EXPOSITION OF THE XI. XII. AND XIII. CHAPTERS OF THE revelation.  
Wherein most of the matters of greatest moment contained in the book of the Revelation are unfolded.  
By a late Writer, whose certain name is not known to the Publisher hereof, only these two letters T. L. are in his Advertisement to Queen Elizabeth.  
The Contents whereof are in the next Page.  
Printed An. Dom. 1623.   

The Contents of these three Chapters.  

The estate of the Primitive Church before her dispersion.  
The Churches first persecution by t●●●●athen Emperors.  
The flight of the Church into the wilderness  
The two Witnesses.  
The rising of Antichrist: his seven hea●● and ten horns.  
The second Beast, and his two horns.  
The practice of Antichrist and his Clergy against the Church.  
The Image of the Beast.  
The Mark of the Beast.  
The name and number of the Beast.  
The end of the Beast, and destruction of h●● City.  
And the end of the world.   
The reasons that moved me to publish this same, are these two: first, the hope o● good that it may do to the Church o● God, in these troublesome times: and secondly, hoping that it may be a mean to bring forth the rest, either from the Author, or from some other that may have it in keeping.   

CHAP. XI.  
1. The regenerate Christians only are the Church and heritage of God.  
3. The residue are outcasts and refused.  
7. Of the two testifiers and preservers of truth.  
13. Antichrist killeth them, but the Lord restoreth them life again.  
15. Great dissension ariseth thereupon: the day of judgement is foreshowed.  

VERSE 1. And there was given me a reed, like unto a mete-yard; and the Angel that stood by me, said, Rise, and measure the Temple of God, and the Altar, and them that adore therein.  
AS in a common field, a good Surveyor doth measure out each intercommoners several, by stake or by rod: so in the wide and common field of Christians, the Lord commandeth his servant john to survey and apportion out his Church and partage, which he severeth from the residue of carnal Gospelers, and such like outcasts; in recommending unto us their inward frame and renewed graces, under the appellation and names of the Temple of God, the Altar, and them that adore therein: meaning, that as in the Tabernacle of the congregation, the holy and most holy places (wherein stood the Table of the Shewbread, Candlestick, Altar of incense, Ark, propitiatory and oracle of God, overcovered within and without with Angell-gold, into which places none but the Priests might enter and adore) were separated by a veil from the outer Court, where the brazen altar was erected for all the house of Israel to enter and sacrifice, and which therefore was called the Court of the people: so in the common field and University of Christians, they only are the Church and heritage of God, which are sanctified in heart, and holy in life and cowersation, and separated (by the veil of regeneration, that is to say, by the tears of true repentance, and the assurance of pardon and reconciliation unto God in Christ jesus, in graved in the tables of their hearts by the finger of the Spirit) from all carnal professors and nominal Christians, in whom is but an outward face and protestation of the name of Christ only.   
Verse 2. 
But the base Court which is without the Temple, cast out, and measure not, for it is given to the Gentiles: and the holy, City shall they tread under foot two and forty months.  
But as for those common Catholic Christians, here resembled to the base court which is without the Temple, because they are but overcast only with a profession of my name, which hear my word and participate my Sacraments, and yet are separated by an unregenerate heart, as by a veil, from those Altars and Priests, in whom my name is honoured: cast forth, saith the Lord, and measure not; for howsoever such unleavened companions seem to boast in the name of my Church, & in the protestation of a Christian calling, yet they are so fare from belonging to my peculiar, saith the Lord, as that I have given them up in reckoning with the reprobate of the Gentiles, and they shall justify mine account and rejection of them, by their like uncircumcised carriage and heathenish conversation: for they shall no less defile my holy City, that is to say, they shall no less hate, accuse, persecute, and keep under water the true and sanctified Christian, then do the heathen and uncircumcised, as by overlong experience is well known to the Church of God, which hath been, is, and shall be (till her captivity be returned) opposed for melancholy, mad, new, factious, schismatical, heretical, by Christian Catholics, politicians, Atheists, carnal Gospelers, and such heathenish protesters like to these.  
And that the Church of God may not look for other or better entertainment at these her intercommoners hands, she is here (by the predeterminate counsel of God) to be trodden like a way by these Gentiles and heathenish Christians, two and forty months, meaning months of years, every month accounting (by prophetical supputation) thirty years, as in the verse following shall be further manifested; confounding therein the Remisaries of Rome, who sweat to persuade that they are but months of days, thereby to turn the world's eye from the great Antichrist that now is, to a petty Antichrist which shall never come.   
Verse 3. 
And I will give to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth.  
During which time of the Church's disgrace & desolation, for the greater comfort of her children and judgement of her adversaries, I will, saith the Lord; I, by a wonderful outstretched providence, will preserve unto the world the light and power of my two testaments, to guide their knowledge and conversation into the ways of peace. Whereby the Lord manifestly reproveth the gross and vain expectation of those that translate his meaning in this place to the coming of Henoch and Elias: whereas of Henochs' return, either in flesh or in spirit, there is no syllable of promise in all the Scriptures; and as touching the spiritual return of Elias promised, is already performed, as the Lord himself 
Mal. 4. 5. Mat. 11. 14  proveth.  
Now touching the time of their keeping watch while the world sleepeth, the Lord voweth it shall be two and forty months before mentioned; which being dissolved into days, after the Calendar of the Hebrews (whose year did drive thirty days to every month, and twelve months to every year) amount to the just number of 1260 days here specified: which computation of the years is observed throughout the whole Bible, Daniel only excepted, who counteth after the use and style of the Chaldeans, in whose tongue and amongst whom he wrote; and consequently the months being prophetical, that is to say, months of years, which to each account thirty years, the reign of Antichrist must needs endure 1260 years. Which manner of reckoning years by days, though it seem strange, is usual notwithstanding with the Prophets of God, and therefore is called Prophetical, as Ezekiel a day for a year; and daniel's 
Ezek. 4. 6. Dan. 9 24.  seventy weeks are weeks of years, every week containing seven years, as throughout this prophecy. Also the months are months of years, to every month accounting thirty years. From whence we conclude, Antichrists three years and a half, both here and in Daniel, deciphered by a time, times, and half a time, to be years of years, every year containing twelve months of years, which amount to 360 years, and multiplied by three and a half, do in the total amount to 1260 years.  
And to the end the world may take better notice of these his two testifiers and preservers of truth, the Lord commendeth the knowledge of the parties, by the description of their garments, in saying, they are clothed in sackcloth; thereby not only dissevering their testimonies from all the soft and courtly commentaries of flesh and blood, which for the most are raised with infected matter, and vested with affected style; but also teaching us that no man can retain to the Lord, before whom they minister, unless he serve in the same livery that they do, and can turn over the leaves of his life and pilgrimage in fasting and sackcloth, and true repentance, as these his servants the Prophets and Saints have done.   
Verse 4. 
These are the two olive branches and the two candlesticks which stand in the presence of the Lord of the earth.  
ANd these my two Testaments are those two olive trees (saith the Lord) described by my Prophet Zechary, which stand and fructify before the Ruler of the earth for ever and ever. For their leaf, that is to say, their word and judgements shall neither whither nor fade, though heaven and earth should perish and melt away. And they are also two candlesticks, which carry in them the light of my truth, and power of my Spirit, the great moderator of heaven and earth.   
Verse 5. 
And if any man will hurt them, fire shall come forth of their mouth and devour their enemies; and if any man shall hurt them, so must he be slain.  
ANd if any man shall wrest their word from the aim & intention of their meaning (saith the Lord,) or turn their prophecy out of the way, by perverting or clipping the honour or purpose of their word, the fire of my wrath denounced by the mouth of these my two testaments (for though they be two, yet they have but one mouth) shall surely judge and execute those lovers and makers of lies: and for the more assurance of this sentence against them, the Lord doth iterate the curse and vengeance of his heavy displeasure, saying, And if any man will hurt them, so must he be slain; meaning (I say) by hurting, all manner diminishing of the words of their testimony by false, blasphemous, and lying expositions, as some have done.   
Verse 6. 
These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, and they have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with all manner of plagues, so often as they will.  
FOr the Lord hath touched the mouth of these his two Prophets, as he did the; mouth of jeremy, and the rest of his servants, of whom he saith, Behold, this day have I set thee over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up, root out, destroy and throw down, build and plant: and in another place, Therefore have I cut them down by my Prophets, and slain them by the words of my mouth. Such privilege the Lord hath given to these his two Testaments, that if they once shut the heavens that it rain not in the days of their prophecy, that is to say, if they denounce a famine of the bread of life, to wit, the word and knowledge of God; or pronounce a sword to come upon a nation, kingdom or people, which the Lord here signifieth by turning waters into blood; or if it pleaseth them to prophesy (which the Lord here calleth to strike) of any pestilence, earthquake, or other judgement to come, such power is given them, that if they say the word, it is done, as it is written, Heaven and earth shall perish, but the words of their prophecy shall not pass, till all be fulfilled.   
Verse 7. 
And when they shall have finished their testimonies, the Beast which ascendeth from the depth, shall wage battle against them, and kill them.  
ANd when his servants the Prophets and Apostles shall have fulfilled their course, and be translated from the land of their labours to the land of rest, leaving to the world the inheritance (as it were) of their ministry sealed up in the two Testaments of God, to preserve the fear of his name and the knowledge of his pleasure among the sons of men, which the holy Ghost calleth finishing their testimony; Antichrist the Beast, whose proper place whence he is and whither he must, is here described by the name of the depth, shall not only hurt and wound them by slanderous & lying expositions, as his Clerks and Assects do, but shall set his feet upon their necks, and tread down their divine authority by the advancing of his cursed keys and the beauty of his whorish Church above them, which the Spirit calleth waging battle, inhibiting them to prophesy or teach the words of their testimony vulgarly. And not only putting them to silence, but also reproving, condemning them for corrupters, seducers and sowers of heresies among the people; which presumptuous blasphemy and murder, the Spirit discovereth in saying that he shall overcome them and kill them.   
Verse 8. 
And their carkeises shall remain in the street of the great City, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord also was crucified.  
ANd the letter or text of their testimony, which the Spirit calleth their corpse or carkeises, shall remain in their houses, Cells, Temples, hang at their girdles through all the cities and kingdoms where the Beast and his Church is adored; which in regard of their number be here named the great City, so in respect of their execrable worship and adulterous service, contrary to God and his holy City, they are here called also spiritually Sodom; meaning, that as Sodom her sister did forsake the lawful use and prescription of nature, and wrought filthiness against nature; so these loathing truth, and loving lies, should erect strange oblations and propitiations, as contrary to the offerings and satisfactions of the Saints, as was the sin of Sodom opposite to nature.  
And the Spirit further calleth them by the name of Egypt, for that in blindness and hardness of heart they every way match the presumptuous and indurate Egyptians, still pursuing and persecuting the truth, as Pharaoh did Israel, till the God of Israel destroy them by the Spirit of his mouth, as he did Pharaoh and his host by water.  
And in further detestation of the cruel murder and immanity of this Beast and his adherents, the holy Ghost layeth the blood of the Prince of the Covenant to their charge also, as cunningly as they think to convey his murder, and post it over to jerusalem. For as the Lord doth lay the blood of his servant Abel to the charge of the Scribes and Pharises of his own time, although he were slain long before those Pharises were borne or jerusalem builded, because they were the very image and lively imitation of his brother that murdered him: so the holy Ghost doth here lay the innocent blood of the Lord of glory to the charge of this crucifier and his citizens, because they are the children and generation of that high Priest and those murderers which cried, Away with him, crucify him, crucify him. And that we should not marvel thereat, the holy Ghost in another place goeth further, and saith, In her shall be found the blood of the Apostles and Prophets also, and all that ever for the testimony of the truth were slain on earth.   
Verse 9 
And there shall of the tribes and people and Gentiles, see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their corpse to be laid in monuments.  
ANd all nations and kingdoms where the Beast is worshipped (whom the holy Ghost for their profanation in life and religion, calleth Gentiles) shall have, handle, and gaze upon the letter and corpse of his two witnesses three days and a half, that is to say, the time, times, and half a time, wherein the Beast shall reign and persecute, even three prophetical years and a half, accounting (as in Ezekiel) all days for years. Neither shall they suffer the word of their prophecy to be read, opened, understood, and laid up in the hearts of the people, the true and natural monuments and sepulchres, wherein the testimony of their words ought to be interred.   
Verse 10. 
And the inhabitants of the earth shall be glad over them, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two Prophets tormented them that dwell upon the earth.  
ANd all the worshippers of the Beast here noted for their number by the inhabitants of the earth, shall clap their hands over their own inventions, and rejoice in the death of the truth, and make merry with bonfires, Vigils, Festivals, Processions; and in token of joy, they shall send (as the Spirit saith) gifts one to another. Kings and Princes and people shall present and endow the Beast and his Church with donations, immunities, possessions, gold and silver offerings, &c. and the Beast (on the other side) shall requite their kindness with titles, bells, pardons, bulls, and such like: and the Spirit yields a reason of this their wicked and  comfort, because they had put out the eyes of his two Prophets, that their whoredoms and profanations might not be reproved; then which, nothing can be greater torment to the wicked, nor more unsavoury to them that perish.   
Verse 11. 
And after three days and a half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon all that saw them.  
ANd forasmuch as in the death and extermination of Antichrist by way of dependency, consisteth the life and resurrection (as it were) of the Scriptures; the Spirit foreshoweth, that after the reign and persecution of the Beast, which here (as in the ninth verse) is determined by three days and a half, God will raise up faithful & prudent Priests, Shepherds of understanding hearts, who shall rightly divide the words and testimonies of his two witnesses; which the holy Ghost signifieth, in saying that the spirit of life from God entered into them: for as the letter and text of the Scripture is the corpse thereof, so their true intent and meaning is the spirit and life of them; and by the faithful ministry of such as the Lord shall raise in and about that time, and for that purpose, the testimony of his two Prophets shall be restored to their strength, and (as it were) to their walking again, which the Spirit signifieth in saying they stood upon their feet, as well to the terror and astonishment of all lying and stipulous expositors, as to the fear and admiration of the children and justifiers of wisdom, as the holy Ghost concludeth, saying, And great fear fell upon all that saw them.   
Verse 12. 
And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Come up hither: and they went up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.  
ANd the restauration of the true meaning of the Scriptures, which their enemies so long kept under by all unjust and cunning shifts, shall be more famously known and published, then that they may any longer hinder or stop the glorious course of their wonderful instauration, which the Spirit intendeth in saying that he heard a voice from heaven saying, Come up hither; meaning that it should be more possible for their enemies to stay Elias chariot from ascending, or pull the wind back from pursuing his point, then to resist the wisdom of the same, the which shall vindicate the abuse of the Scriptures, and by the power of their ministry (as in the strength of a cloud) shall hold them up, and restore them to their spiritual and heavenly meaning again: and the Beast with all his sorcerers and liars, which have been their long and ancient enemies, shall see the glory of their regeneration, and wonder, and die.   
Verse 13. 
And in that hour there was made a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the City fell, and there were slain in the earthquake names of men seven thousand, and the rest were cast into a fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven.  
ANd at such time as it pleased God to begin his work of instauration, and to cause the dayspring of his Gospel to shine out of the night of Antichrists darkness; the abominable and desolate profanation of the Beast, which had so long time overcast the earth, was in such sort discovered, that the very root of his throne and usurped authority was dangerously shaken, which the holy Ghost closely foldeth up, in saying, there was made a great earthquake. And further foreshoweth, that out of this concussion there should arise so great defection, that the tenth part of his worshippers should revolt from him, and that this revolt and defection must cost the lives of many thousand men, which the Spirit uttereth in a manner of speech strange to us, but usual with the Scriptures, calling men names of men, as Chap. 3. 4. and meaning by seven thousand many thousand, using the determinate number of seven indefinitely and for a number indeterminate, as it is also in Scripture often. Which broils and bloodshed concerning the institution of religion, are so sufficiently reported in the Commentaries of Bohemia and Germany, and in the troubles of France and Flanders, and other nations, as if it were purposely registered in proof of this prophecy.  
Lastly, the Spirit concluding foretelleth that many kingdoms in this defection should quite forsake the Beast, and haste them out of Babylon home again to build the walls of jerusalem, and to restore the morning and the evening sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, as in the former time and in the days of old, in saying, And the rest were cast into a fear, and gave glory to the God of heaven.   
Verse 14. 
The second woe is gone, and behold the third woe will come quickly.  
THe first woe was the blasphemy of Arianisme, which the holy Ghost in the ninth Chapter most aptly resembleth unto a smoke ascending from the depth, saying, that the Sun was darkened, and the air with the smoke of the pit; meaby the Sun the Son of God, and by the air the word of his truth, by whose only mean and interposition, the object of his Deity was truly discerned; and in regard of this first woe which was kindled by Arius, wherewith the inhabitants of the earth (as the Spirit foretold us) should be tormented five months, meaning months of years, which by prophetical account amounteth to one hundred and fifty years, which was the time of the Arian persecution, as in the Ecclesiastical histories more plainly appeareth. The holy Ghost, I say, in regard of this first woe, calleth the tragical reign of Antichrist the second woe, whose long time of tyranny within this Chapter in a general manner is declared, and in the thirteenth Chapter following more particularly and exactly discovered; though at the writing of this prophecy, it had his being only in the foreknowledge of God, and was not yet begun to be acted, much less fully ended: yet in respect it is here in a general manner fully revealed, the Lord (to whom all things past and to come are present) saith, the second woe is gone, upon determination whereof the third woe must ensue, which, for it surpasseth both the former in terror and greatness, the holy Ghost bringeth it in with a word of audience, Behold, the third woe will come, meaning the great and terrible day of the Lord, fore denounced by his servants the Prophets, in the which all nations shall stand as prisoners before him, and receive every one according to the ways wherein their heart hath walked.  
And because the day of the Lords coming in glory and consummation of the world shall not long tarry after the determination and consumption of Antichrist, (as in the last verse of the thirteenth Chapter following shall be more fully declared) the holy Ghost addeth the word quickly, as a precise note of his speedy coming, which our Lord also in another place confirmeth by a like word immediately, saying, And immediately after the tribulation of those days (speaking of 
Math. 24.  the tyrannous reign of the self same Antichrist) they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of the air.   
Verse 15. 
And the seventh Angel sounded with a Trumpet, and there were made loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are made our Lords and his Christ's, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Amen.  
THe understanding of this verse dependeth upon the eighth Chapter, where it is said, And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was made silence in heaven, etc. and I saw seven Angels stand in the sight of God, and there were given them seven trumpets etc. where the holy Ghost meaneth by the Lamb the Son of God, and by opening the seventh seal, a more particular discovery of all such things as concern the estate of his Church from his ascension to his coming in majesty, divided into seven acts, declared by seven trumpets, sounded by seven Angels, of which acts the sixth was the pageant of the desolation of Antichrist, the seventh and last is the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, and consummation of the world, uttered in these words, And the seventh Angel sounded with a trumpet, and with a loud voice proclaimed the kingdom of this world, so long time usurped by Monarches and Antichrists, which by right of Lordship and inheritance, did evermore belong to the God of heaven and Prince of the Covenant, shall now at length be restored to the right Lord and lawful owner, and of his reign, dominion, and glory, there shall be no end, as the Spirit concludeth, saying, And he shall reign for ever and ever, Amen.   
Verse 16. 
And the four and twenty Elders which sat on their seats in the sight of God, fell on their faces, and adoring God, said, We thank thee Lord God omnipotent, which art, which waist, and which shall come, because thou hast received thy great power and brightness.  
BY the four and twenty Elders is meant the testimony of Moses and the Prophets, who for that they spoke by the seven fold Spirit of majesty which burneth night and day about the throne of God, are here said to sit on their seats in the sight of God. And for that their judgements denounced from time to time against Antichrist and his worshippers, are now justified upon them, and the everlasting kingdom of the Lord their God (who hath stretched his wings from sea to sea, and from the River to the end of lands) is now set up for evermore; therefore the Spirit saith, that they fell on their faces, and adoring the justification of God, broke forth in praises and thanksgiving, saying, We thank thee Lord God omnipotent, etc.   
Verse 17. 
And the Gentiles were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead to be judged, and to render reward to thy servants the Prophets and Saints, and to them that fear thy name, little and great, and to destroy them that have corrupted the earth.  
ANd all kingdoms, nations and people which have evil entreated jerusalem, and made a sport of the shame and affliction of jacob, shall now reap the fruit of their savage & heathenish lives, and (maugre their fury) shall endure the wrath and judgement of him, who with justice judgeth and fighteth, as the Spirit affirmeth, saying, And the Gentiles were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead to be judged. And the Spitit further testifieth, that the Lord (for whose glory that day is made) shall render to every one their due hire or wages, (for so the original importeth, commonly interpreted reward,) first to his Saints and servants, and all that overcome, their hire and wages, which by promise and for his own name sake is due unto them; next, to all execrable Atheists, blasphemous Catholics, incredulous heathen, liars, heretics, carnal Gospelers, and all other brazen and unregenerate Christians, the hire and wages, which to their works, and deeds, and merits is due, as the Spirit concludeth, saying, And to render reward unto thy servants the Prophets and Saints, and to them that fear thy name, little and great, and to destroy them that have corrupted the earth.  
But concerning this seventh age, wherein the Lord shall come in majesty to judge the quick and the dead, the holy Ghost deferreth yet a while to speak more particularly thereof, and resumeth more exactly to entreat of the term and persecution of Antichrist and his accomplices against the Church and Spouse of Christ, that so the glory of his justice in their just condemnation and judgement may be more bright and manifest.    

CHAP. XII.  
1. A confirmation of the prophecy following.  
2. The description of the Church and of her first fruit.  
4. The Churches first persecution raised by Ethnic Rome, by whose immanity it came to pass that her beauty was no more seen in her visible and eminent graces, but lived here and there dispersed and scattered over the face of the earth.  
8. The great battle between Christianisme and Paganism: Christ and his truth overcometh jupiter and his profanation.  
18. The Empire removeth his Throne, pretending to stop the float of the enemy, but intending to root out the dispersed remnant of the Church.  
Verse 1. 
And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and the Ark of his Covenant was seen in his Temple, and there was made lightnings, voices, thunders, earthquakes, and great hail.  
THE Apostle having drawn in the former part of this prophecy a slight draught (as it were) and designment of Antichrist, doth now in the prophecy following revisit and perfect the discovery of the Beast, and hang him up to the view and discerning of heaven and earth. And to the end that this his work of manifestation may carry in it fair and uncontrollable credit, the Apostle in this verse assureth us, that he revealeth no other word concerning the Church & her pressours here on earth, during the personal absence of her Lord, then that which he heard at the Council table of God, which he delivereth in a manner of speech usual with the Prophets. And the Temple of God was opened in heaven, and the Ark of his covenant was seen in the Temple, alluding to the Temple of jerusalem, and signifying thereunder, that the words of this his Revelation are no less sooth and true, then if he had received them from the Oracle of God, which spoke from over the Ark of his testament within the Temple of jerusalem, whose words and answers, for their divinity, majesty, power and glory, are here as elsewhere figured by voices proper to God, and not to man, as lightnings, thunders, earthquakes, and hail.   
Verse 2. 
And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the Sun, and the Moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.  
But before the Spirit takes in hand to discover the persecuters of the Church, it pleaseth him first to describe the Church itself, that so the barbarous immanity of her enemies may be more apparent and justly abhorred, being used against a creature of such virginal, innocent and patiented modesty, who for her rare and admirable beauty is here called a great sign, or heavenly apparition, symbolising her fearful, modest, sober and matronlike behaviour, with the appellation and quality of a woman; for so she is in holy Scriptures often called, the fairest woman, the King's daughter, daughter of Zion, daughter of jerusalem, the Spouse of Christ, Mother of the just, etc. And to the end she may the better be discerned of us, the Apostle describeth her garments and wearing, saying, she was clothed with the Sun, meaning that she had put on the Lord jesus, Son of justice, that is to say, her soul was vested with an assurance of the mercy and love of God in Christ jesus her Lord; which justice or justification of the Spouse and her children, is called in holy Scripture by way of metaphor, the white stone, and the wedding garment. For as a stole or garment covereth the shame and nakedness of our vile bodies: so the mercy and love of God, insured us in Christ jesus our Lord, hideth the shame and nakedness of our sinful souls. And to prove that her garment was truly woven of the two divine threads, to wit, the assurance of mercy & the assurance of love in Christ jesus her Lord; the Spirit giveth in for evidence, the fruits of this her lively and justifical faith, closely hiding her newness of life, her hatred of sin, and her love of God, as under a veil, in these words, And the Moon under her feet; signifying thereby that she had now quite forsaken & forgotten her father's house, that is, had slain her natural sinful and wont affections, and was revived and renewed in mind, and with her Lord was now risen and ascended up, as he into the heaven of heavens, so she to a new custom and carriage of life, far above and higher than the Moon: for all her study and hearts delight was now in heaven, where her hope, her love, her life, and her dearest Lord liveth & reigneth, God, to be praised for ever and ever, Amen.  
Last of all, the Spirit setteth forth her head attire, whereby her honour and estate was best known, and wherein she most delighted, saying, that she wore on her head a crown made of a mettle much finer than gold, for it was made of the doctrine of the twelve Apostles, who for that they are the Lords lights and lanterns to guide the feet of sinners when sin hath benighted them, are here called by the names of Stars, And on her head a crown of twelve stars.   
Verse 3. 
And being great with child, she cried, travelling and labouring to be delivered.  
ANd by the words which her ears received, her heart conceived, and she was great with fear and godly sorrow, travelling under the burden of her sins, and restless desire to be reconciled to God: which anguish and pains of her sorrowful heart and broken spirit, the Apostle most excellently compareth to the sorrows of a woman in travel. In which her spiritual labour and pain, she could by no means be relieved or eased, until her Lord were fashioned in her, that is, until her heart were sanctified by faith: for no Treacle could heal her miserable wounded soul, but the assurance of mercy only, nor any water could quench the burning flames of her restless desire, but the love of God only, insured her in Christ jesus her Lord, and written in the fleshly tables of her heart by the finger of God, according to his promise, his first and last and everlasting covenant.   
Verse 4. 
And another sign appeared in heaven, for lo a great red Dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems.  
AS night doth follow day, and the shadow the body; so must the Cross follow Christ, and affliction his Church; whose Sun could no sooner shine, but the envious man raised up a mighty storm of persecution to cloud the brightness of her beautiful beams; which for the extraordinary fury thereof, the Apostle calleth a wonder or sign, meaning the Churches first and primitive persecution raised by Ethnik Rome, who for his power, immanity and malice to the Church of God, is here called a great red Dragon; and both for that his Throne and City was seated on seven hills; as also for that he was in all impiety, pride and profanation, the total sum and epitome (as it were) of all the seven Monarchies, unto whom (from the beginning of time, to the end thereof) was given and granted the charter and commission of blaspheming God & corrupting his world (as in the thirteenth Chapter following is more particularly discovered) the Apostle addeth, having seven heads.  
And in regard his power did beat down the power of all nations, and made spoil and purchase of all kings & kingdoms on earth, the Spirit saith, he had ten horns: for the horns signify kings and kingdoms, and the number of ten include all, be they never so many, as all numbers are made of ten, and their reduplication, be they never so infinite.  
And because he came to advance his head so high by the power of his sword, his Leaders and legions, the Spirit crowneth his heads with magnificence and diadems, saying, And on his heads seven diadems.   
Verse 5. 
And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the Dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, that when she had brought forth, he might devour her son.  
THe head of this great red Dragon, was his Regal first estate, governed by Romulus & six other successive kingcoates, which Seneca calleth his infancy or nonage, wherein he lived swathed and nourished in blood 244 years, as his own Historian reporteth.  
The body of this great red Dragon, was his Consuls second estate, which Seneca calleth his full age, part Aristocratical, part democratical, and was therefore styled, Senatus populusque Romanus: from whence partly by reason of his overweight and fulsome abundance, as one of his own noteth, Romana laxitas mundi & rerum amplitudo damno fuit; and partly for want of enemies abroad to wreak their proud and kingly humours on, he fell into the intestine evil of civil wars at home, which did cast him into his minority and wardship again.  
And this his last estate of regiment Imperial, the holy Ghost here calleth his tail, which consisteth of a rout of Monarches, seventy Keysars long, who for that they so furiously persecuted and havocked the blood of the chiefest Saints and servants of God, the Spirit saith that with his cursed tail he drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth.  
And not contented with the slaughter of his fairest lights and stars of his Church, proceeded to desolate the whole host of heaven, even all the seed of the Spouse, named before the Church's child, and here her son, meaning those in whom by the ministry of his fairest stars (his servants the Apostles) Christ was now form, and of whom the Church was now ready to be delivered; for so much the Apostle unfoldeth in these words, And the Dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, that when she should bring forth, he might devour her son.   
Verse 6. 
But she brought forth a man child, who was to govern all nations in an iron rod: and her son was taken up to God and to his throne.  
But notwithstanding all their fury, the Church brought forth her first fruit, which for their faith, charity, labour and patience, the Spirit nameth a man child: and because they followed the Lord in the regeneration, and overcame by keeping his words and works unto the end, they received the self same honour which to their Lord alone and in chief belongeth, namely, that they shall judge the Tribes of Israel, and have dominion over the nations, and shall rule them with a rod of iron, and break their glory like a potter's vessel, as the Lord hath promised, Math. 19 and Apoc. 2.  
And in remembrance of the tender care and providence of God over the seed and first fruit of his Church, the Spirit concludeth, that when they had ended their course, they were taken up to God and to his throne, far from the reach and rage of their enemies.   
Verse 7. 
And the Woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared of God, that there they might feed her a thousand two hundred and sixty days.  
But the Church of God, here named the woman, mother of this fair and primitive fruit, being no longer able to weather out her storms, was enforced to hide her beauty, and to retire herself into the secret chambers of God's providence and her own conscience, and to take up her lodging in the desert; not that her light was utterly extinguished, as her enemy's reproach her: for although she were dispersed, distressed, and enforced to hide her extraordinary and eminent graces; yet the beauty of her true repentance and of her lively faith, seconded with a charitable life and patiented expectation of better things to come, still shined as a candle in a dark place; and like a ship preserved in a tempest, she remained still the same, of whom the world was not worthy; never wanting the loving protection of her dearest Lord, who in all her troubles was mindful of her, as of Elias his servant, or Israel his first borne; careful to provide her both of honourable harbour and princely diet. Her resting place was restless, strewed and scattered far and near over the face of the earth; for such a lodging did best beseem her broken and restless heart, which sojourned in earth, but dwelled in heaven; and did also best defend her person from the furious inquisitions of her enemies.  
Neither was her Lord less loving and provident concerning her food, for he preserved for her diet the two witnesses of his eternal Covenant, that from their breast she might suck the pure and wholesome milk of grace and life, that so she might be both nobly harboured and princely fed during the tedious and odious reign of the great Whore the Church of Rome, who during her exile should usurp her Chair, and under the vizard of her name should persecute her name and generation a thousand two hundred and sixty years, here (as before) mystically deciphered under a thousand two hundred and sixty days.   
Verse 8. 
And there was waged a battle in heaven, Michael and his Angels fought with the Dragon; and the Dragon fought, and his Angels.  
ANd at the same time that the Temple of God was opened in heaven, the Apostle also foresaw that great and bloody contention, than which (since the days of heaven) was never waged greater; great in regard of the armies, and great in respect of the cause.  
The armies great, as well for the greatness of the Generals, as for the valour and number of their forces.  
The General on the one side, was the power of God, sciphered by Michael the Prince of the Covenant, who stood for the children and people of the Highest. The General on the other side, was the power of Satan, figured by Ethnic Rome, here (as before) called the Dragon.  
In their forces are to be considered the Leaders and the soldiers. The Leaders and the Captains on the part of Michael were Diws Petrus, Diws Paulus, Di●●● johannes, and the rest of that divine and noble order of Saints. And on the Dragon's part were Leaders and Chieftains, diws Tiberius, diws Caligula, diws Claudius, diws Nero, and the rest of that most filthy and execrable train.  
So great was the multitude and number of soldiers, that none of what degree, sex, age, or condition soever, but must be pressed for the one side or for the other; the valour and virtue of the soldiers exceeded all praise; few subdued many, the weak overcame the strong, a handful of Christians a world of infidels.  
The cause was great, and higher than the heavens; whether God or Belial, Christ or jupiter, Christianisme or Paganism were more venerable for antiquity, majestical for amplitude, more constant for continuance, and in all other respects of wisdom, honour and majesty more worthy to be embraced and adored of the sons of men; which was for life contended by the Dragon, his Angels and assects, and was for life withstood and disapproved by Michael and his Angels, and their followers. The issue of this contention followeth.   
Verse 9 
But they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.  
AS the battle was great, so was the victory glorious: for though the Dragon with his sapient Senates, his profane Angels, and his unclean abettors, intended all their forces, moving (as it is in proverb) heaven and earth to make room for the abomination of jupiter, and to keep under water the everlasting Lord and Prince of the Covenant; as among the many monuments of time is sufficiently proved and maintained by Orosius, and by him to whom he wrote in his book de Civitate Dei; yet the Spirit foreseeing the Dragon's folly, and how in vain he kicked against the spur, in scorn of his presumption saith, But he prevailed not; and concluding affirmeth, that the possession of heaven (so long time usurped by incestuous murderers, and execrable courtesans, gods and goddesses of their own forging) must be resigned now to the true Lord and owner of all, who hath taken his place at the right hand of the Father, and hath deposed for ever from their usurped titles of deity, all gods and goddesses, phantasms made of worms, created and divified by the inventions, relations, consecrations, and canonisations of the Dragon, his Tail and successors, as the Spirit discovereth in saying, Neither the place of them was found any more in heaven.   
Verse 10. 
And that great Dragon was thrown down, the old Serpent, called the Devil and Satanas, which seduceth the whole world, and he was cast into the earth, and his Angels were thrown down with him.  
ANd the great and profane power of the Roman monarchy, which had so long time oppressed and corrupted the earth, was now at length detected, and thereupon disseized of, and from her usurped claim of heaven for ever, as the Spirit discovereth in saying, And that great Dragon was thrown down.  
And for that the devil did corporally dwell (as it were) in her, spreading the beams of his wickedness at full, in all idolatry, impiety and presumption against God, and in all oppression, injustice and immanity towards man; the Spirit crowneth her with the cognoments of her sire, calling her, for her malice to the truth, a Serpent; for her crimination of the Saints, a devil; and for hostility to God and his Saints, Satanas: speaking therein after the manner of the Lord himself, who calleth his treacherous steward a devil, though he were a man, because the fullness of Satan did dwell in him, filling his heart with such a perfect hatred of his innocent Lord, & lamentable love of his guilty penny, that he sold Canaan for Egypt, heaven for hell, & God for silver.  
And because the impiety of governors, is not only their own decay by evil doing, but also by enforcement and evil example the ruin of their people; the Spirit layeth the seduction of the whole earth to the charge of the Dragon, for the ruling it after the level and prescription of Rome, saying, which seduceth the whole world; and thereupon giveth just judgement and sentence of death against him, namely, that as in his beginning he crept out of the earth, and by the scale of his wickedness ascended so high, as to presume to thrust his haughty head into heaven, and build his nest above the stars, as did his antecessors, Assur, Beltassar, Darius, Alexander, and the rest of their compeers: so by a like power of sword and cruelty, he shall shortly return to his friends again, and be made even with the earth, from whence his stock and first estate was borrowed; and the power of his Caesar's, council of his Senators, sophistry of his Sorcerers (which with such indurate and obstinate minds stood for the honour and worship of devils) should be no longer able to uphold the reverence of their jupiter Capitolinus, who was now deteced for a rogue, and by the voices of Michael's Angels (as by whips and passports) was sent home again to the place of his birth, namely the earth, from whence his mortal and vile genealogy was taken, and with him also were Caesar's undivified, and (for all their Senate's proud relations) were made to take up the grave for their latter end, and shame for their fame, and worms for their heritage, as the Spirit foretelleth, saying, And he was cast down unto the earth, and his Angels were thrown down with him.   
Verse 11. 
And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is made salvation, and force, and kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ, because the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accused them before the sight of our God day and night.  
NEither was this famous victory obtained in a corner, or spoken in the ear, but (as the Spirit reporteth) so valorously gotten, and so audibly proclaimed, that all the world heard the report thereof, witness the records of those times, at which the holy Ghost pointeth in these words, And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, and sounding the victory of Christ and Christianisme against the Dragon and his Angels, his sorcerers and their profane and idolatrous paganism; in these devout & divine notes, Now is made salvation, and force, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; and yields a reason of this so pious and triumphant joy, because the folly and fury of the Dragon and his Angels, which so continually accused the Saints and servants of God, for pestilent fellows, movers of sedition, maintainers of sects, polluters of the Temple, teachers of new gods, enemies to Cesar, wordsowers, babblers, blasphemers, is now upon setting and going down for ever. Which death and downfall of their spiritual whoredom, the holy Ghost discloseth, in saying, because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth.  
And for the greater comfort of the Church and judgement of her enemies, concludeth, that there is a perfect courtroule kept, as well of the sufferings of the Saints, as of the slanders of their foes, so openly committed in the face of the Court, and before a judge of so clear a sight and eternal memory, as that they shall never be discharged or forgotten, the Spirit inferreth, saying, who accused them before the sight of our God day & night.   
Verse 12. 
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives even unto the death.  
LAst of all the holy Ghost discovereth the spiritual armour and weapons wherewith the Angels and servants of Michael obtained this famous victory over the Dragon and his sectaries, and saith, that they were tempered of these two divine virtues, faith and patience. For by the shield of faith, which the Spirit (by a metonymy) calleth, the blood of the Lamb, and with the sword of his two witnesses, and by the word of their testimony, they overthrew all forces and arguments drawn from reason or reading, which the Spirit observeth in these words, And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and all such arguments as were drawn from the block, as fire, sword, persecution, interdiction, and such like, the children of the Church quenched them with tears, prayers, patience and martyrdom, as their Lord had given them charge, and left them example; which the Spirit uncovereth in saying, And they loved not their lives even unto the death.   
Verse 13. 
Therefore rejoice O heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil is descended to you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a little time.  
AS after victory followeth division of spoil, so the Spirit shuts up this heavenly conquest with triumph and joy, inviting thereunto all the Saints and servants of God, which have from time to time maintained and defended the honour of his name against the Dragon, his sorcerers and sorceries. And because by their good profession and godly conversation they testified the glory of God (as do the heavens) by their obedient conversions, the Spirit crowneth them with the name of the heavens, saying, Therefore rejoice O heavens, and you that dwell in them.  
And on the other part, pronounceth woe, first to all nations and kingdoms accessary to these spiritual whoredoms of the Dragon, whom (according to their earthly mind) he most aptly resembleth to the earth; next, to the Empire itself, as the scelerum caput and stable of iniquity, whom for his fearful power and unbridled rage, the Spirit most elegantly calleth by the name of the Ocean and the sea: and concludeth his woe with a reason why, because both in one and other, the power of Satan had taken such deep root, that the more the light of the truth did bewray their madness, the more they striven and stormed against it; and so much the rather, because their sin was now at the highest; and that the kingdom of Christ did gather so fast upon them, that of necessity a mutation of their fortunes must needs follow, with a subversion not only of their Paganism, but also of their power cesarical, which the Spirit closely foldeth up in these words, Knowing that he hath but a little time; which one Apostle also observeth, 2. Thess. 2.   
Verse 14. 
And when the Dragon saw that he was thrown to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child.  
ANd when the raging Roman Empire saw that his maintenance of jupiter and his idol art of making shrines was to descend for ever, (as among many voices, some even to this day are heard to cry vengeance upon his idols, enforcing them with shame to resign their usurped titles of gods and claim of heaven to the true Lord and owner thereof) he took the course of the wicked, whose custom is (as one of their own noteth) malitia alia aliam trudere, and to add sin to sin, (as a holy one saith) to quench his 
Deut. 29.  thirst with drunkenness: for so proceeded this Beast, adding to his blindness boldness, redeeming his blasphemy with rage and persecution; and was so far from coming to himself, and taking up repentance to wash away his crying sins, that (as the Spirit concludeth) he more and more pursued the Church, & persecuted the woman which brought forth her first borne and primitive fruit, here called for their faith, their patience, and their godly valour the man child.   
Verse 15. 
And there was given unto the woman two wings of the great Eagle, that she might fly into the desert, unto her place, where she was nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the Serpent.  
But the Lord, who had so dearly bought his Shunamite, was no less careful to preserve and carry her to the place of her rest, with a strong and outstretched providence, even upon his own two wings, whose feathers were made of the truth of his promse, sealed and delivered by the hand of his two witnesses, which the Bridegroom of purpose left with his Spouse, to accompany and guide her whensoever she removeth. If she travel by day, they are her leading cloud; if by night, they are her pillar of fire: if she fly, they lend her wings; if she wander, they harbour her; if she be naked, they cover her; if in prison, they visit her; if captive, they redeem her; if she be weak, they sustain her; if blind, they lead her; if she be heavy, they comfort her; if sick, they recover her; if she doubt, they resolve her; if she err, they direct her: if she thirst, they give her to drink; and if she hunger, they feed her, and make her so strong of constitution, that afflictions are rejoicings to her, banishment a haven, dispersion a friend, loss and death advantage. And by these comforts (as by hands) they convey her to her solitude and restless place of rest, as the Spirit discovereth, saying, But there were given to the woman two wings of the great Eagle, that she might fly into the desert, unto her resting place, where ever since her primitive dispersion she hath lived strewed and scattered far and near over the face of the earth, seen and known of her Lord, by whom she is protected, and of the children of wisdom, of whom she is justified: and so doth and must remain hidden and retired into the privy chambers of God's providence and her own conscience, during the reign of Antichrist, whose cursed and arrogant supremacy was to rise out of the ashes of the Dragon's Emperioritie, as the holy Ghost prophesied.  
And thus, hiding her eminent primitive graces, must closely and silently keep the Lords watch, and stand upon her honourable guard three prophetical years and a half, here (as in Daniel) determined by a time, and times, and half a time, from the reach and rage of the Serpent, his tail and successors.   
Verse 16. 
And the Serpent cast out of his mouth, after the woman, water, as it were a flood, that he might make her to be carried away with the flood.  
ANd when the Dragon's train of Caesar's (who for their malice to the truth, and seducing the nations, are here called by the name of the ancient enemy and seducer of mankind the Serpent) saw that they could no longer havoc the Church of God, by reason of her close sight and secret dispersion, they devised to pursue her with their bloody edicts and sacrilegious constitutions, which they breathed out against her in such raging and furious manner, as the Spirit therefore resembleth the violence of their barbarous inquisitions and unprincely rescripts unto the unmerciful rage and current of a flood, hoping that as by their unplacable fury they had dispersed and driven the Spouse to corners▪ so by the due execution of their cruel promulgations they might utterly consume her generation, and blot out all letters of her honourable name; for to that white only they aimed, as the Spirit concludeth, That he might make her to be carried away of the flood.   
Verse 17. 
And the earth holp the Woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the Dragon cast out of his mouth.  
But in relief of the Church's pressures and persecutions, her Lord gave charge unto his handmaid the earth, to comfort, help and secure her his Spouse: and as Moab was charged to hide the chased Israel of God, and not bewray him that was fled and escaped, but to dwell with him, and to give him covert and protection from the face of the destroyer; so here the earth was commanded to reach forth her helping hand, and to take in and harbour the Lords exiles, in the seret chambers of her deserts, mountains and caves, that so she might either afford her close and quiet saveguard, or in witness of her faith and proof of her patience, receive the blood which her cursed brethren spilt; which courtesy and tender favour, the Spirit remembreth to the perpetual praise of the benefactors of the Spouse, saying, But the earth holp the Woman, and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the Dragon cast out of his mouth.   
Verse 18. 
And the Dragon was wroth against the Woman, and went to make battle with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of jesus Christ.  
ANd notwithstanding the Dragon by his tail of Caesar's had thus massacred and dispersed the Church, yet was he not so satisfied, but for very rage fell into a melancholy mood, for cause he could not quite consume and root her honour out, as the Spirit discloseth, saying, And the Dragon was wroth against the Woman.  
And forasmuch as the Church's beauty did most shine in the East Syria, Greece, Asia, where she was borne and bred, the Dragon thought it his best (in policy, which evermore with him was held for chiefest religion) to itch and set forward his den, and hold his Court further East; which purpose of his, as close as it was, the holy Ghost discovereth, in saying, And he went; and noteth the true end wherefore he went, not so much to barricade and stop the float and incursion of the barbarous enemy, as he (forsooth) pretended, as to pursue and consume the dispersed remainder of the Spouse, as the Spirit unfoldeth, saying, to make battle with the remnant of her seed, who for that they were just of the making and growth of the Churches first and primitive fruit, holding the mystery of faith in a good conscience, as the first borne did, the Spirit setteth them forth in the same lively colours, saying, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of jesus Christ.   
Verse 19 
And he stood upon the sand of the sea.  
ANd the Dragon removed his throne, and left his ancient seat and city of Rome, where he had now kept court almost a thousand years, and went and pitched his throne anew in a haven town, between Pontus Euxinus and Propontis in the East of Thracia, anciently called Bysance, and there erected the new city of Rome, and called it after his own name Constantinople the city of Constantine; which translation of his residence and chair of estate, one of his own also noteth:  
Constantinus apud Thrace's, qua Bosphorus aequor  
Thracius Euxinis Aegaeum ingurgitat undis, constituit sedem Imperij.    

CHAP. XIII.  
The description of Antichrist, and his devotaries.  
The description of his Clergy and of his religion.  
The Character of Antichrist.  
The number of his days, and the end of his reign.  
Verse 1. 
And I saw a Beast ascending from the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns▪ ten diadems, and upon his heads names of blasphemy.  
ANd presently upon the remove and translation of the Empire, the Apostle espied that wicked one, Antichrist, man of sin, in saying, And I saw; who in regard of the tyrannous power and bloody use of the unbridled jurisdiction that should be given him, he is here termed (as in holy Scriptures other Monarches are) A Beast, that is to say, a kind of government, kingdom, dominion or power exercised and acted by a succession of tyrannous, bloody and beastly men.  
And albeit his perfection in evil stood yet aloof, and was very fare off, young and tender, as lying in swathing clouts; yet the Apostle describeth him, as it were through a chink, in saying, coming up. For after the translation of the Empire, and that now Ethnic Rome began to play the Christian, he was well-nigh a hundred years closely creeping and climbing up, before he could advance his cursed head and claim of supereminency. Concerning which ambitious puff of vain priority, so fair and evident mention is made in the monuments of time, that the incredible boldness of the adversary is no less marvelous than his incurable blindness, that hath so long time stumbled at this stone, and so often spurred us by way of vaunting, to show them (if we dare or can) when this apostasy of Antichrist took her rise and first commencement: which daring vaunt of theirs, the holy Ghost tripping over as a thing which is or aught to be known unto us, namely, that the horn of Antichrist and his apostasy did then first sprout out, when his Church first obtained at the Dragon's hand priority of place, suffrage and censure over all. For as the tree pulls up the creeping ivy, so the primacy of the Church of Rome pulled up the aspiring supremacy of the Bishop thereof; which Church pre-eminence and prelation (after long ruffling and shouldering) was first obtained at the hands of Honorius (though afterwards upon greater concertation and daggers drawing, it was by other Caesar's and Kings confirmed, renewed and ampliated) who by the advantage of the weakness and death of his elder brother Arcadius, having obtained power and protectorship East and West, subjected the Church of the East Empire (which most withstood the West and Roman supremacy) with all other Churches whatsoever, to the Church and Sea of Rome, at the instant suit and importunity of the now Bishop of Rome, whose name was then Innocent the first, in the first year of his creation, and in the year of Redemption 406.  
But the holy Ghost (I say) passing over the punctual and exact moment of time, when the egg of Antichrist and his Apostasy was first laid, as otherwhere sufficiently preserved unto us, proceedeth to detect the place where and from whence he should arise, saying, that he saw him lift up his hardy head from the sea, meaning by the sea, as in the sixteenth of this prophecy, the surging, tumbling and raging Sea and City of Rome, where also by a like locution he calleth all kingdoms subjected to her by the name of rivers. And that this Beast should thence arise, and there (and not elsewhere) keep court and residence, the Spirit proveth by an argument drawn from the shape and proportion of the Beast, for he had the seven heads and ten horns of the Dragon, meaning that he should sit upon the Dragon's hills, and reign in and over the Dragon's city, and array himself with the spoils of the world, and hold in subjection the Kings and States on earth, as the Dragon did; for so much the Spirit intendeth in saying, having seven heads and ten horns. And lest the unwary Reader should mistake this great Antichrist for that great Dragon, or this Beast's supremacy and his pestilent succession for that Beasts supereminency and his execrable tail (as many unwarily have done,) the holy Ghost in emblazoning his coat, giveth him a most exquisite difference, in saying that he wore his diadems, not upon his heads, as the Dragon did, but upon his horns; signifying thereby that he should not come to his Crown and vainglory by the strength of his sword, his Leaders and his legions, as the Dragon did, but by the base and voluntary submission of all such Caesar's, Kings and Princes as should with one counsel and force, deliver up their authority and power secular to the devotion and pleasure of the Beast; and therefore the Spirit crowneth, not his heads, but his horns, saying, and upon his horns ten diadems. And concluding showeth (even by his head attire) how far unlike this Dragon's Highpriest of Rome was and should be to the Lords Highpriest of jerusalem, who (in stead of having his head-attire emblemished with holiness to the Lord, as had his servant Aaron) should have his head-piece beslubbered with names of blasphemy, and upon his heads names of blasphemy, whereof proof is made in the sixth verse following.   
Verse 2. 
And the Beast which I saw was like to a Leopard, and his feet as a Bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a Lion, and the Dragon gave him his own force, and his throne, and great power.  
ANd forasmuch as the Apostle foresaw that this Beast should be a far greater adversary, and a far longer persecuter of the Church of God than any of the Monarchies which did arise afore him; he shapeth him an outside answerable to his inward making, framing his parts of the most notable persecuters that ever were; as concluding him for his extraordinary wickedness the odd fellow, the total sum and very accomplishment of all other.  
And first for his presumption, in extolling himself above the Prince of the Covenant, defouling his sanctuary, desolating his sacrifice, burning his statutes, and enforcing the humble and meek to the abnegation of the truth, by blood, fire, strappadoes, and such like exquisite torments; the Spirit resembleth him to his arch-type Antiochus descended from the Monarch of Greece, here (as in Daniel) deciphered by a Leopard, And I saw the Beast like a Leopard.  
Secondly, in pride of life, in pomp and luxury, the Spirit equalleth him with the Monarch of Persia, and likeneth his arrogant and voluptuous gate to her ten Kings, here (as in Daniel) deciphered by a Bear, And his feet as of a Bear.  
Thirdly, the holy Ghost ascribeth unto him the proud, profane and cursed mouth of the Mornarch of Babylon, in commanding the dwellers on earth (upon pain of fire and furnace) to adore his golden idol, which he had dedicated with cornets, sackbuts, psalteries, dulcimers; which also the Spirit covereth (as Daniel doth) under the mask of a Lion, And his mouth as the mouth of a Lion.  
And last of all, lest happily he should be least beholding unto his Bella Nimpha, his dearest Lady and mistress of Rome, the holy Ghost saith, that the love of his Patroness the Dragon, was equal to the love of a father towards his son; for she made him heir apparent and Lord of her Empire, subiecting all things to the feet of his censure, and confirming unto him her throne and palace of Lateran, with all the demefnes and glory of Latium, as one of his own also noteth, Latiumque relinquit Christo, & Romuleam septem cum collibus urbem.   
Verse 3. 
And I saw one of his heads as it were slain to death, but the wound of his death was cured, and all the earth was in admiration after the Beast.  
ANd presently after this great Antichrist was risen, the Apostle foresaw such a wound given to one of his heads, that the Beast was in eminent danger to be stricken down again, and slain in the very egg; for so much the Spirit noteth in saying, And I saw one of his heads as it were slain to death. For the better opening of which wound, we must not only remember the Beast hath seven heads, but we must also step a little forward, and crave the assistance of the seventeenth Chapter concerning the interpetation of the seven heads, which saith, that the seven heads are seven hills, and they are also seven kings; discovering the true seat and situation of the city of Rome, where Antichrist should keep his court and residence, by the seven hills.  
And by the seven kings the seven Monarchies, which from the beginning of the world to this day have successively risen and reigned over the earth, of which seven, the Assyrian monarchy was the first, and the Roman the sixth, of both which and their pue-f●llowes, is further revealed in the seventeenth Chapter following. Mean time we are here to observe, that as the holy Ghost doth therefore call his seven heads by the name of seven hills, because the seat of Antichrist should be there, and not elsewhere placed and planted; so he nameth them also seven kings, because the power of Antichrist should be an extraordinary sovereignty, compounded of such spiritual and temporal claims and jurisdictions, as should be equivalent in presumption and profanation, to all the transgressions of the seven monarchies, which from the beginning hitherunto have blasphemed God and corrupted his world.  
This foundation laid, doth show, that this deadly wound given to one of his heads, which (as after appeareth) was the wound of a sword, cannot be meant of any one of his heads after the first signification, as they are hills, but as they are kings, and subject to the sword: and so by consequence intendeth that one of his Imperial heads, and namely his fair Adonis, his minion, lord and master of Rome, of whom he had so lately received his breath and being, was so deadly wounded, as that the Beast himself thereby was in great danger of extinction. Thus having found the head, let us look unto the wound, that so we may the better discern the great danger the Beast was in, delivered in these words, as it were slain to death. This deadly wound was given and driven home to the head, by the sword and incursion of the West Goths, under the leading of Alaricus, who in the nineteenth year of Cesar Honorius (of whom the Beast some four years before had received his life) entered Italy, and gave such a deadly stroke unto his powerful pate, that for very fear the Beast locked himself up in his den at Ravenna, while the enemy ripped up the streets of his Imperial city, filling them with famine, fire and sword; which night of woe, or rather beginning of her woeful night, made an ancient friend of hers to bewail and bind up her deadly wounded head, with an old Ballad, after the tune of the burning of Troy:  

Quis cladem illius noctis, quis funera fando explicet?  
Aut possit lachrimis aequare labores?  
Vrbs antiqua ruit multos dominata per annos.   
And having thus mortally wounded the head of the Beast (in the year of salvation 410, and 1157 years after Romulus had raised her walls with his brother's blood) proceeded to seize upon the rest of his dignities, havocking and burning his chiefest honours, Latium, Campania, Apulia, Lucania, Calabria, where raging and devising how to extermine the power of the Empire for ever, and to spread his glory over all, was by sudden death blotted out, leaving his purpose and his army royal to his wife's brother Ataulphus, who in like raging haste and fury returned to Rome, with an obstinate intent and resolution to obliterate the ancient name of Rome for ever, and to call her (in honour of his people) Gothia, or after his own name Ataulpha; which counsel and purpose of his, had it been effected, sir Antichrist with all his primacies and supremacies had bid us good night long ago; and all his gainful interludes of fides vestra, and ne deficiat fides tua, and pasce oves, and tibi dabo claves, and quorum remiseritis, with all his pestilent painted train of succession, had been dashed in repeating, before ever they had come on stage. But to the end this recovery might be the plague-sore of the earth, his deadly wound was healed, as the Spirit saith, but the wound of his death was cured. For by the pleasing prayers and subtle intercessions of the Emperor's sister Placidia, whose beauty and body was espoused to Ataulphus, for such a time his fury was averted, and his design dissolved, and himself not only content at her amorous mediation to grant the city of Rome pardon for her name, but also to leave her eclipsed and dying honour, with all her Italy, to her stupefied Honorius, who for fear was crept into his earth at Ravenna; and taking his spouse Placidia with such dower as himself listed, departed Italy, and pitched his tabernacle in France, than one of the chiefest provinces of the West Empire. And to this plaster the Spirit pointeth, in saying, but the wound of his death was cured.  
And the holy Ghost foreseeing the greatness of the Beasts power to come, which was yet but like unto his sin; and how that Satan his creator, who had form him after the image and perfection of his own wickedness, should afford him such letters commendatory to all the world, which naturally loveth wicked inventions, that the primacy of his Church and supremacy of his person should overspread all, and obtain the praise of the earth; concludeth of him in this manner, And all the earth was in admiration of the Beast.   
Verse 4 
And they adored the Dragon which gave power to the Beast; and they adored the Beast, saying, Who is like unto the Beast, or who may war with him.  
ANd the children of misbelief ascribed to the Dragon inhibited honours, decking his heathenish Christendom with names of holy and most holy titles, due to God alone; and they adored his execrable inventions & doctrines of devils, worshipping and divifying his uncircumcised train of Caesar's, who had granted unto Antichrist such power incomparable and uncontrollable jurisdiction, which the Spirit anatomiseth in these words, And they adored the Dragon which gave power to the Beast.  
And as in evil there is no mean, so these children of unbelief went on, and bestowed like titles and magnifications upon this base and vile Antichrist, who as the Prophet long ago foretold us, by 
Dan, 8.  policy should prosper, and by peace destroy many, and strike his adorers with such a spiritual drunkenness, that they should not only hang their gold, but their faith also upon him, and verily believe that this vile and despicable Antichrist, Delegate to Romulus, and Deputy to Cesar, was Vicar to the Lamb, and Successor to Peter. And thus rejoicing over the error of their own fantasy, should with Pygmalion admire and dote upon the idol of their own carving, and falling down should adore and cry with that drunken King, Great art thou, O Bel, and in thee is no deceit: which occasioneth the Spirit (in detestation of their madness) to disclose their shame, saying, And they adored the Beast, and said, Who is like unto the Beast, or who may war with him?   
Verse 5. 
And there was given to it a mouth, speaking great things and blasphemies, and power was given to it to work forty two month.  
ANd as the Dragon did bequeath unto Antichrist his throne and his power in so large and ample manner, that his priestly key was in cutting and killing, so like the Dragon's sword, that he that is wise may easily perceive one craftsman made them both: so Satan the master and seducer of them both, endowed his Antichrist with mouth and lips so like his own, that whoso hears him open, may truly say, quam similes habent labra lactucas, like lips like lettuce; at which the Spirit pointeth, in saying, And there was given to it a mouth; and proveth it by an argument drawn from the fruit of his lips, speaking great things and blasphemies. Whereof the Prophet Daniel 
Dan. 7.  also inditeth him, foretelling that he should open his execrable mouth, and speak words against the most High; of which presumptuous magniloquence the holy Ghost arraigneth him more particularly in the verse following.  
And the Prophet also further reporteth, that times and laws and great power 
Dan. 7.  should be given into his hand, for a time and times, and the dividing of a time; butting and bounding his tyrannous reign and government within the selfsame circle and period, as here the Spirit doth, by another like prophetical construction, saying, And power was given unto it to work forty two months.   
Verse 6. 
And he opened his mouth unto blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and tabernacle, and those which dwell in heaven.  
IN discovering the blasphemous mouth of Antichrist, the holy Ghost doth first and principally challenge him for presuming to lay hand upon his divine and spiritual sword, and to wear the name and title of Vicar to the Lamb, which title, name and honour is only due to the Spirit of the Lamb, the only moderator, comforter and commander of all the Lambs affairs and forces in heaven and in earth: and of this principal blasphemy the Apostle condemneth him, in saying, And he opened his mouth unto blasphemy against God.  
Next, the Lord challengeth him for presuming to blaspheme the word of God, superaduancing his whorish church above the divine eternal testimony, in and by which the Son of God is named and known; which contumely offered to his most holy word, the Lord accounteth as done to himself and his most holy name; for so the holy Ghost speaking of that Lord that is faithful and true, who with justice judgeth and fighteth, saith, that he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood, and his name is called, The Word of God. The portraiture of which divine and essential Word, is the engraven Scripture of his most holy and written word, and of this blasphemy the Spirit inditeth him in these words, to blaspheme his name. Less marvel than if like a raging flood, down bearing all before him, and overflowing all banks of obedience towards God, he dare extol his cursed head above all that is called or named God, that is to say, all magistracy, authority and power secular, which by Gods own ordinance & commandment, is the only true, lively and immediate representation of his own person, justice and government here on earth, in and over all temporal causes and persons, as well Ecclesiastical as civil, of which high treason one Apostle also convinceth him, 2. Thess. 2.  
No marvel then, if thus daring to blaspheme the Lord of the house and his anointed Deputies, he dare blaspheme the house of God, wherein his name is honoured, cursing, reviling and reputing it a house of schismatics, heretics, excommunincates; which blasphemous and undeserved wrong, the holy Ghost layeth to his charge, in these words, and his tabernacle.  
And last of all, to show that there is neither end nor measure in his black, presumptuous and blasphemous mouth, the Spirit further chargeth him with blaspheming the Saints and servants of God deceased, cursing, reviling and condemning their doctrine, and yet blessing, adoring & erecting their shadows, sepulchres and shrines, for mediators, intercessors and reconciliators between God and the sinner; like their cursed foreelders the Israelites, who boasted in the descent of their father Abraham, and yet blasphemed the faith of Abraham their father, of which blasphemous and indicible contumely against the Son of God and his most holy Spirit, the Apostle condemneth him, saying, And those that dwell in heaven.   
Verse 7. 
And it was given unto him to make battle with the Saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him upon every people, tribe, tongue, and nation.  
ANd as after lightning followeth thunder, so after Antichrists blasphemy followeth his persecution, as the Spirit testifieth, saying, And it was given him to bid battle to the Saints; which the Prophet Daniel by way of exposition also plainly setteth forth, saying, that he should murder and consume the Saints and servants of the most high.  
And in further amplification of this his carnificious fury, the Spirit setteth forth the largeness of his charter and commission, by an excessive locution, foretelling us that it should be so large and general, that the fire of his profane and sycophantical keys should take hold upon every nation and tribe; as if we please to cast an eye upon the times past, and confer what he had, with what he hath, we shall easily discern the meaning of the holy Ghost in these words, And power was given him upon every Tribe, people, tongue and nation.   
Verse 8. 
And all that inhabit the earth adored it, whose names be not written in the book of life, of the Lamb which was slain from the beginning of the world.  
THe holy Ghost having in the former part of this Chapter discovered the birth, place, person, power, blasphemy and persecution of Antichrist, descendeth now to the description of his creatures and devotaries, foretelling us that they should be such only (for unto such only the particle all is here restrained) as have their portion and interest in this life, whose piety, heaven, hope and glory is here, and not elsewhere; which kind of out and overcast Christians, the Spirit describeth by a periphrasis most proper to their natural and inbred disposition, saying, they are those that inhabit the earth; therein discovering them as by a difference divisive from such as are the Lords pilgrims and strangers on earth, having here no permanent abode or place of rest, but seeking the things which are above, attend with patience the revelation of a life and city to come, not made with hands, where their Lord and their Redeemer liveth.  
And the Spirit proceeding showeth further, the supreme, hidden and unperceivable reason why the adorers of Antichrist thus defiled the ornaments of their calling, and why they loved lies more than truth, the Beasts penance more than God's repentance, the Beasts belief more than faith towards God; the Beasts miserable merits more than the fruits of the Spirit, hatred of sin and love of God, because (as holy David saith) they were not found in the Lords record, nor written with the righteous: for so much the Spirit unfoldeth, saying, whose names be not written in the book of life, of the Lamb which was slain from the beginning of the world.   
Verse 9 
If any man have an ear, let him hear.  
THe Apostle having sufficiently deciphered the nature and carriage of Antichrist and his creatures, cometh now to discover his reward and judgement, which howsoever it tarry little or long, is of necessity the reward of sin. But before the Spirit draweth out his sword, it pleaseth him in his accustomed mercy to awake his Church and her enemies, and to move them to a fear and reverend attention, by a general summons, proclaiming, If any man have an care, let him hear.   
Verse 10. 
He that shall lead into captivity, goeth into captivity; and he that shall kill with the sword, must be killed with the sword: here is the patience and the faith of the Saints.  
THe holy Ghost in this verse calleth Antichrist to the Bar, and sets him before the world, for the very he, on whom the wrath of God and his heavy displeasure is to be executed. For he, who under colour and pretence of weeding out and rooting up of heretics, hath brought into the Church captivity, inquisitions, tortures and torments, to the horrible murder and slaughter of the Saints, when in such cases (notwithstanding) he had neither precept nor example in the life of the Lamb or his Apostles so to do; he, even he, saith the Lord, is that party, against whom this just judgement of taliation is laid up in store to be executed upon him in that day, when the Lord shall bring again the captivity of his Church, which for their sins he hath given up to the sword and fury of the Beast, until she have borne the burden of her shame, and (as the 
Ezek. 39  Prophet saith) renewed her beauty by her sorrows, and her glory by her persecutions; and then shall be fulfilled that which was spoken by the Prophet, Woe to thee that spoiledst, and wast not spoiled; and didst deal wickedly, when they did not 
Esa. 33.  wickedly against thee: for when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; and when thy sin is ended, thou shalt be rewarded; as here also the Spirit denounceth, contesting that God shall scourge him with his own inventions, & repay him home in his own coin, saying, He that shall lead into captivity, shall go into captivity; and he that shall kill, shall be killed.  
And in consolation of the Spouse, concludeth, that howsoever Antichrist and his Delegates foolishly thought, by afflicting the Church, to destroy the Church, yet in her afflictions consisteth the very strength and approbation of her children; for by the things they suffer, they learn obedience, & through patience their faith is consecrated, by the which they are perfected and made inheritable of the promise of God: all which mercy and favour is commended unto them under the hand and seal of afflictions, by which their mad and drunken adversaries thought to consume them, and like fools did not consider that as the workman doth square the stone by strokes, and as the snake doth cast his old skin by passing through sharp stones, so the Lord doth renew his Spouse by stripes, and brusheth off her old affections by passing her through the asperity of tribulation; which holy and hidden consideration, causeth the Spirit to honour the sufferings of the Saints so highly, as to ascribe unto them the chiefest stays and supportations of their precious hope and calling, namely, patience and faith, saying, here is the patience and faith of the Saints.   
Verse 11. 
And I saw another Beast coming up from the earth, and he had two horns like the Lamb, but he spoke like the Dragon.  
THe holy Ghost in the verse foregoing, having pronounced sentence of death against Antichrist, before he comes to the execution thereof, descendeth to the arraignment and condemnation of his Clergy, that so they may be carted to the valley of Hinnom both together, whom the Lord here figureth under the name of the Beast, saying, And I saw another Beast; comprehending under the singular number of one Beast, by a manner of speech common to the holy Scriptures, the whole corporation and university of false and lying teachers, who from the first Eremite, Hypocrite, Father, Priest, Monk, Friar, to the last trumping and vagabond jesuite, have avouched the honour and adoration of Antichrist. And is most aptly deciphered by their earthly, sensual, and devilish minds, in pointing to their country and place of extraction, whence and where such weeds do grow, saying, coming up from the earth. And commendeth their making and acquaintance to us, by two exquisite tokens, the one their person, the other their doctrine. Touching their shape and person, the Spirit saith, that it was in robe and exterior appearance the very face and countenance of the Lamb, decked and garnished with his own two horns, to wit, the Law and the Gospel, wherewith 〈…〉 he Lamb doth save and kill; for so the Spirit saith, And he had two horns like the Lamb.  
But as concerning the use and force of the horns, the Spirit saith, they were therein so contrary to the Lamb, that when they did open, either to teach the Law or preach the Gospel, they spoke and taught like the Dragon's Doctors, and like the Priests of jupiter, teaching and preaching unto the children of the world, that they ought to worship the God of heaven, as the Dragon's Priests had taught their fathers to worship the gods of the heathen. Which detestable profanation of the worship of God, and preposterous adoration of his name, the Spirit detecteth, in saying, but he spoke like the Dragon.   
Verse 12. 
And all the power of the first Beast he did in his sight, and he made the earth and the inhabitants therein to adore the first Beast, whose wound of death was cured.  
BY the power of the first Beast, is meant the purpose and plot of the Dragon for the upholding and establishment of their false and godless religion, to the profanation and extinction of the true worship and service of God; which forasmuch as he could not effect by force and open enmity, I mean by the bloody persecutions of his profane and Ethnic Caesar's, he did device to put a new string to his old bow, and to work it out by fraud and falsehood of friends, and thereupon persuaded his Ethnic Caesar's, that in policy it was the best to play Christians, forasmuch as the world was now so given, as jupiter with all his idols must needs give place to Christ, because most voices went that way.  
And the better to bring the mystery of iniquity to pass, he caused his new Christened Caesar's to set up a race of Sycophanticall, high and princely Priests, who under colour of proctering the affairs of the Lamb, should cunningly clap jupiters' coat upon the Lambs back, and bestow all the ceremonies and rituals of jupiter and his idols upon Christ; that so by turning jupiters' worship into Christianisme, he might turn the worship of God into Paganism and idolatry, and that so he might at the least profane and desolate the true worship of the true God, whose majesty & truth of deity they could no way blemish.  
And for the better success in this their project, should cause to be erected throughout all kingdoms and nations, certain Covents and swarms of false,  and prostituted Clerks, who by avouching and maintaining against all comers, that Antichrists name is Simon Peter; and that the supremacy his Caesar's and his Kings gave him, is the very keys of heaven and hell, which the Lamb committed to the dispensation of his Saints and servants; and that the throne and seat of wickedness, is Peter's Chair and Sea Apostolic; and that the execrable form of jupiters' worship, wherein his Lords and Caesar's delighted, is the very true worship and service of God, which the Lamb and his Apostles delivered.  
And by these mists, legerdemains, and new editions of old idolatry, should establish in the sight of Antichrist, the self same profanation and devout impiety which his antecessors the Caesar's so ardently embraced; for so much the Spirit rippeth up, in saying, And all the power of the first Beast he did in the sight of Antichrist: and thereby so strongly deluded and seduced the children of disobedience (most properly here, as elsewhere, described by the name of the earth and the inhabitants therein) that they loathed the sacrifices of the God of heaven, and refused to worship as the Lord commanded, & chose rather (as the Spirit saith) to adore the first Beast, that is to say, to worship the god of their fathers, as the Dragon commanded them, just after the prescription of his Caesar's and manner of the heathen.  
And that we may the better discern from whom those Proctors of Don Antichrist borrowed this their abominable church-service, the Spirit remembreth the repaired wound of their master's creditors pate, mentioned in the third verse, whose wound of death was cured.   
Verse 13. 
And he did many signs, so that he made fire to come down from heaven to the earth, in the sight of men.  
THe holy Ghost having arraigned and condemned the Clergy of Antichrist touching their doctrine, proceedeth further to detect their abomination and forgery, in seeking to confirm their false doctrine by lying signs and works of wonder; condemning therein first their vanity; secondly their presumption. For as nothing can be more vain and , then to seek by lying signs and wonders to confirm the doctrine of the Lamb and his servants, which is all sufficiently established by their own magnificent and divine miracles, unto which the Church of God upon her allegiance is enjoined to subscribe: so nothing can be more presumptuous and wicked, then to attempt by signs and wonders the confirmation of any other doctrine then that which the Lamb and his two witnesses have sealed and delivered unto us, according to the statute of God, Deut. 13.  
And though their signs were many, as the Spirit reporteth, saying, And he did many signs; yet were they but forgeries and lies, not wrought in truth & dignity, but in falsehood & fallacy, as our Lord himself and his servant Paul foretold us, Mat. 24. 2. Thess. 2. In which regard the holy Ghost squaring the miracles of these exorcists after the rule of their doctrine, which was in show the Lambs, but in truth the devils; calleth also their lying signs, heavenly fires, saying, so that he made fire to come down from heaven to the earth, in the sight of men: not that they were in deed and in truth so, but that they seemed so to be in the eyes of men, because they were wrought by these vagabond exorcists, under a pretended and colourable imitation of the name of the Lord jesus, who of all heavenly powers and fires is the true Lord and sovereign commander; that so these Clerks of Antichrist might be suitable in their wickedness, that as their doctrine was opposite to the truth of Christ, so their wonders might contrary the power of Christ, by a colourable imitation of the miracles of Christ, and might be a true and perfect depravation of the same.   
Verse 14. 
And he seduced the inhabitants on the earth, through the signs which were given him to do in the sight of the Beast, saying unto them that dwell on the earth, that they should make the image of the Beast which had the stroke of the sword and liveth.  
ANd the Spirit further disclosing the happy success of these unhappy brokers and slaves of Antichrist touching their mists and miracles, foretelleth us, that as the first Elias by the miracles of heavenly fire did induce and draw the good unto the fear of God, so these impostors of Antichrist, by the lure of their false and lying fires, should seduce and draw all dunghill and earthly minded men from the fear of God, in such sure and devoted sort, as that they should persuade them to make the picture and image of the Beasts religion, and to embrace and erect such a Christianisme, as should in all points counterfeit and represent the Paganism of the Dragon, attiring and decking jupiters' profanation with the holy and honourable names of God, jesus, Spirit, Scriptures, Church, Sacraments, Saints, etc. like excellent Comedians who deck themselves with Crowns, Sceptres, purples, and representations of Kings, whenas indeed they are the basest of the people. And as the Lord commanded his servant Moses to erect such a Tabernacle of witness here on earth, as should be in all points after the Idea, model and platform of that divine and eternal Tabernacle which he saw in the mount: so Antichrist (Lord of misrule) commanded his propudious Clergy to cause all people, nations and kingdoms to set up such a Christianity as should in all points answer the Idea, model and platform of that profane and execrable heathenism wherewith he saw the Gentiles enamoured; and hereby so strongly seduced the inhabitants on earth, that they verily thought the mystery of Iniquity to be pure and undefiled Christianity; and that the abomination of desolation, forespoken by Daniel the Prophet, is the only true, ancient, Catholic and Apostolic religion; teaching them that perish by consenting unto lies, that they ought to worship God as the Gentiles did worship jupiter; persuading them that as the Gentiles had their Arae, so Christians must have their Altars; and as the heathen had their bloody sacrifices, so Christians must have their unbloody sacrifices, and offer bread and wine to God, as the heathen did to Ceres and Bacchus; and as the Pagans had their Poutifex maximus, so Christians must have their Pope; and as Ethnics had their Sacerdotes, so must Christians have their Priests; and as the Gentiles had their gods and goddesses, so must Christians have their he Saints and she Saints; and as the Dragon had his Pantheon, so Antichrist must have his All Saints; and as the heathen had their idols, so Christians must have their images; and as the Pagans did consecrate their Temples to Idols, so Christians must dedicate their Churches to Saints; and as the Ethnics had their supplications, so Christians must have their processions; and as the Gentiles had their lustrations, so Christians must have their holy water; and as the Dragon in his church-service had his Cerei, so Antichrist in his church-service must have candles; and as the Dragon had his Acerra or Thuribles, so Antichrist must have his Censors; and as the Dragon had his Novendiall sacrifices, so must Antichrist have his Masses of Requiem; and as the Dragon had his Hecatombs, so Antichrist must have his Trentals; and as the Dragon had his Colleges Sodalium and Arvalium fratran, so must Antichrist have his Cloisters of Monks and Friars; and as the Dragon had his Vestals, so Antichrist must have his Nuns and Sanctimonials; and as the Dragon did celebrate the birth days of his Caesar's, so Antichrist must solemnize the nativity of his Saints; and as the Dragon had his Annals, so must Antichrist have his Legends; and as the Dragon had his secular Spectacles, so Antichrist must have his jubilees; and as the Dragon had his Bacchanals, so Antichrist must have his Carnivals'; and as the Dragon had his Lupanaries, so must Antichrist have his Stews; and as the Dragon had his enchanters, so Antichrist must have his exorcists; and as the Dragon had his Asyla, so Antichrist must have his Sanctuaries; and as the Dragon had his Exequys and Parentals, so Antichrist must have his Diriges and his de profundis; and as the Dragon had his comitia centariata, so Antichrist must have his Counsels ecumenical; and as the Beast had his comitia curiata, so Antichrist must have his Counsels provincial; and as the Dragon did divifie his Caesar's, so must Antichrist canonize his Saints; and as the Dragon enacted civil laws, so Antichrist must enact Canon laws; and as the Dragon had his Imperial rescripts, so Antichrist must have his Decretal Epistles; and as the Dragon had his Tribunitial intercessions, so Antichrist must have his uncontrollable interdictions; and as the Dragon had and used his prescriptions, so Antichrist must have and use his excommunications; and as that Beast commanded his heathen to please their goddess juno with cane vota libens, so this Beast commanded Christians to please their God with vows; and as the Dragon had his Triceps Hecate, so Antichrist must have his triple tiara, to signify his triple pretended jurisdiction; and as the Dragon had his Hexaphoron, so must Antichrist be carried up & down; briefly, as the Dragon's priests did teach the heathen to worship jupiter as God, so Antichrists Clergy must teach their Christians to worship God as jupiter; and look what form of religion, what manner of life the Dragon led, the same must Antichrist in his person parallel & maintain.  
And to the end we may undoubtedly discern what and of whose image the Apostle speaketh, the Spirit remembreth now the third time his recured wound, which▪ here speaking more plainly out, he calleth the stroke of a sword; not that it was the only stroke, (for many swords did pierce the Dragon, as his had pierced many,) but the first stroke of a sword, which from the beginning and rising of the Dragon's Empire and regiment by Caesar's, did remeasure the fury of the sword upon his own head & chair of state, as the Spirit noteth, saying, Which had the stroke of the sword, and liveth.   
Verse 15. 
And it was given to him to give spirit to the image of the Beast, and that the image of the Beast should speak, and should make that whosoever honoured not the image of the Beast, be slain.  
ANd such art and persuasible power was given to those enchanters and apostates of Antichrist, that they infused such a quickening spirit, such a life, giving animation into the Ethnic dead and desolate image of the Dragon's religion, by gilding it over with the reverend, divine and honourable names of God omnipotent, Christ jesus the righteous, his holy Spirit, his precious blood, his sacred word, his blessed Sacraments, etc. that they easily persuaded the blear-eyd world to think and believe, that the execrable form and image of jupiters' abomination, commanded by the Dragon and his Caesar's, was the very true worship and service of God, commanded by the Lamb and his servants; and that the picture of jupiter Olympus which their Lord Epiphanes had set up and placed in Sanctum sanctorum, was the very Ark and propitiatory of God, set up and erected by Moses his servant; and their abominable mystical Mass, the sacrifice of an unbloody Messiah, made of bread of their own baking (which their fathers the Patriarches, Prophets and Apostles never heard nor dreamt of) is a sacrifice not Eucharistical but propitiatory, and so all-sufficient for the atonement and reconciliation of God unto the sinner, as if it were figured and sealed in the precious blood of the Lord of the covenant; and that the horrible profane and detestable supper of Thyestes, is the very true, holy and comfortable commemoration of the Lords love in giving his life for the children of the Church, and their thankful communion and celebration of the same.  
And by these and such like enchantments, these Proctors of Antichrist so baffled and blinded the Princes and Protectors of their synagogues, that they inzealed them to authorise and erect inquisitions, executions and torments against all such as refuse to honour and adore the idol-service and desolation of their Antiochus; and that all such as do but mutter against the magnificence of their Church and her worship, which all the world adoreth, should be accounted as infoelix Lolium, weeds, Lollards, heretics, excommunicates, and sons of death, to the admirable confirmation of the Spirits prediction in this place, saying, that it was given to him to give such spirit to the image of the Beast, that the image of the Beast should speak and make that whosoever honoured not the image of the Beast, be slain.   
Verse 16. 
And he should make all, little and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to have a character in their right hand or on their foreheads.  
ANd the power of these prostibulous Clerks was so catholic and universal, that they caused all kingdoms and nations (figured here by a numeration of their estates, conditions and callings, little, great, rich, poor, bond, free,) to confederate and unite themselves by a resolute and determinate purpose of believing and living after the laws and prescriptions of Antichrist; which league of voluntary and resolute subjection, the Spirit calleth the character of the Beast: for as unity and love in truth, and a resolved purpose to live after the commandments of God, is the character and cognisance of the Lamb; so unity, conspiration and banding against the truth, with resolution to live after the traditions of Antichrist, is the crest and character of the Beast. Which profession of obedience was so studiously embraced, and with such joy received of all the clients and creatures of Antichrist, that the Spirit saith, they did no less pride themselves in their errors and abominations, then in the wearing of their bracelets & habiliments, delivering it in manner of speech usual with holy Scripture, when it intendeth to express an ardent and hearty affection approved both by word and action, by practice and profession, as Deut. 6. 8. and 11. 18. where the holy Ghost useth the selfsame phrase, in their right hand or on their foreheads.   
Verse 17. 
And that no man may buy or sell but he that hath the Character or the name of the Beast, or the number of his name.  
ANd in further proof that Antichrist and his apostatical Clergy should drive the nail of their impiety home to the very head, the Spirit saith, that by them and means of their authority, it should be enacted, that none should trade or live (for so much the inhibition of buying and selling doth infer) but such as acknowledge and adore the prerogative royal, religion and discipline of the Beast and his holy Catholic Church (for so by a figurative kind of blasphemy she must be called) as is confirmed by Antichrist himself, than named Martin the fift, in his Bull directed to the Inquisitors of heretical pravity (for so it pleaseth him to term the profession of the truth) nec domicilia habeant, nec larem foveant, nec contractus ineant, nec negotiationes & mercatur as exerceant, nec humanitatis solatia cum Christi fidelibus habeant, etc. All which their domineering, rage or madness, the holy Ghost by way of prevision most admirably epitomizeth in these words, And that no man may buy or sell, (no one excepted out of the King of Babylon's decree) save those only that carry his signing & fleshmark in their hands or hearts, as beasts do in their fells, meaning such as under or above board, privately or in public, are obstinately & resolutely devoted to live and die as the Beast commandeth; which the Spirit unfoldeth in saying, but he that hath the character, or are otherwise allied as it were by way of cognomination unto Antichrist or his Church Catholic, and are hereafter cleped Papists or Catholics, revealed in these words, or the name of the Beast; or last of all are found to adore within the very verge or lists of his reign and Empire Pontificial, here butted and bounded within the circle and comprehension of these words, or the number of his name, of which more at large in the verse following.   
Verse 18. 
Here is wisdom; he that hath understanding, let him count the number of the Beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred sixty six.  
THe holy Ghost intending to reveal in this verse the secret counsel and purpose of God concerning the period and final end of Antichrist and his Church-dominion, prepareth his Reader to attention by a little short preface, intimating that it is the discovery of a mystery and point of high understanding, saying, here is wisdom; wherein lest we should over-rashly judge (as many have done) the Spirit maketh choice of his auditors, and addeth for a bar, not he that will, but he that can and hath understanding, let him audite and count the number of the Beast; He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the Beast; whom l●st we should imagine to be a spirit or other creature of strange shape (as some have vainly phantased) the Spirit calleth him a man, saying, for it is the number of a man, comprehending by a Synecdoche under the word man, a successive state and kingdom of men, after the speaking and style of the Prophets: for so the Lord informed his servant Moses to speak, Let my son go, 
Exod. 4.  that is, let my people of Israel departed; and so in Daniel, under the form and 
Dan. 7.  name of four singular Beasts, are designed four several Monarchies, most of 
Dan. 8.  them containing a long succession of many Monarches, The Ram which thou sawest are the Kings of the Medes and Persians: after which manner of speaking, the Spirit speaketh also in this place, and under the name of a man presenteth unto us the whole race and succession of men of sin, whose total sum is one Antichrist, the bounds and limits of whose dominion and tyranny, the holy Ghost impaleth within the circuit of a certain sure prefixed period and determinate number of years, saying, and the number of him is six hundred sixty six. Wherein many, as well ancient as late writers (as in the rest) they have vainly imagined, that Antichrist is one singular person, which must suddenly start up, and after three civil years and a half depart again; and that he must be by birth a jew, and of the Tribe of Dan, when notwithstanding those cursed scatterbags have neither Tribe nor shadow of Tribe left amongst them; and that he must reign in jerusalem, of which City and Temple, there is not any one stone left upon another; and that he must kill Enoch and Elias, who are to appear about the Kalends of Greece; with diverse other such legendary fantasies, never meant nor sent from God: so in this point also concerning the number of Antichrist, they have given up an account so fare from the audite of truth, as nothing can be more. And as men that thought it worth the labour to find a knot in a rush, so by a conceited framing and anagramming of letters, they have endeavoured to find out such a name as by characters might express the number 666; and withal might something square either with the name, nature, blasphemy, or residence of the Bishops of Rome, as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Remiith Adonikam, filius perditionis, etc. whereunto also may be added the conjectures of john Wickliff●, john Bale, Francis junius, men otherwise of good and worthy memory in the Church of God; as also the conjectures of others as worthy and honourable as they, that have referred the number of 666 to the time of Antichrists revealing and year of rising, when notwithstanding it is a strange voice, and not known to the ears of the Scriptures, for the word number to be used for the beginning and rising of any term of time limited and predicted by the Prophets, but only for the end, period, and determination thereof.  
But if it were lawful to smile in so grave an inquisition, amongst all fantastical charms and cabalistical conjectures upon this word number, there is none more ridiculous than that which most pleaseth out Rhetorical Rhemists, who by a rare supputation of characters, have as roundly found out the Beasts number, as the Sodomites did the doors of Lot, in the name Luderus, which in the Almain tongue is the name of Luther: and although we are sure, they cannot so much as think upon the poor Friar Luther, but for very fear they stink all the world over; yet this device so tickleth the Clergy of Antichrist, that they pretend to laugh for joy. But as for their prefixed time of three natural or civil years and a half (which they allot to the reign and rage of their Antichrist) it doth so unevenly square with Luther or Lutherans continuance, that these miserable Serdonians are fain to eat their word, and to endure the foolish world to laugh at them, whiles as dying they fain would seem to laugh at it. But to leave these cursed leaders of the cursed blind, and return again to those that have thought to calculate & find out the mystery of Antichrists number 666, in a word, we say, they are deceived and err, not knowing the power and construction of the Scripture. For first, by the word name, delivered in the former verse, in these words, or the number of his name, is meant the very existence and person of the man of sin, by a propriety of speech common to holy Scriptures, as Acts 1. 15. Apoc. 3. 4. and 11. 13. where (by an Hebraisme) names signify men, and are converted with the parties and persons themselves, as the name of God in holy Scripture is often taken for God himself: and therefore as in the former verse the Scripture calleth it the number of his name, so in this verse he calleth it the number of a man, understanding by a man (as is afore said) the total sum of that succession of beastly men, which make and constitute the existence and person of one Antichrist: and by the word number, is meant the fatal end and final determination of their reign and government; for so the finger of God speaketh to Baltazar, God hath numbered thy kingdom, that is, God hath ended and finished the days of thy kingdom: so that the number of his name, or the number of the man, is nothing else but the period and final determination of the usurped tyranny and domination of Antichrist; which the Lamb the Lord and preserver of Israel, for the glory of his name, consolation of his Church, and confusion of her foes, with a mighty and outstretched arm shall bring to pass in the year which shall be 666.  
Forasmuch as the egg of Antichristianisme was laid in the days of Innocent the first, successor to Anastasius the first also of that name, in the year of salvation 406, as is before declared; and that by express commission there was furthermore granted to the Beast, his heirs and successors 1260 years, for the hatching, fostering and perfecting this child of perdition and mystery of iniquity, which being added to 406, by rule of true audite must needs verify this admirable judgement, which the Spirit of God hath here denounced and determined to make good upon him in the year which shall be 1666. In which account and discovery of his end, the holy Ghost of purpose leaveth out the millenary number, as not only known perfect and immutable (for that these vile and evil days shall not exceed more thousands then one) but as respecting also the common use of all nations, as well Hebrews as Gentiles, who in their styles (for brevity sake) do no less often speak 
Vide Calendarium He●raieum Sebastianl Munsteri.  and write by the imperfect number, omitting the millenary, then after the perfect adding the millenary, as Munster well observeth. And in that year my Lord of Rome shall lay down his proud waves; and although he fortify never so strong, and lay his foundation as low as hell, and build his turrets as high as heaven, and place his Mitre above the stars, yet in that day he shall die the death of the uncircumcised, and perish like the Amorite, whose fruit is destroyed from above, and root from beneath; and the multitude of his offences shall consume the multitude of his forces; and it shall be more possible for him and easy unto him to weigh the fire, or measure the wind, or call again the day that is past, or recover the verdure of the withered grass, (as a holy one saith) then to avoid this counsel and decree of his downfall here determined by the Spirit against him, saying, and the number of him is 666. And then all kingdoms and people shall see the eternity of that eternal city (as one of her own calleth it) and the immortality of her soul, meaning the sovereign power and supremacy of her Caesar's and high Priests, to whither, die, and forsake the earth for ever: and as Babylon her mother left unto her the inheritance of her pride and profanations, so shall she also leave unto her the heritage of her death and judgements: for as her glory hath been great, so shall her dishonour, when all her excellency shall be translated into shame and sorrow.  
Now therefore as King Baltasher cried aloud when he saw the hand-writing against him, that they should bring the Chaldeans, Astrologians and Enchanters to read and interpret; so thou that once and long before our days hast been deemed by laws of all nations a power so sovereign & holy, call now about thee thy Council and thy Clergy (who call themselves Good men, learned and wise, whose only grace is to love antiquity, gravity, wisdom and constancy,) call them I say, cloth them with purple and chain them with gold, yet shall they not deliver thee from this judgement to come; but as the millstone which the mighty Angel took and cast into the sea, which may not rise and float again, with such violence thou and thy Church in that hour shall be thrown down, and shall be found no more. And all such Kings on earth, or rather Kings of earth, whose love thou hast stolen, to the loss of their souls, that have lived in drunkenness, delights and wantonness with thee, shall weep and wail for thee (as for their first borne) when they shall see the smoke of thy torments ascend, and the apples which thy soul lusted after, to departed from thee, and no man to buy thy trasn and commodities any more; for that God which judgeth thee is a strong Lord, and thy derision shall be the joy and Alleluia of Zion.  
But her fair and halcyon day may not long endure, before the Lord (that with justice judgeth and fighteth) shall come in the clouds of heaven, to render unto every man according to the ways wherein his heart hath walked, as more directly is revealed in the 20 Chapter following. But as concerning the day & hour of the coming of that Lord, who for the glory of his name shall bring these things to pass, it is fast sealed up in the treasury of God, far beyond the aim of all his servants in earth, or Angels in heaven; and yet his beloved servant Daniel is bold in spirit, and layeth down the year to be the five and fortith year (according to his Caldaicall supputation) after the consumption and extermination of Antichrist, that it may be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophet, Verily the Lord of hosts will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the Prophets. 
Amos 3.    
FINIS.