinus) cast out to the earth to the earth. & Licinius to the earth (the regions of Asia under Licinius. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb & by the
word of their testimony. (in the persecution of Dioclesian, which ended fully in the victories
of Constantine the great over Licinius A. C. 323) And they loved not their lives unto the
death. And when the Dragon saw that we was cast down he persecuted the woman wchwhich
brought forth the man child (& this he did in the reign of Licinius.) And to the woman (by
the building of Constantinople & equalling it to Rome) were given two wings of a great
eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place [upon the back of the Beast) fre
where she is nourished a time times & half a time from the face of the serpent (or Da
gon.) And the serpent [upon the death of Constantine the great] cast cast out waters as
a flood [the western Empire under Constantine junior & Constans] after the woman, that he
might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earths [the nations of Asia
now under Constantinople] helped the woman & [by conquering the Western Empire
under Magnentius] swallowed up the flood wchwhich the Dragon cast out of his mouth. And the
Dragon was wroth with the Woman & went to make war with the remnant of her seed
which kept the commandments of God & had the testimony of Iesus, & wchwhich in that war
were sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel & remains upon mount Sion within the
temple with the lamb being in number 144000 & having his fathers name written on their foreheads. [And these are
the two witnesses or prophets wchwhich after the first temple by the warr of the Dragon & flight
of the woman is destroyed do prophesy at the building of a second temple like the Prophets Haggai
& Zechary, & at length when the Woman arrives at her place in t of riches & dominion upon
the back of her beast they put on sackcloth & prophesy in sackcloth all the time that
she reigns over the beast, that is 1260 days, or 42 weeks months, or a time times & half a time.
And these are the two Candlesticks, that is, two of the seven Candlesticks. Five of the seven
Churches of Asia, (those in prosperity) are found fault with & exhorted to repent & threatened to be remov
ed out of their places & spewed out of Christs mouth others or punished with the sword of his
mouth or otherwise cast into great tribulation except they repent, & the other two (the churches of Smyra & Philadelphia
wchwhich were under persecution remain to illuminate the second temple.
And when the earth had swallowed up the flood & the Dragon was gone to make war
witho the remnant of the womans seed, Iohn stood upon the sand of the sea & saw the beast
with seven heads & ten horns rise out of the Sea; & the Beast was like unto a Leopard & his feet
as the feet of a Bear & his mouth as the mouth of the Lyon. Iohn here names Daniels four Beasts in order beginning with the fourth
& going upwards to the first, & there to signify that this Beast is the same with Daniels
fourth beast. And the Dragon gave him his power & his throne & great authority by relinquishing
the Western Empire to him. And one of his heads was as it were wounded to death (by the sword
of the Earth wchwhich swallowed up the waters,) & his deadly wound was healed. It was healed at
the division of the Empire between Valentinian & Valens A. C. 364. Iohn saw the Beast rise
out of the seas at the division thereof between Gratian & Theodosius A. C. 379. And the
Dragon gave the Beast his power & his throne & great authority whence at the death of
Theodosius when he gave the western Empire to his son Theo younger son Honorius. After
wchwhich the two empires were no more united. But the western Empire beame presently
divided into ten kingdoms as above, & these kingdoms at length united in religion under the woman &
reigned end with her forty & two months.
And Iohn beheld another Beast coming out of the earth. When the woman fled from
the Dragon into the kingdom of Beast, this other Beast rises out of the kingdom earth or
& became his church, this other Beast rose up out of the earth to represent the church
of the Dragon. For he had two horns like the lamb the Bishpricks of Alexandria & Antioch
or of Egypt & Syria, & he spoke as the Dragon in
earth or nations of the Dragons kingdom to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was
healed, that is, to be of receive his religion. And he doth great wonders so that he maketh fire come
down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, that is,
differ from him in point of religion. For in pronouncing their excommunications they used to swing
down a lighted torch from above. And he said to them that dwell on the earth that they should
make an image to the Bestst wchwhich had the wound by a sword & did revive, that is, that
they should call a Council of men of the religion of this beast. And he had power to
give life to the Image lent the image should both speak & cause that as many as would not worship the image
of the Beast should be killed viz mystically by dissolving their churches. And he causeth all both smal
& great, rich & poor, bond & free to receive a mark in their right hands or in their
foreheads, that no man might by y or sell save he that had the mark of the or the name of
the beast or the number of his name: all others being excommunicated. And while the twelve
tribes that received the mark of the Beast:
& the seven churches. And these remain with the Lamb on mount Sion having the name of God on
their foreheads. And they sing a new song before the throne wchwhich no man else could learn & are
not defiled with weomen such as are the whore of Babylon & other idolatrous churches. And
these are the two witnesses or prophets, wchwhich, after the first temple by the flight of the woman & the war wchwhich the
Dragon made upon the remnant of the womans seed her seed, is destroyed, do prophesy in
sackcloth at the building of a second temple like the two prophets Haggai & Zechary.
And at length when the woman arrives at her place of riches & dominion upon the
back of her Beast, they put on sackcloth & prophesy in sackcloth all the time that
she reigns over the Beast, that is, 1260 days, or 42 months or a time times & half a
time. And These are the two Olive branches that supply the lamps with oyle. These are the two candlesticks, that is two of the seven golden candlesticks.
For five of the seven churches of Asia (those in prosperity) are found fault with, &
exhorted to repent, & threatned to be removed out of their places, & spewed out of
Christ's mouth, or otherwise punished with the sword of his mouth excep in or otherwise except
they repent; & the other two (the Churhces of Smyrna & Philadelphia) which were under
persecution remain in that condition a state of persecution to illuminate the second temple. When the Churc
primitive Church catholick represented by yethe Woman in heaven apostatured & became divided into
two ch corrupt Churches represented by the Whore of Babylon & her the two horned
Beast, the 144000 wchwhich were sealed out of all the twelve tribes being diffused o into the two
empires of the Greeks & Latines, became the two witnesses in opposition to two fals churches represented by the woman &
two horned beast: & the name of two witnesses once imposed remains to the true Church of God in
all places & times to the end of this prophesy became the two witnesses in opposition
to the two fals churches represented by the whore of Babylon & the two horned beast:
& the name of two witnesses being once imposed it remains to the true Church of God
in all places & times to the end of this prophesy.
23r
Chap. IV.
Of the Kingdoms & Churches
wchwhich are
the subject of sacred Prophesy.
The Iews & the nations by which they were to be captivated
and particularly the nations within the bounds of the four Monarchies
are the subject of sacred Prophesy in the old Testament, & the nations
through which the Christian religion was to be propagated are the
subject of sacred Prophesy in the new & especially of the Apocalyps. For this Prophesy
being given by Christ
is a Revelation of
such things as prin
cipally concern the
Christian religion &
therefore relates chiefly to
those kingdoms in wchwhich
the Christian religion
flourished most & wchwhich
were connected to Chris
tianity, that is, to the
Bo Empire.
wchwhich was given by Christ himself. & is a Revelation of such things as principally concern the Christian religion And so far as the new Testament
has relation to the old, the two last of the four monarchies are the prin
cipal subject of this Prophesy. For they composed the old Roman Empire & the Christian religion has been propagated
into all the Roman Empire on this side Tigris. And from thence it has
spread also into all the nations on the north side of the Empire, Walachia, Mol
davia, Transylvania, the Upper Hungary Dacia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden,
Poland, Moscovy. Dacia being conquered by Trajan received the Christian
religion very early, sent its Patriarch to the Council of Nice, & was gene
rally converted before
Irenæus lets us know that the Christian religion was in a flourishing condition
state in the mi Germany in the middle of the second century. Afterwards
Charles the great propagated the Roman religion into all Germany by
conquest & from thence it began at the same time to spread into Denmark
Suedeland & Poland. And the great Duke of Russia embraced the religion
of the Greek Church about two hundred years after, but there were Christians
among the common people before.
So then the Christian world wchwhich is the subject of this Prophesy consists
of three parts or Tribes:: the third Monarchy or Greek Empire, the fourth Mo
narchy or Latine Empire, & the northern nations. And these three parts being pretty nearly equal, you may know by this division that
you may know that the third part of the earth, sea, rivers, sun, moon &
stars is the third part of this Christian world, or the earth, sea, rivers, Sun,
Moon & Stars of one of these three parts. And this unfolds to us the
mystery of counting the number of the Beast. For the name & num
ber of the Beast is opposed to the name of God & to the number of
his servants who stand on mount Sion with this name of their foreheads.
And in that respect the number 666 of the Beast 666 is to be
counted in such a manner as the number of Gods servants 144000
was counted. This number was counted by multiplying 12000 by its'
divisor 12 the number of Tribes of Israel (Apoc. 7) & therefore
666 is to be counted by multiplying some number by a divisor of
that number. And there is but one way of counting it in this
manner, wchwhich is, by multiplying 222 by 3 the number of the Tribes
of them that worship the Beast.
The four Monarchies are still in being & the four Beasts represent
ing them are still alive. For the lives of the three first Beasts
were prolonged after their dominions were taken away. And They were prolonged untoward alive continue till a
stone cut out of a mountain without hands brake in pieces at once
all the four parts of Nebuchadnezzar's Image, the gold, the silver, the brass
& the iron. And since all Daniels Beasts were alive in Iohn's days &
still continue alive & therefore are synchronal to Iohn's Beasts, & Iohn's24r Iohn's prophesy was given by the same Holy Ghost with Daniels
& is very full of Allusions to the Prophesies of the old testament:
we may expect to find Daniel's Monarchies in Iohn's prophesy
so far as they relate to the Christian religion. And therefore
we ought to compare the prophesies of Daniel & Iohn, &
agree them together so far as they can be made to agree without
straining. For there is no better way of interpreting scripture
then by comparing the parts of it, & reconciling all the
synchronal & all the analogous parts of chwhich can
be reconciled without force. Tis certain that the same
things are described again & again in prophesy. And all
the descriptions of one & the same thing must be con
joyned that they may interpret one another; & supply
one anothers defects, & joyntly make one complete
description wchwhich cannot be misapplyed. And those inter
pretations are always to be preferred wchwhich reduce the
parts of scripture to the greatest consent & harmony.
Daniel has described the same monarchies, again &
again in four several prophesies, & yet the words of
those descriptions were shut up & sealed till the time
of the end. Iohn's prophesy is a Revelation of what was
shut up & sealed before, & therefore must be compared
with Daniel's that all may be understood.
The people of the first & second Monarchies beyond
Armenia & the river Tigris were never yet conver
ted to Christianity. The third Monarchy founded by Alex
ander the great, was propagated through the Roman Empire
& after separation from the Latines was seated at Con
stantinople & is now under the dominion of the Turks.
This was the principal seat of the Christian religion in the
primitive times &
the great red Dragon. The fourth Monarchy being founded
by the Latines conquered the Greeks then separated from them
& breaking into ten kingdoms has ever since continued in a
divided form. This received the Christian religion from the
Greeks in the primitive times, & is represented in the Apo
calyps by the Beast rising out of the sea with ten horns.
When the Greek & Latine Empires are united the Dragon &
Beast are united & the whole is both Dragon & Beast; but
when they are divided, the Greek Empire is the Dragon &
the Latine the Beast. At first the Dragon signifies the
whole Roman Empire: but when the Empire become di
vided the Dragon signifies only the Greek Empire, & the
Beast rises out of the Sea to signify the Latine. Before
the division the Dragon reigns over the inhabitants of the
Earth & sea, & the Beast is latent in him. Upon the divi
sion the Beast rises out of the inhabitants of the Sea in a
distinct & separate form, & succeeds the Dragon in his marine throne.
25r
Chap. IV.
Of the Kingdoms and Churches
wchwhich are
the subject of the Prophesy.
This is a Duplicate
v. Revelations
The nations within the bounds of the four Monarchies
are the subject of sacred Prophesy, & consist of threthree equal parts:
the nations of the western Roman Empire or Empire of yethe Latines,
the nations of the eastern Roman Empire or Empire of the
Greeks & the nations of the Persian Empire including Chaldea
& Assyria. And wherever this Prophesy mentions a third part of any
thing, as a third part of the earth, sea, rivers, Sun, Moon or stars,
it relates to one of these three parts.
This prophesy being given by Christ, is a Revelation of such
things as principally concern the Christian religion, & therefore relates
chiefly to those kingdoms in wchwhich the Christian religion flourished most
& wchwhich were converted to Christianity, that is to the Roman Empire.
This Empire was at first united under one Monarch & afterwards
became divided into the Greek & Latin Empires. The Latin Empire
is the fourth Beast of Daniel or fourth Monarchy strictly so called
wchwhich was to stand till the judgment should sit & the Son of man
should come in the clouds to the ancient of days & the saints
should take the kingdom. The Greek Empire is the third Monarchy
or third Beast whose life is still prolonged tho its dominion hath
been taken away. This Monarchy comprehending the nations of Greece,
Asia Minor, Syria & Egypt was represented at first by the four
heads & four wings of the Leopard & by the four horns of the
He-goat, & afterward by the little horn of the He-goat or
kingdom of Pergamus, wchwhich by the last will & testament of Attalus
descending to the Romans grew mighty but not in its own power
& then separating from them became the Greek Empire reigning
at Constantinople till the Turks subdued it. The Persian Empire
comprehends the remainder of the four Monarchies & is still in
being but hath little to do with the Christian religion.
The scene of
In this prophesy the scene of the visions is the Temple & the
worship of Christians is described in the Temple under the form of
the Iewish worship, as we shwewed above. And hence the Christian
Churches are represented in this Prophesy by the twelve tribes
of Israel, & when some are numbered out of the twelve tribes
& sealed with the seale of God, the rest of the tribes who are not
sealed become the synagogue of Satan who say they are Iews & are
not, that is, who profess themselves Christians but are the Church
of Satan. For all men whose names are not written in the book of
life, that is, all who are not sealed with the seale of God, wonder
after the Beast & worship him & his Image & receive his mark. When
the saints are numbered & sealed out of the twelve tribes the rest of the tribes26r tribes who are not sealed are called the Synagogue of Satan who
say they are Iews & are not receive the mark of the Beast &
become the Synagogue of Satan, & therefore they that have yethe
mark of the Beast & worship him & his Image are Christians in
outward profession.
And as the tribes of Israel & Iudah are in the old Testa
ment represented by weomen, so the Church of Christ signi
fied by those Tribes is here represented by the Lamb's wife
& by the glorious Woman in heaven. For this woman has a
crown of twelve stars wchwhich are the twelve Apostles & her
seed keep the commandments of God & have the testimony
of Iesus & therefore she is the Church. This woman flys
into a spiritually barren wilderness & commits spiritual fornication when the main body of
the twelve Tribes receive the mark of the Beast & become
the synagogue of Satan; the remnant of her seed who keep
the commandments of God being at the same time sealed
with the seale of God in their foreheads. And therefore after
her flight into the Wilderness when she commits fornication
with the kings of the earth & makes all nations drink of the
wine of her fornication & is drunken with the blood of Saints,
she signifies an apostate idolatrous persecuting Christian Church Catholic.
And since the Woman is the visible Church first in a state of
purity & afterwards in a state of apostacy; the great red Dra
gon who persecutes her & stands before her to devour her
child & the Beast upon whom she afterward sits, that is over
whom she reigns, must be the Roman Empire through wchwhich
she is diffused & wchwhich is the subject of the prophesy. For
the Dragon & this Beast have several heads & horns like
Daniel's Beasts wchwhich signify kingdoms, & to confirm this sig
nification that they are kingdoms
the Dragon has crowns upon his heads & the Beast
has crowns upon his horns & the heads & horns of the Beast are
called kings, & the Dragon gives his throne & power
& authority to the Beast & therefore they are successive
kingdoms in one & the same throne.
In the armies of the Roman Empire both before
& after the Empire became Christian a flying Eagle was
the standard of a Legion & a Dragon the standard of a
Company & in every Company Legion there were ten companies &
by consequence ten Dragons. These Dragons were of a
purple colour & so fastened to the top of a long pike
as like weathercocks to turn their tayles from the wind &
to hiss by means of the wind blowing into their open jaws.
The bearers of these two sorts of standards were called
Aquiliferi & Draconarij. And from these badges of the Roman
Empire this Empire is represented in the second book of Esdras by
an Eagle & in this prophesy by a great Eagle whose two wings
were given to the woman that she might fly into the wilder
ness, & by a great red Dragon who persecutes her. And to repre
sent the idolatrous religion & large extent of yethe Empire this Dragon is called the Devil
& Satan who deceives the whole world.
The27r
The first Beast by the number of his horns & other cha
racters is manifested to be the same wthwith Daniels fourth Beast.
For both had ten horns & Daniel's had an eleventh horn wchwhich
answers to the Woman on the back of Iohn's Beast. For this
horn was an Animal with eyes & a th distinct from the Beast, having eyes like the eyes of
a man & a mouth speaking great things against the most
High, & so was a Seer & a Prophet or Prophetess exercising
a jurisdiction in matters of religion like & having power to change
who calleth her self a Prophetess & deceives all nations wthwith
her sorceries & inebriates them with the wine of her fornica
tion. The horn made war upon the saints & prevailed against
them & the Woman was drunken wthwith the blood of saints &
of the martyrs of Iesus & the in her was found the blood
of Saints Prophets & Saints & of all that were slain upon yethe
face of the earth. The horn had a look more stout then
his fellows & the woman reigns over the ten horns, for she
sits upon the Beast & is called the great city wchwhich reigneth
over the kings of the earth. The Horn reigned with power
to change times & laws a times times & half a time & the
woman was fed in her place in the Wilderness a time times & half a
time. And further, Iohn's Beast is like a Leopard & hath
feet as the feet of a Bear & a mouth as the mouth of
a Lion Apoc. 13. 2: wchwhich is the description of Daniels fourth
Beast. For that Beast was dreadful & terrible as a Leopard
is & fought & stamped wthwith his feet as a Bear doth &
had great iron teeth wherewith he devoured & broke in
pieces like a Lion. Daniel's three first Beasts are here
named backwards & Iohn's is named in the room of the
fourth & described of like & shape to signify that he is the
fourth, & is described also of lke shape. And as Daniel's Beast reigned
in thes little horn & a time times & half a time, or three
years & an half so Iohn's reigned 42 months' wchwhich is also
three years & an half. And lastly as Daniel's fourth Beast
has Rome for its metropolis so has Iohn's; for the heads of Iohn's Beast
are called seven hills where the Woman sitteth, wchwhich is as much as
to say that the head city or metropolis of the Beast is the seven-hilled
city over wchwhich the Woman reigneth. She sits on the Beast, that
is, reigns over him, & therefore is his Metropolis. She is also called
the great city wchwhich reigneth over the kings of the earth & Babylon
the great city: wchwhich name imports that she is that great city wchwhich should
took beseiged Ierusalem, burnt the Temple & captivated the Iews as
Babylon had done before. And therefore Peter writing from Rome in
the time of that siege & alluding in many things to yethe Apocalyps,
calls Rome by the name of Babylon. For all antiquity agree that Peter
wrote his epistles from Rome & by Babylon understood that city.
When the ten horned Beast rose out of the sea, the Dragon
gave him his power & his throne & great authority, Apoc 13. 2: And
therefore the Dragon reigned first in the Roman Empire. He reigned alone28r alone over the whole Empire while the Empire continued in one Mon
archy, & when it became divided into the eastern & western
Empires, the Beast rose out of the sea by that division & the
Dragon gave his old throne the city Rome with its dominion, that
is, his western power & throne, to the Beast, & retained only his
eastern power to himself. For the Dragon did not cease at the
rise of the Beast. After the Beast was risen they worshipped
the Dragon & Beast together (Apoc. 13. 4) & at length three un
clean spirits like froggs came out of the mouths of the Dragon
& Beast & fals Prophet (Apoc 17. 13) & in the end, when the Beast
is cast into the Lake of fire, the Dragon is cast into the bottomless
pit (Apoc. 20. 2) The Dragon & Beast therefore after the divi
sion of the Roman Empire continue in being together & by con
sequence signify the eastern & western or Greek & Latine
Empires. This Dragon is the Devil & Satan (Apoc. 12.
Satan who had his seat in Pergamus (Apoc. 2. 13) that is, the
Kingdom of Pergamus represented by Daniel's he Goat the last
horn of Daniel's He-Goat, whose dominion by the last Will &
testament of Attalus descended to the Romans & who grew
mighty in their power & at length separating from them
became the Greek Empire reigning over the nations of Greece,
Asia minor, Syria & Egypt; wchwhich made up the proper body of
Daniel's He-Goat, & of his Leopard or third Beast. The little
horn of the He Goat waxed great even to the host of heaven,
& it cast down of the host & of the stars to the ground &
stamped upon them & the Dragon's tail drew the third part
of the stars of heaven, & cast them to the earth. These acti
ons are the same signification: for the horn of the Goat
& tail of the Dragon are their fighting members & signify
their military powers or armies commanded by their kings
By the agreement of their actions you may know that they
are one & the same kingdom.
The Greeks called themselves Romans & gave the
name of Romania to the Region about Constantinople, &
distinguished themselves from those of the Western Empire
by the names of Greeks & Latines. Whence the word
ΔΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ is the proper name of the western Empire.
This is the name of a man (an ancient king from whence the Latines had their name) & the number of this
name is 666 & this is the number of the name of the
Beast.
The nations of these two Roman Empires are also distinguished
into two parts by the names of earth & sea: as where the first plague
falls on the earth, the second on the sea, & where the
Devil comes down to the inhabitants of the earth & sea
& where the ten-horned Beast rises out of the earth sea & the
two horned Beast out of the searth. And in this respect
the cities of the eastern empire are called mountains & those
of the western Islands. This distinction seems occasioned
by the language of the Iews who called the eastern countries this distinction seems occasioned by the language of the Iews who called these countries the earth to wchwhich they travelled by land & those the Isles of the sea & Isles of the Gentiles to wchwhich they travelled went by sea. And according to this language, the Sea in Iohn's days was Europe & the Earth was Asia & Afric, & the Mountains & Islands are the reigning cities of the earth & sea with their territories. And because the eastern Empire was seated chiefly in this earth & the western chiefly in this sea: by the earth & sea we may sometimes understand these Empires. And since the the earth tenten29r the earth & the western the isles of the sea. And since the
ten horned Beast rises out of the sea you may know also by
that character that he reigns in Europe & is the Western Empire.
Every kingdom has its national visible Church & the na
tional visible Churches of the Greek & Latine Empires are the fals two
Prophet horned Beast & Whore of Babylon. For the Whore is the seven hilled city the western Babylon, & sits upon the
ten horned Beast or Latine Empire. & in Daniels Prophesies is
one of his horns & therefore is the Church catholic of the Latines: & the other Beast rises out of the earth or
nations of the eastern Empire & hath two horns like the Lamb
that is two churches like the seven churches of Asia signified
by the Lamb & s seven horns out of the Lamb, & speaks as the Dra
gon or eastern Empire & therefore is the church catholic of the Greek's of the Dragon's religion idolatrous religion
them that dwell on the earth & for his doing so is called the
fals Prophet & therefore is of an ecclesiastical kind, & this
fals Prophet survives the Whore beign cast alive into the
Lake of fire after the ten kings have eaten the flesh of the
Whore & burnt her with fire, & therefore this Prophet
differs from the whore & signifies another idolatrous
Church & by consequence the Church of the Greek Empire.
Conceive therefore that while the Roman Empire continues
entire the whole is signified by the Dragon & the church
of in the whole by the glorious woman in heaven: but
when the Empire becomes divided, the woman degenerates
& flyes from the Dragon into the western empire called
a wilderness for its spiritual barrenness, & leaves a
remnant of her seed in the eastern empire wchwhich keep the
commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus;
& that the Dragon at the same time goes from the wo
man into the eastern empire to make war with the
remnant of her seed, & a ten-horned Beast rises out of
the sea or western nations to succeed the Dragon in the
western empire, & a two-horned Beast rises out of the
Earth or Eastern nations of the eastern em to succeed the woman
in the eastern empire, & a new Temple is measured in order
And further, to represent the true Christians or Chur
ches of Christ in both kingdoms, conceive that in opposition
to the seven-hilled city represented by the woman, the taber
nacles & first Temple have in them seven Candlesticks wchwhich
are put for the true church of Christ throughout the Empire
represented by the Dragon, & in opposition to the two horned
Beast there is a second Temple measured in order to be built
with two candlesticks in it, wchwhich are put for the true church
of Christ throughout the Empire represented by the Beasts
For the seven candlesticks are the seven churches of Asia
& the churches of Asia are seated within the kingdom of the
Dragon & by their lamps illuminate his empire: & the two
Candlesticks are the two churches called the two witnesses &
two prophets whom the Beast wchwhich ascends out of the abyss to be built with two Candlesticks in it to represent the saints within the empire of the Beast of whom it is said that power was given unto him to make war wthwith the Saints & to overcome them. For Candlesticks are Churches & the two Candlesticks are two Churches called the two Witnesses & the Beast makes war against these Witnesses & overcomes them & kills them in the streets of the or provinces of the great City Babylon wchwhich in the form of a woman reigns over him, & therefore they are those saints. And by analogy, the seven candlesticks in the first Temple are Gods people in the empire of the Dragon, a finite number being put for an indefinite. For these Candlesticks are the churches of Asia & by consequence within the Dragons kingdom. Conceive therefore that when the Dragon is the whole Roman empire the seven Candlesticks signify the Churches of the whole Empire: but when the Empire becomes divided & makes the 30r makes war upon & kills in the streets of the great city, & there
are they peoples in the kingdom of the Beast & in the streets of
provinces of the great city Babylon wchwhich of the form of a woman
reigns over him & the Dragon retires into the east, the Candlesticks are moved out of their place & become the remnant of the womans seed with whom the Dragon makes war, & are succeeded
in the Western Empire by two Candlesticks placed in a new Temple to sig
nify the saints with whom the Beast makes war. For the
seven Candlesticks do not cease at the division of the Empire
but continue in the first Temple to the end of the prophesy;
the seven Angels wchwhich sound the Trumpets & pour out the Vials
bring their lamps, & the Church of Pergamus lasting till Christ
comes & fights against the Nicolaitans with the sword of his mouth
& that of Sardis till Christ comes as a thief, & the Church of Thy
ativa being to hold fast what they have till Christ comes. So then
the eastern & western Greek & Latine Empires with their Churches
false & true are represented by the Dragon & first Beast, the fals
Prophet & Whore, the seven Churche Candlesticks in the first temple & the two
Candlesticks in the second. For it was fit that all these things
should be represented distinctly. They have also their joynt repre
sentation. For the twelve Tribes of Israel represent all Christians
good & bad in both Empires; & the 144000 servants of God repre
sent all the good, they being numbered & sealed out of the nations of the earth
& sea wchwhich were to be hurt by the four winds as soon as the sealing
was finished; & they that worship the Beast & receive his mark
represent all the bad, he being worshipped as well by the Dragons
subjects as by his own.
We shewed above that the first six heads fell of the Beast
fell before he ascended out of the abyss. For before he ascended
he was latent in the Dragon's body, being the water wchwhich the Dra
gon cast out of his mouth as a flood after the woman to cause her
to be carried away of the flood. For waters are peoples & nations
& multitudes & tongues & an aggregate of waters as a river or
flood or sea is a body politique or kingdom, & the western Empire
has a particular relation to the watry element, the Beast afterwards rising
out of the sea & the Woman sitting upon many waters. As the
woman was flying westward he cast this flood after her &
therefore the flood is a western kingdom. She fled into the
wilderness by a division of the Empire & the Dragon cast
out of his mouth this flood after her to cause her to be
carried away by it, & therefore the casting of this flood out
of his mouth signifies that division & while the water was
in the Dragon's belly the Beast was latent in him & for
that reason has all the Dragons heads. This Beast was
Daniel's fourth Beast & that Beast was the Roman Empire
from the time that the Romans subdued the Greeks & in
that respect the whole Roman Empire is the Beast as well
as the Dragon before the division thereof. And thence it is that
the Dragon & Beast have common heads & common horns; but
with this difference that the Dragon has crowns upon his heads
& not upon his horns to signify that he reigns in all the heads
& not in the horns, & the Beast wchwhich is the eighth & of the seven has crowns upon his horns & not31r not upon his heads to signify that he is not considered in this
prophesy as reigning before he rises out of the sea by the division of the Empire & the Dragon gives him his throne & his horns receive
power as kings by a new division of the western Empire into ten
kingdoms.
The occasion of the division of the Empire into the eastern
& western Empires was the building of Constantinople by
Constantine the great A. C. 330, & endowing it with a senate
& privileges like those of Rome & making it the Metro
polis of all the eastern part of the Empire as Rome had
hitherto been of all the Empires & was hence forward of
all the western part thereof. By this division of the
Empire between two imperial cities, the woman received
two wings of a great Eagle that she might fly into the
wilderness, & at the death of Constantine the great A. C. 337,
the Dragon cast out of his mouth water as a flood after
the woman to cause her to be carried away of the flood.
For the Empire at that time became divided between the
sons of Constantine, his second son Constantius reigning
over the East & his other two sons reigning in the West
& the survivor of them reigning over all the west and
being succeeded by Magnentius in the end of whose reign
A. C. 353 the earth or eastern empire opened her mouth & swal
lowed up the flood by a victory over the western Em
pire whereby the Beast was wounded to death with a
sword & ceased to be for a time, both Empires becom
ing unitd under Constantius & his successors till the
reign of Valentinian & Valens between whom the
Empire became again divided A. C. 364 & by this division the
deadly wound was healed & the Beast revived. Then
by the death of Valens the Empire became united
again under Gratian the successor of Valentinian
for about five months & by the next division wchwhich was
between Gratian & Theodosius A. C. 378 the Beast rose
out of the sea. Gratian reigned with his brother Valenti
nian in yethe west. Maximus compassed the death of Gratian
& made Valentinian fly into the east. Theodosius A. C. 388
conquered Maximus & restored Valentinian. Eugenius A. C.
392 compassed the death of Valentinian & invaded the
western Empire but Theodosius made his younger son Hono
rius emperor of the west in the room of Valentinian, con
quered Eugenius A. C. 394 died three months after & by his
last Will & testament left the Empire divided between his
two sons Arcadius & Honorius. After wchwhich the two empires were
united no more. By conquering the west & resigning the con
quests to Valentinian & Honorius, the Dragon gave the Beast his power32r power & throne. The Beast revived before he could ascend
out of the abyss & sea & asended before the Dragon who stood
upon the land could give him his power & throne. These were
three distinct successive acts & imply three successive divisions
of the empire & can agree to no other then the three last
divisions, those three to wchwhich we have applied them. And now the
Beast being revived & risen out of the sea & having received
the Dragon's ancient power & throne became at once divi
ded into ten kingdoms A. C. 408 409 & 410 wchwhich kingdoms
are the Beast in his last reign wchwhich is called the eighth.
Before the woman received two wings of a great Eagle
there was war in heaven Michael & his Angels fought against
the Dragon & the Dragon fought & his Angels & prevailed not
neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the
great Dragon was cast out, that old Serpent called the Devil
& Satan wchwhich deceiveth the whole world, he was cast out into
the earth & his Angels were cast out with him. And I
heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation
& strength & the Kingdom of orour God & the power of his Christ:
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down who accused
them before our God day & night. And they overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb & by the word of their
testimony; & they loved not their lives unto the death. This is a very plain description of a great conflict between
the Roman heathen empire & the army of Christ. For
Michael & his angels are Christ & his army such an
army as was accused by the Dragon day & night & loved
not their lives unto the death, & as overcame the Dragon
by the blood of the Lamb & by the word of their testimo
ny; that is, an army of martyrs & confessors. And there
fore this war between Michael & the Dragon was mana
ged on the Dragon's part by accusing & persecuting the
Christians & putting them to death for their religion
& on the Christians part by confessing & testifying the
truth of their religion & Chur persisting in their con
fession & testimony without fearing to lose their lives
for the same. And by this conflict the Dragon that old
serpent called the Devil & Satan, that is, the heathen Ro
man empire in respect of its religion was overcome & cast
out of heaven to the earth & was succeeded in the throne
by a new kingdom called the kingdom of orour God. For the
conflict ended with a voice from heaven saying, Now is
come salvation & strength & the KINGDOM of our GOD
for the accuser of orour brethren is cast down. And all this
can agree to nothing else then the last of the heathen
Persecutions wchwhich began in the reign of Dioclesian & lasted almost33r almost two years over all the Roman Empire & ten years together
with great violence over all the east, & was greater then all the
former heathen persecutions taken together; & wchwhich ended in yethe
ruin of the heathen Roman Empire & the setting up a Christian
Empire in its room under Constantine the great.
The same revolution is predicted also by the vision of the
woman who being great with child cried travailling in birth
pained to be delivered, & by the Dragon's drawing the
third part of the stars of heaven with his tail & casting
them to the earth and standing before the woman ready to
be delivered for to devour her child so soon as it was
born, & by her bringing forth a Man-child who was to rule
all nations wthwith a rod iron & was caught up to unto God
& his throne from the jaws of the Dragon, & her flying
into the wilderness. For since this parable ends with the
flight of the woman into the wilderness, & that of the war
between Michael & the Dragon ends also with the same
flight, both these parables ending at the same time must
be synchronal & concern the same revolution of the Empire.
For describing & pointing out this grand revolution more clearly
& fully the description is repeated. The woman travailing
in birth & pained to be delivered signifies the Church in affliction by
a great persecution wchwhich ended in the birth of a Christian
kingdom & therefore was Dioclesian's persecution: & the same
persecution is signified by the Dragon's drawing the third
part of the stars of heaven & casting them to the earth.
This act shews that the Dragon is the persecutor & the other
of the woman's being persecuted pained in childbirth that she
is the person persecuted. The third part of the stars of
heaven, or starrs of the third part, are the Martyrs &
Confessors of the provinces of yethe Greek Empire where the persecution
was very vehement & lasted ten years together being carried on by Dioclesian, Galenius & Maximinus successively, besides
what the Christians of that part of yethe Empire suffered afterwards under Licinius.
For in the Western Empire part of the Empire where
two full years being stopt by Constantius & the Martyrs & confessors were so few &
made so small an appearance that before the end of the
two years there were pillars set up by the heathens in
several parts of Spain wthwith inscriptions signifying that
the superstition of Christ & name of Christians were every
where extinguished. The Man-child wchwhich the woman brought
forth is not a single person but a kingdom as Isaias Isa. 66. 7, 8. inter
prets the type. For the woman is a body polytick & the
child must be a body of the same kind with the mother.
And this kingdom was Christian because it was the son of the
woman & was to rule all nations with a rod of iron wchwhich in
this prophesy is the scepter of Christ's kingdom. The persecution began34r began by an Edict for demolishing the Churches & burning the
sacred books throughout the Empire A. C. 302, & the Man-
child was born in the western part of the Empire by the
victory of Constantine the great over Maxentius in the end
of the persecution A. C. 312, Constantine being encouraged
by a victory vision of a cross in the heavens with this in
scription In hoc signo vinces.. And six years after by the
victory of Constantine over Licinius a heathen persecuting
Emperor who reigned in the east the Man-child was caught
up to the throne of the whole Empire A. C. 318. And soon after
by the building of Constantinople A. C. 330 the Woman re
ceived two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into
the wilderness. Conceive that when the Man-child was
caught up to God, he soon vanished out of sight being here
after to return from heaven & rule all nations wthwith a rod
of iron. But before he vanished there was a voice from
heaven saying, Now is come salvation & strength & the kin
KINGDOM of orour GOD – – – – Therefore rejoyce ye heavens
& ye [saints] that dwell in them. Wo be to the [vulgar Christian] inhabiters
of the earth & sea [who are Christians in outward pro
fession only] for the Devil is come down amongst you
having great wrath. When the Dragon was newly cast down
& the Man-child caught up to the throne; the Empire in several respects
was both the Manchild & the Dragon: the Man-child in respect of
the
the inferior multitude who were heathens. And this multitude
out of temporal ends making hast to profess the Christian
religion corrupted it wthwith their vicious lives & superstiti
ous principles & practices & idolatrous principles & practices,
& the Man-child at the same time vanished out of sight & left the
Dragon that old serpent reigning amongst the inhabitants of the
earth & sea. And the Dragon soon after gave his ancient western
throne & authority to the Beast & reigned only in the east untill the
Man-child returned from heaven to rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron
For Michael & his angels who in the Days of Constantine persecution of Dioclesian fought
for the Church against the Dragon, returne in the end of ages under
the name of the Word of God & King of kings with his army on white horses, to fight
for the Church against the Beast & the kings of the earth & their
armThis is that Michael I say the great Prince when standeth for the people of Daniel, people shall stand up in the great tribulation as he did before in Dioclesians persecution (Dan. XII. 1) & the Beast & fals Prophet being taken & cast into the
lake of fire, & the Dragon into the bottomless pit, the Manchild
thwith a rod of iron. For he
that overcometh & keepeth my works unto the end, to him, saith
Christ, will I give power over the nations & he shall rule them
with a rod of iron (Apoc. 2. 26) & therefore all they that overcome
& have this power are such a mystical body as is represented by
the man-child.
How the Empire after it became Christian grew exceeding
vicious would require a large discourse to describe fully: & you may
satisfy yourself about this matter by reading only the book of Salvian
de gubernatione Dei written about yethe year 440 to convince the Romans
35r
almost two years over all the Roman Empire & ten years together
with great violence over all the east, & was greater than all the
former persecutions heathen persecutions taken together; & wchwhich ended
in the ruin of the heathen Roman Empire & the setting up a
Christian Empire in its room under Constantine the great.
The same revolution is predicted also by the Woman be great
with child & who cried travell the vision of the vision of the woman who being
great with child cried travailling in birth & pained to be delivered
and by the Dragon's drawing the third part of the stars of heaven
with his tail & casting them to the earth & standing before the
woman ready to be delivered for to devour her child as soon as
it was born, & by her bringing forth a Man-child who was to
rule all nations with a rod of iron & was caught up unto God &
his throne from the jaws of the Dragon, & her flying from
the Dragon into the wilderness. For since this Parable ends wthwith
the flight of the Woman into the wilderness, & that of the war
between Michael & the Dragon ends also with the same flight
both
& concern the same revolution of the Empire. The For describing & pointing out
this grand revolution more clearly & fully the description is repeated. The
woman travelling in birth & pained to be delivered signifies the
Church in affliction by a greatchwhich ended in the
birth of a christian kingdom & therefore was Dioclesian's per
secution & the same thing is si persecution is signified by the Dra
gon's drawing the third part of the stars of heaven & casting them
to the earth. This act shews that the Dragon is the persecutor
the other of the Woman's being pained in childbirth that she is
the person persecuted. The third part of the stars are the of heaven of heaven,
or stars of the third part, are the Martyrs & Confessors of the
Greek Empire where the persecution was very vehement & lasted
ten years together besides what the Christians suffered afterwards
under Licinius. For in the Western Empire the persecution
lasted scarce two full years & the Martyrs & Confessors were
so few & made so small an appearance that before the end
of the two years there were pillars set up by the heathens
in several parts of Spain with inscriptions signifying that the
superstition of Christ & name of Christians were every where
extinguished. And from this coldness in religion & scarcity of
sincere & fervent Christians the western nations are compared
to a spiritually barren wilderness The Man-child wchwhich the
woman brought forth, is not a single person but a kingdom
as Isaias interprets the type. For the Woman is a body politique of politique
men & the child must be a body of the same kind th with the mother.
And this Chur kingdom was Christian because it was the son of the Woman & was to rule all nations wthwith
a rod of iron wchwhich in this prophesy is the scepter of Christ & his kingdom
The persecution began by an Edict for demolishing the Churches & burning the sacred books throughout the Empire A. C. 302, & the Man-child was born in
the western part of the Empire by the victory of Constantine the
great over Maxentius in the end of the persecution A. C. 312, Constantine being encouraged in
that war by a vision of a Cross in the heavens with the inscripti
on, In hoc signo vinces And
Constantine over Licinius a heathen persecuting Emperor who reigned36r reigned in the east the Man-child was caught up to the throne of the
whole Empire A. C. 318. And soon after by the building of Constantinople
A. C. 330 the woman received two wings of a great Eagle that
she might fly into the wilderness. Conceive that when the Man
child was caught up to God he soon vanished out of sight being
hereafter to return from heaven & rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron
But before he vanished there was a voice from heaven, saying,
Now is come salvation & strength & the KINGDOM OF of orour
GOD – – – – – Therefore rejoyce ye heavens & ye [saints] that dwell
in them. Wo to the inhabiters of the earth & sea [who are Chris
tians in outward profession only] for the Devil is come down
amongst you having a great wrath. When the heathen religion
was cast down from the throne & remained only among the common
Christianity came into fashion; the heathens flocked into the Churches
making a profession of Christianity: but retaining in their hearts
the principles of the heathen religion wthwith wchwhich they had been
imbued, & they introducedg several heathens superstitions into Christianity, &
the Christians meeting them half way for faciliating their conver
sion. And the by And by this means the Devil came down among the inhabiters
of the earth & sea & the
of sight & began a new reign came then over the
And this was the great wrath with wchwhich the Dra
gon Devil came down among the inhabitants of the earth &
sea. When the Dragon was newly cast down he was out & the manchild caught up to the throne the Empire cuts in several respects
was the Manchild & the Dragon, the man child in respects, the Man-child in
respect of the sincere christians who governed & the Dragon in respect of
the multitude below who were heathens. And this multitude out of temporal
ends professing making hast to profess the Christian religion corrupted it with their vicious lives
& superstitious & idolatrous principles & practices & the Man-child at yethe same time va
nished out of sight, & left the Dragon amongst reigning over amongst the vulgar christians the inhabitants of the earth & sea, ☉☉ earth & sea; & the Dragon soon after gave his ancient western throne & authority
to the Beast & reigned only in the east untill the Manchild returned from heaven to rule all
nations with a rod of iron. For Michael & his angels who fought for the
church against the Dragon is the same with the
returns in the end of ages, & under the name of the Word of God & his army
on white horses, to fight for the Church against the Beast & the kings
of the earth & their armies: & the Beast & fals Prophet being cast into the
lake of fire & the Dragon into the bottomless pit, the Manchild takes the
kingdom & governs all nations with a rod of iron. For He that overcometh &
keepeth my works unto the end, to him saith Christ will I give power over the
nations & shall rule them wthwith a rod of iron (Apoc. 2. 26.) & therefore all they
that overcome are members of the & have this power compose a mystical body of fitly represented by the Man-child.
How the Empire after it became Christian, became quickly became
exceeding vicious you can see deser in a short time would require a large discourse to
describe. I content my self wthwith referring you to And you may satisfy your self about this matter by reading only the book of Salvian de Provi
dentia Gubernatione
Dei written before the middle of the fift century that they were to
convince] the Romans that they were more vicious in all repsects then the
northern heathen nations who invaded them & that therefore God was just in
making the heathens Lords over them. The author was a Bishop of Marseils & an old man & wrote wthwith
wthwith an extraordinary appearance of piety & sincerity, great modesty in a sober historicall manner without oratoricall flourishes describing & by the book of & by the book of Gethe number of people & in wealth & power & outward glory so it decreased in virtue & ‡‡ before yethe end of the 4th century became as a viciou the Christian Empire became as vicious as the heathen
empire had been before & has ever since continued as vicious in the same state of viciousness. And I
may add that it has ever since continued as vicious. What he writes is confi
med by several passages in Gregory Nazianzen Ierome &
wrote before him.
How the Empire after it became Christian became in a short time
superstitious & idolatrous would also require a large discourse to describe
fully & may be sufficiently understood by what follows. of the beginning of
idolatry & I shall content my self wthwith the following short account
. It may suffice for the present purpose to give yethe following account of the beginning of Idolatry.
Gregory of Nyssen tells us – – – – vino placatis et dapibus.
These things being understood it will not be difficult to describe
the seven heads of the Dragon. The four first are the four
horsmen wchwhich the four Beasts standing towards the four winds
of heaven call Iohn to come & see & wchwhich therefore stood in
the regions of the Beasts, the first horsman to the east, the
second to the west the third to the south & the fourth to yethe
north. Riding signifies reigning & the four Beasts wthwith their
faces of a Lion Ox Man & Eagle allude to the armies of Israel
encamped under their banne about the tabernacle in the wilderness
in four bodies under their banners; the tribes of Iudah Issacher & Zebu
bulum being on the east side under the standard of a Lion, those of
Reuben Simeon & Gad on the south side under the standard of a Man,
those of Ephraim Manasseh & Benjamin on the west side under the
standard of an Ox & those of Dan Asher & Naphtali on the north
side under the standard of an Eagle. The encampments is described in
the book of Numbers & the Iews keep a tradition of the standards. Every Num. 2.
Hors-man therefore wthwith the horse he rides upon & the Beast wchwhich
appears in the same region with him, is a fit emblem of an Emperor or race of Emperors
with his Empire & his army under its standard. And thus the four
hors-men with their Beasts very fitly represent four reigns or
dynasties of Emperors. The
The first Emperors were Italians called the twelve Cæsars. Of
these there were two dynasties the first of the family of Iulius Cæsar
wchwhich lasted till the death of Nero, the next the family of Vespasian
wchwhich lasted till the death of Domitian the last of the twelve Cæsars. The Apocalyps37r Apocalyps was written in the end of the first & is of things future & therefore we
are to being with the next. Of this Dynasty there were only three Em
perors, Vespasian & his two sons Titus & Domitian. Vespasian was
created Emperor in the East in the time of the Iewish war. And there being
then a rumor in all the east of a prophesy that a great Monarch should
arise about that time in Iudea the Romans interpreted it of him. Pevere
buerat Oriente toto vetus & constans opinio, esse in fatis ut eo tem
pore Iudæa profecti rerum potirentur. Id de Imperatore Romano, quantum
eventu postea patuit, prædictum Iudæi ad se trahentes rebellarunt. Sue
tonius in Vespasiano. Pluribus persuasio in erat antiquis sacerdotum literis
contineri eo ipso tempore fore ut valesceret Oriens profectique Iudæa
rerum potirentur. Quæ ambages Vespatianum et Titum prædixerunt.
Tacitus Hist. l. 5. Quod Iudæos ad bellum maxime excitaverat erat
responsum erat ambiguum itidem in sacris libris inventum, quod eo
tempore quidam esset ex eorum finibus orbis terræ habiturus Impe
rium. Id enim illi quidem quasi proprium acciperunt, multique
sapientes interpretatione decepti sunt. Hoc autem plane responso
Vespansiani designabatur Imperium qui apud Iudæam creatus est
Imperator. Ioseph. de bello Iud. l. 7. c. 12.
The second Dynasty was of a Western family of Spaniards, Trajan
Hadrian, Antoninus, Marcus & Commodus. Trajanus homo Hispanus
nec Italus erat nec Italicus; ante eum nemo alterius nationis
imperium Romanum obtinuerat, (Dion.) Natus Italicæ in Hispania (Vic
tor de Cæsar.) Hadriani origo posterior ab Hispaniensibus manat, ejus
pater Ælius Hadrianus consobrinus Trajani Imperatoris, mater
Gadibus orta (Spartian in Hadriano) Ipse Trajani municeps & Nepos
(Spartian in Severo) natus Italicæ in Hispania (Victor et Euseb.
Chron) Ἠν μὲν γάρ πολίτης ἀυτοῦ, καὶ ἐτραπεύθη ὑπ' ἀυτοῦ, γένους
θ' ὁι ἐκοινώνει, καὶ ἀδελφιδῆν ἀυτοῦ ἠγηγαμήκει, τὸ δή τη σύμπαν
συνῆν ἀυτῷ καὶ συνδιητᾶτο (Dion.) Hispania Principum mater
est; hæc Trajanum hæc deinceps Hadrianum misit Imperio (Pacatus
Paneg. ad Theodos.) Antonius Pius, cui paternum genus e Gallia
transalpina, Naummasense scilicet (Capitolinus) ab Adriano in
filium adoptatus cujus gener fuerat (S. Aur. Victor. Epitome) ea
tamen lege ut is Marcum fratris uxoris suo filium similiter
adoptaret (Capitolin.) Marcus Hadriani consan guineus (Dion
in Hadriano) & Antonini gener (Eutrop.) filiusque per adoptionem
(Dion. Capitolin. Euseb. Hist. l. 4. c. 14.) Ipse Adrianum vocat
avumo suum & Trajanum proavum (Spartian. in Piscen. nigro.)
Ejus amita Galeria Faustina Antonini uxor, Proavus paternus
Annius Verus ex Luccubitano Mancipio ex Hispania factus
Senator (Capitolin.) Unde Themistius Theodosium ex Hispania Themist. Orat. 5 ad Theodos.
Imperatorem alloquens vocat Trajanum & Marcum et
Antoninum πολίτας καὶ ἀρχηγέτας ἀυτοῦ populares &
majores ejus. Commodus Marci filius (Capitolinus alijque)
ultimús Trajanidum.
The third Dynasty was a southern family of Africans
Severus, Antonius Caracalla, Macrinus, Heliogabalus & Alex
ander: to wchwhich may be added the three Gordians & Philip. Severus
oriundus ex Africa, Provincia Tripolitana, oppido Lepti. solus omni
memoria & ante & post ex Africa Imperator fuit (Entrop.) nativita
te scilicet et genere proximo. Ipse cano capite et crispo Afrum
quiddam usque ad senectutem sonans (Spartian.) Caracalla Severi
filius (Sparian.) Macrinus natione Maurus e Cæsarea Stifensi obscuris natus38r natus est parentibus. Habuit enim præter cætera, alteram aurem
perforatam ut est Maurorum consuetudo (Dion.) Sub Commodo
relegatus in Africam, ubi ut in famiam damnationis tegeret
fertur lectioni operam dedisse, egisse causulas, declamasse,
jus postremo dixisse; deinceps advocatum fuisse fisci ex quo
officio ad amplissima quæque pervenit (Capitolin.) Heliogabalus
Caracallæ filius (S. Aur. Victor. & Euseb. Chron.) et Alexander
consobrinus ejus & filius adoptivus ex familia Severi etiam prognatus (Lamprid. Zosem. l. 1)
Iulia utique Severi conjux sororem habuit Mœsum cui duœ
erant filiæ Soænis et Mammœa. Hæc Alexadrum, illa
a Caracalla compressa Heliogabalum edidit. Maximinus Thracia
oriundus, in Gallia sabutatus Imperator, ex corpore militari primus ad imperium accessit sola militum
voluntate cum nulla Senatus interessisset authoritas nec ipse Senator
esset (Eutrop. Capitolin. Euseb. Oros.) Contra eum Gordianus pater Procon
sul Africæ una cum filio Gordiano in Africa salutati Imperatores &
a Senatu confirmati damnato Maximino ut hoste reipublicæ. Iamque
Gordianum Africanum appellarunt (Capitolin. Herodian. Zosimus) Hic
post annum et dimidium in Africa transactum Carthagini perijt una
cum filio, & mox tertius Grodianus, sive ex filio sive ex filia
Gordiani senioris natus, in imperium a senate sufficitur, & Maxi
minus deinde post triennium in vasæ tyrannid is occiditur (Capito
lin.) Gordiano tertio successit Philippus Arabs Vostris Arabiæ
urbe obscuris parentibus natus (Pompon. Læt.) In this race
of southern Emperors the family of Severus lasted till the
death of Alexander. Amongst them reigned Macrinus of another
southern family, & to Macrinus I add the short reigns of the three
Gordians & Philip, & reject Maximinus as a Tyrant as Emperors of the same kind & neglect Maximinus as contemporary
to the Gordians.
The fourth Dynasty was of many northern short lived Emperors
Decius, Gallus with his son Volusian, Valerian with his son Gallienus,
Claudius, Aurelian, Tacitus, Probus, & Carus with his sons Numerian
& Carinus. Decius b e Pannonia inferiore Bubulæ natus (Aurel.
Victor alijque) in Pannonia etiam imperator factus (Zosimus.) Gallus
juxta Tanaim fluvium Imperator factus (Zosim.) Valerianus natus
Romæ, sed in Rhætia et Norico agens factus est imperator (Euseb. Eutrop.
Iornand.) Claudius Dalmatia oriundus (Treb. Pollio) Aurelianus
ortus Sirmij in Pannonia inferiore parentibus obscuris: ut nonnulli
Dacia Ripensi (Vopisc.) Tacitus Italus imperavit menses tantum sec.
Carus aut Naronæ in Illyrico (Aurel: Victor. et Cerilianus apud
Vopiscum) aut Romæ t sed Illyricis natus est parentibus (Onesimus
apud Vopiscum)
The fift Dynasty was of several Emperors reigning together
& sharing the Empire amongst them by common consent. This Dynasty
began wthwith the reign of Dioclesian & Maximianus & ended with the de
throning of the Dragon by the victory of Constantine the great over
Licinius. sometimes four or five Emperors reigned at the same time
in several parts of the Empire. This Dynasty the Romans distinguished from the reigns of the former Empe
rors by dating from the beginning of it an Æra called the Æra of
Dioclesian & the Æra of the Martyrs. For this Æra commenced with
the reign of Dioclesian A. C. 284 Aug. 29, & was in use till the Æra of
Dionysius prevailed, that is, for about 250 years. Scaliget saith it is still
in use among the Christians of Afric & Ethiopia. This Æra I consider as a sufficient39r sufficient argument of the beginning of a new Dynasty, the Romans
looking upon Dioclesian as the restorer of their Empire. wchwhich For in the
fourth Dynasty it was in great danger of falling, but was restored by Dioclesian
& his Colleagues to its former greatness & tranquility & enlarged by the
addition of Assyria & the five Provinces beyond Tigris
The sixt Dynasty began wthwith the victory of Michael over the Dragon, the reign of the manchild being caught up to God & to his throne & the coming down of the Dragon from his throne in heaven to reign in a new throne among
the inhabitants of the earth & sea, that is, thwith the dethroning of hea
thenism by the victory of Constantine over Licinius whereby the Empire
was reduced to a monarchical form. It continued in the family of Con
stantine till the death of Iulian the Apostate. After Iulian reigned
Iovian seven months & then the Beast wchwhich had been slain wthwith a sword
revived by a division of the Empire between Valentinian & Valens & rose
out of the sea by another division of it between Gratian & Theodosius & at
the death of Theodosius received the Dragons Throne, by wchwhich acts a new
seventh Dynasty commenced gradually.
The seventh Dynasty was
into the Greek & Latine empires or of the Dragon & Beast reigning
together. And after this division of the Empire there being no more
changes common to both Empires to make a new Dynasty of the whole
the Dragon & Beast have no more common heads then seven. But
soo after this division the Latin Empire became further divided into
ten kingdoms wchwhich made a new Dynasty of that Empire called the eighth
& of the seven. & this was the last Dynasty of the Latin Empire
there being no more changes common to both empires those kingdoms to make a new
Dynasty of them whole all. So then in the whole Roman Empire
after the writing of this Prophesy there were seven successive
Dynasties & no more, & in the
eighth & no more: all wchwhich Dynasties answer perfectly to the seven
common heads of the Dragon & Beast & chwhich is the eighth & of the
seven & received power as a king at yethe same time wthwith the ten horns,
being a composition of them all
The subject of the Prophesy being described, let us now go over
the whole Prophesy in due order of time & see how it agrees wthwith history.
40r
Chap.
Of the Kingdoms & Churches
wchwhich are the subject of the
seer Prophesy.
The nations within the bounds of the four Monarchies are
the subject of sacred Prophesy, for they are all of them to be subdued
by a fift & consist of threthree equal parts: the nations of the Western
Roman Empire or Empire of the Latines, the nations of the
eastern Roman Empire or Empire of the Greeks, & the nations
of the Persian Empire including Chaldea. And wherever this Prophesy
mentions a third part of any thing, as a third part of the earth, sea
rivers, sun or stars, it relates to one of these three parts.
This Prophesy
concern the Christian Religion & therefore flourished most & wchwhich were con
verted to Christianity, that is to the Roman Empire wchwhich was at
first united under one monarch & afterwards became divided
into the Greek & Latine Empires. The Latine Empire is the
fourth Beast of Daniel or fourth Monarchy strictly so called, wchwhich was to
stand till the end of judgment should sit & the son of man should
come into the clouds to yethe ancient of days & the saints should take the
kingdom of all the four monarchies all. The Greek Empire is the third Mo
narchy or third Beast whose life is still prolonged tho its dominion hath been taken
away. This monarchy comprehending the nations of Greece, Asia minor,
Syria & Egypt was at of represented at first by the four heads &
four wings of the Leopard & by the four horns of the He-Goat &
afterwards by the little horn of the He-Goat wchwhich grew up after the of the He Goat
or kingdom of Pergamus wchwhich by the last will & Testament of Attalus descending to yethe Romans grew mighty
but not in its one power & then separating from them became the
Greek Empire seated reigning at Constantinople till the Turks subdued it
The Christian Churches are represented in this prophesy
by the twelve Tribes of Israel. For The Persian Empire comprehends the remainder of the four Monarchies, & is still in being. The scene of the visions is the
Temple, & the worship of Christians is, here in this prophesy described in the Temple under the
form of the Iewish worship in the Temple as we shewed above.
And hence the Christian Churches are represented b in this prophesy by the twelve tribes of Israel & by as many of them after a separation of the tribes into two parties the sincere party of yethe Christians is represented by those who are numbered & sealed wthwith the seal of God out of yethe 12 tribes & worship in the inner court of the Temples & sealed wthwith yethe seal of God & the synagogue of Satan the Synagogue of Satan who say they are Iews & are
not, is put for the Church of Satan the Drag the remainder of the twelve tribes who profess themselves Christians
but are fallen away to Idolatry & worshipping Dæmons have Sathen for
their God. have the mark of the Beast. & worship in the imaginary outward court of yethe Temple
And as the Tribes of Israel & Iudah are in the old Testament
have signified by those Tribes
is here represented by the Lambs wife & by the glorious woman in
heaven. For this Woman has a crown of twelve stars wchwhich are the
twelve Apostles & her seed keep the commandments of God & have yethe
testimony of Iesus & therefore she is the Church. This woman flyes into
a spiritually barren wilderness when the main body of the twelve tribes receive the mark of the Beast & become yethe
synagogue of Satan, & at the same time the remnant of her seed who keep the
commandments of God are being at the same time sealed wthwith the seale of God in their foreheads. And therefore after her
flight the Woma when she is fled into the Wilderness & when she commits fornication with the kings of the earth &
makes all nations drink the wine of her fornication, signifies a & is drunken with the blood of saints she signifies an apostate idolatrous persecuting
Christian Church
catholick make a state of idolatry & such a Church as persecutes. Those that are not of her
own communion degenerates into addicted to persecute all with death
And hence the twelve tribes of Israel are put for the Christian Churches & those who are in & when some are numbred
And as the Empire was at first united & then divided so was the Church. out of yethe 12 tribes & sealed wthwith the seale of God the rest
of the tribes who are not sealed wthwith yethe seal of God but receive the mark of the Beast are called the synagogue of Satan who say they are Iews & are not, that is who profess
themselves Christians but are the Church of Satan. being marked wthwith yethe mark of the Beast For all men whose names are
not written in yethe book of life that is all who are not sealed wthwith the seale of God, wonder after the Beast & worship him & his image
& receive his mark. When the saints are sealed the rest numbered & sealed out of the twelves tribes the rest of the Tribes receive the mark of yethe mark of the
Beast & become the synagogue of Satan & therefore they that have the mark of the Beast & worship him & his Image are Christians in outward
profession.
And as Daniels reigned in the little horn a time times & half a time or threthree years & an half so Iohns
reigned 42 months wchwhich is also three years & an half. And lastly as Daniels Beast
was the Roman Roman Empire of the Latines whose Metropolis was Rome so Iohn's has
Rome for its Metropolis: for the heads of this Beast are called seven
hills where the woman sitteth [[[ & the Woman is called the great city sitts on the Beast that is reigns over him &.
wchwhich reigneth over the kings of the earth that is over the ten kings. She is therefore his Metropolis &
this Metropolis is the seven hilled city. When the Romans were making war upon yethe
Iews & were ready to Upon her forhead was a name written Babylon the Great the a Nar And wchwhich name imports that she is that great city wchwhich should take take Ierusalem burn the Temple & captivate the Iews as the Babylonians
had done before, And therefore when the Romans were making war upon them beseiging Ierusalem Peter being then at Rome wthwith Paul & Silvanus the companion of
Paul met & writing to the converted Iews of his flock who upon the approaching of yethe Iewish war had fled from
Iudea into Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia & Bithynia, & in his Epistles alluding in many things to the
Apocalyps wchwhich was then newly written; he calls Rome by the name of Babylon, implying by that name that
Rome was be ready then treating the Iews in the same manner as Babylon had done before
& should in like manner destroy their city & Temple & captivate their nation as Christ had
predicted before his death.] [ Which is as much as to say that his head City or metropolis is the
seven hilled city over wchwhich the woman reigneth. She sits on the Beast, that is reigns over
him & therefore is his Metropolis. And She is also called the great city which reigns over the Kings
of the earth & therefore is theof their kingdom. Upon her fore head was a name written Babylon the
great wchwhich name imports that she is that great city wchwhich should take Ierusalem burn the
Temple & captivate yethe Iews as Babylon had done before. And therefore when the Apostles
& converted t churches of the circumcision in Iudea upon the approaching of yethe Iewish war
had fled fled from Iudea & dispersed themselves into all nations & Iohn wthwith many of the con
vennant was gone went into Asia & there had wrote the Apocalyps & Peter & Mare were gone went to Rome where Mare wrote his Gospel & Peter wrote
his Epistles to yethe strangers dispersed throughout Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia & Bithynia that
is to the christian Iews who were his flok & were his flock lately fled with him from Iudæa, & where Apoc who were his
flock Peter sending his first epistle to them by Silvanus the companion of Paul & mentioning
ing his second Epistle how Paul had also written to them meaning in the epistle to the Hebrews: Peter in these his Epistles alluding in many
things to yethe Apocalyps calls Rome by the name of Babylon, intimating by that name that
Rome wchwhich was then besieging Ierusalem as Babylon had done before use it should in like manner old Babylon
take & destroy the city & temple & captivate the nation of yethe Iews, as Christ had predicted
before his death, & therefore was called the great City Babylon by the so often mentioned in
the Apocalyps. For all antiquity agree that Peter wrote his Epistles from Rome & by
Babylon understood that city. And therefore Peter writing from Rome in the time of that
siege & alluding in many things to yethe Apocalyps calls Rome by the name of Babylon. For all antiquity agree that Peter wrote his epistles
from Rome & by Babylon understands that city.
The seven candlesticks & twelve Tribes & glorious womāan in heaven beneath of them are each put for the the whole true visible church of Christ thoughoutthroughout the whole Empire be
fore it becomes divided into yethe eastern & western empires; & when it becomes divided & they
their signification is retrained they signify only the s they & the woman flies into the west
& is succeeded in the east by the two horned Beast & the Dragon goes from her into the
east & is succeeded in the west by the ten horned Beast, ‡ ‡c there are 144000 numbred & sealed out of yethe 12 tribes & called
‡the woman leaves a remnant of her seed in the east wchwhich are the main body of the 144000 numered & sealed out of the 12 tribes
& sealed in the sincere part of the seven Candlesticks & it & the are the main body thereof & the seven
candlesticks are removed out of the place & for the future signify that remnant of yethe womans
seed; & are succeeded in the western Empire remains a spiritually barren wilderness & for yethe
Western empire is a spiritually barren wilderness] & the sincere part of the sincere (and last victory & the residue of the seven Churches, & the 144000 sev or the major part of them [the Candlesticks are removed out
of their places & are succeeded in the west by the two witnesses Prophets in sackcloth.. And thus the eastern
& western Empires wthwith their churches false & true are signified by the Dragon & first Beast,
the true a fals Prophet & the Whore, the seven Churches Candlesticks in the first Temple & the two Prophets in
sackcloth candlesticks in the second. For it was very fit that these two Empires wthwith
their churches false & true should have their distinct & proper representations in this Prophesy.]
the few sincere christians remaining in the western Empire
not being being scarce here considered in this recconing. For the western Empire is at this time compared to a spiritually barren
wilderness. But were and yet his Empire not being who ly destricts of good Christians the inner
are at this time measured in taken of their being rebuilt to signify that they should be into a new spiritual Temple & two ca
Temple to signify two churches or or churches wittnesses chwhich in the days of this Temple should prophesy in sackcloth. And
thus the Eastern & Western Empires wthwith their churches true & false & true are signified by the
Dragon & first Beast, the fals Prophet & Whore, the seven Candlesticks in the first Temple
& two candlesticks in the second. For it was fit that these two Empires wthwith their churches fals
& true should have their distinct & proper representations in this Prophesy.
— glorious woman in heaven & also by 12 tribes & seven candlesticks: but when – – – & conceive further that yethe rem
nant of the womans seed in the fir Temple went wchwhich the Dragon makes war upon is the / & makes w
— And that the saints with whore the ten horned Beast wchwhich rose out of yethesea makes war upon with & overcomes are the saints true churches of the western
empire otherwise represented by the two Witnesses. For the two Witnesses are two Candlesticks that is Churches
& the Beast chwhich ascends out of the abyss makes war upon against them & overcomes them & kills in the streets of the great city &
therefore they prophesy in the kingdom of the Beast & in the streets or provinces of
the 41r great city Babylon wchwhich in the form of a Woman reigns over him.
— & that the
remnant of yethe womans seed whom the Dragon in the Greek Empire makes war with in the eastern empire & ytthat a new temple is measured in order to be built wthwith two
Candlesticks in it to represent the saints in the western Empire whom yethe Beast makes war with & overcomes in the western Empire. For the
For the two Candlesticks are churches & the two Candlesticks signify two churches called the
two Candlesticks whom witnesses whom the Beast makes war with with against & overcomes
& kills in the streets or provinces of the great City Babylon wchwhich in the form of a woman reigns over yethe
Beast him. And the seven Candlesticks are the seven churches of Asia & the churches of
Asia are seated within the kingdom of the Dragon & by their lamps illuminate his empire
But the twelve Tribes of Israel signif signify all the Christians in t both good & bad in
the whole empire from the beginning to the end, & the 144000 all the tru christians
in both Empires the whole.
— And a new Temple is measured in order to be built whose t wthwith two Candlesticks in
it to represent the saints whom the Beast makes war with & overcomes in his kingdome & overcomes
For Candlesticks are Churches & the two Candlesticks are two Churches called the two Witnesses
& these Beast makes makes war against these witnesses & overcomes & kills them in the streets
or provinces of the great city Babylon wchwhich in the form of a woman reigns over him, & therefore they are those saints
And by analogy The seven churches Candlesticks in the first Temple, And since the two Candlesticks in the second T saints are the people of God in the western Empire of the Beast may by the analogy will signify the
peop people of God or Churches or churches are Gods people And by analogy in the empire of the Dragon. ‡ ‡ For they a finite number being put for an indefinite. For these candlesticks are are the Churches of Asia & by consequence within the Dragons kingdom
Thus the eastern & western Empires wchwhich their churches fals & true are represented by the Dragon
& first Beast, the seven fals Prophet & Whore, the seven Candlesticks in the first Temple & two
Candlesticks in the second. For it was fit that all these things should be distinctly represented
But They have also their joyal representation. For the twelve tribes of Israel represent all Christians good & bad in both Empires & the
144000 sealed servants of God represent all the good they are sealed out of yethe Earth & the sea wchwhich were to be heard by the 4 winds, & they that worshipp are of yethe Beast & have his mark represent all the bad, he being
worshipped as well by the Dragons subjects as by his own. While Conceive therefor that when the Dragon is the whole
Empire the seven candlesticks will signify the Churches of the whole empire, but when the
Dragon Empire becomes divided & the Dragon retires into the east the Candlesticks are moved
out of their place & signify become the remnant of the womans seed wthwith whom the Dragon makes war
& are succeeded in the western Empire by the two Candlesticks wchwhich are placed in a new temple & signify the saints wthwith whom. For
the seven Candlesticks are the seven Churches of Asia & do not cease at the division are called of the Empire but continue in the Tabernacle
& first Temple to yethe end of yethe Prophesy, the seven Angels being wchwhich pour out sound the trumpets
& pour-out the vials of wrath being their lamps; & the seven churches of Asia are within
the Dragons kingdom church & the church of Pergamus lasting till Christ comes & fights against the Nicolaitans wthwith yethe sword of his mouth & comes on ytthat of Sardis as in this till Christ comes as a thief.
✝ & The fift Dynasty began with the f
The wars of the first four are represented in general words by the lightnings & voices
& thundrings & earthquakes & great hail f wchwhich fo in the beginning of this vision as was
said above. The fift dynast reign or Dynasty began wthwith the first appearance of the wo
man travelling in birth & of the Dragon in heaven standing before her ready to devour her child as
soon as it was born. This Dynasty reign ended & a sixt began with the casting of yethe Dragon
out of heaven to the earth & a sixt reign began wthwith his coming down to reign amongst the inhabitants of the
earth & sea. And Dynasty this reign ended & a seventh began when the Beast rose out of
the sea & the Dragon gave him his power & throne, that is at the &
Then X Gratian Maximus slew Gratian & expelled the younger
Valentinian out of the western Empire, but was conquered by Theodosius A. C. 388 & the whole Empire
became united again became under Thedosus who reigned three years in the west making yethe younger Valen
tinian partaker of his Empire & then going back into the east left Valentinian in the west who within a
few months after was slain in Italy by the contrivance of Eugenius & who succeeded him & after two years Eugenius
reigned two years & then was conquered by Theodosius & w & thereupon Theodosius made
his younger son Honorius Emperor of the west & at having made his elder son Assadius
Emperor of yethe east before & after two years conquering Eugenius he three months over
the whole Empire & then by his last will & testament left the rest Empire divided between
his two sons. / Theodosius by his victoryes over Maximus & Eugenius reunited it & left by by his last will & testament
ment left it divided between his sons.] And the western Empire being invaded by the
Tyrants Maximinus & Eugenius Theodosius conquered them & gave tho
Gratian reigned wthwith his brother Valentinian in the West. Maximus slew Gratian & empelled made
Valentinian fly to Thessalonica. Theodosius A. C. 388 conquered Maximus & restored Valentinian. Eugenius
A.C> 392 contrived the death of Valentinian & invaded the western Empire but Theodosius made his
younger son Honorius Emperor of the west in the room of Valentinian, & conquered A in October A. C. 394
& died three months after & by his last will & testament left A. C. 395 Arcadius &
wchwhich the two Empires were no more un united no more. [By this last division the Dragon gave
his throne to the Beast. This Beast revived] By conquering the West & resigning it to Valen
tinian & Honorius the Dragon gave the Beast his power & throne
41v
In this prophesy of yethe eighth leaf of the sealed Book, wchwhich began with the
reign of the seventh head, Iohn took a prospect of them Beast wchwhich from the times
next proceeding that head prophesy that is from the time of the sixt head, when wchwhich the head in wchwhich the Beast had was
dead slain with a sword & lay dead of his wounds, & in respect of that time says
of the heads five are fallen & one is & another is not come & when he comes he must continue a
short space, & the Beast wchwhich was & is not he is the eighth & of the seven & the ten
horns have received no kingdom as yet but receive power as kings at the same time
wthwith that the Beast that Beast wchwhich is the eighth reign & therefore the eight reign or king begins wthwith the one of the seven
division of the western Empire into ten kingdoms being a composition of all those kingdoms.
This act shews that the Dragon is the persecutor, the other of the Womans being
pained in childbirth that she is the person persecuted. The third part of the stars stars east down are the martyrs
& confesors of the Greek Empire where the persecution lasted ten years together with great
violence besides the following persecutions of Licinius. For in the western Empire the
persecution lasted scarce two full years & the Martyrs & confessors were so few & made so small an appearance that
before the end of the two years there were several pillars set up by the heathens in several parts of
Spain with inscriptions signifying that the superstition of Christ & name of Christians were
every where extinguished. And from this coldness in religion & scarcity of sincere Christians the western nations are compared
to a spiritually barren wilderness. The Manchild
H In this face of southern Emperors the family of Severus lasted till the death of Alexan
der Amongst them reigned excepting that Macrinus of another southern family & reigned amongst & to Macrinus I add the
the short reigns of the three Gordians & Philip the no & reject Maximinus as a Tyrant contemporary to the Gordi
ans.
The fourth thwith his
son Valusian, Valerian wthwith his son Gallienus, Claudius, Aurelian, Tacitus Probus & Carus wthwith
his sons Numerian & Carinus.
There follow a number of different additions of reigns.
| Ioshua & the elders |
53 |
or 60 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Cusham-rishathaim |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Othniel rested |
40 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Eglon |
18 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ehud rested |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Shamgar |
20 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Iabin
Debora rested |
40 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Midian |
7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Gideon rest |
40 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Abimelech |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tola |
23 |
|
To Iephtas death |
34652 |
Moses |
40 |
Moses |
40 |
|
|
| Iair |
22 |
|
Ioshua |
6 |
|
|
| Philistims |
18 |
|
To Abdons death |
377 |
Iudges |
300 |
Iudges to Sampsōon |
357 |
|
|
| Iephthah |
6 |
|
|
|
|
306 |
or 313 |
PhistimsPhilistims |
40 |
Io + |
31 |
Samuel & Saul |
450 |
|
|
| Ibian |
7 |
|
Samuel & Saul |
120 |
Philistims |
40 |
David |
40 |
|
|
| Elon |
10 |
|
David |
40 |
Samuel & S |
250 |
Solomon |
3 |
|
|
| Abdon |
68 |
|
Solomon |
3 |
David & S |
43 |
|
47980 |
|
|
| PhilistmsPhilistims |
40 |
|
|
480 |
|
480 |
|
|
|
|
| Eli / |
40 |
|
| Moses |
40 |
| Ioshuah & Elders |
60 |
| Iudges |
2878 |
| Philistims |
40 |
|
418 |
| David & Solomōon |
43 |
|
461 |
|
|
Moses |
40 |
Moses |
40 |
| In conquering Canaan |
6 |
Ioshua's warrs |
06 |
| Samuel |
40 |
|
Iudges before Ieptah |
300 |
Iudges before Iephtah |
300 |
| David |
40 |
|
Iephtah Ibzon Elon Abdon |
31 |
Iephthah Ibzon Elon |
} 51 |
| Solomon |
3 |
|
Philistims 40, vizt 25 20 wthwith |
} 40 |
Abdon Sampson |
|
3494 |
|
Eli & Sampson & 75 20 wthwith Sam |
| Moses |
40 |
|
Sam & Saul |
250 |
Samuel & Saul |
40 |
|
534 |
|
|
|
David |
40 |
David |
40 |
|
|
|
|
|
Solomon |
3 |
Solomon |
03 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
47980 |
|
480 |
Eli was high Priest 40 years in yethe days of Ibzon Elon Abdon & Sampson & the Philistins
reigned t 20 years wthwith Sampson & Eli & twenty years more wthwith
Samuel.
that is Sodom Egypt & Babylon. Sodom for whoredom & uncleanness, Ægypt for persecution & Babylon for
captivating & reiging over Ierusalem & Galia Iudea &
These Witnesses were s An
And when they shall be finishing their Prophesy over in testimony the [or in they latter days of the prophe
sying] the Beast wchwhich ascends out of the abyss or Sea, shall makes war upon against them & shall overcome them & kills them He kills
them in the same manner & the in the same sense ytthat the Beast was slain wthwith a sword. or dissolves their bodies ecclesiastically that is slain nobly. And their
dead bodies shal lye in the street [or province] of the great city wchwhich is spiritually called Sodom & Egypt
& [Babylon] where also (or in whose street) our Lord was crucified, that is Sodom for
its reigning
over Ierusalem treading under foot where the holy city & setting the up an Image to be worshipped by all na
tions upon paid of th death. Afterwards these Witnesses rise again, defright their enemies & ascend up to the up to
heaven in a cloud [or multitude] & a tenth part of yethe great city fell & [whether one of yethe 10 kings a 10th part of old Rome or
And after his r
About the same time that the woman fled into the wilderness there arose up two Beasts ✝ such powers as he had not before his death —
one out of the sea the other out of yethe earth. The first Beast had a mortal wound seven heads
& a mortal wound in one of them & his wound was healed & he revived before he arose & in allusion to the custome of the
heathens of conserving deifying & worshipping their dead kings after death & erecting Images & oracles to them & marking the part of
a nest are fals Chr & maketh all to the first the power of the first Beast that is he deifys this man of sin & causeth the earth & them that dwell therein to worship this & attributes to him divine powers ✝ first Beast
whose deadly wound was healed, & says to them that dwell on the earth that they should make
an image to this Beast wchwhich had the wound by a sword & power breath to
the image
And all that are not marked stand on are by the Image interdicted buying & selling that is
two horned Beast making the fire of exer by seven
One of yethe 10 Kings, or the tith, time will discover] & then the seventh Angels sounds a 10th part of yethe
great city falls wchwhich puts an end to the second wo & the third & the third wo comes quickly not immediately but in some short period
of time in such a little time as in this prophesy is called on in considerable tho it may be 50 or 100 years or above
42r
The Interpretation of the Prophesy of
opening the seven Seales.
Chap.
Of the Kingdoms & Churches
wchwhich are
the subject of the Prophesy.
The subject of the Prophesy.
The four Beasts of Daniel being all of them still alive, the two
last of them within those countries the Christian religion was pro
pagated are the subject of Iohn's Prophesy. For it This Prophesy was directed
to the seven Churches of Asia & designed for the use of all the Christian
Churches. And as the Temple of Ierusalem is the scene of yethe
visions & 1 under the form of the Iewish worship of I the Iews in the
Temple the worship of Christians is described: so the body of
the churches of Christ are is represented by the twelve
tribes of Israel & by a woman wchwhich in the old Testament is
frequently used as a type of those Church of the Iews Tribes: For the
Apostles & her seed keep the commandments of God & have the testimony
of Iesus & therefore she represents the tes Church of Christ. And
This prophesy is a revelation of such things as changes & suffer
ings as things as were to come to pass in the Churches for Christ was to undergo in all ages from the time
that it was written untill the second coming of Christ & therefore & in the kingdoms or nations through which the churches isare diffused, that is, in the kingdoms nations of the Roman Empire, & the subject
of it are these Churches of Christ & those kingdoms nations & with their Churches through wchwhich the Churches
are diffused, that is the nations & churches of the Roman Empire. Daniels The four Beasts are of Daniel representing the four monarchies are
all of them still alive & so are his Ram & He Goat & the two last
nations & Churches of the Roman Empire & through & Iohn's Prophesy is a reve
lation of what was concealed or obscurely predicted in Daniels, & therefore concerns the same
nations, signified by those beasts & chiefly by those who reign last that is by the ten horned beast & the yethe he-Goat in the reign of his last horn, both wchwhich are the Roman Empire, & comprehend the churches wchwhich are the main subjects of this prophesy.
These Churches are represented in this prophesy by the twelve
tribes of Israel.
worship of Christians is here described under the form of the Iewish
worship in the temple as we shewed above. And hence the synagogue of Satan who say they
are Iews & are not, is put for the Church of the Devil Satan who are
Christians only in outward profession but who profess themselves Christians
but are Idolaters fallen away to idolatry.
And as the Ch Tribes of Israel & Iudah are in the old Testa
ment frequently represented by a weomen so the Church of Christ signified
by those Tribes is here represented by the Lambs wife & by a glorious woman in heaven. For this
she woman has a crown of 12 stars wchwhich are yethe 12 Apostles & her seed
keep the Commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus, &
therefore she is the Church.
And sincsince the woman is the Church the Beast upon whom she sits as in a state of purity & afterwards in a state of Idolatry, the great red Dragon
who persecutes her & stand stands before her to devoure her child & who persecutes her
& the Beast upon whose back she rides sits, that is, over whom she reigns, must be the Roman Empire through wchwhich she is diffused & wchwhich is
the subject of the prophesy. & Beast has crowns several heads
& horns like Daniels Beasts wchwhich signify kingdoms & he has crown to con
firm this signification he has crowns upon his heads & the Beast has crowns upon his
horns & the heads & horns of the Beast are called that kings, & the Dragon
gives his throne & power & authority to the Beast & therefore they are successive
kingdoms in one & the same throne.
The Beast by the number of his heads & horns & other characters is
known discovered & known to be the same wthwith Daniel's fourth beast.
In the armies of the Roman Empire, both before & after the Empire Empire became Christian, a flying Eagle was on the standarts of yethe a
every Company of the Legions & a Dragon on yethe standarts of the a Companys, & in every a every Legion there were ten companies &
by consequence ten
colour & so fastened to yethe top of a long pike, as, like weathercocks,
to turn their tayle from the wind & to hiss by means of the wind
blowing into their open jaws. The bearers of these two sorts of
standards were called Aquiliferi & Draconarij. And from these badges
of the Roman Empire, this Empire is represented in the prop second
book of Edras by an Eagle & in this prophesy by a great eagle upon
whose two wings the woman flyes into the wilderness & by a great
red Dragon who persecutes her.
The first Beast by the number of his horns & other characters
is manifested to be the same with Daniel's fourth Beast. Both had –
– – – – Isles of the sea.
Every kingdom has its national visible Church, & the C national
visible Churches of the eastern & Greek & Latine Empires are the
Two horned Beast fals Prophet & Whore of Babylon. For the two horned fals
Prophet is Whore sits upon the seven ho ten horned Beast or Latin Empire
& reigns over the kings of the earth represented by his horns &
is at length hated & made desolate by them & therefore is therefore is the church of this Empire & the other Beast: [& the fals Prophet
wthwith the Beast chwhich] arises out of the earth or nations of the east
& hath two horns like the Lambs wchwhich are that is like two churches like the seven churches
of Asia signified by the seven horns of the Lamb & wchwhich, & speaks as the Dragon or eastern Empire & therefore is the church of the eastern Empire. & by fals
This Beast by false miracles deceiveth them that dwell on the earth & for his fals
miracles & idolatrous doctrine is called the fals Prophet & therefore is of an ecclesiastical kind, & this fals Prophet survives the Whore, being cast alive into the Lake of fire after the ten kings have eaten the flesh of the Whore & burnt her wthwith fire, & therefore this Prophet differs from the Whore & signifies another idolatrous church & by consequence the Church of the Greek Empire. Conceive. Conceive
therefore that while the Roman Empire continues entire, the whole
is signified by the Dragon & the Church of the whole by the glorious woman
in heaven but when the Empire becomes divided, the Woman degenerates & flyes from
the Dragon into the western Empire called a wilderness for its
spiritual barrenness & leaves a remnant of her seed in the
eastern empire wchwhich for keep the commandments of God & have
the testimony of Iesus & that the Dragon at the same time goes
from the Woman into the eastern Empire to make war with
that remnanremnant of her seed: A and that at the same time a ten a ten-horned
beast arises out of the sea or western nations to succeed the
Dragon in the western Empire & a two horned beast rises out
of yethe earth or eastern nations to succeed the woman in the eastern
Empire. And further, to represent the true people Christians or Churches of Christ in both kingdoms,
conceive that in opposition to the seven hilled City or Woman, the seven candlesiticks
in the tabernacle & first Temple have in them seven Candlesticks wchwhich are put the for the true true Church of Christ
throughout the eastern Empire represented by the Dragon, & in opposition to the two
horned Beast there two Candlesticks is a second Temple measured & in order
two Candlesticks in it to represe wchwhich are put for
thoughoutthroughout the Empire represented by the Beast. For the seven Candle
sticks ar are the seven Churches of Asia & these Churches of Asia are seated within
the kingdom of the Dragon & by their lamps illuminate his Empire & the
two Candlesticks are the two witnesses or Churches called the two witnesses
& two Prophets whom the Beast wchwhich ascends out of the abyss makes war upon
& kills in the streets of the great city & therefore they prophesy in within the streets
of kingdom of the Beast & in the streets or provinces of the great city Babylon represented by
the woman sitting upon him wchwhich in the form of a woman reigns over him.
And it is further to be considered that the Dragon & first marine Beast have
common heads & horns
43r
Whe We have shewed th above that the first six heads of the beast
fell before he ascended out of the abyss. For before he ascended he
was latent in the Dragons body, & for that reason has also his heads the Dragons heads he being the waters which the
Dragon cast out of his mouth as a flood after the woman to cause her
to be carried away of the flood. For Waters are peoples & nations & multitudes
& tongues, & an aggregate of waters as a river or flood or sea is a body
politique of kingdom & the western Empire has a particular relation to the watery element the Beast rising out of the sea, & the woman sitting upon many waters.. As the woman was flying westward he cast this flood
after her & therefore they are the flood is a western kingdom. She fled into yethe
wilderness by a division of the Empire & therefore the Dragon cast
out of his mouth this flood after her to cause her to be carried away by it, &
therefore the casting of this flood out of this Dragons his mouth sifnifies
that division, of the Empire between the Dragon & the flood where by
& while the water was in the Dragons belly the western Empire Beast or Western Empire
was latent in him & for that reason has all the Dragons heads.. This Beast was Daniels fourth Beast & that Beast
was the Roman Empire from the time that the Romans subdued the Greeks
& in that respect the whole Roman Empire is the Beast as well as
the Dragon before the division thereof & thence it is that the Dragon
& Beast have common heads & common horns, But with this difference
that the Dragon has crowns upon his heads & not upon his horns to signify that he reigns
in all the heads & not in the horns, & the Beast has crowns upon his
horns & not upon his heads to signify that he reigns in the horns & is con is not considered
in the Apocalyps as reigning before he rises out of the sea by a division of yethe Empire & receives the Dragons throne & his horns
receive power as kings the Empire becomes divided into the eastern &
western Empires & this Beast by the by a new division he rises out of the sea by a division of the Empire & receives
the Dragons ancient throne & power & his horns by a new division of the western
Empire into ten kingdoms receive power as kings.
The ground occasion of the division of the Roman Empire into the eastern
& western Empires was the building of Constantinople by Constan
tine the great A. C. 330 & endowing it with t privileges a senate & privileges
like those of Rome & making it the Metropolis of all the eastern
part of the Empire as Rome had hitherto been of all the Empire
& was hence forward of all the western part thereof. By this
meanes division under of the Empire between two imperial Cities the Woman received two wings of a great Eagle that
she might fly into the wilderness, but & at the death of Constantine
the great the Dragon cast out of his mouth waters as a
flood after the woman to cause her to be carried away of yethe
flood. but Con For the Empire became divided at that time
became divided between the sons of Constantine, his second son
Constantius reigning at Constantinople over the east & his other
two sons reigning in the west & the survivor of them reigning over all the west & being su
ceeded by Magnentius in whose reign the earth or eastern
Empire opened her mouth & swallowed up the waters flood by a
victory over the western Empire whereby the Beast was wounded
to death by a sword & ceased to be for a time, both Empires
becoming united under Constantius & his successors till the reign of
Valentinian & Valens between whom the Empire became again divided
& by this division the deadly wound was healed & the Beast revived:
d united again under
Gratian the successor of Valentinian for about five months &
by the next division wchwhich was between Gratian & Theodosius the
Beast rose out of the sea ‡ ‡ After wchwhich the two Empires became fully united no more. Theodosius indeed in the last three months of his reign united them under himself
by conquering Eugemius out at the same time they were continued divided between his two sons his elder son Arcadius being created Emperor of the East & his younger son
Honorius Emperor of the west before this union, & Theodosius in his life time leaving Arcadius in the east & sending for Honorius to reign in the west & at his death confirming this division by his last will & testament. And
from thence forward the Dragon relinquished his ancient western Throne entirely to the Beast the two Empires being united no more. & Theodosius in the end of his reign reunited
the Empire under himself for about three months & then dying left it divided between his
two sons giving the eastern Empire to his elder son Areadius & the
western to his younger son Honorius & from hence forward the Drangon
reliquished his ancient western power & throne intirely to the Beast, & the two Empires being
united no more. The Dragon Beast revived before he could ascend out of the sea43r sea & ascended before the
give him his power & Throne. These were threthree distinct successive
acts & imply three successive divisions of the Empire & can agree
to no other then the three last divisions, thos three to wchwhich we have applied
them. And now the Beast being revived & risen out of the sea
& having received the Dragons ancient power & throne becomes
at once divided into ten kingdoms wchwhich are [nine of wchwhich are
rent from him & [the tenth is the remainder of his former
body.] This came to pass in the year 408 or within three or four
years after as we explained above. Before the Beast ascended out
of the Abyss they had received no kingdom but by this division re
ceived power as kings at the same time with the Beast, who is
the eighth head & of the seven. The seventh head head or dynasty of the Dragon & Beast commenced at yethe
rising of the Beast out of the sea. This dynasty lasted in the
eastern Empire till the overthrow of that Empire by the Turks.
& in th but in the Western Empire it lasted only in a monarchical form till the divi
sion of this Empire into ten kingdoms & then began a new
dynasty wchwhich is the eighth & of the seven, & is called the Beast
wchwhich was & is not that is, the latter part of the seventh. that Beast who is called the eighth & of the seven & therefore the reign of his eighth he And therefore the Beast received power as a king at yethe same time
with the horns, that is, the Beast who was & is not & is called the eighth
& of the seven. The seventh head or dynasty of the Beast com
menced at his rising out of the sea. This dynasty continued till
in a monarchical form till the division of this empire into ten
kingdoms & then began a new dynasty or head of the Beast wchwhich
is called the eighth & of the seven, it being the latter part of yethe
seventh, & this eighth head is the Beast wchwhich was & is not & wchwhich
receives power as a king at the same time wthwith the ten horns, being a
compo kingdom composed of all the ten. united into This eighth head being pecu
liar to the Beast I apply it rather to this division into ten kingdoms then to any other chance wchwhich
was common to him & the
Dragon.
A. C. 408, 409 & 410 by wchwhich act the ten horns receive power as kings at the same time
wthwith the Beast that Beast who wchwhich [was & is not &] is the eighth & of the seven or
latter part of the seventh head. In the time of prophesy of the eighth leaf of the Book wchwhich
began wthwith the purple reign of the seventh head/ wchwhich kingdoms are the Beast in his last reign
wchwhich is called the eighth.
A little before the Woman received two wings of a great Eagle
there was war in heaven Michael & his Angels fought against the Dragon
& the Dragon fought & his Angels; & prevalied not . . . . . & they loved not their
lives unto the death. This is a very plain description of a great conflict between the
Roman heathen Empire & Church Christain Church Arm Army of of Christ. who For Mi
chael & his Angels are Christ & his army wuch as army as was accused by the Dragon day & night & loved loved not their
lives unto yethe death & as overcame the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb, & by the word of their testimony that is an
army of martyrs & confessors. And therefore this war between Michael & the
Dragon was a war great managed on the Dragons part by accusing & persecuting
the Christians & putting them to death for their religion & on the Christians
part by confessing their & testifying the truth of their religion & & persisting in their
confession of th & testimony without fearing to lose their lives for the same
And this issue of by this conflict was the Dragon that old serpent called the Devil
& Satan, was a that is the heathen Roman Empire in respect of its religion, was
cast overcome & overcome & cast out of heaven to the earth, & was succeeded in the throne by a
new kingdom called the kingdom of orour God. For the conflict ended with a voice from heaven saying Now is come salvation & strength & the
KINGDOM of our GOD, for yethe accuser of orour brethren is cast down. And all this can
agree to nothing else then the last of the heathen persecutions that under
Dioclesian wchwhich lasted almost two years over all the Roman Empire & ten years together
over all the east, & was greater then all the former heathen persecutions taken
together & wchwhich ended in the ruin of the heathen Roman Empire & the setting up a Christi
an Empire in its roome under Constantine the Great. A. C. 312.
The same revolution is predicted also by the woman's being wthwith child
& who cryed , travelling in birth & pained to be delivered & by the Dragon's
drawing the third part of the earth stars of heaven wthwith his tail & casting them
to the earth & by his standing before the woman to devour he ready to be deli
vered that he might devour her child as soon as it was born & by her bringing forth
44r
The whole scene of sacred Prophesy is considered in the
Apocalyps as composed of three principal parts: the regions
beyond Euphrates represented by the two first Beasts of Daniel;
the Empire of the Greeks on this side Euphrates represented by
the Leopard & his heads & by the He Goat in the reign of his last
horn; & the Empire of the Latines represented by Daniels fourth
Beast. To these three parts the phrases of the third part of
the Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, Seas, Rivers, Trees, & Ships relate
The two last of these three parts are sometimes called the
earth & sea. For by the earth the Iews understood the
great continent of Asia & Afric to wchwhich they had access
by land, & those places to wchwhich they had access by sea they
called the isles of the sea.
The He Goat in the reign of his last horn when he
was mighty but not by his own power is in the Apocalyps
represented be called represented by a great red Dragon the
old Serpent called the Devil & Satan. For this Satan is
there said to have his throne in Pergamus. He continued
mighty by the power of the Romans will their Empire
became divided between into the Greek & Latine Empires.
And then he remained alone in the Greek Empire & gave
his Roman Latin throne to the Beast wchwhich then rose out of the
sea with ten horns. Before that division of the Empire
the Dragon included the nations of the Latines in his
mystical body, they being the waters wchwhich he cast out of
his mouth as a flood after the woman at the division of
the Empire between the sons of Constantine the great.
Then the Earth opened her mouth & swallowed up the waters
by a reunion of the two Empires at the conquest of Mag
nentius by Constantius. By that conquest the Beast was
wounded to death by a sword. He revived at by a new divi
sion at the death of Iovian, & rose out of the sea at the
division of the Empire between Gratian & Theodosius, & the
Dragon gave him his western throne by & power & great
authority by at the death of Theodosius by a division of
the Empire between his sons. And then by a further divi
sion of the western Empire into ten kingdoms the ten horns
received power as kings the same hour with the Beast.
Before this division of the Empire the horns were on the
Dragons head, but without crowns. By After this division they re
ceived power as kings & therefore are crowned only on
the head of the Beast. The seven heads are successive
as may be gathered from the saying: Five are fallen & one
is & another is not yet come, & when he cometh he must
continue a short space; And the Beast wchwhich was & is not
(being wounded to death with sword in his sixt head) he
is the eighth & is of the seven. I take these seven heads
to be seven successive reigns of the Roman Empire commencing at45r at the opening of the seven seales. They are all crowned
on the Dragon but not on the Beast because six of them
reigned before the division of the Roman Empire into
the Greek & Latin Empires; & the Greek Empire was
the seventh, & the Latin Empire was the eighth & of
the seven because contemporary to the seventh as a
collateral part thereof.
The Woman who appeared in heaven cloathed with the
sun & crowned with twelve stars whose seed keep the command
ments of God & have the testimony of Iesus, represents the
primitive Church of Christ within the whole Roman Empire
untill it became divided into the Greek & Latin Empires. Then
she fled from the Dragon into the Latin Empire & sat upon
the ten-horned Beast, & left the Greek Empire to the
other Beast which then rose out of the earth wthwith two horns
like the Lamb & therefore was at that is ecclesiasticall
ones, & is called the fals Prophet & in matters of religion it spoke as the Dragon &
therefore was his church. And since it rose out of the earth
its two horns at its first rise were the Churches of Alex
andria & Egypt Antioch. And when the woman fled from
the Dragon she left
remnant of her seed which kept the commandments of God
& had the testimony of Iesus. And from them proceeded
the two Witnesses.
In this Prophesy allusion is had to the worship of
God in the Temple of Ierusalem in the feast of the
seventh month. In descr The first Temple is alluded
unto in describing the times of the primitive Church: the
second is alluded unto in describing the times wchwhich followed
the Babylonian captivity of that church by the Babylonians who worshipped Mahuzzims. The first Temple had an Ark & an out
ward court, the second had none. The first in the prophesy had seven
golden candlesticks, the second had only two. The second first Temple
stands till the opening of the seventh seale, the building of
the building of
the second is represented by Iohn's measuring the Temple
& Altar & them that worship therein (that is, their Courts)
& leaving the Court without the Temple unmeasured. And
this Temple is afterwards called the Temple of the Ta
bernacle because the Tabernacle had no outward Court.
In the beginning of the Prophesy in allusion to the
High Priest's dressing the lamps in the morning of a festival
Christ appeared walked in the habit of the High Priest walking close
behind the seven gold candles with his right hand behind their
lamps, so that they appeared to Iohn as if he walked in
in the midst of the candlesticks & held a rod of seven stars
in his right hand, & Iohn is there told that the seven stars
are the Angels of the seven Churches of Asia, that is
their Bishops, & that the seven Candlesticks are the seven
Churches. And these Lamps he dresses by directing Iohn to
send seven admonitory Epistles to the churches seven Angels of
the seven Churches. And since these Candlesticks with their Lamps were in the
first Temple, it signifies that the primitive Church was represented &
illuminated by the seven Churches of Asia during all the times of
the first Temple.
After the Lamps were dressed the celebration of the morning
sacrifice is alluded unto in the following manner. Iohn saw a door46r door opened in heaven, the door of the Temple on mount Sion
& was called up thither, that is to the eastern gate of the
great court to see all things from thence. And a throne was
set in heaven, the throne of God upon the Ark between the
Cherubims. And one sat on the throne in a glorious appearance
with a rainbow about him. And about the Throne appeared
twenty four seats, the chambers of the twenty four Princes
of the Priests, & upon the seats twenty four Elders sitting
in white raiment with crowns of gold on their heads.
And by reason of the sacrifices on the altar & the Levites
singing at the eastern gate of the Priests court, there seemed
to Iohn to proceed out of the throne, lightnings & voices thun
derings & voices. And there were seven lamps of fire
burning before the throne, the lamps newly dressed, wchwhich
are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne was
a sea of glass like unto crystall, the great bazen sea
made originally of the polished like a lookingglasses of the weomen & filled
with water clear as crystal. And in the midst of the
throne that is before & behind as it were in the midst of it, &
throne that is on either side, were four Beasts full of
eyes before & behind. By their multitudes of their eyes they repre
sent multitudes of people, the multitudes of the people of
Israel f in the four sides of the great Court or Court of
the people. And the first Beast was like a Lion & the
second Beast like a Calf & the third Beast had the face
of a man, & the fourth Beast was like a flying Eagle.
For the Iew in these shapes were the four standards of
the four squadrons of the children of Israel encamp
ed on the four sides of the Tabernacle in the wilder
ness. And each of them had six wings, in allusion to the
Seraphims about the throne in Isaiah's vision. ch. 6. 2. And these wings represent the 24 courses of the stationary men who represent chosen out of all Israel.
And they rest not day & night, or at the morning & even
ing sacrifices, saying Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
wchwhich was & is & is to come. And when those Beasts, (that
is the people of Israel represented by them) give glory
& honour & thanks to him that sat on the throne, who
liveth for ever & ever; the four & twenty Elders (going into the holy place) fall down
before him that sat on the throne & worship him that liveth
for ever & ever, & cast their crowns before the throne saying
Thou art worthy, ô Lord to receive glory & honour & power:
for thou hast created all things & for thy pleasure they
are & were created. And this is the worship which the
primitive Christians gave to God the father while they con
tinued to worship in the first Temple.
And Iohn saw in the right hand of him that sat on
the throne a book written within & on the backside sealed
with seven seales : the Book of the law laid up in the right
side of the Ark, as it were in the right hand of him that sitteth
on the throne; the book of Prophesy wchwhich Daniel was com
manded to seale up; the Book of the revelation of Iesus
Christ wchwhich God gave unto him. And none was found worthy
to open & read the book or look thereon till the Lamb of
appeared at the foot of the altar before the midst of the
throne & in the midst of the elders four Beasts & of the
elders, as it had been slain at the foot of the AlarAltar, having
seven horns & seven eyes wchwhich are the seven spirits of God
sent forth into all the earth, & signify the same thing with
the seven lamps & seven stars, & the seven horns signify the
same thing with the seven Candlesticks. And the Lamb came &47r & took the book out of the right hand of him that sitteth upon the throne
And when he had taken the book the four Beasts & four & twenty
Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them harps
& golden vials full of odours wchwhich are the prayers of the saints
And they sung a new song saying Thou art worthy to take the
Book & to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain & hast re
deemed us to god out of every tongue by thy blood out of every
kindred & tongue & people & nation; & hast made us unto our
God kings & priests & we shall reign on the earth. A And
Iohn heard the voice of many Angels round about the throne
& the Beasts & the Elders, & the number of them was ten thou
sand times ten thousand & thousands & thousands, saying with
a loud voice: worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power
& riches & wisdome & strength & honour & glory & blessing.
And every creature wchwhich is in heaven & on the earth & under
the earth & such as are in the sea & all that are in them Iohn
heard saying, Blessing & honour & glory & power, be unto him that
sitteth upon the throne & unto the Lamb for ever & ever; unto
the one because he sitteth upon the throne & hath created
all things, & unto the other because he is the Lamb of God which
was slain & hath redeemed us with his blood. And the four
Beasts said Amen. And the four & twenty Elders fell down (in
the Holy place) & worshipped him that (cannot be slain but)
liveth for ever and ever. And this was the worship of God &
Christ practised in the primitive Church
In this Prophesy the festivalls of the seventh month are
alluded unto. ✝✝ And the first day of this month was the feast of Trumpets, & in allusion thereunto
Iohn was called up to the Temple by the sound of a Trumpet. And Upon the tenth day of this month usually called the great fast & the day of expiation the
High Priest read the law of Moses to the people & for this
end he studied it seven days together vizt upon the third,
fourth, fift, sixt, seventh, eighth, & ninth days: & in allusion
to this practice the Lamb opens the seven seals of the book
successively. And when he had opened the seventh seal there
was silence in the Temple of heaven for half an hour, the
people praying silently without in the time of incense Luke 1.
10. And an Angel representing the High Priest, came & stood
at a 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 wchwhich was before the throne. And the smoke of the
Incense with the prayers of the saints ascended up also
before God out of the Angels hand, that is, when he went into
the most holy place & put incense there on the censer. And
after this the Angel took the censer & filled it with coales
fire of the Altar & cast it to upon the earth without the sanctuary
for burning 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
sacrifices, & the lightnings to the flaming of the fire.
The day of Expiation was followed by the feast of the
seventh month, wchwhich began on the fifteenth day of the month
& was kept seven days together with great sacrifices, at which
the Priests sounded their Trumpets & the Levites sang with loud
voices & played upon musical instumentsinstruments. 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. First by the sealing 144000 of of all the
Tribes of Israel & by the Palmbearing multitude. Secondly by
the incense & the sounding of six of the Trumpets. Thirdly by the seven Thunders48r Thunders uttering their voices & by a declaration that when the
seventh Trumpet should begin to sound the mystery of God should be
finished. And fourthly by measuring the Temple & Altar &
them that dwell therein.
The first beginns with the words: And after these things,
(that is after the visions of the first six seals,) 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. till the servants of God were sealed in their
foreheads And they were commanded that they should not
hurt the earth & the sea & the trees till the servants of God
were sealed in their foreheads. They were therefore the
Angels of the first four Trumpets wchwhich preceded the Wo-trum
pets. And this sealing was perfomed when the Angels of the
Trumpets upon opening of the seventh seale appeared with
their Trumpets & stood ready to sound so soon as the servants
of God should be sealed
The sealing of the 144000 out of all the twelve Tribes of Isra
el & leaving all the rest unsealed signifies the same thing
with measuring the Temple & Altar & them that worship
therein & leaving out the Court wchwhich is without the rest unsealed
Court wchwhich is without the Temple. And therefore these two vi
sions are synchronal & commence at the same time with the
opening of the seventh Seal. The Trumpets & Thunders are
synchronal because they accompany the same sacrifices.
The measuring of the Temple & Altar & them that
worship therein (that is the Court of the Temple & Court of
the Altar & Court of them that worship therein called
the weomen's Court) & leaving the outward Court unmeasured
signifies the building of a new Temple without an out
ward Court. And therefore the times of the second Temple
begin with the opening of the seventh seal. A In this
Temple were only two Candlesticks standing before the
God of the earth, & these were supplied with oyle by two
olive trees & are called the two witnesses. In the first
Temple were seven golden Candlesticks representing the
seven churches of Asia. & by them the Church catholick
Five of these in the Epistles to the seven Churches were
found fault with & exhorted to repent. These were laid
aside when the times of the first Temple expired, & only the other two were propagated down into
the second Temple wchwhich were blameless & in a state of
affliction persecution & poverty were propagated down
into the second Temple. For the Church wchwhich worshipped
in the second Temple was not a new Church but was
propagated down from the Church wchwhich worshipped in the
first Temple.
After these things the seventh Angel sounded, & the
time of the dead came that they should be
thus ended the prophesy of the Seales & Trumpets.
But as in Daniel every Vision is followed with
an Interpretation: so here in Iohn this vision of the
seals & Trumpets is followed with an Interpretation
& 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 the actions between the primitive
Church represented by a Woman & the heathen Roman Em
pire represented by a Dragon are described untill the Empire
becomes divided, & a ten horned Beast rises out of the Sea to represent49r 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 mystical
killing puts an end to the times of the first Temple & begins the times
of the second. Then all men receive the mark or name of
the Beast except the 144000, who are sealed at the same
time with the name of God in their foreheads, & then stand
(in the Temple) on mount Sion with the Lamb. Then follows the preaching
of the Gospel to all nations by the Palm-bearing multitude,
& the double fall of Babylon, & the harvest & vintage or
first & second resurrection successively.
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 standing on the sea of
glass, that is, the 144000 whoh stood on mount Sion with
the Lamb & who were sealed out of all the twelve tribes of
Israel. ☉☉ These standing at other B in the Court of the weomen & as it
were at the eastern gate of the Priests Court appear
to Iohn as if they stood on the sea of glass. These are they who worshipped in the second
Temple & were measured therein & represented by called
the two Candlesticks & the two witnesses. And while
these stand on the sea of glass, seven Angels pour out
seven Vials of wrath, wchwhich are the seven drink offer
ings to the seven sacrifices at wchwhich the seven Trumpets
sounded & seven thunders uttered their voices. And this
was in the Temple of the Tabernacle, or Temple wchwhich
wanted an outward Court.
Then the Prophet returns back to the time of the
sixt seal when five of the heads of the Beast were fallen
& the sixt was, & describes the reign of these Beast 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,
& farther unto the general resurrection represented
before by the vintage, & unto the reign of the saints in the
New Ierusalem.
50r
Chap. 1.
Of the kingdoms
& Churches represented in the Apocalyps.
1. The whole scene of Sacred Prophesy is considered in the
Apocalyps as composed of three principal parts; the Empire
of the Latines represented by the Beast wthwith ten horns, the
Empire of the Greeks on this side of the Euphrates represented
by the Leopard, He Goat & great red Dragon, & the regions be
yond Euphrates represented by the two first Beasts of Daniel;
the Empire of the Greeks on this side of Euphrates repre
sented by the Leopard, & by the He Goat & great red Dragon by the in the reign of his last horn; & the
Empire of the Latines represented by the Beast wthwith ten
horns. To these three parts the phrases of the third part of the
sun, Moon, stars, earth, seas, rivers, trees & ships relate. The second & third are in this Prophesy represented by the Earth & Sea. For by the Earth the Iews understood the great continent of Asia & Afric to wchwhich they had access by land & called those places the isles of the sea by to wchwhich they had access by sea & particularly Europe the isles of the sea.
2 By the earth the Iews understood the great continent of Asia &
Afric to wchwhich they had access by land, & by the Isles of the sea they
understood those the places to wchwhich they sailed by sea & particularly the
all Europe. And hence in this prophesy the Earth & Sea are put
for the nations of the Greek & Latine Empires.
3. The Dragon in his last horn reigned alone untill the Beast rose out
of the seas. This signifys the a division of the whole Roman Em
pire Roman Empire
became divided into the Greek & Latine Empires. Before that division
the Dragon included the nations of the Latines in his mysti
cal body, they being the waters wchwhich he cast out of his
mouth as a flood after the woman. Then the earth opened her
mouth & swallowed up the waters by a reunion of the
two Empires at the conquest of Magnentius by Constantius.
By that conquest the Beast was wounded to death by a
sword. He revived by a new division at the death of
Iovian & rose out of the sea at the death of division of
the Empire between Gratian & Theodosius & the Dragon
gave him his western throne & power & great authority
at the death of Theodosius by the division of the empire
between his sons. And then by a further division of the western
empire into ten kingdoms the ten horns received power
as kings the same hou
division of the Empire the horns were on the Dragons head
but without crowns. Presently after the division they re
ceived power as kings & therefore are crowned only on the last
head of the Beast. The seven heads are successive as may ‡‡ may be gathered from the saying: Five are fallen & one is & another
is not yet cometh & when he cometh he must continue a short space &
the Beast wchwhich was & is not [being wounded to death with a sword in
his sixt head] he is the eighth & is of the seven. I take these seven
heads to be seven successive reigns of the Roman Empire commencing
at the opening of the seven seals. They are all crowned on the Dragon
but not on the Beast because six of them reigned before the division
of the Latin Roman Empire into the Greek & Latin Empires, & the seventh
was the Greek Empire was the seventh & the Latin Empire was the eighth, & of the seven
because contemporary to the seventh as a collateral part thereof.
4 The woma When the Temple of God was opened in heaven & there
was seen in his Temple the Ark of his testament, this is to be understood of the
first Temple, for the second Temple had no Ark.
4 The Woman wchwhich appeared in the Temple in heaven cloathed with the sun &
crowned with twelve starrs whose seed keep the command
ments of God & have the testimony of Iesus represents the
primitive Church of Christ during the times of yethe first Temple. When she had brought forth a man-
child or Christian Empire, she fled from this Temple into the wilderness, & the heathen
Dragon was cast out into the earth by Michael the army of Michael & came down fro' the throne to the inhabitants of the earth & sea or common people of both Empires & persecuted
the Woman & by the division of the Roman Empire two wings
of a great Eagle were given to her that she might fly
into the wilderness unto her place. at Babylon where she is For as upon the destruction of the first Temple the captivated Iews f went through the wilderness of Arabia to Babylon. The great city seated upon the many waters of Euphrates: so the women fled from the first Temple of Christ into the spiritually barren wilderness to her place in the great city seated upon many waters, where she is nourished a time times & half a time from the face of the
serpent. And the waters where the woman sitteth are peoples & multitudes & nations & tongues, the inhabitants of the sea over which the city reigneth. And the Dragon cast out of his mouth yethe western And the Dragon cast out of his mouth the western
Empire as a flood after her to cause her to be carried away of
by the flood into the west. And the earth or Greek Empire opened her51r her mouth & swallows up the flood by conquest. And the
Dragon went from the woman to make war with the remnant
of her seed. And gave his western throne to the Beast
wchwhich then rose out of the sea wthwith ten horns. And the woman
sat upon the Beast & reigned ove him he with an inscripti
on on her forehead: Babylon the great the mother of harlots
& abominations of the earth. For she is the great city seated
upon the seven & hills the city wchwhich reigned over the kings of the earth. ‖ And
when the woman fled into the west, she was succeeded in the
east by the Beast wchwhich rose out of the earth & had two horns
like those of the Lamb in form of government & spoke as the
Dragon in matters of religion being his Church. [And the remnant of the Womans
seed who kept the commandments of God & had the testimony
of Iesus became the two witnesses, & at length put on sackcloth.]
The seven horns of the Lamb answer to the seven Churches of
Asia, & the two horns of this Beast to the Churches of Alexandria
& Antioch, before Con Constantinople not being made a Patriarchal seat
till after this Beast rose up. ‖ And the remnant of the woman's seed
who kept the commandments of God & had the testimony of Iesus
became the two witnesses & at length put on sackcloth while the
Woman was arrayed in purple & scarlet & adorned wthwith gemms. She
reigned in purple over the ten kings, of they mourned in poor apparrel among the
common people. These are In allusion to the two Olive trees which
in yethe visions of Zechary supplied the Lamps in the second Temple wthwith
oyle these are called the two Olive trees. They are those that dwell in
the second Temple & were measured therein. They are the
144000 who were sealed wthwith the seale of God on their foreheads
they are the 144000 who stood on mount Sion with the name of
God in their foreheads they are those who get the victory over
the Beast & over his Image & over his mark & stand on the
sea of glass & s having the harps of God, & they sing the song
of Moses for their escape out of the great city wchwhich spiritually
is called Sodom & Egypt, & the song wchwhich the Lamb sang with
the 144000 on mount Zion.
51v
3 As in the Prophesies of Daniel, to every vision is added an interpretation, so
to the vision of the seales & Trumpets is added an Interpretation. & this The Vision
ends with the sounding of the seventh Trumpet & the time of the dead that
they should be judged, & the Interpretation beginns with the words And the
Temple of God was opened in heaven & there was seen in his Temple the Ark
of his Testament, & continues to teh end of the Prophesy.
4. The whole time of the prophesy is distinguished into two parts, the first part is of
the primitive Church in the first Temple during the opening of the seales, the second
part is of the remnant of her seed in the second Temple during the sounding
of the Trumpets. The two Temples are distinguished from one another by
the Ark & by the outward Court. For the second Temple had no outward Arc
nor outward Court. In the Vision When Iohn saw a door opened in heaven & being called
up saw through the door a throne set in heaven & one sitting thereon & seven lamps & a sea of o: this
throne is the Arc & therefore the door was in first Temple. And when he
was commanded to measure the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein
(that is, their courts.) & to leave out the Court wchwhich is without the Temple
or outward Court of the first Temple this relates to the building o times of the second Temple after the first
is thrown down. And in the Interpretation when Iohn saw a door opened in
heaven the Temple of God was opened in heaven & there was seen in his
Temple the ARk of his testament: this relates to the times of was the first
Temple because the second had no Ark. & when the Temple of the Taberna
cle of the Testimony in heaven was opened, this was the second Tem
ple because the Tabernacle had no outward court.
5 When the door of the first Temple or Temple of the primitive Church was first
opened, the worship of that Church is thus described. Behold a throne
was set in heaven, & one sat thereon with a rainbow about him, head &
round the throne – – – – same in both cases.
6 And I saw saith Iohn in the right hand – – – & redeemed us wthwith his
blood.
2 Before the Prophesy of the seales & Trumpets commences,
primitive Church wchwhich was governed by Iohn & represented by the seven Churches of Asia left their first
love & began to decay in piety & grow cold, Christ admonishes them by seven
Epistles sent to their Angels or Bishops with respect to seven successive
states or conditions wchwhich they went through untill for want of repentance he
spewed them out of his mouth. For every Epistle is
the seven Churches of Asia as may be understood by the words at the end
of it: He that hath an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto
the Churches. The first Epistle relates to the time when – – – – spewed them out
of his mouth.
1 The whole scene – – – Europe the Isles of the sea.
7 Upon the tenth day – – – reading of the law.
8 Upon the fifteenth day — contemporary to one another.
9 The Dragon reigned reigned alone – – as a collateral part thereof.
10 The woman wchwhich upon opening the first Temple appeared in heaven in the first Tem cloathed with the
sun & crowned wthwith 12 starrs whose seed keep the commandments of God & have
the testimony of Iesus, represents the primitive Church of Christ within the
whole Roman Empire reprentedrepresented by the Dragon untill she flyes from the
face of the serpent Dragon & he goes from her to make war wthwith the remnant of
her seed. At that time th by the division of the Roman Empire into the
Greek & Latin Empires, the Dragon Woman flys from him into the Latin Empire &
the Dragon retires goes from her into the Empire of the Greeks & gives his western throne
to the Beast wchwhich then rises out of the sea or isles of the sea. And at the
same time anotheanother Beast rises out of the earth or nations of the Greek Empire
with two horns like the horns of the Lamb or two original Churches like yethe
seven Churches of Asia in outward appearance or form of government. These
I take to be the churches of Alexandria & Antioch, that of the Constan
tinople bei not being made a Patriarchal till after the rise of this Beast. And this
Beast spoke as the Dragon, that is in matters of religion & so became was his Church
while the Woman sat upon the ten-horned Beast as his Church. For the two horned Beast is called a fals Prophet & so was of an Ecclesiastical kind. And thus
the Roman Empire became divided into two Empires each with represented by the
Dragon & the Beast with ten horns, each with his own Church represented by the two horned
Beast & woman. And while the Dragon made war with the remnant of her seed
which kept the commandments of God, the two horned Beast causeth them them that dwell on the earth & that or nations of the Greek Empire
to worship the first Beast, that is to receive his religion, & that that all
they should erect an Image or Council to set it up, & all both small
& great
right hand or in their forehead. And that no man might buy or sell
save he that had the mark or name of the Beast or the number of his name, all
the rest being excommunicated. And while this is doing the rest to
the number of 144000 receive the name of God in their foreheads
& then stand on mount Sion with the Lamb. Thus the first Temple
is thrown down by excommunicating the worshippers & a second Temple is built for the worship of the 144000.
And this was done at the opening of the seventh seal.
These that in this conflict get the victory over the Beast &
over his Image & over his mark & over the number of his name,
appear again stand on the sea of glass just before the having the harps
of God & they sing the song of Moses for their dliverance from the
bondage of the great city wchwhich spiritually is called Sodom & Egypt
& the song of Lamb wthwith yethe 144000 on mount Sion. And this is done
just before the pouring out of the seven Vials of wrath, & by con
sequence just before the sounding of the seven Trumpets. And therefore
these Victors are the very same with the 144000 sealed in their
foreheads & after the opening of the sixt seal & before the hurting
of the earth & sea & trees at the sounding of the two first Trumpets. This
sealing & numbring signifyes the same thing with the measuring
of the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein, that is, their
Courts. And this measuring signifies the building of a second Tem
ple. And they that worship therein are the two Witnesses, repr
for in allusion to Zacharys vision of a Candlestick wthwith seven lamps in the second Temple &
two olive trees supplying it wthwith oyle: these Witnesses are called two = = two Candlesticks that is Churches & (Apoc. 1. 20) & two Olive trees, (that is also Churches
Rom. 11. 17, 24) The two Witnesses are therefore the Churches wchwhich worship in the second
temple, the 144000 who were sealede out of the twelve Tribes of Israel, &
stand on mount Zion with the Lamb & on the sea of glass in the second Temple
built on mount Zion: There are those that were sealed out of the remnant of the womans
seed who kept th when the Dragon made war upon them & the two-horned Beast
caused all to be killed who would not worship the ten horned Beast & his image
& thereby put an end to the first Temple.
In the first Temple there were seven lamps of fire burning before
the throne
52r
An Account of the Empires & Churches represented
by Iohn, & of the Scene & synchronizing parts of his
Prophesy
N
o. 56.
53r
Sect. III.
Of the division of the Empire & Church
into two Empires & two Churches.
When the Temple was opened in heaven for Iohn to see
the visions in it, he saw there the Ark of the Testament & the
child-bearing woman & the Dragon standing by her, & how her
child was caught up to the throne of God above the Ark, & the
Dragon was cast out of this Temple of heaven by Michael
into the outward court or court of the people, wchwhich people are
here called the inhabitants of the earth & sea, & how the Woman
fled from this Temple through the wilderness of Arabia to serve
other Gods wood & stone, & became seated in the great city Babylon which
reigneth over the kings of the earth, & left a remnant of her seed
with the Dragon in the outward court of the Temple. There he
saw the two Beasts rise out of the sea & earth & the second Beast
deify the first & cause me to erect an Image to him & to worship
the Image. There the Dragon by the dictates of the speaking Image
(before he gave his throne to the Beast) made war upon the
remnant of the Womans seed & mystically killed at that would
not worship the Image: & there all men received the mark or name
of the Beast or number of his name except the 144000 who
were sealed with the name of God & being forbid to buy & sell
& by consequence interdicted society by excommunication, retire from the
multitude in the outward court of the Temple, & stand on mount Sion
with the Lamb singing a new song before the throne & the four beasts
& the Elders & by consequence in the eastern bor inner Court & at
the eastern border of that court ca therefore called the court of Israel.
For there the singing used to be performed. And when the Dragon had
expelled those that would not worship the Image of the Beast in the
outward Court he there gave the Beast his power & his throne & great
authority. And all the world wondred after the Beast, & power was given
him over all kindreds & tongues & nations & all that dwell upon the earth
worship him [& his image] whose names are not written in the book of life
In the beginning of the visions in the Temple wchwhich was opened
in heaven the Ark was seen in it & therefore it was the Taberna
cle or first Temple or temple of the tabernacle as it is after
wards called. & Now they that worshipped in the tabernacle & first
temple were the twelve tribes of Israel, & the Woman wchwhich ap
peared in this temple had upon her head a crown of twelve stars
to represent these tribes, & out of all these tribes the 144000
were sealed numbered & sealed, & twelve tribes being all Israel
represent the Church catholick, & this Church inhabited the earth
& sea because the Angel wchwhich had the seal of God cryed wthwith
a loud voice saying: Hurt not the earth & sea till we have
sealed the servants of orour God in their foreheads. These tribes are
the inhabiters of the earth & sea to whom the Dragon came down
from his heathen throne with great wrath; the earth & sea upon which the son of man stood with the little book open in his hand, the earth out
of wchwhich the two-horned Beast arose & the sea out of wchwhich the
ten-horned Beast arose, the first with horns like the Lamb, the second
subject to the woman. For thēen earth & sea & with their inhabitants are the54r the subject of this prophesy. / The Church catholick therefore by
the sealing of the 144000 out of the twelve tribes suffers a great
alteration & becomes divided into two parties. The multitude
receive the mark of the or name of the Beast or number of
his name & the 144000 continue in the outward court of the
Temple where they used to worship, & there worship the Beast
& his image & receive his mark; & the 144000 are sealed with the name of God
& being excommunicated by the multitude retire into the court
of Israel in the eastern border of the Priests court. The Beast was slain with a sword & revived before he rose out of the sea wthwith the wound healed in one of his heads wchwhich was healed. And To worship the Beast
& his Image is to deify him after his death & resurrection, &
to receive his mark or name or the number of his name
is to be initiated in this his worship as the heathens were initiated in the worship of their Gods before by seeing because
those that are initiated were of the twelve tribes of Israel,
by this initiation they become fall away & separate from the worship of God & depart from the communion of his worshippers & are initiated in the worshpworship of the B. & his Im. &c. the synagogue of Satan who
say they are Iews & are not & in the worship of the Beast & his image. And in like manner to be
sealed with the name of God & Christ in their forehead
is to be initiated or at least confirmed in the Church of God & Christ in a state of separation from those that receive yethe mark of the Beast.. By the apostasy
of the twelve Tribes to the worship of the Beast & his Image & the
first & killing all those that would not worship the Image, the mystical polity mysticall body of the primitive Church of Christ was dissolved & by the sealing of the
144000 with the name of God & Christ in their foreheads an new Church or a
church in a new form was instituted, & this is represented by measuring
the second Temple & the Altar & them [the 144000] that worship
therein & by changing the form of the Candlesticks, & by the dedica
tion Lamb's chaning his shape & into that of the High Priest & coming
down from heaven wthwith the book open in his hand & standing upon the
earth & sea, & by the dedication of a new temple signified by the
smoke wthwith wchwhich the temple of the Tabernacle was filled from the glory of God, & by the
Womans flying from the Temple into the Wilderness & being succeeded in the Temple by
the two Witnesses, & in St Pauls Epistles by the revelation of the Man of Sin. Before the sealing of the twelve Tribes the Church
catholick including the Woman was represented by one golden candletick wthwith seven branches
called the seven golden candlesticks, but upon that sealing the Can
dlestick is ceases to represent the Woman & is therefore changed & two candlesticks come in the of olive tree are
of olive tree are put to represent the 144000 along. For then the Empire
becomes divided into two Empires represented by the Dragon & Beast,
& the Church becomes divided accordingly into two churches seated
in the two empires & is thenceforward represented by two candlesticks
& called two witnesses or martyrs as above. For when the Image
spoke as an Oracle & caused all that would not worship it to be
killed, then the 144000 were killed; not litterally, but by dissolving
their bodies ecclesiastick, abrogating their outward form of government
taking away their daily worship, & expelling them the outward court of the temple: by excomm & being
killed for not worshipping the Image, they became the in a particular manner the two martyrs
or Witnesses of Iesus. The two wings of a great Eagle wchwhich were
given to the Woman are the Greek & Latin churches, & these Churches
are the twelve tribes of Israel. When the two Beasts arose, one
out of the earth sea, the other out of the earth, then did these churches
receive the mark of the Beast, except the 144000, who being the
remnant of the two wings of the woman are still considered as two churches
& accordingly represented by two candlesticks & for their sufferings &
testimony against the Dragon & the worshippers of the Beast are called the two witnesses
& the multitude of those signified by the two wings, by apostatizing & committing fornication wthwith the Whore & receiving the mark
of the Beast become two fals churches represented by the whore of Ba
bylon & the two horned Beast, & these are the churches of the two Empires
represented by the first Beast & the Dragon. For when the first Beast
rises out of the sea, the Empire becomes divided between him & the Dragon,
& the Church becomes divided into the Churches of the two Empires, the wor
shippers of the Beast into two fals Churches, & the worshippers of God into
two true ones. For all kingdoms have their Churches.
The Temple being the scene of the visions, I conceive that it remains the same55r same from the beginning to the end; & that in allusion to yethe times
of the tabernacle or first temple or those of the second, for representing
the various states of the Church, the things wchwhich appear in the temple are
only changed. The Ark being the throne of God remains the same unless
perhaps in representing the second Temple wchwhich wanted it. The four Beasts
representing the Church catholick in all conditions, remains the same. In
allusion to the Babylonian captivity, to signify the like captivity of the
Christian Church the form of the Candlesticks is changed & the eastern
border of the Priests court is made the court of Israel, & the Woman
flyes into the wilderness & becomes seated in the great city Babylon which reigns
over the kings of the earth, & the Babylonian gentiles captivate the
people of God invade the outward court of the Temple, place the
abomination of desolation & tread under foot the holy city & sanctuary;
& the people of God being forbidden to buy & sell by those who say they
are Iews & are not, that is, being excommunicated by the synagogue
of Satan & expelled their society, retire into the court of Israel
in the eastern border of the Priests court & there sing a new song
standing as it were on the sea of glass, or on the vessel made of
looking-glasses & on the water therein, that is, on the earth & sea.
For this was the earth & sea on upon wchwhich the son of man stood in
the form of an Angel wthwith the book open in his hand, & they that
stand thereon as it were in flames of fire are the mystical body of the
Son of man who stands thereon with his leggs like pillars of fire
burning as it were in a furnace, & his leggs by standing on this earth
& sea denote the two churches called the two Witnesses. To signify
a new state of the Church they sing a new song at the
cation of the Temple a new Temple. For their song on mount
Sion is called a new one. Singing is prophesying & therefore they are Prophets.. And while they stand singing on the
sea of glass seven Angels appear in the Temple with the seven
last plagues, & upon their coming out of the Temple, one of the
four Beasts gives them seven Vials of wrath for the drink
offerings of the sacrifices, & the Temple is filled with smoke
from the glory of God so that no man was able to enter into
the Temple as at the dedication of the Tabernacle & Temple of Solomon. The four Beasts joyntly & severally represent yethe
Church of God, & so do the two Candlesticks; & the seven Angels
are the Angels of the seven Churches & are represented by the
seven lamps. And while the seven Angels have the seven last
plagues & one of the four Beasts gives them seven Vials of
wrath, it signifies that the two Witnesses have power by the
hand of the seven Angels to smite the earth with all
plauges as often as they will. For the seven last plagues
are the plagues last mentioned in the prophesy & those are the
plagues with wchwhich the two Witnesses had power to smite the earth.
Dacia being conquered by Trajan became a part of the Roman
Empire, & the Church of Dacia was subordinate to the Greek Church
& sometimes sent her bishop to the Councils of the Greeks. Dacia
was also mixed with many Greeks carried captive from Thrace &
Asia
thither from the Greek Empire in time of persecution the tenth
persecution, & from this country came the Goths & Vandals who
invaded the western Empire, & with their associates seating themselves in both Illyri
cum's, Noricum, Gallia, Spain, Italy & Afric, made a mixture of the two
witnesses in those countries.
Whether the Beast with his worshippers at the end of the 1260 days, shall make
war upon the Witnesses & kill them in both Empires or only in the
Western Empire time will discover.
Sect IV56r
Sect. IV.
A further account of the division of
the Roman Empire.
Iohn tells us that before the Beast ascended out of the
abyss five of the kings represented by his heads, were fallen
& the sixt was then in being. For before he ascended he
was latent in the Dragons mystical body & therefore partakes
of all his heads. For he was the water wchwhich the Dragon cast
out of his mouth as a flood after the Woman to cause her
to be carried away of the flood. For waters are peoples &
nations & multitudes & tongues, & an aggregate of waters
as a stream a river a flood or a sea, is an aggregate of
men, a body politick or ecclesiastick, a kingdom or a church.
The waters wchwhich Christ spewed out of his mouth signify a body
ecclesiastick (the Church of Laodicea) first united to Christs mysti
cal body as a part thereof & afterwards in a state of separa
tion or schism: & in like manner the waters wchwhich the Dragon
casts out of his mouth must signify a body politick first united
to the Dragons body as a part thereof & afterwards divided
from it. And the western Empire hath a particular relation
to the watry element. For the Beast rises out of the sea
& the Woman sitts upon many waters: which waters sig
nify the peoples nations multitudes & tongues over whom the
Woman reigneth & which compose the horns & body of the Beast
on whom she sitteth. Her floating upon the flood & sitting
upon many waters & upon the Beast are types of one & the
same signification & represent her reigning over the flood
in her way into the wilderness & over the many waters
& the Beast in the wilderness. She fled from the Dragon
westward to reign at Rome the great city Babylon the seven
city upon seven hills, & therefore the flood wchwhich the Dragon
cast out of his mouth after her is a western kingdom. &
And as the flowing of the flood out of the Dragons mouth signi
fies a division of the Empire into two Empires one of wchwhich during
the division is represented by the Dragon & the other by the flood
so the flying of the Woman from the remnant of her seed signifies
the division of the
the Woman the other the remnant of her seed. When she received
two wings of a great Eagle she became distinguished into two
Churches in communion with one another. Upon these wings she
fled into a spiritually barren kingdom represented by the Wilderness.
When she began to fly, the Dragon cast out water as a flood
after her that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood,
that is, that by the division of the Empire he might promote the
division of the Church & cause the Woman to separate from yethe
remnant of her seed. The earth helps her & prevents the separa
tion for a time by swallowing up the flood, but at length she
separates & escapes into the barren wilderness, & the Dragon
goes to make war with the remnant of her seed who keeps the
commandments of God. And henceforward none are permitted to buy &
sell, that is to be in communion with her & the Dragon & two Beasts
but those that are initiated in their religion by receiving the mark
or name of the Beast or the number of his name. The Dragon persecutes
57r
this a follows the sheet inclosed in 37same from the beginning to the end; & that in allusion to the times of
of the tabernacle or first temple or those of the second, for represent
ing the various states of the Church, the things wchwhich appear in the temple
are only changed. The Ark being the throne of God remains the same, unless
perhaps in representing the second Temple wchwhich wanted it. The four Beasts
representing the Church catholick in all conditions remain the same. In allu
sion to the Babylonian captivity to signify the like captivity of the
Christian Church, the form of the candlestick is changed & the eastern
border of the Priests court is made the court of Israel, & the Woman
flyes into the Wilderness & becomes the great city Babylon wchwhich reigns
over the kings of the earth & the Babylonian gentiles captivate the people
of God, invade the outward court of the Temple place the abomination
of desolation & tread under foot the holy city & sanctuary; & the people
of God being forbidden to buy & sell by those who say they are Iews
& are not, that is, being excommunicated by the synagogue of Satan
& expelled their society, retire into the court of Israel in the eastern
border of the Priests court & there sing a new song, standing as it
were on the sea of glass or on the vessel of glass & the water therein,
that is, on the earth & sea. For this was the earth & sea upon wchwhich
the son of man stood in the form of an Angel wthwith the book open in his
hand, And these & they that stand thereon as it were in flames of fire
signify one & are the mystical body of the son of man who stands thereon
with his leggs like pillars of fire burning as it were in a furnace,
& his leggs by standing on this earth & sea denote the two churches called the two
witnesses. To signify a new state of the Church they sing a new
song at the dedication of a new Temple. For their song on
mount Sion is called a new one, & while they stand singing
on the sea of glass, seven Angels appear in the temple wthwith
the seven last plagues, & upon their coming out of the Tem
ple one of the four Beasts gives them seven Vials of wrath
& the Temple for the drink offerings of the sacrifices, & the
Temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God so that
no man was able to enter into the Temple. The four Beasts
joyntly & severally represent the Church catholick of God, &
so do the two candlesticks, & the seven Angels are the Angells
of the churches, & are represented by the seven lamps. And
while the seven Angels have the seven last plagues & one
of the four Beasts gives them seven vials of wrath, it sig
nifies that the two Witnesses have power by the hand of
the seven Angels to smite the earth with all plagues as
often as they will. For the seven last plagues are the plagues
last mentioned in they prophesy, & those are the plagues with
wchwhich the two Witnesses had power to smite the earth.
The Beast is sometimes taken in a large sense so as to include
all his worshippers, as where its said that power was given him
over all kindreds & tongues & nations & that all that dwell on yethe
earth shall worship him whose names are not written in
the book of life. The Dragon gave him his throne power &
And as the ten kings give their power to the Beast so the Dra
gon gave him his power & throne & by doing so became
one of his horns. And in this sense he make war in both
the earth & sea.
Dacia being conquered by Trajan became a part of the
Roman empire, & the Church of Dacia was subordinate
to the Greek Church & sometimes sent her bishop to the
Councils of the Greeks. Dacia was also mixed with many Greeks58r Greeks carried captive from Thrace & Asia minor in the reign of
Gallianus & afterwards, & many fled thither from the Greek Empire
in the time of the tenth persecution. And from the country came
the Goths and Vandals who invaded the western Empire & seating
themselves in Pannonia Gallia Spain Italy & Afric made a
mixture of the two witnesses in those countries.
Whether the Beast at the end of the 1260 days shall
make war upon the Witnesses & kill them in both Empires
or only in the Western time will discover.
& called the two witnesses. These Witnesses were in being before being included in the womans two wings
but & began not to be represented apart before the multitude separated from them. While they
are in communion with the multitude the whole is represented by the seven golden Candlesticks
& by the Woman in heaven & by the mystical body of the Lamb wthwith seven horns. And But when
Lamb has opened all the seals & is sacrificed in his mystical body by killing all those that would not worship the image of the Beast. & the Woman flyes into the Wilderness & the Church of Laodicea
is spewed out of Christs mouth & the Candlesticks of Ephesus is one wthwith the rest are
removed out of their places: the Church in this new state is represented in a new manner &
burning leggs standing on the earth & sea wthwith the book open in his hand. T And in allusion
to the Babylonian captivity the destruction of the first Temple & the measuring of the Temple by Ezra & the building of the second Temple the Woman flies to Babylon
the seven Candlesticks are removed out of their place the Temple is measured & are the two Candlesticks of olive trees succeed
these seven as in the second Temple Zech 5. [And in allusion to the sufferings of the Church in EgypEgypt the birth of Moses &
her flight into Egypt the Wilderness & the erecting at the dedicating & dedicating a Tabernacle for her worship, & dedicating it with sights she
is represented in persecuted by the Egyptian Dragon & brings forth a Manchild who was to rule
wthwith a rod of iron & flyes into the Wilderness [& sings the song of Moses upon the seas of glass
& the Temple of the Tabernacle is dedicated & filled wthwith smoke from the glory of God. And] & commits
fornication] And in allusion to the dedication of the Tabernacle of Moses & Temple of Solomon
the Temple of the Tabernacle is dedicated & filled with great sacrifices & filled wthwith smoke
from the glory of God. By these allusions a new state of the Church is represented & this state
represented by commences wthwith the opening of the seventh last seal, & sounding of the Trumpet &
Sect. IV.
A further account of the division of
the Roman Empire.
Iohn tells us that before the Beast d ascended out
of the abyss, five of the kings represented by his heads
were fallen & the sixt was then in being. For before
he ascended he was latent in the Dragons mystical body
& therefore partakes of all his heads. For he was the
water which the Dragon cast out of his mouth as a
flood after the Woman to cause her to be carried away of
the flood. For waters are peoples & nations & multitudes
& tongues, & an aggregate of waters, as a stream a river, a flood,
or a sea, is ‡ an aggregate of men ‡is an aggregate of men a body politick or ecclesiastick a kingdom or a church. The waters wchwhich Christ
spewed out of his mouth signify a body ecclesiastick (the Church of Laodicea)
first united to Christs mystical body as a part thereof & afterwards in a
state of separation or schism: & in like manner the waters wchwhich the Dragon
casts out of his mouth must signify a body politick first united to the Dragons
body as a part thereof & afterwards divided from it. And the western Empire
hath a particular relation to the watry element; For the beast risesg out of the sea
& the woman sittsng upo many waters, which waters signify the peoples nations
multitudes & tongues over whom the woman reigneth, & wchwhich compose the body
& horns of the Beast on wchwhich she sitteth. Her floating upon the flood & sitting
upon many waters & upon the Beast are types of one & the same signification
& represent her reigning over the flood in her way into the wilderness & over
the many waters & the Beast in the wilderness. She fled from the Dragon westward to reign at Rome
the seven hilled city the great city Babylon wchwhich reigned over th & therefore the
flood wchwhich the Dragon cast out of his mouth after her is a western kingdom & the
remaining body of the Dragon is an eastern.
And as the flowing of the flood out of the Dragons mouth signifies a division
of the Empire into two Empires one of wchwhich during the division is represented by the
Dragon & the other by the flood, so the flying of the woman from the remnant of her
seed signifies the division of the Church into two Churches one of wchwhich is the Woman
the other the remnant of her seend. Before the division the Dragon represents the
whole Empire & the Woman the whole church, by the division the Dragon is re
strained to signify the eastern part of the Empire & the Woman the western part of the church
When she receives two wings of a great Eagle she becomes distinguished into two
churches in communion with one another. Upon these wings she flies into a state
of spiritually barrenness kingdom represented by the wilderness. When she begins to fly
the Dragon casts out water as a flood after her that he might cause her to
be carried away of the flood, that is, that by the division of the Empire he might
promote the division of the Church & cause the Woman to separate from the
remnant of her seed. The Earth helps her & prevents the separation for a time
by swallowing up the waters: but at length she separates & escapes into the wilderness & yethe
schism & leaves the remnant of her seed behind her by breach of communion. She flies flies from the Dragon to sit upon the Beast in the wilderness, & therefore
when she separates from the remnant of her seed she quits the Dragons
kingdom & at the same time the Dragon goes from her to make war with
the remnant of her seed & therefore she leaves them in his kingdom. These
keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus under the
persecuting Dragon while she flies into a state of spiritual barrenness &
becomes the Whore of Babylon, & makes her seat drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Iesus, & therefore in flying she separates from their
communion & ceases to be the church of God. As the flood by being cast out of
the Dragon's mouth ceased to be a part of his mystical body body politique & the Church of Lao
dicea by being spewed out of Christs mouth ceased to be a part of Christs
mystical body in the Church of Laodicea a Woman by flying & separating
from those who keep the commandments of God cease to be a part of this church
of the remnant of her seed & by separation escapes into the wildnerness is spewed
out of Christs mouth. & goes into the wilderness to live deliciously with the kings
of the earth & persecute the saints For those of her communion worship the Beast
& his Image & receive his mark are drunken with the wine of her fornication
& are initiated by receiving in her religion by receiving the mark or name of the
Beast. or number of his name And the Dragon in making war upon the remnant
of her seed causeth all to be mystically killed that will not worship the Image of the
Beast, & the other Beast wthwith two horns causeth all to receive a mark & that
no man may buy or sell save he that hath the mark or name of the Beast
or the number of his name: that is, he excommunicates all those who will
not forsake the communion of the remnant of the womans seed & who worship God, & by a new initiation enter
into the communion of those that worship who worship the Beast & his Image.
And at the end of this persecution there stand an hundred & forty four
thousand wthwith the Lamb on mount Sion sealed unto wthwith the seal of God out of all the twelve
tribes of Israel, the rest having received the mark of the Beast. These are
Gods true Witnesses: for they have the testimony of Iesus & in their mouth there was found no lye. The Dragon persecutes first the Woman & then the remnant of her seed, &
they that persevere in these persecutions are said to keep the commandments
of God & have the testimony of Iesus & to receive the name of God in their
foreheads, & in relation to their testimony & veracity & to the two Wings of the Woman
from whom they are derived whose ofspring they are they are henceforward called the two witnesses of Iesus
Christ. a body politick or kingdom or ecclesiastick, a kingdom or a Church, & the western
Empire hath a particular relation to the watry element,
the Beast rising out of the sea & the woman sitting upon
many waters. As the Woman was flying westward he
cast his flood after her, & therefore the flood is a
western kingdom. She fled into the wilderness by a
division of the Empire, & the Dragon cast this flood
out of his mouth after her to cause her to be carried
away by it, & therefore the casting of this flood out
of his mouth after her signifies the division of the
Empire by into two parts by one of wchwhich she was to be carried away from the other
The occasion of this division was the building of
Constantinople by Constantine the great A. C. 330, & endow
ing it wthwith a Senate & privileges like those at Rome, &
making it the Metropolis of all the eastern part of the
Empire, as Rome had hitherto been of all the Empire,
& was henceforward of all the western part thereof.
By this division of the Empire between two imperial
cities, the Woman received two wings of a great Eagle
that she might fly into the wilderness, & at the death
of Constantine the great A. C. 337 the Dragon cast
out of his mouth water as a flood after the Woman
to cause her to be carried away of the flood. For the
Empire at that time became divided between the sons of
Constantine, his second son Constantius reigning over the east,59r east, & his other two sons Constantine & Constans reigning in
the west. But Constantine was quickly slain & then his Brother
Constans reigned over all the west, making Rome his imperial
seat as Constantinople was the imperial seat of Constantius.
And this division of the Empire tended to make the like division of
the Church. For the Bishop of Rome began now to claim the univer
sal Bishopric & his claim was submitted unto by the western
Churches & supported by the western Empire against the eastern
Churches & almomst made a schism between them. For in the year
341 this Bishop began to receive appeals from the Councils of the
Greek church & proudly summoned the bishops of that Church to
appear before him in a Council at Rome but was stoutly opposed
& reprimanded by those bishops for his ambition. Then by the favour
of the western Emperor Constans he prevailed to have a Council
summoned by Imperial authority out of both Empires to meet at
Serdica in the year 347. About eighty eastern Bishops came to
Serdica but finding that matters were prejudged by the western
Bishops in favour of the pretended authority of the Bishop of Rome
they went back & the remaining part of the Council composed
of western & Egyptian decreed appeals from all the Churches to
the Bishop of Rome, & thereby gave him the supremacy over all the
west. For the western churches submitted to that decree. And these
proceedings almost made a schism between the two Churches of the
two Empires the people of the western Churches beginning now to
avoid the communion of the eastern but those of the eastern
not yet avoiding the communion of the western. And this tendency
to a schism is represented by the endeavour of the flood to carry
away the Woman, & her new dominion in the west is represented by her
floting upon the waters. This did the Woman soon after she
had received two wings of a great Eagle begin to fly into the
wilderness. For the western churches headed by the Pope Church of Rome are
the woman reigning in the wilderness.
But the force of the flood to carry away the woman are was
but of short continuance. For Magnentius slew Constans and
succeeded him in the west A. C. 350 & within a year or two
was conquered by Constantius. And by that victory of Constan
tius over Magnentius the eastern Empire over the western
the earth or eastern Empire helped the Woman & opened her
mouth & swallowed up the flood & thereby retarded her flight
for a time. For by the union of the two Empires a stop was
put to the impending schism, & the Woman with her two eagles-wings
continued to represent the undivided Church of the whole Em
pire for some time longer, & the new dominion of the Bishop of
Rome was suspended during that time, the western Bishops being
forced to allow the authority of the Eastern Churches over their
own members in matters judicial without appeal to the Bishop
of Rome.
By the same victory of Constantius over Magnentius the Woman Beast
was wounded to death with a sword & ceased to be for a time both
Empires becoming united under Constantius & his successors Iulian &
Iovian till the reign of Valentinian & Valens. Between them the
Empire became again divided A. C. 364, & by this division the
deadly wound was healed & the Beast revived & soon after rose
out of the sea, & the Woman by a new schism commencing con
tinued her flight into the wilderness. Then by the death of Valens
the Empire became united again under Gratian the successor of Valentinian60r Valentinian for about five months, & by the next division
wchwhich was between Gratian & Theodosius A. C. 378 the Dragon went
from the flying Woman to make war with the remnant of her seed
& the ten horned Beast rose out of the sea to succeed him in
the west & carry the Woman; & the two horned Beast rose out of the earth to
succeed her in the east. And at the same time the Bishop of
Rome recovered the universal Bishopric over all the west
& began to govern the Churches of the Western Empire
by Vicars & to write decretal Epistles: & by this dominion
she began to sit upon the Beast & to change times & laws. And
in those days the invocation of Saints overspread all the churches
& thereby she became the Whore of Babylon.
Theodosius reigned in the east & Gratian with his young brother
Valentinian in the west. Maximus compassed the death of Gratian
& made Valentinian fly into the east & succeeded them. Theo
dosius A. C. 388 conquered Maximus & restored Valentinian &
reigned with him three years in the west & returned into yethe
east A. C. 391. Eugenius A. C. 392 compassed the death of
Valentinian & succeeded him in the western Empire, but
Theodosius made his younger son Honorius Emperor of the West
in the room of Valentinian, conquered Eugenius A. C. 394, died
three or four months after; & by his last will & testament
left the Empire divided between his two sons Arcadius and
Honorius. After wchwhich the two Empires were united no more.
By conquering the west & resigning the conquest to Honorius
the Dragon gave the Beast his power & throne. The Beast
revived before he could ascend out of the Sea, & ascended
before the Dragon who stood upon the land could give him
his power & throne. These were three distinct successive acts
& imply three successive divisions of the Empire, & can agree
to no other then the three last divisions, those three to wchwhich
we have applied them. Theodosius by conquering Maximus
reigned over both Empires, over the east with Arcadius & over
the west with Valentinian & Honorius. Thus the Empire was
united under him in the last seven years of his reign, & yet
at the same time divided between Arcadius who was Emperor
of the east & Valentinian & Honorius who were successive
Emperors of the west. The Dragon therefore in some respect
reigned over the whole Empire even after the Beast was risen
& this reign is to be referred to his seventh head. And when
Theodosius by his last will & testament left the Empire
divided between his sons & was succeeded in the eastern Empire
by his eldest son Arcadius, the Dragon gave the Beast his western
throne & power. And this reign of the Beast is the eighth &
of the seven. And now, the Beast being revived & risen out of the
abyss & having received the Dragons ancient throne, we are to
expect the reigns of the tenkingdoms represented by the ten horns. For they were to receive power
as kings at the same time with the Beast, that is, at that time
when the Beast receives the Dragon gave him his the Beast his power & throne & great authority. And
accordten Western Empire became divided into ten kingdoms
in the reign of the Emperors Arcadius & Honorius as we shewed
above.
Before the Woman received two wings of a great Eagle there was61r was war in heaven, Michael & his Angels fought against
the Dragon, & the Dragon fought & his Angels & prevailed
not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And the great Dragon was cast out, that old Serpent called
the Devil & Satan which deceiveth the whole world,
he was cast out into the earth & his Angels were cast
out with him. And Iohn heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, Now is come salvation & strength & the kingdom of
our God & the power of his Christ: for the accuser of orour
brethren is cast down who accused them before our God day &
night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb & by
the word of their testimony, & they loved not their lives unto
the death. This is a very plain description of a great
conflict between the Roman heathen Empire & the army
of Christ. For Michael & his Angels are Christ & his
army, such an army as was accused by the Dragon day &
night & loved not their lives unto the death, such an
army as overcame the Dragon by the blood of the Lamb
& by the word of their testimony, that is, an army of
martyrs & confessors. And this war between Michael &
the Dragon was managed on the Dragon's part by accusing
& persecuting the Christians & putting them to death for
their religion & on the Christians part by confessing &
testifying the truth of their religion & persisting in
their confession & testimony without fearing to lose their
lives for the same. And by this conflict the Dragon
that old Serpent called the Devil & Satan, that is, the
heathen Roman Empire in respect of its religion, was
overcome & cast out of heaven to the earth & was succeeded
in the throne by a new kingdom called the kingdom of
God. For the conflict ended with a voice from heaven
saying: Now is come salvation & strength & the KING
DOM of orour God GOD, for the accuser of orour brethren is
cast down. And all this can agree to nothing else then
the heathen persecutions last of the heathen persecutions
which began in the reign of Dioclesian A. C. 302 & lasted
almost two years over all the Roman Empire, & ten
years together with great violence over all the east, & was greater then
all the former persecutions taken together, & which
ended in the ruin of the heathen Roman Empire & the
setting up of a Christian Empire in its room under
Constantine the great.
The same revolution is predicted also by the vision
of the Woman who being great with child cried travelling
in birth & pained to be delivered, & by the Dragons drawing
the third part of the stars of heaven with his tail & casting
them to the earth, & standing before the Woman ready to be
62r
of the heathen Roman Empire & the setting up a Christian
Empire in its room under Constantine the great.
The same revolution is predicted also by the vision
of the Woman who being great with child cried travail
ing in birth & pained to be delivered, & by the Dragon's
drawing the third part of the stars of heaven with his
tail & casting them to the earth and standing before
the woman ready to be delivered for to devour her
child so soon as it was born, & by her bringing forth
a Man-child who was to rule all nations wthwith a rod
of iron & was caught up to unto God & his throne from the
jaws of the Dragon. For since this Parable ends with
the flight of the Woman into the wilderness, & that of
the war between Michael & the Dragon ends also with
the same flight, both the Parables ending at the same
time must be synchronal & concern the same revolu
tion of the Empire. For describing & pointing out
this grand revolution more clearly & fully the descripti
on is repeated. The woman travailing in birth & pained
to be delivered signifies the Church in affliction by a
great persecution wchwhich ended in the birth of a Christian
kingdom & therefore was Dioclesian's persecution. And the
same persecution is signified by the Dragon's drawing the
third part of the stars of heaven & casting them to the
earth. This act shews that the Dragon is the persecu
tor & the other of the Woman's being pained in child
birth, that she is the person persecuted. The third part
of the stars of heaven or stars of the third part of the Roman Empire Christian world are yethe
martyrs & Confessors of the Provinces of the Greek Empire
where the persecution was very vehement & lasted ten
years together being carried on by Dioclesian Galerius
& Maximinius successively, besides what the Christians
of that part of the Empire suffered afterwards under
Licinius. For in the western part of the Empire
where Herculius, Constantius & Constantine reigned suc
cessively the persecution lasted scarce two full years
being stopt by Constantius; & the Martyrs & Confessors
were so few, & made so small an appearance, that
before the end of two years there were pillars set up by
the heathens in several parts of Spain, with inscriptions
signifying that the superstition of Christ & name of Christi
ans were every where extinguished. In Dalia & such other Provinces as had newly revolted from the old Roman Empire & make another third part there was no persecution at all. The Man-child
wchwhich the Woman brought forth is not a single person, but a63r a kingdom as Isaias interprets the type. For the Woman is Isa. LXVI. 7, 8
a body politick & the child must be a body of the same
kind with the mother. And this kingdom was Christian
because it was the son of the Woman & was to rule all
nations with a rod of iron, wchwhich in this Prophesy is the
scepter of Christs kingdom. The persecution began by an
Edict for demolishing the Churches & burning the sacred
books throughout the Empire A. C. 302, & the Man-child
was born in the western part of the Empire by the victory
of Constantine the great over Maxentius in the end of
the persecution A. C. 312. , Constantine being encouraged
by a vision of the cross in the heavens with this in
scription In hoc signeo vinces. And six years after by
the victory of Constantine over Licinius a heathen persecuting
Emperor who reigned in the east, the Man-child was caught
up to the throne of the whole Empire vizt A. C. 318. And the Dragon
at the same time being cast out of heaven by Michael, began to
come down among the inhabitants of the earth & sea with great
wrath knowing that he hath but a short time, that is, the hea
thens being cast out of their old throne flowed into the
Christian Churches of the earth & Sea, making an outward
shew & proph profession of the Christian religion for temporal
ends but retaining their vicious lives & heathen principles & in
clinations to superstition, & thereby they soon corrupted the Chris
tian religion & filled it full of the vices & superstitions of the
heathens, making hast to do this because the Dragon had but a
short time to reign among the Christians before he should be cast
into the bottomless pit. When therefore the Dragon that old serpent the spirit of error saw that he
was cast down he troubled persecuted the Woman & by the building of Constan
tinople A. C. 330 she received two wings of a great Eagle that
she might fly into the wilderness where she is nourished from
the face of the serpent, & after he had put her to flight &
oppressed the remnant of her seed he reigned a short time.
The heathens The heathens supposed the souls of dead men to be either parts or powers of yethe
supreme God & under under for that pretense worshipped them by various names worshipped them as divine persons & called
those persons Gods. When the Dragon that old se The Dragon in respect of this spirit of error & idolatry of the heathens is called
the Dragon that old serpent the Devill & Satan who deceiveth the whole world. When
that old Serpent saw that he was cast out of the heathen Roman throne he came
down among the Christian inhabitants of the earth & sea. The For at that time the doctrine
that the son was the λόγος ἐνδιάθετος of a the inherent reasong wisdom & understanding of the father wthoutwithout wchwhich the father would
be ἄσοφος & ἄλογος void of wisdom & understanding spread much in the Churches & almost overspread the western
Empire This was the doctrine of Basilides Valentinus & the Gnosticks, or Tatian & the Encratites, of Tertullian, Proculus Æchines
& the Montanists, of Praxeas, Artemas, Paul of Samosat, Hermogenes, Sabellius & the Patripassians;
these became & Constantine the great wthwith some bishops about him lapsed into this
opinion. And the waters wchwhich the Dragon cast out of his mouth after the Woman were much infected
with it. But Gods Witnesses pr For the Council of Serdica were of this opinion as appears by their Epistle
as it is recited entire by Theodoret. But God Witnesses prophesied against it and the earth also by the testimony of the witnesses helped the woman: for when Con
stantius came against Magnentius he called a Council at Sirmium wchwhich condemned this
doctrine in Photinus & put a stop to its growth. For the decrees of this Council were
universally founded approved & received by the Churches
wards & the language of one hypostasis of the father son & holy Ghost wchwhich was then in fashion soon changed
into that of three hypostases. Afterwards the inhabitants of the earth & sea repre
sented by the two wings of the Woman were were interdicted buying & selling untill they
received the mark or name of the Beast or number of his name & as many of them
as kept the commandments of God & persisted in the testimony of Iesus were sealed with
the name of God in their foreheads & by reason of their testimony are called the two
witnesses, & continue in affliction & dispersion while the old serpent called the Devil & Satan
reigns amongst the inhabitants of the earth & sea wthwith great wrath knowing that he hath
but a short time, & all men whose names are not written in the book of life worship the Beast
& wonder when they behold him.See yethe backside
of yethe page ytthat is
marked, a, Now when the Temple of God was opened in heaven
& the Ark was seen in it, & after lightnings & voices & thun
drings & hail, there appeared several visions in heaven; it is
to be conceived that this was the first Temple there being no Ark
in the second, & that it was opened for Iohn to see the visions
in it, & particularly that the Woman & Dragon appeared in
that the Man-child was caught up to the throne above the
Ark & the Dragon cast down by Michael from the upper
court into the outward Court thereof thereof & there persecuted
the woman & that she fled from this temple & into the
wilderness & left in it a remnant of her seed wthwith wchwhich the
Dragon there made war, & that the two Beasts rose out of the
sea & earth of this Temple & the worship of the first Beast
& his Image was set up in the outward court of this Temple, & there
they received his mark or name except the 144000 who thence
forward sing a new song in the midst of the four Beasts & Elders on
mount Sion that is in the inner Court of this Temple, & the Dragon & two horned64r horned Beast are left in the outward court thereof. But the Sect
other Beast being risen from the dead & deified in this Temple,
received the Dragons western throne & power & is after
wards found in the Wilderness with the Woman. For after
the seven Angels represented by the lamps of this Temple
had poured out the seven vials of wrath, one of them carried
Iohn from this Temple into the Wilderness to see the Woman
who was fled thither, & there Iohn saw her sitting upon the
Beast & upon the many waters, wchwhich waters being called peoples
& multitudes & nations & tongues, are the gentiles who tread
down the Holy City & worship in the outward court of the second
Temple. There he saw her drunken with the blood of the saints
& of the martyrs of Iesus that is with the blood of the two Witnesses
represented by the two Candlesticks of this Temple. There he saw her
with the name Babylon on her forehead importing that she is the
great City represented by old Babylon wchwhich captivated the Iews & trode
down the holy city & under wchwhich some Iews returning from captivity
built a second temple by the prophesying of the two Prophets Haggai
& Zechary, but left the outward court unbuilt & open to the gentiles
gentiles. In respect of the Greek Empire the first Temple continues to the end. In respect of yethe
Latin Empire the first Temple ceases & a new one is built.
In the first part of the Prophesy of the Apocalyps, the visions
of opening the seven seales & sealing the 144000 servants of God appear
in the first Temple wherein were seven Candlesticks. Then the
seven Trumpets sound & seven Thunders utter their voices. Then a
second Temple is measured out in order to be built with two Candle
sticks & the outward court thereof is given to the Gentiles.
In the second part of the Prophesy wchwhich is a supplemental
reptition of the first part, the visions of the Woman, Dragon & 144000 & yethe
first rise of the two Beasts & of yethe 144000 appear in the first Temple.
Then the seven Vials are poured out. And then Iohn goes into the
wilderness to see the great City Babylon seated on many waters under
whose dominion the Iews built a second Temple
court unbuilt & open to yethe gentiles.
In both parts, the visions relating to the two Temples are
distinguished by interposing the visions of the seven wars sacrifices: & this
distinction is not without a meaning. Iohn describes first the affairs
of the Dragons Kingdom & Church by visions in the first Temple
& then those of the Beasts Kingdom & Church by visions relating
to the second Temple, & to distinguish the two kingdoms with
their Churches from one another he interposes the description
of the seven sacrifices. representing seven successive plagues of
warr, these sacrifices being For these are sacrifices are performed in both
lateing to both. For the Angels of the seven Churches sound the
Trumpets & pour out the Vials of wrath & the two Witnesses
smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will, that is
wthwith the seven plagues of war represented by the seven sacrifices.
Sect. V.
Of the seven heads
& ten horns of the Dragon
and Beast
The Dragon & Beast being the subject of the Prophesy & signifying the Ro
man Empire som
sometimes united &
sometimes divided
& the relation
wchwhich they have to one
another & to the Em
pire with is parts
being understood
and the he relation which they Dragon & Beast have to
one another being understood, it will not be difficult to describe their65r their heads. The four first are the horsmen four horsmen wchwhich
the four Beasts standing towards the four winds of heaven
call Iohn to come & see & which therefore stood in the regions
of the Beasts, the first horsman to the east the second to
the west the third to the south & the fourth to the north.
Riding signifies reigning & the four Beasts with their faces
of a Lion, Ox, Man & Eagle allude to the armies of
Israel encamped about the tabernacle in the wilderness
in four bodies under their banners; the tribes of Iudah
Issachar & Zebulon being on the east side under the stan
dard of a Lion, those of Reuben Simeon & Gad on the
south side under the standard of a Man, those of Ephra
im Manasseh & Benjamin on the west side under the
standard of an Ox, & those of Dan Asher & Naphtali
on the north side under the standard of an Eagle. The
encampment is described in the book of numbers & the Iews
keep a tradition of the standards. Every Horsman therefore with the horse
he rides upon & the Beast wchwhich appears in the same region
with him is a fit emblem of an Emperor with his Empire &
his army under its standard. And thus the four hors-men
with their Beasts very fitly represent four reigns or
dynasties of Emperors.
The first Emperors were Italians called the twelve
Cæsars. Of these there were two dynasties, the first of
the family of Iulius Cæsar wchwhich lasted till the death of
Nero, the next of the family of Vespasian which lasted
till the death of Domitian the last of the twelve Cæsars.
The Apocalyps was written in the end of the first & is
of things future, & therefore we are to begin with
the next. Of this dynasty there were only three Empe
rors, Vespasian & his two sons Titus & Domitian.
Vespasian was created Emperor in the East in the time
of the Iewish war. And there being then a rumor in
all the east of a prophesy that a great Monarch should
then arise about that time in Iudea, the Romans in
terpreted it of him. Percrebuerat Oriente toto vetus
& constans opinio, esse in fatis ut eo tempore Iudæa
profecti rerum potirentur. Id de Imperatore Romano
quantum eventu postea patuit, prædictum Iudæi ad
se trahentes rebellarunt. Suetonius in Vespasiano. Pluribus
persuasio inerat antiquis sacerdotum literis contineri eo
ipso tempore fore ut valesceret Oriens, profectique Iudæa
rerum potirentur. Quæ ambages Vespatianum et Titum
prædixerunt. Tacitus Hist. l. 5. Quod Iudæos ad bellum maxime excitaverat
66r
But thou o Daniel shut up the words & seale the book even to the time of the end
Here the book of the scripture of truth is shut up & sealed. And this is that book wchwhich is sealed
with seven seales & opened in the Apocalyps. It is sealed even to the time of the end, &
therefore the time of the end commences so soon as all the seals are open, & not before.
But the 1260 days time times & half a time do not take up all the time of the end. The time of the end begins before that period & After that period is ended there
remains a further time till God shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people
& have brought them back out of all nations into their own land. And this shall be at the end
of 1290 days counted from the time that the daily worship of Gods people shall be taken away
so as to set up the great abomination of desolation that maketh desolate. Blessed is he that
waiteth to the [end of] the 1335 days. But go thy way Daniel for thou [Daniel] till the end be: for thou
shall rest [in the dust] & stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
This prophesy therefore of the scripture of truth takes in the time times & half a time
wchwhich is the reign of the last horn of Daniels fourth Beast. It takesn in also all the time of
the Iewish captivity untill that
that is all the reign of 2300 the last h 2300 days of the He Goat from the time of his taking
away the daily worship & casting down the sanctuary. & And thence it seems to me that the Dragon
& ten-horned Beast in Iohn, are the same with the He-Goat & fourth Beast in Daniel. The
Goat a first represents the Greek empire alone till the rise of its little horn & then it repres
includes the Roman Empire till the Greeks & Latines separate: & so does the Dragon repre
sents the whole Roman Empire till the Greeks & Latines separate
both cases. Iohns Beast carries a Woman upon his back & Daniels hath an elventheleventh
horrn horn with eyes & a mouth wchwhich make it a different animal. The Goat represents
the Greek Empire alone till the rise of its little last horn, & then it includes the whole Roman
Empire till the Greeks & Latines separate & after upon that separation the western
Empire of the Latines becomes represented by the Beast wchwhich rises out of the Sea &
that like of the Greeks remains represented by the Dragon. And the Dragon, like the three
first of Daniels beasts, hath his life prolongued after his dominion is taken away. The
Dragon & Beast have each of them seven heads & ten horns: but the heads of the Dragon
& horns of the Beast are only crowned because the heads reign upon the Dragon before
the Beast separes from him & the heads horns reign upon the Beast after that separation.
The separation of the Beast from the Dragon is represented by his rising out of the sea & the
or isles of the sea, & by the Dragons giving him his power & throne & great authority, & yet
continuing to be worshipped himself. And they worshipped the Dragon wchwhich gave power unto
the Beast & they worshipped the Beast saying Who is able to make war u like unto the
Beast? who is able to make war with him? Apoc XIII. 1, 2, 4. And this Beast is said to be
like unto the Leopard, & his feet as the feet of the Bear, & his mouth as the mouth of the Lion.
Apoc And this Beast & Daniels three first beasts the Leopard, the Bear & the Lion are named
together in continual order, & assimilated to one another in same respect or other, to shew that he is the fourth Apoc. XIII. 2.
67r
and took away the revenues of the sacrifices & salaries &
authority of the Priests. And Theodosius followed his example.
And Heathenism afteward recovered it self no more, but
decreased so fast that Prudentius about 40 ten years after the
death of Iulius Theodosius called the heathens vix pauca ingenia &
pars hominum rarissima: Prudent. l. 1 adv. Symmach.
The things predicted in the first six seales are again
predicted in the Prophesy of the woman & Dragon, wchwhich as we
told you, is a repetition of the prophesy of the womans opening the seales.
First there are lightnings & voices & thunderings & an earthquake
& great hail, & these express in general the wars made by the
four horsmen at the opening of the first four seales. Then to re
present the persecution of the Church by Dioclesian & his Collegues
& the subsequent overthrow of the Heathen Empire by Constantine; a
woman appears in heaven who being with child by Constantine cried
travelling
appeared also in heaven & his tail drew the third part of the
stars of heaven & cast them to the earth, & he stood before
the woman to devour her child as soon as it was born, & at
the same time there was war in heaven between Michael & the
Dragon & the Dragon was overcome wthwith his angels & cast out
of heaven to the earth & the Manchild was caught up to God
& to his throne, & there was a voice from heaven saying, Now
is come salvation & the kingdom of orour God & the power of his
Christ. For the accuser of orour brethren is cast down – & they over
came him by the blood of the Lamb & by the word of their testi
mony & loved not their lives unto the death. The Dragon ap
pears in heaven to represent the height of his power & dominion
at his first appearance. For Isaiah in prophesying of the king
of Babylon uses the phrase in the same sense: How art thou
fallen from heaven O Lucifer son of the morning – wchwhich
didst weaken the nations. For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God – I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I
will be like the most high: yet thou shalt be brought down
to the lower parts of the earth Hades Hell, to the sides of the
pit. Isa. 14. Upon the opening of the fourth seal the Empire fell into the
greatest disorder & confusion & became the kingdome of Death & Hades.
Upon opening the fift seale the Empire was raised from this very
low estate by Dioclesian & his Collegues & exalted up to heaven, &
there Iohn saw the Dragon casting down the stars to yethe grownd &
standing before the woman in travel & making war wthwith the saints
Michael & the saints by a great persecution of the Church.. Upon opening the sixt seal the Dragon was
cast out of heaven to the earth by the victories of Constantine
the great over the Heathens & the Man-child was caught up to the throne of heaven & the Dragon Devil were draw making into the inhabi
tants of the earth & sea wthwith having great wrath because he knoweth
that he hath but a short time the Manchild wchwhich the Woman brought
forth was caught up to God & to the throne of heaven & a Wo is
denounced to the inhabitants of the earth & sea because the Devil
is come down unto them having great wrath because he knoweth that
he 68r hath but a short time. We have shewed how upon opening the
sixt Seal the Dragon was cast out of heaven to the earth
it remains now that we shew how at the same time he
came down among the inhabitants of the earth & sea wthwith
great wrath.
Gregory of Nyssen tells us that after the persecution of
Decius, Gregory Bishop of Neocœsarea in Pontus instituted among
all people, as an addition & corollary of devotion towards God,
that festival days & assemblies should be celebrated to them
who had contended for the faith, that is, to the Martyrs. And
he adds this reason for the institution. When he observed that
the simple & unskilful multitude by reason of corporeal
delights remained in the error of Idols; that the principal
thing might be corrected among them, namely that instead
of their vain worship & superstition they might turn their
eyes upon God: he permitted that at the memories of the holy
Martyrs they might make merry & delight themselves &
be resolved into joy. The heathens were delighted with the
festivals of their Gods & unwilling to f part with those delights
& therefore Gregory to facilitate their conversion instituted
the like annualy festivals to the Christian saints & Martyrs. And hence
it came to pass that the principal festivals of the Christians
succeeded in the room of the principal festivals of the Heathens.
as keeping of Christmas in the room of the Saturnalia, the
celebrating of May day with flowers in the room of the flora
lia, & the keeping of festivals to most of the Apostles the Virgin
Mary, Iohn the Baptist & most of the Apostles at the entrance
of the Sun into the
In the same persecution of Decius Cyprian ordered the passi
ons of the Martyrs in Afric to be registered in order to cele
brate their memories annually wthwith oblations & sacrifices.
And Felix Bishop of Rome a little after, as Platina re
lates, Martyrum gloriæ consulens constituit ut quotannis
sacrifica eorum nomine celebrarentur, consulting the glory
of the Martyrs ordeined that their sacrifices should be ce
lebrated annually in their name. By the pleasure of these
festivals the Christians increased much in number & decreased as
much in vertue untill they were purged & made white by the
Persecution of Dioclesian. And this was the first step made
in the Christian religion towards the veneration of the mar
tyrs. And tho it did not yet amount to an unlawfull worship
yet it disposed the Christians towards such a further venera
tion of the dead as in a short time ended in the invocation of
Saints
The next step was the affecting to pray at the sepulchres
of the Martyrs & the bringing their bodies as holy things into the Oratories or
Churches of the Christians, chwhich practice began at the end of
Dioclesians persecution. The Council of Eliberis in Spain celebrated in
the third year of Dioclesians persecution A. C. 305 has these Canons
Can: 34, Cereos per diem placuit in Cæmeterio nom incendi. Inqui
etandi enim spiritus sanctorum non sunt. Qui hæ non observarint arceantur ab Ecclesiæ commumone. Can: 35, Placuit prohiberi
ne fæminæ in Cæmeterio pervigilent, eò quod sæpe sub
obtentu orationis latentur scelera committant latenter commitant. Presently69r Presently after that persecution suppose about the year
314, the Council of Lodicea in Phrygia wchwhich then met for
restoring the lapsed discipline of the church has the fol
lowing Canons. Can: 9, Those of the Church are not
allowed to go into the Cæmeteries or Martyries (as they are called) of hereticks for the sake of prayer or recovery of
health: but such as go, if they be of the faithfull shall
be excommunicated for a time. Can: 34, A Christian
must not leave the martyrs of Christ & go to fals Mar
tyrs, that is, to the martyrs of the hereticks. For these
are alien from God. And therefore let those be anathe
ma who go to them. Can: 51, The birth days of the
martyrs shall not be celebrated in Lent, but their
commemoration shall be made on the sabbath days &
Lords days. The Council of Gangra in Paphlagonia cele
brated in the year 324 made this Canon: If any man
being arrogant, abominates the congregations of the Mar
tyrs or the Liturgies performed therein or the memo
ries of the Martyrs let him be anathema. By all wchwhich
it's manifest that the Christians in the time of Dioclesians
persecution used to pray in the Cæmeteries or burying
places of the dead for avoyding the danger of the perse
cution, & that after the persecution was over continued
that practise in honour to the Martyrs & affected it
as advantageous to devotion & for recovering the health
of those that were sick; and that in these burying
places they commemorated the Martyrs yearly & accounted
all these practises pious & religious & anathematized
those men as arrogant who opposed them or who prayed
in the Martyries of hereticks. And hence came the
custome of translating the bodies of the saints & mar
tyrs into such Churches as were new built after the per
secution & of dedicating the new churches to the saints
buried in them. And in Egypt they did not only bury them in their Churches but kept them unburied upon beds in their private houses ‡‡ & told stories of their souls appearing after death & ascending up to heaven. as Athanasius relates in the life of Antony. All wchwhich gave occasion to the Emperor
Iulian (as Cyril relates) to accuse the Christians in this
manner. Your adding to that ancient dead man [vizt Iesus] many new dead man who can sufficiently abominate? You have filled all places saith he wthwith sepul
chres & monuments although you are no where bidden
to prostrate your selves to sepulchres & to respect them
officiously. And a little after: since Iesus said that se
pulchres are full of filthiness how do you invoke God
unto them. And again: To that ancient dead man [vizt
Iesus] you have added new dead men. And in another place he70r he saith that if Christians had adhered to the precepts of the
Hebrews they would have worshipped one god instead of many &
not a man or rather not many unhappy men, [& that they
adored the wood of the cross, making its images on their fore
heads & before on the front of their houses. Christians at first signed them
selves with a cross in times of persecution, only to signify that
they were christians. Then Constantine the great in his war
against Maxentius had a vision of a cross appearing in the
clouds with this inscription In hoc signo vinces wchwhich gave occa
sion to weak Christians to attribute some vertue to this signe &
chiefly to the wood of the cross wchwhich was found at Ierusalem
in the reign of Cons soon after & distributed over all the empire
And these superstionssuperstitions towards the cross & towards the bodies of
the martyrs got grownd among Christians all the reign
of Constantine & his sons, insomuch that before the death
of Constantius they began in Egypt to ascribe great & fre
quent miracles to the signe of the cross & not only to
them unburied upon beds in their ho private houses & to
tell stories of their souls appearing after death, as Atha
nasius relates in the life of Antony & that they adored the wood of the cross, making its images on their foreheads & before their houses.
A superstition of yethe same kind wthwith the worship of saints & their reliques is the adoration of the signe woods of yethe cross as a relique of Christ & ascribing to it & to yethe signe of the cross a supernatural power. Christians – – Christians at first signed themselves wthwith the signe of the cross only to Tertul. de corona
milits mil. c. 3. 4.
signify that they were Christians, & this custome was very ancient in
the west & grew there into superstition very early.. For Tertullians tells us: Ad omnem progressum atque promotum
ad omnem aditum & exitum, ad vestitum et caluatum, a lavacra, ad
mensas, ad lumina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia, quacunque nos coversatio ex
ercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus. Harum et atiarum huj usmodi
legum disciplinarum, si legem expostules scripturarum, nullam invenies:
traditio tibi prœtenditur auctrix, consuetudo confimatrix, & fides obser
vatrix. Lactantins both in his tells us writes that by the signe of the cross the cross Lact. Istitut. l. 4.
c. 17. & de mort.
Persec. sect. 10.
gods of the heathens are put to flight so that & their sacrifices disturbed so as
not to give the usual signes to the Auruspices & that this was the cause of
Dioclesian's persecution. Athanasius in his first Oration against the Gentiles
written before the Arian controversy began suppose about the year 320, tells us that Christ gives
victory against death & weakens death in all those who have his faith
& carry the signe of the cross. And by the signe of the cross all apparitiory
of Devils disappear. And in his second Oration written at yethe same time
on the same subject he saith that Christ gives victory against death
& weakens death in all those who have his faith & carry the signe of
the cross. And again: By the signe of the Cross all magic ceases – Christians at first signed themselves wthwith the cross only to
signify that they were christians: but this custome soon grew into
superstition. For Athanasius in the beginning of his Oration against
the Gentiles written in the reign of Constantine the great before the Arian controversy began tells us that by the signe of the cross all the fallacies of the Devil
apparitions of Devils disappear. And in his second oOration written
about at the same time on the same subject he saith: ‡ Christ gives victory against death & weakens death in all those who have his
faith & carry the signe of the cross. And again: By the signe of the cross
all apparitions & Magick &c By the signe
of the cross all magic ceases, all enchantments vanish are dissolved, all Idols are deserted
all base pleasure is quieted vanishes. And again By using only the
signe of the cross all apparitions of Devills are driven away. — Who
ever desires to try what we have said, let him come & in the
upon the appearing of Devils & the delusions of Oracles & the
miracles of sorcery let him use the derided signe of the Cross wchwhich they
derides & naming only the name of Christ & he shall see how
thereby the Devils are put to flight, the Oracles cease & all
Magick & sorcery is dissolved. The same Athanasius in the life of Antony the founder of the sect of sect of the Monks tells how
Antony the Monk & afterwards taught those
that came to him that they should forti to fortify themselves
with the signe of the cross against the apparitions of Devils & how in the 10th persecution he signed & afterwards he signed himself wthwith the cross for that purpose.. And And Eusebius tells us
therefore the superstitious use of this signe was very early. And
since it was so early thus Antony used in this superstious manner by Antony the founder of Monkery & the Moncks & openly recom
mended And And being publickly recommended by Antony & Athanasius Bishop Patri
arch of Egypt & Libya we may receive that this superstition
become generally received in Egypt in the reigns of Constan
tine & Constantius signo vinces might seem to recommend it & by the famous it would quickly become general especially since the men of the greatest authority & by the famous vision of Constantine wthwith the inscription In hoc signo vinces, & thereupon made yethe Ensigne of Constantines armies, it would quickly be generally received.
And if they Romans involved the sign of the cro attributed such power
to the signe of the cross much more would they idolize
the wood of the cross wchwhich in the reign of Constantine was
found at Ierusalem & by Helena the mother of Constantine & distributed to all the people dispersed
into all the empire distinguished from the crosses of the two thievesbb Ruffin. Socr. Sozon. Theodovet, by
curing a sick poor & dispers woman, & as was & cc Cyril. Hierosol. cateh. 4, 10, 14. quickly dispersed by peices into all
the Empire, & insomuch that Cyril who was Bishop of Ierusalem in the reign of Constanti
us & Valens & Theodosius wrote that the whole world was filled
by pieces from thence.
69v
Thus by Constantine's warring under the banner of the cro
The same Athanasius in the life of
Antony the commōon father of all Moncks, tells how this Antony in the reign of Dioclesian taught
those that came to him to fortify themselves wthwith the signe of the cross against the apparitions of
Devils & how in the tenth persecution & afterwards he signed himself wthwith the cross for that purpose.
And Eusebius tells us how Constantine the Emperor great declared that his soldiers here warred under this
signe in their standards in were were it were protected in battel while others at a
distance from it lost their lives. And if the Christians began so soon early to attribute a
miraculous power to the signe of the cross, much more would they afterwars idolize the wood
of the cross wchwhich was found at Ierusalem by Hellena the mother of Constantine A. C. 326
& distinguished from yethe crosses of the two thieves by curing a sick woman (as was
pretended) & quickly dispersed by little pieces into all the Empire insomuch that Cyril who
was bishop of Ierusalem in the reign of Constantius Valens & Theodosius wrote that
the whole world was filled wthwith the cross by pieces Thus in all And the
devotion wchwhich Christians paid to these miracle-working pieces of the cross made
that they adored the wood of the cross making its images in their foreheads & before their
houses.
After Christians began thus to ascribe miracles to the wood of signe
of the Cross & to yethe disperse pieces of the wood as venerable & wonder-working reliques of Christ, the next step was to ascribe the like
miracles to yethe reliques of the Saints & Martyrs. And such miracles began to
make a noise in the reign of the Emperor Iulian, being set on foot by some
Christians in opposition to his proceedings against the Christian religion. For when
he opened the heathen temples & consulted the Oracle of Apollo at Daphneus in the suburbs of Antioch
& offered pressed by many sacrifices for make an answer the Oracle speaks, at length the Oracle told him that the70v the could not speak because of the Martyr Babylos & some others
wchwhich lay buried there. This bones of the Martyr Babylas wchwhich bones were buried there hindered him from speaking. This was in the year 362 & about the
same time Hibary in his book against Constantius written in yethe
fift year of his banishment wchwhich was I think was the same
year, makes this mention of what was then done in the east
Sane martyrio persequeris - - - - - fidei. And Gregory Nazianzen - - -
- - - - aspernaris. In t These things made the Heathens in the reign of the same Emperor demolish
the sepulchres of some of the old Prophets in Phœnicia & burn
their bones, & some Christians mixing themselves wthwith the heathens
gathered up some of the bones & carried them to
in Ægypt who hid them in a wall of a church as things wchwhich saying the as things wchwhich
might be profitable to a future generation. The c
The cry of these miracles being once set on foot continu
ed & for many years & increased & grew more general.
For Chrisostom in his second Oration on St Babylas twenty years
after the silencing of the Oracle of Apollo Daphnæus as above, saith of the
miracles done by the Martyrs Saints & their reliques: Nulla est
nostri hujus orbis – – – – – was about the year 384. ‡Ambrose was at first free from these superstitions but In the year
387 Ambrose was to dedica having built a new Church was told that he presided by the people
388 Palladius went into Ægypt – – – – – established there as in
how he should dedicate in a Roman Church & thereupon dreamt where to martyrs ‡
other places. For Chrystom in his Oration – – – then Syria it
self & the Moncks were they that laboured most in propagating
these superstitions. ‡Ambrose‡ were called Gervasius & Protusius ‡ Ambrose was at first free from these superstitions but A.C. 387 in yethe year 387 having built a Church giving about
in dedicating a Church wthoutwithout Martyrs was admonished by the people how he should dedicate & thereupon dreamt of two martyrs Gervasius & Protasus
whose bodies being dug up were translated into the church & did many miracles & part of them were distributed to other churches.
makes this mention Cognovistis inò vidisti upsi multos a dæmonijs purgatos, plurimos etiam ubi vestem sanctorum manibus contigerunt his quibus laborabant debili
tactibus absolutos. Reparata vetusti temporis miracula. The whole story you have described by Panlinus of Nola in yethe life of Ambrose; by Austin of Hippo in seve
ral parts of his works & by Ambrose himself in his 85th Epistle & 91st Sermon. (The distributing of reliques reliques occasioned many under the habit of Moncks to
carry the members of martyrs or pretended martyrs up & down the Empire to sell: wchwhich occasioned the cause Emperor Theodosius to put out A. C. 386 to put out this Edict.
Now by these miracles were presently fo the invocation of Saints
was presently set on foot. Ch Superstitious Christians in the reign of
Constantius began to tell stories of the souls of the dead saints appear
ing to them & ascending up to heaven in a visible form as may be seen in the life of Antony. And as this
doctrine of Dæmons was the foundation of the heathen Idolatry so
it made way for the like practices among the Christians. And For
the miracles done by their reliques of the dead being ascribed to the powers of
their separate souls of the saints. And of the saints & their souls being therefore looked upon
as Divi wchwhich had a knowledge of humane affiars & could pray for us & do us good
or hurt & dayly exerted this power, it was natural to desire them to pray for us & do us good. [ And that they
did begin presently to invoke them for that end is very evident ]. Basil, Gregory
Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen & Ephrem Syrus &c set this & Christian practice on foot in the east in the
reign of Valens, & Pope Damasus, & Ambrose Iero did the like in the west
as may be seen in their writings. I shall contently my self wthwith a few
instances. Basil who died in the year 378 in his oration on yethe martyr Manas, saith: Be ye mindfull of
the Martyr as many of you as have enjoyed him in your dreams, as many
of you as in this place have been assisted by him in prayer, as many of you
as upon calling him invoking & calling him by name have had him present in
ther your works, as many as he has reduced forme a into yethe way from
wandering, as many as he has restored to health, as many as have
had their dead children restored by him to life, as many as have
had their lives prolonged by him. And in his Oration on the 40 Martyrs
These are they, saith he, who obteining our
tain Towers afford us safety against the incursions of orour enemies.
Neither are they shut up in one place only, but being distributed
are sent into many regions & adorn many countries. — You have often
endeavoured you have often laboured to find one who might pray for
you: these are forty emitting one voice of prayer. — He that is in
affliction flies to these, he that rejoyces has recourse to these the first
that he may be freed from the evil, the last that he may continue in
happiness. Here a woman praying for her children is heard: she obteins
a safe return for her husband from abroad, & health for him in his sickness.
– – – O holy chorus, o sacred orders as in O common keepers of mankind
the best companions of orour cares, suffrages & coadjutors of prayer, most power
ful
embassadors to God, &c.
71r
Trumpets are sounded, & seven thunders utter their voices, & seven Vials of
wrath are poured out. And therefore the sounding of the seven Trumpets, the
voices of the seven thunders, & the pouring out of seven Vials of wrath are
synchronal, & relate to one & the same division of the time of the seventh
seale following the silence, into seven successive parts. The seven days of
this feast were called the feast of Tabernacles. And during those 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 tri
bulation with p triumph at the battel of the great day to which the seventh
trumpet sounds. The visions therefore of the 144000 & of the palmbearing
multitude extend to the sounding of the seventh trumpet & therefore are
synchronal to the times of the seventh seale.
☉ When the 144000 - - ☉ When 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 & altar,
that is their courts, & them that worship therein, that is the 144000
standing on mount Sion & on the sea of glass: but the court that is
– – – – – – – – – – – remains to the true church of God
in all times & places to the end of the prophesy.
In the interpretation of this prophesy – – – – – – – or sell
save he that had the mark ✝✝✝, or the name of the Beast or the
number of h ΔΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ, or the number of his name χξς, 666: all
others being excommunicated.
When the seven Angels had poured out their seven Vialls of
wrath, & Iohn had – – – – – – – Beast was wounded. And the ten horns
wchwhich thou sawest are ten kings – – – – over the kings of the earth. In the interpretation of this prophesy the woman in heaven cloathed
with the sun, before she flyes into the wilderness, represents the primitive
church catholic illuminated with the seven lamps in the seven golden can
dlesticks wchwhich are the seven churches of Asia. And the Dragon signifies
the same empire with Daniels He goat in the reign of his last horn, that
is, the whole Roman Empire untill it become divided into the Greek &
Latin Empires; & all the time of that division it signifies the Greek Empire
alone. And the Beast is Daniels fourth Beast, that is the empire of the
Latines. And the Beast is Daniels fourth Beast, that is the empire of the
Latines. Before the division of the Roman empire into the Greek & Latine
empires, the Beast is included in the body of the Dragon; & from the time of the
division it is the Latine empire alone. And hence the Dragon & Beast
have the same heads & horns, but the heads are crowned upon the
Dragon & the horns upon the Beast. The horns are ten kingdoms into
which the Beast becomes divided presently after his separation from the
Dragon, as hath been described above. The heads are seven successive
Dynasties or parts into which the Roman empire becomes divided by the
opening of the seven seales. Before the woman fled into the wilderness
she being with child cried of a christian empire, cried travailing (vizt in
the ten years persecution of Dioclesian) & pained to be delivered. And the
Dragon (the heathen Empire) stood before her to devour her child as
soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man child who (at length)
was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught
up to God & to his throne (in the temple, by the victory of Constantine the great
over Maxentius) & the woman fled (from the temple) into the wilderness (of
Arabia to Babylon where she hath a place of riches & honour & dominion
upon the back of the Beast, prepared of God that they should feed her there
1260 days. And there was war in heaven (between the heathens under Maximinius & the new
Christian Empire,) & the Dragon was cast out that old serpent which deceiveth
the whole world, the spirit of heathen idolatry, he was cast out of the throne
to the earth. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, & by the word
of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto the death.
And when the Dragon saw that he was cast down, he persecuted the
woman wchwhich brought forth the man child, stirring up a new persecution against
her in the reign of Licinius. And to the woman, by the building of Constan
tinople & equalling it to Rome, were given two wings of a great Eagle, that
she might fly to her place into the wilderness to her place upon the
back of her beast, where she is nourished a time times & half a time from
the face of the serpent. And the serpent, upon the death of Constantine the
great, cast out waters as a flood (vizt the western empires under Constan
tine junior & Constans) after the Woman, that he might cause her to be
carried away of the flood. And the earth (the nations of Asia now
under Constantinople) helped the woman &, by conquering the western Empire
now under Magnentius, swallowed up the flood wchwhich the Dragon cast out
of his mouth. And the Dragon was wroth with the woman, & went to make
war with the remnant of her seed which kept the commandments of God
& had the testimony of Iesus, & wchwhich in that war were sealed out of all the
twelve tribes of Israel, & remained upon mount Sion with the Lamb being in
number 144000 & having his fathers name written in their foreheads.
And when the earth had swallowed up the flood, & the Dragon was gone72r gone to make war with the remnant of the Womans seed, Iohn stood upon
the sand of the sea, & saw the Beast with seven heads & ten horns rise out of
the sea. And the Beast was like unto a leopard, & his feet as the feet of a
Bear, & his mouth as the mouth of a lion. Iohn here names Daniels four Beasts
in order, putting his Beast in the room of Daniels fourth Beast to shew that
they are the same. And the Dragon gave this Beast his throne & power &
great authority by relinquishing the western Empire to him. And one of his
heads (the sixt) was as it were wounded to death, vizt by the sword of the
earth which swallowed up the waters cast out of the mouth of the Dragon,
& his deadly wound was healed. It was healed by a new division of the
empire between Valentinian & Valens AN. Chr. 364. Iohn saw the Beast
rise out of the sea at the division thereof between Gratian & Theodosius
A. C. 379. And the Dragon gave the Beast his power & his throne &
great authority at the death of Theodosius when he gave the western
empire to his son Honorius. After wchwhich the two Empires were no
more united. But the western Empire became presently divided into
ten kingdoms as above; & these kingdoms at length united in religion
under the woman, & reign with her forty & two months.
And I behold, saith Iohn, another Beast coming out of the earth. When the
Woman fled from the Dragon into the kingdome of the Beast & became his
church, this other Beast rose up out of the earth to represent the church of
of the Dragon. For he had two horns like the Lamb, (such as were the bishopricks
& Alexandria & Antioch) & he spake as the Dragon in matters of religion. And
he causeth the earth, or nations of the Dragons kingdom, to worship the first
Beast whose deadly wound was healed, that is to be of his religion. And he doth
great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth
in the sight of men; that is, he excommunicates those that differ from him
in point of religion. For in pronouncing their excommunications, they
used to swing down a lighted torch from above. And he said to them that
dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the Beast wchwhich
had the wound by a sword & did live, that is, they should call a Council of men
of the religion of this Beast. And he had power to give life to the image, that
the image should both speake, & cause that as many as would not worship
the image of the Beast should be killed, vizt mystically by dissolving their
churches. And he causeth all both small & great, rich & poor, bond & free,
to receive a mark in their right hands or in their foreheads, that no man
might buy or sell save he that had the mark, ✝, or the name of the Beast
ΔΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ, or the number of his name χξ
excommunicated.
[When by the flight of the woman & the warr wchwhich 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 & altar, that is, their courts, & them that worship therein, that
is the 144000 standing on mount Sion & on the sea of glass: but the court
that is without the temple, that is, the peoples court, to leave out & mea
sure 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, that is, all the time the Beast acts under the woman Baby
lon. And the two witnesses prophesy 1260 dyas, that is, all the same time
cloathed in sackcloth. These have power, like Elijah, to shut heaven that
it rain not at the sounding of the first trumpet, & to turn like Moses to turn
the waters into blood at the sounding of the second, & to smite the earth
with all plagues (those of the Trumpets) as ofter as they will. These
prophesied at the building of the second temple like Haggai & Zachary.
These are the two Olive trees, or churches, standing before the God of the
earth wchwhich supplied the lamps with oyle Zech. IV. These are the two Candle
sicks, 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, & threatned to be removed out of their places or spewed out
of Christs mouth or punished with the sword of his mouth, or otherwise
except they repent: the other two (the churches of Smyrna & Philadel
phia) wchwhich were under persecution, remain in a state of persecution to
illuminate the second temple. When the primitive Church catholick re
presented by the woman in heaven, apostatized & became divided into two
corrupt churches represented by the Whore of Babylon & the two horned Beast,73r Beast, the 144000 wchwhich were sealed out of all the twelve tribes, became
the two witnesses in opposition to those two fals churches. And the name
of two witnesses once imposed, remains to the true Church of God in all times
& places to the end of the prophesy.
When the seven Angels had poured out the seven Vials of wrath, & Iohn
had described them all in the present time, he is called up from the time of
the sixt seventh Viall to the time of the sixt seal to take a view of the
woman & her Beast who were to reign in the times of the seventh seale.
And in respect of the later part of the time of the sixt seale then considered
as present, the Angel tells Iohn: The Beast that thou sawest was &
is not & shall ascend out of the abyss or sea & go into perdition. That
is to say, he was before Constantius conquered Magnentius & reunited
the western Empire to the eastern. He is not during the reunion; & shall ascend
out of the sea at a following division of the Empire. The Angel tells him
further: Here is the mind which hath wisdome: The seven heads are seven
mountains on wchwhich the Woman sitteth, Rome being built upon seven hills
& thence called the seven hilled city. Also they are seven kings: five are
fallen & one is & another is not yet come, & when he cometh he must conti
nue a short space; & the beast that was & is not even he is the eighth & is of the
seven & goeth into perdition. Five are fallen, the times of the first five
seales being past; & one is, the time of the sixt seale being present
considered as present; & another is not yet come, & when he cometh,
which will be at the opening of the seventh seale, he must continue a
short space: and the Beast that was & is not he is the eighth (vizt by
means of the division of the Roman Empire into two collateral Empires)
& is of the seven (being one half of the seventh,) & shall go into perdi
tion. The words, Five are fallen, & one is, & another is not yet come
are usually referred to the time of Iohn the Apostle when this prophe
sy was given. But it is to be considered that in this prophesy many
things are spoken of as present wchwhich were not spoken present when the
prophesy was given, but which were present with respect to some future
time considered as present in the visions. So where its said upon pouring
out the seventh Vial of wrath, that great Babylon received the cup of
the wine of the fierceness of Gods wrath: this relates not to the time
of Iohn the Apostle, but to the time of pouring out the seventh Vial
of wrath. And so where its said Babylon is fallen is fallen; & thrust
in thy siccle & reap for the time is come for thee to reap; and the time
of the dead is come that they should be judged; and I saw the dead
small & great stand before God: these sayings relate not to the days
of Iohn the Apostle, but to later times considered as present in the
visions. And so the words, five are fallen & one is & another is not yet
come, & the Beast that was & is not he is the eighth, are not to be re
ferred to the age of Iohn the Apostle, but relate to the time when the
Beast was wounded to death with a sword, & shew that this wound was
given him in his sixt head. And without this relate reference we are not
told in what head the Beast was wounded. And the ten kings horns wchwhich thou
sawest are ten kings wchwhich have received no kingdom as yet, but
receive power as kings the same hour with the Beast. These have
one mind, being of the Whore's religion, & shall give their power
& strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb
& the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords & King of kings
and they that are with him are called & chosen & faithfull. And he saith
unto me, The waters wchwhich thou sawest where the whore sitteth, are peoples
& multitudes & nations & tongues: composing the ten horns And the ten horns wchwhich thou sawest
upon the Beast, these shall hate the whore & shall make her desolate
& naked, & shall eat her flesh & burn her with fire as the end of the 1260 days.. For God shall put
in their hearts to fulfill his will, & to agree & give their kingdom unto the
Beast untill the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman wchwhich thou
sawest is that great city wchwhich reigneth over the kings of the earth, called
the ten kings that is
the great city of the Latines wchwhich reigneth over the ten kings.
74r
Beast, the 144000 wchwhich were sealed out of all the twelve tribes, became the two
witnesses in opposition to those two fals churches. And the name of the two witnesses
once imposed, remains to the true Church of God in all times & places to the end of the
prophesy.
When the seven Angels had poured out the seven Vials of wrath & Iohn had described
them all as successively present in the visions untill great Babylon received the cup of
the wine of the fierceness of God wrath: he is called up from the time of the seventh Vial
to the time next preceding the seventh seale of the sixt seale to take a view of the Wo
man & her Beast in the time who were to reign in the times of the seventh seale & in
& in respect of the time then considered as present, (suppose in the reign of Iulian
the Apostate or Iovian,) the Angel tells Iohn: The Beast that thou sawest, was & is
not & shall ascend out of the ch abyss or sea & go into perdition. That is to say, he
was before Constantius conquered the Magnentius & reunited the western
Empire to the eastern. He is not during the reunion, & shall ascend out of the sea
at a following division of the Empire. The Angel tells him further: Here is the mind wchwhich hath wisdom. The seven heads
are seven mountains on wchwhich the Woman sitteth, Rome being built upon seven hills
& thence called the seven hilled city. Also they are seven kings: five are fallen & one is
& another is not yet come, & when he cometh he must continue a short space. And the
Beast that was & is not he is the eighth, & is of the seven, kin & goeth into perdition.
Five of are fallen, the times of the first five seales being past; & one is, the time of the
sixt seale being pres considered as present; & another is not yet come, & when he
cometh wchwhich will be at the opening of the seventh seal, he must continue a short
space; And the Beast that was & is not [by meanes of the division of the Roman Empire
into two collateral Empires] he is the eighth (by means of the division of the R. Empire into two collateral Empires) & is of the seven, & shall go into perdition.
The words: five are fallen & one is are usually r & another is not yet come are usually referred
by interpreters to the times of Iohn the Apostle when this prophesy was given: but it is to be considered that
in this prophesy many things are spoken as present wchwhich were not present which were not
when the prophesy was given but wchwhich were present with respect to some future time
considered as present in the visions. So where its said upon pouring out the seventh vial
of wrath, that great Babylon received the cup of the wine of the fierceness of Gods wrath
this relates not to the time of Iohn the Apo the Apostle but to the time of pouring out
the seventh vial of wrath. And so where its said, Babylon is fallen is fallen, & Thrust in thy siccle & reap, for the time is s come for thee to reap, & the time of the dead is come that they should be judged & I saw the dead
small & great stand before God, these things saying relate not to the days of Iohn the Apostle but to
the later times considered at present in the visions. And so the words five are fallen & one is &
another is not yet come or the Beast that was & is not are he is the eighth, are are not to
to be referred to the days of Iohn the Apostle but to the time when the Beast was wounded to
death with a sword, & shew that this wound was given him in his sixt head: And
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Chap. VIII
An Account of
the Empire of the Romans
descr according to the
description given of it by Iohn.
In the Apocalyps The
Beast in the same th Apocalyps signify the same thing with the third & fourth Beast in
Daniel. The Dragon is the third Beast or Leopard, Leopard or third Beast that is He Goat reigning not in
his last horn his not his own power but in that of his own
power the Romans. He While the Latines reigned over the Greeks
the whole is the Dragon, but with relation chiefly to the Greeks:
but after the division of the Empire into the Empires of the Greeks & Latines, the
Dragon represents the Empire of the Greeks, & the ten horned
Beast the Empire of the Latines. They both have ten horns because they were united for a time but
the Dragons horns are without crowns because they did not arise
within the nations represented by comprehended in the body of Daniels
third Beast. The Dragon is called the Devil & Satan, & Satan is
said to have his throne or (or royal seat) in Pergamus: & the
He Goat in the reign of his last horn is the kingdom of Pergamus.
The Beast was wounded to death with a sword by the victory of Mag
nentius Constantius over Magnentius, his deadly wound was healed
by the new division of the Empire between Valentinian & Valens
he arose out of the sea at the new division thereof between
Gratian & Theodosius, & he gave the Beast his power & throne by
retiring into the east at the death of Theodosius & division of the
Empire between thes sons of Theodosius. And the Woman upon his back signifies
the same thing with the little horn of Daniels fourth Beast. In
allusion to the Babylonian captivity in wchwhich the Iews were carried
captive through the wilderness of Arabia deserta to Babylon she
is called Babylon & said to fly from the temple through the wilderness unto her
place upon the back of the Beast where she is fed & nourished, that is, unto her state of riches
& honour at wchwhich she arrived in the reign of Charles the great
or not long after. At the division of the Empire she became the Church of the Beast From the time that the Beast rose out of
the sea the affairs of the Greek & Latin Empires are described
by th distinguished into six successive intervalls of time by
the sounding of seven Trumpets & again by the pouring out
seven chwhich puts an end to
their reign, & the first begins it. And to complete the
mystical number of three sixes, X≡5, 666, the same six
intervalls are repeated by the seven thunders. In sounding
the first four Trumpets, the scene of sacred prophesy com
prehending all the nations of the four Monarchies is considered as divided
into three parts, wchwhich are the fourth Beast or nations of the
Latine Empire; the third Beast or nations of the Greek Empire,
& the nations beyond Euphrates comprehended in the bodies of
the two first Beasts. The book in the right hand of him that
sitteth upon the Throne is the scripture of truth said by Daniel
to be sealed untill the time of the end. The Lamb opens the
seals thereof successively untill the Beast rises out of the sea.
The seven Epistles sent to the seven churches of Asia refer
to seven successive states of the true Church untill she before she flies
into the wilderness; the opening of the seven seals referrs to the to the seven successive states of
the Empire during the same time, that is untill the Beast rises out
of the sea: & the sounding of successive great warrs the seven Trumpets denotes76r denotes seven successive great wars w the first of wchwhich begins
with the death of the Emperor Theodosius teh emperor great, & the last denotes thaput
is that by wchwhich Christ with his two edged sword smites yethe nations &
the stone cut out without hands fall upon the feet of the Image
& puts an end to the four monarchies. The seven thunders are the
seven wars to wchwhich the Trumpets sound. And the seven viols of wrath are
poured out at the sounding of those Trumpets. These things allude
to the feast of Tabernacles kept in the Temple seven days together
by great sacrifices at wchwhich the Trumpets sounded, the Priests Levites
sang loud with Thundering voices, & the Priests poured out Vials of
drink offerings. Thus the six intervalls three times repeated between the first & last
Trumpet, Thunder, & Vial, answer to the number of the Beast 666.
In sounding the first four Trumpets, the scene of sacred prophesy
comprehending all the nations of the four Monarchies is considered
as distinguished divided into three parts, wchwhich are the nations fourth
Beast or nations of the Latine Empire, the third Beast or nations
of the Greek Empire & the two first Beasts or nations beyond
the Danube Euphrates under the king of Persia. The first Viol
was poured upon the Earth, that is, upon the nations of of wchwhich
the two horned Beast arose & this Beast is called a fals Prophet
to signify that he was of an ecclesiastical kind, & spake as the Dragon, that is, in point of religion, & so was his
Church. When the Empire became divided into the Greek & Latine
Empires, the Church of that the whole Empire became divided into the Churches
of the Greek & Latine Empires; & this is represented by the Womans
flying from her first station headed by the seven Churches of Asia, to
her western new station in the west under the Bishop of Rome a new to whom the
Emperor Gratian now granted appeals from all the western Churches,
& thereby made her the Church of the western Empire; & by the rise
of a new Ch the two a new church in t the two horned Beast repre
senting a new Church in the East headed by the Bishops of Antioch
& Alexandria. And when the Woman fled she left a remnant
of her seed which kept the commandments of God & had the
testimony Iesus Christ & so were the two Witnesses in opposition to the
two horned Beast are called the two witnesses.
In allusion to the Temple of Solomon & to Gods sitting therein upon
a throne above the Ark between the Cherubims, & to the chambers
of the 24 Princes of the Priests (1 Chron. 24) & to the golden Candlestick & son of brazen sea & to the people in the
four sides of the great court: Iohn sees a throne & him that sat
thereon & round about the throne 24 Elders sitting on thrones with Crowns
on their heads, & before the throne seven lamps & a sea of glass & four Beasts round the throne four
Beasts full of eyes to represent multitudes. And in allusion to the
book of the Law in the side of the Arck & to the morning sacrifice Iohn saw a book sealed wthwith
seven seals in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne, & a
Lamb at the altar as it were slain. And when the four Beasts give
glory & honour & thanks to him that sitteth upon the throne, the
Elders also worship him also saying, Thou art worthy o Lord to receive
riches & glory & honour & power because thou hast created all things
& for thy pleasure they are & were created. W And the Beast & Elders
worship also the Lamb saying Thou are worthy to take the book & open
the seals thereof: for thou wast slain & hast redeemed us with to God by thy
blood & hast redeemed us with thy blood out of every kindred & tongue
& people & nation & hast made us unto our God kings & Priests & we
shall reign on the earth. And the Angels about the throne & the Beasts & Elders said with
a loud voice: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power &
riches & wisdome & strength & honour & glory & blessing. And every
creature said Blessing & honour & glory & power be unto him that
sit upon the throne & unto the Lamb for ever & ever. And the four
Beasts said, Amen. And the 24 Elders fell down & worshipped him that
liveth for ever. This is the form of worship here prescribed to Gods people. It begins
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And after his death his successor Abubecre in the first year of his reign prosecuted the war &
enlarged the kingdom, in Arabia in the second sy year he sent an army to invade Chaldea, in the second agent another
army there he therd began to invade
Persia & sent anotehr force to invade Syria & the forces they took Bosra or the the metropolis of the Idumeans at the entrance of
Syria & he died but that summer but before he died that summer he d they took it at Media that summer in August A. C. 634. a little
before the taking of Bosra The next year his successor Omar sent fresh forces into Syria
wchwhich put the Romans to flight & after half a yearse siedge took Damascus, & the year
following they won several battels & took beseiged Ierusalem. & the
Hitherto the Califs reigned at Medina in Arabia & their kindgom may & called the
kingdom of Arabia over Arabia so that & were kings of Arabia. but the next year A. C. 637 they began to translated the seat of
their kingdom from Medina Arabia into Syria. For Omar left made his son Governour of
Medina & went himself into Syria & took Medina IeruSalem & all Phœnicia &
send a great army to invade Egypt. And the same year they took also the royal city of
the king of Persia with his Treasures & Crown & conquered a considerable part of Persia putting the Persi
ans to flight. This year was the first year of the reign of the Califs in Syria, the
They & more were now masters of all Syria as far as For they were now masters of Phœnic
& Syria Da & may e recconed the first year of their Empire. Hitherto Which successes may be recconed the beginning of their Empire. Before this year
they were only
kings of Arabia but now they began to be emperors of the East they having conquered Phœni
cia, Syria Damascena, Chaldea &, part of Persia & some part of Egypt & beginning to reign at Damascus & Omar being
the first Calif to whom they gave the title of Imperator fidelium. & who He was also
the first who used yethe years of the Hegyra da & dated letters from that æra, & who
assembled men yearly under one prince in yethe month Ramadan.
The next year A. C. 638 he took Antioch wthwith all Syria. & The year following his army
became masters of Gran Cairo in Egypt & besieged Alexandria & after 14 months siege
they took Alexandria & A. C. 641 & the in a year or two more carried on their conquests
into Libya as far as Barca. And while these things were doing westward his armies extended
their conquests eastward over Mesopotamia Assyria & Persia as far as Bactria, & his successor
All this was done in the ten years reign of Omar. And his successors carried on th conquered to the
western bounds of Europe Afric & then invaded Spain France Italy Greece Asia minor & all the sea coasts of Europe & beseiged Constantinople several times vexing all Europe with frequent incursions & besieging Constantinople several times.
After the Califs left Medena they reigned first at Antioch & Damascus & then at Bagdat.
In the
Omar & his successors made Damascus the seat of their Empire: But Alman
sor A. C. 762 gave commandmt for yethe building of Bagdat
While the reigned at Damascus the Monarchy rose up to its full growth & flourished in its vigour
At length Almansor A. C. 762 gave commandmt for the building of Bagdat, & after this city
was built it became the seat of the Empire & Bagdat Damascus remained only the metropolis
of Sy the upper Syria, its walls being pulled down before the building of Bagdad. for what wh
Bagdat was buil founded at a time agreed on by Astronomers; in what year I know not; nor
in what year it was finished: but it was finished Almanso nor whether Almansor reigned there.
He died near Meccha A. C. 7A. C. & reigned there & Monarchy flourish
ed under that Metropolis till about yethe year 870 & then began to be shaken wthwith some intensive broiles but
overcame then & continued almost entire till about the year 900. The governour of
And this reign of the Turks puts a fuller period to reign of the Empire of the Locusts
under their in king the Angel of the bottomless pit.
Now from the year of Christ A. C. 637 in wchwhich the Calif trans
Now recconing that since the Califs were reigned at Medina as kings of Arabia or some part thereof till the year 637 & in that year
translated the seat of their kingdom from into Syria & began to this kingd founded into a great Empire conquering Ierusalem & all Palestine & part of
Persia & Egypt: to their kingdom if we date their Empire from that year (for this is further
implied also by naming their king a destroyer in the Greek languages of the Greeks & Hebrews &
Greeks is implied that he should receive his name from destroying their counties) of the Hebrews & Greeks) & during his reign)
& if we extend their the reign of this monarchy over under the Angel of the bottomless pit
from that year inclusively to yethe end of yethe year 936 in wchwhich the Calif lost all his dominion temporal & ceased to reign
over the territories wchwhich belonged to yethe Greek Empire before they invaded them lost all his temporal power & ceased to torment the Romans. the whole dura
tion of this great Monarchy will be just 300 years, or ten prophetick months, putting days for years & recconing 30 days
to a month & putting days for years for a day. But because there its the n there were two
successive Dynasties of this Monarchy the one at Damascus in Syria the other at Bagdad
in Chaldeawhose & their nature of Locusts is to live
but five months: the Prophet for the decorum of the type they being hatched annually about
a month after the vernal Equinox & laying their eggs & dying about the autumnal Equinox: the Prophet for yethe
Elmacinus distinguished – – common period. The two first of these Dynasties I m began some years before
the reign of yethe line of Omnia & therefore I measure it rather by the family of Omn reign of yethe
Metropolis Califs at Metropolis reign of the reign of all the Califs at Damascus, extending that reign to the building of a new Metropolis
And this was the first five months. The second I measure wthwith Elmacinus by the reign of
the Abasides at Bagdad untill they subjected themselves to temporal77v temporal Princes, that is until the end o Nov the middle of November A.C 936. & this was the second
five months & the thirdDynasty wchwhich was lasted from that time to the invasion of the lasted during the division of the Empire of the Saracens into
many kingdoms some of wchwhich were subject to the Turks & this Dynasty ended with the
invasion of Tartars divided A. C. 1258.
of the Tartars A. C. 1258. For the Calif of Bagdad, after he had lost all his
dominion & power for abo 200 years together or above, became recovered a temporal
dominion at over For the Empire of the Saracens continued all this time in divided into many kingdoms & the Calif of Bagdad continued the first two hundred years of this time without any temporal dominion & then recovered the
the Province of Bagdat & reigned there as a temporal Prince for
for about an hundred years till yethe year 1258 & then the Califate by Tartars put a
full end to yethe Califate
During In all
How much the Romanss of [Catholicks of both Greeks & Latines] were
the Saracens during all these three Dynasties, all is sufficiently related in the histories of those times. relate at
large And this plague fell upon the Latins as well as upon the Greeks as it ought
was predicted. For at the pouring out of the fift vial was poured out upon yethe
seat the fift plague of the For the fift Angel poured out his Vial upon the seal of the Beast. The
Men who ha received had not the mark of God in their foreheads that is those who
by the influence of the two horned Beast received the mark of the ther Beast are
still was most properly the Greeks & the Beast himself is the Latines & both together comprehend the
people of the whole Roman Empire. This plague fell upon the whole Empire. And
they gnawed their tongues for pain & blasphemed the God of heaven because
of their pains & sores & repented not their deeds. This plague was inflicted
upon them for their idolatry & yet the more they were plagued the more
they blasphemed worshipped their Idols & false Gods wchwhich in this prophesy is called
blaspheming God. For after the use of Images was defended by Gregory the Great & by the authority of the P. & Gr. Emp. yethe images of the Virgin Mary &
set up in yethe Pantheon by the authory of the Pope & Greek Em at Rome the images of the saints
ar were set up by degrees in all churches being consecrated & called Holy imgaes
& the people by degrees catholicks grewing more & more superstitious towards them till many of the people
in them wthwith such a worship as others took for idolatry whereupon the Greek
Emperor Leo Isaurus A. C. 725 ordered all Images to be demolished & forbad the invocation
of Saints & was excommunicated for it by the Pope. And after a lasting long &
sharp controversy between the Pope & Greek Emperor & in some respects into
(in wchwhich controversy some of Latine Churches also opposed his Holiness sided with
the Pope at length got the VIC victory This victory was gained in the ninth century & Images were have ever since been
worshipped by the Roman Catholicks. This victory for images was gained in the ninth century
& in the same century the Canonizing of Saints & the doctrine of transubstantiation
& the granting of Indulgencies began. And before the times of this Trumpet ex
pired, Ido the idolatry of the Roman Catholicks arrived to the height.
Afterwards Togrulbec had severall wars for establishing himself in his kingdom & conquering Iraca & then died A. C. 1063 & was succeeded
by his brothers son Olub Arslan
(called also Asan Axan Olbarsatan
While this kingdom Empire continued divided into many kingdom the Turks under the conduct
of Togulbec whom yethe Greeks call Tangrolipa otherwise called Togra Tangrolipix Dogrissa & Sadoc conquered Pe Chorasan & Persia & A. C. 1055
added Bagdad to their Empire & made that city the seat thereof, the Calif maing him inviting him thither sending for Togrulbec
Emperor of Emperor & crowning him there & A. C. 1058 his Afterward Togrulbec conquered the king of Iraca A. C. His 1058
& successor Olub' Arslan (who was his brothers son & was called also Asan Axan Olbarsalan
Alpasalem Aspasalem & Muhammed Adaduddaulas) who began his reign A. C. 1063 & added
Mesopotamia to his Empire & A. C. 1070 gov viceroy & the next year took the Greek
Emperor Diogenes Romanus prisoner & was slain A.C> 1071 & succeeded by his son Melech Malechsah Melicosah or. The third Sultan Melech Malechsah Malicjah or Melecla the third sultan of
began his reign A. C. 1071 this new Empire Malechsah, invaded Syria & Asia minor & took Damascus Aleppo Cæsaria
& winning many batells extended his dominion from the utmost borders of the Turks
to Ierusalem & the bounds of Arabia fælix. He took He took Damascus A. C. 107980 by yethe
conduct of his brother Tagjuddaulas, & the same year he took Aleppo by the conduct of Sjarfud
daulas governor of Masul. And the next year by the conduct of Sedijduddaulas he took Cæsa
rea & soon after& after the
& upon the death of Melechseh A. C. 1093 the kingdom being left to his son Mahmed a child six years old
brake into several smaller kingdoms or Sultanies of the Turks, the governours of
Provinces revolting & making themselves absolute. One of these Sultanies continued at
Bagdat in the line of Togrulbec till about the year 1160 & then came into the hands of
the Calif & his Saracens. And four others be Sult of these Sultanies were seated upon the
great river Euphrates. These were the Sultans of Mesopotamia, the Sultany of Armenia, the Sultany78r sultany of Syria & the Sultany of Asia Minor Cappadocia.
And the law invaded
— he dissolved & an end put to Empire of the sarracens. For the Calif had for the last
hundred years reigned over Bagdad & its dominions with a power both temporal & spiritual, & but
after this conquest all the east were was in the hands of the Turks & Tartars, Ægypt in the
hands of the Mamaluks & Mauritania in yethe hands of the Moors, & little or nothing remand
any longer in the hands of the Sarracens. And therefore this is the period of time to wthwith
we are to apply the saying:
One Wo is past & behold there come two Woes more hereafter
Sect II
The second Woe.
He reigned t conquering al & his successors Abubecre & Omar reigned there five years more carrying
on their conquests the first year in Arabia, & then sedning captains to invade Chaldea & Syria. In the 12th year of their reign Abubecre invaded Ira
the coasts of Chaldea neare the Pers & in the 14th Syria & then beginning send captainst t to invade Chaldea
& Syria. In the the second year or 12 year of this kingdom the forces of Abubecre invaded sent an army to invaded Chaldea, & in the 13th
A. C. he 634 invaded he he sent another army at Medina in August the same year Syria & died in August [In these invasions he met wthwith various success, yet his
forces took] & his forces took the same year in August & before yethe end of the year his forces took Bosra a city of the
Edomites at the entring on the border of at the entrance into Syria. The next 14th year Omar sent more forces
into Syria wchwhich put the Romans to flight & after half a years siege took Antioch
A. C. 635 Damascus. The next 15th year they won several battells & beseiged Ierusalem
the 15th year A. C. 637 Omar came in person from Medina into Syria leaving his son P Governour of Medina & his forces took
Ierusalem & all Iudea wthwith all Palestine & invaded Ægypt wthwith a great army & the same year they put the
persians to flight & conquered part of Persia & took the royal City of the king of Persia
with his treasures & Crown. The In the 17th year they took Antioch wthwith all Syria
In the 18th year they became masters of Gran Cairo in Ægypt & beseiged Alexandria. In yethe 20th year he took
Alexandria after 14th months siege & in this & the two following years he carried on his
conquests into Libya as far as Bacra. And while these things were doing eastwa westward they
extended their conquests eastward over Mesopotamia Assyria & Persia as far as Bactria
All this was in the ten years r ten years reign of Omar. And his successors carried on the conquest
till they brought the empire to the height throughout all Afric & Spain & from thence invaded Eur
ope & And infested all the sea coasts of Europe wthwith frequent invasions.
In the year 750 Spain was separated from this Monarchy & Almansor in the year 762
After the Califs left Medina they reigned first at Damascus & then at Bagdat. In yethe
year
time agreed upon by Astronomers, the year I know not, & after it was for built it became the seat of the Califs
& Damascus remained only the metropolis of yethe upper Syria, its walls being pulled down
before Bagdad was built. In what years Ba Whether Almansor Almansor died near Mecha
A. C. 775 & his son was made Calif at Bagdad & reigned there, & the monarchy continued
entire till about the year 880 except that Spain was rent from it in the year 750. But
after the year 800 this Empire After the monarchy was translated to Bagdat it was sometimes shaken by intestine divisions for a while but continued p almost entire till about the year some short lived seditions & 900 & then began to fall in pieces soon great Monarchy wchwhich reached from India to Tangier the began to fall in pieces. The governour of Egypt revolted
A. C. 882 but was reduced A. C. 905. Mahad The Fatamides under Mahadis revolted A. C. 910 & rent away Afric & Sicily,
& Mahad was succeeded there by his son Caijmus. The Caramites revolted A. C. 899 & rent away Arabia
Felix & Petræa. In the year 927 the Dailamites set beg set up a kingdom in Media
931 extended their kingdom over a great part of Media & Hyrcamia & in three or four
years more under the conduct of Mardawigus & Amaduddaulas took from the Calif
Chorasan & all Persia. The Calif A. C. 930 granted Mesopatamia & Miagarekin to
Nasiruddaulas the grandson of Hamedan for an annual tribute, & A. C. 933 he made
Abubecre Achsijd Prefect of Egypt & days then deposed him making Ahmed Prefect
in his room. But Achsijd having obteined Syria invaded Egypt in August A. C. 935 & set up a new dominion over both regions which lasted many years. And now
the Empire of the Saracens being broken into many kingdoms & divided among
temporal Princes & the remaining dominion of the Calif at Bagdat being disturbed & small &
& in danger of falling, the Calif sent for Mahumet the son of Rajic
a city of Chaldea where he reigned, & He came to Bagdat in November A. C. 936 in November A. C. 936 & the Calif made him Emperor of Emperors & surren
dred to him the army & treasury & all the temporal power of the Califate, as
is related by the Arabic historians. FOr Abul-PhraSengius relates the matter thus
And Ehneasinus relates the mat story more at large as follows.
Eutocius upon the first four Books of Apollonius's Conicks.
79r
And when the Dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth he perse
cuted the woman wchwhich brought forth the Man-child. [ This he did by raising &
fomenting vexations disputes among the Christian Churches. And to the woman
were given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness
into her place [of honour] where she is nourished [by the merchants of the
earth] for a time & times & half a time from the face of the serpent. An
Eagle was the symbol of the Roman Empire & two wings of this Eagle were
given the woman by at the founding of Constantinople A. C. 33 by Constantine whereby
the Empire became divided into two governments under two imperial Cities the
western under Rome & the eastern under Constantinople, By ea wchwhich govern
ments are th henceforward the wings of the great Eagle. By means of this
Hitherto the woman represented the whole Church of the whole Empire
typified also by the seven Churches of Asia, but after the division of yethe Empire she
ceases to comprehend the in her mys the Church of the Eastern Empire & signi
fies only the Church of the Western, & this her quitting her first Ecclesi
astical seat th among the seven Churches in Asia minor to seat her
self in the on the seven hills at Rome is called represented by her flying
into the wilderness.
And the Serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after yethe
woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. A flood
is the type of a kingdom & this kingdom is the western empire. And because
the Dragon after came down among the inhabitants of the earth & sea the name
of & Serpen is again is some respect given to the whole Roman empire. This Dragon came
This Serpent by a new division of yethe Empire at the death of Constantine the great
this division he might cause the Woman to be carried away from being a
type of the Church of yethe whole Empire to be a type of yethe Church of the Western Empire
only.
And the Earth [or Eastern Empire] helped the woman & [to prevent her being thus carried
away of the flood] the earth opened her mouth & swallowed [by the
victory of Constantius over the Gre the Eastern Emperor Constantius over the
western Tyrant Magnentius] swallowed up the flood reunited the Ep Empire & the]reby]
is swallowed up the flood wchwhich the Dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the Dragon was wroth with the Woman [in the reign of Iulian the
Apostate, & by a new division of the Empire in the reign of which began
wthwith the reign of Valentinian & Valens, was interrupted for five or six months
& ren continued
& creation of Theodosius & then continued again, the woman went into
the wilderness & the Dragon retired from her into yethe Eastern Empire] & went
to [there] with the remnant of her seed wchwhich keep the commandmts
of God & have the testimony of Iesus Christ. Whence its certain that the Woman
is the Church of Christ
And he [the Dragon] stood upon the sand of the Sea that is upon the Earth or in the Eastern Empire. For. In all this Prophesy
where the earth land or water are name together, the earth land is put for the eastern
Empire & the water for the western; as where the Dragon comes down to yethe in
habitants of yethe earth & sea, & where the earth opens her mouth & swallows up
the flood & where the 4 winds hurt the Earth & the Sea. And so here the sound of the sea hself is put for the earth or eastern
Empire, & the sea for the western. And Iohn saw a Beast [The Dragon
now retired by a new division of the Empire retires from signifying the
whole Empire composed of Earth & sea, & stands upon the earth alone
And Iohn saw a Beast rise up out of the sea [or western nations of yethe
western Empire] having seven heads & ten horns & upon his horns
ten crowns & upon his heads the names of blasphemy. By At the next
division of the Empire between Valentinian & Valens which was between Gratian & Theodosius The Dragon went
from the woman & stood upon the land & the Beast rose out of the sea.
And because the Empire became united again for five or six months
between the death of Valens & reign of Theodosius & again for three
months at in the end of the reign of Theodosius, &
& in the time of
union the whole Empire is both Dragon & Beast; therefore the Beast has80r has the same heads & horns with the Dragon, but the Dragons heads
are crowned to signify that he reigns in the heads & the Beasts horny
are crowned to signify that he reigns in the horns. These horns are
the ten kingdoms into which the western Empire became divided at
the sounding of the second Trumpet A. C. 408.
And upon his heads were the names of blasphemy. He was Blas
phemy is put for idolatry as above & the name names of Blasphemy
for the names of fals Gods.
And the Beast wchwhich Iohn saw was like unto a Leopard & his feet
were as the feet of a Bear & his mouth as the mouth of a Lyon
Here Daniels four Beasts are named in a contrary order &
Iohn's Beast is put in the room of Daniels fourth to shew that they are the same.. He was fierce
& terrible lit & many headed like the Leopard, that is fierce &
terrible, & many headed his feet were as the feet of a Bear ytthat
is fit for stam fighting & stamping things, & his mouth was as
the mouth of a Lyon that is with great teeth for devouring
A And therefore he was in all respects like Daniels fourth
Beast & he had ten horns:
All which is a description of Daniels fourth Beast.
And [after the Beast was risen out of the sea] the Dragon gave him his [Imperial] power & his throne
[or old imperial city the city of Rome with its dominions] & great
authority. For the Emperor Theodosius by his last Will & Testa
ment left the Empire divided between his two sons & gave the
Western Empire to his younger son Honorius.
And Iohn saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, &
his deadly wound was healed. In the reign of Constantius his sixt
head he was sl conquered & slain by the sword of Constantius & A. C. 353,
& by a new division of the Empire between Valentinian & Valens
A. C. & began to rise
out of the sea. A. C. 364. And after he was revived at yethe opening of the seventh seal A. C. 378, 379 & 380
A. C. 380 was fully risen he rose out of the sea & began the reign of his seventh
head & A. C. 395 the Dragon gave him his Throne: in wchwhich respect he is
called the eight king or head & of the seven]To express in what
head he was wounded, he its said of his heads, five are fallen & one is &
the other is not yet come, in & the he To express in what head the Beast
was wounded to death its said of the Beast that he was & is not & shall
ascend out of the abyss or sea & of his heads that five are fallen &
one is & the other is not yet come & the Beast that was & is not
he is the eighth. It was therefore in the fight reign time of the sixt head that
the Beast ceased to be, tha or that he lay dead of his wo mortal wound.
In the reign of this head
of the Dragon's mouth, & then was conquered & slain by the sword of the Eastern
Empire A. C. 353, & by a new division of the Empire between Valentinian
& Valens he A. C. 364 his deadly wound was healed & he revived; & being
now alive, the next thing he did was to ascend out of the Sea, which he
did in this manner. At the death of Valens at the opening of the seventh
seal A. C. 378, 379 & 380 by a third division of the Empire. For at the
death of Valens the
after & A. C. 378
And Theodosius falling sick at Thessalonica A. C. 380 Gratian again took care
of the Eastern Empire sending forces thither against the Barbarians & going
himself to Thessalonica. But after the victo recovery of Theodosius Gratian left
the eastern Empire to his care. And Now the Beast being risen out of the Sea
the Dragon in the next place in the next place gives him his old Throne. An For Theodosius pre For
Eugenius invading the Eas western Empire making himself Emperor of yethe
west, in opposition to his For Theodosius preparing to make war upon Euge
nius Emperor of yethe west, created his younger son Honorius Emperor designing the
western Empire for him & the eastern for his eldest son Arcadius whom he
had made Emperor before. And when he had conquered Eugenius, which was
81r
The fift Seal opened.
When the Lamb had opened the fift seal Iohn saw under the
Altar the souls [that is the bodies] of them that were slain for yethe word of God & for yethe
testimony wchwhich they held. And they cryed wthwith a loud voice saying How
long a Lord holy & true dost thou not judge & avenge our blood on
them that dwell on yethe earth. And white robes were given unto every one
of them & it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little
season untill their fellow servants also & their brethren that should be
killed as they were should be fulfilled. This is a very plane description of
a very great persecution of the Church as was said,, & answers to Dioclesians Perse
cution wchwhich more sharp & lasting than any of was notably sharp & great above all yethe former persecutions. & It was yethe only
persecution wchwhich was general & was greater & seems to have exceeded them all the former put
together, It lasted almost two years over all the Empire & eight years more
over all the East & to have been yethe only persecution wchwhich was universal
so that in respect of this the former deserve but little to be considered
Amongst the former that of Decius is accounted yethe greatest being much more
sharp & general then yethe rest & yet that was not universal nor lasted
above one year & three months, whereas this continued with unexpressible
violence almost two years over all the Empire & eight years more over
all the east beyond Illyrium Italy. It began in Spring anno 303 & was so vehement that in
about 30 days were slain 170000. And yet It was sharper in the second year then
in the first & afterwards was still sharper it ceased in yethe west it grew notably sharper in the east under Maximinius in the east & did not
begin to mitigate before yethe end of yethe seventh year. In Egypt alone were
slain (saith Ignatius of Antioch) 144000 & seventy thousand banished:
[Whence the Æra of Dioclesian was called the æra of martyrs]. And if
you peruse the description wchwhich Eusebius gives of it in other Provinces
you will scarce find it milder in other Provinces. From this Persecution the Æra of Dioclesian was called the Æra of Martyrs. These martyrs
are represented as sacrifices lying under the yethe Altar that is at yethe foot
of it where the sacrifices used to be slain & they are told that they should must rest for a little season that
is untill untill the sufferings of their brethren who should be killed as
they were should be accomplished, that is untill the end of yethe great
tribulation, then or untill the times of the seventh seale be expired. For The little season is the reign of yethe seventh head or
king called a short space Apoc 17. 10 & a short time Apoc 12. 12.
The sixt Seale opened.
And when he had opened the sixt seal there was a great
earthquake (or shaking of the kingdom so as to remove it Heb. 12. 26, 17, 28.) & the Sun )the Emperor wchwhich became black as sackcloth of hair & yethe whole Moon (the Empire
the Emperors wife)
became as blood (that is they were totaly eclipsed & the glory of the kingdom & his people put out) & the starsethe earth as a fig-tree casteth
her green figgs when she is shaken of a mighty wind & the heaven departed
as a scrol when it is rolled together that is the host of the kingdome fell down by ceasures & the throne of the kingdom was shed & dominion thereof fled away (Isa. 34. 4). Nahum 3.12) & every mountain & Island were
moved out of their places that is the cities of the earth & sea changed their dominions Dan 9. 16, 20. Ier 51. 24, 25) &. And the Kings of yethe earth & the great men
& the mighty men & every bond man & every free man, hid themselves
in the dens & in the rocks fo yethe mountains (or buildings of yethe cities) & said to yethe mountains & rocks
Fall on us & hide us (in rubbish) from the face of him that sitteth on yethe throne
from yethe wrath of yethe Lamb for the great day of his wrath is come &
who shall be able to stand. All this is a description of yethe end of a
world politick, & signifies & signifies the casting of yethe great red Dragon out of
heaven by Mocha or fall of the heathen Roman Empire. as you may For
The shaking earthquake signifies the shaking of yethe kingdom so as to t remove it,
Heb. 26, 27, 28. The sun Mo is the King (that is the or Drag Dragon) the Moon his mystical body
or people & yethe starrs his Princes or Angels Eclipsing of yethe Sun & Moon is
extinguishing the glory of yethe King & his people that is the Idols of all sorts were laid aside81v aside & hidden in corners & caverns of their temples & the Temple afterwards thrown
down upon them condemned to recov fall tumble down upon them.
What this means may be understood by comparing it wthwith yethe following passage
places. Enter into yethe rock & hide thee in yethe dust for the fear of the Lord
& for yethe glory of his majesty – For the day of yethe Lord of hosts shall be upon
every one ytthat is proud — & upon all yethe high mountains — & the Idols he shall
utterly abolish, & they shall go into the holes of yethe rocks & into the caves of yethe
earth for fear of yethe Lord & for the glory of his majesty when he ariseth
to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver
& his idols of Gold wchwhich they made each one for himself to worship, to the
moles & to the bats to go into the tops of yethe ragged rocks for fear of yethe
Lord & for yethe glory of his Majesty when he ariseth to shake terribly yethe
earth. Isa. 2. 10, 12, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21. The High places of Aven the sin of
Israel shall be destroyed: the thorn & the thistle shall come upon their altar
& they shall say to yethe mountains Cover us & to yethe hills fall on us. Hosea
10. 8. Men are here put for idols, as in many divers other places of scripture
Thou hast played yethe harlot wthwith many lovers yet return to me saith yethe
Lord – She committed adultery with stones & with stocks. Ier. 3. 1, 9. So Baalim
are called the lovers of Israel Hosea 2. 12, 13 & Baalim are called
& yethe Idols of Egypt, Assyria & Babylonia are called Egyptians Assyri
ans & Babylonians Ezek 16 & 23 wherewith Israel & Iudah commit fornication.
Ezek 16 & 23. se ar men therefore who hid themselves in dens & rocks of yethe mountains
& said to the rocks fall on us & hide us, are idols of all sorts wchwhich were now laid aside in private
places of the cities untill the buildings fell on them & covered them in rubbish.
So then at the opening of yethe Sixt Seal is predicted the shaking
eclipsing, falling, vanishing departing & vanishing of the whole heathen
Roman world & the abolishing of their idols. And this came to pass in
the reign of Constantine the great & his
other period of time. Constantine & his sons shut up the heathen TEmples & threwn down
Idols & interdicted the worship. Iulian restored it & Iovian reigned into all religions But alienation & idols interdicted it again. Gratian
rejected the dignity & title of Pontifere Maximus wchwhich yethe Emperors had hitherto retained. And this put an end to the very Priesthood of the Heathens. ✠✠ Constantine & his sons shut up yethe heathen Temples, threw down yethe Idols & interdicted the worship, Iulian restored it, Iovian resigned but seven months, Valenti
nian tolerated all religions permitting all men both heathens & Christians the to worship of their own Gods, Gratian interdicted the heathen worship
& no & his brother Valens tollerated the Heathen It was the custome for the heathen Priests so soon as any man was made chief Emperor to offer him the title & habit of the Pontifex maximus: & all the Emperors had
hitherto accepted this dignity. But Gratian & Theodosius the sons of successors of Valentinian & Valens refused it, & his & Theodosius the successor of ethe sacrifices & yethe
slaries & authority of the Priests, & made it a capital crime to worship the heathen Gods & heathenism after this recovered no more. The times of the sixt seal therefore lasted at least from the victory of Constantine over Licinius till the commor reign of till the first year of Gratian over yethe
Graitan & Theodosius West anno 376 or rather till the first year of his reign over the whole Empire A. C. 378. For Valens whom he succeeded in the East, was Pontifex maximus. reign of Gratian & Theodosius.
These things predicted in the first & sixt seals are The six are repres again predicted in the prophesy of yethe
Woman & Dragon wchwhich is an interpretation of the prophesy of yethe seven
seales. First there are vo lightnings & voices & thundrings & an earth
quake & great hail, & & these express in general the wars of the Empire
made by the four horsmen ethe opening of first four seales. Then
there appears a glorious Woman in heaven who being wthwith child cried travailing
in birth & pained to be delivered: & a great red Dragon whose tail
drew the third part of yethe stars of heaven & cast them to yethe earth
stood before the woman to devour her child so soon as it was born.
A The woman is the Church of Christ: for her seed keep the command
ments of God & have the testimony of Iesus Christ Apoc 12. 17. She
cried in she was in pains of childbirth & cried in Dioclesians persecuti
on & at that same time the Dragon drew threw down the third part of the stars
or saints of heaven wthwith his tail or army that is he persecuted & threw down the saints of the Greek Empire.. For of For this Empire was one third part of all the nations
comprehended within the compass of the four monarchies wchwhich are yethe subject of
Daniels sacred Prophesy, the on third consists of & another third part is the western Empire and ther
third part the eastern Empire & another third part is the Empire
of Persia including Babylon & the seat of the ten years persecution was the Eastern
Empire. The mane In the last year of the persecution Constantine
the great was converted to Christianity & overcame Maxentius &
became Emperor of the all yethe west & contracting affinity with Licinius
they wrote to Maximinus to stop the persecution in the east. Thus
the woman brought forth a Manchild & at his birth her pains ceased. By the82r By the manchild understand not a single person but a christian
kingdom. So Isaiah: Before her pain came she was delivered of a Isa 66. 7, 8.
man-child. Who hath heard such things? Shall a nation be born
at once? For as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her
children. About 7 or 8 years After seven or 8 years Licinius
began to renew the persecution in the East, whereupon Con
stantine yethe great made war upon him & overcame him & by
this victory the child was caught up to God & to his throne that is to yethe
throne of yethe whole Empire. This war between Constantine &
Licinius is represented by the war in heaven between Michael & yethe
Dragon. As the Angel told Daniel that Michael assisted him
against the Prince or Angel of the kingdom of Persia, & that
he had assisted Darius & went forth to fight wthwith the king of
Persia & that Michael the great Prince standeth for the childrēen
of Israel (Dan 10 & 12) so in the Apocalyps Michael is represented
as standing upo for Constantine yethe great & the Christians against Licinius & the whose
Dragon called the Devil for Licinius. kingdom is the Dragon assisted by the Devil. This war is in heaven that is in the throne of yethe Empire And the great Dragon was
cast out of heaven that old serpent [heathenism] called the Devil & Satan he
was cast out of heaven into yethe earth & his angels were cast out
with him. And Iohn heard a loud voice saing in heaven Now
is come salvation & strength & the KINGDOM of orour God &
the power of his Christ: for yethe accuser [or Persecutor] of orour brethren is cast
out shose accused them before our God day & night. And they
overcame him by the blood of the Lamb & by the word of
their testimony & they loved not their lives unto the death
Therefore rejoyce yethe heavens & ye that dwell in them. Apoc 12. 9.
These words are so very plane an interpretation of yethe Prophesy as to
leave no room for dispute doubting.
Wo be to the [Christan] inhabiters of the earth & sea: for yethe Devil is
come down unto you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath
but a short time. From yethe very time that the idolatry was dethroned the
devil or spirit of delusion came down among the common people to
seduce them anew, having great wrath, (that is tempting & seducing them
making hast to seduce them) to yethe grossest errors then be & worst practises)
them before because he knoweth that he knoweth that he hath but a short time before
he he shut up in shall be bound & cast into the bottomless pit & shut up that so that he can
decive the nations no more till for a a 1000 years. be
This Devil is therefore the spirit of the great Antichrist that mystery of iniquity wchwhich began
to work in St Pauls days, & but was not to be revealed till the Roman
heathen Empire wchwhich then letted ethe way, & then that wicked one
the man of sin the son of perdition should be revealed whose coming is after the working of Satan with
all power & signes & lying wonders & with all deceivableness & unrighteousness
& whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of his mouth [signified
by the two edged sword] & shall destroy with the brightness of his coming
2 Thess. 2. While the heathen Empire stood the Church was preserved
from corruption by the sincerity of the professors of Christianity persecutions & afflictions
wchwhich she frequently struggled purged her from hypocrites & bad men, so that yethe
greatest sincere part of yethe Christians were sincere always the most numerous & prevailed
over yethe mystery of iniquity: but after the Empire became christian the heathens
flowed into yethe Church in great numbers making an outward profession of Christianity for temporal ends without
recieving the love of the truth, & in these the mystery of iniquity worked till82v till by their numbers it prevailed against the truth. the opening of what those were
they but heathens under yethe name of Christians who the seventh seale then brought into yethe Church
the invocation of dead men & the ascribing of supernatural powers & return to yethe signe of the cross, the to consecrated
water & oyle to the signe of yethe cross, & to yethe reliques of saints & to their bones
& vertue & miraculous operations to their soules & reliques & shrines & soules & to yethe signe of the cross & to holy water &
consecrated oyle & also to certain ceremonies such as were signing with a cross, & sprinkling
wthwith holy water & annointing wthwith consecrated oyle. And from that time they
in by daily inventing & crying up such miracles & writings Legends of them to be read in Churches be
sending reliques into all yethe Empires they deceived the world & at least they cor
rupted the Christian reliques till let they deceived the people & cor reestablished these heathen practices under the name of Christianity & at length set up pictures & images in their Churches &
worshipped them as the heathens had done before, & at length pretending the bread in the
Eucharist to be transubstantiated into yethe body of Christ they worshipped that as yethe
supreme God. So These orour The miracles by wchwhich such these heathen things
that while heathe When therefore the Dragon heathenism was dethroned as an open enemy to yethe
Church, & came down of put on a new dress & insion he transformed himself into an
Angel of light & under the profession of Christianity deceived the inhabitants
of yethe earth & sea Thus the Dragon when he came down among the inhabi
ters of yethe earth & sea transformed himself into an Angel of light, &
when he could no longer prevaile by open enmity,
anity & ruined the Church by false friendship.
In yethe reign of Constantine & his sons the Christians by an unwary zeale began
the signe of yethe Cross with too much superstition & to bury to pray at yethe tombs of the martyrs in honour to the Martyrs and to translate the bodies of yethe
martyrs into their Churches thereby making turning the Christian Churches the into sepulchres as
the heathen Temples were before. In yethe And in the reign of Constantius they began to tell stories of their seeing the And souls of dead men. And in the reign of Iulian yethe Apostate About a year or two before
the reign of Valentinian & Valens there reliques began to be a rumour
of miracles done in Syria & yethe east Syria & Egyp by the reliques of the martyrs & Sun & in the reign
of those Emperors Valentinian & Valens those miracles were every where preached up &
the reliques were sent from Egypt & Syria into all the Empire from
Egypt & Syria where the mischief began & the invocation of Saints was
at the same time set on foot first first by Oratorical flourishes between
jeast & earnest & then by serious in prayers & by stories of the good effects of such devotion & the
until the heathen doctrine that yethe saints
Churches & then by downright prayers Oratorical flourishes ended in direct & positive prayers: so that
within the space of 30 or 40 years the the in the in the reign of Theodosius this heathen doctrine that yethe
saints did hear & help us began to & the idolatrous practice of praying to them overspread as well yethe western as
the eastern Churches & in 30 years more was before his death or ethe furthest in the reign of his sons was fully generally received &
fully established in all the Roman Empire, the whole world ringing with yethe
noise of the vast num miracles said to be done every where at the shrines
of yethe Saints. , & by invoking them & by their reliques & And in setting up these
pactises the Monks were new religion the ringleaders were the Monks who feigning miracles & pretending
by extraordinary dreams & revelations to discover where the bodies of
the saints & martyrs were buried, eug up theethe dead & ran carried
them up & down the empire & erected el ince mcuh that some & did it so
very much that some recconed this to be the first resurrection spoken of
in the Apocalyps & that the Emperors at length forbad these practises by publick Edicts. They set up altars also over their graves for t these
dead men the graves of such pretended saints in the fields as on yethe High ways for yethe devotion use of travellors. so that yethe Council
And of Thus did the Devil come down amongst the Inhabiters of yethe earth &
sea having great wrath having great wra & making hast to set up the Abomination of desolation because he knew that he had
but a short time.
To prosecute this matter fully would require a large discourse. I shall content
my self wthwith noting yethe beginning of these mischiefs. And yethe first instances that I meet
with of this sort of miracles are by yethe reign of Iulian yethe Apostate & Iovian A. C. 362 & 363.
Hilary in the 5th year of his banishment in his book ethe year 361 (in 5t year of his banish
ment A. C. 361, makes this mention of what was then done in Spain the East. Sine
martyrio persequeris. Plus crudelitati vestrœ Nero Deci Maximiane debemus
Dabolum enim per vos vicimus. Sanctus ubiqe beatorum martyrum sanguis
exceptus est: Dum in his Dæmones mugiunt dum ægritudines depelluntur dum
83r
In the first ages of Christianity she is the true Church of Christ diffused through
all the whole Roman Empire represented by the Dragon: but when the Dragon
that spirit of Idolatry called the Devil & Satan wchwhich deceived the whole world was cast
out of the Roman throne by Michael he came down among the Christian inhabitants of
the earth & sea with great wrath making hast to seduce them because he had but a
short time to reign among them brfore he should be cast into the bottomless pit. And the
woman when being the infec degenerating fled from him & from the Temple of God into a spiritually barren wilderness &
& left in flying separated from a remnant of her seed wchwhich she left behind her in the
& wchwhich keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus, & wchwhich she
left behind her in the Temple. For the Temple was the scene of all these
visions. The Dragon Woman & Drago The Tem In the beginning of these visions the
Temple was opened in heaven to let Iohn see them in it & there he saw the woman
in travail & the Dragon standing by her & her child caught up to throne of God
above the ark & the Dragon cast out by Michael of the house of the Temple in heaven by Michael by Michael unto yethe outward court where or
the court of the people called the inhabitants of the earth & sea court of the people below here & come down among
the inhabitants of the earth & sea who worshipped in that court. There he saw the
Dragon persecute the Woman & the Woman fly from this Temple into through the
wilderness of Arabia to yethe great city Babylon, & the Dragon m leave a remnant of her
seed in this Temple & go through the Dragon go from return from the woman to make
war upon the remnant in the court of this Temple & two Beasts arise out of the
earth & sea in this Temple. And as the ten horned Beast rose out of the sea to
succeed the Dragon in the
And this Tem
And the Dragon & two horned beast wthwith the saints 144000 being left alone in the Temple a
new Temple is built for Beast & Woman & the people saints in their kingdom.
For the better understanding of all this you are to conceive that remember that the
t scene of the visions was of the Idoman & Beasts was the Dragon & Beasts was is the first Temple
This Temple was opened in heaven for Iohn to see the visions in it & there he saw the ark of yethe Testament which was only in the first Temple & the Child bearing
Woman & the Dragon standing by her, & how her child was caught up to the throne of God above the Ark
& how the Dragon was cast out of this Temple of heaven by Michael through the Priests Court, into yethe outward court or court
of the people wchwhich people are here called yethe inhabitants of yethe earth & sea, & that the Dragon persecuted the how woman in this
Court called the court of the Gentiles that yethe Woman fled from this Temple through the
Wilderness of Arabia to yethe great city Babylon & left a remnant of her seed with the
Dragon in this Temple. There the & then the wome Dragon made war upon that remnant in this
Temple & how the two Beasts arose out of the sea & earth in this Temple & the second
Beast deified the first & created his his caused men to erect his to be erecte an Image to him in this temple & there accused men them to worship
them image, & that how There yethe Dragon by the dictates of the speaking Image made war there upon the
remnant of the womans seed & mystically killed all that would not worship the Image & that how all there
received the mark or name or number of the Beast
excommunicated retire from the multitude in the outward court & standing upon mount Sion
with the Lamb sing a new song in the midsts of the four Beasts & the elders & by con
sequence in the inner court of this Temple.
by the glorious woman in heaven, corru reduced to the small
number of 144000,. And now the woman becom ten-horned Beast go [upon the final division
of yethe Empire] going from this temple into yethe wilderness where Iohn saw the w him & with the
woman upon his back, the Dragon & two-horned Beast remain alone in the outward
court of this Temple & the wo 144000 worship in the inward court thereof. And the scene of
the visions remaining unchanged, it is to be conceived that the seven candlesticks with
their lamps reamin still continue in this Temple from the beginning to the end.
And Now the Woman in the Wilderness being a Church & her Beast being the laity of that
Church, the b & every Church having its Temple, its to be conceived that the building of a
new Temple there is a new Temple built.
with two Candlesticks for the Woman & her Beast & for the saints in their
kingdom is thus described & the building thereof is described by the Angel in saying to Iohn
Rise measure the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein
Now snicesince this Temple hading in it the Ark of the Testament & therefore it
was the first Temple, or as it is afterwards called, the Temple of the Tabernacle
that is, such a Temple framed & furnished afer the manner of the Tabernacle prescribed
to Moses & by consequence with a candlestick of seven branches called in this prophesy the seven
candlesticks. For in such all the visions in such a Temple all the visions were se appeared untill84r untill Iohn was carried from this Temple into the Wilderness to see the Woman
& her Beast who were gone thither. And the seven Angels on sev wchwhich sounded
the Trumpets & coming out of this Temple poured out the Vials of wrath in this Temple are the seven Ange spirits
of God wchwhich so repre represe & the Angels of the seven Churches, wchwhich Churches are
the seven spirits of God Candlesticks in this Temple & Angel which Angels or
spirits are the seven lamps burning before the throne the (Apoc 40 .5) & appearing like a rod of seven stars in yethe
right hand of the son of Man who walketh in the midst of the seven Candle
sticks. Apoc 1. 20 & 2. 1 & 3. 1 & 4. 5
When Iohn had seen in this Temple all the visions in this Temple from the opening of the first
seal to the pouring out of the last vial, he one of the seven Angels carried him away
into the wilderness from this Temple into yethe wilderness to see the great Whore that sitteth upon
many waters, that is, to see the great city Babylon wchwhich is seated upon the many
waters of Euphrates, An there he saw her sitting upon the ten h wchwhich waters
are said to be peoples & multitudes & nations & tongues. And there he saw them
Woman sitting upon the ten horned Beast, that is, upon reigning over the kingdom or Empire body politics composed of those
peoples & multitudes & nations & tongues. For the ten horns of the Beast are ten kingdoms
over wchwhich the Woman reigneth & kingdoms are peoples & multitudes & nations & tongues. Now this woman being a church separated & fled departed & fled from the Tem
ple first Temple & the Beast being the laity of this Church, & every Church
having a place of worship, a second Temple is built whose outward court is given to
these Babylonia gentiles & inward Court to the people of God whom these Woman gentiles
& ten horned Beast had carried away captive to Babylon. For Iohn had For when a measur
ing reed was given to Iohn & the Angel said to him Rise measure the Temple
& altar & weomen them that worship therein (that is the Courts of the Temple & Altar &
the little court of the people called the Weomens Court) but the court wchwhich is without the Temple leave out & measure it
it not for it is given to the Gentiles & the Holy city shall they tread under foot
42 months: this is a plain allusion to the Babylonian captivity & to the building of
the new second Temple in the time of that captivity, & signifies the building of a new Temple for the
people of Babylon in this prophesy For The measuring of a as being a type of
building it. For when Zechary saw an Angel with a measuring reed go to measure Ie
rusalem – – – – – – – & was called the Gentiles court. So then a new Temple was
built whose outward court was given to the And in allusion And as Haggai & Zechary
prophesied at the building of yethe second Zerubbabels Temple so in allusion to those two prophets
there are two Prophets or Witnesses wchwhich prophesy 1260 days in the second Temple of the
Apocalyps & these two Prophets are represented by two Candlesticks standing in this
Temple before the God of the earth (Apoc 11. 4.) & they prophesy in the kingdom of the Beast & Woman because they are slain by him & lye dead in the streets of the great city Babylon. wchwhich city is spiritually called Sodom for because of its whoredom & Egypt where also orour Ld was
crucified because of its cruelty & it treading the holy city under foot & worshipping in the outward court
of the second Temple.
So then yethe Dragon the Woman & the first Temple with its seven candlesticks continue from the
beginning to the end of the Prophesy & before the division of the Em Roman Empire
into the Greek & Latin Empires relate each of them to the whole while yethe Empire continues intire Empire: but
but upon the division of the Empire when the Empire becomes divided into the Greek & Latin Empires, that
each Empire wthwith its churches true & false may be distinctly represented, there arise two new Beasts & a
a new Temple is built with two candlesticks in it; & the Dragon continues & second Beast two-horned Beast worship in the outward
court of the first Temple with the second of the Beast. to & represent the Empire & Church of the Greeks Empire
with its nations & wthwith the established Greek church of that Empire usually called the Greek Church
[& [in the inner court of this Temple are is they that the true eastern Church of church God repre of of yethe
Greeks represented by the seven candlesticks & by them that seduce & sing upon the
sea of glass &. And] W the woman & ten-horned Beast worship in the outward court of the goes to represent so yethe Woman & ten horned Beast thus the Church
& kingdoms of the Latines including Germany [& the saints in the inner Court of this
Temple is the true western Church
These Apostates worship in the outward courts of the two Temples to represent that they have
an outward form of religion & are Christians in name Churches in kingdoms in in outward form & & appearance.
And in the inward Courts of the same two Temples are the Saints or true Churches of God
the eastern & represented diffused through both Empires & represented in the Temple of the Laintes by the two Candlesticks & two Witnesses & in the Temple of the Greeks by the seven Candlesticks & by
them that have the name of God on their foreheads & sing on the Sea of glass, & in the
Temple of the Latines by the two Candlesticks & two witnesses For these seven candlesticks do
not cease at the division of the Empire. but continue to the end of the Prophesy. For The
Churches of Pergamus Sardis Thyatum & Philadelphia are four of the seven, & . . . . . till Christ comes.
# Now....# Now for understanding what is meant by the two Candlesticks - - - - - all their do
minions.
So then upon the division of the Roman Empire into & So then upon the division of the Roman Empire into the Greek & Latine
Empires, each Empire has its Temple. The Greek Empire has a Temple with seven
Candlesticks wchwhich are the seven Churches of Asia & in the inner court of this Temple
are the 14400 servants of God standing upon the sea of Glass on mount Sion with the name
of God in their foreheads it in the outward court are the Dragon & two horned Beast or
nations of the Greek empire wchwhich under an outward form of a Christian Church worship
the B Image of the tenhorned Beast & have his mark. The Latine & German Empire has a Temple
with two Candlesticks wchwhich c. are the true Churches of the Romans & Germans & in its outward inward Court are the servants are the saints with whose are
the worshippers of God – wchwhich are the true Churches of God within the nations of the Latin Empire & the
German Empire. And in the inward court of this Temple are the worshippers of God with who & in its outward Court the Gentiles represented by the Whore
& her Beast. The inner courts of both Temples are given to the Saints & the outward
courts to the apostates. And its to be conceived that the saints in the inner Courts
of both Temples being are being are exactly of the same religion & worship God in the same
manner & keep the same festivals & offer the same sacrifices upon the same
times at those
festivals. For the two Witnesses consume consume their enemies with fire at the sounding
of the first Trumpet & th turn the waters into blood at yethe sounding of the second &
smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will that is with all the seven plagues
& therefore we are to conceive that the plagues of the seven Trumpets & Vials of wrath are
inflicted by all the seve joynt power of the saints in both Temples. For this is represented
by the mighty Angel cloathed with a cloud & standing with his right foot on yethe earth sea & left foot
on yethe earth, while the seven Thunders utter their voices from that cloud. For the sea & earth
comprehend both Empires.
85r
After yethe 7 Thunders there is time no longer but the mystery of God is finished & the kingdoms
of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord & his Christ & therefore they are the plagues of the
seven thunders. These plagues were appear were mentioned after those of the first six seales & first six Trumpets
& therefor they called are th are called the last. They were left unwritten before & therefore
they are written now
For And thereby is insinuated an allusion to the victory of Moses over the Egyptians. For in
the Prophesy of Moses over the Egypt the Woman & Dragon,
– & host of Egypt./ Conceive therefore that in by reason of this allusion to yethe history of Moses the song of new song wchwhich the
lamb & 144000 sang wthwith yethe Lamb upon Mount Sion & now sing upon the sea of glass is called is the song of Moses. And Conceive that they began to that the 144000 Victors sing this
song at the end of the half hours silence when the Angel with the golden Censer cast fire on
the earth & Iohn seven lightnings heard heard voices & thundrings & that these voices
& thunderings are the song it self And that. in yethe 144000 forget the Victors sing it For they sing it. for the victory wchwhich they had just gotten by their prayers
in the time of silence wchwhich yethe Angel offered up to God wthwith much incense by the Angel at yethe golder A. in the time of that silence; only
wchwhich they obteined to they having injure by these prayers be sealed wthwith yethe name of God in their foreheads while the rest of the 12 tribes were
overcome by the temptation & received the mark fo the Beast wchwhich victory was to overcome the temptation of that time & prevail to be carried away with the multitude to
worship the beats & his image & receive his mark. For a victory over the mark of yethe
Beast & over the n. of his name can be nothing else then a victory whereby they rece escaped the receiving
that mark & number & a victory & obtein & prevaled to received the seal of God. And so By the victory
over the Beast & over his Image is to be understand a victory over their worship or whereby their worship
was escaped the Victors escaped worshipping them & continued to persevered in the worship of God.
So then yethe 7 Trumpets & seven Thunders are but several names of the & the same one & yethe same temple-
music & as the persons suggest the accompa accompanying the & are synchronal to the seven effusion of the seven Vials of wrath, as may also appear
by the following by the their being the prophesy of the second pag one of yethe same page of yethe book
sealed book & also by the following comparison.
wchwhich leaf conteins an interpretation of the prophets of yethe 7th leaf & continuation of that prophesy for
a 1000 years longer & above
There Iohn saw was told ytthat yethe the Beast wchwhich ascends out of the hotter Cas abyss or sea shall be make war upon against
the two witnesses & kill them & their dead bodies shall lye in the street of the great city wchwhich spiritualy is
called Sodom & Egypt, where also orour Lord was crucified, not Ierusalem, but Babylon that is in yethe street or dominion territory of the
great city or dominion & government spiritually called Babylon wthwith in whose dominion was Ierusalem wherewthwith wchwhich comprehended within whose territory or dominion was within which was the place
where orour Lord was crucified: here he sees this Beast wthwith the great city in the form of a woman sitting
upon him drunken with the blood of saints. This is that blasphemous Beast wthwith seaven heads & ten horns whom Iohn saw rising out of the sea wthwith
a mortal wound in one of his heads & that woman who fled from yethe
Dragon into the wilderness to her place wchwhich place is to sit upon the back of the Beast, that is to reign
over him. Th Her place is her state & dignity & dominion & her dignity is to sit a Queen & live deliciously
wthwith the kings of yethe earth. For she is the great city wchwhich reigneth over the kings of the earth. In this
place she is fed & nourished by the merchants of the earth 1260 days prophetic days wchwhich are so many years.
Her Beast was & is not.
|
lwt |
oz |
dwt |
|
|
|
10 Portugal pieces of 27s
pence weighed 3oz 9dwt = 69dwt |
| First bag of dust |
15. |
10. |
0 + |
56. |
|
2d bag of dust |
15. |
10. |
0 + |
65 |
|
One piece of 27s value = 4000 res
weighs 6dwt 21 gr. |
3d bag of dust
15.
7.
5 +
6
4th bag of Barrs
11.
5.
2 +
5
5t bag of money
6.
11.
16 +
3
65.
8
3 +
25.
After yethe 1st melting 63lwt. 6oz. 15dwt.
1 Ingot B 1car —
14.
9.
4.
12
2 Ingot B 1car car —
14.
8.
5.
9
Ccwt
3 Ingot B iijgr —
15.
4.
17.
12
Ccwt
4 Ingot B 1car —
11.
4.
16.
15
5 Ingot B 0car. 1gr —
6.
11.
14.
6
Total
63.
2.
18.
6
Ccwt
Sta.
65.
8.
19.
2
Grains —
0.
1.
14.
0
1.
14.
0
Total
63.
4.
12.
6
Sta
65.
8.
19.
2
Wast
2.
4.
15.
218
86r
man cloathed in linnen (a seventh) scatters over the city coats of fire to consume it.
The scene of the Prophesy of the second Book.
After the six Angels had sounded their Trumpets Iohn saw a mighty Angel come down from heaven cloathed with a cloud & a rainbow upon his his head, & his face as it were the Sun & his feet as Pillars of fire & he had in his hand a little open Book open. This Angel by his form & the Book in his hand is Son of Man, for he alone was worthy to take the book & to look thereon. He had opened it before & now he appears with it open in his hand. Til a little book because it conteins only a part of yethe former prophesy, that part wchwhich followed after all the seals were open. Tis a short repetition of the Prophesy of the seventh seal in another form. There Iesus appeared in the form of a Lamb wthwith a sealed book in his hand to be opened: Here he appears in his firet form yethe form of the the man the great Hight Priest with a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea & his left foot on the earth. Conceive him standing in the day of Expiation at in an elevated place without the eastern gate of inner Temp Court of the Temple wthwith the book of the Law in his hand in such manner that his right foot might appear as it were standing upon the sea of Glass & his left upon the land. T And he cried wthwith a loud voice as when a lyon roareth. that is he read out of the book with to the people wthwith a very loud voice as was the custome in reare ap releaseon the day of expiation in the while the Heifer & the Goat wchwhich was the Lords lot were burning without the Temple as was the practise. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. Thunders are put for thundering voices & signify the loud vocal music of the Temple. And seven thunders are the Temple music at the sacrifices of the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles. At each sacrifice the Trumpets sounded & the Levites sung alternately. In the prophesy of the first Book the Trumpets sounded to these sacrifices; in that of this second Book the thunders utter their voices to the same sacrifices: yet wthwith this difference that the scene of the visions in the prophesy of the first book is the first Temple & in that of the second book it is the second Temple, For when the Angel had Iohn measur this Temple & the Altar he bad him because For the outward court of this Temple was is given to the Gentiles, as was that of Ze yethe second Temple.
The scene of the visions for interpreting the prophesy of yethe first Book.
As Daniel's Prophesies of the s two Visions of the Beasts & Nebucadnezzars of the the Tree & the Image have interpretations annexed to them so have Iohn's The visions reach to the end of the prophesy of the seventh Trumpet: the interpretation begins with the words prophesies of the two books. These prophesies end with the sounding & prophesy of yethe seventh trumpet. The visions Their interpretation of the prophesy of the first book begins with the words: And the Temple of God was opened in heaven & there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his Testament In the second Temple there was no Ark & therefore this is the first Temple. Conceive therefore that m In this Temple the Woman & Dragon appear in this Temple & ytthat the 144000 are seen appear have wthwith yethe Lamb on Mount Sion & sing on Mount Sion sing in this temple before yethe throne & before in the middle of the four Beasts & the Elders. And Conceive therefore that the woman & Dragon appear in this Temple & that the 144000 are seen here in it wthwith the Lamb on Mount Sion & sing at the sacrifices before the throne & before the four Beasts & the elders, & that the Woman flyes from this Temple from into the deserts of Arabia to her place at Babylon upon the many waters of Euphrates where she worships other Gods, wood & stone, & is nourished. By the Ark & yethe Lamb & the four Beasts & yethe 144000 sealed in their foreheads, you may know that these visions relate to the prophesy of the first book & have their scene in the same Temple wthwith that Prophesy. What is wanting in that Prophesy is here supplied, namely a description of the subject of the prophesy under the forms of a Woman & Dragon & two Beasts, & the marking the worshippers of yethe east in opposition to the sealing of the servants of God. In the solemnity of the great fast the86v the Attonement for the sins of the people was made by two Goats – – – – – harps. All wchwhich is a description of the musick & singing in the Temple. Conceive this singing to be at the sacrifices of the seven seven days of the feast of Tabernacles, the seven Angels sounding their Trumpets & the 144000 singing alternately at the sacrificeds each day.
The interpretation of the prophesy of the first book ends wthwith the hav
When In the end of this scene of the Visions when two Angels come out the one from the Temple wthwith a sharp sickle the other from the Altar t who had having power over the fire; by these Angels you are to understand the two great Officers who had the charge of the Temple & the Altar. It was the custome of the Temple for yethe Priests who were to perform any part of the service of the Temple not to do it till the Officer who had the direction of the service called to them to do it. And in allusion to this custom, an Angel coming out of the Temple calls to yethe son of man the great High Priest to thrust in his sickle & reap, & another an Angel coming out of from yethe Altar who had power over the fire that is an Officer who had the direction of the sacrifices calls to the Angel in another the the sacrificer represented by the Angel wthwith a sharp sickle to thrust in his sickle & gather the clusters of the vine of yethe earth. The harvest is of the martyrs in the great tribulation, the vintage is of the wicked in the battel of the great day when the Son of Word of God smites the nations wthwith his two edged sword & treadeth the winepress of yethe fierceness of Gods wrath. And blood came out of the winepress by the space of 1600 furlongs. that is all over Iudea. For the Iews reputed this to be the length of Iudea. This was reputed the length of Iudea & therefore you are to conceive that Iohn saw Iudea overlowed wthwith yethe blood.
The scene of the visions for interpreting the Prophesy of the second Book.
The next scene of visions begins wthwith these words. And I saw another signe in heaven [that is in the temple of heaven] great & marvellous seven Angels having the seven last plagues that is yethe plagues of the last times & the plagues last mentioned of those in the prophesy of the second Book wherewith the two Witnesses smite the Earth & wchwhich were declared to Iohn by the voices of the seven Thunders, wchwhich he was commanded to seale up & tho not written. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire [the great brazen lover mingled appearing as it were mingled wthwith the fire of the Altar] & them that get (or had gotten] the victory over the Beast & over his image & mark over his mark & over the number of his name] &c [that is, in the a spiritual victory over them whereby they escaped the mark of yethe beast & were sealed wthwith yethe seal of God in their foreheads ]. them I saw] stand on yethe sea of glass having the harps of God & they sing the song of Moses & of yethe Lamb. Iohn saw them standing at the eastern gate of the Priests court Temple a song like the song of Moses & the Lamb for their victory over for their deliverance out of the great city wchwhich spiritually is called Sodom & Egypt & like the song wchwhich wchwhich the Lamb sung & where our Lord was crucified. wthwith the 144000 And after that I looked & behold the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened & the seven Angels came out of the temple having the seven plagues. By its being called the temple of the Tabernacles you may know that it was the second temple. For the Tabernacle was destitute of an outward court & so was the Zerubbabels Temple. And one of the four Beasts gave unto yethe seven Angels seven Vials golden Vials full of wrath of God. Conceive these Vialls to be the drink offerings at the seven sacrifices of the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles at wchwhich the seven Trumpets sound & seven thunders utter their voices & that yethe Beast who gave these Vials to the Angels is the people in the weomens court of this Temple. For they are those that worship in this Temple & smite the earth wthwith all plagues as ofter as they will. This Temple continues in the scene of the visions till all the Vials of wrath are poured out: For it was filled with smoke from the glory of God & from his power & seven Angels were fulfilled. that In the mean time After the Vials were one of the seven Angels wchwhich had yethe seven Vials of wrath carried Iohn called Iohn up & carried him into the wilderness of Arabia to see the great city Babylon which seated upon the many waters of Euphrates in the form of a Woman sitting on a tenhorned Beast, in the time of the Babylonian captivity when yethe second Temple was standing.
After the Vials were poured out, one of the seven Angels who87r who had the seven Vials of wrath called Iohn up & carried him in the spirit into the wilderness to see the woman who was fled thither. Conceive that she fled through the wilderness of Arabia to Babylon in the time of the Babylonian captivity & that he see her there sitting upon the many waters of Euphrates in the time of the second Temple. For this vision is an interpretation of that of measuring the Temple & Altar & them that worship therin & leave giving the outward court to the Gentiles untill the two witnesses be killed by the Beast upon which the woman sitteth.
The following paragraph is written in the margin.o. Lord holy & true dost thou not judge & avenge orour blood on them that dwell on earth & it was not said unto them that they should rest from their labors yet for a little season untill their fellow servants also should be killed & their brethren should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. A little season & a short space are in this prophesy phrases for yethe time duration of the great apostacy: as where tis said that yethe Dragon hath great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time & that when the 7th head of yethe Beast must continue a short space. The martyrs were to rest till the end of this little season short space & fro in the end of this short space during this short se little season in the end of wchwhich there must was to be another great persecution wchwhich Daniel calls a time of trouble such as there never was since there was a nation & Christ in Matthews gospel a great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world & in the Apocalyps it is called the great tribulation out of wchwhich the palm bearing multitude come In this tribulation their brethren were to be killed as they were in Dioclesians persecution &, & so soon as this harvest is reaped Christ revenges the blook of the martyrs on their persecutors & by wasting the treading the vine of the earth in yethe winepress of Gods wrath so that blood came out of the winepress even to the horse bridles by the space of 1600 furlongs. Conceive therefore ytthat Iohn saw all Iudea overflowed wthwith blood for 1600 furlongs was reported the length of Iudea.
SYNCHRONISMS
For understanding this prophesy it is further necessary to know in what order of time the several parts of this Prophesy are to be read. For things that are contemporary illustrate one another, but untill it is known that they are contemporary they render the Prophesy intricate & confused. By what has been said it is evident that the Prophesy consists of these principal parts. 1 The Introduction conteining Epistles to the seven Churches. 2dly The prophesy of opening the sealed book proceeding in a continual series of time from the Apostles days to yethe end of the world exprest by opening the sea seven seales & sounding seven Trumpets in order; excepting that the times of the seventh seale are twice described; first by the visions of the sealing yethe servants of God & in the Fast & seeing the of yethe Palmbearing multitude appearing in the great Hosannah, & secondly again by opening the seventh seal in the fast & sounding the seventh trumpets in the feast of Tabernacles wchwhich ends wthwith yethe great Hosannah. The holding of the winds while yethe saints are sealing causes the silence in heaven for half an hour so soon as they are sealed the winds are let loos to hurt yethe earth in the first Trumpet & sea in the second. 3dly There is the prophesy of the little open book in two parts contemporary to one another & to the times of yethe seventh seal 3dly As the Prophesy of the 144000 & the palm-bearing multitude is inserted between yethe sixt & seventh seale & is coincident in synchronal to yethe contemporary to the seventh, so the prophesy of the little open book is inserted between the sixt & seventh Trumpet) after the manner of a parenthesis) & is also contemporary to the seventh seal. For the Angel who holds this book in hand & the lamb who opened took the other first book out of Gods hand & opened the seales thereof are the one & the same person in the book in a different form & the Books are also the same. There he took yethe book & opened it here he appears with it open in his hands & therefore it conteins here a repetition of the prophesy from the time that it is open; that is all the time of the seventh seal. And as the prophesy of the first book in the time of yethe seventh seal consists of two parts contemporary parts, first the visions of the four Angels wchwhich holding yethe four winds while the 144000 are sealed & of the 144000 when they sealed & the winds are let loos to hurt the earth & yethe sea & of the Palmbearing multitude; so the & then the visions of opening the seventh seal & sounding the Trumpets in order: so the prophesy of the little open book being a supplemental repetition of the prophesy of the first book during the time of the seventh seal is also a double one its being open consists of two contemporary parts answering to the two contemporary parts of the pro prophesy of the first book of wchwhich they are a repetition in supplemental repetition in a contrary order. The first part is the prophesy of the book in the Angels hand, the second part is yethe prophesy of the same book in Iohns belly. The first part consists in the Angel's reading crying wthwith a loud voice as a lyon roareth & in seven thunders uttering their voices wchwhich Iohn is bid to seal up. By yethe scene of the visions explained above, the crying Angel's crying in the High Priest's reading out of the Book in the day of Expiation. & answers to yethe & the seven thunders are the singing & musick of the Temple wchwhich was intermixt with the sounding of Trumpets at yethe great sacrifices of the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles, the Trumpets sounding & the Levites singing & peo & playing upon musical instruments alternately at the sacrifices of & therefore the the 7 Thunders & the 7 Trumpets are but various modes of expressing the same thing. When these Thunders have uttered their voices its added that in the voice of the seventh there shall be time no longer but in the voice of the seventh Angel when he shall begin to sound the mystery of God shall be finished: wchwhich is as much as to say ytthat the thunders end wthwith the sounding of the seventh Trumpet. The remainder of this page appears upside-down.As Nebuchadnezzars vision of yethe Tru & of the Image & of the Tree & Daniels of yethe 4 B & of yethe Ram & Goat have interpretations annexed to them so hath Iohn's prophesy of the seals & Trumpets & this interpretation is the vision of yethe prophesy of yethe little book wthwith wchwhich Iohn was inspired anew by eating it, & the interpretation wchwhich new inspiration is a repetition of the prophesy of the whole book in the same order as before & in a manner more full & more open & intelligible as is signified by Iohn's eating the book & digesting the whole book & thereby becoming inspired with the whole prophesy more fully & perfectly then when he only saw it at a distance. [After Iohn had eaten it a short time was allowed him for digesting it before he began a new prophesy out it & in this short time the Angel prophesied to him out of yethe eight 6 till yethe 7th Trumpet had sounded] & It begins thus.
And the Temple of God was opened in heaven & there was seen in his temple the Ark of his testament. This was therefore the first temple, for yethe second temple had no ark As the former prophesy began with a door opened in heaven so doth this.
And there were lightnings & voices & thundrings & an earthquake & great hail a short representation of the wars of the four horsmen wchwhich appeared at opening the first four seales.
And there appeared a great wonder in [the temple of] heaven, a woman cloathed wthwith the Sun & yethe moon under her feet & she appearing through yethe flames of yethe Altar wthwith her feet upon yethe burning coals as yethe Altar as upon an half moon & upon her head a crown of twelve stars representing the 12 Apostles & therefor she is the Church from the days of yethe 12 Apostles. For her seed keep the commandments of God & have yethe testimony of Iesus. & therefore she is the church. And she being wthwith child cried travelling in birth & pained to be delivered: wchwhich came to pass at yethe opening of the fift seal by the great persecution wchwhich she then suffered there described
And there appeared another wonder in heaven & behold a great red dragon [the Roman heathen Empire] having seven heads [or & ten horns successive Dynasties or kings the fourt first of wchwhich are represented by the four horsmen at the opening of the first four seales & the three las all seven are the seven seven successive Dynasties of all the seven seales,] & ten hordes & (an ten contemporary kingdoms & seven crowns upon his heads [ to shew that they were seven kings, over such as were the horsmen. For the a crown was given the first horsman & therefore he was a king or Dynasty of kings, & it is to be conceived that all yethe four horsmen were of a kind. & seven c — & seven crowns upon his heads, for she that & therefore To signify that ytthat his heads were seven kings or dynasties of kings, namely the reigns is the intervals times of the seven seals the four of wchwhich reigns are represented by four horsmen & the first of wchwhich has a crown given him to shew what they rest all are. The Dragon called the Devil & Satan has his seat in Pergamus This Dragon has called the Devil & Satan has his seat in Pergamus & so is the he that ha Daniels He Goat in the reign of his last horn wchwhich was mighty but not in his own power but in the power of the Romans. His his heads being crowned are 7 seven kings or Dynasties of kings or successive reigns of yethe kings such as the in divided it to commence to verify that he of yethe king at yethe opening of the seven seales. For the first four of these reigns are represented by four horsmen & the wthwith standards armies & standards & th a crown is given the first horsman & it is to be conceived that all the 7 are of a kind. The reign of the Dragon therefore so far as it considered in this prophesy begins wthwith yethe opening of the seventh first seal.
And [at the opending of the sixt seal] the great red Dragon was cast out of heaven that old serpent called the Devil & satan who deceiveth the whole world, he was cast out of yethe earth & his angels were cast out with him as is signified by the smiting of the sun moon & stars, & the passing away of heaven at yethe opening of the sixt seal.
And the woman fled into the wilderness & left a remnant of heher seed who keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus Christ. Conceive that this division was made at yethe opening of the seventh seal when 144000 were numbered & sealed out all the twelve tribes. And ytthat Iohn sees the woman flying from the Temple through the Wilderness or desert of Arabia to yethe city Babylon or the ‡‡ many waters of Euphrates where she committs spiritual fornication with the great men of Babylon, in worshipping Dæmons or dead mens & souls images of gold & silver & ivory & wood & stone wchwhich can neither hear nor see nor walk
About the same time rose up two Beasts one out of yethe earth sea the other out of the sea earth & all men received the mark of the first beast & then the Lamb stood on mount sion wthwith the 144000p having his name & his fathers name on their foreheads. Conceive that between the opening of yethe seventh seal & sounding of yethe first trumpet the twelve tribes are became divided into two parties one of wchwhich wa is numbered & sealed wthwith yethe seale of God the other was marked with the mark of the Beast & that so soon as this sealing & marking was finished, that is, at the sounding of the first Trumpet, the Lamb stood on mount Sion wthwith the 144000 sealed who were newly sealed. N3. The two Goats
And I heard a voice from [the temple of] heaven as the voice of many waters [or much people] & as the voice of much a great thunder: & I heard the voice of harpers harping wthwith their harps: & they sung as were a new song before the throne & before the four Beasts & the elders, & by consequence in the midst of the temple or tabernacle or first temple wchwhich had the four Beasts about it. Conceive this harping & singing wthwith a thunding voice to be the Temple musick performed at the eastern gate of the Priests court d at during the sacrifices of the seven six first days of the feast of tabernacles & to be intermixt wthwith the sounding of the six first Trumpets. And that whole while these things are doing the Woman is are doing in the days of the 144000 or some part of the time very considerable part of that time the Gentiles tread down the holy city 42 months, the two witnesses prophesy in sacklth 1260 days, the woman is fed in yethe wilderness 1260 days & the a time & times & half a time & the Beast speaks great things & blasphemies 42 months. For all these times are of a length & agree in the nature of the things & therefore are coincident to one another & make but one period of time.
After these things follow the preaching of the everlasting gospel to all nations wchwhich began at the resurrection of yethe witnesses or perhaps a little before their death; the fall of Babylon the great City otherwise called the tenth part of the great city & the vintage & harvest & vintage of Martyrs in the great tributats on as yethe vintage of the wicked by a great victory of the saints in token of wchwhich the the innumerable multitude of all nations come out of the great tribulation with Palm branches in their hands crying Salvation to orour God. In the pesecution described at yethe opening of the fift seal. It was to yethe martyrs who lay slain at yethe foot of yethe Altar cried wthwith a loud voice saying How long
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Sect. VII Of the Devil's coming down amongst yethe inhabitants of yethe earth & sea in respect of superstition & idolatry.
It & The DevivilDevil that old Serpent who deceived the whole world & was thrown down by the victories of Constantine the great man have realtion to was not only the same spirit of immorality but is chielfy to more especially be understood of the spirit of superstition & idolatry. which before that victory reigned over all nations, This spirit & consisted in the worship of dead men This spirit This spirit reigned over all For idolatry was the religion of all the world this idolatry & in scripture is called the worship of Devils. It consisted in in giving honour & worship to dead men, When men began first to assemble into civil societies, & to such bodies things as were dedicated to them & named from them & as the ghosts or the souls of the dead were feigned to reside in, as to yethe Sun Moon Stars Elements Birds, Beasts, Fishes &, gravestones Vegetables or altars & & at length wthwith pictures & statues wthwith wchwhich sepulchres were adorned. F Families Cities & kingdoms out of love for flattery to their kings built monuments sumptuous & altars to their dead ancestors & & kings to the dead kindred of their kings, & families out of love to their dead ancestors did (at first more rudely at length more sumptuously) & appointed annual menstrual or daily solemnities with incence & sacrifices & various ceremonies & initiations & Priests to perform them, & built Temples built over their sepulchres of kings & great men for people to meet in. & worship them for this worship. And Whence it came to pass that every kingdom, & every city, every had their its proper Gods & every family their Dij penates. They agreed in their religions but & differed only in & in their particular Gods & in the some ceremonies &c made of their worship & therefore upon being conquered by one another they easily received the Gods of their conquerers. And when they were conquered by the Castians But the Heathens conquered by Constantine But he Christians having no such Gods, when the heathens were conquered by Constantine the Christians, as many of them as thought it their interest to make a profession of of the Christian religion, F were desirous & were prone to the worship of dead men soon found out pretences plausible pretenses to worship worship [set up such Gods among yethe Christians as they had been used to worship] & set up the worship began to worship the Apostles & Martyrs & such other dead men as the Christians had most in honour, turning the Christian Temples into their sepulchres. & by their great numbers & they prevailed to set up this worship in all yethe Empire turning the Christian Temples into the sepulchres of the saints. And the hypocritical part of the Christians being inclined to superstitions & fond of increasing the numbers of their party easily complied & many of them having been educated in the heathen religion & retaining from their ancestors the heathen doctinesdoctrines about the souls of dead men & being fond of many of ymthem being educated in yethe heathen religion & all of them being fond of increasing the number of their party they made little or no opposition & of paying honour to the Apostles & Martyrs, they made little or no opposition & desirous to increase the number of their party, they readily complied wthwith the humour & inclination of the new converts. And thus under the colour of converting the heathens to the Christian religion, the Christians Churches were in a little time converted to the religion of the heathens, & Christ & his Apostles & Martyrs became the Gods of the Heathens, as Noah & his sons & pe & had been before Iehova or Iove, & Noah & his sons & the other fathers & great men of the heathens nations had been before, or as Christ would have been long before had he been Cononized long before had he been received into the Canon of the Roman Gods by the Senate at yethe Request of Tiberius the Emperor Tiberius, & baptims he the heathens who worshipped him, had baptism be baptism been made yethe ceremony of initiating his worshippers, & the feasting upon eating a piece sacrifice of bread & wine the mystery of his worship. F By such a worship the whole Empire might have become Christian without ceasing to be heathen. And the case is the same wthwith those who only laid aside quitted the worship of some dead men to worship others. And the quitting the worship of some dead men to worship others does not me And if they had might have afterwards left at the have exchanged yethe worship of Iupiter Saturn & Iupiter & the other heathen Gods for that for ytthat of Peter & Paul & the other saints Christian Divi without being less heathens then before. For all worship of dead men is heathenism. [ The Idolatry of yethe heathens consisted in yethe worshipping & an of ghosts demons wchwhich are wchwhich were mere phantasms, vanities, nothings, mere spirits of delusi fals Gods, Gods wchwhich were no Gods, mere nothings. And this is called worshipping of Dæmons or Devils]
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The four Beasts of Daniel being all of them still alive, the two last of them within whose countries the Christian religion was propagated, are the subject of Iohn's Prophesy, & are in that Prophesy represented by the Dragon & ten-horned Beast.
For the Dragon is the Devil & Satan (Apoc 12. 9) taht Satan who hath his seat or throne in Pergamus (Apoc. 2. 13) that is the kingdom of Pergamus represented by the last horn of Daniels Hee-Goat, whose power descending to yethe Romans grew mighty in their power & at length separating from them became the Greek Empire reigning over the nations of Greece Asia minor Syria & Egypt wchwhich made up the body of Daniels third Beast.
And For Iohn's Beast by the number of his horns & other characters is known to be the same wthwith Daniel's fourth Beast. Both had ten horns. Daniels had an eleventh horn with eyes which was an animal with eyes like the eyes of a man & a mouth speaking great things against the most High & so was a Seer & a Prophet or Prophetess exercising a jurisdiction in matters of religion & it madeng war upon the saints & prevailedg against them & changedg times & laws, & had a look more stout then the other horns & therefore was the chief & most powerful city of the Beast & being a Seer & Prophet had a jurisdiction exercised a jurisdiction in matters of religion. & in lieu of this ecclesiastical blasphemy persecuting Animal Iohn's Beast has a woman on his back the mother of Harlots & abominations of the earth who deceives all nations with her sorceries & commits fornication with the kings of the earth & makes all nations drunk with the wine of her fornications & who is drunken with the blood of saints & the martyrs of Iesus, & in whom was found the blood of Prophets & Saints & of all that were slain upon the face of the earth & who sitteth on seven mountains & is the great city wchwhich reigneth over the kings of the Earth that is the city Rome wchwhich was the metropolis of the 4th & last monarchy & was famous for being seated on seven hills. And further, Iohn's Beast is said to be like a Leopard & to have feet as the feet of a Bear & a mouth as the mouth of a Lyon (Apoc 13. 2) wchwhich is the description of Daniel's fourth Beast. For that was dreadfull & terrible exceedingly as a Leopard is, & fought & stamped with his feet as a Bear doth & had great iron teeth wherewith he devoured & brake in pieces like a Lyon. Daniel's three first Beasts are here named backwards & Iohn's is named in room of the fourth to signify ytthat it is the fourth. And as Daniels the little horn of Daniels Beast reigned & prevailed over times untill a times & times & half a time that is three times or years & an half so the woman on Iohns Beast was nourished a time & times & an half in the wildernes & & the seven mountains on wchwhich the woman sitteth are called the seven heads of the Beast & therefore the seven hilled city is his metropolis of Ro the city Rome wchwhich was the metropolis of the 4th & last monarchy & was famous for being seated on seven hills he is that Empire whose Metropolis was the seven hilled city. Iohn's Beast continued forty & two months wchwhich is also three years & an half. and ✝ The Dragon who made war upon the woman or in heaven is the heathen Roman Empire ✝ The ch woman in heaven whose seed kept the commandments of Iesus is the Church Catholic of God & had the testimony of Iesus (Apoc. 12 1. 17) is the Church catholick & the great red Dragon wchwhich persecuted her is the Roman Empire. When the ten horned Beast rose out of the sea the Dragon gave her When the ten horned Beast rose out of thea, the Dragon gave him his power & his throne & great authority (Apoc. 13. 2) this is when the Roman Empire became divided the Dragon who till then reigned over the whole Roman Empire gave his western & therefore the Dragon reigned first in the Roman Empire. & when this He reigned alone over the whole Empire while this Empire continued monarchical & when it became divided ✝ ✝ into the eastern & western Empires, the the Beast rose out of the sea by that division & the Dragon gave his old throne the city Rome wthwith its dominion that is his western power & throne to the Beast & retained only his eastern power to himself. For the Dragon did not cease at the rise of the Beast but still continued in being. For after the Beast was risen they worshipped the Dragon & Beast together, & (Apoc 13. 4) & at length three f unclean spirits like froggs came out of the three mouths of the Dragon Beast & false Prophet (Apoc 17. 13) & in the end when the Beast is cast into yethe lake of fire the Dragon is cast into the bottomless pit (Apoc 20. 2) The Dragon & Beast therefore after the The Dragon & Beast therefore after the division of the Roman Empire signify90r signify the eastern & western or Greek & Latin Empires. This Dragon is the Devil & Satan (Apoc 12. 9) that Satan who had his seat in Pergamus (Apoc. 2. 13) that is the kingdom of Pergamus represented by the last horn of Daniels He-Goat whose power descending dominion by the last will & testament of Attalus descended to the Romans & who grew mighty in their power & at length separating from them became the Greek Empire reigning over the nations of Greece, A Asia minor, Syria & Egypt wchwhich made up the proper body of the Daniels Hee Goat & of his Leopard their Daniel or third Beast.✝A 30 A 1 ✝ The little horn of the He Goat waxed great even to (or against) yethe Host of heaven & it cast down some of yethe host & of the stars to yethe grownd, & stamped upon them & the Dragon's tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven with his tail & cast them to the earth. These actions are the same for the of the same signification for the horn of the he Goat as his army & the tail of the Dragon is his army; for these are their fighting members, & signify their military powers or armies commanded by their kings The little horn of the Goat magnified himself to or against the Price of the host & by him the daily sacrifice was taken away & the place of his sanctuary was cast down & By the agreement of their actions you may know that they are one & yethe same kingdom. The Greeks called themselves Romans & gave yethe name of Romanic to the Province of Region about Constantinople, & that of Latins distinguished themselves from those of the western Empire by the names of Greeks & Latines. Whence the word ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ is the proper name of the Latine Western Empire. & the numb This name is the name of a man & the number of this name 666 is 666 wchwhich is the number of the name of Beast.
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is the proper name of yethe Latine Empire & thence the number of this name is called 666 is called yethe number of the name of yethe Beast. The nations of these two Empires are distinguished from one by yethe names of earth & Sea, as when the first plague falls on yethe earth, the second on yethe sea & where the ten horned b Devil comes down to yethe inhabiters of yethe earth & Sea & where the two ten horned Beast rises out of yethe Sea & the two horned out of the earth. This dinstinction seems occasioned by yethe language of yethe Iews And in this respect the cities of yethe Eastern Empire are called mountains & those of yethe western Islands. This distinction seems occasioned by yethe language of yethe Iews who called the eastern countries earth & the western Islands in the Isles of the Sea. And since the ten-horned Beast rises out of the Sea you may know also by that character that he is the western Empire. Every kingdom has its church & the false church of the ten-horned Beast – And the proper name of the Be These two Empires being distinguished from one another by the names of Greeks & Latines, the the word ΛΑΤΕΙΝΟΣ 301 5.1.40.
Every kingdom has its churhc & the churches of the kingdoms above mentioned are represented as follows. The false church of the dragon ten-horned Beast is represented by the whore of Babylon who sits upon him & regins over the kings of thee earth represented by his ten horns & is & is at length hated by his horns & made desolate by his horns & naked by them ten horns As Aho A kingdom is usually considered as male & a Church or Ecclesiastical dominion as a female. An Idolatrous Church is usually represented by a whore & sincere Church by a virtuous womāan Ezek 16. 8, 15, 46, 47. 55 . Ier. 3. 1, 8, 20 Isa 62. 5. Hos 1. 2 & 2. 2, 75, 7, & 3. So the apostate churches of Israel & Iudah & are represented by two harlots Aholiab & Aholibah (Ezek. 23) & the Church of Christ by yethe Lambs wife (Apoc 2 19. 1) And so the Church of Christ
Every kingdom has its Church & the true & false Churches of the kingdomes above mentioned are represented as follows. The false church of the Beast is re ten-horned Beast is represented by yethe whore of Babylon. who For she sits upon him & reigns over the kings of the earth represented by his horns & is at length hated & made desolate by them. The
The false Church of the Dragon is represented by the two other Beast wchwhich arose out of yethe Earth hath & hath two horns like the Lamb & spake as the Dragon & by false miracles deceiveth them that dwell on yethe Earth & causeth them to worship the ten horned Beast & his image & & for his false miracles & idolatrous doctrine is called the false Prophet.
The true ##The true Church within the kingdom of the Dragon is represented by the tabernacle & first Temple, & by the four Beasts & 24 Elders & the seven Candlesticks therein &c the or Candlestick wthwith seven branches, & by the seven horns of the Lamb & by the seven churches of Asia in opposition to the seven hilled city, & also by the glorious woman in heaven before she fled into the wilderness & afterwards by the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God. The true Church within the kingdom of the ten horned Beast is represented by the second Temple & them that worship therein & by the two Candlesticks therein & two Olive trees & the two Witnesses in opposition to the two horned Beast. For the Beast makes war upon these witnesses & kills them in the streets of yethe great city represented by the woman on his back. The twelve tribes of Israel represent the true Church of the whole Empire during the opening of the first six seales. At the opening of the seventh there is a division made & out of the 12 tribes are sealed 144000 to represent the true Church of the whole Empire & the rest are the fals church of the whole Empire marked wthwith the mark of the Beast & called the synagogue of Satan which say they are Iews & are not.
In opposition to yethe seven hilled City the true Church of yethe Dragon within the dominion of yethe Dragon is represented by the seven Churches of Asia with their Angels or Bishops & by their types the seven Candlesticks or Candlestick with seven branches & seales the seven horns of the Lamb & by the seven Candlesticks wthwith their Lamps appearing like a rod of seven stars in yethe right hand of yethe Son of Man & by the seven honrs & seven eyes of the Lamb. by the This Church is represented also by the Woman in heaven before she fled into the Wilderness from yethe Dragon wchwhich persecuted her.
And in opposition to the Beast wthwith two horns, the true Church within yethe dominion of the Ten-horned Beast is represented by the two burning leggs & two flaming eyes of the son of man & by the two witnesses wchwhich are called the two Candlesticks & two Olive branches & upon wchwhich the Beast makes war & who being slain by the Beast lye dead in the streets of yethe great City signified by the Whore of Babylon.
A kingdom is usually considered as a male & a church or Ecclesiastical dominion as a female & accordingly
While the Dragon signified the whole Roman Empire as descended from the kingdom of Pergamus is signified by the great red Dragon, the Church diffused through this Empire is represented by the woman in heaven cloathed with the Sun. This woman brought forth during Dioclesians persecution was pained in travel & at length brought forth a manchild or Christian Empire wchwhich was to rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron, & then upon the division of the Empire by the building of Constantinople & making it the metropolis of the East as Rome was of the West, received at
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In the armies of the Roman Empire both before & after the Empire became Christian a flying Eagle was on the standart of every Legion & a Dragon of a purple colour on the standart of every Company & in every Legion there were ten companies & by consequence ten dragons. These Dragons 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 open jaws. The bearers of these two sorts of standarts were called Auilifers & Draconarij. And from these badges of the Roman Empire, this Empire is represented in this Prophesy by the a great Eagle upon whose two wings the woman flyes into yethe wilderness & by a great red Dragon in heaven
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Spicilegia Variantium Lectionum in Apocalypsi ex Mss. Sin Cov. 2.
Cap. 1. v. 5. d. ἐκ deest Sin. v6. μ καὶ deest Sin. v. δ. κ. Αλφα Sin. ib. γ ἀρχη καὶ τέλος deest Sin. v. 9. b. καὶ deest Sin. ib. c κοινωνὸς Cov. 2. v. 11. c. Pro Ἐγὼ εἶμι το Α καὶ το Ω, πρῶτος Cov. 2. habet Ἐγὼ Α καὶ το Ω, πρῶτος. v. 11. h in var. lect. dele Cov. 2. v. 12. m. Ἐλάλει Sin. v. 20. e ἃς εἶδες deest Sin.
Cap. 2. v. 1. f ἐν Ἐφέσιν Sin. v. 7. d ἐν τοῷ παραδείσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ μου, Cov. 2. ib. e in var. Lect. dele Cov. 2. v. 14. z. In var. lect. dele Ἐδίδασμε τὸν Βαλὰκ Sin. Cov. 2. dele etiam ἘΕδιδαξεν ἐν τῶ Βαλὰκ Sin. et scribe ἐδιδαξε τὸν Βαλὰκ Sin. Cov. 2. v. 17. c ὀιδεν Cov. 2. 19. l καὶ deest Sin. v. 21. s in var. lect. scribe μετανοήσῃ, καὶ οὐ θελει (ἠθελησεν Α lex.) μετανοῆσαι ἐκ τῆς πορνειας ἀυτῆς Α lex. &c. v. 22. t ἐγὼ deest Sin. 24 k Βαθέα Cov. 2. v. 26. και ante νικῶν deest Cov.2.
Cap 3. v. 1. τὰ ἑπτὰ Sin. v. 2. n στρήζων Cov. 2. ib. p. ἔμελλες Sin. ib. q. αποβάλλειν Sin. v. 3. z. in var. lect. dele Cov: 2, et eundem scribe post Barb. 1. v. 8. f. pro καὶ legit ἥν Sin. v. 11. ν. Ιδοὺ deest Sin. Cov. 2. ib. s. in var. lect. lege με μὴ λάβῃ τις τακὺ Cov: 2. v. 12. y. ἥ καταβάινει Sin. v. 17. d οτι deest Sin. v. 18. Pro ἀισχύνη scribe ἀκημοσύνη Cov. 2. ib. h. in var. lect. pro. Steph. ε Scribe Steph. ιε. et post Hunt ι dele Sin. et inter Alex et Cov. 2. dele Κολλύριον ετ εγχρισαι. v. 19 post ζ ζήλωσον deest ὀυν Cov. 2. ib. n. Καὶ præfigit Sin.
Cap. 4. v. 3. y. ἦν deest Sin. v. 4. f. in var. lect. dele κύκλῳ Cov. 2. v. 4. c. θρόνους τοὺς ἐικοσι τεσσαρας πρεσβυτέρους Cov. 2. Sin. ib. in. var. lect. dele Sin. scribe Sin. Sin. post v. 5. Pro εκπορθυονται Cov. 2. habet ἐξεπορθύοντο. ib. i. Ἀυτοῦ Sin. v. 10. i – προσκυνήσουσι Sin. Ib. k. Βαλουσι Sin.
Cap. 5. v. 6. f τα αφαπ αποστελλόμεινα Sin. v. 10. g. in var. lect. dele Sin et – scribe sin. post βασιλειυσυυσιν. v. 11. 2. ὡς præfigit Sin. Ib. n. præfigit καὶ ἐν ὁ ἄριθμὸς αυτῶν ἀυτῶν μυριάδες μυριάδων Sin. v. 13. u. ἀυτοῖς πάντας ἠκουσα. Cov. 2. v. 14. b. ἔλεγον τὸ Ἀμήν Cov. 2.
Cap. 6. v. 1. k. Pro φωνὴ in var. lect. scribe φωνὴ vel φῶωνῇ. v. 2. m. Και ἒιδον omittit Sin. ib. S v. 4. l. tῆς γῆς ἵνα Cov. 2. v. 5. n. in var. lect. dele Sin. et scribe Sin. post Και ἴδε. Ib. o. in var. lect. dele Cov. 2. v. 7. y. φωνήν omittit Sin. v. 8. b. Κὰι ἐιδον omittit Sin. Ib. f. in var. lect. dele Cov. 2. et scribe ηκολόυθη μετ' ἀυτοῦ Cov. 2. v. 11. d οὖ deest Sin. v. 12. k. ὅλη addit Sin.
Cap. 7. v. 5. g.... μείνουν Cov. 2. v. 9. t. ἀυτὸν omittit Cov. 2 v. 10. τοῦ Θεὸῦ ἡμῶν deest Cov. 2. v. 14. e στλὰς ἀυτῶν omittit Cov. 2. v. 16. ὀυδ' οὐ μὴ Cov. 2.
Cap. Cap 8. v. 3. b. δωσι Sin. v. 5. h. τον Sin. v. 5. l. ἀυτὸν Sin. v. 7. b. ἐν præfigit Sin v. 11. Pro λέγεται Cov. 2. habet ἐλέγετο. ib. l. ἐγένετο Sin. Ib. m. τῶν ὑδάτων Sin.
Cap. 9. v. w. v. Κέντρα ἐν ταῖς ὀυραῖς ἀυτῶν τοῦ ἀδικῆσαι Cov. 2. v. 11. x. in var. lect. post ἔκουσιν deleatur et post ἔκουσαι scribatur Cov. 2. Ib. v. 12. in textu dele literam g post ἔτι et scribe eandem ante ἔτι. v. 18. εκπορευομένον deest Cov. 2. v. 21. x. in var. lect. dele Cov. 2.
Chap Cap. 10. v. 3. pro φωνῇ μεγάλῇ scribe φονὴν μεγάλην Sin. v. g. i. βιβλιδαριον Sin.
Cap. 11. v. 5. y. θέλει ἀυτοὺς Cov. 2. v. 6. f ἐν πάσῃ Sin Cov. 2. v. 14. a. ἰδοὺ – ponitur post τρίίτη Sin. Pro ἰδοὺ legitur καὶ Cov. 2. v. 19. h. καὶ σεισμος deest Sin.
Cap. 12. v. 3. v. ἑπτὰ δίιαδήματα Sin. Cov. 2. Ib. dele Cov. 2. in lect. var. v. 7. i. in var. lectl post τοῦ πολεμῆσαι deleatur et post πολεμῆσαι deleatur Cov. 2. Ib. k. μετα Sin. v. 12. Ante ὀυρανοι deest ὁι Sin Cov. 2. v. 14. η ἁι δύο Cov : 2.
Cap. 13. v. 3. l. ἐκ τῶν Sin. v. 4. t. δυνατòς Sin Cov. 2. v. 7. in var. lect ante καὶ λαὸν scribe ε . v. 10. a. ἔκει ἀικμαλωσίαν ὑπαγει Sin. v. 11. e. τῷ ἀρνίῳ Cov. 2. v. 12 f. in var. lect. dele Sin. v. 16. f. τὸ μέτοπον Sin.
Cap. 14. v. 3. h. ὡς omittit sin. v. 7. i. ἀυτοῶ τῶ ποιήσαντι Cov. 2. Ib. k. in var. lect. dele Cov. 2. v. 8. e. τὰ ἔθμη Sin. v. 12. u. Articulum ἡ præfigit Sin. v. 16. o. τῆ – νεφέλῃ Cov. 2. & 12. f. m. var. lect. dele v. 19. i. τὸ μέγαν Sin. v. 20. m. ᾳχ Sin.
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Cap. 15. v. 2. τὰς ante κιθαρας legunt Sin Cov. 2. v. 6. b ὁι ἦσαν præfigit Sin.
Cap. 16. v. 2. x. εἰς Sin Cov. 2. v. 3. ὡς ante ἇιμα habet Cov. 2. v. 5. Post κύριε deest εἶ Cov. 2. v. 9. b. οἱ ἄνθρωποι Cov. 2. v. 14. p. δαιμονιων Cov. 2. ib. q. ἅ εκπορευονται Cov. 2. ib in var. lect. post ἅ εκπορευεται dele Cov. 2. v. 18. h. in var. lect. dele Cov. 2. et scribe cC 2. post ασταπαι καὶ βροντὰι καὶ φωναι.
Cap. 17. v. 2. Pro ἐμεδό ἐμεθύθησαν habet ἐμέθυσαν Cov. 2. v. 5. a. πόρνον Cov. 2 ib. v. 8. Pro τὸ θηρίον ὁ, τι ἦν lege ὁτι ἦν τὸ θηριον Cov. 2. v. 16. 9. in var. lect. Post επεσαν ὁ dele Cov. 2. Ib. ἔπεσον ὁ Cov. 2. v. 16. Post γυμνήν adde ποιήσουσιν ἀυτήν Cov. 2. Sin. v. 17. m. In var. lect. dele Sin. Ib. τελεσθῶ.. ὁι λόγοι Sin.
Cap. 18. v. 1. a. Και deest Sin. v. 2. g. Ἔπεσενεν deest Sin. v. 3. m. τοῦ ὄινου deest Sin. Ib. o. πεπτώκασι Sin. Cov. 2. v. 6. d. τὰ Sin v. 12. l. βυσσινου καὶ πορφυρας Cov. 2. v. 16. p. deest ἐν Sin. v. 19. h. καὶ præfigit Cov. 2.
Cap. 19. v. 1. i. ς ὡς præfigit Sin. v. 3. d εἴρηκειν Sin Cov. 2. v. 14. i. τῶ θρόνω Cov. 2. v. 12. s. ὡς deest Sin. v. 14. Pro λευκὸν ὴς καθαρόν legit καθαρὸν λευκον Cov. 2. v. 15. l.πατάξῃ Cov. 2. v. 16. o. deest Cov. 2.
Cap. 20. v. 4. x. ὀυδὲ Cov. 2. Ib a. τὰ præfigunt Sin Cov. 2. v. 4. i. τῶ ρόνω – Cov. 2. v. 12. s. ὡς deest Sin. v. 14 v. 11. m. ἀυτὸν Cov. 2. v. 12. s. in var. lect dele – Cpv 2. v. 13. u. τοὺς νεκρους τοὺς 'εν ἀυτῇ Sin. v. 14. a. ὁ θάνατος ὁ δευτερος Sin. Cov. 2.
Cap. 21. v. 6. s. καὶ ἡ ἀρΧὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος Sin. Cov. v. 7. e. ὁ deest Sin. v 12. f τὰ ὀνόματα addit Sin. v. 13. l. in var. lect. dele deest Cov. 2. v. 14. Deest καὶ ἐν ἀυτοῖς Cov. 2. errante scriba. v. 23. e in var. lect. quære utrum scribendum sit – ἀυτὴ γαρ vel ἀυτὴῇ γαρ.
Cap. 22. v. 2. b. ἥνα deest Sin. Ib. c. ἀποδιδοὺς ἕκαστον Cov. 2. v. 6. b. Δέγει Sin. v. 13. h. εἰμι deest Sin.
93r
Cap. 1
v. 6. n καὶ omittit Sin
v. 8. y ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος''. Deest in Sin. ib. z ὁ κύρεος ὁ Θεὸς Areth. Sina. dele Cov.2
v. 9. b καὶ Deest in Comp. Areth. Sin. Arab. ib c pro συνκοινωνὸς lege κοίινω
Cov. 2 ib d
v. 11. c '' deest Steph ιε ? ib. f ταῖς ἑπτὰ g. Omittunt Compl.
h θυάτειραν, Lat. Syr. Æth. Arab.
v. 12 m ἐλαλει Cov. Sin.
17 n μοι deest Areth
19 t Γράψον οὖν Sin ?
20 e ἃς ἐιδες Omittit Sin. Cypr adv. Iudæos l. 2. c. 26.
Cap. 2.
v.
2.
i
σου '' omittit Syr.
v.
1.
d
ἐν τῷ παραδείσω τοῦ Θεοῦ μου Cypr ad Quir l. 3. sect 16.
v.
7.
d
εν τῳ παραδείσῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ μου –
v.
8
f.
τῆς ἐν Σμύρνη ἐκκλησίας
v.
13.
q.
ἐν αἵς sic legit Comp et non αἵς. Igitur in var. lect ubi habetur Steph α ιε, dele α. post Steph.
v.
15, 16.
d.
ὁμόιως. Μετανόησον οὖν'' Steph ιε.
v.
17.
c.
ὀιδεν'' Compl.
v.
19.
l.
καὶ'' de Omittunt 4 Barb.
v.
20.
m
ὀλίγα Omittit Tertull. de pudicit.
v.
20.
καὶ διδάσκει καὶ πλανᾷ τοῦς ἐμοὺς Syr. Æthiop. Arab. Tertul. de pudicit. post medium.
v.
212
deestt ἐγὼ'' Compl.
Ch. 3.
v.
4.
a
αΑλλα præfigunt Syr. Æth. Arab.
4.
b
Omittunt Comp. Arab.
=&
5.
i.
ἐξο῾μολογήσω Comp. Areth. Steph. ιε, 15? ὁμολογήσω Alex. Cop. Comp. Sin. Steph ιε, 15 Cov. 2.
711.
ev
Omittunt Arethas Sin. Cov. 2 . Syr
12.
y.
ἣ καταβάινει Arethas.
14.
c
τῆς ἐν Λαοδικεία ἐκκλησίας Arethas.
156.
c
ὀυ ζηστὸς ὀύ τε ψυχρὸς Compl. Sin. Cov. 2. Areth. Syr. Arab.
Chap 4.
v.
3.
x.
Totum καὶ ὁ καθήμενος omittunt Steph α. ιε. Sin. Areth. Arab. Æthiop. Forte et Æthiop. et alij MSS.
v
5.
g.
καὶ φωνὰι καὶ βρονταὶ Areth. Syr.
5
i.
ἀυτοῦ addunt Areth.
6.
m
ὡς θάλασσα Tertul.
7.
rq et r
ὡς ἀθρώπον Vulg. quasi humanam Iren. l. 3. c. 11.
8
b
λέγοντες 3 Barb.
10
k
uVtrum βάλουλουσι vel βαβλοῦσι in Alex. quære.
Ch. 5.
v.
2.
g.
Deest Comp.
4.
v.
πολυ Steph. 15.
7
g
Deest Comp. Areth. Lat. Æth.
7
g
τὸ βιβλίον hic deest et post τοῦ θρόνου additur Comp. Alex? Lat. Areth. Hunt. 1? Baroc? Pet. 2,3? M? Deest utrobique Sin. Æth.
10
d.
ἀυτοὺς Syr. Arab.
10
g.
βασιλέυσουσιν Comp. Barb. 3. Beda. Syr. Arab.
13
u.
Αυτοῖς Πάντας ἤκουσα Steph Barb. 3? Cov. 2
Ch. 6.
v
1
k
φωνῇ Arab.
1
l
Deest Comp.
4
l
Deest ἀπὸ Alex
9
l
τῶν ἀνθρώπων addit Æthiop.
9
o
τοο ἀρνίου addunt Syr. Arab. ut in ch 1. v 2, 9 & ch 12. 17 & ch. 20. 4.
11
c
omittunt Barb. 4. Æth.
11
e
πληρώσωσι Barb. 4
93v
12.
i.
omittunt Syr. Æth.
12.
k.
Ὅλη addit Sin
Cap. 7
v
9.
t
Omittit Arethas.
10
b
κράζουσι Beda. Arab.
10
t
τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν deest (idque recte) Cov. 2. Alex Steph α, ( ιε ) Hunt 1 ? Areth. Vulg. Syr. Æth. Arab. Cyprian.
11
h
τὰ πρόσωπα Syr. Æth. Arab.
14
a
ἐιπον Arethas.
14
e
ἀυτὰς Alex.
16
l
ὀυδ' ὀυ μὴ Arethas
17
o
ζωῆς Arab
Cah. 8.
v.
7.
d
τῆς γῆς κατηκάη καὶ τὸ τρίτον Areth. Æth.
110.
m
τῶν ὑδά των addunt Syr Æth.
13.
r
ἀετοῦ Barb 3. Aquila, inquit Grotius, amat cadavera (Mat 24. 28) ideoque apta prædicendis stragibus Exek. 17. 3.
Cah. 9.
v.
2.
e
καιομένης Victorin.
16
b
ἱππικοῦ δισπυριάδες Tichonius apud Primasium.
Ch. 10.
v.
1
c
τῆς κεφαλῆς ἄυτοῦ Comp.
4
c
αι non destest Cov. 2. (et in v. 3. deest. Cov. 2)
k
ἀυτὰ Areth. Origenes apud Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l. 6. c. 25. μετὰ ταῦτα γράφεις Compl.
Ch. 11.
v.
6.
f.
ἐν πάσῃ Arethas
v.
8.
q.
ἀυτῶν Comp.
123
a.
pPonunt post τρίτη Comp. Sin
Ch. 12.
v.
7.
② k
μετὰ Steph ιε. Syr.
7
① i
τοῦ πολεμῆσαι Syr.
8
n
ἀυτῷ Æthiop.
14
p.
In var. lect Dele Syr.
Ca. 13.
v.
4
s
καὶ τίς Steph α, ιε, 15. Areth. Syr.
5
v.
βλασφημίαν Dionys. Alexandr. apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 7. c. 10.
5
x
πόλεμον ποιῆσαι Steph ιε, 15. potius Steph in textu
7
e
καὶ λαὸν addunt Steph α Barb. 2.
14.
n.
τοὺς ἐμοὺς τοὺς Barb. 2.
14.
t.
ἐιχε Syr.
15
t
ἐὰν μὴ pro ἂν μὴ Alex. Sin Cov. 2. Areth Codd alij.
17
h.
pro ἠ τὸ ὄνομα habent τοῦ ὀνόματος Syr. Æth. Beda. Primas. Iren. l. 5. c. 28. Primas in Apas
Ca. 14.
v.
1
a
τὸ præfigunt Syr Arab. Æth
2.
g
Ἡ φωνὴ ἢν ἤκουσα ὡς Beda κιθαρώδων Beda
3.
h
Omittunt Comp. Areth. Syr. Arab. Æth. Primas.
6
b
καθημένους LatVulg. Alex Areth.
6
c
ἐπὶ πάν LatVulg.
13
e
γὰρ Syr
Ca. 15.
v.
1.
p.
Deest Steph α, ιε. aAt Stephanus in loco conumatis erravit. Nam in Comp. non deest.
q
dDeest Step – – – – Item Steph. ιε si modo notæ terminos lectionis variantis designatntes in illum restituantur locum quem editionis Complutensis citatio ibidem habita requirit. 3 x τοῦ præfigei Comp. Syr.
3
a
ἐθνῶν Primas. Vide et Apoc 15. 4. et Ier. 10. 7.
6
e
Omittunt Syr. Arab. Beda. Arethas. Zegerus.
Ca. 16.
v
4
e
Deest Comp.
7
n.
In Comp deest tantum ἄλλου.
14.
r
Deest LatVulg Syr. Æth.
18
h
Αστραπὰι καὶ βροντὰι καὶ φονάι Syr. Arab
94r
Ca. 17.
v.
4.
r.
ἦν Cypr.
4
s
πορφύροῦν καὶ κόκκινον Cypr. Test. l. 3. c 36 & de habitu virg
8
l r l.
τὸ θηρίον hic addunt & post βλεποντες omittunt Steph. ιε, 15. Cov. 2. &
10.
q.
καὶ deest LatVulg. Syr Arab.
16
post γυμνὴν aeddunt ποιήσουσιν ἀυτὴν Cov. 2. Sin. Comp. Areth. Æth.
17
m.
τελεσθῶσιν Barb. 2
Ca 18.
2.
i
δαιμονίων Lat.
1.
k
Pro ἀκαθάρτου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ορνέου lege ἀκαθάρτου καὶ μεμισμένου, καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς θηρίου ἀκαθαρτου Alex. ἀκαθαρτου καὶ μεμισμενου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ορνε
2.
k.
Pro ἀκαθάρτου Cov. 2. habet δαιμονίου & omittit sequentia usque ad ἀκαθάρ του καὶ μεμισμένου ὁτι. Sequentia Quæ sequentia ab Aretha etiam omittuntur et sunt hujus in in hæc verba. καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου καὶ μεμισμένου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς θηρίου Alex. Comp. Sin. LatVulg Syr. Arab. Æth. Arab. Primas. præterquam quod Comp. Sin. Vulg. Arab. omittunt verba ἀκαθάρτου καὶ μεμισμένου καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς θηρίου, quoque Alex. omittit verba καὶ φυλακὴ παντὸς ὀρνέου ἀκαθάρτου καὶ μεμισμένου. Alex At omnissima plenissima Babylonis ptio desolatio hic describitur ut fit in Isa. 13.21, 22 & Ier 50 39 ad quæ Apocalyptes spectare videtur hic illusum est Apocalyptes spectat.
9.
a
αυ Pro ἀυτῆ Comp et Steph ιε habet ἀυτἢν. f vel ret ?
10.
c
μιᾶ ἱόρᾷᾳ Comp.
11.
e
Dele Steph α. Nam Compl. habet κλάιουσι καὶ πεντοῦσιν.
12.
l
βύσσου καὶ πορφυροῦ Comp.
14.
b
Quære in Sin.
17.
r
Dele Vulg. ε variantibus lectionibus impressis deleatur.
18.
b
βλέποντες Comp.
Ch. 19.
v
1
h.
Deest Syr. Arab.
l.
λεγόντων Syr.
14
i.
καὶ ante καθαρόν deest Comp. Alex. Sin. Cov. 2. Syr. Arab. Æth. Areth Arethas. Iren l 4 c 37. CYpr adv Iudæos l 2 c 30. Primads edit. Paris
15.
k.
δίστομος addunt Tertul. adv. Marc.. l. 3. p. 489. Primas Anselm.
l.
παπάξη Comp.
o.
Deest Areth. Æth. Iren l 4 c 37 Cypr. adv Iud. l. 2. c. ult.
17
a.
δεῦτε συνάχθεητε Comp.
20
m.
pro μετὰ τούτου ὁ legeunt ὁ μετ' ἀυτὁῦ Steph ιε. Cov. 2. Sin. Areth. Pelz Baroc. Hunt 1. Arab. μετ' αυτὁυ ὁ Steph ιε Comp. ὁ μετ' ἀυτὁῦ ὁ ὁ Comp. Steph ιε. ὁι μετ' ἀυτὁῦ . ὁ Alex
Ca. 20.
v.
3.
o.
ἔπ τὰ ἔθνη Steph ιε. Syr.
4.
y.
Omittit Cypr. de exhort martyr.
10.
h.
καὶ τὸ Syr
11.
l.
μέγαν λευκòν Comp. Syr. Cypr. ad Novatian.
11.
m.
αυτον Cov. 2
12
p
τοὺς μεγάλους καὶ τοὺς μικροὺς Iren. l 5 c 35. Cypr ad Novatian
12
q
θρόνου Cypr ad Novatian. Erasm in margine.
13
u
τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν ἀυτῇ LatVulg. Syr Æth.
13
y
τοὺς νεκροὺς τοὺς ἐν ἀυτοῖς Alex. Syr. Iren. l. 5. c. 35.
Ca. 21.
v.
2.
f.
Deest Beda Omittunt Beda Primas.
3.
a.
Θρόνου Iren l 5 c. 35. Ibi dele Iren l. 3. c. 55.
3.
b.
Λαὸς Iren. l. 5. c. 35
4.
f.
dDeest Alex? Iren. l. 5. c. 35.
6.
r
Γέγονα. Ἐγό έιμι τὸ Alex. LatVulg. Syr. Arab. Cypr. Test l. 2. c. 1. Sed in Syr deest γέγονα
7
a
ταῦτα. Ista Tertul. dDe Pudicit. post. med. ea et eorum hæreditatem Cypr. Test. l. 3. c. 100
8
g
Καὶ ἁμαρταλοῖς addit Æth.
94v
9
r
Deest Deest r et s. Lectiones ibi positas adde Cypr. adv. Iud. l. 2. c. 19.
10
v.
Deest Cypr. adv. Iud. l. 2. c. 19.
11
a
Deest Alex.
12
f
τὰ ὀνόματα addunt Alex Pet 2. Hunt 1 Syr. Arab.
15.
p.
ἐιχε μέτρον Syr
16.
y
Deest. Syr. Areth.
C. 22.
1.
t.
Deest Lat Vulg.
2.
b.
Deest. Areth. In impressis Millij var Lect. impressis deleatur Areth.
3
f
κατάθεμα Syr. Erasm in marg.
3
g
ἐκεῖ Areth.
5
n
χρείαν όυκ ἔχέξουσι χρείαν φωτὸς λύχνου καὶ φωτστὸς (l. φωτὸς) Alex ). Lat. Syr. Arab Æth. Primas. Æth.
5
n
φωτὸς tam ante λυχνου
10.
z
ὁ καιρὸς γάρ Æth
11.
b.
δικαιοσύνην ποιησάτο Vulg. in MSS aliquib. Vulg. Primas. Anselm. Cypr Test l 3. c 23 et de bono patientiæ 9.
13.
k.
πρῶτὸος καὶ ἔσχατος ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος Cypr l. 2. Test. c. 22.
c 13.
v.
4.
τις δυνατὸς α, ιε, 15. deest καὶ
c 15.
v.
2.
q.
ἐκ τοῦ χαράγματος ἀυτοῦ deest compl. steph. ιε
This line is found at the bottom of the page, upside down. ch. 9. v. 12. ουαι μετα ταυτα καὶ – Sin.
95r
E. Macclesfield —
old
p. 20, P. 1, 2. [utpote ad caput tui corporis] in Capitals.
p. 34. l. 3. after [Gratian] it is p. 27 27 Gratian & Valentinian
P 29. [discernimus] [decernimus]
P. 27 [æteræ] [æternæ
P. 44. l. 7 [Antigonus all Asia] q [Antigonus all Asia yethe lesse] For Seleucus had is immediately said to have severall Provinces, in Asia, & had all beydbeyond Euphrates before. Quære lilennsi 3 lines before of Cassander commanding yethe forces of Europe wwhich imports all; & yet Lysimachus was to govern Thrace; was he to be commanded by Cassander?
l. 41. for [became one of yethe 4 Kingdoms] read [became King or Head of one of yethe 4 Kingdoms] or [formederected one of yethe 4 Kingdomes.
p. 50 A passage abtabout yethe Romans after Antiochus, yethe same verbatim wtwith one p. 41
The following passage is written at the end of the right column on the same page; considerable space has been left for further notes before it.
m=III is most ꝑperfect
e E is more explained & has some fine passages, ꝑparticularly ytthat of yethe Iews expectations of a 2d captivity & 2d restoration prreservd in T-bnd
The Cronolog. observ. belong to it one on yethe same paper. fit to accompany it same argumtsarguments not in chronol
I=1 pa. 3. ☉. an addition worthy notice.
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3 Proposalls of yethe Order of Printing
From
new pa 1 to pa. 24. new [ch. I
new 1–32
ch. I
new
1– 3
ch. I
}
II
II
3– 4
II
III
III
5– 6
III
IV
IV
7–10
IV
V
V
11–18
V
VI
VI
19–23
VI
old
pa. 27–35 old [Ch. VII
old
27–35
Sect. IV
}
37–42
S.V
new 25–32 [Ch. VII
VII
new
25–27
Ch VII
Ch. VIII
VIII
VIII
shd li
27–29
q old 35–52 ꝑtpart S IV
IX
IX
S. V
VI
old
43–51
S. VI
}
old 53–66 [Sect. VII
old 53–66
S. VII
53–66
S. VII
VIII
VIII
VIII
Here is inserted Ⓧθ
& add old 67–74 S. IX
67–end
S. IX
Old 75–yethe end3. X
old 75–086
Sect. X
X
Appendix
Appendix
old 27–35
Sect. IV
New
all or ꝑtpart
Ch. VII
Titles in θ 3d Proposall
Ch. XIII
Ⓧ Part II
Observations on θ Praophesys of DanlDaniel & θ Apoc. of St Iohn by SrSir Isaac Newton
Of yethe Mahuzzims di
Of yethe Apocalypse of St Iohn
P Part 1
Part II
Chap 1
Of yethe Prophecyes of Daniel
Of yethe Apocalyps of St Iohn
Introduction concerning yethe time wnwhen yethe Apocalypse was writ θ
chap. I
ch. I
Introduction concerning yethe Authors of yethe books of yethe old TestamtTestament.
Introduction concerning yethe time wnwhen Apocalypse was writ
Ch. II
Ch. II.
Of yethe Prophetick language.
Of yethe Relation wwhich yethe Prophecy of Iohn hath to yethe book of yethe Law of Moses & to yethe worship of God in yethe Temple.
Ch. III
Of yethe VisnVision of yethe Image composed of 4 metals
Ch IV
Of yethe VisnVision of yethe 4 Beasts
Ch. V
Ch. III
Of yethe KingdomsKingdoms reprresented byye yethe feet of yethe Image composed of Iron & clay.
Of yethe Relation wwhich yethe Prophecy of Iohn hath to yethe Book of Daniel & of yethe Subject of yethe Prophecyy.
Ch. VI
Of yethe 10 kingdoms reprrepresented by yethe 10 horns of yethe 4th beast
Ch. VII
Of yethe 11th horn of DanllsDaniells 4th beast
N. p 33. l. 1–20 instead of O. p. 67. l. 1–3
Ch. VIII
Of yethe power of yethe 11th horn of DanllsDaniells 4th beast [to change times & laws]
Ch. IX
Of yethe Prophecy of yethe Ram & the goat
Ch. X
Of yethe Prophecy of yethe 70 weaks
Ch. XI
Of yethe Prophecy of yethe Scripture of truth
Ch. XII
Of yethe King who did according to his will &c
Titles in yethe Old
Titles in yethe New
An acctaccount of yethe Empires of yethe Babylonians, Medes Persians & Romans according to yethe descriptions given of ymthem by Daniel.
Sect. I. Of yethe Prophetick Language
pa?
Ch. 1. Of yethe Prophetick Language.
Sect. II. Of yethe Kingdoms represented in Daniel by yethe 4 Beasts, & of yethe ten horns of yethe fourth Beast
p. 5
96r
Titles in yethe Old
Titles in yethe New
An acctaccount of yethe Empires of yethe Babylonians Medes Persians, Greeks & Romans according to yethe descriptions given of them by Daniel.
Sect. I. Of yethe Prophetick Language.
pa. 1
Ch. I. Of yethe Prophetick Language
pa. 1
Ch. II. Of yethe vision of yethe Image composed of four metals.
}
p. 3
Sect. II. Of yethe Kingdoms represented in Daniel by yethe four Beasts, & of yethe ten horns of yethe fourth Beast
}
5
Ch. III. Of yethe vision of yethe Four Beasts
5
Ch. IV Of yethe ten Kingdoms represented by yethe Feet of yethe Image composed of Iron & Clay
}
7
Sect. III.
Ch. V. Of yethe ten Kingdoms represented by yethe 10 horns of yethe fourth Bear
}
11
Sect. III. Of yethe eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast
}
21
Ch. VI. Of yethe eleventh horn of Daniels fourth Beast
}
19
Sect. IV. Of yethe Power of yethe eleventh horn of Daniel's fourth Beast to change times & Laws
}
27
Sect. V. Of yethe Kingdoms represented in Daniel by yethe Ram & yethe Hegoat.
}
37
Ch. VII. Of yethe Prophecy of yethe Ram & yethe He-goat
}
25
Ch. VIII. Of yethe Prophecy of yethe 70 weeks
27
Sect. VI. Of yethe Prophecy of yethe Scripture of Truth.
}
43
Ch. IX of yethe Prophecy of yethe Scripture of Truth
}
29
Sect. VII Of yethe King who did according to his will, & magnifyed himself above every God, & honoured Mahuzzim̄mms, & regarded not yethe desire of women
}
53
Sect. VIII. Of Mahuzzims honoured by yethe King who doth according to his will
}
57
S IX Of yethe Relation wwhich yethe Prophecy of Iohn hath to yethe Law of Moses & to yethe worship of God in yethe Temple
}
67
Ch. X. Of yethe Apocalypse of Iohn
533
S. X. Of yethe Relation wwhich yethe Prophecy of Iohn hath to those of Daniel & of yethe Subject of yethe Prophecy
}
75
Ch. XI. Of yethe opening yethe Seals of yethe book wwhich Daniel was commanded to seal-up
}
39
96v
N. p. 5. l. 3 [Beasts] adde out of yethe old ∟arising successively out of yethe great Sea in 4 great winds, ytthat is, according to yethe Prophetick language 4 Kingdoms arising successively wh in 4 great wars.]
l. 18. for [reigned] out of yethe old [arose]
l. 43 [An. Nab 500] old [580]
Ⓧ X Ⓧ p. 5, l 6. is omitted yethe observation of yethe resemblance between yethe beast in yethe Apocalypse & this 4th beast X
p. 6. l. 10 [lybia] is omitted
⨳ p. 11. l. 23. [AC. 407. Godegisilus] it was 406. & is so in yethe old. & 2 lines after in this it said ytthat Godegesilus led ymthem into Gallia AC so was probably yethe King ynthen.
This is yethe 1st of yethe 10; q if yethe alteration were not wthwith an intention to have fixd yethe y 407 for all.
N. 2. is alter'd from 406 to 407, ꝑperhaps, are a firmer King struck out
N. 3. was was 407 but now is 4086
N. 5, & 6. 407 But yet
N. 3. 400 stands for yethe Year of Alan's
n. 4. 407 is alter'd to 406
n. 7. is 407 or 408
n. 8. stands 406
n. 9. is yet earlyer, 389. but yt is 4th then yethe ynthen King of yethe Lombards reigned 33 yrsyears [ytthat is to 422]
n. 10. he places yethe translation of yethe Imperiall Seal from Rome to Ravenna. 40
Quere therefore ⨳
p. 15. l. 1 for [receive] read from yethe old [recover]
X △ X p. 15. l. 3, & 4.
The 1st exprression seems to speak of yethe Roman force in Brittain being weak not yethe second, vires Britannorum. ql
quære △
l. 16 for [Vadall] [Vandall
l 50. [407] in yethe old [406]
☉ X ☉ p. 18. l. 15
new [a Kingdom of yethe Alemans] yethe old [a Kingdom of yethe Alemans & Suevians] X
p. 19. l. 31. in margine put [vide Actor. Erudit. suppl. Tom 2. Sect. 1. pa. 37, 38]
See ytthat pages are right
p. 20. l 18 for [State] read [Senate] The Authority & just after, seems to be Authority of yethe Senate. And he adds a little below ytthat yethe authority of yethe Senate in civil affairs was henceforwards absolute.
p. 23. l. 7, 8 for [iIn a small book printed at Paris 1689 & entituled An Historicall Dissertation] say [In yethe above mentioned Historicall Dissertation]
for it is mentioned above p. 19 & yethe place where printed; & yethe Marginall note there the page 23 is here above directed to be put in yethe marge of reference to it in pa. 23, is above directed to be put in yethe MargeMargine of p. 19.
p. 25 l. 4. for [predicted] from yethe old [represented]
for yethe 1st Monarchy, was ynthen in being & not therefore then foretold. & 5 ... Empires are reprresented thô 2 of ymthem., yethe 2 first began together & so from yethe beginning of yethe first to yethe end of yethe last is but yethe duration of 4
p. 33. l. 17. for [Prophecy] read [Book]
For he is there speaking of yethe Interpretation as distinguished from yethe Prophecy, & shewing h ow far it reaches, having before shewn how far the Prophecy reached: & ytthat yethe Interpretation begins where yethe Prophecy ends & both together make up this prophetick book, to yethe end whereof yethe Interpretation reaches.
p. 74. l. 11 for [The whole Prophecy of yethe Book of yethe Law] read [The whole Prophecy of yethe Book represented by yethe Book of yethe Law] or [The whole Prophecy of yethe Book wwhich here answers to yethe Book of yethe Law in yethe Ark]
97r
The second Trumpet.
And the second Angel sounded & as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea & the third part of the sea became blood & the third of the creatures wchwhich were in the sea & had life died & the third part of the ships were destroyed. A great mountain burning with fire signifies a great city consuming by war. It & the waters of & the Sea are the people of the Western Empire. The mountain was cast into yethe sea, that is thrown down from its dominion & dignity & its people levelled wthwith yethe waters waters or common people of the western Empire here signified by the sea, & scattered among them. And the third part of the sea became blood & the third part of the creatures wchwhich were in the sea & had life died, that is the laws body politique of the people signified by the waters of the third parts of the sea & by the creatures therein died was slain & politically & dissolved. A The western & Eastern Empires & kingdom of Persia are the who And the third part of yethe ships were destroyed that is the time habitable places or towns of the third part were taken. The whole subject of Sacred prophesy is the Western & Sea is the great sea out of wchwhich the four Monarchijes compass of yethe four Monarchies arose comprehending the Western & Eastern Roman Empires & yethe kingdom of Persia wchwhich are the whole subject of sacred prophesy & the third part of the sea is one of yethe three, & most properly the wetsern empire & namely the western Empire or sea out of wchwhich the ten horned Beast arose. At the sounding of this Trumpet the great city Room was beseiged thrown down & destroyed & the western Empire was invaded politically Slain, dissolved & broken into ten kingdoms & its towns were taken & plundered & became subjected to new governments Lords & reduced into servitude under new Lords. For in the end of the year 407 a great body of barbarous nations namely Goths Vandals Alans Burgundians, Suevians, Alemans, San Chatti &c being invited from their seats by then Spain wthwith great violence & the Fracks on this side yethe Rhene revolted & called in other Franks from beyond the Rhene & the Ostrogoths rising from Visigoths under Alaric leaving their seats in Pannonia invaded Italy & to the Hunns came into 12 year 4 ab Noricum A. C. 408 & there hearing of the death of Stilico who for conspiring with them was slain the same year 10 Kal. Sept. they went into Italy & & beseiged Rome & took it f twice [first in the year 409 after a siege of some continuance & then again in yethe year 410] & in two years & by famin sword & captivity emptied it of inhabitants & harassed the rest of Italy & thence invaded Gallia & Spain. & the Hunns succeeded the Goths in Pannonia. And these ene And the Picts & Scots invaded Britain. And they se Saleucens barbarous nations overpowering the Empire, most of them kept what they conquered & erected formed new kingdoms in their conquests. [The wars I have already described at large & in shewing the rise of the ten kings & need not repeat the description here. But some things may be noted here concerning the greatness of the plague.]
Stilico being slain 10 Kal. Sept.
Alaric first beseiged Rome in the end of end of the year 408 or bega beg [but was then bought off. He beseiged it again in the year 409] & took it being force & first & took the Gate in wchwhich the stores of the city were laid up continued the siege till many perished by famin & by eating one another & by past least of the pest thence arising from the steams of dead carcasses & afterwards & A. C. 409 he took yethe city by famin & force & by the consent of the remainder of feastafter a great number of the citizens perishing by famin & by eating one another he who had escaped perishing suffered the remainder of the citizens to purchase their lives, & by their consent saluted Attalus Emperor & wthwith Attalus beseiged Honorius at Hasta Ravenna but was being there beaten repulsed & affronted by the Romans he returned the next year A. C. 410 to Rome in anger & took it a second time, & burnt part of put the part of the citizens had perished by famin took no & after many of the citizens was famished & after & beseiged it again & after a new famin & pestilence wherein many perished took yethe city a second time, A. C. 410 put the citizens to yethe sword except such as fled to the churches permitted his army to gave plunder the inhab houses, of had perish & burnt part of the city, & captivated those citizens & disperst the citizens miserable citizens who had escaped the famin pestilence & Sword, so that the city continued three or four years wthoutwithout inhabitants, & was afterwards repeopled by degrees. Fame perit antequam gladio et vix pauci qui caperentur inventi sunt Ad98r Ad nefandos cibas erupit esurientium rabies & sua invicem membra laniarunt: dum mater non parcit lactanti in fanti & suo recipit utero quem paulo ante effaderat. Hieron. Epist. 16. Hence is became a proverb: Pone pretium humanis carnisnibus as Zosimus relates who also adds: Famen (ceu consentaneum erat) pestis comitabatur, omniaque plena cadaveribus erant. Cumque non possent extra urbem sepeliri cadavera quod omnem exitum hostes observarent, urbs ipsa mortuorum sepulchrum erat: adeò quidem ut alioqui etiam solitudo in urbe foret: Siqua nulla fuisset alimentorum penuria, vel exhalans e cadaveribus ador ad interficienda corrum pendaque corpora suffecisset: Zosim l. 5. Proh nefas Orbis terrarum ruit in nobis peccata non ruunt. Urbs inclyta et Romani imperij caput uno hausta est incendio. Nulla est regio qua non exules Romanos habeat: Hieron. ad Gaudentium Epist 12. Quis crederet ut totius Orbis extructa victorij Roma corrueret, ut ipsa suis populis et meater fieret et sepulchrum, ut tota Orientis Ægypti Africæ littora ohim dominatricis urbis servorum et ancillarum nuncero complerentur, ut quotidie sancta Bethlehem nobiles quondam utriusque sexus atque omnibus divitijs affluentes, susciperent meadicantes? Quibus quomiam opem ferre non possumus condolemus et lachrymas lachrymis jungimus: Hieron. Proæm in Ezek. 3. Occiden talium fuga & sactorum lacorum constipatio nuditate atque vulne ribus indigentium, rabiem præferat barbarorem, quos absque lachrymis et gemitu videre non possumus: Hieron in Proæm in Ezek. 7. Barbari qui cum Alaricho erant quicquid obviam fuit igni ferroque vastantes ad extremum Roman quoque ipsam occuparunt, maximamque partem admirandorum illic operum incendio consumpserunt: Socr. l. 7. c. 10 Alarico Roman ingresso cum intra et extra urbem cædes agerent, omnibus indultum est qui ad sanctorum limina confugerunt: Idatius. Iacente vero in ruderibus urbe Alaricus Campariam in visito deprædatus est, ibique morbo ocubuit. Post hæc verò [ve post mortem Adaulphi rursum incoli cœpit. Philostorg. l. 12. c. 3. Iratus ob hæc Alaricus, anno post primam irruptionem in portum urbus Romæ tanquam hostis infestis signis Roman versus contendit. Exinde vero tantæ gloriæ magnitudinem ac potentiæ famam externus ignis, & hostilis gladius et barbarica captivitas quasi sortito inter se diviserunt. Dum ubs Roman in ruderibus esset Alaricus Campaniam deprædatus est, atque illic morbo correptus occubuit. Uxoris autem ejus frater Adaulphus ei successit qui Placidiam Honorij sororem quam Alaricus captivam ab urbe Roma secum abduxerat, sponsam accepit – nec multo post – a quopiam domestico suo interficitur. Exinde Barbari foxdus cum Honorio percusserunt & Phacidian sororem reddiderunt, [i.e. A. C. 416] — cum prius partem Galliæ ad agros exco endos accepissent Post hæc vero autem [i.e. post annum 416 quo Adaulphus cæsus est & Placidia Imperatori tradita] Roma a gravissimis madis paulalum respirans, incolis frequentari cœpit. Et Imperator cum eo advenisset, manu simul et lingua ædificationem urbis comprobavit. Philostorg l. 12. c. 334, 5. Thus at the sounding of the second Trumpet a great Mountain the Metropolis of Roman Empire was set on flames by war & thrown down from the height of its greatness dominion & dignity & cast down with violence into the Roman sea whose waters are peoples & multitudes & nations & tongues (Apoc. 17, 15) & sunk into the lowest degree of for the people of this city inhabitants who survived the flames siege being thrown out dispersed & scattered into all the Empire & sinking among in the Roman waters into the lowest degree of misery poverty dishonour & misery. And tho the city was afterwards peopled again yet it was but thinly peopled & henceforward continued became recovered its temporal greatness no more but was made subject to the Ravenna wchwhich hence forward became the seat Metropolis of this Empire.
The sacking of old Babylon by the Medes —
The text on this page appears upside down.The Vandals were called into Afric by Banoface th
For In yethe year 427 Boniface who had yethe governor of Afric the governer of Afric having beaten an army wchwhich Ætius sent agtagainst him to strengthen himself against yethe attempts of Ætius sailed into Spain had married a Vandal & invited invited yethe Vandals into Afric out of Spain into Afric & favoured them in so promising them a part of yethe country & for two or three years he favoured g them in conquering the same, & at yethe same time he suffered also & pe the & perhaps invited a body of southern barbarians to invade another part thereof: both wchwhich invasions are Austin in an Epistle to Boniface makes this mention. Navigasti uxeremque duxisti — et hæresis eorum qui verum filium Dei negant tantum prævaluit ut in domo tua ut ab ipsis filia tua baptizarentur. — Quando ergo poteris tot hominum armatorum (Vandalorum scil.) quorum fovenda erat cupiditas, timenda atrocitas: quando, inquam poteris eorum con cupiscentia qui diligunt mundun, non dico satian quod fieri nullo modo potest sed aliqua ex parte pascere ne universa plebs pereat, nisi tu facias quæ Deus prohibet et faci entibus comminatur? Propter quod vides tam multa contrita ut jam vile aliqud quod vapiatur vix einveniatur. Quid autem dicam de vastatione —
After this Boniface & other applications made to him made to him by the Empress b Boniface repented of what he had done began to opposeth the Vandals in Mauritania but was beaten by the Vandals & were pursued by them into Numdia & beseiged in Hippo A. C. 330] the Vandals beat him was beaten by them in Mauritania. pursued him into After wthwith they marched invaded Numidia bent & beseiged him Boniface in Hippo & after fourteen months seige burtburnt yethe city. & new forces being sent against them m under Aspar from both Vandals under Aspar from Rome & & also from Constantinople under Aspar under Aspar they beat those also. After wchwhich – – – – – upon yethe death of Austin above mentioned who died in Hippo in yethe 3d month of yethe siege of that City.
Fora upon a discord between Ætiwus & Boniface governour of Afric - - - invited them into Afric, promising them a part of yethe country. Whereupon they invaded passed into Afric the same years & Boniface & invaded Mauritania; & & at yethe same time Boniface suffered also & perhaps invited a body of southern barbarians to invade another part thereof: both wchwhich invasions & A. C. 409 was bought off for a great quantity of Gold Silver & other valuable things raised the siege & went against afterwards treated also wthwith the Emperor Honorius then residing but the at Ravenna but there receiving a repulse & being denied all terms of peace returned to Rome & demanded their assistance against Honorius about peace but the Emperor & those about him having sworn to have no peace with him refused refused all his proposals the very tho adjudged very reasonable & thereupon he returned to Rome & demanded the assitance of yethe Romans agtagainst the Emperor. They at first refused & he beseiged the city again & took yethe gate where their provisions were laid up & when they were prest with famin the Senate made Attalus the Senate consented & made Attalus (who was then Prefect of yethe City) their Emperor, & Attalus made Alaric captain of his forces & went with him against Honorius, but upon some new disgust Alaric laid Attalus aside & beseiged Rome a third time A. C. 410 & after a new famin & pestilence wherein great multitudes perished took yethe city Au in the night Aug. 23. A. C. 410, put some to yethe sword sparing those who fled to Churches, permitted his army to plunder the houses.
99r
The third Trumpet
And the third Angel sounded, & there fell a great star from heaven burning as it were a lamp [the Emperor of the west consuming by war] & it fell upon the third part of the rivers [the kingdoms of the western Empire wchwhich is a third part of yethe whole subject of sacred prophesy & upon the fountains of waters [the head cities of those kingdoms.] And the name of the star is called Wormwood [bitterness of affliction] & the third part of the waters became wormwood [the nations of the third part & many men died of the waters because they were made bitter [the nations of the third part by the fall of the star being were embittered wthwith affliction & the men of the western Empire dyed , a death politique by the dissolution of that Empire.]
The figure of a great star burning as it were a lamp & burning as it were a lamp & falling from heaven into the waters & in its fall burning as it were a lamp is of the same kind with that of the mountain burning & falling into the sea, with this only difference that the mountain signifies a reigning reg of reigning city & the star a reigning king each wthwith their dominion. This figure is taken from Isaiah's prophesy ch. 14. 10 against the king of Babylon, where he thus compares that king to the morning star falling from heaven. How art thou Isa. 14. 12 fallen from heaven o Lucifer son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the grownd who didst weaken the nations! For thou hast hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of yethe clouds, I will be like the most High: yet thou shall be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the pit. As the old Prophets represent the fall of old Babylon & its king by the fall of a burning mountain & & the fall of its king by that of the falling of the bring morning star: so Iohn represents the fall of new Babylon & that of its king by the fall of a great burning mountain & by that of a great star burning like a lamp. Certainly this star cannot be applied more proper to any thing more properly then to the western Emperor. For the several kingdoms were now rent from him yet he retained still a great dominion reigning over all Italy, Afric, Rhœtia, Noricum, Istria, Dalmatia, & some part of Gallia & Spain & claimed a right to the whole.: & And even Afric alone was as big or almost as big as all Gallia & Spain together. For Baronius computes (out of Austin) that there were above 625 seats Episcopal seats at least Baron. ad Ann. 411 sect. 6. in Afric, A. C. 411 besides 120 more recconed by the Donatists.. But upon the sounding of this Trupet the Vandals A. C. 427 invaded Afric & rent it from him & then with a great fleet by a tedious war & violent war rent most of it from him & then of 300000 invaded the islands of the Mediterranean & ✝✝ Genseric now king of the Vandals had formerly lately married his son Honoric to the daughter of Theodoric king of the Visigoths, & upon suspicion of her preparing poison for him had cut off her nose & sent her back to her father, & fearing to prevent revenge incited sent many gifts to Attila king of the Hunns by many & incited him by many gifts to invade & ruin Theodoric. Whereupon Attila with an army ✝ wthwith of 700000 seven five hundrehundred thousand Hunns, Ostrogoths, Gepides, Herules, & other barbarians A. C. 451 passed the Rhene & A. C. 451 entered Gallia & wasted many cities but was beaten by the united force of the Western Emperor & barbarous kings of Gallia, & forced to retire into Scythia wthwith the remainder of his army. And the next year hav A. C. 452 having got up a bigger army then before he invaded passed over the frozen Danube in winter marched in sp into Pannonia in winter & marched thence in spring to yethe Iulian Alps against to Italy to revenge himself on the western the western Emperor for assisting the Visigoths, & besieged Aquileia. The city held out till his army began to grow weary but at length was taken & Attila marched thence to the Po & along the Po to towards Millain & Ticinum Pavia plundering all the cities as he went & t the next winter passedg the Po the & directed his course twards Rome but was opposed by Ætius who had got together with a very great army of Romans & Barbarians, made peace wthwith yethe Romans & retired went back wthwith many captives into Pannonia together & thence he retired in to Scythia Pannonia wthoutwithout giving battel, & died A. C. 454, [& his sons dividing his Empire among them by lot going about to divide by lot the nations over whom he reigned, Ardaricus king of the Gepides revolt took it for an affront that warlike nations should have lots cast upon them like cattel. & revolted & even joynin together wthwith other nations who revolted with him gave them battel & in Pannonia & routed them, after wchwhich by the consent of the Gepides sea he Emperors Marcian & Valentinian gr the Gepides seated themselves in Dacia & the Ostrogoths in Pannonia] And in the end of the year Ætius was slain, a man who had long commanded the army with great fidelity courage conduct & success & was the support of the Empire & in his room Ricimer a Vandal or as some say a Sueve was made commander of the army, & actedy which very much promoted the ruin of the Empire. For Ricimer acted like [wthwith great arrogance & infidelity promoted the fall of the Empire. For pulling down ruin Emperors at pleasure & being] another Stico but with better success. [setting up & so that the Empire hence forward became much disturbed New Emperors were frequently created & slain. Valentinian was slain this year. Italy was plundered by the Vandals & Maximus slain the next year. The Romans were diven out of It Afric the next year. The next year A. C. 455 Genseric with a fleet of three hundred thousand Vandals & Moors invaded Italy, took & plundered Rome & many other cities, slew the Emperor Maximus, & carried hence the flower & Auritus deposed created Emperor & deposed & wealth of Italy into Afric & the next year next year invaded & conquered the rest of Afric & expelled the Romans, & the next year invaded & plundered Italy again & particularly Campania & henceforward continued to infest Europe wthwith with yearly incursions invasions till the western Empire fell. And henceforward they invaded the coasts of Europe yearly. They beat &c sea coasts of Eurpoe & A. C. 455 took invaded Rome & many other cities in Italy there & with a fleet of three hundred thousand men Vandals & Moors invaded Italy & took Rome & slew the Emperor Maximus & carried thence the wealth & flower of Italy into Afric & the next year invaded the rest100r rest of Afric & ejected the Romans [& thence forward in feste & the next & the next year invaded Italy again✝ & continued to infest Europe wthwith yearly incursions untill the western Emp] At length The western Emperor Valentinian had contrived to f circumvent & force the wife of Maximus a Senator of the & Patrician of Chief rank & the Lady discovering it to her husband in order to Revenge: Maximus contrived to make persuaded Valentinian vile that Ætius who commanded the forces of yethe Empire was false to him & caused him by that means procured the death of Ætius the Emperors most faithful friend & support of the Empire, & then persuaded two friends of Ætius in revenge to kill Valentinian, & upon his death entered the Palace & taking the Empress Eudoxia married her & lying with her that might told her that out of extreme love to her he had conspired against Valentinian. Whereupon she geinb in revenge she invited she sent a messenger privately with gifts to Genseric king of the Vandals & invited him to come & revenge her up cause upon Maximus] And now Ætius who commanded the forces of the Empire being & acted wthwith great fidelity skill & courage & was the stay of the Empire, being dead & Ricimer a Vandal commanding in his roome & being infa being succeeded by Ricimer a Vandal, Ricimer who acted unfaithfully setting up Emperors & pulling them down the Empire be henceforward became very much disturbed. New Emperors were frequently created The Vandals invaded Italy & other the coasts of & slain. The barbarous nations became more bold & slain. The European Barbarians were encouraged against them. Europe yearly the next year (A. C. 177 156) invaded the rest of Afric & ejected the Romans, & the next year invad year following invaded & plundered Italy again & slain. The Vandals invaded & plundered the coasts of Europe yearly. & beat an greater a arm the forces wthwith wchwhich the Emperor Majoranus invaded Afric endeavoured to recover Afric. They beat a fleet of 1113 ships wthwith an army of 100000 an hundred thousand men wchwhich the Greek Emperor Leo sent against them They invited the Ostrogoths to invade Italy & both Empires, & that part of the Ostrogoths who invaded Italy being bought off by the Western Emperor retired into Gallia & there joyning with the Visigoths Geiseric sollicited the Visigoths wthwith gifts & they took from the Emperor what remained to him in Gallia & Spain. And Ricimer falling out while these things were doing Ricimer falling fell out wthwith the Emperor Anthemius beseiged him in Rome & took the city & after the city had by a long siege laboured wthwith famin & pestilence took it by force o suffered his sold gave his soldiers the plunder, & slew the Emperor & slew the Emperor ✝ And after these things the Odoacer
king of the Heruli in Germany shang the Emperor stript of hi Empire small & disturbed & poor & impover poor & Turcilingi in Germany Sciri & Rugi nations of interior Germany who had assisted Attia diminished hearing how the Empire was diminished & disturbed & remained without riches or strength got up an army marched through Rhœtia & Venetia into Italy & in one year subdued it & raised an army & in spring came over the Danube into Noricum & marched thence by Trene & Verona into Italy beseiged Orestes wthwith the army of the Empire in Pavia & took them prisoners. Marched thence againt the Emperor Augustulus &, took Ravenna & Rome & in one year conquered & put an end to the Empire. Thus did this great star fall & sink in the Roman waters & during its fall by degrees & in falling burn let fla bu flamed continually wthwith war & burnt like a lamp untill it sunk & vanished in the many waters of the Empire, the Vandals making war upon this Empire almost fifty years together till they ruined the brought it to ruin.
99v
Max
— but wthwith better success so that the affairs of the Empire were henceforward very much disturbed perplexed & the lives of the Emperors very short & their power contemptible The death of Ætius was contrived by Maximus a Senator & Patrician who soon after procured also the death of yethe Emperor Valentinian & invaded the throne. Whereupon the Empress Eudoxia the widdow of Valentinian invited Geiseric king of the Vandals to come to her assistance against Maximus. And Geiseric the next year A. C. 455 wthwith a fleet of three hundred thousand Vandals & Moors invaded Italy & plundered Rome & many other cities & carried thence the flower & wreath of Italy into Afric, & the next year invaded & conquered the rest of Afric & expelled the Romans out of rent all Afric from yethe western Empire.
100v
& the kings of the Ostrogoths Gepids & other nations under them
Maximus a Senator & Patrician had contrived the death of Ætius & soon after of Valentinianrevolted from his sons: the Emperor Valentinian & also & invaded the throne & thereupon the Empress Eudoxia yethe widdow of Valentinian in revenge invited Geiseric king of the Vandals to come to her assistance against Maximus. And Geiseric the next year A. C. 455,
Before yethe end of this year Maximus a Senator & Patrician contrived the death first of Ætius & then of yethe Emperor Valentinian, & invaded the throne. A the Empress Eudoxia the widdow of Valen
The next year A. C. 456 they invaded & conquered the rest of Afric & expelling the Romans out of Tripoli rent all Afric from the Empire & [extended their dominion from the sea to Tripoli.] And hence henceforward infested Italy & all Europe wthwith yearly incursions & then seized they invaded & seized subdued Sicily Sardinia Majorca Minorca & many Isles of yethe Mediterraneas & infested the seacoasts of Italy & all Europe wthwith yearly incursions & depredations till yethe western Empire fell.
But upon the sounding of the third trumpet this Empire was involved in new wars & whereby it was wasted for almost fifty years together & then ceased.
For in yethe year 427 the Vandals inva & Alans & invaded Afric & there made war upon this Empire with great destruction & by degrees carried on their conquests till they took Hippo A. C. 430 & Carthage A. C. 439 & the & thence they invaded Sicily & the Islands of the Mediterranean & frequently infested the sea-coasts of Europe. making annual frequent expeditions
While
During the peace between the Emperor & Genseric king of the Vandals Genseric & turned set himself becomes afflicted then king himself set himself to molested the Catholic clergy set himself removing & banishing many of their Clergy upon pretences of their reflecting upon him in their sermons, & felled their places some of the Vandals A. C. 437 with Bishops & Presbyters of his own religion] in yethe year 439 infested the mediterranean wthwith Pyracy & the next year wasted many Islands & chiefly Sicily then made war again upon the Romans they beseiged & took it in October A. C. 439 & Geiseric the year following invaded the Romans invaded the Islands of the mediterranean by land in Afric & took Carthage the richest & most populous & potent city of all Afric, captivated many of the senators spoile seized the wealth of the city & subdued the province & yethe next year invaded Sicily & Sardinia. And the next year following the Gr A. C. 440 continued to infested the Islands of yethe Mediterranean invaded Sicily wasting all places there as they had done in Afric ☉ ☉ Ætio 2 et Sigisvulto Coss. A. C. 433 Piraticam Barbari Fœderatorum desertores exercuerunt Theod 17 & Fausto Coss (A. C. 438) Vandali Iide piratæ multas in susllas sed præcipue Siciliam vastavere: Marcellinus in Chron. Bella Bella, vastatis urbibus mari clausis, atque eversis Sardinia et Sicilia, id est fiscalibus horreis, atque abscissis vitalibus venis, [bella] Vandali African ipsam id est quasi amiman captivarêre rei publicæ. In the year 441 the Greek Emperor sent against the Vandals a fleet of 60 ships wchwhich sailed to Sicily & thence to Afric but returned wthoutwithout doing any thing, & the year following the Vandals made peace wthwith both the Emperors, & returned to persecute the Catholicks in Afric. for their religion. But in yethe year 455 Of what consequence these last years were to yethe Empire Salvian has thus exprest. & the year following the Greek Emperor sent against them an army a fleet of 60 ships wchwhich (sailedg to Sicily & spending most of yethe summer in that Island went late to Afric & wthoutwithout doing any thing returned to Sicily & sailed thence to Greece & the next year the Vandals made peace wthwith both Emperors.
In the mean time Genseric had married his daughter to Son Huneric to the daughter of Theoderic king of the Visigoths & upon suspicion of her preparing poison for him cut of her nose & sent her back to her father & to prevent revenge sent to Attila king of the Hunns & sollicited incited him by many guifts to invade & destroy Theoderic. Whereupon Attila prepared wthwith an army of 500000 five hundred thousand Hunns, Got Ostro Hunns, Ostrogoths, Gepids
Theodosio 18 et Festo Coss (A. C. 439 Carthage a Vandalis capta. Valentiniano v et Anatolio Coss (A. C. 440) Geisenas Siciliam graviter affligit. Cyro v et Cos (A. C. 441) Theodosius Imperator bellum contra Vandalos movet ducibus cum magna classe directis. Dioscuro et Eudoxio Coss (A. C. 442) Cum Geiserico ab Augusto Valentiniano pax confirmata et cærtis spatijs Africa inter utrumque divisa. Prosper in Chron.
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The fourth Trumpet.
When Odoacer reigned about 14 years in Italy, & in the meantime Zeno the Greek Emperor adopted in the mean time contracted friendship wthwith Theodoric king of the Ostrogoths in Thrace & Pannonia, & adopted him to be his son, & made him Patricius & Consul of Constantinople. & granted him Italy by gave a donation in writing & Patri & to divert him from invading the Eastern Empire gave him the kingdom of yethe west recommending to him the Roman people & senate. So Procopius: tells us Zeno . . . . . experiri & Theodoric thereupon led his nation into into Italy So Procopius: Zeno . . . . . Italiam petit. conquered Odoacer & extended his kingdom over ruled over Theodoric soon conquered Odoacer & extended his dominion over Italy, Sicily, Rhetia, Noricum, Dalmatia, Liburnia, Istria, & part of Suavia, Pannonia & Gallia. Whence Ennodius in a Panegyric to Theodoric said, ad limitem suum Romana regna remeasse. Theodoric reigned with great prudence moderation & felicity for 37 years together governed the Romans by their own laws & treated the Romans with singular benevolence governing them by their own laws, & absteining only from yethe name of Emperor For Procopius tells us: Theodoricus ita sibi prentibus præfuit ut . . . . . . shubditis relinquens. [Procop de Bello Got. l. 1] And Cassiodorus . . . . superantur. In this manner. Cassiodorus tells us: Rex Theodoricus Romam cunctorum votis expetitus advenit, & Senatum suum mira affabilitate tractans, Romanæ plebi donavit annonas, atque Urbis admirandis mœnibus, deputa per annos singulos maxima pecuniæ quantitate, subvenit: sub cujus fælici imperio plurimæ renovantur ubes, munitissima castella condutur, consurgunt admiranda palatia, magnisque ejus operibus antiqua miracula superantur. And Procopius: Theodoricus Ita Theodoricus sibi parentibus prœfuit ut . . . . . subditis relinquens Erat Theodosius fama quidem Procop. de Bello Got. l. 1. Tyrannus, re tamen prœ se veri specimen Imperatoris ferebat, ut qui vel eorum qui a principio ea in dignitate probatiores fuissent, nemini inferior fuerit: et Gothos quidem ac item ac Italos pari quadam ac summa benevolentia, suapte humanitate prosequebatur, ita ut omnes (quod utique difficillimum est) ejus Imperium oblectaret. In this manner Theodoricus & his successor Athalaricus governed the west forty & two years, so that Evagrius the historian calls them administrators of the Western Empire, & others write that the Western Empire was translated to them, & Procopius an eye witness who warred in Italy under Bellisarius introduces the Goths thus contending with Bellisarius: Non vi Romanis . . . . . . per injuriam invaditis. Nos Italiæ suscepto Imperio leges simul et Rempublicam salvas non minus reddidimus quam superiorum alius quisquam Imperatorum. Romanorum sacravia eo in honore sunt apud nos habita ut a nullo nostratium hominum sit, qui ad ea confugerit, violatus. Omnibus prœterea urbanis antehac magistratibus Romani perfungebantur; Gothus viv nemo eorum particeps factus. Vel procedat in medium qui profari nos ista non vere existimet. Addat et Consularem quispiam dignitatem qua Gothi etsi ab Orientis Imperatore donati, Romanis tamen perfungi libere permiserunt.
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Now the four winds being signifying four great & durable wars between the Romans & Barbarians & the fourth being in the northern quarters a northern wind in respect in respect of Rome; & there being no such war with the Romans after the fall of the western Cæsars during all the reign of Odoacer Theodomir & Athalaric; [And & the war wchwhich Iustinian & his successors made upon the Ostrogoths & other barbarians in Italy & other regions northward of Rome being such a war & immediately succeeding the Wars of before the of the Vandals wchwhich were the third wind & seeing the first war in Italy wchwhich succeeded the happy reign of the & putting an end to yethe] we may reccon that the fourth wind or war happy state of yethe Romans and Italy under the Ostrogoths to wchwhich the fourth trumpet sounded began with wchwhich A. C. 435 when Iustinian (having newly conquered the Vandals the year before) sent an army under Belisarius & other captains against the Ostrogoths. [& put an end to the happy reign of that flourishing & put an end to the peaceable & peaceable & happy reign of times under the that flourishing kingdom in Italy. For this war new war began A. C. 535 wchwhich was the year after Iustinian had conquered the Vandals in Afric, Ib was waged almost wholy in Dalmatia Siburnia Venetia Lumbardy & put an end to their kingdom. It was Tuscia & the others parts of yethe Empire of the Goths wchwhich lay northward from Rome. & It put an end to the peaceable & flowing times of Italy under the Ostrogoths & was very lasting; & violent and destructive For it continued In continuing about seventy years, twenty years between the Romans & Ostrogoths & fifty years more between the Romans & other barbarous nations. And it was very violent & destructive. Procopius reccons that more men perished in the war with the Ostrogoths then in that with yethe Vandals. In taking Millain alone the Goths slew all the males amounting (as Propius reccons) to 300000, & sent yethe weomen captives in Gallia to their allies the Burgundians; Rome was taken beseige besides what was were slain by both parties in other sieges & in Battels & or perished by famin & pestilence the consequence of great wars. And Rome it self was taken & retaken several times & in one of the sieges of this city suffered by famin & pestilence & by sending dispersing her people to other places in time of [She was [So far dispeopled by former the wars of Alaric & those of yethe Vandals as in this war of the Goths to have great quantities of grownd unihabited within her walls whereof wchwhich yeilded grass & vegetables sufficient for nourishing a competent qu number of men & horses in time of a siege: but by] & then by these wars & calamities
And And And thus did the Sun, that is the kings of the Barbarous nations, scorch men with great heat, as is exprest at the pouring out of the fourth Vial, that is with great heat of war. And men were scorched with great heat & blasphemed the name of God who had power over these plagues, & they repented not to give him glory. Blasphemy is in all this prophesy put for idolatry & the names of blasphemy for the names of fo Idols. Men blasphemed God the name of God because of the heat & repented not. that is they were en that is, The more they were punished the more they blasphemed scorched: And instead of repenting of their id worshippers old idolatry they grew more idolatrous then before: [The more they werwere punished the more they blasphemed:] [They worshipped dead men before & the Beast & his Image before now they set up their pist rus & images in their churches & began by degrees, to war first to treat them wthwith respect & devotion, & at length to worship them & particularly at the end of this plague A. C. 608 they set up th or 609 Pope Boniface IV in the roome of the Images of all the heathen Gods they set up in the Pantheon at Rome the Images of the Virgin Mary & all the Christian Saints. And from hence forward the worship of Images silently overspread the worship accepted west.] For The barbarous invasions & perpetual wars brought on ignorance & ignorance brought on Superstition. Pictures began to come into Churches before yethe end of the fourth century & to be worshipped in the fift. Towards the end of yethe sixt century the latine tongue ceased to be spoken in Italy & after the common people understood not the language into wchwhich the scriptures were translated & in which they said their prayers For Austin Epiphanius tore down a painted veil in one of the churches & Austin of Hippo tells us that Nolite consectari turbas imperitorum qui ipsa vera religione superstitiosi sunt — Novi multos esse sepulchrorum et picturarum adoratores. Images also of Christ & the Virgin Mary & Apostles & Saints began ad before yethe fourth century in the fift century & towards yethe end of the 4th & at centuries of the & in the leg to be set up in private houses & publick places in the room of Pagan Images & in the fift & sixt centuries crept by degrees into churches being used at first for ornament & for instructing the people in History but at length by degrees degenerating into superstition.] They invoked & worshipped dead men before & now they began to worshipped their pictures & Images of dead
Before yethe Empire became Christian I meet wthwith nothing [ of Images or Statues among Christians unless perhaps fo for adorning houses fountains or gardens by way of the Architecture for for ado] in the christian religion relating to Images or pictures. Houses Gardens Bridges o Fountains & Bridges might be adorned by architects & painters 7amp; the Communion cup by the Artificers who made it, & but wthoutwithout paying any veneration or ho or honour too the ornaments. After the Empire became Christian the statues of Christian Emperors were set up in stead of those of the heathen & a civil respect might be paid to them as the statues of Roman Emperors: but I do not find that religion102r religion was concerned in the matter till after before the reign of Iulian the Apostate. The Council of Eliberis in Spain ordered that there should be no pictures in churches. There was at Paneas in Syria a statue erected at Paneas by the heathens in memory of Christs curing to a woman of a brass a bloody flux as Eusebius relates, & Iulian ordered this statue to be thrown & down & his own to be placed in the room of it & the Christians [gathered up the broken pieces of this statue, & putting them together] set up placed the statue of Christ in a Christian Church I suppose for preserving it.. And this is the first instance that I meet with of any statue erected placed in a christian Church, supposing The About this time the passions of the Martyrs began to be painted in their Basilicas or Temples erected over their graves. Such was the Basilica of Theodorus the Martyr as Gregory Nyssen describes & the Church at Anablatha in Iudea where Epiphanius tore the painted veil, & the Basilica of Cassian mentioned by Prudentius & that of Hippolytus the Martyr at Rome mentioned by the same Cassian Prudentius & those of Felix wchwhich Paulinus Bishop of Nola caused to be painted. And tho they were painted only for instructing the people in the histories of the passions of the Martyrs yet the painting soon begat in many of the common people a respect & veneration towards the very pictures. For Austin bishop of Hippo tells us: Noli consectori turbas imperitorum qui vel in ipsa vera religione superstitiosi sunt &c Novi vel ita libidinibus dediti ut oblitio sint quicquid promiserint Deo. Novi multos esse sepulchrorum et PICTVRARVM adoratores; novi multos esse qui luxuriosissime super mortuos bibant & epulas cadaveribus exhibentes super sepultos seipsos sepeliant, & voracitates ebrietatesque suas deputant religion. This Austin wrote in the rest of the of in yethe year 388 [of the Romans whe Italians & chiefly of the Romans] in yethe year 388 & the of are when he was at Rome being newly converted [there] to yethe christian faith & not yet returned into Afric & therefore it relates to the people of Rome & Italy. And how superstitious they. A Theodoret tells us in yethe were appears further by what Theodoret tells us of them in the life of Simeon the pullar-Monck tells us farther: Aiunt Romæ, quæ est longe maxima Symeonem fuisse adeo omnium ore celebratum ut in officinarum om̄mnibus vestibulis & porticibus ei parras posuerint imagines hinc sibi præsidium et tutelam parantes. And This shews that the Romans began now to put place much the same vertue & power in the Images as in yethe reliques of saints. And it deserves the more to be taken notice of because this was written before in the lifetime of Simeon & before th when Rome was in its greatness being not yet taken by Alaric. For Mebtius Bp of Antioch died A. C. 381 For this was written in yethe 28th year of Symeon began to fast yearly 40 days yearly in Lent together, wchwhich he did before he was visited by Meletius Bishop of Antioch who died A. C. 381. And so it shews that the Romans even before the taking of Rome by Alaric, when their city was in its greatness, began to place much the th same vertue & power in the Images as in the reliques of Saints. And lest it should seem incredible that they should place so great vertue in the Images of a man who was not yet dead: historians tell you that the Emperor Theodosius himself in his war against Maximus A. C. 388, placed as great vertue in the walking staff & hood of the liviving Monck Senuphius, who was then living sent him by the Bishop of Alexandria. The old heathen custome of offering inferiæ (or infernal sacrifices) to yethe dead was performed by Christians not only at the annual festivals of tombs of the Martyrs in their annual festivals but also at at the Statue of Constantine the great erected at his Tomb.. For Theodovit mentioning the great honour wchwhich was paid to the dead body of Constantine yethe great at his funeral, adds: Quod signis istis non vult credere is ea intuens quæ nune ad ejus loculum et statuam geruntur credat ijs quæ scripta sunt, et Domino qui ducit: Glorificantes me glorificabo & qui me spernunt ipsi spernentur. And what honours were the Christians paid to Constantine at his tomb & statue Philostorgius has recorded: to Imaginem Constantini in Prophyretica columna stantem sacrificijs placent et lucernis accensis ac suffitibus honorant, vota etiam faciunt ut Deo, & supplicationes ad depellendas calasmi tates peragunt. And now this honour began to be paid to the statues of102v of men the Bishop of Rome & the Greek western Emperor Pope & the Emperor advanced their honour by playing brought brought them into Churches. For Pope the Emperor Valentinian the third at the request of Pope Sixtus about the year 436 for For Pope Hadrian in a letter to Charles the great writes that Pope Sixtus [about the year 436] built a Church to the Virgin Mary & adorned it wchwhich holy Images of gold in various histories. & persuaded that the Emperor Valentinian the third to burn at the request of Pope Sixtus fecit Imaginem auream cum duodecim portis et Salvatore gemmis pretiosis ornatam quam voti gratia supra confessionēem beati Petri Apostoli posuit & a tune usque hactenus apud nos ab omnibus fidelibus venerantur. In the twelve Neeches were the twelves statues of yethe 12 Apostles in gold as Anastasius & Platina mention who tell the same story. The same Sixtus placed also in the Church of St Laurence a Silver Statue of St Lawrence weighing 200 pounds. And after the Pope & the Emperor had set these examples we may presume that it came into fashion to set up Images in Churches. in the west
She played the Harlot before she was forgotten, worshipping dead men & beginning to set up their images. & hear her Bishop being called Oecumenical by the Council of Chalcedon or thir fourth general Council & head of all the Churches by the Emperor Iustinian, two years before the wars of the fourth trumpet began. By by the wars of this Trumpet & the great & ruin of the City Rome the Pope was quickly humpled & so the & ha had & forgotten his honour forgotten so that the Bishop of Constantinople claimed the universall Bishopric till the Emperor Phocas by a fresh grant restored it to the Bishop of Rome. Thus she lay wast & was forgotten frequently bega seventy years that is during all the wars of the fourth Trumpt wchwhich began in Italy A. C. 536 & ended A. C. 605 or (if you please) from the siege of Rome A. C. 507 to yethe grant of the universal Bisopric by Phocas.
By all this it should seem to me that painting of Maryres Chappels Oratories in & Churches began in Rome being there set on foot by the Popes Silvester Marcus & Iulius [& Damasus.] that For I meet with no other instances of painting this kind such paintings in their days. Damasus was very superstitious seeking out the bodies of Martyrs & adorning their Easter Cæmetaries or Martyries Monuments wthwith new structures painting & puerses & & painting , & invocations in inscriptions for invocating them About the time of his death or not above 5 or 10 years before the painting of Martyries & Basilicas began to spread into other churches in countries regions countries. For Paulinus Bp of Nola in Italy painted some Churches or Basilicas & Prudentius & G. Nyssen mention wthwith applause some others wchwhich were painted, & Epiphanius
✝ before the reign of Valentinian & Valens. wchwhich But in their reign when the miracles done by the relique of Martyrs began to be cryed up & to men began to busy themselves in seeking out the dead bodys of the martyrs, & building their cæmeteries sepulchres sepulchres & &c Oratories that to in splendid & Oratories & Monuments splendidly they beatetified their monuments wthwith pain & But Oratories & Oratories & Basilicas by painting them wthwith histories of the the passions of the Martyrs in painting for instructing the people & after this custome began to obtein in the Basilica Martyries, the next step was to beautify paint beautify paint the Churches where any of the martyrsies were buried, by painting their histories, or by hanging up painted veils & And all this came into fashion in the reign of Theodosius & his sons.
If the Popes Silvester Marcus & Iulius painted their churches (wchwhich may be doubted) this pract it must be allowed that this practise began in Rome by the Pop & that the Popes were the authors of it. For I meet wthwith no other instances of painting churches so early & these are are attested by no authors of that age. But after the reign of Iulian yethe Apostate when the reliques Miracles done by the reliques of martyrs began to be cried up. The first autor the
Whether the Popes Silvester, Marcus & Iulius painted their churches may be doubted no authors of the 4th 5t 6t or 7th Centuries mentioning it. If they did, it must be allowed that this pass practice began in Rome & was set on foot by the Popes: For I meet wthwith no other other instances of painting churches so early. in any other place No author writer of the first seven centuries, so far as I can find, mentions the painting of any Churches Oratories or Cæm or Martyries before the reign of Iulian the Apostate: but soon after his reign it is mentioned by several And it seems to me that when so there living writers of that time. Basil in his Oration on the Martyr Barlaam mentions it wthwith approbation & so far as I can observe is the first writer who mentions. He mentions it by calling upon yethe painters of the passions of yethe Martyrs to paint yethe passion of Barlaam, & in the same Table to paint Christ the Iudge of their conflicts. Gregory Nyssen in his Oration St Theod mentions wthwith applause the painting of yethe passion in his Martyry & speaks as if there were other Martyries painted in the same manner. Epiphanius tore a veily on wchwhich a martyr was painted in a Church in Palestine Paulinus Bishop of Nola in Campania in Italy caused s Paluinus bishop of Nola in Campania in Italy caused Churches to be painted & adorned thesthese painting wthwith inscriptions a he himself mentions. And He mentions also a painted veil in the Church of S. Felix frequented by people from all parts Prudentius mentions the passions of Cassian & Hippolytus painted in their martyries. And Euodius mentions a painted Veil painted wthwith the effigies of St Stephen recommended (as he thought) by an Angel, & hung up in the Church of St Stephen in Afric, & admired & applauded by the people & endowed wthwith a power of working Miracles
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beginning of these mischiefs. Hilary in his book against Constantius written in yethe 5t year of his banishment A. C. 361 makes this mention of what was then done in the East. Sine martyrio persequeris. Plus crudelitati vestræ Nero, Deci, Maximiane, debemus; Diabolum enim per vos vicimus. Sanctus ubique beatorum martyrum sanguis exceptus est. Dum in his Dæmones mugiunt, dum ægritudines depelluntur, dum admirationum opera cernuntur, elevari sine laqueis corpora & dispansis pede fæminis vestes non defluere in faciem, uri sine ignibus spiritus, confiteri sine interrogantis incremento fidei. Gregory Nazianzen in his first Oration against the Emperor Iulian then reigning writes thus. Martyres non extimuisti Vide etiam Greg. Naz. Carm. Iamb. 18. quibus prœclari honores et festa constituta; a quibus Dæmones propelluntur & morbi curantur, quorum sunt apparitiones & prœdictiones; quorem vel sola corpora idem possunt quod animæ sanctæ, sive manibus contrectentur sive honorentur: quorum vel solæ sanguinis guttæ atque exiguæ passionis signa [i.e. signa crucis] idem possunt quod corpora: Hæc non colis sed contemnis et aspernaris. Sozomen & Ruffin tell us that the Emperor Iulian applying himself to Apollo Daphnæus in the suburbs of Antioch & pressing by many sacrifices for an answer, the Oracle at length told him that the bones of the Martyr Babylas hindered him from speaking. And Chrysostom in his second Oration on St Babylas made at Antioch Vide et Hon 47 in S. Iulian. twenty years after vizt A. C. 382 saith of the miracles done by the saints & their reliques: Nulla est nostri hujus orbis seu regio seu gens seu urbs ubi nova atque inopinata miracula hæc non decantentur: quæ quidem si figmenta fuissent prorsus in tantam hominum admirationem non venissent. And a little after: Abunde Orationi nostræ fidem faciunt quæ quotidiana a martyribus miracula eduntur, magna affatim ad illa hominum multitudine affluente. And in his 66th Homily describing how the devils were tormented & cast out by the bones of the Martyrs, he adds: Ob eam causam multi plerumque Reges peregre profecti sunt ut hoc spectaculo fruerentur. Siquidem sanctorum martyrum Temple futuri judicij vestigia et signa exhibent, dum nimirum Dæmones flagris cœduntur hominesque torquentur & liberantur. Vide quæ Sanctorum vita functorum vis sit? And Ierome in his Epitaph on Paula thus mentions the same things. Paula Epist 27 ad Eustochium. vidit Samariam: ibi siti sunt Eligæus & Abdias Prophetæ & Ioannes Baptista, ubi multis intremuit consternata miraculis. Nam cernebat varijs dæmones rugire cruciatibus & ante sepulchra sanctorum ululare — homines more luporum vocibus latrare canum, fremere Leonum, sibilare serpentum, mugire104r mugire taurorum alios rotare caput & post tergum terram vertice tangere suspensisque pede fæminis vestes non defluere in faciem. This was about the year 382. Eunapius a bigotted heathen but yet a fit witness of what was done in his own times, relating how the soldiers delivered the heathen temples of Egypt into the hands of the Monks (wchwhich was done in yethe year 389) rails thus both at the Monks & at the Martyrs who as succeeding in the room of the old Gods of Egypt. Illi ipsi [milites] Monachos Canobi quoque collocarunt ut pro Dijs qui animo cernuntur, servos et quidem fastigiasos flagitiosos divinis honoribus percolerent, hominum mentibus ad cultum ceremoniasque obligatis. Ii namque condita et salita eorum capita qui ob scelerum multitudinem a Iudicibus extremo supplicio fuerant affecti pro Divis ostentabant, ijs genua submittebant eos in Deorum numerum receptabant, ad illorum sepulchra pulvere sordibusque conspurcati. Martyres igitur vocabantur et Ministri quidam et Legati Arbitrique precum apud Deos, cùm fuerint servitia infida & flagris pessime subacta quæ cicatrices scelerum ac nequitiæ vestigia corposibus circumferrent: Ejusmodi tamen Deos fert tellus. Thus you see the heathens looked up the Go Martyrs as the Gods of these new Christians & but vilified them as the Christians did the Gods of the heathens. In the year 388 Palladius went into Egypt to visit Hist. Laus. c. 67. the Monasteries, & telling how he visited the sepulcher of Apollonius & other Martyrs of Thebais who had suffered under Maximinus, saith: Iis omnibus Christiani fecerunt ædem unam ubi nune multæ virtutes peraguntur. Tanta autem fuit viri gratia ut de ijs quæ esset precatus statim exaudiretur, eum sic honorante Servatore. Quem etiam nos in Martyrio precati, vidimus, cum ijs qui cum ipso fuerunt martyrio affecti; & Deum adorantes eorum corpora salutavimus. By these passages it should seem that the invocation of Saints was now established in Egypt & therefore the miracles were as early established there as in other places. For Athanasius who died in the year 371 or 372 in his book de Incarnatione salutari Domini et salutari ejus adventu, ascribes the like miracles to the signe of yethe cross, saying: signo crucis omnia magica compescuntur. — Veniat qui istorum dictorum experimentur capere velit, et in ipsis præstigijs dæmonum et imposturis vaticiniorum et in miraculis Magiæ utatur signo crucis ab ipsis deriso, nomenque Christi invocet; et videbit quomodo ejus rei metu Dæmones fugiant, vaticinia conquiescant, magiæ et veneficia jaceant. And to the same purpose there are several passages in the life of Antony writ by Athanasius & now extant in his works in105r in Greek & Latin. And Chrysostom in his Oration on the Egyptian Edit. Frontonis Ducæi Tom. 1.Martyrs seems to make Egypt the ringleader in these matters, saying: Benedictus Deus quandoquidem ex Ægypto prodeunt Martyres, ex Ægypto illa cum Deo pugnante ac in sanissima: et une impia ora, unde linguæ blasphemæ, ex Ægypto Martyres habentur; non in Ægypto tantum, nec in finitima vicinaque regione sed VBIQUE TERRARUM. Et quemadmodum in annonæ summa ubertate cum viderunt urbium incolæ majorem quam usus habitatorum postulet esse proventum ad peregrinas etiam urbes transmittunt: cum et suam comitatem ac liberalitatem ostendant, tum ut prœter horum abundantiam cum facilitate res quibus indigent rursus ab illis sibi comparent: sic et Ægyptij, quod attinet ad religionis athletas, fecerunt. Cum apud se multam eorum Dei benignitate copiam cernerent, nequaquam ingens Dei munus sua civitate concluserunt, sed in OMNES TERRÆ PARTES bonorum thesauros effuderunt: cum ut suam in fratres amorem ostenderent tum ut communem omnium dominum honore afficerent ac civitati suæ gloriam apud omnes compararent, totiusque terrarum orbis esse Metropolin ORBIS ESSE METROPOLIN declararent. — Sanctorum enim illorum corpora quovis adámantino et in expugnabili muro tutius nobis urbem communiunt et tanquam excelsi quidam scopuli undique prominentes non horum qui sub sensus cadunt et oculis cernuntur hostium impetus propulsant tantum, sed etiam invisibilium dæmonum insidias omnesque diaboli fraudes subvertunt ac dissipant. — Neque vero tantum adversus hominum insidias, aut adversus fallacias Dæmonum utilis nobis est hæc possessio, sed si nobis communis Dominus ob peccatorum multitudinem irascatur, his objectis corporibus continuò poterimus eum propitium reddere civitali. This Oration was written at Antioch while Alexandria was yet the Metropolis of the east, that is before the year 381. And since Alexandria was then eminent above all other cities for dispersing them miracle-working-reliques of the Martyrs so as on this account And it was a work of some years for the Egyptians before this to have distributed their miracle-working reliques of their Martyrs over all the world before th as they did before this time. And since Alexandria Ægypt abounded most wthwith reliques of saints keeping them embalmed upon beds even in their private houses & Alexandria was eminent above all other cities for dispersing them so as on that account to acquire glory with all men & manifest her self to be the Metropolis of the world. we may reccon ytthat these miracles [& the consequent invocation of the Saints] had their rise in Egypt & Syria & were thence propagated over all the Empire: for they came later into Asia minor & still later into Europe. And Syria Antioch followed the example of the Egyptians Alexandria in dispersing the reliques of the forty martyrs. And the example of Egypt & Syria was soon followed by the rest of the world. Monkery began in Egypt & Syria under the Archbishopricks of Alexandria & Antioch, & the Moncks were they that laboured most in propagating these superstitions, as was said above, & Egypt was more eminent for setting up Monckery & Saint worship then Syria it self.
Now as Ezekiel in the sixt year of Iehojakin's captivity, that is just before the destruction of Ierusalem by Nebuchadnezzar was shewn in a vision the idolatry wchwhich the Priests & house of Iudah committed in the Temple & then saw six men come with slaughter weapons in their hands, & one who had106r had a writers inkhorn by his side was bid to go through Ierusalem & set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh & cry for all the abominations done in the midst thereof & then the six were commanded to go after his through the city & smite all who were not marked & to begin at the Sanctuary: so here appear four Angels who are to hurt the earth & the sea inhabitants of the earth & Sea but are stayed till the servants of God are numbered & sealed in their foreheads & by consequence till the rest are marked with the mark of the Beast. For this sealin numbering sealing & marking denotes a distinction of the Empire into two parties one of wchwhich falls away to the worship of fals Gods & the other is preserved from the Apostacy. These last are numbered to express that they were but a few, & these are they whom Christ promised to keep from the hower of temptation which should come upon all the world to try them that dwelt upon the earth. And since they are numbered & sealed out of the twelve Tribes of Israel, those who receive the mark of the Beast must be the rest of the twelve Tribes & by consequence Christians. And because they worship the Beast & his Image they are also Idolaters, a Synagogue of Satan who say they are Iews & are not.
The visions of the fift & sixt seales & of sealing the saints relate to religion, wchwhich being explained let us now return to yethe civil & military affairs of the Empire.
The holding of the four winds.
At the opening of the fourth seal the Empire was invaded on all hands by barbarous nations so as to be in great danger of falling, but Dioclesian & his colleagues restored it repulsed the invaders & restored the Empire to a flourishing & formidable state & in this glory it continued during yethe reign of Constantine the great & his sons. Some wars Constantius had with the Persians & Alemans but not great & rather with advantage & glory then danger to the Empire insomuch that his Empire rather exceeded then came short of his father's: as you may learn out of Gregory Nazianzen's first Oration against Iulian written immediately after Iulian's death where he thus expostulates with Constantius for making Iulian Emperor. Quodnam hoc consilium suscepisti qui omnes non tuæ solum sed etiam superioris memoriæ Imperatores animi solertia & acumine longe antecellebas? Qui barbaras nationes per gyrum repurgabas tyrannosque intestinos ditioni tuæ partim sermonibus partim armis subjiciebas et quidem utrumque ita dextrè et egregiè, quasi ab altero nihil molestiæ tibi exhiberetur: cujus cum magna et eximia trophœa armis et prœlio quæsita, tum majora et illustriora sine ulla cruoris profusione parta: ad quem legationes et supplicationes undecunque cofluebant: cui nationes omnes partim jam dicto audientes erant, partim jamjam futuræ eranti; ut in eadem causa essent omnes ij quorum expugnatio in spe posita erat, ac si jam domiti atque in potestatem redacti essenti &c. This was the flourishing state of the Empire till the B Persians beat & slew Iulian the successor of Constantius: after wchwhich shock the Empire was quickly invaded on all sides. Hoc tempore, saith Ammianus, velut per universum orbem Romanum bellicum canentibus buccinis, excitæ gentes sævissimæ limites sibi proximos persultabant: Gallias Rhœtiasque simul Alemanni populabantur, Sarmatæ Pannonias & Quadi: Picti Saxones & Scoti et Attacotti Britannos ærumnis vesavere continuis: Austoriani, Mauricæque aliæ gentes Africam solito acrius incursabant: Thracias diripiebant prœdatorij globi Gotthorum: Persarum Rex manus Armenijs
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Ezek 8 & 9. Now whe as Ezekiel in the sixt year of Iehojakins captivity that is whe just before the siege & destruction of Ierrusalem by Nebuchadn was shewn in a vision the Idolatry of the wchwhich the Priests & yethe house of Israel in the Ta & principals & Iudah comitted in the Temple, & then came saw six men come wthwith slaughter weapons in their hands, & one who had a writers inkhorn by his was bid to go through Ierusalem & set a mark upon yethe foreheads of the men that sigh & cry for all the abominations done in the midst thereof & then the six wchwhich were commanded to go after him through the city & smite all who were not marked & to begin at the sanctuary: so here appear four Angels are who were to hurt the earth & the sea for the abominations of the inhabitants after but are stayed o soon as till the servants of God who do not commit those abominations are numbered & sealed in their foreheads, & by by consequence so soon as till the rest are marked with the mark of the Beast, that is soon as the worship of dead Saints & Saint worship is set up till Saint worship be set up For this marking & sealing denotes the falling away of the multitude to the worship of false Gods while except a few who are preserved from this worships Apostacy & & sealing & sealing denotes a destruction of the Empire into two parties one of wchwhich falls away to the worship of fals Gods & the other is preserved from the Apostacy. There last were numbered to express that they were but a few & these are they whom God preserved from the strong delusion & Christ promised to keep from yethe hour of temptation which should come upon all the world to try them that dwelt upon the earth. And since they are numbered & sealed out of the 12 tribes of Israel that is those who receive yethe mark of the Beast & worship the Beast & his image must be the rest of the 12 tribes & by consequence Christians the idolatrous they worship the Beast & his Image they are Idolaters a Synagogue of Satan who say they are Iews & are not. ‡ By what has been
The holding of the four winds untill the servants of God were seated The servants of God were sealed The holding of the four winds.
Contemporary to yethe sealing of the saints is the holding of the four winds or wars wchwhich were to hurt yethe Earth & Sea The wars of the horsmen in the first four seals ended wthwith yethe reign of Dioclesian & his Colleagues. And after they had Now After Dioclesian had expelled all the barbarians & reduced the Empire to a very splendid & formidable state it continued in this glory during the reign of Constantine yethe great & his sons. & Some wars Constantius had with the Persians & Alemans but not great & rather with advantage & glory then danger to yethe Empire insomuch ytthat his Empires rather exceeded then came short of his fathers. [But his successor Iulian was vanquished & slain by the Persians].
But let us The opening of the fift & sixt seales & the sealing of the Saints relates to religion. wchwhich being explained Let us now return to severe the civil affairs of yethe Empire & see how the four winds or wars are held untill the Saints are sealed.
The holding of the four winds
The wars of the four horsmen wchwhich appeared at the opening of the first four seals, ended with the reign of Dioclesian & his Colleagues. And after they had repulsed all the barbarous nations wchwhich then invaded the Empire & had reduced the Empire to a splendid flourishing & formidable state
At the opening of yethe fourth seale the Empire was invaded on all hands by barbarous nations so as to be in great danger of falling, but Dioclesian & his colleagues repulsed the invaders & restored yethe Empire to a flourishing & formidable state, & in this glory it continued till the end of yethe reign of ConBut stantius. Then the Persians beat & slew his successor Iulian & after this shock yethe Empire laboured under many wars was invaded on all sides. Hoc tempore saith Ammianus – insectabat. And whilst the Emperors Valentinian & Valens were busy in repulsing these enemies the Goths mixed with t some Hunns Alans passed the Rhene in two bodies, & overcame & slew Valens & made so great a slaughter of yethe Roman army that Ammianus saith nec ulla Annalibus præter Cannensem ita ad internecionem res legitur gesta.✝✝ And other another reccon this was recconed the beginning of the calamities & ruin of the Empire. Quæ pugna initiem nali Romano Imperio tune et deincepts fuit Ruffin in calce Euseb. l. 11. c 13. Hæc clades Romani Imperij ac totius Italiæ exitium fuit. Platina in vita Syricij. This was in yethe year 378 & now the Goths freely depopulated all Thrace & yethe neighbouring Provinces as far as yethe neighbouring from yethe walls of Constantinople to yethe Alpes Cottine. And at yethe same time Gratian laboured under a difficult war wthwith yethe Alemans in yethe west so that the Empire was in danger of falling. But the next year Gratian made Theodosius Emperor of yethe East & in this & the year following A. C. 388 the two Empors & their Captains by several great victories subdued checked the barbarians & quieted the Empire, [[ from wchwhich time is continued from fal from foreign invasions] their hostilities great till the death of Theodosius for about 14 years together & then suffered new invasions it was invaded again on by the same Barbarians who & the western wchwhich ended in the crownd Western Empire w[as were occasioned by the former invasions wherein Valens perished & wchwhich] reined & then the same Barbarians invaded it again & ruined the Western Empire.]
– – – quiteted the Empire. ☉ ☉ Ille felicitatis publicæ auspex sices qui te [Theodosi] primus inauguravit And because they worship the Beast & his Image they are Idolaters & by consequence therefore of the a Synagogue imperio. Iacebat innumerabilibus malis ægra vel potius dixerion examimata Respublica barbaris nationibus Romano nomim velut quodam diluvio superfusis. Pacotus in Panegyr. ad Theodos. Ausonio et Olybrio Coss (A. C. 379) Theodosius fit Augustus 14 Kal Kal. Feb. ipsoque anno multa bella Romani cum Gothis commiscuerunt. Deinde victoriæ nunciatæ adversus Gothos Alanos atque Hunnos 15 Kal. Decemb. Proximo anno (A. C. 380) Gratiano 5 et Theodosius Aug Coss victoriæ nunciatæ sunt adversus Gothos Alano Amborum Augustorum. Et ipso Anno [post bellum confectum] Theodosius ingressus est Theodosius Constantinopolim 18 Kal. Decemb. Hæc Idacius. Cum Gratianum afflictum se pene collapsum reipublicæ statum videret, – Theodosium Orientis præfecit imperio, qui Alanos Hunno et Gothos incunctanter aggressus magnis multisque prælijs vicit; verbem Constantinopolim victor intravit. Orosius l 7. c. 34. Hinc igitur militibus animorum fiducia redire, paululunque videri de rebus adversis superiorum veneporum respirare Princepts et agricolis exercendarum operarum suarum jumentis ac pecoribus libiri pastus copia fieri; ac Theodosius quidem Imperator in hunc modum acceptis detrimentis mederi visus est. Zosimus l. 4. How t To the same purpose speak Ierome, Prosper, Marcelline111v Marcelline Victor & Gregory Nazianzen, Socrates, Sozonen, Claudian. And how the wars were ended wchwhich the Scots in Britain, the Moors & Austrians in Afric & Cyrenaica, wthwith the Isauri in Asia & wthwith yethe Sarmatæ & Quadi in Pannonia were ended before yethe year 380 you may see in Ammianus. & & also how 80000 Burgundians came to yethe Rhene & were stopt by Gratian Iornandes mentions also an incursion of the Vandals into Gallia supprest by Gratian when Theodosius lay sick at Thessalomica that is in yethe year 380. For all the winds which blew upon the Empire were held before yethe end of yethe year 380, & continued quiet till the death of Theodosius & then brake loose again to hurt yethe earth & sea. I speak of By the wind I understand invasions not civil wars. The invaders where checkt for a time but seating themselves upon the borders of the Empire & some of them having seats granted within the Empire they who lay ready till yethe lay ready till the death of Theodosius for th quit for a time b at abaited a real for an opportunity to invade the Empire anew
The seventh Seal opened
We shewed above that yethe Prophesy of the sixt Seal extended to the death of Valens & the next thing is the holding of the four winds. which commenced in the autumn in yethe year 380 & is the silence in heaven wthwith wchwhich They began to be held in the year 359 & 379 & ceas were fully checkt & ceased in the year 380 & then commenced the silence in heaven wchwhich lasted for half an hour & wthwith wchwhich the seventh seal begins. For noise denotes war & silence peace. During this silence th an Angel offers the prayers of the saints wthwith much incence that is the prayers of the saints servants of God in the time of their sealing, & then casts fire that is war to yethe earth & there are voices & thundrings & lightnings & an earthquake wchwhich is to be understood of the civil wars between Theodosius & the Tyrants Maximus & Eugenius. And then the seven Angels prepare themselves to sound their Trumpets to seven wars: the four first of wchwhich are the four winds wchwhich blow from the four corners of the earth & were to hurt the Earth & yethe Sea & yethe trees. The first wind hurts the earth & yethe trees at yethe sounding of the first Trumpet, the second wind hurts yethe sea at yethe sounding of yethe second Trumpet. The first Trumpet These winds blow in the same order that the four Beasts appeared that is with respect to yethe city Rome considered as in the center of [The first is an Eastern wind & hurts the earth that earth out of wchwhich the two horned beast arose. The second is chiefly a western wind & hurts yethe Sea or western Empire, that Sea out of wchwhich the ten horned Beast arose. The third is chiefly a southern wind & yethe 4th a northern wind that is with respect to the City Rome considered as the center of the old Empire & of the four Beasts & four winds And these winds by degrees opened the western Empire. The earth & sea are put for the inhabitants of yethe earth & sea, those inhabitors to wchwhich the Dragon that old serpent called the Devil & Satan came down. The first Trumpet These winds respect yethe same order ytthat yethe four Beasts appeared the first being an eastern the second a western the third a southern & yethe 4th a northern wind that is from east west South & nort & hurt the earth sea & they hurt the earth yethe sea yethe trees yethe ships the Mountains the rivers & the Sun moon & stars that is the whole frame of the Roman Empire. [The first wind hurt the Earth, the sec or eastern Empire, the second hurt the sea or western the third hurt the Rivers & fountains of Water & the fourth hurt the Sun Moon & Stars & put an end &c] & extinguished g ho extinguishing the old dominion of Rome made way for a new dominion of that City. The jst Trumpet § The first wind hurt the Earth for upon when yethe first Angel sounded there followed hail & fire mingled wthwith blood [that is a bloody war] & they were cast upon the Earth & the third part of the Earth was burnt up & the third part of the trees was burnt up & all green gras was burnt up; that is consumed by war. For And this is called a grievous & noisome sore & grievous sore wchwhich at the pouring out of yethe first Vial of wrath fell pon the men wchwhich had yethe mark of the Beast & worshipped his Image. All For Theodosius who had checkt the barbarous nations died in the year 39 Ianuary A. C. 395 & left the Empire divided between his two sons Arcadius & Honorius who were children & from that time for about 10 or 12 years together all the Eastern Empire was invaded & most greivoursly afflicted by barbarous nations besides what it suffered by pestilence & famin & other disasters For so soon as Theodosius was dead, Ruffin to whom Theodosius left the tuition of the Eastern Emperor Arcadius. thinking to get the Empire to himself called in the nations of the north. And first – – – prest wthwith famin, yeilded themselves captive. It would be too tedious to copy what several the w what several authors have writ of these things I shall content my self th wthwith yethe general account wchwhich Philostorgius an eye witness Photius has given us of these times out of Philostorgius an eye witness. Ait Philostorgius Hunnos - - - - - - irruperit l. 11. c. 8. Thus far Photius & a little before: Ait [Philostorgius] quod sua tempestate tanta hominum mortalitas incesserit - - - - – – – supra humaniam vim fuerit. Quæ omnia, saith Gothofredus, vera sunt et apud aliosscriptores passim occurrunt.
The second Trumpet.
And the second Angel sounded & as it were a great mountain burning wthwith fire was cast out into the Sea [the city Rome consuming by war t was cast down earth] & the third part of the sea became as blood & the third part of yethe creatures wchwhich were in the Sea & had life died [that is by a dissolution of their body politique]; & the third part of the ships creature were destroyed [That is the towns were taken.] by the invaders]& their govern The western & Eastern Empires & Kingdom of Persia are the whole subject of sacred prophesy & the third part is one of yethe three. In yethe former Trumpet it was the Eastern in this the western Empire. While the former plague fell upon all the eastern Empire eastward of Rome the countries westward were quiet: but in yethe end of the year 407 a great body of barbarous112rbarous nations namely Goths Vandas Alans Burgundians Suevians Alemans Chatti &c passed the Rhene & wa spread themselves over invaded Gallia & Spain with great violence & the Franks on this side the Rhene revolted & called in other Franks from beyond the Rhene. And the Ostrogoths rising from their seats in Pannonia invaded Italy & after two years siege took the City Rome in its glory A. C. 410, & then invaded Gallia & Spain. And by these wars the Western Empire became divided into ten kingdoms & the Empore Wetsern Emperors henceforward quitted the city Rome & made Ravenna the imperial seat of the western Empire. Thus was this great mountain set on fire by war & cast down into yethe Sea being subjected to yethe city Ravenna.
The third Trumpet
The next wind was in the south. For In yethe year 427 the Vandals quitted Spain & crossing the straits invaded Afric wthwith great violence & conquered it, & seating themselves at Carthage made a pyratical war upon yethe sea coasts of Italy, France & Spain for many years together, making inroads into yethe country & plundering the towns & particularly in yethe year 455 they plundered the City Rome it self. Hitherto the Western Emperor had enjoyed Afric, but now being stript of almost all his dominions he grew so weak that in the year 476 the race of the western Emperors ended in Augustulus. And thus at the sounding of the third Trumpet there fell a great star from heaven burning as it were a lamp, & it fell upon the third part of the rivers & upon yethe fountains of water [that is upon the Kingdoms & nations into wchwhich the western Empire was now divided] & the name of the star is called wormwood, [that is bitterness of affliction.] And the third part of the waters became wormwood & many men died of the waters [by a dissolution of their body politick] because the waters were made better. Thus ended yethe western Empire.
The fourth Trumpet
The Western Emperors were succeeded first by the Heruli & then by the Ostrogoths under Theodosius. And the Ostrogoths seating themselves at Ravenna reigned over Italy in a peaceable manner for several years & favoured the city Rome suffering her to enjoy her ancient government by a Senate & consuls as the Roman Emperors had done before so ytthat Rome flourished under the Kings of the Ostrogoths as she used to do before under the Roman Emperors. But the Greek Emperor sent Bellisarius first with an army first against the Vandals in Afric & subdued them A. C. 534 & then a wchwhich put an end to the southern wind in the years 533 & 534 & the next year he against the Ostrogoths in Italy [wchwhich gave a beginning to yethe northern wind. The In this last war the old government of Rome by a Senate & Consuls fell & Rome was taken & retaken &] upon wchwhich ensued a very fierce & memorable war wchwhich was for above 20 years together. This war was waged almost wholy in Dalmatia Liburnia, Venetia, Long Lombardy, Tuscia & the other parts of the Empire of the Goths wchwhich lying lying almost on the north of Rome & so is fitly represented by a northern wind. Sicily, Rhetia, Noricum, Dalmatia Liburnia, Istria, & part of P Suevia Pannonia & Gallia. Whence Ennodius in a Panegyria to Theodoricus said, ad limitem suum Romana regna remeasse. Theodoricus reigned wthwith great prudence & moderation & felicity for 37 years together, & treated the Romans with singular benevolence. Cossiadorus tells us: Theodoricus Senatum - - - superantur. And Procopius: Erat Theodoricus fama quidem Tyrannus . . . . oblectaret. In this manner Theodoricus & his successor Athalaricus governed the west for 42 years, so that Evarius the historian calls them Administrators of yethe Western Empire & other write that the western Empire was translated to them & Procopius an Eye witness 112v of the introduces the Goths arg thus arguing contending with Bellisarius. Nos Italiæ suscepto Imperio – – – – – permiserunt. This was the happy state of Rome & Italy under the Goths till the death of Athalaric & hitherto there had been no lasting wars on the northern coasts of Rome: but now brake forth a northern war wchwhich lasted wthwith great violence was very violent & destructive & lasted for about about 70 years together: 20 years between yethe Romans & Ostrogoths & 50 years more between yethe Romans & & the Heruli & Lombards other barbarous nations. For the Greek Emperor Iustinian the next year after he had conquered the Vandals in Afric A. C. 535 sent Bellisarius with an army first against the Vandals in Afric whom he subdued in yethe years 533 & 534 & then against the Ostrogoths in Italy, & this last war was waged almost wholy on yethe north in Dalmatia, Liburnia, Venetia, Lombardy, Tuscia & the other parts of yethe Empire of the Goths in the northern coasts of wchwhich lay & northward from Rome, & therefore may be accounted the northern wind. In this war with In yethe war wthwith yethe Va Procopius reccons that there perished 1500000 people in the war between Bellisarius & the Vandals & much above thrice that number in the war with the Ostrogoths. In taking Millain the Goths slew all the male amounting to 300000 & gave men & sent yethe females weomen as captives to their allies the Burgundians. Roma was taken besieged & retaken several times & by these depopulations & vexations her thereby her gr old government by a Senate & Consuls ceased, her nobles were ruined, & all her glory extinct & after 10 years war the kingdom of the Visigoths Ostrogoths fell fell whose Kings had been her husband & her Sun illustrating as their ☾ Sun. Thus at the sounding of the fourth Angel the third part of the Sun was smitten & the third part of the Moon & the third part of the Stars so as the third part of them was darkened & & yethe day shone not for a third part of it & yethe night likewise, that is the Sun Moon stars day & night of the third part were darkened.
After the ruin of the Gothic Empire, wchwhich fell in yethe year 552 the the remaineder of the Goths & an army of Germans wchwhich they had called it to their assistance continued the war for three or four years longer & then followed ensued the war of the Heruli [under the captains Sindual & Tuscia] who, as Anastasius tells us, peremibant cunctam Italiam. And after that the war of the Lombards the fiercest of all the barbarians continued from yethe year 568 for 38 years together, facta tali clade, saith Anastasius, qualem a sæculo nullus meminit. It ended in yethe Papacy of Sabinian A. C. 605 by a lasting peace then made wthwith yethe Lombards. Two or three years before it ended, Gregory yethe great then Bishop of Rome thus mentions it: Qualiter enim et quotidianis – – – – – – – valemus. The same Gregory tells us that a little before this invasion of yethe Lombards began there was a Revelation made to one Redemtus a Bishop in these words Finis venit universa carnis. Finis venit universæ carnis. Finis venit universæ carnis. The This Revelation Gregory understooding it of the end of the world, & expounds it after this manner. Post illam Prophetiam mox terribilia – – ostendit. On these place words of Gregory Baronius makes this Comment. At nequis - - - conflagratio immineret. To all wchwhich I might add several other passages out of Gregory the same Gregory, but shall content my self wthwith that one more taken o that wchwhich follows. In one of his sermons to yethe people he has those words: Destructœ urbes - - - - sæculum vel extinctum. § And thus did the Sun, that is the Kings of the Barbarous nations scorch men with great heat as is exprest at the pouring out of the fourth Vial. For after the Ostrogoths had treated the Italians with the greatest humanity some of the Italians sided wthwith the Greek Emperor against the Goths: wchwhich ingratitude turned the spirit of the Goths against them Italians & the Lombards treated the Italians more cruelly then yethe Goths had done. § And men were scorched wthwith great heat & blasphemed the name of God who had power over these plagues. And they repented not to give him glory. Blasphemy is here in all this Prophesy put for Idolatry & the names of blasphemy for the names of fals Gods. So Isa. 65. 7 Your fathers have burnt incense upon the mountains & blasphemed me upon the hills. Ezek 20. 27. Yoryour fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespas against me. For when I brought them into this land, then they saw every high hill & every all the thick trees & they offered there their sacrifices - - - wherefore saw unto yethe house of Israel, Are ye polluted after yethe manner of your fathers? & commit ye whoredom after the manner of their abominations? - ye pollute your selves wthwith all yoryour Idols. The Romans were so far from repenting of their Saint-worship & giving God the Glory that so soon as this plague was over they set up the Images of the Saints to worship them. For in yethe year 6078 between the years 607 & 611 the Greek Emperor Phocas gave the Pantheon to the Pope, & there the Romans set up the Images of all the Roman Saints in the room of the Images of all the heathen Gods. wchwhich had been set up there before And Hence foward the worship107r worship of Images overspread the whole Empire by degrees, being much promoted by the title of Universal Bishop wchwhich the Emperor Phocas at the same time granted to the Pope.‡ The worshipping invocation of Saints is a breach of the first commandment, the making of Images of Saints & worshipping them is a breach of yethe second And as the The fift Trumpet wickedness of the saintworshippers increased so God increased their punishment. For now an Angel (or according to some reading cries wthwith a loud voice Wo, Wo, Wo to the inhabitants of the earth by reason of the other voices of yethe Trumpet of the three Angels wchwhich are yet to sound.
T The fift Trumpet
And And the fift Angel sounded & I saw a star fall from heaven unto yethe earth & to his [the Prophet Mahomet] & to him was given the key of yethe bottomless pit & he opened the bottomless pit [by false prophesy] & there arose a smoke out of the bottomless pit as the smoak of a great furnace & the sun & yethe air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit [a great multitude of disciples thick ch [a very thick & black cloud of gon disciples] & the Sun & the air were darkened by reason of yethe smoak of the pit. As the casting the Dragon in the bottomless pit & shutt locking him up that he should deceive the nations no more for a 1000 years & then letting him out to deceive the nations, signifies the putting an end to a false religion whereby the Devil had deceived yethe nations & the rise of a new false religion whereby he should deceive ymthem again:: so here the opening of yethe bottomless pit & letting out a thick black smoak wchwhich darkened world signifies the rise of a new false religion, a kingdom of darkness & a spirit of error for deceiving the nations
And there came out of the smoak Locusts upon the earth [an numerous armed multitude of Arabians, for Locusts are a numerous Southern insect & abound chiefly in Arabia & the Arabians are a numerous people & unto them was given power as the Scorpions of the earth have power [to torment men by war as wthwith yethe stings of Scorpions.] And it was commanded ymthem that they should not hurt the grass of the earth neither any green thing neither any tree [as real Scorpions Locusts do] but only those wh men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads, that is those who have yethe mark of yethe Beast. For the fift vial was poured out upon the seat of yethe beast that is upon the wetsern Empire, the That Vial respects chiefly the Beast or Western Empire, this Trumpet his worshippers or in the Eastern Empire, both together comprehend the whole. And to them it was given that they shouldnot kill them [by dissolving their bodies politique & subverting their kingdoms] but that they should be tormented five months [by inroads, & invasions & various wars] five months. And their torment was [sharp] as yethe torment of a Scorpion when he striketh a man. And the shape of the Locusts were like unto horses [or horsmen] prepared to yethe battel & on their heads were [Turbants] Diadems Quoifs or as it were crowns of gold & their faces were as it were the faces of men [for they were men] & they had [long] hair as yethe hair of weomen For [put up under their Turbants or Coifs They Arabians cut their hair round like an arch upon the forehead & whare it at full length behind like weomen & put it up under a Quoif or Turbant] & their teeth were as yethe teeth of Lions [wthwith wchwhich they devoured like Daniels fourth Beast] & they had breast plates as it were breastplates of iron & the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to B battel: [that is they were horsmen wthwith splendid Turbants on their heads wrought with gold & long hair put up under their Turbants an army of horsmen], & they had tails [or squadron Battalions of foot] like unto Scorpions, & stings in their tails [their foot being armed wthwith bows & arrows & striking men with their arrows as wthwith the stings of scorpions]. And their power was to hurt men five months. For And they had a King over them which is the Angel of yethe bottomless pit whose name in the Hebrew tongue Abaddon but in yethe Greek tongue his name is Apollyon, the that is that is the Prophet Mahomet who opened the Pit & his successors the Califs of She S were both King their King as well as their Prophet, & & by his wars & victories his name was made known to both Hebrews & Greeks To the Greeks he was Apollyon a destroyer & but to those Hebrews P Phoeni of Palestine over whom he reigned he was Abaddon, that yethe king of the Nabatean Arabians wchwhich wchwhich signifies also a destroyer & seems to allude also to a region of wchwhich extended from Pet along the eastern side of the red sea from Petra to Albus Pagus & so comprehended the regions of Mecca & Medina where where the Mahometan religion had its rise. For this region was called Oboda from Obodas one of & all the kings thereof were called Obodas from one Obodas the founder of t first King who was buried their & deified by the natives This king that is from Nabaioth by softening or omitting the first letter of his name. In allusion to this name King Oboda Mahomet & his successors & the Califs we seem by a slight mutation to be called Abaddon the destroyer. And under this King the Locusts were to hurt m torment men five months.
Mahomet pretended to be called to yethe Office of a Prophet in yethe 40th year of his age A. C. 609 & began then to make disciples privately & four years in the 44th year of his age he began to manifest his vocation at Mecha m &108r & set open yethe bottomless pit & in yethe 14th year of his vocation A. C. 622 he fled from Mecha to Medina & began to arm his followers, that is to bring Locusts out of yethe smoak. He reigned 10 years at Medina & his successor after his death the Saracens entered Syria & began to make war upon the Romans A. C. 634 & the next year in SepemberSeptember took Damascus & made it the seat of their Empire. of the Saracens They had two successions races of Califs one the first of wchwhich were of the family of Ommia & reigned at Damascus, the second were of yethe family of the Abasids & A. C. 762 gave commandment for the building of Bagdad & reigned there at least at least there from the death of Almanser A. C. 775 till yethe year 935, when being stript of Egypt & all his dominions but Bagdat he surrendered his temporal government to Anadis Mahomet a temporal Prince & retained only the spiritual dignity of Calif, or Patriarch. This I learn out of Elmacinus & Abul-Pharajius two Arabic Historians Elmacinus writes thus. Anno Hegiræ 324 (qui cæpit Nov. 30. A. C. 935) ad se venire jussit Califa Arradis Billa Imperatorem Muhammedem - - - - imperiales omnes faciebant.
Within less then two years after this change, Bagdad, (as the same Elmacinus writes) was taken by o from Muhammed by one Iahcamus a Turk, & from that time often taken & retaken being sometimes in the hands sometimes of the Turks & sometimes of the Saracens untill at length Togulbec took it & established it to the Turks. A
So then the Kingdom of the Saracens under the Califs at Damascus & Bagdad lasted only from yethe year 635 to yethe year 936 that is 301 years & i This is the T whole time that the Angel of the bottomless pit was their king after the taking of Damascus the seat of their Empire. & if the last year be omitted in wchwhich the Calif had lost Egypt Syria & Syria & whatever belonged to yethe Roman Empire & ceased to torment the Romans the whole duration will be 300 years. [But because its the nature of Locus live to live but 5 months, the C & the Saracens reigned under two successive races of Kings at two several Imperial seats, the Prophet divides the 300 years is or ten months prophetick into twice five months saying twice that they tormented men five months & recconing 30 years to a month. For the repetition is not without a meaning.] or ten prophetic months recconing 30 days to a month & putting a day year for a day. But because its the Nature of Locusts to live but about 5 months, the Prophets for the decorum of the type & because there were two successive Dynasties of this Kingdom, the fisrt at Damascus the last at Bagdat two imperial s Empire two successive imperial seats divides the whole time into twice five months & five months, saying twice that they Locusts tormented men five months; [ that is [about five months at under the first race of kings Califs reigning at Damascus & about five months under the second race of Califs reigning at Bagdat] in all 10 months. For the repetition is not wthoutwithout a meaning. In this Prophesy there is nothing superfluous. They reigned something less then five months at Damascus & sometimes more at Bagdat, in both places something more less then five months at Bag Damascus less then six & sometimes more at Bagdat: five months at each place more or less; in both places together ten months exactly.
The Sixt Trumpet
And the sixt Angel sounded & Iohn heard the a voice of the from yethe four horns of the golden Altar saying to yethe sixt Angel wchwhich had the Trumpet, Loose the four Angels wchwhich are bound at in the great River Euphrates, [that is the Kings of four kingdoms of the Turks seated upon that River [at Bagdad Damascus Aleppo & Iconium] & the four Angels were loosed wchwhich were prepared an hour & a day & a month & a year to slay yethe 3d part of men [by the a gret army of Tartars who invaded all those regions, All 100 destroyed their kingdom besieged their royal cities upon Euphrates & dissolved their kingdoms & took them A. C. 1260 & thereby dissolved those kingdoms & drove the Turks into Asia minor where they erected a new monarchy under Ottoman A. C. 1300 wchwhich in the year 1453 took Constantinople & dissolved the Greek Empire being prepared fro this purpose ever since the erecting of yethe four kingdoms Now
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The sixt Trumpet
And the sixt Angel sounded & Iohn heard a voice from yethe four horns of the Golden Altar saying to yethe sixt Angel wchwhich had the Trumpet, Loose the four Angels wchwhich are bound in the great River Euphrates. These Angels are the Sultans or Kings of the four Turkish Kingdoms of Mesopotamia, Armenia, Syria & Asia minor, wchwhich stood in a Quadrangle represented by the four horns of the golden Altar, & were to be loosed in the beginning of the times of this Trumpet. And as a Beast wthwith its horns made represents a kingdom wthwith its first united & then divided, so may the Altar wthwith its horns, first united under Olub Arslan & represent the kingdom of the Turks upon Euphrates first united under Olub Arslan & Malechsah & then divided into these four Sultanies And the four Angels were loosed wchwhich were prepared for an hour & a day & a month & a year for to slay the third part of men. This loosing was thus performed In yethe year 1203 Iingiz Chan founded the Empire of the Tattars or Tartars, a name not heard of before & the fourth Emperor Mangaca Chan being converted to Christianity by means of Aiton an Armenian King, sent his brother Hulacu or Halaon wthwith a great army to invade the Turks & root out their religion. And Hulocu first invaded & subverted the Cafi Califate of the Saracens at Bagdat A. C. 258 & thereby put an end to yethe times of yethe 5t seal as was said above, & then sent a part of his army to besiege Miyafarekin the same year & in yethe year 1260 he beg invaded Syria with an army of 400000 & took Damascus, & Aleppo & other towns of that Kingdom & slew Naser the last Sultan of that thereof & in the mean the time the forces he sent against Miyafarekin tooke the town &c slew all by famishing the besieged & slew the Inhabitants & brought Ashraf the last sultan of that Sultany to Hulacu who slew him. And the next year the Tarta A. C. 1261 the Tartars invaded the Sultanies of Mesopotamia & Asia minor & took Bagdad Mosul & Iconium & slew Saleh the last Sultan thereof of Mosul & made Azoddin or Azatines the last sultan of Iconium wthwith his brother fly to the Greek Emperor Michael Palæologas. But the Sultan of Maredin submitting himself to Hulacu was treated honourably by him & restored to his dominions.
Thus were the four Sultanies of the Turks in Mesopotamia Syria Asia & Armenia in the years 1260 & 1261 as it were at a watch word given dissolved at once – – – to yethe year 1276. Hence forward several Princes of the Turks conquered several parts of Asia minor & at length Ottoman being more warlik conquered all the rest & erected A. C. 1300 erected the present Empire of the Turks who was one of them growing more potent then the rest took upon him the dignity & title of Sultan A. C. 1300 or a year of two before & by degrees became the universal Monarch of the Turks the rest of their Princes uniting under him: whereby being rendred more powerful they prevailed still more upon the Greeks, invaded Europe, & A. C. 1453 took Constantinople & overthrew the GeekGreek Empire. Thus they slew the third part of men, being prepared thereunto from the time that their four kingdoms were founded upon Eufrates. Togrulbec reigned only over Persia & Bagdat & Chaldea regions without the bounds of the Roman Empire.. His two sucessors Olubarslan & Malechsah conquered the nations upon Euphrates & founded laid the foundation of the four kingdoms. Mabech Olubarslan began his reign A. C. 1063 and110r & from thence to the taking of Constantinople inclusively are 391 years that is a day & a month & a year, whereof about a month was taken spent in conquering & reigning over the nations upon Euphrates before the Conquest brake into yethe four Kingdoms.
The sixt Angel poured out his vial of wrath upon the great river Euphrates, that & the water thereof was dried up that yethe way of the kings of yethe east might be prepared. And therefore the plague of this Vial fell upon the nations seated on Euphrates & the sixt trumpet sounded to the war of the Tartars upon the kingdoms of the Turks seated on that river by wchwhich war the people of those kingdoms here typified by the water of that river was dried up & the way of the Turks from the east in several bodies under several Commanders was prepared that they might invade & destroy the Greek Empire of the Greeks, wchwhich in this prophesy is the called thence of the those par called the third part of men.
# The army – # The army of these kings is described very numerous & to consist much in horse & the for horses to have tails like serpents & heads representing the foot the or tail of the army the tails of yethe horses are said to be like serpents, that is, fit for fighting, & to have heads. that is to And as it were out of the mouths of yethe horses once issued fire & smoak & brimstone, by wchwhich three the third part of men were killed. And the rest &c
And the rest of yethe men wchwhich were not killed by these plagues [the western nations whose kingdoms were not dissolved] yes repented not of the works of their hands that they should not worship Dæmons Ghosts & idols of gold & silver & brass & stone & wood wchwhich neither can see nor hear nor walk. What was called blasphemy in the 4th & 5t Vial is here plainly called Idolatry There they grew more & more idolatrous, here they continue impertinent They took no warning by these plagues but continued to worship dead men & Images till the plag third Wo came upon them. Neither repented they of their murders [in killing men who will not worship their fals Gods] nor of their sorceries [in pretending to convert a wafer into the body of yethe Supreme God, to scare away the Devil by the signe of the cross & exorcisms & reliques & to do many other miracles by wchwhich they deceive the people as the heathen Sorcerers did] nor of their fornication, nor of their their thefts [even in a litteral sence] nor of their thefts [amongst wchwhich may be recconed their defrauding families by pretending to re indulgencies pardons, dispensations, masses for yethe dead, feigned reliques, pennances & such like artifices. For the eighth Comm these things are against of yethe eighth Commandment. For all def all defrauding is a transgression For stealing is one sixt of defrauding & all defrauding is against yethe eighth Commandment: the manner of the fact whether it be by clandestine blative conveyance or by any other art of legerdemain deceitful artifice making no material difference in the nature of the crime
The measuring of the Temple & Altar The Prophesy of yethe eaten Book.
Iohn had hither seen the opening of th visions wchwhich folled upon opening the seals of the book & now is bidden to eat the open book & prophesy again out of it, that is to repeat yethe prophesy wchwhich followed upon opening the last seale: wchwhich prophesy began wthwith silence in heaven during the prayers of the saints in a in the time of their sealing.
I have now gone through the Chronological part of the Prophesy in continual succession of times represented order of time past distinguished into successive periods by the opening of the seven seals & sounding of the seven Trumpets first six Trumpets. For the seven wchwhich is all the Prophesy hitherto fulfilled. For the seventh is not yet come to pass wchwhich bring wchwhich brings The historical part of the Prophesy wchwhich is a commentary upon the Chronological remains now to be interpreted.
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✝ The Sixt trumpet
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forth a manchild wchwhich was to rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron & was Os this the childs being being caught up to God & to his throne from the jaws of the Dragon, & her flying from the Dragon into the wilderness. For since this parable ends with the flight of the woman into the wilderness & that of the war between Michael & the Dragon ends also with the same flight, both these parables ending at the same time must be synchronal & concern yethe same revolution of the Empire. [As Pharaohs dream was doubled bec for the certainty of the thing so is the prediction of this revolution of yethe Empire] The woman travelling in birth & pained to be delivered signifies the Church in affliction by a great persecution wchwhich ended in the birth of a Christian kingdom & therefore was Dioclesians persecution; that is, the Stars of the Greek Empire where the Persecution lasted ten years wthwith great violence & the same thing is signified by the Dragons drawing the third part of the Stars of heaven & casting them to the Earth. The Manchild wchwhich was to rule all nations with a rod of iron is a christian kingdom wchwhich the woman brought forth in the end of the persecution For a rod of iron Manchild wchwhich the woman brought forth is not a single person but a kingdom as Isaias interprets the type. For the woman is a body politique & the child must be a body of the same kind wthwith the mother. And this kingdom was Christian because it was the son of the Church & was to rule all nations with a rod of iron wchwhich in this prophesy was to rule in this prophesy is the scepter of Christ Apoc. 2. 27 & 19. 15. & by consequence the badge of a christian kingdom the king of kings & his & his kingdom. The persecution began A. C. 402 & This manchild was born in the western part of the Empire by the victory of Constantine the great over Maxentius, A. C. 412 Constantine being encouraged in that war A. C. 312 by a vision of a cross in the heavens wthwith this inscription, In hoc signo vinces apea & thereupon placing a cross as historians relate. And a few years after by the victory of Constantine over Licinius a heathen persecuting Emperor who A. C. 323 still reigned in the east [& continued sometimes to afflicted the Christians,] the Manchild was caught up to the throne of the whole Empire A. C. 323. And soon after by the building of Constantinople 330, the woman received two A. C. 330 wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness. Conceive that when yethe manchild was caught up to God he soon vanished out of sight being to return from heaven & rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron hereafter. But For there was the western Empire being at this time compared to a spiritually barren wilderness had in it but before he vanished there was a voice from heaven saying Now is come salvation & strong The subject of Sacred prophesy is the nations within the few sincere Christians. For When the Eastern Empire was persecuted ten years together the western was persecuted almost the compass of the four Monarchies, one third part of wchwhich is the Empi western Empire or Empire to Latin Empire, another third part the Greek Empire & another third part the nations of Assyria, Chaldea Media & Per & all Persia: & wherever a third part of any thing is mentioned, any of the (as a third part of the earth or sea or rivers or stars) one of these three parts are to be understood. So when the Dragon drew a third part of the stars of heaven & cast them to the earth it is to be understood that he drew the stars & the KINGDOM of orour GOD — Therefore rejoyce ye heavens & ye that dwell in them that is two first of those ten years but yielded so few Martyrs & confessors that in before the end of the second year the second year they set up several columns in Spain wthwith inscriptions in Spain signifying that year to be the year in wchwhich the Christian religion was that the superstition of Christ & name of the Christians was every where everywhere extinguished. And because yethe persecution was so short & inconsiderable in the west the Dragons tail is said to draw only the third part of yethe stars of heaven wthwith is that that is the stars of Greek Empire. And the Western nations are compared to a spiritually barren wilderness in respect of the Eastern out of wchwhich the Woman flyes & the Courts of & where she leaves the remnant of her seed: & the temple & Altar & they that worship therein are compared to measured in allusion to Ezekiels measuring the first Temple after it was overthrown & a new one was not yet built this measuring signifing that God would raise up a second Temple or new visible Church of true Christians in the West the stars of the Greek Empire wchwhich is one third part of the whole. For the where the persecution lasted in the east with great violence for ten years together: butFor in the west it lasted only two years & met with so few martyrs & confessors that in Spain they se the second year of the persecution they set up inscriptions in Spain signifying that year to be the year of in wchwhich the Christian religion ceased exp ceased. [And of sight hence the western Empire is at this time compared to a spiritually barren wilderness, & upon the flight of upo the woman into this wilderness the Courts of the temple & altar & them that worship therein are measured in order to the building of a second temple.] therefore rejoyce ye heavens & ye [Saints] that dwell in them. Wo ye to the inhabiters of the earth & sea [the Christians in outward profession] for the Devil is come down among you having great wrath [For the heathen religion being cast down of from the throne, & the common amongst whom it remained flockedg into the Church & by an outward profession out of embracedg the Christian religion by an outward profession ab as in fashion but retaining in their hearts the principles of the heathenss wthwith wchwhich they had been imbued: & by degrees bringing into the Churches several heathen doctrines & practises, the Dragon set up a new Empire among the formal Christians & the Manchild at the same time vanished out
The heads of the Dragon & Beast being successive reigns or Dynasties of the Roman Empire, & commencing wthwith the opening of the seven seales, & a great persecution w its very plain that one of those heads must begin with the dethroning of the Dragon & catching up of the manchild to the throne & another with the Beasts rising out of the sea & receiving the authority & throne of the Dragōon: for these changes are the beginning of a new Dynasties, & so is the first appearance of the Dragon & woman in travail. And these three Dynasties wthwith those of the four horsmen wchwhich appeared at the opening of the first four seales make up 113v the seven dynasties or heads of the Empire wchwhich are the represented by the heads of the Dragon. For at the opening of the fift seal there is a very plain description of a very gret persecution of the Church & this answers & at the opening of the sixt there is a plain description of the overthrow of a great kingdome or Empire of by a Christian power & of the kings of the earth & great men hiding themselves from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of his wrath was come. And these two things together answer fully to Dioclesians persecution & the following overthrow of the heathen Empire & can answer to nothing else. The fift Dynasty therefore I begin with the reign of Dioclesian A. C. 284 & the sixt with the victory of Constantine over Licinius A. C. 373. For Dioclesian & his colleagues parted the Empire between them & by consent reigned each in his own share & this distribution of the Empire made a form of government wchwhich was different from those wchwhich preceded the preceding reigns & lasted till the victory of Constantine over Licinius. We are therefore to seek for yethe four first Dynasties in the times between the reigns of writings of the Prophesy in Patmus & the reign of Dioclesian & his Colleagues. And these things being premised, we will now go over the prophesy in due in continual order of time according to the series of the seales & Trumpets And these are the four Horsmen wchwhich the four Beasts standing These four Dynasties are represented by four to towards the four winds of heaven call Iohn to come & see & wchwhich therefore stood in the regions of the Beasts, the first horsman to yethe east the second to the west the third to the south & the fourth to the north. Riding signifies reigning & therefore the four Beasts with their faces represent of a Lyon Ox Man & Eagle allude to the armies of Israel encamped in the wilderness under their banners to yethe in four bodies about yethe tabernacle in the wilderness, & in that respect a horman with his Beast is a may fitly represent an Emperor wthwith his army, & thus the four horsmen with their Beasts are a very fit type of four Dynasties of Emperors.
Now the Dynasties of the Roman Emperors after the family of Iuluis Cæsar wchwhich preceded the writing of the Apocalyps & ended in Nero were these. First Italians from Iulius Cæsar & his family down to the writings of the prophesy & death of Nero & then Vespasian & his family to the death of Domitian. The family of Iulius Cæsar is not withing the reach of the Prophesy. Vespasian was created Emperor in the East.
2dly A family of Spandiards, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius, Marcus & Commodus. Trajanus homo Hispanus &c
3 Africans & soutnern Emperors. &c
4 A confused race of northern short lived Emperors together with many Tyrants in very troublesome times & calamitous times in wchwhich the Empire was in great danger of falling: vizt Decius &c
Dioclesian wthwith his colleagues sharing the empire among them, by many wars restored it to its former vigour & lustre & then persecuted the church. This was the fift & Dynasty, & then reigned Constantine the great & his family till the death of Iulian yethe Apostate wchwhich made the sixt. After which the Empire became divided into yethe eastern & western Empires wchwhich made the seventh & last dynasty if there being no more changes common to both Empires to make a new dynasty of the whole. And soon after the this division yethe division of the western Empire becoming divided into ten kingdom made the eighth & last dynasty of that Empire, there being no more changes common to all those kingdoms common to all those to make a new dynasty of that Empire. So then in the whole114r the whole there were seven dynasties after the giving writing of this prophesy had seven dynasties & no more there were seven successive dynasties, or kin & no more & in the whole western Empire there was an eighth & no more wchwhich makes good the prophesy & the seven dynasties being seven common kings or wars of The Dragon & Beast & an eighth of the Beast the being kings in the language of this prophesy & being successive kings or heads of the Empire & answering perfectly to the Heads of the Dragon & Beast the Prophesy is fulfilled: there is no need to seek for any other Heads.
If it be said that the words Five are fallen relate to Iohns time & therefore we are to look for five of the heads before the writing of the prophesy: I answer that many things are spoken of as past or present in yethe visions wchwhich were to come when Iohn wrote the Prophesy; as where its said ytthat the woman brought forth a manchild that she fled into yethe wilderness that there was war in heaven, that yethe Dragon gave the beast his throne, that they that had gotten the victory over the Beast & over his Image stood on yethe sea of glass that the deadly wound of the Beast was healed that all the world wondered after the Beast that yethe woman was drunken wthwith yethe blood of Saints & that the Beast was & is not & & the like. The words; five are fallen & one is & the Beast was & is not & yet is do not relate to the time of writing the Apocalyps; For the Prophesy is not of things wchwhich were past before it was written. Those words only relate only to one another & to yethe mortal wound of the Beast wthwith & signify nothing more than that the Beast should cease to be for a time, being slain wthwith a sword & that his heads were successive pages dynasties or kings five of wchwhich should reign & fall before he should cease to be & that he was & was not at one & the same time in some part of of the sixt head the reign of the sixt head in several respects. His life was then taken away in the reign of the sixt Her out his body remained & was ready to revive. Let it be considered that the whole Prophesy is of things which were to come to pass after the writing thereof & the interpretation of wchwhich we have given will appeare easy & natural. For the little of the prophesy is The Revelation of Iesus Christ wchwhich God gave unto him to shew unto his servants things wchwhich must shortly come to pass. And in the introduction to the Prophesy of the scales & trumpets Iohn heard a voice wchwhich said. Come up hither & I will shew thee things wchwhich must be hereafter And in the introduction to the prophesy of the eaten book the Angel said unto Iohn Thou must prophesy again before many peoples & nations & tongues & kings. And in the end of the Prophesy, The Lord God of the holy Prophets sent his Angel to shew unto his servants the things wchwhich must shortly be done. The Epistles to the seven Churches were admon admonitory as well as prophetic & therefor therefore it in the introduction to these Iohn is bidden to write Epistles Christ says to Iohn Write the things wchwhich thou hast seen & the things wchwhich are & the things wchwhich shall be hereafter. This relates only these Epistles & may signify nothing more than that Iohn should write what he had seen in the vision & what is the present state of the churches in respect of their religion & decay of their religion Zeal & piety & what should befall them hereafter if they did not repent. All the rest of the Apocalyps the Prophetic Book is purely prophetick, & therefore the words five are fallen must be understood of five heads which fell after the writing of the prophesy. Otherwise the words The words These are they wchwhich came out of the great tribulation & I saw them wchwhich had gotten the victory over the Beast & over his Image & over his mark stand on the sea of glass would imply that the tribulation & the victory were past before the writing of the prophesy & the Words. The Beast wchwhich was & is not would imply that the Beast was during the reign of five of his heads before the writing of the Prophesy & was not when Iohn wrote it: an interpretation wchwhich will run you into great difficulties has puzzelled interpreters. & will ever run gone into difficulties them The prophecies Vision of the Beast wthwith yethe Woman sitting upon him commences not before his rise ascent out of the abyss or rise & Iohn takes a prospect of him not from his own time but from the times next preceding his ascent when he lay dead of his wound & & then for that reason & therefore calls him & was to ascend & to signify that he doth so he takes such a prospect of him he saith that yethe Beast the Beast wchwhich was & is not & shall ascend out of the abyss., The kingdoms & churches wchwhich are the subject of this prophesy being known we may now proceed to go over the prophesy in due order of time & see how the visions wchwhich appear upon opening the seals & sounding the trumpets in againt t in order suit with the history of the times to wchwhich they & names him the Beast wchwhich was & is not: a phrase of the very same signifycation wthwith that of the Beasts life being slain wthwith a sword & reviving & ascending out of yethe Sea. For he was before he was slain & belong was not when he lay dead of his wound & ascended after his wound was healed. § The comparing of the several parts of scripture together wchwhich resemble one another & adjusting those things together wchwhich without straining may be adjusted without straining is the main Rule of interpretation. And by vertue of this Rule I take it for granted till I see any good arguments to yethe contrary that the Beast wchwhich slew the Witnesses, the Beast wchwhich was wounded slain with a sword & the Beast wchwhich was & is not & Daniels fourth Beast are one & same Beast; that the Woman Iezabel the Woman wchwhich fled into yethe Wilderness & the Woman sitting upon many waters in the Wilderness are one & the same Woman; that the prophet Balaam & the Fals Prophet are & the two horned Beast are the same; that yethe seven Thunders Trumpets seven Thunders & seven Vials of wrath are the same; that the 144000 sealed in their foreheads, the 144000 on mount Sion & they that got had gotten the victory over the mark of yethe Beast & stood on the sea of glass are the same; that yethe Synagogue of Satan, the Gentiles in the outward Court those of the twelve tribes as many as who were not sealed in their foreheads, the Gentiles in yethe outward Court & & the men who received yethe mark of the Beast are the same, & that Satan who had his throne in Pergamus & the Dragon that old Serpent called the Devil & Satan are the same. By these & such like coincidences the Prophesy is reduced to a greater degree of simplicity & yethe interpretation rendered more concise & distinct & more cleare & certain thereof likewise. And those interpretations must be allowed the best wchwhich have those characters. There are in the Apocalyps many allusions to the old prophets old that the great time of trouble in Daniel & the great tribulation in Matthew & the great tribulation & the harvest in Matthew & in the Apocalyps are the same & that yethe time of trouble in Daniel, the & the great tribulation & the harvest in Matthew & the o in the Apocalyps are the same, that the Beast & Dragon & Dragon who are worshipped the man of sin who sits in yethe temple of God & the king who doth according to his will opposeth & exalteth himself above all that is called God or worshipped & shewing himself that he is a God & the king in Daniel who exalts himself & magnifies himself above every god, are the same. And in general that the Apocalyps & the many places in the old testament Prophets wchwhich are hinted at & alluded unto in the old testament are the Apocalyps treat of yethe same things wthwith those places in the Apocalyps in a P For by comparing the several parts of Prophesy wchwhich agree with one another they harmonize & agree the parts compared interpret one another, & the body of prophesy is reduced to a greater degree of simplicity & the interpretation rendered more concise & distinct & more cleare & certain. & And if those in And certainly those interpretations are to be preferred wchwhich have these characters & those are to be suspected wchwhich rejected as tending to confess uncertainty multiplicity distraction & confusion of interpretations wchwhich separate distracts what may without straining be adjusted. For the parts parts of Prophesy are like the separated parts of a Watch cleared. They appear confused & must be compared & put together before they can be usefull, & those parts are certainly to be put together wchwhich fit without straining. This we have hitherto been doing & now let will us try how this Prophesy will thus set together as above & applied to the Roman hemisphere will answer to history in continual order of time.
Chap The Prophesy of the six first Seales interpreted
The following sections are written sideways in the margins of the opening ff. 113v-114r, but do not appear to form part of the main text on those pages.
The Encampment described is the book of Numbers & the Iews keep a tradition of their standards. Every Horsman therefore with the hors he rides upon & the Beast in the same region are a fit emblem of an Emperor with his Empire & his army under its standart. And thus the four horsmen wthwith their Beasts very fitly represent four reigns or dyn reigns or dynasties of Emperors.
The fift Dynasty was of several Emperors reigning together & sharing the Empire amonst them by common consent. If This Dynasty here wthwith the reign of Dioclesian & Maximianus reigned first & & ended wthwith the dethroning of the Dragon by the Victory of Constantine the great over Licinius, Galeriasec the Dragons coming down to reig amongst the inhabitants of the Earth & sea beginning a new dynasty Sometimes four or five Emperors reigned together. This Dynasty the Romans distinguished from the reigns of former Emperors by dating one Æra from yethe beginning of it an Æra called the Æra of Dioclesian & Æra the Æra of the martyrs. For this Æra commenced wthwith yethe reign of Dioclesian A. C. 284. Aug. 29, & was in use till the Æra of Dionysius prevailed that is for about 250 years. & Scalrier saith it is still in use among the Christians of Afric & Ethiopia. This æra I consider as an sufficient argument of the beginning of a new Dynasty, o the Romans looking upon Dioclesian as the victory of this Empire. this fift Dynasty sometimes 4 or 5 Emperors reigned together. The sixt Dynasty began wthwith the victory of Constantine over Licinius whereby the Empire was reduced to a monarchical form. & It continued in the falmily of Constantine till the death of Ve Iulian the Apostate. After Iulain reigned Iovian seven months & then yethe Beast wchwhich had been slain with a sword reigned by a division of the Empire made between Valentinian & Valens & rose out of the sea by another division of it between Gratian & Theodosius & at the death of Theodosius wchwhich begin by wchwhich Acts received the Dragons throne & by wchwhich acts a seventh Dynasty commenced by a gradually, wchwhich Dynasty was of the Empire divided into the Greek & Latine Empires or of the Dragon & Beast reigning together. And after this division of the Empire there being no more changes common to both Empires to make a new Dynasty of the whole, the Dragon & Beast have no more common heads then seven. But Soon after this division the western Latine Empire became further divided into ten kingdoms wchwhich made a new Dynasty of that Empire called the eight & of the seven & thais was the last dynasty of the western Empire there being no more changes common to all those kingdoms to make a new dynasty. of that E So then in the whole Roman Empire after the writing of this Prophesy there were seven successive Dynasties & no more & in the whole Western Empire there was an Eighth & no more, wchwhich events makes good the Prophesy description of the Dragon & Beast.
but was restored by D & his Colleagues to its former greatness & tranquility & enlarged by the addition of Assyria & the five Provinces beyond Tigris, & Dioclesian
The sixt Dynasty began [wthwith the dethroning of the old Dragon & his coming down of yethe Dragon among the inhabitants of yethe Earth & Sea, that is, as was said, wthwith the victory of Constantine the great over Licinius whereby
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For Iohn beheld & lo in yethe midst of the throne [that is at yethe foot of yethe Altar over against yethe midst of the throne] & in the midsts of yethe four Beasts & of yethe Elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain [that i at the morning sacrifice] And he came & took the book out of yethe right hand of him that sat upon the throne & opened the seales in order. The H or For It was yethe custome for yethe High Priest seven days before yethe Fast of yethe seventh month to continue constantly in the Temple & study the Book of the Law that he might be perfect in it against the day of Expiation wherein the service wchwhich was various & intricate was wholy to be performed by himself, of wchwhich service one part was reading the law to the people. And to promote his studying it there were certain of yethe Priests appointed by yethe Sanhedrin to be with him those seven days in one of his chambers in yethe Temple, & there to discourse wthwith him about yethe Law & read it to him & put him in mind of reading & studying it himself. And this his opening & reading the Law those seven days is alluded unto in yethe Lamb's opening the seven seals. Conceive the book to be rolled up & so sealed that by yethe opening of ever seal Ezek. 2. some part of yethe book was opened.
The seventh seale was opened on yethe day of Expiation & then there was silence in heaven for half an hour & an Angel (the High Priest) stood at yethe Altar having a golden Censer & there was given him much incense that he should offer it wthwith the prayers of all saints upon the Goldan Altar wchwhich was before yethe throne. The custome was fro on other days for one of the Priests to take fire from the great Altar in a Silver Censer, but on this day for the High Priest on this Day to take fire from yethe great Altar in a Golden Censer & when he was come down from yethe Altar he took incense from of one of yethe Priests that brought it to him & went to with it to yethe golden Altar & thence while he offered the incense the people prayed without in silence wchwhich is the silence in heaven for half an hour, & therefore tis said that the smoke of yethe incense with the prayers of the saints ascend And when the High Priest had laid the incense on the Altar he carried a Censer of it into yethe most Holy burning in his hand into the most Holy place before the Ark. And the smoke of yethe incense ascen with the prayers of yethe saints ascended up before God out of yethe Angels hand. And On other days there was a certain measure of incense, for the Alta golden Altar, on this day there was a greter quantity for both the Altar & yethe most Holy & therefore it is called much incense. After this the High Priest Angel took yethe Censer & filled it with fire of the Alt (great) Altar ) & cast it to the Earth, that is by yethe hands of the Priests who belong to his mystical body he cast it to yethe earth without the Temple for burning the red heifer & Goat wchwhich was the Lords lot. And at this & other concomitant sacrifices until the evening sacrifice was ended there were voices & thunderings & lightnings & an earthquake that is the voice of the High Priest reading the Law to yethe people & other voices thundrings & the Trumpets & temple – musick at the sacrifices & lightnings of yethe Altar fire of yethe sacrifices altar.
The solemnity of yethe day of Expiation being finished the seven Angels sound their Trumpets at the great sacrifices of the seven days of yethe feast of Tabernacles & at the same sacrifices the seven thunders utter thier voices wchwhich are the Musick of the Temple intermixt with yethe soundings of yethe Trumpets, & the seven Angels pour out their Viols of wrath wchwhich are the drink offerings of those sacrifices.
Contemporary to these things are the unabridged sealing of yethe 144000116r 144000 & the appearing of yethe Palmbearing a great multitude with Palms in their hands & crying Hosaiah. The first were sealed in yethe day of Expiation & yethe last appeared in yethe Feast of Tabernacles, the last day of wchwhich was the great Hosannah. After the first six seals were opened & their visions past Iohn saw four Angels [the An standing on the four corners of the Earth holding the four winds of the earth [that is yethe wars of the four first Trumpets] that the wind should not blow on yethe Earth nor on yethe sea nor on any tree. And he saw another Angel ascending from yethe East having yethe seal of yethe living God & he cryed with a loud voice to the four Angels to whom it was given to hurt the Earth & yethe Sea & yethe trees [that is to yethe Angels of the first four trumpets] saying hurt not yethe earth neither the Sea nor the trees till we have sealed the servants of orour God in their foreheads. This sealing therefore was when an Angel of the Trumpets appeared & were ready to sound & by that is after yethe opening consequence of yethe seventh seal & before yethe sounding of the first Trumpet & by consequence on the day of the fast or Expiation. On that day the twelve Tribes of Israel became divided into two parties, the one of wchwhich was sealed with the seal of yethe living God, the other received the mark of the Beast & so soon as this was done the plague of the first Trumpet or viol of wrath fell on them wchwhich had yethe mark of yethe Beast Apoc 16. 2. In the solemnity of this Fast This sealing a All this This is one of Ezekiels visions Ezek. 9. & 10. a man cloathed in linnen with a writers inkhorn by his side is commanded to go through yethe midst of Ierusalem & set a mark upon yethe foreheads of yethe men who sigh & cry for all the abominations done in the midst thereof, & then other six men (like yethe Angels of the first six Trumpets) are commanded to slay those who are not marked & after them a seventh the man cloathed in linnen (a seventh) scatters over the city coals of fire to consume it. § In yethe solemnity of yethe great Fast, the attonement for yethe sins of yethe people was made by two Goats the one Gods lot the other reprobate Azazels that is the Devil's.. Which of yethe two Goats should be God's was determined by lot. The lots were of gold one with the inscription For God, the other wthwith yethe inscription for Azazel For Azazel. Whence they named the scape Goat Azazel. These lots were put into a box & shaken & the High Priest, one of yethe Goats being set at his right hand & yethe other at his left, put both his hands together into yethe box took out the lots & laid yethe right hand lot on the head of yethe right hand Goat & yethe left hand lot on yethe head of the left hand Goat. And then Gods lot was sacrificed as a sin offering to cleanse yethe sanctuary from yethe Sins of the people & yethe other Goat Azazel had yethe sins of the people confest over him & put upon his head & so loaden with their sins was let go into the wilderness. Thus by these two Goats was signified a separation of yethe people into good & bad two parties, wthwith yethe names of God & Azazel upon their foreheads & t in allusion in allusion to this ceremony there are numbered & sealed wthwith yethe name of God 144000 out of yethe 12 Tribes of Israel & the rest receive the are at the same time marked with the mark or name of yethe Beast. And again the glorious woman in heaven who signifies the Church of God or twelve Tribes of Israel becomes dead flys into yethe wilderness loaden with sins & having a name on her forehead Mystery, Babylon the great &c are sealed wthwith the name of God on their forehed & are killed or sacrifice for not worshipping the image of the Beast leaves the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God & have yethe testimony of Iesus, this remnant being the 144000 who stand wthwith yethe Lamb on Mount Sion & having yethe name of God on their foreheads & who are called yethe first fruits unto God, being commanded by the Image of yethe Beast to be mystically killed or sacrificed mystically killed for not worshipping that image of yethe Beast, & the woman & her beast in yethe wilderness being marked on their foreheads on their foreheads wthwith yethe names of Mystery, fornication abomination & blasphemy.
When yethe 144000 appear with the Lamb on Mount Sion you are to conceive them standing in the Temple at yethe eastern gate of yethe Priests court For they wchwhich was the
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The plague of the eastern wind at yethe sounding of the first Trumpet fell was to fall upon the earth, that is upon the nations of the Greek Empire, & signi the inva And accordingly upon after the death of Theodosius A. C. 345, the Goths Sarmatans, Hunns Isaurians, & Austurians invaded & miserably wasted Greece, Illyricum, Thrace Asia Minor, Armenia, Syria Egypt & Lybia for ten or twelve years together.
That of the second western wind at yethe sounding of the second Trumpet was to fall upon the sea or Western Empire by means of a burning mountain cast into yethe. And accordingly in the year 507 Gallia France that Empire was invaded by the Goths Visigoths, Vandals, Alans, Sueves, Ostrogoths Burgundians Heruli, Quandes & Gepides & miserably wasted & broken into ten kingdoms, & Rome was besieged & taken in the beginning of these miseries.
That of the southern wind at the sounding of the third Trumpet was to chuse be performed by a great star burning as it were a lamp & falls upon a lamp to fall upon rivers & fountains of waters (the western Empire now divided into many Kings & to turn them into blood & make them bitter. And accordingly And accordingly the kingdom of the Vandals & Alans in Spain in the year 427 was disturbed & forced quitted their fell from his dominion in Spain & wthwith his people the Vandals & Alans & invaded their assistance Afric & by a vexatious warr took it from the Romans, & invaded infested also the sea coasts of Italy Europe wthwith a pyratical war & sack Rome Rome & wasted all Italy. [& invited the in Afric & the Hunns in Germany to infest the Romans] The star wchwhich fell from heaven at the sounding of the fift did no
That of the northern wind at the sounding of the fourth Trumpet was to cause the third Sun Moon & Stars to be darkened (that is the western Emperor & his great men) to be darkened, And since & to continue some time in darkness. And accordingly had Odoacer king of the Heruli invaded Italy A. C. 476 & seized the dominions of Augustulus the last of the western Emperors. It was This plague was continued by the wars which the Ostrogoths made upon the Heruli & wchwhich Belligarius afterwards made upon the Ostrogoths & wchwhich in Italy, & wchwhich the Lombards afterwards made in Italy upon the Romans by invading Italy Lombardy erecting a kingdom there & keeping Lombardy in And by all these wars Italy was miserably wasted & Rome thrice taken. ☉ And in these plo here by ☉ These plagues fell upon the third part of the earth, sea, rivers, sun moon & starrs are to b that is I understand upon the earth, sea, rivers, sun, moon & starrs of the third part of the whole scene of these prophesies of Daniel & Iohn These four plagues are said in the The fift Trum prophesy of the Trumpets to fall upon the the third part of the earth, sea, rivers, sun moon & stars & in that of the Vials of Wrath upon the earth, sea, rivers, sun, moon & starrs, that is upon those of the third part of the whole scene of Prophesies of Daniel the Prophesies of Daniel a explained by Iohn referred unto by Iohn. The phrases signify the same thing in different respects.
The fift Trumpet sounded to the warrs wchwhich the king of the south (as he is called by the Devil) made in the time of the end, in pushing at the king who had done according to his will. called by Iohn the Dragon3 And the sixt Trumpet sounded to the warrs wchwhich Daniels king of the north made against the same king who had done according to his will, in coming against him like a whirlwind & in overflowing his kingdome & in conquering also Iudæa Egypt Libya & Ethiopia. 2This fift plague began when the A. C. 634 when the armies of th with the opening of the bottomles pit, wchwhich denotes the letting out of a fals religion, the smoke wchwhich came out of the pit denoting signifying the multitude wchwhich embraced that religion, & the Locusts wchwhich came out of the smoke the armies wchwhich came out of that multitude‡ ‡ And their king was the Angel of the bottomless pit represented by the star wchwhich fell from heaven to yethe Earth. This star did not suffer but inflict the plage of this Trumpet. And the like as I may be understood of the star wchwhich fell from heaven at the sounding of the third Trumpet. 4 These wars commenced A. C. 1258 when the four kingdoms of the Turks seated upon Euphrates, that of Mesopotamia seated that of Armenia majoras Aleppo at Mosul, Myepherekin, Antioch & that of Syria seated at Aleppo, & that of Cappadocia seated at Iconium were invaded by yethe Tartars under Hulacic & driven into Asia minor where they made war upon the Greeks & erected the present Empire of the Turks.
The Empire was much infested by northern barbarians in the last years of wo end of the reigreign of the Emperor Valens. But these warrs were checkd fully stopt by the Emperors Gratian & Theodosius in the beginning of the reign of Theodosius A. C. 379 & 380, & thenceforward the Empire remained quiet till the de from forreign warrs invasions & forreign armies till the death of Theodosius. And then the four winds began to blow.
The first of these six plagues lasted about 12 years, the second about 21 years, the third about 49 years, the fourth about 146 years 158 158 years the fourth fift about 624 634 630 years & according to this progression the sixt may be b continue eight or nine hundred years or above. still longer seven or eight hundred years or above. But it is not for us to foreknow the times & seasons wchwhich God hath put in his own breast.
That of the southern wind at the sounding of the third TumptTrumpet was to b cause a great star burning as it were a lamp to fall from heaven upon the rivers & fountains of waters [the western Empire now divided in many kingdoms] & to turn them to Wormood & blood & make them bitter. And accordingly Geseric the king of the Vandals & Alans in Spain A. C. 427 invaded Afric with an army of 80000 men & by a lasting & vexatious war lasting fefty years together almost without intermissions took it from the Romans & infested also the sea coasts of Europe & by a pyratical war & [took Sicily Sardinia, Corsica, Ebusus Majorca Minorca & wasted Italy] A. C. 455 with a fleet of three hundred thousand Vandals & Moors invaded Italy, took & plundred Rome Naples Capua & many other cities & carried thence the wealth of the cities & flower of the people into Afric. Then they invaded & took It the Hands of the Mediterranean Sicily Sardinia Corsica, Ebusus Majorca & Minorca &c. A Then they persuaded the Ostrogoths to seat themselves in Spain & joyn with the Visigoths; whereupon the Goths The Risimer besieged the Emperor Athenius in Rome, took the city & gave his soldiers the plunder A. C. 473 & the Visigoths about the same time ejected the Romans out of all Spain. And by all none of the Western Emperor the great star wchwhich fell from heaven burning as it were a lamp, having by all these wars having gradualy lost almost all his dominions & being impoverished was invaded & conquered in one year by Odoacer king of the Heruli, A. C. in the reig After this the V A. C. 476. And at length Bellisarius invaded Afric & conquered the Vandals by a bloody warr.. And by all these warrs of the Vandals Afric was so very much depopulated that
☉ & made war upon the Romans, about in Afric & on the sea coasts of Europe 50 years together almost without intermission. In this war he took Afric from them by degrees [& Then he infested the Sea coasts of Europe.] A. C. besieged & took Carthage besieging & burning Hippo A. C. 439, & taking Carthage the capital of Afric A. C. 439. An & infesting the sea-coasts of Europe & islands of Europe the meediterranean by a pyratical war.. He invited also Attila king of the Hunns to invade the remains of the western EmpieEmpire & A. C. 455 with a fleet of 300000 Vandals & Moors he invaded Italy
In pouring out the third Vial of wr it is said, Thou art righteous o Lord wchwhich i because thou hast judged thus, For they have shed the blood of Saints & Prophets because thou hast judged thus & thou hast given them blood to drink for they are worthy. And how they shed the blood of Saints & Prophets may be understood by the following Edict of the Emperor Honorius procured by a Council of African Bishops.
Impp, Honor & Theod AA. Heracliano Com. Afric Oracut Oraculo – – Coss [A. C. 410.] And again by this
Impp.
Sciant cuncti - - - Cosns. A. C. 415. And who are meant by Hæreticks the
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VI. D. / VII.40. VIII. 20.
Emperors defined by this Edict.
And what was to be understood in these Eidcts by heresy & heretical superstition, the
Before These Edicts being directed to yethe governour of Afric extended only to the Churches of Afric. Before these There were many others evere ones supo against the Donalists wchwhich were very severe but wchwhich w they did not extend to blood. These were the first that made their meetings & the meetings of all dissenters capital. For by hereticks they meant all dissenters; as may be understood by this Edict against Eurasius a Luciferan Bishop.
Empp. Arcad. Et Honor. AA. Aureliano Proc. Africæ.
Hæreticorum vocabulo continentur, & latis adversus eos santionibus debent succumbere, Qui vel levi argumento a judicio Catholicæ religionis & tramite detecti fuerint deviare; ideoque experientia tua Euresium hæreticum esse cognoscat. Dat. III Non. Sept. Constantinop. Olybrio Probrino Coss [A. C. 395.]
The Ostrogoths under Theodoric were sent into Italy by the Greek Emperor to punish Odoacer for invading Italy.
The Greek Emperor Zeno adopted Theoderic king of the Ostrogoths to be his son, made him Master of the horse & Patricius & Consul of Constantinople, & recommending to him the western Empire Roman people & Senate gave him the western Empire & sent him into Italy against Odoacer king of the Heruli. Theoderic thereupon led his army nation into Italy, conquered Odoacer & enter reigned over Italy, Sicily Rhœtia Noricum Dalmatia, Liburnia, Istria, & part of Suavia, Pannonia & Gallia. Whence Ennodius in a Panegyric to Theoderic said: — servavit intactas. Whence I do not reccon the reign of this king amonst the plagues of the Trumpets four Winds
The plagues of the northern wind at the sounding of the fourth Trumpet was to cause the Sun Moon & Stars (that is the king & kingdom & Princes & of the Western Empire) & to be darked & to continue sometime in darkness. And accordingly Bellisarius having conquered the Vandals invaded Italy A. C. 535 & made war upon the Ostrogoths in Dalmatia Liburnia Venetia Lumbardy, Tuscia & other regions northward from Rome twenty years together. In taking Millain from the Romans slew all the males young & old amounting (as Procopius reccons) to 30 three hundred thousand, & sent the weomen captives to their allies in the Burgundians. Rome her self was taken & retaken several times & thereby her people were thinned, her old government by a Senate & Consuls fell ceased, her nobles were ruined & all her glory was extinct, & A. C. 552 after a war of seventeen years the kingdom of the Ostrogoths fell whose kings had been her husband & her Sun. Yet the remainder of the Goths & an army of Germans wchwhich they had called in to their assitance continued the war three or four years longer: And then ensued the a war of the Heruli who as – – – – lasting peace then made with the Lombards. Anastasus tells us perimebant cunetam Ilabiam, slew all Italy. And after that the war of the Lombards, the fiercest of all the barbarians continued from the year 568 for 38 years together, facta tali clade, saith Anastasius, qualem a sœculo nullus memminit. It ended in the Papacy of Sabinian A. C. 605 by a lasting peace then made with the Lombards. And three years before it ended, Gregory the great mentions it thus. Qualiter enim - valemus. And in one of his sermons to the people he thus expresses the great consupption of the people by Romans by these wars: Ex illa - affligunt. And in another he thus describes the desolations. Destructæ – – oppressa est &c. All this was spoken by Gregory to the people of Rome who were witnesses of the truth. And thus the Western by the plagues of the four winds the Empire of the Latines fell & Rome remained nothing more then the capital of a poor dukedom under subordinat to the Exarchate of Ravenna.
In these wars the king of the north, according to Daniel, conquered the king who had done according to his will that is the Greek Emperor Empire of the Greeks & Iudæa & Egypt & Libya & Ethiopia, & by these conquests he set up the Empire of the Turks as you may know by the extent thereof. These warrs
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Locusts live but five months
The whole time that the Califs of the Saracens reigned with a temporal dominion at Damascus & Bagdad together was 300 years vizt from yethe year 637 to the year 937. were But Locusts live but five months & therefore for the decorum of the type, these Locusts are said to hurt men five months & five months, that is about five months at Damascus & five months at Bagdad, in all ten months or 300 prophetic days wchwhich are years. Upon the sounding of the sixt Trumpet Iohn heard a voice from the four horns of the golden Altar & wchwhich is before God, saying - third part of man. The four horns of the golden Altar allude to the situation of the four head cities of the said four kingdoms & Myapharekin Mosul Aleppo & Iconium wchwhich made a was were in a quadrangle. They slew the third part of men when they conquered the Greek Empire & took Constantinople A. C. 1453. And They began to be prepared for this purpose when they Olub-Arslan began to conquer the nations upon Eufrates A. C. 1063. And the interval is called an hour & a day & a month & a year or 391 days prophetic days wchwhich are years. In the first thirty years Olub-Arslan & Melecsa conquered the nations upon Eufrates & reigned over the whole. Melecsah died A. C. 1092 & was succeeded by child w a little child, & then this kingdom upon Euphrates broke into the four kingdoms above mentioned.
After the Emperor Iulian had opened the Temples & restored the worship Valentinian & Valens tolerated it all their reigns, And therefore – – – – ~ & pars hominum rarissima
And one half of the Empire were turned Christians before the reign of the Emperor Iulian. After he had opened the Temples & restored the worship of the heathens, the Emperors Valentinian & Valens tolerated it all their reign & therefore — – – & pars hominum rarissima. So the reign of Th Gratian & Theodosius put an end to the affair of the sixt seal. The four
The seventh sea
At the opening of the seventh Seal there was silence in heaven for half an hour, & this silence sign that is peace in the Roman Empire, & this peace was procured by the holding of the four winds four Angels standing on the four corners of the Earth and holding the four winds wchwhich were to hu of the earth that the wind should not blow on the earth [at the sounding of yethe first Trumpet] nor on the sea [at the sounding of the second] These winds come from blew hard in the reign of Valentinian & Valens the Romans being then much infested by the wars of barbarous & were stopt in the beginning And thenceforward of the reign of Gratian & Theodosius A. C. 379 & 380. And therefore we may place the beginning of the silence in the year 380. The four Angels & place the opening of the seventh either in that year or the year before when Gratian made Theodosius Emp. E divided the Empire between himself & Theodosius, & they two began to stop the warrs represented by the winds represented by the winds wchwhich were to hurt the earth & Sea.
The sacrifices at the first four – – – Roman Empire. These four plagues – – – of Daniel & Iohn. At the op
Mr Nede – complete. These seven plagues are the four first four of these plagues Trumpets are distinguished from the three last by giving the name of whence the affair of the sixt Seal ended with the reign of Valens, or perhaps rather with the beginning of the reign of Theodosius when he rejected the dignity of Pontifex maximus. The name of Woes are given to the warrs of the three last Trumpets to distinguish them from the four first [wchwhich are represented by four winds] And the sacrifices – – – of Daniel & Iohn.
The Romans were much infested by the invasions of forreign nations in the reign of Valentinian & Valens. & Valens perished in them A. C. 378 But those – – – they began to blow. Whence the opening of yethe 7th Seal may be placed upon the openin year 380 or the perh when the silence be in heaven began, or perhaps upon the year before when Gratian divided the Empire between himeslf & Theodosius & they two began to hold the four winds.
The plague of the eastern wind
So long the four winds were help, & the seventh Seal was opened when this silence in heaven began
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Chap. Sect 1 The seven Churches of Asia
The Prophesy of the Apocalyps neare the beginning thereof relates chiefly to the first ages of Christianity the times preceding the great Apostacy, amon in the midle to the great Apostacy & neare the end to the times after the fall of th last. The six first six chapters relate to treat very treat largely of the times preceding the great Apostacy & the five next treat largely of the reign & fall of largely of that great Apostacy & rise chiefly of its fall. Then follows a repetition of the whole & the 12th chapter treats briefly of the rise of steps by times wchwhich the great Apostacy arose, the five next five Chapters treat largely of its reign, the next two of its fall & the la treat very largely of its fall & the last three treat as largely of the times after its fall. So then according to this method of the Prophesy the Epistles to yethe seven Churches being introductory to this Prophesy are sermons preached by Christ to the churches of the first ages before the rise of the great Apostacy
These Churches are literally the particular Churches assembled of the seven cities of Asia named in this Prophesy of Ephesus, Smyna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia & Laodicea Ephesus Smyna beginning of, & the Epistles on sermons written to them as particular Churches are thus to be taken in a litteral sence concerning such things as happened in them churches of those cities during the first ages. Particularly the false Apostles in Ephasus are Cerinthus & such others corrupt fals as taught false doctrines in that city there of Ephesus, the Nicolaitans are the disciples of Niclolas one of the seven deacons who in the Age of yethe AposlesApostles taught fornication in a literal sense, the woman Iezebel is the may be one of the Woman or weomen of Montanus who spread his pretended to yethe spirit of prophesy & spread his idolatrous doctrine in Thyatira till they overthrow the true church in that city. The Martyr Antipas may be some eminent christian who was martyred in slain in Smyrna Pergamus before Iohn received this prophesy. But in a mystical sense the seven churches of these cities are yethe joyntly & severally types of the church catholick & signify the same thing with the seven Candlesticks & seven horns of the Lamb: & in this respect the seven Epistles are each of them directed to the Church Catholick & to every member thereof, & are to be interpreted in a mystical sense. And as the seven heads hills upon wchwhich the woman may sitteth heads of the Beast relate to seven successive periods of the Roman Empire may so the seven Churches of Asia may relate to seven successive periods of ytthat Church Catholick. For the
For the the Church Catholick of the is in this Prophesy represented by the glorious Woman in heaven cloathed wthwith the Sun & & having wthwith & the Moon being under her feet & a crown of twelve stars stars upon her head hose seed keeps the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus And the seven Churches are her first Metropolis & continue to be her Metropolis till she flies into the wilderness & [seats her self at the great city Babylon her new Metropolis & becomes a great Whore. under & hearkens to the seven Churches] becomes the whore of Babylon. And the seven Epistles relate to seven successive states wchwhich she underwent before she changed her Metropolis While she continues the Church of Christ he preaches to her & admonishes her by the seven Epistles directed to those Churches: but after when she flyes into the spiritually barren wilderness & separates from the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus & becomes the great Whore of Babylon; he preaches to her no more. These Epi Sery was And these Epistles repsect the her state & condition state & erounstars she was in in seven successive periods of time & suit with her condition in those periods. And before she separates & becomes a whore she is in seven successive states to wchwhich the seven Epistles agree She was in her first state under the heathen Emperors during the lightnings voices & thundring (Apoc. 11. 19) untill she appeared in travel: in her second state before her flight during her travel: in her third state between the birth of the Manchild & & her receiving two & voices & thundrings untill she wings of a great (Apoc. 11. 19) Eagle; in her fourth state when she was ready to fly away the Dragon cast out water as a flood after h floated in the water wchwhich the Dragon cast receiving two wings of a great Eagl that she might out of his mouth after her; in her fift state when the Earth had swallowed up the water; in the sixt when the Dragon was wroth with her & in the seven when the Dragon ceased to persecute her & went to make with the remnant of her seed The first period was before the a during the thunder & lightnings before the Woman appeared in travel, the second period was of the woman when of her being in travel, the third was between the birth of the Manchild & her beginning to fly into the wilderness the fourth was of her beginning to fly & the Dragons casting out waters as a flood after her, the fift was of when the Earths swallowedg up the waters & the people of the earth & waters became reuniting been reunited, the six was when the Dragon was wroth wthwith the woman, & the seventh while when the woman & her seed were was separating from the remnant of her seed in order to escape into the Wilderness, & the Dragon was going from her to make war with that remnant.
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The During these seven periods of time The Church had a great strugglele wthwith the mystery of iniquity. For this mystery began to work in the Apostles days & was to continued to working & till the ap man of Sin appeared, being the mystery are the torch of of spiritual fornication or Idolatry written on the forehead of the great Whore Whore. And because this mystery was to overthrow the Church & & overspread overcome the Church there Christ admon therefore Christ admonishes the Church in these Epistles to contend against the mystery professors of this mystery calling them Nicolaitans of Spiritual fornications Balaam & Iezebel the fals Prophet & fals prophetess who teach & seduce to eat things sacrifised to Idols & the Synagogue of Satan which say they are Iews & are not; that is, the idolatrous Church of the Devil or Dragon which say they are Christians & are not. Iohn These are the Antichrists wchwhich Iohn tells us should come & whose forerunners were to appear began to appear in his days, whence he conclud & from whose appeareance he concludes that it was the last time. His meaning is that the time of the end spoken of by Daniel in wchwhich the great Antichrist was to rise & should rise & reign was at hand in some respect began commenced because the his forerunners appeared began already to appear, & & once appearing were were not to cease before his coming. These Antichrists denied the father & the Son & by consequence worshipping strange Gods in their roome were idolaters & in their Eucharist & ate things sacrif. to idols & so are in this prophesy fitly represented called Nicolaitans & the Synagogue of Satan. Against These false teachers & their followers being therefore of such dangerous consequence the Epistles to the Churches are chiefly directed against them, encouraging the Churches to contend against them.
The first Epistle directed to the Church in Ephesus relates to the times before the woman was in travel that is to the first state of the Church under the heathen Emperors untill the 10th Persecution. For in this Epistle Christ saith
Heaven is here put for the Temple of heaven, that Temple wchwhich was opened in heaven that the vision of the ark the Woman the Dragon & Michael might be seen in it. And the stars thid parts of the starrs of heaven wchwhich the Dragon draws wthwith his tail or stars of the third part of heaven are yethe seven lamps of the Temple called the seven Stars. & sev For this Temple is the same wthwith that in yethe 4th chapter in wchwhich there are seven lamps wchwhich are the seven spirits of God. And these lamps are the same wthwith those seve of the seven candlesticks wchwhich are also mentioned in the beginnings of the Apocalyps wchwhich are also called the seven spirits of God & the seven Angels of the seven Churches. represented by the Candlesticks. So then as the seven Candlesticks by their lamps illuminated the Temple of God in heaven so the seven Churches of Asia represented by their Cadles teachers Bat teachers repre illuminated the Church Catholick of God in the first ages of Christianity this Prophesy. For the Candlesticks are those Churches, their lamps are those teachers & the Temple in heaven is that Church of Gods. The seven Churches of Asia therefore taken collectively as one Church governed by Iohn, are chose in this Prophesy put for the Metropolis of the Church catholick of God from whence the light of the Gospel went forth into all nations in the first tw three age of this Prophesy ages. Theses Churches were instructed continually by all the 12 Apostles 31 years together before they fled into Asia minor. In Asia Iohn himself for above 30 years together after the death of Peter & Paul continued the great light of the Church catholick. He illuminated the These Churches were instructed by all the twelve Apostles 31 years together before they fled into Asia minor & instructed the Bishops & teachers of the seven Churches by immediate personal conversation. From them the light went out for more strongly to the Churches of Greece who were nearer & spake the same language more weakly to the Churches of the Latines who were remoter & spake a different language. And after his death the seven Churches having being more illuminated then the rest continued the light of the seven Churches. The Gentiles were instructed but sometimes by the preaching of Paul. He staid longer at in Ephesus (the first of the seven Churches) then in any other city out of hands before he came to Rome. At Rome he staid only four or five years in bonds & Peter only one or two, & the rest of the western Churches were never instructed by any of the Apostles so far appears in history: but the Churches of Asia were continually instructed partly by the twelve Apostles, partly by Iohn, 64 years together; And therby they were became not only more knowing in the Gospel but also more zealous & fervent in the love of God & their wchwhich is neighbour, wchwhich is the live & vigour of
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The seven Chu Candlesticks in the first Temple
This Prophesy of the Apocalyps relates chiefly neare the beginning thereof relates more relates chiefly chiefly to the first times of Christianity then the last, & neare the end it relates it relates chiefly to the last. The It begins wthwith the Epitles to the seven Churches represen & therefore therefore those Epistles relate chiefly to the first times. And so far as I se if I mistake not they are exhortations to the Churches Catholick relating of the first ages from time to time against the mystery of iniquity wchwhich began to work in the Apostles days & continued to work more & more in the Churches of fals teachers untill they prevailed & became the great Apostacy. These Churches of Asia are the seven Candlesticks in the Tabernacle first Temple & the Candlestick Tabernacle first Temples relates to yethe first ages. They represent are the seven horns of the Lamb & joyntly & severally represent the Church Catholick of the first ages & the Epistles directed to them are successive seven admonitions to that Church Catholick relating to seven successive states or vicissitudes thereof. untill th The first relates to the state of yethe Church don under the heathen Emperors untill the 10th Persecution, the second relates to yethe state of yethe Church during that persecution, the third to the state of it in the next after that persecution in yethe reign of Constantine. & Licinius The fourth to the division thereof under the sons of Constantine. The fift to the union thereof under Constantius the sixt to the its afflicted state under Iulian, & the seventh to its decaying condition under Valentian & Valens, For the Epi untill the opening of the seventh seal & rose reclation of yethe great Apostacy. For the Epistles suit well to those seven periods of time.
In the first Epistle the Church of E Christ saith that the Church of Ephesus cannot bear them wchwhich are evil & hath tried them wchwhich say they are Apostles & are not, & hath found them liars: both wchwhich characters (her purity in that she annot them wchwhich are evil & her contending at trying trying fals Apostle agree best wthwith yethe primitive times. The fals Apostles the Arch-Heretick the the fals teachers & Antichrists of the first ages, such as were Simon Magus, Menander, Cervinthus, Basilides, Carpocrates, Valentinus Marcion, Montanus &c Paul of Samosat Tatian, Sabellius Paul of Samosat &c al wchwhich being forerunners of the great Antichrist & therefore Christ commends yethe Church of Ephasus for trying & discovering them. These are also the Nicolaitans whose opinions deeds the Church of Ephesus hated. For their opinions deeds as the Apostle Iohn explained in the Epistles) amounted to a denial of God & Christ [& setting up strange Gods in their room, the worship of wchwhich was] & committing spiritual fornication wthwith other God fals Gods. learn. For hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans A further charater of this Church was that she had left her first love the love she had in the Apostles days. For after the death of the Apostles the Church grew colder especially a little before the 10th persecution as Eusebius describes. Remember therefore saith Christ from whence thou art fallen & repent & do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly & will remove thy candlestick out of its place. except Which came to pass by throwing down the Churches & interdicting yethe worship of the Christians throughout all yethe Empire in the state persecution Dioclesians Dioclesians persecution
The second Epistle relates manifestly to that ten years persecution under Dioclesian, in & Maximinus as may appear by these words. And unto yethe Angel of the Church of Smyrna write, These things saith the he – – – he wchwhich was dead & is alive; I know thy works & tribulation & poverty (but thou art [spiritually] rich) & I know the blasphemy of them wchwhich say they are Iews & are not but are yethe Synagogue of Satan [i.e. I know the idolatry of the churches of the false teachers disciples of the fals Apostles wchwhich now begin to be numerous & wchwhich wchwhich say they are Christians & are not but are yethe Church of the Devil Satan,] he being the disciples of the fals Apostle fear none of those things wchwhich thou shalt suffer. Behold the Devil [the great red Dragon] shall cast some of you into prisons that ye may be tried & ye shall have tribulation ten days [that is, persecution ten years.] Be thou faithfull unto death & I will give thee a crown of life. – He that overcometh shall not be hurt of yethe second death. By the length of the persecution you may certainly know that it was Dioclesians persecution.
The third Epistle relates to yethe times next after the tenth persecution as is manifest by the words. I know To the Angel of the Church in Pergamus write — I know thy works & where thou dwellest even [in Pergamus] where Satan's throne is [that is in the Greek Empire descended from the kingdom of Pergamus & represented in this prophesy by the great red Dragon that old Serpent called the Devil & Satan] & thou holdest fast any name [during the present reign of the persecuting Greek Emperor Licinius] & hast not denied my faith even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain amongst you where Satan dwelleth [that is in the days of the tenth persecution wherein my faithful martyrs represented by Antipas were slain in the Greek Empire where the Dragon reigneth & where the persecution was sharpest & lasted ten years.] But I have a few121r few things against them because thou hast there [in the Kingd Pergamus Greek Empire] them that hold the doctrine of Balaam [the fals Prophet] who taught or aggregate of fals teachers] who taught Balac [the king] to cast a stumbling block before yethe children of Israel [by sending weomen among them to seduce them ] to eat things sacrifi to the worship of their Gods &] to cause them] to eat things sacrificed to Idols & to commit fornication: so hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which thing I hate. Repent or else I will come unto thee quickly & will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. The Nicolaitans were therefore such as taught the doctrine of Balaam for seducing the people of God to I idolatry, a generation of fals teachers with their churches lasting from the days of the Apostles to the second coming of Christ time that Christ comes with with the sword of his mouth against his enemies; the whole body of Antichrist in all ages.
The fourth Epistle relates to the division of the Empire & Church ofbetween Rome & ConstinopleConstantinople & between the sons of Constantine & to the Woman growing corrupt proud, ambitious & potent & claiming appeals from all the world wchwhich is the universal bishopric & thereby attempting to separating fmfrom them that opposed her & thereby & beginning to fly into yethe wilderness & set up popery. An The words run thus: And to the Church in Thyatira write These things saith the son of God who hath eyes like unto a flame of fire & his feet like amber [burning] brass [the types of the eastern & western Churches ] or two wings of the great Eagle] I know thy works & charity &c.. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Iezebel [now tainted with the doctrine of the Nicolaitans] wchwhich calleth her self a prophetess [& is now tainted wthwith the doctrine of the Nicolaitans] to teach & to seduce my servants to commit [spiritual] fornication & to eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave have given her space to repent of her [spiritual] fornication & she will not repented not. Behold I will cast her into into his a bed [of torment] & them that commit fornication with her on yethe bed into great tribulation, [in the lake of fire] except they repent.
The fift Epistle respects the Church reunited under Constantius, wchwhich flourished wthwith temporal prosperity & grandeur & pe & wthwith multitudes of people & made an outward profession of the truth against the innovations of Arius & the Pope & others, but abounded with dissemblers & was very much decayed in piety & vertue & had but few good Christians. For the Epistle runs thus. And unto The fift Epistle respects the Church reunited under Constantius & flourishing with temporal prosperity & grandure & multitude of people & outward grandure appearance & profession of truth & multitude of people being a mixture of true Christians wthwith but grown decayed in piety & vertue. I know saith he thy works that thou hast being a mixture of true Christians wthwith & mixed wthwith great multitudes of dissemblers who in their hearts were either heathens or erring Christians. For the Epistle runs thus. And unto yethe Angel of the Church of in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God & the seven stars [the type of the Angels of the whole united Church] I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest & art dead. Be watchful & strengthen the things that are ready to dy: for I have not found thy works perfect before God — Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments & they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy.
The sixt Epistle respects the church in affliction during the reign of Iulian the Apostate a heathen Emperor. And to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy he that is true, he that hath the key of David [the key of the Temple wchwhich Isaiah calls Isa. 22. 22 the key of the house of David] he that openeth [to the throne] & no man shutteth & shutteth [from yethe throne] & no man openeth: I know thy works: Behold I have set before thee an open door [to the throne from whence thou art at present excluded] & no man can shut it [to hinder thee from entring in again] For thou hast a little strength & [in this time of persecution] hast not denied my name. Behold I will make them of the Synagogue of Satan [the Nicolaitans] wchwhich say they are Iews [the Nicolaitans wchwhich say they are Christians] & are not, but do lye; behold I will make them to come & worship before thy feet & to know that I have loved thee. Because [in the reign of the Emperor Iulian] thou hast kept the word of thy my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation wchwhich [by fals miracles] shall come upon all the world [to set up the invocation of Saints & worship of dead men & thereby] to try them that dwell upon the earth.
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The seventh Epistle relates to the Church in the reign of Valentinian & Valens, when by recovering the throne she grew great & splendid & abounded in wealth but became abated in vertue & piety & grew lukewarm till Christ spewed her out of his mouth. I know thy works, saith he, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art luke warm & neither cold nor hot, I will spue the out of my mouth: because thou sayest I am rich & increased wthwith goods; & knowest not that thou art wretched & miserable & poor & blind & naked. &c At the opening of yethe seventh seal when the Woman escaped from yethe Dragon & fled into yethe spiritually desert barren wilderness this Church was spewed out of Christ's mouth. For then the twelve tribes of Israel wchwhich are the primitive Church Catholick represented by the Woman were rejected & received the mark of yethe Beast except the 144000 thousand wchwhich received the mark were sealed wthwith the seal of God in their forehead & except the two witnesses. Then yethe Woman escaped into the spiritually barren wilderness & from yethe Dragon & fled Then the Woman wchwhich had hitherto represented the Church of God separated from the remnant of her seed which have keep the commandments of God & keep have the testimony of Iesus: & flying into the spiritually dry & barren wilderness ceased to be any longer the Church of Christ & became the great Whore of Babylon. & synagogue of Satan & after she ceased to hearken & Christ to the Angel of the seven Churches Christ ceased to. [While the Woman continued to be the Church of Christ he continued to admonish her by seven epistles but after she forsook him & became the Church of the Devil he wrote to her no more. At that time all men were killed who as many as would not worship the Image of yethe Beast would not worship the Image of the Beast, & by consequence all the seven Churches of Asia, were killed: & this killing puts an end to all the seven churches of Ch of Asia & gives a beginning to a new state of things. [the two martyrs or Witnesses. At that time the twelve tribes of Israel were rejected who include & by consequence yethe seven Churches wchwhich, of are rejected & receive the Mark of the Beast, excepting an hundred forty & four thousand who are sealed wthwith the seale of God & standing on Mount Sion wthwith the Lamb, before the throne & before the four Beasts & the elders worship God in this second Temple, [The twelve Tribes worshipped God in the first Tabernacle Temple teh 144000 worship him in the second first Temple] & up for the future are his Church represented by the two Candlesticks & called & called the two witnesses Prophets. If the seven Churches are the seven Candlesticks in the Tabernacle, the two witnesses are the twelve tribes worshipped God in the Tabernacle, the 144000 worship him in the Solomon's Temple & the two Prophets allude to Elijah & Elisha in the days of Iezebel when there was no rain & in that respect its said that fire ca in the fire came out of their mouths & devoured their Enemies & that but if the twelve tribes worship in the Tabernacle & Solomons Temple, the two 144000 worship in the the second Temple & the two Prophets allude to Haggai & Zecchary.] & then all that would not worship the image of the Beast were mystically killed.] being mystically killed & excommunicated by] all men being at that time mystically killed & excommunicated who would not worship the image of the Beast & receive his mark or name or the number of his name.] all ecclesiastical bodies being mystically killed or dissolved who would not worship the Image of the Beast & all poor men being thence forward prohibited buying & selling, that is excommunicated, who had not the mark or name of the Beast or the number of his name.
All the twelve tribes who would not of Israel who received not the mark or name of the Beast or yethe number of his name were prohibited buying & selling, that is, the 144000 who received the name of God in their foreheads were excommunicated.
And at the same time all Christians who would not worship the Image of the Beast were mystically killed, that is all their Churches of bodies ecclesiastical were dissolved. And from this killing they are called the two martyrs or Witnesses, being the two remnant of the womans seed whom have the testimon the Dragon went to make war upon & who in that war keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus, & being called two wthwith respect to the two Empires in wchwhich they are killed whose churches they were & in which they are killed.
The same Christians diffused throughout the whole Empire are both the 144000 & the two witnesses & the seven Churches in different respects. For Christ by his whole mystical body represents the 12 tribes, by the his two leggs the two witnesses & by the seven stars in his right hand the seven churches.
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These Churches
But yet this church notwthstandingnotwithstanding all these good qua these her good qualities, had left her first love. She was much perfecter in the Apostles days beginning & had been decaying ever since the Apostles days, & & therefore Christ admonishes her to repent & do her first works, alt remember from whence she was fallen & repent & do the first works; otherwise he would come & remove her Candlestick out of its place. How much this Church had a little before the 10th persecution had fall degenerated from was falling had left her first state love & was grown full of dissentions animosities æmulations writing long dissemulations Eusebius in the beginning of yethe 8th book of his Ecclesiastical History describes at large, & how instead of repenting she grew wors & worse & till the & therefore till the Persecution overtook her: For When she repented not Christ Christ removed her Candlestick brought on this wchwhich Pers. to purge her from tepporetes evil men & in the beginning of yethe pers thereof removed her Candlestick out of its place by causing her churches to be thrown down throughout all the Empire & her worship assemblies to be interedicted, as Eusebius describes.
– was grown full of dissemulation wrangling included more & more to æmulation dessimulation dissentions animosities conteption wangling & & backbiting & over Eusebius
Yet after she had left her first love she is commended for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans & therefore she still continued right in the faith. till the time of yethe persecution
of the Christian religion
Now the Woman in the Temple of heaven being signifying the Church catholick or people of God who worship him in his Temple, Christ it is to be conceived that Christ in the beginning of the Apocalyps appearing in the form of the High Priest dresses the Lamps (as was explained above) & sends Epistles to the seven Church Angels of the seven Churches that those lamps or Angels may shine more bright for illuminating the Temple where the Woman people repr worship God; it is to be conceived & by consequence that the seven Epistles are directed to the Church catholic represented by that Woman. They are directed by Iohn to the immediately to yethe Angels or Bishops of the seven Churches to be communicated to their mystical body f of Bishops & other teachers first in the seven churches & then in the Churches of the whole world world, & by the Bishops & other teachers to all the people I do. While this Woman continues in the temple of heaven illuminated by the seven lamps he went Christ preaches to her & admonishes her by the seven Epistles but after she separates from yethe remnant of her seed who keep yethe commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus & flyes from the Temple of heaven into a spiritually barren wilderness & there becomes the great whore of Babylon, he preaches to her no more. These Epistles respect her state in seven successive periods of time preceding her fl separation & flight & suit wthwith her condition in those periods. &c
While she hearkened to the Angels of yethe seven Churches of Asia Christ admonished her by seven Epistles directed to those Churches Angels, [but after she has changed her Metropolis & seated her self at Babylon he] And these Epistles respect seven successive states wchwhich she underwent wh before she changed her Metropolis. She was in her first state
The pr. of yethe 144000 & two Witnesses explained.
When the two Beasts rose out of the sea & earth & the second first Beast who had been slain & with a sword upon his reviving & rising out of yethe sea was deified by the second Beast, & all men were caused to worship him & his image & receive his mark & tho all men who would not worship this Image were killed all that those who would not receive his mark or name or the number of his name were excommunicated it is to b interdicted buying & selling, that is b it is to be understood that the temporal power by wchwhich the two horned B second Beast did this execution was the power of yethe Dragon. For this Beast having two horns like whose church he was. He have spake as the Dragon & by excommuication made fire come down from heaven upon earth in yethe sight of men, & this fire is war that war wchwhich the Dragōon in a litteral sense is a lighted torch thrown down in excommunications, but in a figuration one it is war the war wthwith yethe Dragon made upon the remnant of the Womans seed who keep the commandments of God & have the in that war have the testimony of Iesus. By the influence of this B. & the dictates of the Oracle wchwhich he caused to be erected to yethe first Beast, the Dragon made that war. upon yethe re & therein killed all that would not worship the Image & that is, dissolved their ecclesial bodies ecclesiastical, & interdicted buying & selling to all who would not receive the mark or name of yethe beast or number of his name that is put their excommunication in execution. In res [And so soon as this excommunication is put in execution they stand on Mount Sion wthwith the Lamb henceforward in respect of their being ex interdicted buying & selling for not receiving the mark of the B or name of the Beast they are called the 144000 who have the name of God in their foreheads & stand on Mount Sion wthwith the Lamb, & in respect of their being killed they are called the Martyrs or Witnesses of Iesus Christ] And so soon as this excommunication is put in excomm execution executed, all those who received not the mark of name of the Beast stand on or number of his name stand on mount Sion with the Lamb having ytthat name of God in their foreheads & being numbered with his number 144000, & they are not defiled with weomen that is they are separated from the Whore, & in their mouth was found no lye that is they are true witnesses. In respect of their not receiving the mark or name or number of the Beast they are yethe 144000 having yethe name of God in their foreheads, & in respect of their being the remnant of the Womans seed who have the testimony of Iesus & in the war wchwhich the Dragon made pon them are killed for that testimony, they are the martyrs or witnesses of Iesus who are not defiled with weomen & in whose mouth is found no lye. The two & in respect of their singing a new Song on Mount Sion they are the Prophets of God. For singing is prophesying, 1 Sam. 10 1 Chron. 25. 1, 2, 3, 1 Sam. 10. 5, & prophesying is witnessing testifying or witnessing 2 Chron 24. 19. The two horned Beast is called the fals Prophet & the Woman is the wo Iezebel is calleth her self a Prophetess, & in opposition to these two fals Prophets God has his two true Prophets & true Witnesses the one in the earth or regions of Asia Syria Egypt & Afric in opposition to the two second Beast wchwhich rose out of yethe E. the other in the Sea or Isles of the sea regions wchwhich the Iews called the Isles of yethe sea in opposition to the woman on the back of the other Beast wchwhich rose out of the Sea. For these two witnesses are the two leggs of the Son of Man in form of an Angel standing upon the Sea & earth in form of an Angel & the new song wchwhich they sing with the Lamb on Mount Sion his soul was the roaring of a Lion & & of the sea of glass is the voices of the seven thunders of the cloud wthwith wchwhich the son of man is cloathed, & the voice also of the son of man lik as when a lion roareth like that of a roaring lion wchwhich voices are the song of the Temple at the sacrifices of the seven Trumpets & seven Vials of wrath, as was explained above. The Image by wchwhich the four Monarchies & represented in Daniel being the Image the Image of a man is almost in the shape of the Monarchies, the leggs lying westward with the mediterranean sea between them. Syria represents the belly, Ægypt & Libya with Asia minor & Greece the thighs, Afric one leg & Europe westward of Greece the other Legg. These leggs belong to the fourth Monarchy & lye in the earth & Sea & their true Churches are relate to the two witnesses do much more of them as as those Witnesses are comprehended within the western Empire
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The Church of God in respect of her faith & doctrine & inward sincerity & religion is but one Church throughout the whole Roman Empire during the opening of all the seales & sounding of all the Trumpets: but in respect of her outward form & temporal state & with relation to the Roman Empire in wchwhich she resided, she became divided at the same time with the Empire. And this division is represented by the dedication of a new Temple or Tabernacle with seven Candlesticks [& four Beasts] for the saints in the Greek Empire & by the building of a new Temple with two Candlesticks for the saints in the Latin Empire.
In the vision of opening the seales & sounding
The dedication of a new Temple or Tabernacle with seven Candlesticks in it, is described in the Vision of the Seven vials of wrath. For there in allusion to the victory of Israel over Pharaoh the many headed Dragon & to the song of Moses on the banks of the red sea, Iohn saw them that had gotten the Victory over the sea of glass Beast & over his Image & on whom the Dragon (the Idols Ox Spius & his Image whom the Dragon caused all men to worship in Egypt) stand on the sea of glass & sing the son of Moses. & And then he saw Iohn looked again & saw the temple of the Tabernacle opened in allusion to the rearing & erecting & dedicating the Tabernacle of the wilderness Iohn Moses & Temple of Soloman & to the smoke wthwith wchwhich it was filled at the dedication so that Moses was not able to enter & the Priests were not able to enter he saw the Temple of the Tabernacle opened in heaven of the testimony in heaven & it was opened & the seven Angels (the Priests who had having who had newly carried in the Ark of the testimony) came out of it in the Priests habit being cloathed in pure white linnen & having their breasts girded with golden girdles wchwhich was the Priests habit. And. And in allusion to the smoke wthwith wchwhich the tabernacle was filled at the dedication) Iohn saw the Temple of the tabernacle was filled with smoke from yethe glory of God, & from his power & no man was able to enter into the Temple till the seven Vials w it till the cow flesh sacrifices of the seven days were ended of the dedication were ended at wchwhich & the seven Vials or drunk offering on of those sacrifices were poured out. In Now This Temple of the Tabernacle in ecompassing with the four Beasts: For one of the has seven Candlesticks in it like the Tabernacle in the wilderness: for the seven angels wchwhich come out of it are the Angels of the seven Churches & & the seven stars the seven spirits of God wchwhich are yethe seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, The (Apoc 4. 5) They are the Angels of the seven Churches, or lamps of the seven Candlesticks, called also the seven spirits of God & the seven stars in the right hand of him who walketh in the midst of yethe seven golden Candlesticks (Apoc. 1. 20 & 2. 1 & 3. 1) This temple hath als or Tabernacle hath also four Beasts about it like the Tabernacle in the Wilderness: for one of the four Beasts gave unto the seven Angels seven golden Vials full of the wrath of God
The building of a new Temple w wthwith two Candlesticks is then described represented by Iohns measuring the Temple & Altar & them that worship therein & leaving (that, is the courts of the temple & altar & the court of the people called the weomens court) & leaving the outward court unmeasured out the court without the TEmple & not measuring it because it is given to the Gentiles. Measuring a b city or a building is a type of buildi of building it. For when Zechary saw an Angel with a measuring reed go to measure Ierusalem & to see what was the length & breadth & what the length thereof, Iohn another Angel interprets it gives the interpretation, saying, Ierusalem shall be built h inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men & cattel therein And when Solom the Babylonians had destroyed Solomon's Temple & the Is Ezekiel in a vision was commanded to measure th this Temple in a vision, the measuring signified the build that a new Temple should be built, as is plain by many passages in that prophesy. And in allusion to this vision of Ezekiel, Iohn is bid to measure the courts & to the ensuing & to the building of of Zerubbabel's Temple & too the prop soon after, Iohn is bid to measure the temple & altar & them that worship thereing & to leave out the court without the Temple & not to measure it because it is given to the Gentiles. For Zerubbabel built only the Temple & a courts of the Temple & altar & the weomens court & left free the outward court wchwhich wchwhich in Solomon's Temple had been built for the people of Israel, he left unbuilt & open to the Gentiles & it continues unbuilt about 200 years & tho it was afterwards built by Simeon Iustus & Herod yet it was continued open to the Gentiles & was called the Gentiles court. Now this Temple in the So then the measuring of the Temple in the Apocalyps signifies that the first Temple was newly destroyed & in its room a second by the Babylonians & that a new second temple should bbe built in its room, whose outward court was given should be given to the same Babylonian gentiles who having captivated the people of God as Babylon had done of old, should tread down the holy City 42 months. And in this second temple there were to be two Candlesticks called the two witnesses & the two Olive t124r that is the two Churches of God Olive trees Apoc 11 standing before the God of the Earth Apoc. 11. 4.
Now two contemporary Temples the one wthwith seven Candlesticks the other with two Candlesticks, both built at once upon opening the seventh seal must signify the Churches of two contemporary kingdoms, & so answer well to the true Churches of God in the within the two Empires Greek & Latine Empires: the Church Temple with seven Candlesticks to representin signifying the Church of God within the Greek Empire because the seven Churches of Asia represented by those Candlesticks were seated within that Empire; & the Temple with two Candlesticks signifying the true Church of God within the Latin Empire because it was the second Temple whose outward court was given to the Babylonians & because the Beast makes war upon the two witnesses represented by the two Candlesticks & overcomes them & kills them in the street of the great city Babylon wchwhich in the form of a woman reigns over him, & they of the peoples & kindreds & nations & tongu tongues & nations see their dead bodies lye in the street of this great city, that is, in the provinces of the dominion of Rome the Church of Rome. & also because the victory of those who stand upon the sea of glass was got in the war wchwhich the Dragon by the instigation of his Church the twohorned Beast made upon the remnant of the womans seed when she fled from him into the wilderness, & left that remnant on his kingdom
Now for understanding what is meant by the two Candlesticks, you are to remember that the nations in wchwhich the whole Church of Christ was seated consisted of three parts, the eastern Empire the western Empire & the northern nations of Europe. The new Temple with seven Candlesticks comprehends the true Christians in all the Greek Empire including Dacia. The new Temple with two Candlesticks comprehends was built for the saints both of the western Empire & of the northern nations who had received the gospel from them And this Temple & so comprehending all the saints in two two of the three parts it has in it two of Candlesticks & two Olive-trees to represent the two Churches of those two parts one Church within the western Empire & the other among the northern nations. For Candlesticks - - - - - - all their dominions
And for avoiding confusion in the scene of the
And for avoiding confusion in the scenes of the visions, I do not it may be conceived that yethe scene of every series of visions remains one & the same from yethe begining to the end. All the visions from yethe opening of the first seal to yethe sounding of the last Trumpet appear in one & the same Temple Tabernacle or Temple without changing the scene. And tho Iohn To For tho Iohn wa For the temple For Iohn was commanded to measure this Temple in token that a new one should be built but it is not said that this new one appeared to Iohn him. After the sounding of the last Trumpet the scene changes & a there appears new vision of a Temple appears open in heaven After the sounding of the last Trumpet a new scene of a A to The Tem the Temple is opened for a new scene of visions wchwhich lasts the same Temple till the harvest & vintage. These two scenes are synchronal & last each of them from Iohns days to yethe end of the world politique Then f After the vintage a new scen of visions begins prophesy And the Tabernacle or Temple in wchwhich they appear seems to comprehend the Church of God diffused through the whole Empire from the beginning to yethe end or at least through the Empire of the Dragon, that is, through the whole Empire. After the harvest a new scene & vintage a new scene of visions begins with the ap while the Dragon sigifies the whole & to at least to the eastern Empire when yethe Dragon has given his western throne to yethe Beast, After the ho & the Beast is gone away with the woman into yethe wilderness from this Temple into the wilderness. After the harvest & vintage a new scene of visions begins with the appearing of the seven Angels & the dedication of a new Temple & this scene lasts from the opening of yethe seventh seal to yethe end of the world politique prophesy. & And then the Angel carried Iohn from this Temple into yethe Wilderness to see the Babylonian gentiles who worshipped in yethe outward court of the other Temple & trode down the ho people of the holy city. And there Iohn saw the Woman B whore of Babylon sitting upon her Beast, & drunken with the blood of the saints wh wchwhich are & of the maryrs of Iesus, wchwhich martyrs are the two W or Witnesses are those called the two witnesses & represented by the two candlesticks of that other Temple.
Concieve therefore that w
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The History of the seven Churches of Asia.
The History of the seven Churches of Asia.
Christ was born according to Irenæus & Tertullian in the 41th year of the reign of Augustus, (I think) in autum, that is, two years & a quarter before the vulgar Æra. And this history of his life is set down in the four Gospels & that of the primitive Church in the Acts of the Apostles till the burning of Rome by Nero in Iuly A. C. 64 in the tenth year of his reign, two or three A. C. 64, two or three years after the arrival of the Aposle Paul at Rome. upon the commencing of the war of that
The history of the Churches of the Gent Primitive Church is set down in the Acts of the Apostles till the burning of Rome & by Nero persecution of the Christians by Nero in Iuly in the tenth in the eleventh year of his reign two or three two years after the arrival of the Aposle Paul at Rome. In A. C. 64 Towards yethe latter end of this year Florus was made governour of I Palestine, a cruel man who & the next year but one in May in the 12th year of Nero the Iewish war began to break out whereupon the Aposles wthwith the Churches of the circumcision fled from Iudea into other regions round about & Peter came wthwith Iohn in Asia & being looked upon by the Romans as the head of a party of Iews with whose brethren in Iudea they were at war, was banished into Patmos & there wrote his Apocalyps, alluding therein to the Temple as yet standing. For in his commentary upon Peter went on to Rom the Apocalyps affirmed that it was written in the day of Nero: &
Soon after copies of this book began to be dispersed, the Apostle Paul wrote his Epistle to the Hebrews not to those in Iudea but to those who were retired into Asia where the Churches were acquainted with Timothy Heb. 13. 23. And in this Epistle there are some allusions to the Apocalyps: as where he saith that as God rested on the seventh day from all his works so there remaineth a Σαβατισμος to the people of God, & that the Word of God is quick & powerfull & sharper then a two edged sword, that we have a cloud of Witnesses, that we look for a city wchwhich hath foundations, the city of the living God, the heavenly Ierusalem & that whom the Lord loveth he chastneth.
About one after this the same time the Apostle Peter wrote his first Epistle to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia & Bithynia, that is, to the Iews Hebrews dispersed by the wars of the Romans Romans who were then in heaviness through manifold trials temptations & the fiery trial wchwhich was to try them. And in reference to the wars of the Romans where by the Iews were to be captivated & dispersed as they had been formerly by the Chaldeans he dates his Letter from Babylon. And to signify that the present war of Romans from wchwhich they fled, should end in the captivity & desolation of Iudea, like that of the Chaldeans, he dates his letter from Babylon
Soon After Peter arrived the arrival of Peter at Rome he wrote his first Epistle to yethe strangers of the circumcision scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappdocia, Asia, & Bithymia that is, to who by their new dispersion were then in heaviness through manifold temptations & th which he callsed the fiery triall wchwhich was to try them And to signify that because the war of the Romans from wchwhich they fled should was to end in the captivity & desolation of Iudea like as that of the Babyloniaans had done before, he dates his Letter from babylon, giving that finding name given to the great city upon seven hills called Babylon in the Apocalyps which reigned over the kings of the earth finding that name given in the Apocalyps to the great city upon seven hills wchwhich reigned over the kings of the earth.
And not long after he wrote his second Epistle to the same Christians of the circumcision, & therein said wthwith relation to the Apocalyps: Nev We have also a more sure word of Prophesy to wchwhich ye shall do well that ye take heed, as to a light that shineth in a dark place untill the day dawn & the day-star arise in yoryour hearts: knowing this chiefly that no prophesy is of the Prophets own interpretation, [You must not go expect that the interpretation from from Iohn, but study it themselves yourselves;) for the Prophesy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the holy Ghost. But there were fals Prophets among the people, even as there shall be fals teachers among you who privily shall bring in damnable heresies even denying the Lord that bought them [the character of Antichrist] & bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the truth shall be blasphemed, [for all that dwell upon the earth whose names are not written in the book of life shall worship the Beast & he shall open his mouth against God to blaspheme his name & his Tabernacle & those that dwell in heaven] And through covetousness shall they [the Merchants of the Earth] make merchandise of the saints. — But these as natural bruit Beasts [the tenhorned Beast & the two horned Beast] made to be taken [in the battel with the army on white horses] & destroyed [in the lake of fire] speak evil of the things that they understood not — having eyes full of an adulteress [the Whore of Babylon] — following the way of Balaam [the fals Prophet] Balaam. And a little after, he adds that There shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, & saying; Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. — But beloved be not ignorant of this one thing, that thousand years one day is with the Lord as a thousand years & a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some men count slackness, but is long suffering to us ward — But the day of the Lord [tho it may be deffered some thousands of years wchwhich wthwith the Lord is no more than so many days, yet it] will come as a thief in the night, in wchwhich the heavens shall pass away — Nevertheless we according to his promis look for new heavens & a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. After this the Apostle Peter mentions the Epistle of Paul to the some Hebrews in these words: even as our brother Paul also, according to the wisdome given unto him, hath written unto you; as also in all his Epistle speaking of these things.
Iohn continued After Peter had stayed a year & some months at Rome he and Paul were to govern the Churches of Asia thirty mor years longer together martyr there thirty & four years longer & towards the latter end of his government wrote his Gospel. & having now conversed long with the Greeks he wrote it freer from Hebrisms then the Apocalyps wchwhich was written upon his first coming from Syria, but he filled it with figurative expressions taken from the Apocalyps, such as are those of the World, exp the Light & darkness, witnessing the Lamb of God witnessing &c wchwhich makes the style more lofty then that of any of the other Gospels.
While Iohn governed the Churches of Asia the Bishops of Rome had no authority over them. He was not universal Bishop in those days. The Churches of Asia being long under the government of Iohn & his disciples & having the scriptures in their own tongue were the best instructed of any of the Churches. Among these disciples were Papias & Polycarp the first of wchwhich was held the thousand years reign of Christ among & the saints before the day of Iu believed that the saints should rise from the dead & reign with should reign Christ a thousand years before the general Iudgment as also did Iustin Martyr & Irenæus & therefore owned the Apocalyps in the other lived 66 years after Iohn & was the most cele owned thes Apocalyps was owned in their days was received in the Churches in their days; the other was martyred about 66 years after the dea one of the most celebrated fathers of the primitive Church next after the Apostles, & was martyred about 66 years after the death of Iohn & so was Iustin Martyr the next year.. And hitherto the primitive Church continued in its purity, insomuch that Hegesippus about eight years before yethe death of Polycorp coming from Syria to Rome & conversing wthwith the Churches in his way, found them all agree in faith. Iews
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And yet the mystery of iniquity began to work in the Apostles days & was to work untill that which hindred the rise of his dominion sh (the heathen Roman Empire) should be taken out of the way & then he was the rise up in dominion & out of the sea be revealed. This mystery began to work in Simon Magus who laid the foundation of Sabellianism by teaching that he was the supreme God & appeared in the person of the father among the Samaritans in that of the Son among the Iews & in that of the Holy Ghost among other nations. He taught also that there were emissions of his mind & that that his conceiving Hellena was the first conception of his mind called Ennæa & that shee himself was that God & that was the mother of war Archangels Angels & Angels & that the world was created by Angels & that they were to be adored as mediators between God & Man & that there would be no resurrection of the body, but the soul was immortal, & passed are was a true origination of Souls from body to body & that weomen might be common. This mystery worked also in those who distinguished between Iesus & Christ, making Iesus a mere man born of the Virgin Mary, & Christ the son of God an the saviour of the world an immortal spirit who descended upon Iesus in his baptism dwelt in Iesus him & did the miracles, but upon his being apprehended & brought before Pilate forsook him, & wchwhich made him cry out on the cross my God, my God why hast thou forsaken me. The m In relation to his opinion Iohn saith Little children it is the last time: & as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time — Who is a liar but he that denieth that Iesus is the Christ. He is Antichrist that denieth the father & the son. Whosoever denieth the son the same hath not the father. — — Every spirit that confesseth not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heard that is should come, & even now it is already it is in the world. 1 Iohn 2. 13, 22 & 4. 3.
And yet the mystery of iniquity began to work in the Apostles day & was to work untill that wchwhich hindred the rise of its dominion (the heathen Roman Empire) should be taken out of the way, & then he was to rise up wthwith power & be revealed. This mystery began to work in Simon Magus. who He laid the foundation of Gods Sabellianism by teaching that the supreme God appeared in the person of the father among the Iews Samaritans, in that of the son among the Iews & in that of the Holy Ghost among other nations. He said that he himself was that God & emitted other powers, & that his Concubine Hellena was the first emiss conception of his mind called Ennoia & that she was the mother of Archangels & Angels & powers & came down from heaven & passed into the bodies of various weomen amongst whom were Hellena the Greek & Hellena his concubine, & that the world was created by Angels & that they were to be adored as mediators bewteen God & Man, & that there would be no resurrection of the body, though but the soul was immortal & passed from body to body, & that men might live as they pleased, being saved not by their works, but by his favour, & that weomen might be common. And that his Concubine Helena was the lost sheep, & he came down from heaven to save her in the first place & deliver her from the tyranny of yethe Angels who kept her here below in bonds. For the Egyptians & Greeks who taught the transmigration of souls feigned that they were emitted from the supreme Being, came down from above, passed into the bodys of various many many men & weomen & other creatures & at length after a long circulation through various bodies bodies & states, returned up into heaven the supreme being & were received into the state in wchwhich they were in him before their emission from him. And this was the foundation of the heathen idolatry of the old Egyptians who who worshiped the souls of their dead kings & Heros in the shape of various animals & feigned that their reisded in those souls passed into those animals & might be worshipped as Gods because they came originally from the substance of the supreme God. This Philosophy the Egyptian diffus residing in Egypt borrowed from the Egyptians & brought into their Cababa, feigning many chief emissions from the supreme God whom they called sephiroths & many others from things the lowest last of wchwhich were the souls of men. And if the same kind was the126v the Philosophy of Simon, who made Ennoia to be the first emission from himself. And Irenæus tells us that from Simon & his disciples Menander Saturnimus his disany but Basilides &c all hereses had theire rise (& They all affirme singing chiefly those of the Gnosticks) & that they all affirmed one God but changed him variously. These were they that pretended to science & were thence called Gnosticks. [In opposition to these men the Apostles bids us beware of vain Philosophy & oppositions of science falsly so called & fables & endles genealogies & profane & old wives fables, profane & vain bablings, Iewish fables, foolish questions & genealogies] And In opposition to these men the Apostle bids us to beware of Philosophy & vain receipt after the Φ Φ tradition of men & the rudiments of the world, & not to not to give heed to fables & endles genealogies which minister questions, & profane & old wives fables, profane & vain bablings & oppositions of science falsly so called (Colos. 2. 8 1 Tim 1. 4 & 4. 7 & 6. 20) profane & vain bablings, whine foolish & unlearned questions wchwhich increas unto gender strifes (2 Tim. 2. 16, 23) Iewish fables & commandments of men wchwhich turn from the truth, foolish questions & genealogies & contentions & strivings about the law wchwhich are unprofitable & vain (Titus. 1. 14 & 3. 9.) This sort of Heresyks flourished was propagated with varius by Basilides, Carpocrates, Valentinus, Cerion Marcion, Cerda Marcus, Colarbasus, Hermogenes: but without prevailing upon contaminating the true Church or contaminating her before the death of the disciples of Iohn.
Among these Gnosticks were the Nicolaitans & some others (as Cerinthus), who Cerinthus & his disciples distinguished between Iesus & Christ making Iesus a mere man the son of Ioseph & Mary & Christ an immortal spirit who descended upon Iesus at his baptism & dwelt in him & did the miracles b & at his passion forsook him, wchwhich made him cry out my God my God why hast thou forsaken me & long before Cerinthus yethe Nicolaitans were of the common as Irenæus l. 3. c. 11. informs us who there tells us that the Nicolaitans were a branch of the Gnosticks. This opinion being propagated by Cerinthus. This opinion being propagated by Cerinthus & others in Asia, the Apostle Iohn wrote thus against it. Little children it is the last time. And as ye have heard that Antichrist should come & even now there are many Antichrists whereby we know that it is the last time. — Who is a liar but he that denieth that Iesus is the Christ. He is Antichrist that denieth the father & the son. Whosoever denieth the son the same hath not the father. — Every spirit that confesseth not that Iesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist whereof ye have heard that it should come & even now already it is in the world. 1 Iohn 2. 18, 22 & 4. 3. Some of the Gnosticks made Christ descend upon Iesus at his baptism, others at his incarnation. For Irenæus speaking of the Angels wchwhich appeared to the shepherds at the birth of Christ, saith: Hoc agelos falsarij Gnostici dicunt ab Ogdoade venisse & descensionem superioris Christi manifestasse. Sed corrunt interum dicentes eum qui sursum sit Christum & Salvatorem non natum esse, sed post baptisma ejus qui sit ex dispositione Iesu, ipsum sient columbam in eum descendisse Iren. l. 3. c. 11. And this Christ & the Saviour who descended from above they sometimes called the Word. Whence Irenæus who lived in the saith: Etenim Verbum et Christum nec advenisse in hunc mundum volunt: Salvatorem vero non incarnatum neque passum; descendisse autem quasi columbam in eum Iesum qui factus est ex dispositione, & cum annunciasset in cognitum Patrem iterum ascendisse in Pleroma. And a little after: Secundum autem nullam sententiam hæreticorum, Verbum Dei caro faitum est. Si enim quis Regulas ipsorum omnium perscrutetur, inveniet quoniam sine carne et impassibilis ab omnibus illis inducitur Dei Verbum, et qui est in superioribus Christus. Alij enim putant manifestatum eum quemadmodum hominem transfiguvatem; neque autem natum, neque incarnatum dicunt illum: alij vero neque figuram eum assumpsisse hominis; sed quemadmodum columbam descendisse in eum Iesum, qui natus est ex Maria. Omnes igitur illos falsos testes ostendens discipulus Domini, ait: Et Verbum caro factūum est.
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people in the wilderness encamped round the Tabernacles. On the east side were the tribes under the standard of Iudah, on the west were three tribes under the standard of Epraim, on the south were three tribes under the standard of Reuben, & on the north were three tribes under the standard of Dan. Num. 2. And the standard of Iudah was a Lion, that of Ephraim an Ox, that of Reuben a man & that of Dan an Eagle as the Iews affirm. Whence were framed the Hieroglyphicks of Cherubims & Seraphims to represent the people of Israel, A cherubim hading one body wthwith the four faces of a lion, Ox, Man & Eagle looking to the four winds of heaven & without turning about (as in Ezekiels vision), & four Seraphims hading the same four faces with four faces bodies, one face to every body. The four beasts are therefore four Seraphims standing in the the four sides of the peoples court the first in the eastern side with the face head of a Lion, the second on the western side wthwith the face head of an Ox, the third on the southern side wthwith the face head of a man, & the fourth on the northern side with the face head of an eagle, & all four signify all the twelve tribes of Israel out of which all the 144000 were sealed Apoc. 7. 4. And the four Beasts had each of them six wings as in Isaiahs Vision, two to a tribe, in all 24 wings answering to 24 stations of the people. And they rest not day & night (or at the morning & evening sacrifices) saying Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Almighty wchwhich was & is & is to come. These animals are therefore the Seraphims wchwhich appeared to Isaiah in a vision like this of the Apocalyps. For there also the Lord sat upon a throne in the Temple, & the Seraphims each with six wings cried, Holy, holy, holy Lord of hosts. And when those Animals give glory to God & honour & thanks to him that sitteth upon the throne who liveth for ever & ever the four & twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne & worship him that liveth for ever & ever, & cast their crowns before the throne saying Thou art worthy o Lord to receive glory & honour & power: for thou hast created all things & for thy pleasure they are & were created. At the morning & evening sacrifices, so soon as the sacrifice was laid upon the Altar, & the drink offering began to be poured out, the trumpets sounded & the Levites sang by course three times, & every time when the trumpets sounded the people fell down & worshipped. Three times therefore did the people worship: to express wchwhich number the Beasts cry holy, holy, holy; & the song being ended the people prayed standing till the solemnity was ended. And in the mean time the Priests went into the Temple & there fell down before him that sat upon the throne & worshipped. This is Hitherto the scene of the visions is described.
And Iohn saw in the right hand of him that sitteth sat on the throne, a Book written within & on the backside seales, the prophetic book of the law laid up in the right side of the Ark, & wchwhich by the festival of the seventh month predicted these things. It was written within with a Prophesy & on the backside with an interpretation of the Prophesy. As Daniels Prophesies Visions consisted of two parts a Prophesy & an Interpretation thereof, so doth Iohn's. The Prophesy began with opening the first seal & ended with sounding the last Trumpet, & the Interpretation began with the words And the Temple of God was opened in heaven & there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his testament. And the book was sealed wthwith seven seales wchwhich none was found worthy to open but the Lamb of God. And lo in the midst of the throne & of the four Beasts & in the midst of the Elders (that is at the foot of the Altar wchwhich was in the Center of the whole) stood a Lamb as it were slain had been slain (the morning sacrifice), & having seven horns (wchwhich are the seven churches) & seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent fourth into all the earth. And the Lamb came & took the book out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he took the book the Lamb went into the most holy places wchwhich was permitted to none but the H. Priest. had taken the Book the four Beasts & four & twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb having every one of them Vialls & Harps & Vials full of odours wchwhich are the prayers of the saints. And they sung - - - reign on the earth. By their falling down before the Lamb in the Lamb in the Temple with this song [& with the prayers of the saints) they worship him with religious worship, as he was a mortal man raised from the dead the Lamb of God who was slain127v slain for us & redeemed us with his blood. Because he was h humbled himself to death even the death of the cross therefore God the father exalted him & gave him a name above every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow, that is that all men should worship him religi with religious worship as he was a man who was slain for us & had reemed us with his blood. And I heard, saith Iohn, the voice of many Angels – – unto the Lamb for ever & ever. Unto God God & the king the God of Israel who mad created all things & whom they Israel worshipped as sitting upon his throne between the Cherubims & unto the Lamb of God who was sacrificed to him at the Altar to the God of Israel, the king who was slain for us & redeemed us with his blood, & made us kings & Priests under him. And this was the true worship of God & Christ in the times of the primitive Church.
It was the custome for the High Priest seven days before the Fast - - - - & lightnings of the fire of the Altar.
The solemnity of the day of Expiation - - - drink offrings of those sacrifices.
After six of the seals were opened & before he Iohn saith, And after these things, (that is, after the visions of the sixt seal) I saw four Angels standing on the four corners - - - - - [& the seventh man with the writers inkhorn to the Angel wchwhich ascended from the east wthwith the seal of the living God.] by three great woes. This sealing was therefore relates to the times next after the visions of the sixt seal & before the sounding of the first Trumpet, & so is synchronal to the visions wchwhich appear upon opening of the seventh seal untill the sounding of the first Trumpet.
In one of Ezekiel's visions when the Babylonian captivity was at hand six men appeared with slaugher weapons, & a seventh who appeared among them cloathed in white linnen & had a writers inkhorn by his side, is commanded to go through Ierusalem the midst of Ierusalem & set a mark on the foreheads of – – – – – & the seventh man with a writers inkhorn by his side to the Angel who ascended from the east with the seal of the living God.
Conceive therefore that the 144000 who are sealed are to distinguish the them preserved from the plagues of the first six Trumpets & in the end which fell upon them that had the mark of the Beast: & that at length by them preaching of the everlasting gospel to all nations they grow into a great multitude & at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet when to the war in the end of which the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of God & his Christ, come out of the great tribulation with palms in their hands. For the great hosannah solemnity of the great Hosannah was kept upon by the Iews upon the seventh or last day of the feast of Tabernacles, the Iews upon that day carrying palm branches in their hands & crying Hosannah.The High Priest studied ‡‡ The High Priest studied the book of the law the seventh time on the evening before the tenth day of the seventh month. For the Iews began their days in the eveningThe passage added here is from Yahuda 7.3j. After six of the Angels (answering to the six men with slaughter weapons,) had sounded their Trumpets - - - - to open & look on the book And he set his right foot on the sea & his left foot - - - - - - - the ground of the house; & that he cried with a loud voice in reading the law in the day of Expiation. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. Thunders are the voice of a cloud & a cloud signifies a multitude & this multitude may be the Priests & Levites who sant with thundering voices & plaid with musical Instruments at the great sacrifices on the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles, at when which times the Trumpets also sounded. For the Levites Trumpets sounded & the Levites sang alternately three times at every sacrifice & therefore the seven thunders are nothing else then the voice of a repetition of the Prophesy of the seven Trumpets in another form. - - - - - - should be finished as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets. And therefore the thunders up voices of the seven thunders end with at the sounding of the seventh Trumpet. & so are
And the voice wchwhich I heard from heaven – – – – large description of the times of the great Apostacy
And the Angel stood [upon the earth & sea] syaing, Rise measure - - - forty & two months. that is This measuring sinifiessignifies the building of a second Temple for those that are sealed out all the twelve tribes of Israel & worship in the inward court of sincerity & truth: & leaving out the outward court or outward form of Church government religion & church government because it is given to the Babylonian gentiles. For the Women who fled Whore of Babylon was into the wilderness continued the same woman in outward form & appearance with the glorious woman in heaven the remnant of whose seed kept the commandmtscommandments of God & had the testimony of Iesus, was the same wo continued the same Woman in outward form after her flight into the wilderness, but was not th from her former sincer whereby she quitted her former sincerity & piety & became the great whore. And while the Gentiles worshipped in the outward court & trode the holy city under foot &128r foot & worshipped in the outward courts the two Witnesses (represented by the two feet of him that had the open book in his hand & stood upon the earth & sea) prophesied in sackcloth against them, & had power like Elijah & Moses to consume their enemies with fire proceeding out of their mouths & to stop heaven that it rain not on the earth in the days of their prophesy, & to turn the waters into blood & to smite the earth with all plagues of often as they will, that is with the plagues of the seven Trumpets & Vialls of wrath; & a little before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet at length are slain rise again from the dead & ascend up to heaven in a cloud, & then the seventh Trumpet sounds to the day of judgment.
The Prophesy being finished Iohn being is inspired anew by the eating the book & begins the interpretation thereof with the words, And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, & there was seen in his Temple the Ark of the testament In the Prophesy the affairs of the Church begin to be described at the opening of the fift seale where the Church hath Tribulation ten days: & there the Interpretation begins by the vision of a Woman in heaven travel wchwhich is the primitive Church in persecution. Being seen through fire of the Altar she appeared cloathed with the Sun. And the fire of th burning coals of the Altar convene above & flat below appeared like the Moon under her feet, she was cloathed with the Sun of righteousness & had the Moon of Iewish ceremonies under her feet, & upon her head was a crown of twelve starrs wchwhich are the twelve Apostles. And she being with child of a Christian Empire cried travelling in birth & pained to be delivered, vizt in Dioclesians persecution wchwhich which lasted ten years in the end of wchwhich she was delivered of Christian Empire. This Interpretation proceeds down first to the times of marking all men men Israel wthwith the mark of the mark of the Beast except the 144000 who ar stand on mount selaed with the seal of God, & then to the day of Iudgment represented by the harvest & vintage. Then it returns back to the times of opening the seventh Seale & sounding the seven Trumpets & interprets explains that prophesy by the Vision of those that w in the times of sealing get the victory of over the Beast & his Image & by that of of seven Angels pouring out seven Vials of wrath till the day of jugmentjudgment. Then it returns back again to describe the great Whore of Babylon reigning in the seven-hilled City, & of the Beast wchwhich on wchwhich she sitteth the times of the second Temple & nations Gentiles which worshipped in the outward Court from the time that the Beast & his ten honrs received power as kings & describes them by the vision of the Great Whore of Babylon wchwhich sitteth upon many waters (the ten horns of the Beas & upon the Beast whose horns are those waters & who sh kills the two witnesses. And thence forward these Visions continue down to the fall of Babylon, the battel of the great day, & the resurrection & judgment first of the saints & then of the rest of the dead.
Sect. X. Of the relation wchwhich the Prophesy of Iohn hath to the Prophesies of Daniel.
All Daniels Beats
Daniels three first Beasts had their lives prolonged to the end of the world after their dominions were taken away. And the third & fourth Beast of Daniel are the same with the Dragon & ten horned Beast of Iohn; but with this difference, that Iohn puts the Dragon for the whole Roman Empire while it continued entire, & the considers not the Beast till the Empire becames divided: & then he puts the Dragon for the Empire of the Greeks & the Beast for the Empire of the Latines. And hence it is that the Dragon & Beast have common heads & common horns but the Beast hath Dragon Beast hath no crowns upon his heads because he reigned not before the rise of his horns the Dragon hath crowns upon heads & not upon his horns because the horns received not power as kings before they were & the Beast were separated from the Dragon & the Beast had crowns upon his horns & not upon his heads because he reigned not before the rise of the seventh head, b & then the he reigned in his horns. The heads are seven successive kings. Four of them were the four horsmen wchwhich appeared at the opening of the seventh four &c seales first four seals. In the latter end of the sixt head or seale considered as present in the visions its said that five of the seven kings were fallen, & one was, & another was not come, & the Beast that was & is not (being wounded to death with a sword) he is the eighth & of the seven. being He was therefore a collateral part of the seventh. The horns are the same with those of the fourth Beast of Daniel described above.
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The woman in heaven cloathed wthwith the Sun of righteousness & the Moon of Iewish ceremonies under her feet, & a crown of twelve starrs upon her head, (the twelve Apostles,) represents the primitive church catholick. [In Dioclesians persecution she cried travelling in birth & pained to be delivered, & sh in the end of that persecution she brought forth a manchild such a chir] For when she fled into the wilderness she left a remnant of her seed which kept the commandments of God & had the testimony of Iesus. In Dioclesians persecution she cried travelling in birth & pained to be delivered. And in the end of that persecution she brought forth a man child, such a child as in the end of the world was to rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron, that is a chistianchristian Empire. And her child (by the victory of Constantine the great over Licinius) was caught up to God & to his throne. And the Woman, (by the division of the Roman Empire into the Greek & Latine Empires) fled into from the Dragon into the Wilderness where she is afterwards found sitting upon the ten-horned Beast & reigns in & is called the great City seated on seven hills. And In the mean time there was war in heaven between the Dragon & Michael & the Dragon (the christian & the heathen religion); & the Dragon (the heathen Roman Empire) was cast out of heaven & they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb & loved not their lives unto the death that old Serpent called the Devil & Satan wchwhich deceiveth the whole world he (the heathen religion) was cast out of heaven to the earth, & his Angels were cast out with him. And Iohn heard a voice in heaven saying, now is come salvation & strength & the kingdom of orour God & the power of his Christ. For the accuser of orour brethren is cast down. And they overcame him before t by the blood of the Lamb & by the word of their testimony. And they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoyce ye heavens & ye that dwell in them. Wo be to the inhabiters of the earth & sea (the people of the Gr. & Lat. Empire for the Devil is come down among you having great wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time By the inhabiters of the Earth & Sea I understand the common people of the Greek & Latine empires. For by the Earth the Iews understood the great continent of Egypt-Syria & all Asia, & by the isles of the sea they understood Europe.
And when the Dragon saw that he was cast down from the Roman throne he persecuted the Woman wchwhich brought forth the Man-child, & to her (by the founding of Constantinople with a Senate in Rome & the division of the Roman Empire between the sons of Constantine the great) were given two wings of a great Eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place And at the same time the Dragon Serpent (by the same division) cast out waters as a flood (the Western Empire after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood into the & from him into the And the Earth (or Greek Empire) helped the Woman & opened her mouth & swallowed up o the flood (by the victory of Constantius over Magnentius.) And the Dragon was wroth w or Greek E was wroth wthwith the woman (in the reign of Iulian the Apostate & (by a new division of the Empire between Valentinian & Valens went from her into the east to make war with the remnant of her seed (wchwhich she left behind her in the Greek Empire) And by the same division (by the new next division of the Empire wchwhich was between Gratian & Theosius) the Beast rose out of the sea, & (by the last division thereof wchwhich was between the sons of Theodosius) the Dragon gave the Beast his power & throne & great authority. And theren the ten horns received power as kings the same hour with the Beast.
When the Beast with first Beast which had been wounded to death & revived rose out out of the sea the second Beast rose out of the earth
When the whole Empire represented by the Dragon became divided between the Dragon & the Beast, the whole Church became
When the first Beast (that Beast which had been wounded to death with a sword & revived) rose out of the Sea, the second Beast rose out of the Earth This Beast had two horns like the Lamb & therefore was a church & in point of religion it spake as the Dragon being of the same religion & therefore was his Church. When the Woman By flee By the division of the Empire into the Greek & Latine Empires, the Church became divided into the Greek & Latine Churches. And this division is represented by the Womans flying upon two wings of a great Eagle into the Western Empire compared to a spiritually barren wilderness & leaving a remnant of her seed behind her in the east, & by the Dragons going from the Woman to persecute that remnant, & the Beast wthwith ten horns arising out of the sea to represent that the western Empire & a Beast wthwith two horns arising out of
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Chap. The Prophesy of opening the seventh Seal explained.
We shewed above that the prophesy of the sixt seal extended to the death of Valens, & the next thing is the holding of the four winds. They began to be held in the year 379 & were fully checkt & ceased in the year 380: & at the same time all noise ceased & there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. This silence was made by the ceasing of the winds: for noise denotes war & silence peace. With yethe holding of the winds & ceasing of all noise the seventh seal began. During this silence there were an hundred & forty four thousand servants of God sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel & the rest received the mark of the Beast & became the Synagogue of Satan: & while the servants of God are sealing, an Angel offered their prayers with much incense upon the golden Altar, & then cast fire, that is, war, to the earth, & there were voices & thundrings & lightnings & an earthquake, wchwhich is to be understood not of the lasting & pernicious war of forreign wars invaders rperesented by the winds but of the civil wars or battels between Theodosius & the Tyrants Maximus & Eugenius wchwhich consisted only in battels & the overthrow of the Tyrants without harrasing & wasting the Empire. After wchwhich And then the seven Angels prepared themselves to sound their trumpets to seven great pernicious lasting wars, the four first of wchwhich are the four winds wchwhich blow from the four corners of the earth & were to hurt the earth & the sea & the trees. These winds respect the City Rome as in the center & blow in the same order that the four Beasts appeared, the first being chiefly an eastern the second chiefly a western, the third chiefly a southern & the fourth chiefly a northern wind, & they hurt the earth the sea the trees the ships the mountains the rivesr & the Sun Moon & stars, that is the whole frame of the Roman Empire; & extinguishing the old dominion of Rome make way for a new dominion of that City. These wars winds being the wars of the forreign invaders wchwhich were checkt & restrained for a time by Gratian & Theodosius must be understood to break out a freth & to begin to hurt the earth & Sea & & yethe trees when those forreigners begin again to invade & harrase the Empire wthwith great & lasting violence, & to wchwhich was presently after the death of Theodosius, & division of yethe Empire between his sons.
The first Trumpet
The first Trumpet
The first of the four winds is an eastern wind & hurt the earth or
So soon as Theodosius was dead & had left the Empire divided between his sons: Ruffin to whom he left the tuition of his son Arcadius who reigned over the eastern Empire thinking to get that Empire to himself, called in the nations of the north. And first Alaric with a great army of Goths Sigon. de Occid. Imperio. & other Barbarians, the very same year, brake out of Thrace into Macedon sparing neither towns nor men, & going thence by
& a great army of Huns under Uldin from beyond the Danube wer wasted Thrace
They hurt the earth & yethe sea & the trees They hurt the earth & the sea & the trees intermixedly & therefore
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Here Ierome by dating the vastation of / dating the invasion of Europe from the irruption of the Goths, Sarmatans, Alans, Huns & other northern barbarians in the reign of Valens.
They began their incursions in the reign of Valens were quieted during the reign of Theodosius & in the end of yethe & now year 404 invaded the Empire afresh & continued their incursions till the year 408 or longer.
But these commotions For [as you have already heard, the Romans accounted these comms the occasion of the following desolations & ruin of the Empire after his death & therefore Ierome] several authors date And therefore the wars wchwhich raged after the death of Theodosius are by several authors; as Ierom, Claudian & Prudentius, dated from this invasion of the Empire by the Goths & those allied Huns & Alans in the reign of Valens & & this invasion is the defect of Valens by those Barbarians, notwithstanding that Theodosius & Gratian curbed them & queted the empire for a time, is recconed by Prosper & others (as you heard above to be the beginning of the mischief wchwhich befell the Empire after that Empire afterward, that is the beginning of the desolation of the eastern Empire & ruin of the western soon after the death of Theodosius. And therefore the checking of these wars of by Gration & Theodosius for a time is very fitly represented by the holding of yethe winds wchwhich were to that they that they should not hurt the earth & sea till after a certain time.
For before yethe end of the year 380 the Empire was quieted in all places & continued remained quiet from invasions till the death of Theodosius, For this Emperor continues all his reign to check the barbarous nations & keept them out by force as often as they made as Pacatus in his Panegyric above wchwhich he spake to the Emperor Theodosius himself a little after the his victory of over the Tyrant Maximus A. C. 388 the thus describes Miremur – – – quasi amica si serviat. And in this peacable condition Thus for Pacatus. Theodosius composita tranquillataque republica apud Mediolanum constit diem obijti Oros. l 5 c 35. Omnibus inimicis Theodosius superatis in pace rebus humanis Mediolanum excessit: Iornandes de reg. success. Theodosius folijs imperium nullis seditionibus turbatum [ἀστασίαστον βασίιλείαν ] transmisit. Philostory. l. 11. c. 2. In pace rebus humanis, annum agens quinquagesimum apud Mediolanum excessit; utranque rempublicam utrique id est Arcadio et Honorio quietam relinquens: S. Aurel. Victor. But this great warrior being succeeded by children [Theodosius left his elder son Arcadius Emperor of the East & his u under the tuition of Ruffin & his younger younger son Honorius Emperor of the west under yethe] being dead & the Barbarous nations invaded the Empire afresh & again & harrassed all the eastern Empire for about 12 years together wthwith incredible violence & broke ruined yethe western Empire breaking it into ten kingdoms. For Theodondosius dying & leaving the East his elder son Arcadius Emperor of yethe east under the tuition of Ruffin & his younger son Honorius Emperor of yethe West under the tuition of Stilico; Ruffin called these Tutors turned traytors thinking to get & first & conspired wthwith the Barabrians thinking thereby their assistance to get the Empires to themselves. And first Ruffin called the neighbouring Barabrous nations into yethe eastern Empire the Goths neighbouring barbarous nations on both sides the Euxins sea who harrassed all that Empire for about 12 years together & shook it wthwith incredible violence & then Ru Stilico called in into the western Empire the rest of the barbarous nations who ruined that Empire breaking it into ten kingdoms. And these wars the Romans looked upon as the effect of the former wars wherein Valens perished & somtimes dated them from the beginning of that Gothic wthwith yethe Goths as if that war Theodosius had not put a full end to that war but only checkt it during his warlike reign, the barabrous nations lying ready to pursue their hostilities they had begun so soon as the restraint should be taken off.with him & another reign with the Goths [So Ierome writing in yethe year 397 saith that yethe war Go blood of the Romans between Constantinople & yethe had then been spilt above 20 years by yethe invading Barbarous nations] In as if the wars wchwhich broke out after the death of Theodosius were in the a revival of that former war, wchwhich or as if that first war had been violently restrained during the reign of that the warlike & victorious Emperor & after by his death when had yethe restraing taken off & brake out afresh Which This Which I note because it is the charater of the winds. They were focibly held that they should not hurt yethe earth & Sea (or Eastern & Western Empires) till after a certain time, & therefore they endeavoured to blow before they were let loose & there were continued ready to blow upon the earth & sea upon them so soon as the restrain should be taken off. By these winds I understand not civil wars but forreign invasions such wars winds as were held at the four corners or borders of the earth or borders of the empire & blew upon it from thence.
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Chap. VIII Of the scene & order of the visions in the Apocalypse.
The scene of the visions in yethe Apocalyps is the Temple; the first Temple wthwith seven golden candlesticks & seven lamps during the primitive times of the Christian religion, & the second Temple wthwith two of the seven Candlesticks & two of the seven lamps other five being removed for not repenting during the times of the great apostacy captivity, the other five being removed out of their places for not repenting.
In the beginning of the vision Iohn saw seven golden Candlestics & a mighty one like the son of man in the form habit of the High Priest, dressing the lamps wchwhich appeared like a rod of seven stars in his right hand, & was told that the seven stars represent the Angels of the seven Charges Churches of Asia (called also the seven spirits of G. before the throne burning like seven lamps of fire) & that seven Candlesticks represent the seven Churches, called the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardes, Philadelphia & Laodicea. The Bishops of these Churches by labouring in the gospel, illuminated the Church catholick in the primitive times of yethe Christian religion & when while the first Temple stood.
In the beginning of the Vision Iohn saw seven golden Candlesticks & amidst them one like the son of man in the habit of the High Priest, dressing the lamps wchwhich appeared like a rod of seven stars in his right hand, & was told that the seven Candlesticks represent seven Churches of Asia called the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatyra, Sardes, Philadelphia, & Laodicea, & that the seven stars represent the Angels of the seven Churches
And there may be a few more if Per Cypselus & Periander lived a little later. Suppose that the reign of Cypselus began an 2. Olymp. 37 & that Periander died an 4 Olymp 54 & that reccon the six generations at 34 years a piece & the eleven kings reigned at 20 years a piece one wthwith another: & ret this recconing will place the return of the Heraclides 50 years before the first Olympiad & allow 60 years for the annual Prytames. But
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The Epistle to the Angels of the seven Churches of Asia are seven (that is to their Bishops) are seven admonitions to their Churches from the time that they began to lose lefte their first love & began to decay & grow cold untill the time that the Church of Lo Christ spewed them Church of Laodican out of his mouth. For at the end of every Epistle is added He hath an ear let him heare what the spirit saith unto yethe Churches, & therefore every Epistle hath reference to the all the Churches. The first relates to the time when they left began to leave their first love, wchwhich was in the third Century & especially after the persecution of Decius, as Eusebius describes in his Ecclesiastical History l. 8 c. 1. The second relates to the time when they had tribulation ten days that is to the in the Persecution of Decius wchwhich lasted ten years. The third relates to the time when the doctrine of the Nicolaitans began to creep into the Churches & the Prophets of the Nicolaitans taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of IsaelIsrael. The fourth relates to the time when the woman Iezabel began to call her self a Prophetess that is to usurp divine authority over the Churches & to teach the people to eat things sacrificed to the idols of the Nicolaitans. The fift relates to the times when the ChuchChurch flourshedflourished in outwardly appearance having only a name that she lived, but being dead. The sixt relates to the times when the Church was in trouble, having a name that & kept the word of Christ's patience & denyed not his name which was in the reign of Iulian the Apostate, & had an open door set before her, a door wchwhich Christ opened wthwith the key of David. The seventh relates to the times when the Eastern Churches of Asia were grown lukewarm & & notwithstanding these seven admonitions continued luke-warm till Christ spewed them out of his mouth. in respect of their outward form of government. By these Epistles Christ admonished the decaying Churches of Asia from time to time to repent & at length for want of repentence spewed them out of his mouth.
After this Introduction to the Prophesy Iohn saw a door opened in the Temple on Mount Sion & was called up thither & a throne appeared in heaven is the most holy above the Ark, & one sat upon the throne with a rainbow about him & round about the throne were four & twenty the seats (the chambers of the four & twenty Princes of the Priests) & upon the seats were four & twenty elders in white raiment wthwith crowns of gold on their heads. And by reason of the sacrifices burning on the great altar & the musick of the Temple at those sacrifices Iohn there seemed to proceed out of the throne lightnings & thundrings & voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning in the holy place before the throne, wchwhich represent the seven spirits of God. And before the throne was a brazen sea made of the looking-glasses of the weomen & filled wthwith water clear as crystal. And while Iohn stood in the eastern gate of the great court of the Temple there appeared in the four sides of the great court as before & behind throne as it were in the midst thereof & on either side of the throne four Beasts full of eyes to represent the multitudes of people in the four sides of that court. And the first Beast was like a Lion & the second Beast like a calf & the third Beast had a face as a man & the fourth Beast had was like a flying eagle, in allusion to the four standards of the people of Israel encamped in the wilderness in four squadrons on the four sides of the Tabernacle: wchwhich standards, as the Iews tell us, were in these shapes. And the four133r four Beasts had each of them six wings, & they were full of eyes under the wings. And (like the Seraphins in Isaiah's vision chap. vi) they rest not day & night (or at morning & evening sacrifice, saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty wchwhich was & is & is to come. And when those Beasts give glory & honour & thanks to him that sat on the throne to him that liveth for ever & ever, the four & twenty elders [going into the holy place &] fall down before him that sat on the throne & worship him that liveth for ever & ever & cast their crowns before the Throne saying, Thou art worthy ô Lord to receive glory & honour & power: for thou hast created all things & for thy pleasure they are & were created. And this is the Christian worship of God the father delineated under the form of the Iewish his worship in the Temple among the Iews. For his worship is the same in both cases.
And I saw, saith Iohn in the right hand of him who sat upon the Throne a Book written within & on the back side & sealed with seven seales, alluding to the book of the Law laid up in the right side of the Ark & to the Book wchwhich Daniel had sealed the book of & being conteining the revelation of Iesus Christ wchwhich God gave unto him. And none was foundworthy in heaven or earth to open the book & read thereon till the Lamb appeared as it had been slain at the foot of the great altar having seven horns & seven eyes wchwhich are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came & took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book the four Beasts & four & twenty Elders, fell down before the Lamb having every one of them harps & golden vialls full of odours wchwhich are the prayers of the saints. And they sung a new son saying Thou art worthy to receive take the book & to open the seals thereof for thou wast slain & hast redeemed us to God by they blood out of every kindred & tongue & people & tongue & nation: And hast made us unto our God Kings & Priests & we shall reign on the earth. And Iohn heard the vicevoice of many Angels round about the throne & the Beasts & the Elders & the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand & thousands of thousansthousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power & riches & wisdome & strength & honour & glory & blessing. And ever creature wchwhich is in heaven & on the earth & under the earth & such as are in hte sea, & all that are in them heard I saying: Blessing & honour & glory & power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne & unto the Lamb & unto the Lamb for ever & ever: to God because he created all things & to yethe Lamb because he redeemed us with his blood. And the four Beasts said Amen, & the four & twenty Elders fell down [in yethe most Holy place, & worshipped him that liveth for ever & ever. And this is the worship wchwhich {Christians are authorised to give}the primitive church gave to Iesus Christ the man who was slain for us & redeemed us with his blood.
Upon the tenth day of the seventh month the High Priest read the Law of Moses to the people & for this end he studied the book seven days together that is upon the fourth, fift six seventh eighth ninth days of the tenth seventh month & in allusion to this custome to the Lamb opens the seven seales of the book successively. And when he opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for half an hour, vizt during the reading of the Law.
Upon the fifteenth day of the seventh month began the feast of Tabernacles & this feast of Tabernacles & this feast was kept seven days together with great sacrifices. And at the sacrifices133v sacrifices the Priests & Lev to sounded the Trumpets & poured out the drink offerings & the Levites sang loud & played upon instruments of musick. And in allusion the to this the opening of the seventh seal is followed with the sounding of seven Trumpets & to seven warrs in wchwhich the slaughtering of men are compared to considered as sacrifices, & at these sacrifices seven thunders utter their voices, (the voices of the Levites singing) & seven Vials of wrath are poured out as drink offerings. The seven Trumpets the seven thunders & the seven vialls are therefore contemporary to one another.
At the time of opening the seventh seale when there was silence in heaven for half an hour, the Angels of the first four Trumpets held the four winds of the earth that they should not hurt the earth & the sea & the trees (as was done at the sounding of the two first Trumpets) untill the servants of God were sealed in their foreheads. And there were 144000 sealed out of all twelve tribes of Israel. And when these were sealed with the seale of God, it is to be understood that the rest were marked with the mark or name of the Beast: the two horned Beast at that time causing all both small & great rich & poor free & bond to receive the marks of the Beast in their right hand or in their foreheads. For as soon as this was done the 144000 appeared on Mount Sion wthwith the name of God in their foreheads. And the same thing is represented by measuring the Temple & Altar & them that dwell therin, that is court of the Temple & the court of the Altar & the new court or weomens & leaving out the great court for the gentiles. And therefore all this marking & sealing & numbring & measuring was done between the opening of the seventh seal & the sounding of the first Trumpet. These 144000 sealed ones are the two Witnesses, & stand on the sea of glass before the seven Angels begin to pour out the vials of wrath. The rest have the mark of the Beast.
The prophesy of the seals & trumpets ends with the sounding of the seventh Trumpet & then is repeated, & the repetition beginns with the words And the temple of God was opened in heaven, & ends with the Book.
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In allusion to the High Priest dressing the Lasmps in the morning of the great day of expiation: Christ appears in the Habit of the High Priest walking amidst the seven golden Candlesticks with his right hand behind the seven Lamps so that they appeared like a rod of seven stars in his hand. And these starrs are candlesticks represent the seven Churches of Asia & were in the first Temple with their Lam lamps. For when the Temple was opened to the morning sacrifice & Iohn saw therein a Throne & one sitting thereon, he saw also seven lamps of fire burning before the throne wchwhich were the seven spirits of God; the same spirits with those represented by the seven starrs; P All the seven Churches lamps w There were therefore seven lamps with their Candlesticks in the first Temple but in the second Temple there remained only two Candlesticks & these are calle The seven Candlesticks are the seven Churches of Asia & their lamps illuminated the Church cath the primitive Church represented with worshipping in the first temple. The two Candlesticks are the two witnesses & their lamps burn by means of the oyle supplyed from the two olive treest & illuminate the Church worshipping in the second Temple. Five of the seven Churches of Asia were found found fault with & exhorted to repent & threatned if they did not repent. These were the Churches of Ephesus Pergamus Thyatira Sardis & Laodicea. These were removed for n & spewed out of Christs mouth for not repenting. Two of them were spotless & through afflictions & tribulation the Churches of Smyrna & Philadelphia. & these having These had done nothing for wchwhich they deserved to be removed & therefore they are conveyed continued down into the second Temple in their state of affliction & poverty & tribulation & there are called the two candlesticks & the two Olive trees & the two witnesses. For the Church of God represented did not cease at the fall of the first Temple but was propagated down into the posterity of the Churches second temple without interruption, & this was done by representing Churches by Candlesticks & continuing some of the Candlesticks down into the second Temple.
Ten Apocalyptic Visions are represented as done appearing in the Temple, & allude to the worship of the Iews in the Temple on the feast of Tabernacles. First the hight Priest dresses the in the morning dresses the seven lamps wchwhich appeare like a rod of seven starrs in his right hand while he dresses ymthem. And this dressing is performed by seven admonitory Epistles sent from dictated by the Hight Priest to Iohn to be sent to the Angels of or Bishops of the seven Churches of Asia to make them shine the brighter [till the rise of the grea glorious woman in heaven should fly from the Temple into through yethe wilderness to Babylon & leave only a remnant of her seed in the Temple wchwhich hav keep the Commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus. For For the High Priest is the son of man in the habit of the High Priest the seven Candlesticks represent the seven Churches of Asia & the seven lamps represent the Angels of or Presidents of those Churches, & the woman in heaven the is the primitive Church catholick, till the saints are sealed with the seale of God & those become the two witnesses, & & at length put on sackcloth, & the rest receive the mark of the Beast & worship his Image & become fly in to a state of spiritual barrenness represented by the wildernes of Arabia desert & with relation to their form of Church government are united into one body or Church represented by a woman living deliciously at Babylon, while the two witnesses prophesy in sackcloth in the streets of that great city. The two witnesses are called the two Candlesticks to signify that they are rpresented by two of the seven Candlesticks or Churches, the Churches of Smyrna & Philadelphia who were under persecution & were faultless & the other five &c] Whence it follows that the s lamps of the seven Churches of Asia were the great light wherewithe the primitive church Catholick was illuminated.
After the lamps are dressed Iohn is called up to the morning sacrifice & there saw the eastern door of the Temple opened, & sing was called up to the morning sacrifice, & there saw a throne & one sitting upon it representing God sitting the Ark, & his colour he looked in colour like a jasper & sardine stone the colour of the people of the Iews, & round the throne were 24 seats with 24 Elders upon them crowned, vizt the chambers of the 24 Prices of the 24 houses orders of the Priests on either side of the Priests court. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings & thundrings & voyces; the flashes of the fire on the Altar & the musick & singing before the Altar appearing to Iohn at yethe eastern gate of the Temple as coming from the Throne. And there appeared the seven lamps wchwhich had been newly dressed & represent the seven spirits of God & Angels of the seven churches. And before throne was the a sea of glass, the great brazen sea made of the looking glasses of water clear as glass. And over against the midst of the throne before & behind & in the circit on either side the throne were four Beasts full of eyes before & behind to represent four bodies of men on the four sides of the Throne, that is, the people of Israel in the four sides of the great court. And the Beasts were like a Lyon, or Calf, a Man & a flying Eagle, these being the standards of the four squadrons of the people of Israel on the four sides of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. And the four Beasts & 24 Elders rest not rest not day & night or at the morning & evening sacrifices) worhsip God without ceasing. And in the right hand of him that sat on the throne was a [book (the book of the law in the side & written within (wthwith a sevenfold Prophesy) & on the backside (with an interpretation thereof) & sealed with seven] (the Book of the law in the side of the Ark appearing as it were in the his right hand) written within & on the back side (of every leaf) & sealed with seven seals And none was found worthy to open the book till the Lamb of God appeared as it were slain in the midst of the Elders & Beasts that is at the foot of yethe altar, that is in the morning sacrifice. And then the Beasts & Elders worship134vship God & the Lamb who was slain.
These visions allude to the feast of the seventh month, & upon the tenth day of the month the High Priest read the the Law to the people & in order thereunto studied the book of the Law seven days together beginning upon the fourth day of the month. And in allusion to this the Lamb opens the seven seals in order: & upon the tenth day of the month wchwhich was the great fast of the Iews he opens the seventh seale wherewith the great Apostacy begins.
The times of the seventh seal are thrice described. 1st By the holding of the four winds of heaven that they should not hurt the earth & the sea & the trees untill the 144000 be sealed with the seale of out of all the twelve tribes of Israel with the seale of God in their foreheads, & the rest receive the mark of the Beast, & by the Palm-bearing multitude. 2dly By the ac silence in heaven for half an hour & the offering of incence & scattering the fire of the Altar upon the earth to burn the red cow & the sounding of six of the seven Trumpets to the wars wchwhich were to hurt the earth & sea & the trees &c. 3dly By an Angel coming down from heaven wthwith yethe little book in his hand now opened & Iohns taking & eating the book & prophesying again out of it, & measuring & standing wthwith his right foot on yethe sea & his left foot on yethe earth while yethe 7 Thunders uttered their voices,✝✝ the voices of singing seven times being compared to seven thunders ✝ that is, while the Priests sung at the seven sacrifices & wchwhich the seven Trumpets sounded: the voices of singing seven times being compared to seven – Thunders. 4thly By yethe Angels commanding Iohn to rise & measure thecommanding him to measure the temple & altar & term that worship therein, that is the court of the Temple & the court of the Altar or Priests court, & the court of them 144000 that worship God called the Priests c weomens court, & leaving out the great court because it is given to the Gentiles who worship nothe tread down the holy city while the two Witnesses prophesy in sackcloth. This me The two witnesses are called the two Candlesticks to signify that they are two of the seven Candlesticks. Five of them were found faulty & admonished to repent, & the other two (vizt the Churches of Smirna & Phi & removed out of their places & spewed out of Christs mouth for not repenting: The other two (vizt the Churches of Smirna & Philadelphia) were in affliction & without fault nor fault was found wthwith them, & these two are continued in the second temple to represent the people of God who were sealed with the seal of God in their foreheads & worship him to in the measured Court. They are not new churches but a remnant of the old ones primitive Church. These Witnesses prophesy in sackcloth 1260 days, & the Gentiles tread under foot the holy city 42 months, [& the Beast continued 42 months, & the woman was nourished deliciously in her place in the wilderness a time two times & an half, or three years & an half, or 1260 days from the face of the serpent. The periods are one & the same & this period did not begin before the w woman had fully escaped from yethe face of the Dragon, that is from under his dominion. And at the end] The periods are the same. And at the end of this period hte Witnesses are slain by the Beast, rise up from the dead, & ascend up to heaven in a cloud, & then the 7th Trumpet sounds to the day of Iudgment. This is the writing of the book within, & now follows the writing on the backside, wchwhich is a repetition of the whole. For when the seven thunders had uttered their voices Iohn was commanded to eat the little book, & when he had done so he was told that he must prophesy again.
136r
W All Daniels four Beasts are still in being & their lives are still prolonged: but the dominions of the three first as were long since taken away. Yet the third Beast He-Goat in the reign of his last horn, grew mighty after his dominion was taken away, grew mighty, but not by his own powers, & this The Ram reigned in the Medes & Persians from the days of Cyasceres to those of Alexander the great that is, all the time of the two first Monarchies, & the He Goat reigned all the time of the two last All the time of the third Beast he reigned first in his great horn & then in his four horns during all the times of the third Beast & when their dominion was taken away, he reigned in his little horn in the time of the fourth Beast & grew mighty but not by his own power For The nations wchwhich composed the body of the third Beast do still compose it, & the He Goat still represents all those nations on this side of Euphrates. [He reigned in his four horns (or some of them) till the fourth Beast by conquering Macedon began to take away their Asia minor Syria & Egypt took away their dominion. And in the latter time of their kingdom the little horn rose up] And the great red Dragon in the Apocalyps represents sec represents the same nations & signifies the same thing with the He Goat reigning in his last horn & therefore is said to have his throne in Pergamus, a city of the Greek Empire. And the ten horned Beast in the Apocalyps signifies the same thing with the fourth Beast. The Beast wchwhich I saw, saith Iohn, was like unto a Leopard, & his feet were like as the feet of a Bear, & his mouth as the mouth of a Lyon. Iohn here names all the four beasts backwards & puts the ten-horned beast in the first place to signify that he was the fourth. And then he adds: And the Dragon gave the Beast his power & his Throne & great authority, that is his western power & his western Throne & great authority in the west. For the Beast reigned in the west, & therefore the Dragon at this time by a division of the Roman Empire between himself & the Beast relinquished the Western Empire to the Beast & reserved only the eastern Empire to himsel or kingdom of Pergamus to himself. While both Empires continued united they were both the Dragon & both the Beast, & therefore they have common head & common horns But the Dragon has crowns upon his heads & the Beast upon his horn to signify that the Beast with his horns were latent in the Dragon during the reign of the common heads & that he reigned in his horns after their separation. So then before the division of the Empire the whole was both Dragon & Beast, but upon the division they separated & the Dragon continued to reign in the Greek Empire & gave the Beast his reserving to himself his throne in Pergamus, & gave the Beast his power & throne in the west, & them at the same time the ten horns received power as kings.
D The Woman in heaven (the primitive Church catholick) crowned wthwith a crown of twelve stars (the twelve Apostles) brought forth a man child (a christian empire) When Constantine turned Christian & conquered Maxentius & Maximinus; she brough forth this child wchwhich was to rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron. And her child (by the victory of Constantine Constantine over Maxentius Maximinus & Licinus) was caught up to God & to his throne (the throne of the whole Empire.) And the great red Dragon (the Greater Roman Empire) was that old serpent called the Devil & Satan wchwhich deceived the whole world (the spirit of error or heathen religion) was cast out of the heaven (the throne of the Roman Empire) by Michael to the136v by Michael to the earth (or lower sort of the people) & came down among the inhabiters of the earth & sea with great wrath, that is among the nations called by anciently by the people of Israel the earth & the Isles of the sea, or among the nations of the Gree eastern nations of the old Roman Empire called the earth, & the western called the Isles of the sea. And when the Dragon (or spirit of error saw that he was cast out, he persecuted the Woman (with new errors) & to her by a division of the Roman Empire between Rome & Constantinople were give unto the Woman two wings of a great Eagle that she might fly into the spiritually barren wildernernes unto her place in the great city Babylon seated on seven hills & there rei at length reign over her Beast & be nourished deliciously a time times & half a time at a distance from the face of the Serpent. And the stagn Serpent (by the same division of the Empires) cast out waters as a flood after the Woman to cause her to be carried away of the flood into the wilderness in the western Empire where she was to be nourished. And the Earth or eastern Empire opened her mouth & swallowed up the flood. And the Dragon (in the reign of Iulian) was wroth with the Woman & (by a new division of the Empire) went (from her) to make war wthwith the remnant of her seed who keep the commandments of God & have the testimony of Iesus, that is, with the 144000 who in this war are sealed with the seale of God in their foreheads & worship in the second Temple & by reason of their testimony are called the two witnesses & stand on the sea of glass in the second Temple upon Mount Sion wthwith the Lamb, (that Lamb who appeared slain at the foot of the Altar) over against the middle of the throne) & sing the song of Moses (who had having who had power to turn the wat waters into blood & smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will & at length are slain in the street of the great city spiritually called Egypt,) & the song of the Lamb upon Mount Sion And with the 144000 upon Mount Sion. And when the Dragon (by a division of the Empire) went from the Woman, Iohn saw a Beast rising up out of the sea (by the same divisor a lit division) & having seven heads & ten horns & crowns upon them his horns (the fourth Beast of Daniel) & the Dragon (by the final division of the Empire) gave him his (western) power & throne & great authority. And Iohn saw one of heads (the sixt) wounded as it were wounded to death by a sword (the sword of Constantius) & his deadly wound was healed) by the next division of the Empire) And another Beast came up out of th earth or Grek Empire & he had two horns like those of the Lamb (the churches of Alexandria & Antioch) & he spoke as the Dragon (being his Church & of the same idolatrous religion) & causeth all that dwell on the earth or Gree the earth (or eastern Empire) & them that dwell therein to worship the first Beast whose deadly wound was healed
137v
This kingdom came out
138r
Thesis III
The prophesy of the Seales & Trumpets relates to the times from the days of the Apostles to the day of judgment, distinguishing into successive periods by the opening of the Seals & sounding of the Trumpets successively.
It began wthwith the Apostles days because Iohn was commanded to write the things wchwhich are & the things wchwhich shall be here after, & a door being opened in heaven, he was called up thither by heaven saying heard th the voice of a Trumpet saying come up hither & I will shew thee things wchwhich must be hereafter.
It lasted to the day of judgment because after th the prophetic Angel said to Iohn after the seven thunders that there should be time no longer, but in the voice of the seventh Angel when he should begin to sound the mystery of God should be finished. And when that Trumpet sounded it is said, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord & of his Christ, & he shall reign for ever & ever, & the time of the dead is come that they should be judged & that God should give rewards unto his servants the prophets & to his saints, & them that feared his name small & great.
Thesis. IV.
The same things were ad here prophesied of were adumbrated by Moses in the Iewish Feast of the seventh month of the Iews & therefore in the prophesy of the Seals & Trumpets that Feast is alluded unto.
For the High Priest was to read the Law to the people upon the tenth day of the seventh month: & for that for that end to study it that morning & six days before (as the Iews tell us ). & this is alluded unto by the Lamb of God (orour great High Priest) his taking the Book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the Throne or Ark between the Cherubims, & opening the seven seales thereof successively: some part of the book being opened at the opening of every seale till the whole was opened. A On the tenth day of the month was the great Fast. And therein were two Goats chosen by lot one for God the other for Azazel. That for God was sacrificed as an attonement for yethe sins of the people, that for Azazel was sent away into the wilderness with the sins of the people rest of people And as the people returned from the Temple they used to say to one another, God seale you to a good new year. And in allusion to this so soon as the seventh seal is opened And Angel appears with the seal of God & seals 144000 out of all the twelve Tribes of Israel & the rest are ma receive the mark of the Beast as is afterwards exprest.
On the fifteenth day of the month began the feast of Trumpets wchwhich lasted seven days wthwith great sacrifices every day at wchwhich the Preists sounded the Trumpets. And to this ceremot And to this alludes the sounding of the seven Trumpets.
Thesis I
The scene of the Visions in the Apocalyps is the Temple of Ierusalem
The door wchwhich Iohn saw opened in heaven was the door of the Temple. And when he was called up he saw a Throne set in heaven & one sitting on the throne. For so the Iews considered God as sitting on a throne between the Cheriums above the Ark. And round about the throne were four & twenty seats; the chambers of the 24 Princes of the 24 courses of the Priests built on either side of the Priests Court. And upon the thrones were four & twenty Elders cloathed in white, & on they had crows the Princes of the said 24 courses & they had crowns on their heads to signify that they were Princes. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings & thunderings & voices, the flashings of the Altar & song at the sacrifices appearing as com to Iohn as proceeding from the throne. For he stood at the eastern Gate of138v of the outward Court with the fire of the Altar between him & the throne. And they that sang stood at the eastern gate of the Priests court. And there were seven Lamps of fire burning before the throne vizt in the seven golden candlesticks within the holy place. And before the throne there was a sea of glass celare as like unto crystall the great brazen sea full of clear water. And in the midst of throne & round about the throne, that is, over against the midst of the throne before & behind & on either side in the circle about the throne, were four Beasts full of eyes before & behind: to represent the people of Israel in the four sides of the great Court or peoples court. By the multitude of their eyes you may know that they represent multitudes of people. The Israelites in the wilderness encamped about the Tabernacle in four squadrons: On the east encamped the tribes of Iudah Issachar & Zebulun under the standard of Iudah which was a Lion. On the south side encamped the tribes of Reuben Simeon & Gad & under the standard of Reuben wchwhich was a flying Eagle. Num. 2. Gen 49. 6. 9 Ezek. 1. 10. This vision is like that of Isaiah when he saw the Lord sitting on a throne in the Temple & about the throne four Seraphims each with six wings crying Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts. Isa. vi. And each of the Beasts had six wings, & they were full of eyes within. And they rest not day & night (or at the morning & evening sacrifices) saying Holy holy holy Lord God Almighty wchwhich was & & is & is to come
139vThe text on f. 139r and v is upside down, with the recto the continuation of the verso; f. 139v is therefore transcribed first, followed by f. 139r.
Thesis 1.The scene of the Visions in the Apocalyps is the Temple of Ierusalem.
Thesis II
The visions of opening the sealed book & sounding the seven Trumpets contein a prophesy of all ages from the days of the Apostles to the coming of Xt to judgment. And this prophesy was adumbrated in the festival of the seventh month instituted by Moses.
Thesis. III
This prophesy is repeated in the visions of the Woman & Dragon & Beast with ten horns. And the repetition begins with the words: And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, & there was seen in his Temple the Ark of his Testament
Thesis IV
The prophesies of the seven Trumpets, seven Vialls of Wrath & seven Thunders are synchronal to one another.
Thesis V
The prophesies of the 144000 sealed out of all the twelve tribes of Israel & of the the rest marked with the mark of the Beast & of the Woman sitting on her Beast in the Wilderness, & of the second Temple & the Gentiles worshipping in the outward court of the Temple treading the holy city under foot s & the two Witnesses prophesying against them are synchronal to one another.
Thesis VI.
The Dragon & the horned Beast are the Roman Empire first united & then divided into the Greek & Latin Empires: the Dragon becoming the Greek Empire when he went from the Woman to make war with the remnant of her seed.
Thesis VII
The Woman in heaven is the Christian Church of the whole Empire till it became divided, & then she fled into the spiritually barren wilderness & became the Church of the Latine Empire & at the same time the two horned Beast wchwhich at the same time rose out of the earth became the Church of the Greek Empire
Thesis VIII.
The two Witnesses are the 144000 sealed out of all the 12 tribes of Israel, & represented by two of the seven golden Candlesticks.
Thesis IX.
The ten horns of the Beast are the same with the ten horns of Daniel's fourth Beast, & arose in the reign of the Emperor Honorius.
Thesis X
The Dragon gave the Beast his power & throne at the last division of the Roman Empire into the Greek & Latine Empires: wchwhich was at the death of Theodosius the great. Apoc XVII. 12. [For yethe 10 King arose the same hour
The Beast was the flood wchwhich the Dragon cast out after the Woman, was slain by yethe sword of Constantius, revived at the death of Iovian, rose out of Sea at the next division of the Empire
Thesis XI
The woman being with child cried travailing in birth & pained to be delivered in the persecution of Dioclesian, & brought forth a manchild when Constantine yethe great became Christian & conquered Maxentius & Maximinus, & the child was caught up to God & his throne & the Dragon cast down when Constantine conquered Licinius. And the Woman received two wings of a great Eagle when Constantinople was built & endowed with Senate & other like privileges with Rome, & the Empire became divided between those two imperial cities.
139r
Thesis XII.
The four horsmen wchwhich appear at the opening of the first four seales denote four families of Emperors wchwhich reigned successively while the Empire continued in a monarchical form, that is, untill the division thereof between Dioclesian & Maximianus.
Thesis XIII.