THE JUDGEMENTS of GOD UPON THE Roman-Catholick Church, FROM It's first Rigid Laws for Universal Conformity to it, unto its last End. WITH A Prospect of these near approaching Revolutions, VIZ. The Revival of the Protestant Profession in an Eminent Kingdom, where it was totally suppressed. The last end of all Turkish Hostilities. The general Mortification of the Power of the Roman Church in all Parts of its Dominions. In Explication of the TRUMPETS and VIALS of the Apocalypse, UPON Principles generally acknowledged by Protestant Interpreters. By DRUE CRESSENER, D. D. LONDON, Printed for Richard Chiswell, at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard, MDCLXXXIX. TO THE KING. SIR, PROPHECIES concerning public Events near at hand, were used to be first communicated to the Prince, who was to have the first hand in their Accomplishment. This gives Your Majesty a Right to the Dedication of the Interpretations, which I here present. They come to bring You a Prospect of a speedy Revival of the Reformation where it has been extinguished, which is from thence to go on continually advancing upon the Ruins of the Roman Church to her last end. And than Your Majesty's peaceable Triumphs here must be concluded to be the immediate Hand of God out of the Cloud for the first opening of that Glorious Scene. SIR, The first discovery in this kind came from a worthy Man than under Your Protection; And this gave You an antecedent Claim to all the accessary improvements of it. His Attempt for want of a distinct settlement of the first grounds of it had the ill fortune in these parts to be received but as his Conjecture. The importance of the thing did thereupon inflame my Curiosity to enter upon a more strict Enquiry after the foundations of these hopes, having before been encouraged by some Learned Men in a Method, that I had chosen for securing the Explication of the more lightsome parts of the Prophecy. In pursuance of this I have more distinctly stated the first Principles of the Grounds, that have been formerly given, and have added other Evidences to them, which seem more clearly to fix the beginning of this happy Revolution, than the light that the main Prophecy itself does offer for it. But that which makes the fairest promise of the near approach of this time, is, Your Majesty's unexpected success in these Nations, which has given a perfect new turn to all the Affairs of Europe, and in Concurrence with them does already show the World a plain Prospect of such a state of things near at hand. It is manifest, That in all appearance the next causes are now in Action. It is for this reason that I have found it necessary to look out for sufficient Testimonies, that these Predictions were Penned long before Your Majesty's Expedition into these parts. They would otherwise run the danger of being thought to be nothing but the Glozing Flatteries of an unsincere Pretender; Which Your known aversion for such servile Artifices might assure me You would reject with Displeasure. But after such Testimonies, if there be any strength in these Interpretations, it may be of Use to Your Majesty's Government to have them divulged before they come to be fulfilled. To those, that believe them, they will be like a Voice from Heaven not only for present comfort to themselves, but to call for their best assistance to Your Conduct; And what is it, that a Nation can think too much for a Prince, whom they believe to be designed by God for the Deliverance of his Church from the most deplorable Slavery, that ever was yet heard of, from the very shadow of Death, and of Hell itself. It is no hard thing, Sir, to have this generally believed of You. The defence of the Reformation is known to go inseparably along with the Lineal descent of Your Illustrious Family. They have been called away from their Native Seats to watch continually for this very thing; And Your Majesty's. late removal into tbis Land in the time of such a distress of the Neighbouring Churches, as never was since there was a Nation, seems to be Dan. 12. 1. chief to give You a convenient Post to be the Reviver of that oppressed Cause, which next under Heaven owed its last firm Setlement in the World to the Arms of one of Your Ancestors of the same Name. We have already seen Your Majesty in those Circumstances of the Prophecy, which presage the sudden Accomplishment of that promised Deliverance. We have seen You at the Head of almost all the several kinds of Peoples, and Nations, and Rev. 11. 9, 10, 11, 12. Tongues, that would not suffer the dead Bodies of the Witnesses to be buried. We ourselves were thereupon in a manner made the First-fruits from the Dead before their approaching Resurrection. The immediate Effect of this we see, is, that it not only cuts of all hopes of Assistance from the great Oppressor, but does also let lose upon him the Forces of an abused Kingdom, at a time when he is going to be attacked by such a general Storm on all sides of him, as can hardly be paralleled in the Histories of falling Empires. After this it will be easy to believe, that Your Majesty's appearance in behalf of the Oppressed must make their Adversaries think of diverting the Fury of a Million of the most enraged of their Enemies within their own Bowels; especially when the only way that they can hope to compass it by, is that, which will cost them nothing, viz. A Liberty of their Religion. Though their hopes of any considerable success in it may be never so vain, yet they will found themselves forced to make trial of it, when all other ways will but strengthen the interest of an appearing Enemy. And than will the Resurrection of the Witnesses be accomplished. Who can think that the Gallican Church will after that endure to be enslaved any longer to those Superstitions, which they have long since nauseated, and have forced their Consciences to put false colours upon? This will make it easy to conceive, how the Witnesses should ascend into the Throne, and, as the Prophecy concludes, How the whole Kingdom should be converted without any violent Methods from the revived Reformation. If we should once see that happy Change, none would question, but that so great an increase of the Interest of the Reformation would soon bring on such a general mortification of the power of the Roman Church in all parts of its Dominion, as would make it sink by degrees into nothing. All Men may see from Your Majesty's public Testimonies of it, how firmly Your Heart is set upon the Means, that do the most naturally tend to this end; And there seems to be as promising a concurrence of the Hearts of Your People towards it, which still confirms the likelihood of the Event. That all Your Majesty's Designs for this end may meet with as great Encouragements both from God, and Man, is the hearty Prayer of SIR, Your Majesty's Most Dutiful Subject DRUE CRESSENER. March 25. 1689. THese are to certify, That this Commentary upon the Revelation of St. John, to the Nineteenth Chapter, was sent to me by the Author, and read over by me, near a Year ago; when there was not so much as a Thought of what is since come to pass in this Kingdom. March 22. 1688/ 9 Simon Patrick, Dean of Peterborough. THe Revolutions that are mentioned in the Title of this Book, were communicated to me in Letters from the Author, in the Year 1687. March 22. 1688/ 9 Henry Plumptre. Charterhouse, March 25. 1689. THis Treatise [concerning the Explication of the Trumpets and Vials of the Apocalypse] was perused by me, to the Nineteenth Chapter of it, near a Year ago. T. Burnet. March 25. 1689. WE do testify, That the following Papers, to the Nineteenth Chapter, were in our hands the last Year, when the Bishops were sent to the Tower, and than offered to Lambeth, in order to be Published. Tho. Paget, D. D. Sam. Freeman, D. D. I Do attest, That what is contained in these Papers [concerning the Recovery of the Protestant Churches, and the final end of all Turkish Hostilities, and the general Mortification of the Roman Church in all Parts of its Dominion] was Written by Dr. Cressener, and Transcribed by me in the Year 1687, in order to be Published. Josh. Thompson. THE JUDGEMENTS of GOD UPON THE Roman-Catholick Church. SUPPOSITIONS AND THEOREMS. TO avoid all troublesome interruptions of the Attention, the Proof of every Theorem should be closely attended to, when it comes first in order to be Read; But when the Theorem comes afterwards to be cited to confirm any thing else, the Proof of it is to be supposed, and nothing to be than regarded, but the bore terms of it, and their force to confirm that which it is cited for. Suppositions for the Second Part. Suppos. 1. THE Beast, and the false Prophet are the chief Ruling Power of the present Church of Rome Suppos. 2. That the time, times and an half, the 42 Months, and the 1260 Days are all but divers names of one and the same space of 1260 Years. Suppos. 3. That the rise of the Beast was before the Year 620. Suppos. 4. That the Two Witnesses in Sackcloth do represent the whole True Church of Christ, that is under the domination of the Beast. Suppos. 5. That Babylon signifies the City of Rome in a state of Ecclesiastical Domination. THEOREMS. Theor. 1. The Woe of the seventh Trumpet destroys the power of the Beast. Theor. 2. The 144000 are the True Church of Christ upon Earth. Theor. 3. The 144000 are contemporary with the first times of the Beast. Theor. 4. The 144000 are sealed to save them from the Plagues of the Trumpets. Theor. 5. The whole time of the Beast is within the time of the Trumpets. Conseq. The Kingdom of the Beast is an Object of the Trumpets during that Time. Theor. 6. The Body of the Christian Church is very much corrupted before the time of the Trumpets. Theor. 7. The Plagues of the Trumpets do in that succession fall upon all parts of the Church, that are corrupted in their time. Conseq. The Party of the Beast are some corrupt part of the Christian Church. Theor. 8. The Plagues of the Trumpets do affect the Dominions of the Roman Church all the time of the Beast. Theor. 9 The Plagues of the Trumpets, the most heavy in their time upon the place where they fall. Theor. 10. The Plagues of the Trumpets not capable of being taken in a literal sense. Conseq. Those Plagues that fall in the time of the Beast, the heaviest of any within that time to the places where they fall. Theor. 11. The great Tribulation, Chap. 7. is neither the Judgements of the sixth Seal, n● those in the Trumpets. Theor. 12. The great Tribulation is the same with the kill of the rest of the Brethrens i● the fifth Seal. Conseq. The rest of the Brethrens in the fifth Seal is the same with the great multitude, Chap. 7. 9 Theor. 13. The Vengeance promised in the fifth Seal is the Plagues of the Trumpets. Theor. 14. The Plagues of the Trumpets are not till after some universal Persecution the Church. Theor. 15. The Martyrdoms of the fifth Seal are all past before the rise of the Beast. Conseq. 1. The great multitude, Chap. 7. 9 is before the rise of the Beast. Conseq. 2. All the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, both those slain, and that were to be killed before the Year 620. Theor. 16. All the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, etc. were killed under Heathen Roman Emperors. Conseq. The Martyrs in the fifth Seal were all that were killed from that time to t● end of the Persecution of Rome Pagan. Theor. 17. The sixth Seal is the change of the Pagan Government of Rome before the end of all Pagan power in it. Theor. 18. The Plagues of the Trumpets fall upon the same Nation, that killed the Martyrs in the fifth Seal. Conseq. The Plagues of the Trumpets are executed upon the Romans. Theor. 19 The Saracens and Turks were two of the Woes of the last three Trumpets. Conseq. 1. The Saracens and Turks are the Woes of the fifth and sixth Trumpet. Conseq. 2. The Turks are the second Woe. Conseq. 3. The Plagues of the first four Trumpets must fall upon the Romans betwixt t● end of the Pagan Emperors and the Year 631. Theor. 20. The great City, Chap. 11. 8. is the same with Babylon the Great. Theor. 21. The Streets of the great City are the Dominions of Babylon. Conseq. 1. The tenth part of the City is the tenth part of the Dominions of Babylon. Conseq. 2. The tenth part of the City is one of the ten Kingdoms, that were given to the Beast. Conseq. 3. The fall of the tenth part of, etc. is the Reformation of that Kingdom. Theor. 22. The Roman Church continues in power after the Ascension of the Witnesses. Theor. 23. The Ascension of the Witnesses is their advancement upon an Earthly Throne. Theor. 24. The kill of the Witnesses, ver. 7. is not the whole time of the Persecution ● the Beast. Theor. 25. The killing the Witnesses is the fiercest Persecution of the Church, and about the end of the Beast. Theor. 26. The kill, etc. a perfect suppression at lest of the True Religion in all part● of the Dominion of the Beast. Theor. 27. The three days and an half, ver. 9 are at lest three years and an half. Theor. 28. The Dead Bodies of the Witnesses, ver. 9 cannot signify literally. Conseq. 1. The Death of the Witnesses cannot be a literal Death. Conseq. 2. The kill of the Witnesses cannot be a general Massacre of the Protestants. Theor. 29. The kill of the Witnesses can be nothing but the Suppression of the True Religion in all Parts of the Jurisdiction of the Beast. Theor. 30. The kill of the Witnesses is at an end, when the True Religion is suppressed in all places where the Roman Church is the National Religion. Theor. 31. The kill of the Witnesses does not extend to the whole True Church at that time in being. Theor. 32. The Resurrection of the Witnesses, Ver. 11. is the reviving of the true Religion in some of the Dominions of the Roman Church, where it has been suppressed. Theor. 33. The Resurrection of the Witnesses is not yet past. Theor. 34. The Preaching the everlasting Gospel to every Nation, etc. Ch. 14. 6. is the Preaching up of a general Reformation of the Roman Church in the time of the Beast. Theor. 35. The Hour of God's Judgements, Ver. 7. is about the same time with the preaching the everlasting Gospel. Theor. 36. The Hour of God's Judgements, etc. is the beginning of the final ruin of the Roman Church. Theor. 37. The preaching the everlasting Gospel not before the Protestant Reformation. Theor. 38. The Vintage, Ver. 19 is the last Destruction of the Beast. Theor. 39 The time of the patience of the Saints, Ver. 12. is the fiercest Persecution of the Church by the Beast, betwixt the preaching the everlasting Gospel, and the last end of the Beast. Theor. 40. The time of the patience of the Saints the same with that of the kill of Witnesses. Theor. 41. The Harvest, Ver. 15. is after the Resurrection of the Witnesses. Theor. 42. The preaching the everlasting Gospel is the time of the Protestant Reformation. Theor. 43. The Hour of God 's Judgements, Ver. 7. must be near the first times of the Protestant Reformation. Theor. 44. The seven Vials are an orderly succession of Judgements upon the Beast to bring him to his ruin. Theor. 45. The seven Vials cannot begin before the Protestant Reformation. Theor. 46. The seven Vials and Trumpets do comprehend in them all the most considerable Judgements upon the Romans that are mentioned in the Prophecy, from the rise of the Beast, to his last end. Theor. 47. The Hour of God's Judgements is the beginning of the time of the seven Vials. Conseq. The seven Vials begin soon after the first times of the Protestant Reformation. Theor. 48. The second Vial is already poured out. Theor. 49. The Plague of the second Vial was at an end, at the latest, at the Truce ●twixt the Spaniards and the Dutch, Anno Dom. 1609. Theor. 50. The Plague of the third Vial ended with the Sweedish War in Germany. Theor. 51. The Plague of the fourth Vial is the Vexations of the Papal and Imperi● Party by the King of France. Conseq. 1. Every one of the Vials require many years to be fulfilled in. Conseq. 2. Every Vial ends at forty years' distance from the preceding Vial. Conseq. 3. The fifth Vial is near at hand. Conseq. 4. The time of the Beast does end about the Year 1800. Theor. 52. The third Woe falls wholly upon that part of the Roman Empire which is ● Empire of the Beast. Theor. 53. The last act of the seventh Vial is the same with the last part of the third Woe Theor. 54. The Plague of the sixth Vial is not till after the end of the second Woe. Theor. 55. The Plague of the sixth Vial is all in the time of the third Woe. Theor. 56. The Whole time of the seventh Vial is but the latter part of the time of ● third Woe. Theor. 57 The Plague of the fifth Vial is not yet come. Theor. 58. The third Woe is a continued advancement of the Church in all parts of ● Dominion of the Beast till the last end of his Power. Theor. 59 All the Vials that are in the time of the third Woe, are parts of that Woe. Theor. 60. The third Woe is nothing else but the Vials that are contemporary with it. Conseq. The beginning of the third Woe is the first of the Vials that are contemporary with it. Theor. 61. The Slaughter and Conversion of the Enemies of the Witnesses, Chap. 11. 1● is at the conclusion of either the fourth or the fifth Vial. Theor. 62. The Slaughter and Conversion, etc. Ch. 11. is but in one particular part ● the Dominion of the Beast. Theor. 63. The Slaughter and Conversion, etc. Ch. 11. is no part of any of the Vials. Theor. 64. The Plagues of the Vials fall not upon one particular part only of the Dominion of the Beast. Theor. 65. The Plague of the fifth Vial is an eminent Humiliation of the power of t● Beast in all parts of his Dominion. Theor. 66. The whole Plague of the fifth Vial is within the time of the third Woe. Conseq. 1. The second Woe is the Turkish Empire. Conseq. 2. The beginning of the Plagues of the fifth Vial is the beginning of the third Woe Theor. 67. The final end of the Turkish Hostilities, as the second Woe, and much more th● time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses, is near at hand. THE CONTENTS. Chap. I THe kind of Proof, that is here endeavoured after. The reason of the Method. Five Suppositions generally allowed by Protestant Interpreters, upon which the whole Discourse relies. The Party of the Beast, a corrupt part of the Christian Church. The Roman Church, an Object of the Plagues of all the Trumpets. The Saracens and Turks the first and second Woe Page 1 Chap. II. The great Tribulation, and great Multitude, chap. 7. 9 applied: The rest of the Brethrens and the Vengeance promised, chap. 6. 11. The matter of the sixth Seal. The Object of the Plagues of the Trumpets. The Hostilities of the Saracens, and Turks, further evinced to be the business of the first and second Woe. The bounds of the first four Trumpets determined p. 15 Chap. III. The four first Trumpets applied. The signification of a third part in the Trumpets scrupulously enquired after and determined. Objections answered p. 29 Chap. IV. The particular Application of the Matter of the first four Trumpets, according to the Notion of the third part mentioned in them. The reason of the difference betwixt the four first and the three last Trumpets. What Provocations were the cause of the Judgements of the Trumpets. How they were the Vengeance promised to the Martyrs under Rome Heathen p. 45 Chap. V The Plagues of the Trumpets parallel to the increase of the degeneracy of the Church. An Analysis of the Prophetical Schemes from the first Trumpet in the Eighth Chapter, up to the fifth Seal in the sixth Chapter. And the necessity of their Application, first from the signification of the Schemes, and the order in which they are placed. And than from the remarkableness of the Events, which required such a Prophetical Scene to represent them. The direct order of the same Application from the fifth Seal to the first Trumpet. The Schemes before the time of the rise of the Beast in the Twelfth Chapter paralleled with those in the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Chapters p. 65 Chap. VI The signification of the Characters of the Two Witnesses demonstrated. Their Death fixed to the Suppression of the True Church in the Dominions of the Beast only. The Death of the Witnesses no general Massacre. Two general distinct Suppressions of the True Church not possible. The Bodies of the Witnesses kept from being buried, an Act of Friendship. This attributed to Peoples, Tongues and Nations, denotes the Assistance of Protestant States p. 82 Chap. VI The Resurrection of the Witnesses is the Recovery of the True Church, where it was totally suppressed; It is fixed to this present time. Objections answered. The Resurrection of the Witnesses, the Recovery of the Protestant Churches. And to begin in 1689, or at farthest in 1690 p. 98 Chap. VIII. The time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses confirmed from the Expiration of the time assigned to the second Woe. The second Woe is the Turkish Empire. The Explication of the Hour, Day, Mouth, Year, assigned to the second Woe. The first Date of that time p. 110 Chap. 9 The particular Date of the Hour, Day, Month and Year, stated. The end of the second Woe, or of all Turkish Wars just at hand. And therefore the recovery of the Protestant Churches by the Resurrection of the Witnesses to be be very shortly expected. The Parallel in the Twelfth Chapter of Daniel with this of the Resurrection of the Witnesses, and the end of the second Woe. p. 123 Chap. X. The last Slaughter, and first Resurrection of the Witnesses confined to the Kingdom of France, and its Neighbourhood. From thence it dispreads itself over all the Roman Jurisdiction. Why the passing away of the second Woe deferred till the Account of the Beast and Witnesses was interrupted, Chap. 11. he risen Witnesses the Executors of the third Woe. The third Woe of some considerable duration. The Western Empire the only Object of the third Woe p. 135 Chap. XI. The Trumpets and Vials have different Objects. The first date of the Vials not before the Protestant Reformation p. 177 Chap. XII. Objections against the date of the Vials from the Reformation answered p. 193 Chap. XIII. The particular Application of the Vials to the most remarkable Events since the Reformation. The Commotions in all Countries upon the Reformation, the first Vial. The Wars all over Europe for Religion, in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, the second Vial. The Swedish War, the third Vial. The Humiliations of the Papal and Imperial Interest by the present King of France, the fourth Vial. How providentially his owning the Sun for his Emblem does agreed with it. The general Humiliation of the Roman Church in all Roman States, the fifth Vial. Some Enemies beyond Euphrates, the sixth Vial. A conjecture about Harmageddon. p. 199 Chap. XIV. The Preaching the Everlasting Gospel (Rev. 14.) is the preaching up a general Reformation of the Church of Rome. The Hour of God's Judgements (ibid.) must be just about the same time. The Vintage is the last destruction of the Beast. The time of the patience of the Saints is the same with that of the kill of the Witnesses, Chap. 11. The Harvest after the Resurrection of the Witnesses. The death of the Witnesses no bodily death. The preaching the Everlasting Gospel the Protestant Reformation. The 7 Vials cannot begin before the Protestant Reformation. The Hour of God's Judgements the beginning of the 7 Vials. The 7 Vials begin soon after the Protestant Reformation p. 219. Chap. XV. A particular Application of the four first Vials; The second Vial must be already poured out. It was at an end at farthest at the Truce of the Netherlands, Anno 16. 9 The absurd consequences of denying it. The Plague of the third Vial ended with the Swedish War in Germany. The demonstration of it. The Plague of the fourth Vial, the King of France: This evinced. The fifth Vial is now near at hand. p. 235 Chap. XVI. The Plagues of the three last Vials the same with the third Woe of the last Trumpet. The Slaughter and Conversion of the Enemies of the Risen Witnesses, is but in one particular Kingdom of the dominion of the Roman Church. The fifth Vial a general Mortification of the Roman Church. p. 24● Chap. XVII. The Whole Plague of the fifth Vial within the time of the third Woe: It gins the third Woe. The last end of the Turkish Wars or their Ruin, and the Resurrection of the Witnesses near at hand. Further evinced, that the Vials must begin soon after the Reformation, to signify the Plagues that fell upon the Roman Party by the Reformation, distinct from those that they suffered at the same time from the Turks as the secord Woe; How the third Woe is said to come quickly. The date of the Vials soon after the Reformation, aptly intimated at the end of the 9th. Chapter of the Revelations, and the beginning of the 10th. The same further proved from the nature of the Victory mentioned, Rev. 15. 2. before the Vials. No proof from Rev. 10. 6, 7. That the beginning of the seven Vials must be after the sound of the seventh Trumpet. p. 255 Chap. XVIII. The exact Agreement of the Order of Things in the 9th. 10th. and 11th. Chapters of the Revelations, with that of the Schemes in the 14th. Chapter. The Vials contemporary with them both. The four first Vials evinced to be before the third Woe. The coming quickly of the third Woe explained. The last end of the Turkish Wars, and the Resurrection of the Witnesses further proved to be just at hand; As also that the three last Vials are contained in the third Woe. Why those three make but one Woe. An Objection that the third Woe must contain all the Vials, Answered. Another Reason why the third Woe is said to come quickly. Why the seven Vials cannot come after all the seven Trumpets. Why nothing of the great Persecution in the seven Vials. The Reason of the name of the seven last Plagues given to the Vials. p. 270 Chap. XIX. Conjectures about the particular applications of the Harvest, and Vintage Chap. 14. The Vintage, cannot contain in it all the seven Vials. The Millennium to be upon the Earth: But after the conflagration of this Earth. Many Countries inhabited after the beginning of the Conflagration from Dan 7. 12. A middle State of the Church betwixt the end of Antichrist, and the Millennium during the Conflagration. p. 284 Chap XX. The three great Revolutions, that are to hap very shortly, considered singly, and with relation to one another. How they strengthen the Proof of one another. Why the three last Vials are distinguished from the four first. How the time assigned to the Vials, proves the first rise and last end of the Beast. The time of the first rise of the Beast further evinced from the event p. 302 THE PREFACE. IN all my designs for the interpretation of the Apocalypse, I have as much as I could avoided all dispute about the different ways, that Protestants have fancied in their applications of the Prophecy to the Church of Rome; And have insisted every where upon the things in which they generally agreed in that way. My first attempt in this way was to demonstrate the main conclusion in which they all agreed; And this last does from their general agreements together, as its Principles, and Foundation, deduce the Interpretation of the Rest of the Prophecy, which used to be always confined to the fancy, in which every Interpreter differed from the rest about the particular nature, and first Epocha of that, which is called the Beast. By this it appears, that as the first of these designs must be chief aimed at the Romanists, so this on the contrary can have no dispute with them. For it goes upon such suppositions, as they do wholly reject; The following Interpretations are therefore intended only for such Protestants, as think they have reason to be satisfied, that the present Roman Church is the great object of this Prophecy. The Reason, why this Second Part, does precede the other, is, because the World is tolerably satisfied of the truth, that the former does design to confirm; And also because This does contain predictions in it, that may begin to be accomplished soon after that they are published. My business in it is, to explain, and apply the matter of the Trumpets, and Vials, and such parts of the Prophecy, as are implicated with them; and that which I chief aim at in the doing of it, is to proceed in a close, and distinct order of deductions from Principles generally acknowledged by Protestant Interpreters. By acknowledged Principles I prevent the perplexities, that the different Schemes, and Principles of Interpreters do fill Men with, and which affright the greatest part of those, that are otherwise curious enough, from the perusal of any thing of this nature; And by close and distinct Reasoning from them, I would remove the fears of that lose, and wild liberty of fancy, and talk, which is no unordinary infirmity of discourses on this Subject, and which has prejudiced the most judicious against any thing, that can be offered them in this kind. This has forced me to follow the same course which the first Mathematicians took about the Elements of Geometry; And that was to lay down those Propositions first, which they saw to be necessary for the proof of that truth, which they were in quest of, without any regard to the critical method, that it should be delivered in as a particular science; so also have I here begun from such Principles, as I found necessary to the proof of my conclusion in any part of the Prophecy, without much regard to the continued order of the Visions. It is therefore very requisite for the easier understanding of this part, to have a general Idea of the terms here used from either Mr. Medes, or some such Protestant Interpretation, And to bring such an attention, as Mathematical Sciences do generally call for. Some Readers will be forthwith apt to judge from hence, that I seem here to pretend to a Mathematical Evidence about such matters, as they conclude to be uncapable of any certain explication. But I am as uncapable of so vain a confidence; I am well satisfied of the impossibility of any such degree of evidence in the Interpretation of almost any Writing; And it has been so ordinary, and frequent a thing with me to correct the most promising shows, that I have had, of assurance in these things, and I am so sensible of the great variety of faces, and of the intricate complications of the Schemes of the Prophecy with one another, that I shall never be in danger of pretending to any thing like to that which is strictly called Demonstration; so that if sometimes I be found to use that word, I can intent not more by it, than a seeming cogency of proof in distinction to a lose conjecture. The Reason why I took that severe Method, was the great dissatisfaction I found in the strange liberty of imagination, that I saw taken in these kind of Interpretations, where the whole Body of them is ordinarily nothing but a Systeme of concinnities and congruities, without any tolerable evidence for the Application, and almost every sentence full of arbitrary suppositions in it. Of these I saw there might be as many varieties, as there were ingenious and contriving heads, of which infinite instances might be given. On the other side I looked upon the Apocalypse to be far the most important and coherent Prophecy, that ever was delivered for the instruction, and for the comfort of the Church to the end of the World; And as it is at present lost to us in the dark Schemes, in which it is wrapped up, so the only way to make it appear again, as the Word of God to us, is to prove, and not to guests at, the meaning of it. This I have here endeavoured to do, by laying down Principles, that are generally assented to by the best Interpreters of that Church, which we own, and by a distinct process of deductions from them apart by themselves, for the clearer discovery of the strength of the proof, which must have been much more implicated, and confused in a continued discourse. The variety of the Schemes, and the remote relations of things to one another, and the long series of consequences, that is required in the reasoning about them, made me think it necessary to give a distinct view of every conclusion alone by itself; Which does more clearly show the connexion of what is truly deduced, and makes it more easy to discover the weakness of a mistake. But yet it must be allowed, that there is a great difference in the strength of several of these conclusions, and some are more apparently loser than others. And where I could not see any clear bottom to proceed upon, I have either left them in their incertainty, or have used a more free and continued discourse about them. And these are ordinarily applications of History, or conjectural Interpretations. But yet I believe it will ordinarily be found, that where I have declared for any of that kind, I have endeavoured as much as I could to imitate the same kind of caution, that I have done in the other. One instance of which is that Latitude of application, which I sometimes leave things to, where there seems to be no clear grounds for a determination. This I fear will as much displease some for the scepticalness of it, as the former will do others for the niceness, and severity of the process. But I hope the free, and ingenuous Readers will approve of the reasons of both; And upon that account, if I should be found sometimes to fail of what I intent, will pardon the oversights, that I may be discovered by the more sagacious to have fallen into amongst the intricate mazes of these Visions. I can assure them it is no easy matter for any man of free thoughts to keep himself from many slips, and inadvertencies in these things. I think, I may justly be allowed to have taken more care to clear the first foundations of these matters, and to carry on the explication of them in a more distinct and coherent order, than has yet been attempted; And the incitation, that I may chance thereby to give to others, that are more able to do it better, as well as the use of mine own best endeavour to be publicly useful in it, may not only atone for my defects, but procure me the favourable opinion of all, that consider how easy it is to wander, when one goes out of the beaten Road in this obscure Wilderness. It cannot but be expected, that so different a method from what has been used, must have as different effects in respect of the applications of the Prophecy. And I must own, that though I generally prefer Mr. Medes critical exposition of the words, yet I could hardly settle upon any of his applications without new grounds for them. Of this kind will the application of the two first Woes and their characters appear to be, which was before but lightly guessed at, and never satisfactorily evinced. This I mention in particular, because upon that does all the Interpretation of the rest of the Trumpets seem to depend. The same may be said of the applications of the fifth Seal, the only key to open that part of the Prophecy, which yet was never before confirmed upon any tolerable evidence. This may excuse the great niceness, that I have used in those two points. Others no question may make the proof shorter; But most of those that think so, may also possibly found themselves, as much disappointed, as I was when they come to try it with any accuracy. However I found this advantage from digging so low for my foundation, that it discovered many new truths to me about some particular Schemes, which forced me to departed from Mr. Mede in almost all the series of the Prophecy; And this also upon that great Rule of all accountable Interpretation, which he himself has appeared for, viz. That the literal sense be adhered to without evidence for another. Upon this do I establish the order of Events according to the order of the Schemes in the Text, where there is no cogent proof of their being anticipated, or transposed. From hence I conclude the time of the Martyrs with White Robes (Chap. 7, 9) to be the same with the Rest, that were to be killed within a little season in the fifth Seal, and therefore before the Trumpets. As also the time of the Conquerors (Chap. 15. 2.) to be just before the pouring out of the Vials, and after the sight of the Judgements of them in the first Verse. From hence also do I draw the Links of that Chain; that I have demonstrated in the 14th Chap. which is one of the most useful discoveries for clearing up the Order of all the Events in the latter times, which we meet with in the other Chapters. Monsieur Jurieu must indeed be allowed to have given the World the first Alarm of the death of the Witnesses at this present time. But the chief strength of that conclusion, in respect of the time to which it is confined, does lie in the order it is found in, in the 11th Chapter before the passing away of the second Woe, and from the place, that the great Persecution is found to have in the 14th Chapter, after the Reformation. Theor. 39 Without these boundaries, that Prophecy is left lose to the different acceptations of the terms in which it is described; But by the fixed period that the Prophecy gives to the continuance of the second Woe, the Resurrection of the Witnesses is confined to these present times. Whatever strength the grounds, that Monsieur Jurieu gave, may have in them, it is certain, that they were not much regarded in these parts, but amongst his own Countrymen; Which does sufficiently justify the pains that I have taken to clear up the foundation, that he depended upon, and to add a new proof of mine own. My Appearance at this time in this prediction may by some be apprehended to be but a politic conjecture from the present State of Affairs, which at this time do seem very plainly to point out such a revolution in the Kingdom of France, which in all human appearance can no ways be hindered. And to strengthen the Presumption, that may be taken for the belief of this Prophecy from my Concurrence with others in it upon new grounds, it is convenient to remove this apprehension. I have sufficient Testimonies, that these things were wrote long before the lest appearance of any lightsome circumstances in behalf of the Reformed Churches, and that they were offered to the public at a time, when there was the thickest Cloud over them in almost all Parts of Europe. My Lord of St. Asaph can testify, that they were in his hands a little before the Bishops were sent to the Tower. And I was much pleased to hear his Lordship upon the same grounds speak with such assurance in that place, that there could be no extinction of the Reformation in these Parts, at that very time, when all were in astonishing Apprehensions of the issue of his Imprisonment. But long before this I had communicated the same with my new grounds for it to my Worthy Friends, the Dean of Peterborough, and Henry Plumptrè Esq To whose peculiar Zeal for the Interest of the Reformation, I own next under God the chief motive to my undertaking of this part of the Prophecy. And all my Friends can testify with what confidence I did remove the fears of Bishop Ushers Prophecy, and of any general Persecution among us, when to all outward appearance there seemed to be the greatest likelihood of it. But yet I never accounted the grounds of any of these particular Events so necessary, as those that Protestants generally agreed in for fixing the main Object and concern of these Visions to the Church of Rome. And therefore, though these Predictions should fail, yet that will not prejudice the strength of the main Conclusion, because there is no such immediate connexion betwixt them, as to make it necessary for them to stand and fall together. FOR the present Satisfaction of those who may question the grounds of those Suppositions upon which these Papers do wholly rely, from the Authority of Grotius and Dr. Hammond, who have diverted the Scene of these Visions from the Church of Rome, it will be convenient here to transcribe the contrary Authorities of the most zealous and judicious Interpreters of the Church of Rome, concerning the chief Foundations of the Grotian Interpretation, for the interest of their Cause. It would be infinite to transcribe all the Contrarities of the Romanists to this way. And therefore I will only pick out those Passages wherein they censure all the most considerable Foundations of it, as the Imaginations of none but Madmen, of Men of no sense in them, or of such as are perfectly blind, or that say things that never any did own before since the writing of the Prophecy, or such as are against the common Stream of all considerable Interpreters, Jews and Christians, Ancient and Modern, or the contrary to which is manifest and unquestionable, or which no Man of sense can doubt of. To begin with that which is the most necessary to the Grotian way. 1. It was necessary for Grotius to deny, That the Beast in the Revelations was the same with the fourth Beast in the 7th. of Daniel. For than it must have continued till the second coming of the Son of Man, whereas he makes his Beast to be at an end long before. And therefore since the Beast in the Revelations, is agreed by him to be the Roman Empire, he makes the fourth Beast in the 7th. of Daniel, to be a part of the Graecian Monarchy, of which the third Beast there is only the first Appearance. NOW hear what the most Eminent of the Roman Interpreters say to this. The Jesuit Malvenda (who seems to have been the most laborious in this Subject) speaking of this under the name of Porphyries Opinion, pag. 222. de Antichristo (a) Porphyrii Sententiam esse apertissimum delirium S. Hieronymus & alii Clarissimè demonstrant.— Omnes enim exploratissimum habent, cum Hebraei, cum Christiani tertiam & quartam Bestiam esse distinctissimas.— Ut insanae proculdubio Mentis sit, qui secus sentsat, ibidem. — Quartam Bestiam esse Romanum Imperium certum & pervagatum est apud Omnes Christiani Nominis Professores.— Reducendus est (Lector) in Viam Regiam, & rectissimam. St. Hierom, says he, and others do most clearly demonstrate, That Porphyries Opinion is a perfect Madness.— For All found it to be unquestionable, as well Jews as Christians, That the third and fourth Beast are two very distinct Beasts; so that he aught without all question, to be accounted A Man of no sense in him, that can think otherwise.— Again, That the fourth Beast is the Roman Empire, is very certain and commonly agreed upon by all that profess the Name of Christ.— And that the Reader is therefore to be brought into the Common Road and the King's Highway. The Jesuit Viega in his Comment upon the 13th. Chapter of Apocal. Sect. 1. (b) Pro hujus loci Expositione sciendum est Danieli cap. 7. Similem quandam ostensam fuisse Visionem— Quae Bestia juxta Communem Doctorum Sententiam est Imperium Romanum. It is to be known for the Explication of this place, That there was a Vision like to this, shown unto Daniel in his 7th. Chapter, (viz. about the fourth Beast there,)— Which Beast according to the Common Opinion of the Learned, is the Roman Empire. The Jesuit Alcazar, who (as Cornelius à Lapide informs us, Prolegom in Apocal.) had spent twenty Years in compiling his Comment upon the Apocalypse, and seems to make it his business to correct all the Weaknesses of the other Commentators, says thus in Comment in Cap. 13. Apocal. Sect. 5. (c) Negari non potest quin in hâc Bestiâ 10 Cornuum alludatur ad quartam Bestiam Danielis. — Quam esse Romani Imperia Figuram, ut Symbolum Liquido Constat.— Bestia quarto Danielis, per quam Evidens est Imperium denotari Romanum. It cannot be denied, but that by this Beast with the Ten Horns, there is an Allusion to the fourth Beast in the seventh of Daniel,— which does manifestly appear to be a Figure, and Symbol of the Roman Empire. So also on the 12th. Chapter of Apocal. The fourth Beast in the 7th. of Daniel, which it is evident, does signify the Roman Empire. The Jesuit Pererius upon the 7th. of Daniel, v. (d) Quarta Haec Bestia, ut Omnes Interpretantur, & ut Res ipsa Loquitur, Imaginem referebat Romani Imperii. The fourth Beast, as All do interpret it, and as the Thing itself does declare it, is the Image of the Roman Empire. But Grotius' Interpretation of (e) Grotius in v. 13. Cap. 7. Dan. Filius Hominis] id est Populus Romanus. the Son of Man to be the Roman People, v. 13. c. 7. Dan. is beyond all their Censures, because it was never broached by any before; And we have the Judgement of the High Priest of the Jews, That to apply it to any but to the true Messiah, is Blasphemy, Mat. 26. 65. 2. The next great Foundation of the Grotian Scheme, is his explaining the seven Heads of the Beast to be seven single Emperors, because said to be seven Kings, Cap. 17. v. 10. But the Jesuit Ribera, one of the most Judicious of all the Roman Interpreters, admires him for his Affected Singularity in this. In his Comment upon the 17th. Chap. Apocal. Numer 15. (f) Quodsi cui durum videtur in uno Rege multos significar●.— Putatque Septem esse tantum, is primùm sciet Omnes Expositores intellexisse in singulis horum septem multos comprehendi, Neminemque septem tantum Homines esse dixisse praeter Victorinum, cujus Sententiae Merito Omnes Refragantur.— Postremo intelligat non esse inusitatum in Scripturâ, ut in uno Rege multi similes, & quasi ejusdem Corporis significentur quod est summe observandum. Nam Dan. 8. legimus. Ecce Aries.— Nec dissimile & illud, Jeremiae 25. If any one should think (says he) that these seven Kings are but seven single Persons, let him know in the first place, That All Expositors have made account, that in every one of these there are a great many comprehended, and that never any Man but Victorinus, did take them for seven single Persons, whose Opinion All do deservedly cry out against.— And than next let him understand, That it is ordinary in Scripture, by one King to signify many of the same Kind, and as it were of one and the same Body, which is more especially to be observed: So in Dan. cap. 8. The Ram, etc. So Jeremiah, cap. 25. And ye shall serve the King of Babylon seventy Years. 3. Grotius makes a great Advantage of making the Term of the Beast to signify different Things in every different Show of it. For this He meets with this lash from Malvenda, in respect of the Show of the Beast, in the 11th. and 13th. Chapters, pag. 226. de Antichristo. (g) Eandem fuisse Bestiam Nemo Sanae Mentis poterit dubitare. No Man in his Wits, says he, can doubt, but that the Beast in the 11th. Chapter, and that in the 13th. are the same Beast. And in respect of the Shows of the Beast in the 13th. and 17th. Chapter, he has this rub from Alcazar, in Cap. 13. Apoc. v. 1. (h) Certum namque est maris Bestiam de quâ in hoc capite & Bestiam illam cui Babylon insidet (cap. 17.) esse unam candemque Bestiam, ut diserte Hieronymus, & suo loco demonstrahimus. For it is certain, says he, That the Beast out of the Sea, (Chap. 13.) and that Beast upon which Babylon sits, (Chap. 17.) are but one and the same Beast, as Hierom does expressly affirm, and as we shall in its place demonstrate. So also in his Comment upon the 17th. Chap. Apocal. Disputat. 10. Speaking of the Opinion of those that did distinguish betwixt the Beast of the Sea in the 13th. Chapter, and that in the 17th. (i) Verumenimvero pro Comperto habeo, Bestiam cui Mulier insidet, candem esse cum Maris Bestiâ, quae cap. 13. descripta est. But for my part I take it for undoubted, That the Beast upon which the Woman here sits, is the same with the Beast out of the Sea, described in the 13th. Chapter. 4. To fix the Application of the Characters of the Beast in the 11th. Chap. Apoc. to the first Times, it was necessary for Grotius to understand the Judgement of the Dead at the 18th. verse, to be nothing but the Revenging of the Cause of the Martyrs of those Times. But Ribera sets this mark upon him for it, (Comment in Cap. 10. Apoc. Numer. 20.) upon a mention of that part of the 11th. Chap. (k) Caecus est, qui non videt Haec nisi post interitum Antichristi, & tempore judicii non futura. He is blind, says he, that does not see, that these things cannot come to pass before the Ruin of Antichrist, and the Times of the last Judgement. 5. One of the greatest Motives that Grotius had, to make him fancy the seven Heads to be but seven single Persons, was, Because the time of the chief Actions is said to be but forty two Months or three Years and an half. For this length of time is mentioned in five several places of these Visions, and yet (l) Alcazar in v. 2. cap. 11. Apocal. Notatione quartâ. Quamobrem Necesse est spatium trium annorum cum dimidio esse mysticum, id quod Exigebat Aenigmatis ratio. Item in v. 2. cap, 11. Ante Notation.— veruntamen quemadmodum dimidia hora, cap. octavo, & quinque menses, cap. nono, non sunt in sensu proprio desumpta, sed Mystico, ita etiam convenienter ad Apocalypseos Contextum Accipiendi sunt high 42 menses in sensu Mystico, non proprio. Etenim accipere Hos numeros Dierum aut mensium, ut sonant, id quidem Nequaquam stylo aenigmatico quadrat. Alcazar does positively determine about these three years and an half, that they must necessarily be understood in a Mystical Sense, to answer the nature of a Mystical Prophecy, as this is. According as we see the half hour in the 8th. Chapter, and the five Months in the 9th. Chapter, to be taken; which he says, are an Instance in the Prophecy, to direct us to the Mystical Use of Time in all other places of it. And to take the Days and Months in their literal sense, he says, Is not at all suitable to an Enigmatical Style. 6. Dr. Hammond upon those words, chap. 1. v. 1. Apoc.— Things which must shortly come to pass, says, That those Words were to him the Key for the whole Prophecy, and thence does confidently determine, That the Visions of the Apocalypse, were to be fulfilled very shortly after the Delivery of the Prophecy. Not to mention the inconsistency of this with the Doctor's Interpretations of the Ten Horns 200 Years after, and of the 1000 Years after that in the 20th. Chapter, together with his Application of God and Magog to the Turks after those 1000 Years; See what small Account Ribera makes of the ground of this confidence upon those very same Words:— He says, (m) Ribera in cap. 11. v. 1. Apocal. Numer. 5. Id quod incipitur jam fit. Cum ergo illae Persecutiones, etc. cito incipi deberent, recte ait, Quae oportet fieri cito, etsi non cito essent finienda. Ita probat Communis consuetudo Sermonis, & consuetudo Scripturae. It is a common ordinary way of Speech, and the Custom of Scripture, To say of Things that were shortly to begin, that they should shortly come to pass, though they were not shortly to be finished. This sharp and severe Censure of all the main Foundations of the Grotian Way from the Mouth of that Party, whom it does most oblige, does sufficiently justify the same kind of Sentence, that has been passed upon it by the most sagacious of the Protestant Interpreters, who cannot but look upon Grotius in most of the obstruse parts of Prophecy, as most affectedly singular; and to that degree in some places, as to make him one of the most apparent Instances of that old observation, Nullum Magnum Ingenium sine mixturâ. I will therefore now venture to conclude, That the Authority of Grotius, and Dr. Hammond will not much prejudice any Protestant against the Suppositions, which are at first laid down as the Basis of these Interpretations. But if the Predictions before mentioned be shortly fulfilled, they will be a most considerable confirmation of the Suppositions upon which they rely. Whatever may be the Issue of these particular Applications to these present Times, the main Body of the Interpretations stands secure upon another Bottom, viz. Their past Accomplishment. And that long Train of Divine Judgements, which through the Course of so many Ages has always run down Parallel with the violent Practices of the Roman Church, is expeperience enough to assure all the divided Parts of the Reformation, That the biting and devouring one another for their Religious Differences, are the next Causes of most of the Judgements of God that come upon them. March 25. 1689. THE Judgements of God UPON THE ROMAN CHURCH, In Explication of the TRUMPETS and VIALS of the APOCALYPSE. CHAP. I The kind of Proof, that is here endeavoured after. The reason of the Method. Five Suppositions generally allowed by Protestant Interpreters, upon which the whole Discourse relies. The Party of the Beast, a corrupt part of the Christian Church. The Roman Church, an Object of the Plagues of all the Trumpets. The Saracens, and Turks the first and second Woe. AS I always accounted the Visions of the Apocalypse to be a resemblance of the first great Deep, or a dark Abyss of all (a) THE Jesuit Pererius to this purpose Disput. 4. in Apoc. God designed here to signify— the whole progress, and course of the Church, from the beginning of it to the end of it— And withal, All the most considerable, and remarkable fortunes of it, the prosperous as well as the cloudy. So also Disput. 9— This is above all to be retained— that there are here foretold the most eminent and remarkable Fortunes, and Events in the Church both prosperous, and the contrary, from the beginning of it to the last end of it. the considerable fortunes of the Christian Church, to the end of the World: So was it a long while before I could think it possible to go further in any clear discoveries from them, than the work of the first Day, or to divide the Light of it from the Darkness, which is the whole design of my first Part. The perplexities that I had been in, when I first engaged myself in these things, upon the account of the infinite variety of different Apprehensions, that I met with about them, had settled me in a strong and habitual aversion against all tempting conjectures, that had nothing but a fair Concinnity for their Foundation. And upon a general and curfory Surveyed of the Schemes of those Visions, I could not think there was any better ground of satisfaction to be had about the Application of far the greatest part of them. Wherhfore after some satisfactory discoveries of the insufficiency of the grounds, that I found others to rely upon, and some fruitless endeavours of mine own to determine the time and application of the Trumpets and Vials, I came at last to despair of making any further progress in these things. But upon a more particular, and close Application of my Thoughts, to the darker sides of the Prophecy, I am now more satisfied, that there are such plain marks of their relation to the clearer parts of it, (b) Idem Disput. 10. But this I take to be the reason why there were so few things plainly signified, namely, That we might from those open-hints hunt after the understanding of the rest. as are able to lead one to a particular discovery of all the material things that are signified by them. I will not engage that all that shall be here delivered shall appear as absolutely Necessary, and Cogent, as the first part of these Inquiries, because they are deductions from those principles. But yet it will be convenient to follow the same Process and Method, that has been there observed, or to set all the Conclusions distinctly by themselves, and to dispose them into that Order, in which they do most naturally depend upon one another, which will tender the whole Prospect of them more clear, and open, and make it more easy to discover any weakness, that may be suspected to be in them. It may easily be apprehended, that it is not my business here, to prove the principles upon which I rely; Because this is but the consequence of another work. But yet I will here make use of no other Suppositions, than such as are the most obvious things in the whole Prophecy: And are therefore generally agreed upon by all Protestant Interpreters of any Note; And of that kind are these that follow, which I therefore take as so many acknowledged Postulata, or Foundations to proceed upon. 1. That the Beast and the False Prophet, are the chief Ruling Suppositions. Power of the present Church of Rome. 2. That the Time, Times and an half, the 42 Months of the Rest, and the 1260 Days, are 1260 Years, and are all one and the same individual Time. 3. That the rise of the Beast was before the Year 620. 4. That the Two Witnesses, in Sackcloth, are the Representatives of the whole true Church of God, under subjection to Roman States. 5. That Babylon is the City of Rome in a State of Ecclesiastical Domination. SINCE all hopes of the Application of the Trumpets do seem to depend upon the Relation, that they may be found to have with that, which is the most clearly known in the Prophecy, that is, The characters of the Beast, the first Conclusion that shall be here offered, is That The Woe of the seventh Trumpet does put an end to all the Theor. 1 Power of the Beast. For the Beast is signified to be in Power against the Church Revel. 11. ●, & 15. of Christ, just before the Woe of the seventh Trumpet; And that Woe makes all the Kingdoms of this World, the Kingdoms of Christ for ever; And therefore must all the Power of the Beast against the Church be made an end of by it. It may next be observed, That The 144000 chap. 14. 1. are the faithful Members of Theor. 2 Christ's Church upon Earth. For they are the opposite party to that of the Beast. And Rev. 14. 1. therefore must be upon Earth. And they are represented as upon Mount Zion with the Lamb, (c) The Jesuit Alcazar in cap. 14. Apoc. By Zion in the Holy Scripture is signified the whole Church Militant; Because, as S. Paul saith, The rest are engrafted upon the same Olive-tree. Paul does so use the name of Zion, Gal. 4. 24. Heb. 12. 22. and therefore must they be the faithful members of the Christian Church upon Earth; And in the (d) Ibid. These 144000 are without all question the very same with those in the seventh Chapter. 7. Chap. they are said to be the servants of God Sealed to escape the Evils, that were to come upon the Earth. It appears also from thence, That The 144000 chap. 14. 1. are Contemporary with the first Theor. 3 times of the Reign of the Beast. For the party of the Beast at their first appearance are said Revel. 13. 16. to have received the mark, and name of the Beast in their Right Hands, or their Foreheads, just before the mention of the 144000, who are said to be sealed also in their Foreheads with the Seal of the Name of God, which does manifestly intimate, that the 144000 were than in being, when the other were marked out to be distinguished from them, that is, at their first appearance. Wherhfore the 144000 do continued with the party of the Beast, from the first beginning of his Reign. But than it is evident, That, The 144000. chap. 7. were sealed to save them from the Theor. 4 Evils of the Trumpets. For they were sealed to be secured from the evils, that Revel. 7. 2. were going to be inflicted on the Earth and Sea, just before the appearance of the Trumpets. And it appears from the fifth Trumpet, which was to torment all who had not Revel. 9 4. the Seal of God in their Foreheads, that the evils, that the 144000 were secured from, were the judgements of the Trumpets. Indeed the whole 7. Chap. which shows upon what account the 144000 were sealed, appears to be put in betwixt the sixth and the seventh Seal, for no other purpose, but to signify what was first to be done to make way for the execution of the Judgements of the Trumpets. For those Judgements Revel. 6. 11. ver. 17. had been promised in the fifth Seal, in revenge of the Blood of the Christian Martyrs, and were seen to be near at hand in the sixth Seal, just before the 7. Chap. but were deferred to be executed till after that Chapter, at the opening of the seventh Seal. Revel. 8. 2. The Reason for which appears from the matter of the 7. Chap. which is nothing else but an account, either of the 144000 (who were to be sealed before the Judgements of the Trumpets, in order to their security under them) or of the great multitude of all Nations at the 9 verse, who are said to be come out of the Great Tribulation, and appear to be those rest of the Brethrens, that were in the fifth Seal foretold should be killed within a little season, and just Revel. 6. 11 before the Vengeance there promised to the Blood of the Martyrs. For these rest of the Brethrens that in the fifth Seal are said should be killed, are all the rest of the Martyrs, that were to die in the same kind of Persecution, in which those others in the fifth Seal were slain, as it is signified by the expression of those that should be killed, as they were; Chap. 6. 11. And they being to be killed, within a little season, and before the beginning of the Vengeance, there promised, they have just the same Character, with that of the great multitude Revel. 7. 9 of all Nations come out of Tribulation in the sixth Seal. For the great multitude do by their place in the sixth Seal appear to be within a little season after the time of the fifth Seal, And they were all the rest of the Brethrens, that were to be killed, because they were an innumerable multitude of all nations, kindreds, and people, and tongues, and had white robes given them like the Martyrs in the fifth Seal; They are also described as all killed just before the time of the Trumpets, as the kill of the rest of the Brethrens was foretold should be just before the Vengeance there promised. This does make it sufficiently manifest, that all the business of the 7. Chap. has a relation to the judgements of the Trumpets, that were immediately to follow it; And therefore that the sealing of the 144000, was only to save them from those evils. The sealing of the 144000 is indeed an unquestionable allusion to the like representation in the 9 Chap. of Ezekiel, where the Angels, under whose charge the City Jerusalem was, are commanded to slay all that were in it without pity, excepting those who were ordered to be marked in their Foreheads, that they might be passed over upon the account Ezek. 9 4. of their mourning for the abominations of that people. And by this it does appear, that the reason of the mark, and number of both the opposite parties in the 14. Chapter, is this sealing of the 144000 in the 7. Chap. For there is no manner of account why that particular and unusual Character is given to the followers of the Beast, but only for their being there made the opposite party to another, that was sealed and numbered; whereas there had been an account given in the 7. Chap. long before, of the sealing of the 144000, for a very particular end, without any relation or mention of the mark, and number of the Beast. The time therefore of the 144000, does by this seem to be represented, as having been some while at lest before the time of the Beast, because they were sealed before the other were marked: It cannot however be questioned, but That The whole time of the Reign of the Beast is within the Theor. 5 time of the Trumpets. For the Reign of the Beast ends with the Woe of the seventh Trumpet (by Theorem 1.)— And it gins in the time of the 144000 (by Theorem 3.) And therefore in the time of the Trumpets, because the 144000 were sealed to be secured from the evils of the Trumpets (Theor. 4.) And so must be contemporary with the first of them. The whole time than of the Reign of the Beast must be in the time of the Trumpets, because they begin assoon as that Reign, and end after it. And than it cannot be easily doubted, but That The Kingdom of the Beast, is an Object of the Plagues of Conseq. the Trumpets, during the whole time of his Reign. For the whole time of the Reign of the Beast is in the time of the Trumpets (Theorem 5.) And the followers of the Beast are distinguished by their mark, as the opposite party to the 144000. And therefore must they be in the same Empire with the 144000 according to all the use of marking out persons in Scripture, to save them from the evils, that were to come upon the rest. The rest therefore, that were not so sealed, or the party of the Beast, must be the Objects of the Plagues from which the 144000 were secured, that is, the Objects of the Trumpets. It is also not lesle manifest, That The main Body of the Christian Church is in a State Theor. 6 of great Corruption before the time of the Trumpets. For the Twelve Tribes, out of which the 144000 are Revel. 7. chosen in order to be distinguished from them, by being sealed, are the whole Jewish State and Church; And the Jewish Church is known (e) Idem Notat. 21. in prooem Apocal. It is the ordinary way of the Prophets to touch upon Jewish matters, and to refer them to the things of the Christian Church. Idem Notat. in cap. 15. v. 3. It is very usual with the Prophets under the cover of Jewish Histories to refer to the History of the Christian Church. to be generally used in this Prophecy for the Christian Church, and must be so here, because the 144000 are Christians (by Theorem 2.) Now the 144000 are chosen out from the rest, because Revel. 7. 3. they are the Servants of God, and therefore cannot the rest be the true Servants of God. For wherever the Favourites or Servants of God are in the Scriptures marked out to be secured from any Judgements of God, The rest that are not marked are known to have drawn down those Judgements upon their Heads by some extraordinary wickedness. And than how far they are from being the true Servants of God, is sufficiently signified by the heaviness of the Judgements, that the 144000 were sealed to be secured from. And which therefore must fall upon those who were not sealed. This than does sufficiently show the whole Christian Church, excepting the 144000 to be in a very corrupt state before the time of the Trumpets. By this it appears, That The Plagues of the Trumpets do in their succession fall Theor. 7 upon all the parts of the Christian Church, which in the time of those Plagues are not the true Servants of God. For none but the 144000, who are the faithful Members of the Christian Church, are secured from the Plagues of the Trumpets; And they are chosen out, and sealed to be distinguished from all the rest in the time of those Judgements. And therefore must they fall upon all the rest who are not sealed. And this is openly expressed in the fifth Trumpet, Revel. 9 4, ●. which is said to torment none but those indefinitely, that have not the Seal of God in their Foreheads, that is, all the considerable part of the rest of the Church. And from hence without relying upon any former suppositions, concerning the Nature of the Beast, is a very fair ground offered to conclude, That The Party of the Beast, are some corrupt part of the Conseq. Christian Church. For by the sealing the 144000 to save them from the Plagues of the Trumpets, it appears that those Plagues are wholly designed against the rest of the Christian Church, out of whom the 144000 are chosen, in order to their being secured from those evils. And since these Plagues are found to fall upon the Followers of the Beast, Conseq. Theor. 5.) That Party must consequently be some corrupt part of the Christian Church. This than may answer that common Question, What evidence there is, That the Beast is a Christian Rule, or Church. For what can be more openly and plainly signified, than this is, from his being the opposite party to the 144000, and the Object of the Trumpets, which were all to fall upon the Christian Church? But yet it is not necessary from hence, that the Plagues of every Trumpet should fall upon all the parts of the Church, that are at that Time in a corrupt state. It is on the contrary very clearly expressed, that the Plagues of the four first Trumpets do extend but to a third part of the Subject upon which they fall; And therefore cannot every one of them be supposed to affect the Universal Church. But in what state soever the other parts of the Christian Church may be, yet since it is supposed, that the Beast is the Ruling Power of the Roman Church, it must be allowed, That The Plagues of the Trumpets do fall upon the Dominions Theor. 8 of the Roman Church, during the whole Time of the Reign of the Beast. 1. That the Plagues of the Trumpets do fall upon the dominions of the Roman Church, during the Reign of the Beast, appears from the security, that the 144000 have from those Plagues during that time. For the 144000 are the party opposite to that of the Beast, from whom the followers of the Beast are distinguished by their number, and their mark. These two parties must therefore continued together, thus distinguished from one another; And since the 144000 are secured from the evils of the Trumpets by nothing but their mark, those Plagues must therefore fall upon their Adversaries who have not that mark, that is upon the party of the Beast, which is supposed to be those of the Roman Church (Suppos. 1.) 2. And than these Plagues do fall upon the Roman Party for the whole time of the Reign of the Beast, because the whole time of the Reign of the Beast is in the time of these Plagues (Theor. 5.) But yet it is to be considered, that the Plagues of the Trumpets may fall upon other parts of the World, besides the Territories of the Roman Church, during the Reign of the Beast. For these Plagues are found to concern all the corrupted parts of the Church at one time or other, (Theor. 7.)— And the 144000 are signified to be dispersed among all the corrupted parts of the Church, by being taken out of all the twelve Tribes, that is, out of all the parts that make up the whole Church, and to have a Seal upon them to distinguish the several Parcels of them from the rest of that Division. So that unless it can be made appear, That the jurisdiction of the Beast contains all the corrupted parts of the Christian Church in it, the Plagues of the Trumpets are not to be confined to that Party only for their Object. However the concern of the Beast alone, in the Plagues of the Trumpets, for the whole time of his Reign, is sufficient to make any conclude, That The Plagues of the Trumpets are the (f) Pererius Disput. 5. Apocalyps. The most eminent events are here referred to. See Pererius in Note the first. Alcazar Notat. 6. prooem. The Historical sense does apply all to the History of the Christian Church— To the events in it, not those that are minute, and inconsiderable, but to the most remarkable and eminent. Cornel. à Lapide prolegom— Apocal. de variis modis interpretandi Apoc.— 2. others, and far the truest, do apply to some of the most famous events in several Ages. most heavy and, Theor. 9 lasting Calamities that do hap in their time, within those parts of the Empire, upon which they fall. For the Plagues of the Trumpets, do take up as much time at lest to be executed in, as the length of the Reign of the Beast is. (Theor. 5.)— And that is agreed to be 1260 Years (Suppos. 2.) And these Plagues are set out, as the most dreadful Calamities that do hap within that length of time. This is first signified by the solemn representation of the Rev. 7. 1. & 3. four Angels, standing at the four corners of the Earth, and holding the four Winds, that they should not do that mischief that was going to be executed upon the Earth and the Sea. And than next by as solemn a sealing of the Servants of God to save them from those evils for this length of time: And again, afterwards by the Voices and Thunderings and Lightnings Rev. 8. 5. and Earthquake, that followed upon the casting of the Fire of the Altar upon the Earth, just before the beginning of the Trumpets. But the most Emphatical Description of the Terrors of some of these Plagues, is the dreadful and loud cry of Rev. 8. 13. the Angel flying through the midst of Heaven, Chap. 8. 13. Woe, Woe, Woe, to express the Terrors of the three Trumpets that were than to come. This is farther signified by the choice that is made of the Plagues of Egypt to set out these Calamities by; They are of that sort of Egyptian Plagues, of which God says, in distinction Exod. 9 14. to all the rest, That he would sand them, that Pharaoh might know, that there was none like him in all the Earth. And of the first of these, The hail, He says it should v. 18. be such as had never been in Egypt since the Foundation of it till than; And of the Locusts, That they should do that which neither their Fathers, nor their Father's Fathers had Exod. 10. 6. seen, since the day that they were upon the Earth. And the darkness is called thick darkness, and such as might be v. 21, 22. felt. But the plainest evidence of the heavy nature and extent of these Plagues, is the matter of the second and sixth Trumpet; The burning Mountain cast into the Sea is never Rev. 8. 8. used amongst the Prophets, but to signify the utter ruin of Empire; And the slaying the third part of Men is such a Rev. 9 19 Plague, as never was before heard of. To the circumstances also of the Hail of Egypt, is here added that of Blood, in the Hail of the first Trumpet; And to those of the Egyptian Locusts are such adjuncts added in the fifth Rev. 9 7. Trumpet, as make them appear to be very dreadful and terrible. And than for the long continuance of them, the Locusts, in v. 5, 10. the fifth Trumpet, are described to continued five Months, to show the different nature of that Plague, from its Pattern in Egypt. And the great slaughter of Men in the sixth Trumpet, which seems to refer to the slaughter of the Firstborn in Egypt, is described to continued for a Day, a Month and a Year. Wherhfore the Plagues of the Trumpets must be the heaviest Calamities, upon the place where they fall, of any that hap in the whole compass of the time that they are executed in. And therefore are they the most dreadful Plagues that can hap in the length of 1260. Years, which they do certainly take up, during the Reign only of the Beast, (Suppos. 2.) From hence it appears unquestionable, That The Plagues of the Trumpets cannot be understood in the Theor. 10 literal sense of the words, by which they are described. For the expressions before mentioned, are of much too high and solemn a signification to signify nothing but a great Rev. 8. Hail and Blasting, as the Plague of the first Trumpet does literally signify; Or a change only in the Waters of the Sea and Rivers, as it is in the Plague of the second and third; Or nothing but an Eclipse of the Sun and Moon, as it is in the fourth Trumpet, and which besides bear no manner of proportion to the Calamities, that do hap in any place within such a compass of Years, as the Plagues of the Trumpets have been found to be executed in, (Conseq. Theor. 5.) But to make it altogether unquestionable, That the matter of the Trumpets, cannot be taken in the literal sense of the words, it is to be observed, That the Plague of the third Trumpet is a Star falling like a Lamp upon the third part of the River: Now this is impossible for one falling Star, as it literally signifies, to be able to do, though it were as big as the biggest Lamp that ever was seen, especially since it is said also to fall upon the Fountains of Water, which must be at too great a distance from one another, for a falling Star to spread itself over in a literal sense. And how is it possible to conceive a slaughter of the third part of Men in a War of little above a Years continuance, as it is literally expressed in the sixth Trumpet? The Mountain also in the second Trumpet, that is said to burn with Fire, and to be cast into the Sea, is a very peculiar prophetical Jerem. 51. 25. expression, and is no where used in Scripture, but in a mystical sense, and that only for a destruction of Empire. On the other side, nothing is more obvious amongst the Prophets than to use those Terms in a mystical sense, that are here the Characters of the evils of the Trumpets: And the ordinary use of them there, is to denote the several Calamities that befall a Nation. It may therefore be very safely concluded, That the Plagues of the Trumpets are to be understood of greater Calamities than they literally signify. And than by what hath before been observed, The Plagues of the Trumpets, that fall within the time Conseq. of the Reign of the Beast, must be the greatest of all the Calamities that do hap within those places where they fall, during the whole time of that Reign. It is necessary to put in the limitation of the places upon which they fall, because there are frequent mentions of the particular parts of Subjects that are affected by the matter of the Trumpets. The Conclusion is also so much the stronger by that Restriction. It may therefore now be concluded, That the evils of those Trumpets, which happened during the Reign of the Beast, must be the most remarkable calamities, that befell the Roman Empire, within the 1260 Years of his Reign. From hence it would be inferred, that the Saracen Vexations of the Roman Empire must necessarily be one of the Plagues of these Trumpets; For it fell within the Time of the Reign of the Beast, which is generally supposed by Protestant Interpreters to have begun before the Year 620. (Supposition 3.) Whereas the Saracen Invasions were not till after the Year 630; And the whole Roman Empire both in the East and West was the Empire of the Beast, when the Saracen Invasions began. For at that time there was but one Roman Church in all those Parts, and it continued to be so for above an hundred Years after; all which time did the Saracens continued their Hostilities against the Eastern Empire. And soon after the setlement of the new Western Empire, Anno 800. they began their vexations of that part also of the Empire of the Beast; And continued them upon Italy itself, for much the same number of years, that they had plagued the Eastern parts, from their first inroads till that time. So that here was a plague upon the proper Empire of the Beast for near 300 years together, which must certainly have been signified by some of these Trumpets, since they are found to fall upon the Dominions of the Beast during the whole time of his Reign (Theor. 5.) If it be so manifest, that the Saracen Empire must be the matter of one of the Trumpets, than certainly the Turkish Hostilities must be the business of another; For betwixt them both they have been a plague to the Roman Empire, both in the East and West, for near 1100. years together of the Reign of the Beast, which is almost the whole time of his Reign. And from hence does it also appear, That the Saracen and Turkish Empires must necessarily be the first and second Woe. For according to the general opinion of Interpreters concerning the latest rise of the Beast, (Suppos. 2.) He cannot have much above an hundred years still to come, of which there must be some part allowed for the execution of the third Woe upon him in the seventh Trumpet. So that if the first or second Woe were still to come, they would be nothing so considerable, as the vexations of the Empire by the Saracens and Turks, had been before, which is contrary to the representation of the three last Woes in the Prophecy, which are signified to be far heavier, and much more considerable evils, than any of the Plagues of the Trumpets before Rev. 8. 13. them. Here is therefore now a very fair ground of clear satisfaction, concerning the Nature of the two first Woes; but the necessity of this will appear much more unquestionable, See Theorem 33. from a further consideration of the Prophecy, and especially from the relation of the second Woe, to the time of the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses, Chap. 8. Note 5. And from the nature and time of the fifth Vial, Conseq. 1. Theor. 66. CHAP. II. The Great Tribulation, and great Multitude, chap. 7. 9 applied: The rest of the Brethrens and the Vengeance promised, ch. 6. 11. The matter of the sixth Seal. The object of the plagues of the Trumpets. The Hostilities of the Saracens, and Turks, further evinced to be the business of the first and second Woe. The bounds of the first four Trumpets determined. THE Application of the Plagues of the fifth and sixth Trumpet to the Saracen, and Turkish vexations of the Roman Empire, may possibly be apprehended to have been sufficiently secured by the process of the former discourse. But because this conclusion is the foundation of all the hopes, that I have of coming to a determinate knowledge of the significations of the rest of the Trumpets, I will endeavour to settle it upon a still firmer bottom in such a method, as may at the same time give an intimation of the ground and reason of the judgements of the Trumpets, which will have a very great influence towards the discovery of the chief point of the malignity of the Beast. For this purpose it may in the first place be observed, That The great Tribulation, out of which the great multitude Theor. 11 in white Robes are said to be come, chap. 7. 14. cannot be either the judgements of the sixth Seal, or those in the Trumpets. For the great multitude in white Robes, Chap. 7. are represented as the faithful Members of the Christian Church that were come out of great Tribulation, Vers. 14. But the faithful Members of the Christian Church are sealed to escape the calamities of the Trumpets (by Theor. 4.) and are the peculiar select number of 144000 for all that time which is mentioned in the seventh Chapter, as a note of distinction betwixt them, and the great multitude, that comes immediately after in the same Chapter. And the calamities of the sixth Seal are shown to be intended Revel. 6. 16. against the Enemies of the Lamb, and not against his faithful followers. The great Tribulation cannot therefore be either the Terrors in the sixth Seal, or the judgements of the Trumpets. And therefore, The great Tribulation, etc. chap. 7. must be the same with Theor. 12 the presecution, in which the rest of the Brethrens are said to be killed in the fifth Seal. The Original does make this appear to be necessary. That which is translated out of the great Tribulation, is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which rendered verbatim signifies, out of the Tribulation Revel. 7. 14. the great one. And as it is thus called the Great Tribulation with an Article of Reference before it, so must it import some Reference in it to a Tribulation, that is some where thereabouts mentioned; Now there are no other Tribulations mentioned any thing near this place, but the calamities of the sixth Seal, Those of the Trumpets and the Persecutions and Martyrdoms in the fifth Seal. 1. But the great Tribulation cannot be meant of the calamities of the sixth Seal or Trumpets (by Theor. 11) It must therefore be some Tribulation mentioned in the fifth Seal. 2. It cannot be the Martyrdom of the Souls, that were Revel 6. 10. seen slain under the Altar in the fifth Seal. For they are said at that time to have been slain, and to have had white Robes given unto them. Whereas this multitude are described to come out of Tribulation after the sixth Seal, and to Revel. 7. 9 be than in white Robes. Those slain in the fifth Seal are also represented but as a part of those, that were killed for the word of God; But these in the seventh Chapter are a great multitude, which no Man could number, of all Nations and Kingdoms, and Peoples and Tongues. The Tribulation than out of which this great multitude are said to come, must be the persecution, in which those called the rest of the Brethrens are foretold in the fifth Chapter should be killed: For this Tribulation must be some persecution mentioned in the fifth Seal, by the first Article of this proof; And there is no other persecution mentioned in the fifth Seal, but only that of the Souls under the Altar, and this of the rest of the Brethrens. And by the second Article of this same proof, it cannot be that Persecution of the Souls under the Altar. This Tribulation must therefore be the Persecution of the rest of the Brethrens. Besides, it appears from the proper and natural exposition of the context, that this multitude in the seventh Chapter must be the rest of the Brethrens, that are said in the fifth Seal should be killed within a little season after. For when we see an express mention in the fifth Seal of Revel. 6. 11. the rest of the Martyrs that were to be killed after that time, and that determined to be within a little season after; And when presently after there comes in the mention of a Revel. 7. 9 great multitude of all Nations, or of all parts of the World come out of a great Tribulation (which is just the same with all the rest of the Brethrens Martyrs) and who were clothed in White, just as those were, who were slain in the fifth Seal; And this also just before the execution of the Vengeance of the Trumpets, which had been promised in the fifth Seal, after the kill of the rest of the Brethrens; How can any one, without wresting these plain intimations to a forced sense of his own, not conclude, That this multitude, said there to be come out of Tribulation, must necessarily be those, who were foretold in the fifth Seal just before? Especially, if it be considered that the Article of Reference in that expression of the Great Tribulation, does necessarily import in it a Relation to some known Tribulation, and that there is no other mentioned any where near these Chapters that can suit with it, but only that Persecution in which the rest of the Brethrens in the fifth Seal were to be killed. Nothing but so very an extraordinary weight of Reason, as is sufficient to force one to another Interpretation, aught to be regarded against the great evidence, upon which the former Exposition has been established; And yet the only Reason, that Mr. Mede does give for his different apprehension in this point, is, That it is said, that this multitude was seen after the vision of the 144000, And therefore must be after the time of those 144000, that is, after the sounding of all the Trumpets, because wherever the term of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used in this Prophecy, it is pretended that it signifies a succession of things. But all that need be done to expose the weakness of this ground, is only to show, that the term of after these things does properly signify not more in any History of Visions succeeding one another, than that the Vision, which that term brings in, was after another Vision, that had been represented before it, and not that the things themselves that are described in the latter of the Visions, must necessarily be fulfilled after the time of all the things and persons that are any ways mentioned in the Vision which is before it. And this may be sufficiently proved by instances of that kind, in this very Prophecy itself. For example, The very first opening of the Scene of these Visions is introduced with this expression, after these things, or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, chap. 4. 1. And yet the first Seal is agreed by Mr. Mede to be before the end of many of those things, that are mentioned in the Prophecy concerning the seven Churches, As particularly the victory, and the reward mentioned in every one of the Prophecies of the seven Churches. The ruin also of Babylon, chap. 18. is said to be seen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or after the things that had been mentioned in the Chapters before, and yet the Vintage which is part of those things, Rev. 14. ●0. does not end till after the ruin of Babylon; And this very same destruction of Babylon had been one of the things mentioned in the seventeenth Chapter just before. The Alleluïahs in the ninteenth Chapter are said to be after these things, that is, after the burning of Babylon, Chap. 18. And yet are these Alleluïahs represented to be at the same time with the ascending up of the smoke of it. And yet though it should be granted, that the term of after these things should denote a Succession of Events, as well as of Visions, yet all that could be made of it in this place, would be only this, that the time of the great multitude in white Robes, was after the time of the first sealing of the 144000, or the true Church; And not that they must needs be after the end of the whole time of the sealed company. There is evil enough represented in the sixth Seal, for their first sealing, and to be secured from before the last coming of the Christian Martyrs out of all Heathen Tribulation. From the former Theorem, it clearly follows, That The rest of the Brethrens that were to be killed in the fifth Conseq. Seal, chap. 6. 11. were the same with the great multitude, which could not be numbered of all Nations, and Kingdoms, and people and Tongues in the seventh chap. verse. 9 For the great Tribulation out of which that great multitude of all Nations is said to have been come, is the same with the Persecution in the fifth Seal, in which the rest of the Brethrens there mentioned, are foretold should be killed (by Theorem 12.) And the rest of the Brethrens, that were to be killed in a persecution, includes in it all the Martyrs in that persecution; And therefore is the same with that great multitude from all parts of the World. Wherhfore, The Vengeance promised to the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, Theor. 13 must be the calamities of the seven Trumpets. For that promised Vengeance was not to be executed till the rest of the Brethrens there mentioned were killed. And those rest of the Brethrens, are the same with the multitude that came out of great Tribulation in the seventh Chap. (by Conseq. Theor. 12.) And that multitude did not come out of Tribulation, till after the opening of the sixth Seal, and just before the seventh Seal; Wherhfore the Vengeance promised in the fifth Seal must be the evils of the seven Trumpets, which Revel. 8. 2. do immediately follow upon the opening of the seventh Seal. Again, The Vengeance promised in the fifth Seal, must be either the Terrors of the sixth Seal, or of the Trumpets in the seventh Seal; For it is promised to be within a little Revel. 6. 11. season after. But it could not be those of the sixth Seal. For the Vengeance promised in the fifth Seal, was not to come till after the kill of the rest of the Brethrens therein mentioned. And those rest of the Brethrens could not be killed, during the period of the fifth Seal; for they are manifestly distinguished from those, who are there said to be slain, and who are made the proper business of that Seal. Now the sixth Seal opens immediately after the end of the fifth, without the lest mention of any further killing of the Brethrens: On the contrary the great business of it is those Terrors, that are described in it, against the Enemies of God ver. 15, 16, 17. and the Lamb. Those terrors therefore seem plainly to be before the kill of the rest of the Brethrens, and so could not be the Vengeance that was to come after the kill of them. Especially if it be considered, that immediately after the sixth Seal, there is just such a Representation of the kill Chap. 7. 9 Revel. 7. 14. of all the rest of the Brethrens, as had been mentioned in the fifth Seal, and there made the mark to know the time of the Vengeance there promised, by. And though the sixth Seal does open with a very dreadful representation of God's Judgements upon all kind of persons upon Earth, High and Low, yet all that terrible description of the change of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, etc. does among the Prophets signify not more, than some great change of a State, and of the political Government of it; And the fright that the great Kings and Captains, and all degrees of persons, are represented to be in thereupon, may be nothing but the great apprehensions they had of the consequences of that change of State. But the Judgements themselves, that they were afraid of, seemed to be very manifestly deferred, from the provision, that is immediately made against them in the seventh Chap. by the sealing of the 144000. It is therefore those Judgements which they were sealed against, (and which were to be executed after that great change of the State, which is represented in the sixth Seal) that were the Vengeance that was to be given to the Martyrs in the fifth Seal; And those were the Calamities of the Trumpets. It may than now be concluded, That The Calamities of the Trumpets could not begin till after Theor. 14 the end of some Universal persecution of the Christian Church all over the World. For the Calamities of the Trumpets were the Vengeance promised to the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, (by Theor. 13.)— And the Vengeance promised in the fifth Seal was not to be performed till after that the rest of the Brethrens that were to be killed, as they were, were Martyred, Rev. 6. 11. And those rest of the Brethrens, were the great multitude in the seventh Chap. which no Man could number, of all Nations and Kingdoms, and People and Tongues, (by Conseq. Theor. 12.)— Which cannot signify any thing lesle, than an Universal Persecution of the Christian Church all over the World. The Calamities therefore of the Trumpets could not begin till after such an Universal Persecution. From hence it necessarily follows, That The Martyrdoms of the fifth Seal must have been all past before the rise of the Beast. Theor. 15 For the Martyrs in the fifth Seal are those who were than slain, and all the rest that were to be slain all over the World in that kind of Persecution, Rev. 6. 11. and this was to be before the seven Trumpets, (by Theor. 14.) Wherhfore either none of them could have been Martyred by the Beast, or they must have been all those that ever were Martyred by the Beast; And that also before the Trumpets. Whereas the worst of the Martyrdoms under the Beast, or the kill of the Two Witnesses, was after the sixth Rev. 11. 7. Trumpet. Wherhfore the Martyrdoms of the fifth Seal must have been all past before the rise of the Beast. Besides, the Martyrs in the fifth Seal were all to be killed, within a little season, after the time of that Seal, which the slain Witnesses in the sixth Trumpet could not possibly be; And therefore could not the Witnesses be the rest that were to be killed in the fifth Seal; which yet they must be, if any of the Martyrdoms of the fifth Seal were in the time of the Beast. For the term of the rest of the Brethrens in the fifth Seal includes all that remain to be Martyred by the same power. Wherhfore all the Martyrs, in the fifth Seal, were to be killed before the time of the Beast. And than it is as certain, That The great multitude, Chap. 7. must have come out of Tribulation Conseq. 1 before the rise of the Beast. For that multitude has been already found to be the rest of the Brethrens in the fifth Seal that were to be killed, (Conseq. Theor. 12.) But this conclusion seems to be much more clearly confirmed in this manner: The 144000 are contemporary with the first times of the Reign of the Beast. (Theor. 3.) And the time for which they were chosen out, and sealed against, was the time of the seven Trumpets. (Theor. 4.) And therefore the time of the Beast could not be before the beginning of the seven Trumpets. But the great multitude, Chap. 7. are represented before the opening of the seventh Seal, as come out of Tribulation; whereas the seven Trumpets do not appear till after the opening of the seventh Seal. That multitude must therefore be come out of Tribulation before the time of the † Chap. 12. 10, 11, 12. is the same description of ● triumph of Martyrs with that of the great multitude, Chap. 7. 10, 11, 12, 14. And Protestants agreed, That the former describes the times of Constantine. Beast. And therefore, All the Martyrs in the fifth Seal either than slain, or that Conseq. 2 were to be slain, were martyred before the Year 620. For they were all martyred before the Rise of the Beast (by Theorem 15.)— And the Rise of the Beast was before the Year 620. (Supposition 3.) From hence than it appears, That All the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, were killed under the Theor. 16 Heathen Emperors of Rome. For the last Martyrs of the fifth Seal, were a multitude of all Nations, and People, that no man could number (by Conseq. Theor. 12.)— And they were all killed before the Year 620. (by Conseq. ●. Theor. 15.)— And there were no other persecutions betwixt the Conversion of the Imperial Throne to Christianity, and the Year 620. that can tolerably answer the characters of so universal a state of Martyrdom all the World over. It is also as manifest from thence, That The Martyrs in the fifth Seal were all the Christian Martyrs, Conseq. from that time to the end of the persecutions of Rome Pagan. For they were those, that were than slain, and all the rest that were to be killed all the World over in the same manner (by Conseq. Theor. 12. and Revel. 6. 11.) And they were all killed under Heathen Emperors of Rome (by Theor. 16.)— They were therefore all that were to be killed from that time to the end of all persecution, by Rome Pagan. And than it is necessary, That The business of the sixth Seal, be some great change of the Theor. 17 Pagan Government of the Empire, before the utter ruin of all Pagan Power in it. For the multitude in the seventh Chapter were martyred by Rome Pagan, after the opening of the sixth Seal (by Conseq. Theor. 12. and Theor. 16.) Now there need not much pains to prove, That The People or Nation, upon whom the calamities of Theor. 18 the seven Trumpets are executed, must be the same Nation with those who killed the Martyrs in the fifth Seal. For since the calamities of the Trumpets are the Vengeance promised to the Martyrs in the fifth Seal (by Theor. 13.)— The Vengeance must than be executed upon that Nation, who killed them, or else it could be no revenge for the shedding their blood. Wherhfore, The plagues of the Trumpets are executed upon the Roman Conseq. Empire. For the plagues of the Trumpets are the promised Vengeance of the fifth Seal (by Theor. 13.)— And they must fall upon the same People, or Nation, who shed the blood of the Martyrs in the fifth Seal (by Theor. 18.)— And those were the Romans (by Theor. 16.) Again, That the Roman Empire in general is the Object of the Plagues of the Trumpets, at some time or other, appears from the chief Object of the Calamities of the Trumpets, which is the whole corrupted Christian Church (Theor. 7.) Now in that part of the time of the Beast, which was after the Year 620. (Suppos. 2.) The whole Roman Empire was the Dominions of the corrupted Church for above an hundred Year together. For there was but one Emperor of the East and West. Wherhfore the whole Roman Empire is the Object of the Plagues of the Trumpets. Therefore must those calamities be executed upon the Roman Empire. It might be imagined indeed, that because it was the Heathen Emperors, that shed the blood of the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, that those calamities aught to fall upon Rome Heathen, to be a Vengeance for the blood of those Martyrs. But we see, that the Vengeance was not to begin till all the Martyrs were slain; And they were not all slain, till after the time of Maximinus and Licinius at the soon. The persecution under Maximinus has the very same character in Petavius, that the great multitude is set out by Chap. 7. that is, an innumerable multitude. Above all the rest, says he, Maximinus expressed the greatest rage and fury in the East, and killed an innumerable multitude of Martyrs. Ab Anno Christi 304. ad 337. Rationar. Tempor. Now Maximinus and Licinius were the last considerable Persecutors of the Christians. So that there was no Pagan Empire left after them, for the Trumpets to be executed upon. For the Trumpets were not to begin to sound, till after the power of Rome Pagan was passed (Theor. 17.) and yet were to continued to the Universal Reign of Christ over all the World, at the end of the Woe of the last Trumpet. There was therefore nothing left for the judgement of the Trumpets to be executed upon, but the Roman Empire converted to Christianity. For Julian's Reign afterwards, was too inconsiderable to be the Object of them. There cannot be any further question about this, when it is considered, that the Object of the calamities of the Trumpets, is all the twelve Tribes, excepting the 144000, that is, as has been before shown, (Theor. 7.) All the corrupt parts of the Universal Church. And therefore must the Christian Empire be the only Object of those evils. Indeed, if it be well considered, there could not well have been a clearer representation of this, than what we found at the opening of the sixth Seal; and in the seventh Chapter of Revel. For as the appearances of the great change of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, have been found to signify the change of the Roman State from Paganism to Christianity. (Theor. 17.) So is this plainly enough signified by the twelve Tribes, in the seventh Chapter, which do properly signify the Jewish State, and not the Jewish Church. For their Church is represented in this Prophecy by the Elders, and the Temple, etc. And what than can this signify, but that now the Roman State was become a Christian State, as the twelve Tribes must here signify. And than the reason of the distinction betwixt the 144000, and the great multitude presently after them appears to be, that the one (or the 144000) were the true Church, in a Christian state of the Empire; but the great multitude were come out Martyrs out of an heathen state, as all People, and Tongues, and Nations are here opposed to the peculiar people of the twelve Tribes. Wherhfore by the distinction of the 144000 from the rest of the Tribes, who are made the Objects of the Trumpets, it is manifest, that there must be supposed a great degeneracy of the Roman Church, to which those calamities are signified to belong, before the time of the Plagues of the Trumpets. It can be no wonder, that the Christian Government degenerated, should be counted so great an Adversary to the Church of God: And the Object of his highest fury for it. For the Jews who were the only people of God, were known to be the fiercest enemies to the Christian Church, which was but their own Religion improved. But whensoever those Judgements may be thought to begin, yet since it is made unquestionable, that they are to fall upon the Roman Empire in a continued series, from within a little season after the end of the Pagan persecutions, to the end of the Woe of the last Trumpet, or to the end of the Reign of the Beast, It is not to be doubted, but That The Hostilities of the Saracens and Turks against the Theor. 19 Eastern and Western Roman Empire, were the matter of two of the last three Trumpets. For the calamities of the Trumpets, begin within a little season after the end of the Heathen persecutions (by Conseq. Theor. 16. & 13.) And they do not end before the end of the Reign of the Beast (by Theor. 1.)— And they do all fall upon the remains of the old Roman Empire (by Conseq. Theor 18.) The Hostilities therefore of the Saracens, and Turks, against the Eastern and Western Empire, must be some of the matter of these Trumpets. And since the three last Trumpets are represented to have far the most dreadful Woes in them of any other: The Saracens and Turkish Empire must be two of those three Woes. For the whole time of the sixth and seventh Seal with the Trumpets cannot be above 1550 years, counting from the last end of the Pagan persecutions in Licinius, after the year 300, to the utmost end of the Reign of the Beast, that can be supposed, (Suppos. 3.) And there are still 170 years of that time now remaining upon that supposition; so that the whole time of the calamities of the Trumpets to this present cannot be 1400 years. And the Hostilities of the Saracens and Turks have continued near 1100 years of that time, ever since the year 631 at the latest. Wherhfore since there can be but an hundred and seventy years (according to the latest suppositions, of the rise of the Beast) yet remaining of the whole time of the Trumpets; The Saracens, and Turkish vexations must necessarily be two of the last three Trumpets, that are represented to be the three great Woes upon the Roman Empire. For there is none to come after them, that can be greater than the Turkish Empire, either for length of time, or for the destroying effects of it; For that has destroyed more of the Roman Empire, than now remains to be ruined under the Beast. Again, The Saracens must have been one of these Woes, because it fell upon the Roman Empire, when it was all under the jurisdiction of the Beast. Both the Eastern and Western parts were but one Roman Church in the year 620, when the Beast must at latest have been in being, (Suppos. 2.) and under the Plagues of the Trumpets, (Theor. 5.) And than it is certain that the Saracens were not the second Woe, because that Woe cannot be yet past; for the third Woe cometh quickly after it, which destroys the power of the Beast, (Theor. 1.) So the third Woe must than have been come ever since the ruin of the Saracens, and have been continually destroying the power of the Beast ever since that time, that is, for these 300 years, which is absurd to imagine. For the Beast has been in the greatest flush of his power, for the most part of the time. The Saracen troubles must than have been the first Woe. And than must the Turks have been the second Woe, Because the second Woe must be some that were the Masters of Euphrates. And there has been none that have been considerable Revel. ● 14. for that, since the Saracen Empire, but the Turks only. From hence it appears, That The Hostilities of the Saracens, and Turks must necessarily Conseq. 1 be the Woes of the fifth and sixth Trumpet. And therefore, The Turkish vexations of the Roman Empire are the second Conseq. 2 Woe. From hence also does it appear unquestionable, That the rest who are mentioned, Chap. 9 20. as sufferers by the second Woe, and yet were not made to repent of their Idols of Gold and Silver by it, must necessarily be the Western Christians of the Church of Rome. For as there is no other part of the ancient Roman Empire but this alone, which is not already destroyed by the Turks; so also cannot there be found any other people besides, that are any thing near the bounds of that Empire, that have had any Idols of Gold, or Silver, or any thing like them since the first rise of the Turkish Empire. The only worships of God besides that of the Roman Church, within the extent of the Roman Empire, are the Mahometan, the Jewish, that of the Greek Church, and the Reformation, all which are known to detest Image-Worship. By the knowledge we now have of the time of the fifth Trumpet, it is not hard to discover the bounds of the other four before it. For it is now unquestionable, That The Plagues of the first four Trumpets must be executed Conseq. 3 upon the Roman Empire, betwixt the end of the Pagan power of Rome, and the year 631. For the Saracens began their Invasions in the year 631. And they are the business of the fifth Trumpet (Conseq. 1. Theor. 19) And the calamities of the first Trumpet do not begin till after the end of all Pagan persecution. (Theor. 13. and Conseq. Theor. 16.) Wherhfore all the first four Trumpets must have been passed betwixt the end of the Pagan Empire, and the year 631. CHAP. III. The four first Trumpets applied. The signification of a third part in the Trumpets scrupulously enquired after, and determined. Objections answered. TO give a fuller Idea of the Judgements of God upon the Roman Empire, at its first degeneracy from the true Spirit of the Christian Religion, I will now make a more particular search after the business of the first four Trumpets, and chief because it will give us a better discovery of the several steps, and gradual advances of that which is the chief malignity of the Beast before his full grown appearance. It has been already shown that the first four Trumpets must begin after the end of the time of the Pagan Emperors (by Conseq. 3. Theor. 19) And therefore could they not be a revenge upon Rome Pagan. It is as impossible that they should begin while the Empire was truly Christian; for they are a revenge upon the Roman Empire for the Blood of Christian Martyrs, which therefore could not possibly fall upon any true Church of Christ; for that would be to revenge the cruelties of the Enemies of the Church upon the Church itself; and besides, it is plainly expressed, that all the true Members of the Church are secured from all the evils of the Trumpets, under the figure of the 144000, that were sealed to escape those calamities. Wherhfore since it must be after the time of both Rome Pagan, and Rome truly Christian, that these Trumpets must begin to be executed, it must necessarily be after some degeneracy of the Roman Empire, or after the beginning of some corrupt state of the Roman Church. For all the first Plagues of the Trumpets, as well as of the Vials, are nothing but references to the same kind of Plagues upon Egypt; and so do plainly intimate, that the Church must first be in a state of great Bondage and Oppression under the Roman Empire; upon the account of which, as it was the Continuation of the same Spirit of Cruelty, for which these Judgements had been before promised, these Calamities of the Trumpets are signified to be inflicted. This gives a very satisfactory Account of the signification of the Trumpets in this place. For as they are described to be the Denunciations of very great Evils, so must they be the Trumpets of God, to declare War against the Enemies of his Church, according to the Use of them among the Jews. And if we consider their Number, and the ruining and destroying Nature of their Plagues, but especially the Effect and Matter of the Seventh, which is a Shout in Heaven at Rev. 11. 15. the Fall of all the Kingdoms of this World into the Hands of God, and Christ, and his Church, It cannot but be concluded with the judicious Jesuit Ribera, That the seven Trumpets are a reference to the going about the Walls of Jericho seven days with the sound of Trumpets, and to the falling down of the Wall of it, at the shout of the People, on the last of those days. And thus do the seven Trumpets appear to be so many several Calamities upon the Roman Empire, in order to its last Ruin. The Time for the beginning of this, is confined to a little season after the kill of those in the Fifth Seal; and that signifies the same with a little while after the time of the Heathen Emperors. Conseq. Theor. 16. We are therefore to found out Four great Calamities that besel the Roman Empire, betwixt the end of the Rule of Paganism in it, and the Year 631, which is the acknowledged Date of the beginning of the Fifth Trumpet, or of the Saracen Empire. And they must be such as may answer the Characters of the first Four Trumpets, in the same Order in which they lie in the Text. But because it may seem difficult to determine the Time of the Degeneracy of the Christian Religion in the Empire, after the Ruin of Paganism, I will choose to seek for the Application of these Four Trumpets, from what is already known of the Fifth, which has been found to begin about the Year 631, (Conseq. Theor. 19) And from thence returning back, according to the Order of the Events to which they are applied, it will be more easy to determine the particular Age in which this Degeneracy of the Roman Church, or Empire, did begin. The Fourth Trumpet than must be some very great Calamity upon some of the Ruling part of the Roman Empire. The darkening of the Sun, Moon and Stars, must signify an Eclipse of the Majesty of the Empire, those parts of the Heavens being generally used in their Mystical Signification for Supreme Government. And that neither the Matter of this, nor of the rest of the Trumpets can signify those real things by which they are described, appears from Theor. 10. And as this darkness is here determined to a third part of these Schemes; so must it also be restrained to part only of the Rule of the Roman Empire. For since it is found to signify mystically a Diminution of the Majesty of the Empire, (Theor. 10.) the third part must either signify the third part of the Supreme Government of the World, of which the Roman Empire is supposed to be the third part here concerned, or it must be a third part only of the Roman Empire. But the World cannot be said to loose a third part of the Majesty of it by the Diminution of the Ruling Power of the Roman Empire. For there were other Supreme Governments that started up in the room of it. The only Events that can be imagined to be any ways suitable to this Representation, before the Saracon Inroads about the Year 631, are first that famous Eruption of the Persians' under Chosroes, somewhat before the Year 610, which overspread the greatest part of the Roman Territories in Asia, as far as Chalcedon in Bythinia; and that like a Torrent, or a general Conflagration, as Petavius represents it. They seized Jerusalem, and got to be Masters of Egypt, Alexandria and Libya; And the Emperor was so humbled by it, that he begged a Peace of them, but could not obtain it, unless he would deny Christ, and worship the Sun; And so this continued above Twenty Years. But yet in all this, there was no part of the Majesty of the Empire, which must here be signified at lest by the Sun, that was darkened. The Lombard Invasion in Italy, about the Year 568, may next come in with a pretence to this Fourth Trumpet; For it over-ran all Italy, but Rome and Ravenna. But the excepting of these two Places, which were the Seats of the Majesty of the Roman Empire, seems sufficient to excuse them from Eclipsing the third part of the Sun. Justinian's depriving of Rome of all the ancient Glory of its Senate and Consuls, and its being burnt by Totila about that time, may make a fair show of smiting the Sun. But that seems to be nothing but an Eclipse upon the City of Rome, which had jest almost all its Superiority under the Command of the Goths in Italy, and had continued for a long time in that condition before this Act of Justinian's; and than Justinian's Conquests could not be the Plague of this Fourth Trumpet; because they were no Judgement upon the Roman Empire, but an increase of the Glory of it. For the Majesty of the Roman Empire was accounted the same thing, wherever the Emperor himself did reside. It is therefore most probable, that the Submission of Rome and Italy, and of that part of the Empire to the barbarous Kings of the Heruli and Goths, is the Fourth Trumpet; for it succeeded into the place of the Western Empire, which was very properly the smiting of the third part of the Sun, Moon and Stars, as they signify the most dignified part of the Empire. The Third Trumpet must than be the Miseries of the Romans upon the Fall of the Western Empire, about the time of Valentinian the Third; whose Death the Historians do generally look upon as the Date of the Fall of the Western Empire, though it did continued struggling for Life among the scuffles of several Competitors above twenty years after. How this might be represented by a great Star falling from Heaven, as a Lamp, and by its fall filling all that part of the World with great bitterness of Spirit, will be better understood afterwards. And than the Second Trumpet before it, must be some great Invasion of the Empire by a vest Inundation of People upon it, to the utter ruin of some third part of it. For the Sea signifies Multitudes and Nations, etc. And the third part of the Sea becoming Blood, must signify the Wars and bloody Fights of those Nations and Multitudes. The Effect of which is very plainly determined by the mention of the great Mountain burning with Fire; which is the same Expression that the Prophet Jeremy makes use of to signify the Destruction of Babylon; and than here it can signify nothing Jerem. 31. 25. but the laying waste the Territories of some third part of the Empire by the Barbarous Nations, and the sharing it among themselves; which is very fitly represented by what is expressed of casting the Mountain into the Sea; for that is of the same import with being swallowed up by the Sea, that is, by those Multitudes and Nations. The first Trumpet than must be some great destroying Enemy, since we are sure by the Applications of the rest, that the Hail mentioned in it, cannot be literally understood. And than, when besides its being mingled with Fire, in which it resembles the Hail of Egypt, it has the addition of Blood also with it, it must denote some bloody storms of Enemies upon the Roman Empire. And this does very exactly represent the Invasions of the Empire by the Northern Nations, which is the Region of Hail, before their great Successes to the utter ruin of any part of the Empire. But the Explication of these Trumpets, as well as those that follow them, will be much more cleared and confirmed by settling the Notion of a Third part, which is mentioned as the Object of every one of them. The Third part cannot be here, as some would have it, of an Indefinite signification, or only signify a great part in general, or the greatest part of the Subject that it is joined with; for a Third part has always a definite and determinate signification, wherever it has a known sense in Scripture. (See Concordance in Third Part.) From hence therefore appears the vanity of all those Interpretations of these Trumpets, which make accounted that they are general Calamities upon the Subject where they fall; as those which make the Visible Church, or the World, indefinitely to be the Object of them all. But yet in the next place, the Third part cannot signify the whole Roman Empire, as a Third part of the known World in St. John's time; For in the Sixth Trumpet there is a plain Revel. 9 distinction betwixt the third part that were slain, and the rest who were not killed, and yet did not repent. By the third part than in that place cannot possibly be meant the Roman Empire in general; for than the sense of the Text must be, that it killed those of the Roman Empire, which is supposed to be the third part of the World; and that the rest of the World beside, whom it killed not, did not repent; whereas all the Judgements of these Trumpets have been found to have the Roman Empire only for their Object, (Conseq. Theor. 18.) Again, The Saracens in the Fifth Trumpet, (Conseq. 1. Theor. 19) are distinguished from the Plagues of all the other Trumpets, by falling upon all in general, who had not the Seal of God in their Foreheads: whereas all the rest are confined to a third part. So that if the third part in the rest were the whole Roman Empire, the Saracens must have been the Conquerors of all the World; whereas all their considerable Conquests were upon the parts of the Roman Empire. And besides, all their Vexations, as they were one of the Calamities of the Trumpets, had only the Roman Empire for their Object, (Conseq. Theor. 18) The darkening also of the third part of the Sun in the Fourth Trumpet, cannot possibly signify an Eclipse of the third part of the Ruling Power of the whole World, at the pulling down of the Imperial Throne of Rome in the West; for the Kingdoms that started up in the room of the Imperial Throne, were as considerable parts of the Supreme Power of the World, as those of the other two parts of it out of the Bounds of the Roman Empire. Nor could the Imperial Throne in the West alone be called the third part of the Ruling Power of the World, because both the Imperial Thrones in the East and West are supposed in this Opinion to be but the third part of the Supreme Power of the World. If by the third part cannot be meant the Roman Empire in general, than must it signify a third part of that Empire only. For the Roman Empire is certainly the Object of these Trumpets. And by this it appears, that the several Subjects, upon which these Plagues do fall, do represent some general Attribute of a third part of the Roman Empire. For if they signified any thing lesle, they could not represent the Evils of a whole third part of the Empire; and therefore by the Earth, Sea, Rivers, Sun, etc. must be meant something that was common to all the places of some third part of the Roman Empire. It will than forthwith be apprehended, That since the World was commonly known in St. John's time to be divided into three parts, Europe, Asia and Africa; and that the Roman Empire had the Rule in the several and chiefest parts of them all, that by a third part must be meant one of these Divisions of the Empire. But than the Saracens in the Fifth Trumpet, to whom Africa was irrecoverably lost, must have slain the third part of Men, as well as the Turks in the Sixth Trumpet; whereas those in the Fifth Trumpet are said only to Torment, and not to Kill Men. The slaying the third part of Men, which is found to be but a third part of the Roman Empire, cannot be understood of any literal slaughter of all the Romans in those Parts. Whoever heard of such a Butchery in any part of the World? And therefore it must signify mystically, or the (a) GRotius de jure B. & P. Lib. 2. c. 9 Artic. 3, 4, 5, 6. Where he shows, that as a people continued one and the same living Body, as long as they continued in an united Society: so may they be said also to die, when their Government, and Society is taken from them; as when a people are reduced under the power of another Nation. utter Extinction of the Name or Power of the Romans there, according as that Expression is used in a mystical sense by the Prophets. And in this sense would the Saracens have slain the third part of Men, if Africa had been intended here for one of the third parts in these Trumpets. The Loss of that we see is accounted but one of the Vexations with which the Saracens tormented those that had not the Seal of God in their Foreheads, in distinction to the kill of a third part, as it is expressly said of them. One would be extremely tempted after this to judge, that by the third part cannot be meant any Division of the Empire into three parts that were all in being together. For it is known that there were but Two constant distinct parts of the Roman Empire, and these were the Eastern and Western Empire. By the third part in these Trumpets might than be apprehended to be meant one of the Three successive Thrones of the Roman Empire, that is, the ancient Western Empire, the Eastern or Constantinopolitan, and the new restored Empire in the West. For this would very well agreed with the order of the Trumpets, where it seems manifest that the four first Trumpets ruin the ancient Western Empire, the two next the Constantinopolitan, and the last Trumpet makes an end of the Beast, and of his new restored Empire in the West. But it is too plain, that the third part here is one part of three that were than in being, to allow of this Conjecture, though otherwise very tempting. The Sea in the Second Trumpet must have two parts more in it at that present time when the third part of it became Blood. And by the third part of the Creatures that were in it is manifestly signified, that there were twice as many in it that did not die by that Plague. And it could not be said that a third part of the Sun or of the Moon was darkened, unless there were two other parts of them at the same time which were not eclipsed by the sound of the Fourth Trumpet. It must therefore now be concluded, that this Expression does refer to some real Division of the Roman Empire into three parts, before the time of the Trumpets. The History of those Times gives us this light about it. At the Death of Constantine the Great, the Empire was shared among his three Sons. Constantine the Eldest had all the Western part of it beyond the Alpss, Britain, the Gauls, and Spain. Constance the Youngest had all the rest of Europe, with almost all Africa, and the Isles between them. And Constantius all the Asiatic part of it, with the Kingdom of Egypt. And though the whole Empire did not long after fall into the Hands of Constantius, yet besides the Roman and Constantinopolitan Seats, which were soon after settled Imperial Thrones, there was continually some or other starting up in the farthest Western Division, till the famous Inundation of the Barbarous Nations all over the Empire. So that here seems to be ground enough to rely upon this Tripartite Division of the Empire at the Death of Constantine for the Applications of the several mentions of the third part of the Empire. For it may be thought to be no greater Objection against these three parts, that they were often under but two Emperors, than it would be against the two parts of it, that they were often united under one single Emperor. But that, which does the most unanswerably confirm this threefold division of the Empire, is the Office of the Praefecti Praetorio, or the Prefects of the Palace, or of the Guard, who were the next Administrators of the Government under the Emperors, like the Majors of the Palace in France after the time of Clotaire, who ruled as absolutely as the Kings themselves did before, and like the Vice Roys of Kingdoms at this present. They were called (b) Cassiodor. Variar. Lib. 6. cap. 3. Formula P. P. He is called the Father of the Empire— some privileges of this Dignity are such as make them sharers with ourselves— He wants very little of making Laws, since his Authority can make an end of Affairs without any power of appeal from his sentence— And he punishes the offences of the Judges of the Provinces— no Dignity is equal to it— he judges every where as Vicegerent of the supreme power. We willingly confirm whatsoever he appoints, whose authority we ourselves do so much reverence, that we without scruple do those things, which we know him to have Decreed, etc. Joh. Fersius Silesius de P. Praet. observes that they acted like the Roman Dictator's. the Fathers of the Empire, which was a title allowed to none but the Emperors and themselves; and they were the last appeal in their several jurisdictions, and displaced all other Governors at their pleasure. These Prefects of the Guard, before the time of Valerian, were but two, and they also without any particular Jurisdiction assigned them. (c) Ragonius was Praefectus Praetorio Gall. and of Illyricum in the time of Valerian, and so was Q. Vicarius. Spartian in Ballista. Valerian divided the Empire into so many Jurisdictions under them, but this was only upon some urgent necessity of the times; They had not yet any constant or settled Jurisdictions. Constantine (d) So says Zosimus Lib. 2. was the first, who divided the Empire amongst his Praefecti Praetorio, and made them the ordinary standing Authority of the Division, over which they presided. But to break their power, he increased them to four; one over Italy, and Africa; another over all the West, beyond the Alpss, which contained in it Britain, Gaul, and Spain; a third over Illyricum; and a fourth over the East. And when he came afterwards to divide the Empire amongst his three Sons, His youngest Son Constance had two of these Prefectures to his share, viz. The Italian, and that of Illyricum. Constantine his eldest, had the Prefecture of Gaul; and Constantius his second Son had the Prefecture of the East for his Empire. By this means was the memory of the threefold division of the Empire kept up, after that the Empire was returned again into the sole power of the Surviving Brother, Constantius. These Prefectures continued still distinct, and though they were four, yet it was as well known that those of Illyricum and Italy were but the two parts of one Imperial share, and were sometimes confounded together, when the whole Empire was united under one Emperor. This appears from Ammianus Marcellinus to have been done Lib. 26. in the days of Julian the Apostate, in whose time Mamertinus was the Perfect of Italy, Africa and Illyricum, which shows that till after the time of Julian the Apostate at lest, the only constant division of the Empire among these Prefects was that of the three divisions of the Empire by Constantine among his Sons at his death. For till that time the two Prefectures of Italy, and Illyricum were accounted but such a part of the Roman Empire, as they had been before, when they made the Body of Constans' share in the division, that is, a third part of the whole Empire. And therefore were they sometime united together under one Perfect, as has been observed; and (e) L. 21. C. Theodos. de Naviculis. after the division of the Empire, the Italian Perfect had all the Western share of Illyricum. Now the time, at which the Trumpets began, cannot be much after the Reign of Julian, who reduced the four Prefects to three, according to the former division of the Empire among the Sons of Constantine. For the first Trumpets are See Pag. 31. 32, 33. found to begin before the Inundation of the Barbarous Nations upon the Roman Empire soon after the Reign of Theodosius; and than there must be a convenient space allowed for the end of the first Trumpet to have its course in before that time; which therefore must be allowed to begin within a very short while after the Reign of Julian. It cannot therefore be any Objection against this threefold division of the Imperial Seats, that the Empire was presently after the Reign of Julian divided into the East and West, in the Reign of Valentinian: and that each division had two of these Prefects in it. For the third part in the Trumpets is found to refer to a threefold division of the Empire, which must at the fulfilling of the Prophecy be well known; and the division of it by Valentinian into two parts, and the ranging of the Perfect of the Eastern Illyricum (f) Pancirol. Notit. Imperii Orientalis cap. 23. under the Eastern division, as a distinct Perfect from the other three, would not hinder the World in those days, from concluding that by the name of a third part of the Empire must certainly be understood one of the former three Imperial shares, which were kept distinct by the Praefecti Praetorio, who appeared as so many Lords Deputies of the Empire. For there was no known division of the Empire into three distinct parts at that time, but this, and this was very openly and remarkably known for such. Wherhfore the third part mentioned in the Trumpets, which has been found to be a real third part of some division of the Roman Empire, must be one of the three Imperial jurisdictions set up by Constantine, and preserved in memory by the standing Offices of the Praefecti Praetorio. It is no small confirmation of this conclusion, that Constantine was the first Author, both of parting out the Roman Empire into particular jurisdictions under the Praefecti Praetorio, and into distinct Imperial Seats amongst his three Sons; And besides, Constantine is allowed by almost all Interpreters to be very particularly described in the Prophecy; so that such remarkable actions of his, as these were, may very well be determined to have been pointed at by such schemes in the Prophecy, as do very naturally signify them, and which cannot be found to agreed to any thing else. That these divisions of the Empire were but the parts of one and the same Empire, was shown by the public ensigns of Authority, which were constantly carried before the Praefecti Praetorio in their several jurisdictions; though each of these Prefects were under the immediate authority of but one Emperor, yet before every one of them was carried the Heads of all the Emperors, who were at that time in power, to show, that they were all together the United Majesty of that Empire, though they had distinct jurisdictions. This may be seen in that eminent fragment of the State of the Roman Empire, the Notitia Imperii published and explained by Pancirollus, where it appears that in the time of the division Cap. 24. Notit. Imp. Oriental. of the Empire into the Eastern and Western Seats all the great Magistrates of both the divisions had the Heads of both the Emperors carried before them. But it is still more evident from the matter of the Trumpets, that the third part in them must have a reference to three distinct Imperial Seats, or shares in one and the same Empire. For what else can possibly be signified by a third part of the Sun, Moon and Stars (in the fourth Trumpet) since the Sun in general is known in mystical use, to denote the supreme power of but one Nation or Empire? There is than in that expression of the third part of the Sun, a plain signification of two other Imperial Seats besides that, which is intended by the first third part. There is also besides, a particular mention of two other supreme Sovereignty's among the Trumpets, really distinct from that which is here called a third part of the Sun. For in the second Trumpet there is a description of a Mountain burning, and cast into the Sea, which is the very expression, that is used by the Prophet Jeremy, to set out the Fall of the Babylonian Throne. And in the sixth Trumpet there Jerem. 51. 25. is an account of a slaughter of the third part of men; which being known to signify the Turkish advances upon the Empire, in distinction to those of the Saracens, who are said not to kill men, but to torment them, must necessarily denote (g) See Grotius in Note the first, concerning the death of a People. the utter destruction of the Eastern Roman Empire; here are therefore the two other third shares of the Majesty of the Empire particularly described. It is as evident that these three shares of the Empire, must be three Imperial parts, that are really distinct from one another, the Mountain cast into the Sea in the second Trumpet must necessarily be the utter ruin of one Imperial part, according to the use of it in Prophecy. And therefore must it be really distinct from any other part that is mentioned after it; and than the third part of men in the sixth Trumpet, is as certainly the Eastern division: Because the Woe of that Trumpet has been determined to be the Turkish Empire; and the character of the Eclipse upon the third part of the Sun, is as unquestionably to be understood of the Roman Throne, because no other part of the Empire before the Turkish Conquests, did loose its supreme Government: after that the Mountain was cast into the Sea, as it is here described. There has been the more care taken in the former Discourse to clear the notion of the third part, which is so often repeated among the Trumpets, because there is scarce any thing in the Prophecy, that has more perplexed me, or that is more slightly passed over by others, or that has more influence upon the interpretation of this part of the Prophecy. And it may now be concluded from the resolution of this difficulty, that the threefold division of the Empire, to which every mention of the third part in any of the Trumpets does refer, is the division of it among the three Sons of Constantine, whose particular Jurisdictions were preserved in memory by the Office of the Praefecti Praetorio, who continued as the Vice-Roys or Deputy Emperors in the Government, and so did represent that threefold division of the Empire after the time of the three Brothers, and who were soon after the Death of the last of them reduced to the same number with their Lords, whom they represented. Against this it will be objected, That the Dragon in the 12. Chapter, who has there the proper and peculiar Badges of the Roman Empire, is said to have drawn the third part of the Stars of Heaven with his Tail, and to have cast them to the Earth; which according to the mystical signification of Stars and Heaven in that place, must represent the Roman Conquests, of which the Body of the Roman Empire consisted; And thus is the Roman Empire signified to be but a third part of the World, which is here represented by Heaven; Which seems to show, that by the third part in the Trumpets is meant no more than the Roman Empire in general. This might have a much more plausible show, if it had been said in general, that the Dragon had cast down the third part of the Stars to the Earth; But when it is attributed to no other part of the Dragon, but his Tail, that seems at first sight to intimate, that the third part of the Stars, are not the concern of the whole Roman Empire. Mr. Mede whose opinion has the most interest in this Objection, does give this account, why the power of the Locusts in the fifth Trumpet is said to lie in their Tails. The Head of the Saracen Empire, who are agreed upon to be meant by the Mede p. 1113. in cap. 9 Apoc. Locusts, was in Asia: Their Tail therefore, says he, must be in the parts of their Empire, which were at greatest distance from thence, and by their Tails must be meant the Western parts of their Empire in Europe. Upon the same account may it be answered, that the Dragon's Tail must be the Roman Conquests in Asia, since the Head of the Roman Empire was Italy. And than by his casting down the third part of the Stars to the Earth with his Tail, can be signified not more, than the Asiatic part of the Roman Empire. There is indeed a very manifest reason, why this should be made one of the characters to know the time of the Dragon by. For, as it is elsewhere proved, the Roman Empire cannot be the Read Dragon persecuting the Woman before the Roman Conquests of Syria at the soon. For as the Woman Revel. 12. with the Crown of twelve Stars upon her Head, is unquestionably the Church of God under the proper Badge of the Jewish Church, that is, the twelve Tribes, or which is of the same import, the twelve Apostles represented by the twelve Stars: so could it not possibly be said to have any trouble from the Romans before their Conquest either of Judaea or of Syria, which were both of them just about the same time; And than the casting down of the third part of the Stars to the Earth by the Dragon's Tail does very properly signify, that the time of the Dragon began just about the end of the Conquest of Asia and Aegpyt, which have been found to have afterwards made the third part in the division of Constantine's Empire. But there is another state of things, that this power of the Dragon's Tail seems more especially to refer to. I look upon this whole 12. Chapter to be intended only to set out the several states of the Pagan and Christian Religion till the ruin of Paganism in the Empire, and not to signify any civil changes of the Government. We do accordingly found both the Woman and the Dragon represented as seen in Heaven; so that Heaven cannot possibly in this place signify civil authority or worldly power. For than the Woman would be in as much Authority as the Dragon at the time she was persecuted by the Roman Empire, which is a contradiction. Nor can Heaven on the other side signify any place of true spiritual Dignity. For it is the place of the Dragon as well as the Woman. And yet it is represented as a place of some advantage or credit to both; For both the casting down of the Stars to the Earth by the Dragon, and of the Dragon himself with his Angels by Michael and his assistants are represented as a great diminution of their state. And what than can this mystical state of Heaven be, which is a common advantage to both a true persecuted and a false persecuting Religion at the same time, but the visible or outward profession of Religion in general, which is common both to the persecuted, and the persecuting Party? According to this, to be cast out of Heaven down to the Earth, must signify the loss of the open, outward profession of either of those Religions: and therefore is the Dragon Revel. 12. 5, 7. represented still in Heaven after that the manchild was got into the Throne of God, to show that the open profession of the Pagan Religion was not at an end upon the enthroning of Christianity in the Empire, nor till after the great struggle, that it had with the Defenders of the Pagan Religion, which is represented by the fight of Michael with the Dragon and his Angels; And than the casting the Dragon out of Heaven being the end of the public profession of Paganism, his casting down of the third part of the Stars to the Earth with his Tail must signify the ruin of all the Religions of the Greek Empire in Asia, as the drawing them after him by the same means may denote the (h) Grotius c. 13. Apoc. Laws were made at Rome against strange Gods. Cicero 3. de Leg. And amongst foreign Nations there were every where Temples and Al●a●s raised in honour of Rome, and its Emperors— Nor did ever the Idolatry of any other Nation extend so far in the worship of the City and its Emperors, as that of Rome. Ribera in, cap. 14. Apoc. Numer. 41. of Rome. And those Gods which it did itself worship, it set up to be worshipped by all Nations besides. Idem in cap. 17. Numer. 5. The Romans— did convey (the worship of) their Idols, and their corrupt manners to all Nations, where they ruled, and to those who came to inhabit their City. And because all Nations did stand in need of the favour, and assistance of the Romans, under whose Dominion they, and all else were, they did therefore willingly comply with them in it. Besides, the Kings, and Princes of the Earth, who did above all study to please the Romans, that they might obtain Kingdoms of them, or by their help keep them, did easily, and readily worship their Idols, and command them to be worshipped in their Kingdoms. Confusion of those Religions in the Roman Worship. There were indeed for a while some remainders of the Religions of the conquered Grecians, as well as of Paganism, in the Roman Empire, after the time of that mortification of each of them, which is here supposed to be their being cast out of Heaven. But than they were both in as different an appearance in respect of the open profession of them all over the two Empires, as Heaven is from Earth, according to the Scheme of them in the Prophecy. CHAP. IU. The particular Application of the Matter of the first four Trumpets, according to the Notion of the third part mentioned in them. The reason of the difference betwixt the four first and the three last Trumpets. What Provocations were the cause of the Judgements of the Trumpets. How they were the Vengeance promised to the Martyrs under Rome Heathen. IF we come to apply the Explication, that has been given of the third part, to the several mentions of it among the Trumpets it is certain in the first place, that the same third part of the Empire must be the Subject of more than one of the Trumpets. For there are five distinct mentions of the third part in several Trumpets, and there cannot be above three of these third parts that can be really distinct from one another. With this Intimation we may proceed to observe, that Rev. 8. ●. the Hail in the First Trumpet having been found to be the first bloody storms of the Northern Nations against the Chap. 3. Roman Empire next before their prodigious overthrow of it, represented by the Sea in the Second Trumpet, the Hail with the Effect of it upon the Third part of the Trees and Grass, may very well be applied to (a) SEE Zosimus lib. 5. the Invasions of the Goths, in the time of Valens, Theodosius, Arcadius, and From 37●. ●● 412. part of the Reign of Honorius. And the continuance of this storm may be determined to be till the departure of the Goths out of Italy, after the Sacking of Rome by Alaricus and Athaulphus, which was in the Year 411, which was just about the time that those swarms of divers Nations began with Triumph and Success to gain upon the Transalpine part of the Western Empire, according to the Character of the Sea of Blood in the Second Trumpet. It may than now be observed, that the Calamities of the First Trumpet do fall wholly upon the Italian Division, which was a third share of the Empire, and which was formerly all under Constans. This, besides (b) Zosimus gives an account of this in his 20th Book. Africa, reached to the Hellespont, within which compass happened all the Commotions and Invasions of the Goths under Athanaricus, Alaricus, Gainas, Rhodagaisus and Athaulphus; Which being a continued Vexation of the Empire by one and the same People, upon one and the same third part of the Empire (according to the first Division of it, though at the time of these Events under two several Princes) may very well deserve the name of one and the same kind of storm, as the Hail is represented to be in the First Trumpet. And there is a manifest reason to warrant the dating the beginning of the First Trumpet as high as the Reign of (c) Socrates l. 4. Cap. 13. gives an account of Eighty of the Orthodox Party at one time, that were ordered to be burnt in a Ship. And in the 14. Chap. continues the same subject about those which were besides executed by the command of Valens. And in his 19 Chap. gives a very sad relation of the persecution of the Religious Men in Egypt upon the same account, and says, That Valens had ordained persecution by Law. Valens, upon the account of the great severities and sierceness of Valens against the Monks and Bishops of the Church, which was the first Instance of any considerable Persecution against Dissenters. Some possibly will be pleased to found, that both at the beginning and end of these Gothick Troubles, there was a Storm of such Hail as was of a prodigious and incredible size. The first is said to have been as big as great Stones, by which (according to S. Jerom's Relation) there were several Men struck Jerom. in Chronic. dead. The other are said to be of Eight Pound weight. This has the credit of almost all the Historians of those times to confirm it. And Johnson might therefore well put them both into the Account of his Admiranda Meteororum. Of the first kind ( * Socrat. l. 4. c. 10. ) Socrates gives this Account, That it was commonly judged that it was a Judgement of God for the Emperor's Severities against the Churchmen. This indeed might be a concurrent circumstance to alarm the World in after Times to fix the beginning of the Trumpets to those days, when there was so very remarkable an Event according to the Letter of the Prophecy. But it is unquestionable that it could be no more than a mystical Scheme of some other far more considerable Judgement that was signified by it, as all the Expressions concerning the matter of the Trumpets has been already found to be, (Theor. 10.) It will not be questioned but that the next third part, which v. 8. is the third part of the Sea turned into Blood, with a burning Mountain cast into it, must be that great Inundation of the Barbarous Nations all over the Transalpine part of the Western Empire, after the departure of the Goths out of From about 412, to 446. Italy. The great and known Effects of which was the loss of all the Prefecture of Gaul (or Constantine's third share of the Empire) to the several Nations that invaded it; as Britain to the Saxons; Gaul to the Goths, Franks and Burgundians; and Spain to the Suevi, Alans and Vandals. This is very properly expressed by the casting a burning Mountain into the Sea; which is a very peculiar Expression, and is known to be used by the Prophet Jeremy to signify the ruin of Babylon, Jerem. 51. 25. Now this is here restrained to that third part only of the Sea which became Blood. And besides we found afterwards in the Fourth Trumpet a mention of another third part of the Majesty of the Empire. Which makes it evident, that by the Mountain cast into the Sea, cannot be here meant the loss of more than one third part of the Roman Empire, which has the name of Babylon all over this Prophecy. And than, since the casting of the Mountain into the Sea all burning with Fire, does very manifestly signify the utter and final loss of it from the Romans, it seems thereby to be determined which of the three parts of the Empire it must needs be. It is certain it cannot be any part of the Eastern Empire; for that is not lost before the Destruction of it by the Turks in the Sixth Trumpet. Nor can it be the loss of the Imperial Seat of Rome; for that was never finally lost from the Romans. And besides, whatever Eclipse of the Majesty of it there might be before the Fifth Trumpet, it is vey eminently set out by the darkening of the Sun, Moon and Stars in the Fourth. And to conceive, that the burning Mountain cast into the Sea might be the same third part, that had the third part of the Sun darkened in it afterwards, would be to make one and the same part of the Roman Empire to be first like Babylon utterly ruined, and after that to be like Babylon under the loss of but a part of the Majesty of it. The Mountain cast into the Sea cannot therefore be either the Eastern or the Italian Seat of the Empire; and therefore must it be the Transalpine part of the Western Empire, commonly known by the name of the Prefecture of Gaul, and the Empire of the Eldest of the Sons of Constantine: And so accordingly does it appear upon Record in (d) Pancirol. Notit. Imperii occident. Cap. 1. the Notitia Imperii. After the success of the Barbarous Nations upon this part of the Empire, the Praefectus Praetorio of Gaul has no Ensigns of his Authority set down there. Because, says Pancirollus, all the parts of that Prefecture were seized upon, and in the Possession of the Barbarous People. That which does further confirm the casting of the Mountain into the Sea to signify the utter loss of that part of the Roman Empire, is, that the third part of the Creatures are said to have died in the Sea, as well as the third part of the Sea said to become Blood. For (e) See Grotius in Note the first upon Chap. 3. killing and slaying a community of Men does in this Prophecy signify the utter end of that community, as will afterwards more certainly appear from the slaying of the third part of Men in the Sixth Trumpet, and from the kill of the Witness in the Eleventh Chapter. And this gives a very satisfactory Account, why the Conquest of Africa by the same Nations within the same period cannot be accounted any part of this Sea of Blood, or of the Mountain cast into the Sea, because it was not the last ruin of that third part of the Empire to which it did belong, that is, of the Italian Share or Prefecture. And therefore must it be said of those African Conquerors, as it is of the Saracens in the Fifth Trumpet, who over ran the same place, that they did not kill, but only torment Men; And so were not capable of being any part of that Sea of Blood wherein all the Creatures of it died. It cannot be here said, that the burning of Rome by Alaricus An●o 4●●. does the most properly answer the Mountain. It must be considered, that in this place it cannot be the bore City of Rome that can deserve the Name of the Mountain. It must be the Rule and Domination of it, if any thing. And than the Mountain cannot signify any thing lesle than the ruins of some part of its Empire; whereas Rome lost very little of her Imperial Power by that whole Expedition of Alaricus; and it was not the Seat of the Empire when this happened, and is represented to be little regarded by Honorius, who had long before left it. The time of the continuance of this Calamity in the Second Trumpet, must reach to the Settlements of the Barbarous People all over the Prefecture of Gaul, and that could not be at the soon before the loss of Britain to the Saxons in the Year 446. After that indeed the Romans seemed to have very little to do beyond the Alpss, but to fight sometimes upon the Borders with those who had settled themselves all over that part of the Empire. Aëtius 'tis true did march through the heart of the Country at the defeat of A●tila; But it was because he had all the Kings of those Parts for his Confederates in that Expedition. THE fall of the great Star like a Lamp upon the Rivers of V 10, 11. Waters, seems after this to be the Death of Aëtius; Of whom About the Year 450. it is said (f) See Petavius lib. 6. c. 18. Rationar. Temp. part. I. Aëtius, who himself alone did at that time keep up the Roman Empire from its utter ruin. So Cuspinian in Cassiodori Chronicon. Aëtio 4ᵒ & Study C●ss. pag. 447. and in Theodosio & Valentiniano. pag. 127. de Caesaribus. So died Aëtius— with whom also fell the Western Empire, and the safety of the Commonwealth, nor could it ever after be raised again. Hieron. Rubeus to the same purpose l. 2. Histor. Ravennat. in fine. Aëtius who was accounted the Great security of the Western Empire. by all kind of Historians, That He alone was the Upholder of the Western Empire against all those violent Eruptions of Barbarians for near thirty Years together. And though the Death of Valentinian, which was just about the same time, may be thought to be more considerable, and so a more proper Application to it, yet since the Emperor must be part of the Sun, if any thing, in the Roman Empire, he is too high for the Name of a Star. But Aëtius his quality did exactly answer that Character, and his Death was of much greater influence upon the miseries that followed upon the Western Empire presently after; And so did much more deserve to be accounted the Calamity of the Third Trumpet, than any thing else that did hap in that Age; And his great Actions might very well represent him to be as a Star like a great Lamp. And than the embittering of the Fountains and Rivers, which is the effect of the fall of this Star, will be easily understood to signify such a sad condition of the Roman Empire, as bitterness does usually signify among the Prophets when spoken of the state of a Nation. And the miseries of that Empire after the Death of Aëtius will afford Matter enough for the Application of it. But both the fall of the Star and the effect of it is restrained to a third part of the Rivers; And there needs no long search for the subject to which this is to be applied. For since there is nothing that does so well answer the Character of this falling Star, as the Death of Aëtius, and the Consequences of it, it must be the Italian Division that must be the third part in this place. THE Matter of the Fourth Trumpet does at first sight appear to be the pulling down of the Ruling Power of one of the three Imperial Shares. The darkening of the third part of the Rev. 8. 12. Sun, Moon and Stars can be nothing else. For the whole Sun is known to signify among the Prophets the whole Supreme Power of a Nation. It is not difficult to found the Application of this, if it be considered, that betwixt the Settlements of the Northern People in the furthest Western part of the Empire (which must be the Matter of the Second Trumpet) and the Saracen Invasions, which is the Plague of the Fifth, there was Page 47. no Supreme Power of the Romans pulled down but the Imperial Government of Rome. The darkening of the Sun, Moon and Stars must therefore be the ceasing of the Imperial Government in the West for a time, which because it had than the Command of nothing but the Remains of the Italian share, is therefore very properly called the darkening of but a third part of the Sun that was afterwards to come out of the darkness. For though there were at that time two parts of the three Imperial Thrones pulled down, yet the influence of the Fourth Trumpet in particular was but upon one of those Thrones; And therefore could not there above one third part of the Sun be said to be eclipsed by it. The darkening of one third part of the Sun does not make it necessary that there should be two parts not darkened. In an Eclipse of the Moon which affects two third parts of the Body of it, it might very properly be said at the darkening of the latter of those two third parts, that it took away the Light of the third part of the Moon, though there had been another third part darkened before, especially if there had been an account before of the Eclipsing of the first third part of it under another Term, as there is here before this in the Second Trumpet under the Scheme of a Mountain cast into the Sea. But besides it will presently be found, that the term of darkening the third part of the Sun in this place is to give it a peculiar distinction from any other third part of him, which had its Light wholly and finally extinguished. For this darkness was Anno 476 & 490. to vanish again in some years after, and therefore might very well be said of the third part, though the whole Body of the Sun besides had been lost. The Calamity of the Fourth Trumpet does therefore by this appear to be the Fall of the Imperial Government, and of all its immediate dependants at the Conquests of Italy by Odoacer and the Geths' after him, and the end of the Imperial Rule there in Augustulus about the same time. This is very aptly signified by an Eclipse of the third part of the Sun, because that does intimate, that it was not a final end of the Imperial Roman Authority in those parts but a Mortification of it for a set time only, according to the nature of an Eclipse, which in time passes away, and than the Sun returns to its former lustre again. And just so did the Imperial Government appear again in that third part of the Empire at the recovey of the African and Italian part of it by Justinian; For than the Imperial Authority was there returned About the Year 540. to be as real a third part of the Sun in those Parts, as it had been in the Presecture of Gaul under the Western Emperor. But Justinian's change of the Dignities of Rome and Italy, cannot as some would have it) be taken for any Eclipse of the Roman Sun, as long as there was the same Imperial Authority in those Parts that there always had been in the time of any of the Eastern Emperors, who had the whole Empire under them. For it is the Imperial Authority that must be meant by the Sun in this place, which received no more Diminution in the West by Justinian, than by any other Prince of the East. All that can be pretended from his putting an end to the Senate and Consul of Rome, will amount to no more than the darkening of the Moon and Stars at most. So that the beginning of this darkness must necessarily be fetched from the end of the Imperial Authority in the West with Augustulus. It is also worth the observing, that this Plague of the Fourth Trumpet is set out by the Fall of the Imperial Authority in the Italian part of the Empire under the Scheme of the eclipsed Sun, rather than by the loss of the Body of that Third part; Because there was still a considerable part of the Italian share of the Empire remaining entire in the hands of the Eastern Emperors, that is, all the Eastern part of Illyricum, which was so considerable as to have a Praefectus Praetorio over it alone to itself. And there was besides a distinction made betwixt the Conquerors of Italy and the Romans there in all the Administration of the Government, as may particularly (g) Cassiodor. Varior. l. 1. Ep. 28. King Theodoric to all Goths, and Romans. So l. 2. Ep. 19 And l. 3. Ep. 49. But more particularly l. 8. Ep. 4, & 5. King Athalaricus writes distinctly first to all Romans, and than to all Goths to take an Oath of Allegiance to him. be observed in the time of all the Gothish Kings. So that the Body of the Romans seemed to be kept still distinct, and that the only change of their State was the loss of their Head; which therefore to our Admiration is distinctly represented in the Prophecy by the Sun, Moon and Stars, which are known to signify a change of the Ruling Power only of a Nation. Thus does the Object of the Fourth Trumpet stand distinguished from that of the Second. They are both very dreadful Mortifications of the Roman Power in two several third parts of that Empire. But the Second Trumpet describes its whole third part as at its last end under the Character of a Mountain cast into the Sea; Whereas the Fourth does intimate no more of its third part, but only that the Supreme Government of it was changed, and that also but for a time, that there was but a present Eclipse upon it. But yet it was so long a time before this Eclipse was passed of, that it was fit there should be some more than ordinary Character of it; According as it is here expressed in five several Instances, by the darkening of a third part of the Sun, of the Moon, of the Stars, and by the darkness of a third part of the day, and a third part of the Night. For this Eclipse of the Majesty of this part of the Empire continued at lest till the beginning of the conquest of Africa by Justinian, which was above fifty years after the first appearance of it. And therefore is there no mention of the Prefectures of Gaul or Italy in Justinian's Code, because the Imperial Dignity was than lost there. 'Tis true, there will thus be a very great interval betwixt From 4●6, to 631. the end of the Fourth Trumpet and the beginning of the Fifth, and a very great disproportion betwixt the continuance of the four first Trumpets, and the two next. But the Prophecy itself does give very manifest Intimations of them both. For after the Fourth Trumpet there is a very solemn Pause made before the sounding of the Rev. 8. 13. Fifth, and a new Scene of things prepared to signify the importance of it; As if it were on purpose introduced to make us pass by all other lesle considerable Calamities that might fall upon the Empire betwixt the Fourth, and that which is really the Fifth. For after the bore mention of the four first Trumpets, and their effects in few words, and in a close order, there is in the last Verse of the Eighth Chapter this solemn Pause and Introduction concerning the three remaining Trumpets. — And I beheld and heard an Angel.— And it was an Angel flying through the midst of Heaven.— And than, that cried with a loud voice.— And that a very dreadful cry, Woe, Woe, Woe to the Inhabitants of the Earth, by reason of the other voices of the Trumpets of the three Angels which are yet to sound. So very strange and peculiar an Alarm from the Text to make the World observe the distinction betwixt the three last Trumpets and the four first, is a sufficient warning to all to neglect any smaller Plagues upon the Empire, which might hap betwixt the end of the Plague of the Fourth Trumpet and that which was really to be the Fifth. They might easily perceive by this, that no Plague or Judgement upon the Roman Empire could answer the Character or Woe in the Fifth Trumpet but what was very considerably heavier than any of the Plagues of the former Trumpets, though the last of them was the ruin of the Majesty of the Western Empire. And therefore none could be able after this to fit the Plague of the Fifth Trumpet to any Event that happened before the rise of the Saracens. And than the same solemn Expressions, that set out the great difference betwixt the heaviness of those Woes that were to come, in comparison of any of the Plagues of the other Trumpets, do also at the same time intimate, that there was some more than ordinary Provocation that was the cause of those different Judgements. And upon a small Enquiry it will be found, that there was a secret correspondence carried on betwixt the Bishop of Rome and the Eastern Emperor for the advancement of the Authority of the Roman Church over all others after the ruin of the Western Empire by the Barbarous Nations in Italy. The hopes of the Emperor for the recovery of Italy, made him look upon it as very requisite for him to gain the Bishop of Rome to his interest by advancing the Superiority of that See. And thus was the Authority of the Roman Church continually increasing soon after the Settlement of the Barbarous Nations in Italy, till it came to a full height not long before the Saracen Invasions. The first foundation of this Supremacy was the (h) Anastasius Bibliothecarius gives an account of this in the Life of Pope Hormisda. But the most eminent Monument of it is the Record of the carrying the instrument of the union about the Cities of Greece, by Pope Hormisda's Ambassadors, in Tom. 2. Concilior. Reconciliation of the Greek and Roman Church by the Emperor Justin and Pope Hormisda in the Year 519, after a Schism of Forty Years together; And for which the Emperor had the Title of (i) See Anastasius Bibliothecarius in the Lives of Hormisda, and John the First. Cuspinian in Justino Caesare. Justin the Orthodox. The next great step was (k) Cod. Justinian. l. 8, 9 de summâ Trinitate. Justinian's Profession of his Faith to Pope John, wherein he asserts the Pope's Primacy, and promises his Assistance, that all other Churches should be united under that See. And this was thought to be so considerable as to be entered into the Code with the Pope's acknowledgement of the Kindness. The next advance is Justinian's (l) Novel. Justinian. de Haereticis, especially that of Tit. 5. Let not Heretics stay upon Roman Ground. & de Apostatis; Let the Goods of Apostates be confiscated. new Laws against Dissenters, and his (m) The Theodosian Laws against Heretics, which had been hindered from being executed by the invasions of the Western Empire by the Barbarians. enforcing his old Penal Laws against them, which by the Invasions of the Barbarians had been laid asleep almost ever since they were made; But from the time that they were thus revived by Justinian, they continued in force to this day. The last finishing part of this Church-work was the Settlement of the Title of Universal Bishop upon Boniface by A●●● 606. Phocas. An Affair of so great Importance as this was, especially since the whole Prophecy is concerned about it, aught to have some significations of the first appearance of it some way proportionable to the nature of it. And there is nothing among the Trumpets that can tolerably be applied to it but the warning that is here given concerning the three last Woes. The first of these Woes must therefore be at as great a distance from the Fourth Trumpet as was taken up in laying this Foundation of the Kingdom of the Beast, which was the Provocation that brought on these Woes. It may now be enquired, wherein lay the chief Point of the heaviness of the three last Trumpets, which are distinguished from the rest by the name of the three last Woes; For the Second Trumpet utterly ruins its third part, and the Fourth Trumpet destroys the Imperial Rule of its respective part. It might at first be apprehended that the difference betwixt them could be nothing but the length of the continuance of the Woes in comparison with the rest of the Trumpets. But this is not so clear of the third Woe, which must do its work in a much shorter time than the other. But the certain and unquestionable difference betwixt them, is, that Whereas the common nature of all the Trumpets is to be Plagues upon the Roman Empire, so the three last Woes were the final ruin and loss of both the Roman Name and Authority in the greatest part of the Dominions where they fell; But the greatest loss of the Roman Authority by the other Trumpets was repaired again by the Authority of the Roman Church among them, which was far more absolute than ever the Imperial Authority had been, and made all that part of the World take upon them the Name of Romans again. BY this Account that has been given of the first four Trumpets, it does appear, that the ground and occasion of the Plagues of them began very early in the Christian Church, and that in so high a measure as fitted the Body of the whole Roman Empire to be the Object of such terrible Expressions of the Wrath of God towards them. If it should be hereupon enquired, What Alteration it might be of the Spirit of the Christian Church which could give God such a Provocation in those early times, It must be considered, that that which appears to be the high malignity of the Beast began to be very rife soon after that the Imperial Throne was come into the Church; And that was the forcing Men against their Consciences to reverence the Roman Authority in Points of Faith and Worship for the only Rule and Standard of Christian Truth. And to give this the more solemn appearance, it was propounded under the name of the Judgement of the Catholic Church, which had an Infallible Spirit which dictated to it all the things of Religion that the Emperors enjoined by their Edicts; Whereas it does manifestly appear, that the Councils to whom this Name was given did very ordinarily contradict one another; And that the mayor part of every one of them (who were They that made all the Canons in them) did generally conform themselves to that Emperor's Opinion that called them and overruled them. So that the sitting in the Temple of God, and showing himself there as God, 2 Thess. 2. 4. seemed to be than in its first Formation by the Conduct of some of the Roman Emperors soon after the advancement of Christianity upon the Throne. The very First-fruits of the Imperial Authority in the Church in the days of Constantine, and even before the full end of the Pagan Persecution with Licinius, were the Depositions Socrat. l. 1. and Banishments of the Arian Bishops, severe Laws for the punishing even (n) Socrates l. 1. cap. 6. Ep. Constantini ad Episcopos & populum. This also we straight charge and command, That if any be found ●● hid or conceal any Book made by Arrius, and does not forthwith bring it forth, and deliver it to be burnt, that he die the Death. For as soon as he is taken, our pleasure is, That his Head be stricken of from his Shoulders. with Death all those that should but conceal any of the Books of Arius; Besides the denouncing of the Curses of God upon all the Arian Party seemed to be Punishments highly disproportionable to the nature of that Crime. The Roman Councils began also at the same time to be accounted the Infallible Oracles of God. Constantine says of the Council of Nice, (o) Socrates Lib. 1. Cap. 6. Ep. 2. Constantine to the Church of Alexandria. That it was inspired by the Will of God himself. And that that which seemed good to them was to be taken for nothing lesle than the Mind of God. And of (p) Idem L. 1. Cap 6. Ep 4. Constantine to the Churches. Councils in general, That whatsoever was decreed in them, aught to be accounted the Will of God. And in this esteem of Divine Inspiration were all the Arian as well as the Orthodox Councils among their several Followers, though they were plainly contradictory to one another. It is not much to the purpose to object here that one part of these Councils must undoubtedly be in the Truth; And that those at lest could not be blamed for such Usurpations upon the Consciences of Men. For, Which soever of them had the Truth on their side, yet since the main of the Controversy was about (q) Luther contra Latom. If my Soul hates the word Homoousion, and I will not use it, I am not an Heretic for that. Ibid. Homoousion, which Hierom did also desire might be laid aside. Grotius in Respons. de Antichristo, Almost all the Lutherans accuse Calvin of Arrianism; He aught therefore (according to your use of Servetus) to have been burnt. Words which were not where expressly determined in Scripture; And which were of so ambiguous and obscure a nature as the Greek and Latin Church were divided about the true meaning of them: And which were as ordinarily rejected by those very same Persons that at some times defended them, To Pronounce the peremptory Curses of the Church upon conscientious Dissenters in such speculative and abstruse Matters as these, and to deprive them of the necessary comforts of this Life for it, and thus to over-awe them to take that for the inspired Will of God, which they would apprehended to be no more at best than the Philosophical Exercises of men's Wits, did plainly manifest a somewhat too assuming Spirit in the Government of the Church in those days. Whatsoever Reasons of State there may be for suppressing the public Meetings of such kind of Zealots in Religion, who may be judged from their former behaviour to make it a Principle of their Conscience to endeavour the Subversion of the Government that they live under, there seems nothing of that kind to have been objected against the Orthodox, or Arian Dissenters in those days. Their Crime was nothing else considerable, but mere differences of Opinion in Religious Matters. There seems therefore to be liberty enough to begin the Trumpets from any great and general Calamities, that can be found to be agreeable to the characters of them, at almost any time after the conversion of Constantine; And they may very well than be said to be Judgements for the Blood of the Martyrs formerly shed in the Heathen Persecutions, because the Emperors began to take the same power upon them, which made the Heathen Emperors appear such Tyrants against the Christian Church; And that is, The power of giving Law to the Consciences of Men in disputable things, (and of enforcing it upon them against their own Judgements,) which is the peculiar Attribute of God. Thus might the Christian Emperors deserve very well to bear the punishment of their Pagan Predecessors, since they began now to make themselves (r) Ribera in cap. 14. number. 43, 44. Besides, as that is accounted one and the same City, which had been before, and is built upon the Ruin of the former, so are they accounted the same Citizens, although they he not of the Lineage of the former. For they join themselves to them, and become as it were one Body, and one Commonwealth with them. And than are they chief to be accounted One Body with them, when they imitate the deeds, and Crimes of their Predecessors; for which they are to be called The Children of them, whose Sons in reality they are not. So John the 8. they are called the Children of the Devil. And Ezek. 16. the Jews are called the Sons of the Canaanites, not of the Patriarches. And Origen in his 4th. Homily upon Ezekiel discourses at large, That Fathers and Sons are used in Scripture very ordinarily, for those only who are alike in manners Thus though the Jews were not of the Race of Cain, yet the Blood of Abel came upon them. And there were many that were not of the Race of those that killed Zacharias the Son of Bara●●ias, upon whom nevertheless the revenge of his Blood was to fall— And they shall be more heavily punished, that imitate the wickedness of their Predecessors, because they sin more boldly and impudently, that do those things, which they know did provoke God in their Forefathers. Babylon's sins came to be remembered, because its old sins had been forgotten for the Religion that it had embraced. But new sins like the former appearing the first are brought again into mind. one continued Succession with them of Spiritual Dictator's to the Consciences of Men, which is one of the greatest Calamities, that can hap to the Christian Church. For though Men may be in an error, yet it is infinitely more provoking to be forced to play the Hypocrite with God, even in the holding of the truth against a Man's Conscience; than it is to worship him in an erroneous manner with a sincere and an upright Heart. If others will think it better to pitch upon any other kind of provocation in the first Christian Emperors to fix the beginning of the Trumpets to, yet this Light they cannot but have from these considerations about the first date of them, That the ruling Religion of the Empire was provoking enough, soon after the ruin of Paganism in it, to make the Roman Empire the object of the vengeance that was to be given to the Blood of those who were Martyred under the Heathen Emperors. For whatsoever those Heathen Princes were in other respects, yet the thing which made them so abominable in the Eyes of God was their Tyrannies to his Church; That therefore which made the Christian Emperors partakers in their sins, so as to bear the vengeance of them, must be a like exercise of the Imperial Authority over the Consciences of Men; Whatsoever corruption therefore of the true Religion others may think more proper to attribute these Judgements to, this consideration that it was enforced upon the Consciences of Men, will add a much greater aggravation to it; And the greatest corruption of Christianity that can be imagined, even Idolatry itself, will never be able to answer the character of the Beast without it. It is certain that the sealing the 144000 against the evils of the Trumpets is a manifest reference to the marking of those in the Forehead, Ezek. 9 4. Who were there marked out to be distinguished from the whole Body of the Jews besides; And the reason of that great slaughter of the rest there mentioned is expressly said to be, because the Land was defiled with Blood, which if it be compared with the reason of the vengeance of the Trumpets in the fifth Seal, will very much incline any to conclude, that it must be some acts of either Blood, or of some great cruelty, that must be the cause of the Calamities of the Trumpets. But yet this Spirit of Cruelty is generally accompanied with the corruption and degeneracy of the Church in respect of the true worship of God; And the exercise of the Tyrannising Power of the Magistrate is usually to force the Consciences of Men to comply with a false worship, as it was in the forementioned case in Ezekiel, where the Blood, that the Land was defiled with, was shed in the time of the Idolatry of the Jewish Commonwealth; And so also does it appear that the Superstitions of the Roman Church were begun before the considerable Violences and Cruelties of the Roman Emperors; As Mr. Mede does at in 1 Tim. 4. 1. large make appear in the instances of Saint-worship before the time of Theodosius. But still that which laid the foundation ☜ for the observance of these superstitions was the severity of the Laws to enforce all to an Uniformity in the Roman Worship. HOW early this began may be determined by those events to which the first Trumpets have been fixed; The severities of (s) See Note the third on this Chapter. Pererius in Disput. 1. in Apoc. does cite Bede's Testimony for Ticonius, that he applied the Persecutions that are spoken of in the Apocalypse to Valentinian's Persecutions of the Donatists, which were his Sect; And calls them Martyrdoms, and bewails them. And this was about the same time with Valens from another Hand. Valens, and the severe Laws of (t) The Theodosian Code is full of the greatest Severities against Heretics, Cod. Theodos. l. 15. de Haereticis 16. c. Theodos. Tit. 4 de his qui sup. Religion● all quod contendunt. Lex. 2. idem Lex. 3. idem. 16. c. Theodos. l. 21. de Hereticis, l. 26. de Haereticis. And Inquisitors were appointed to found out Heretics in order to their Conviction and Punishment. 9, 13, 15, 31, 32, 35, 52 Cod. Theodos. de Hereticis. La decadence des Empires, p. 184. shows, that as the Excesses of the Donatists about this time did provoke the Orthodox to return the same to them; so by this means it came to pass, that Persecution came than first to be made a Doctrine of Christian Religion. Before that time all believed the contrary, and the Bishops judged themselves bound to oppose themselves (by Remonstrances and Addresses) against the Emperor's Wills, who would make use of force and violence to reduce the Heretics. This he calls the most remarkable part of the History of those times, and afterwards observes (p. 186.) that the Judgements of God did as manifestly show how contrary these Precedents were to his Will, in these words, mais ce qu'il y a de plus important, c' est que comme ce sut eu ce temps & en ce lieu que les Orthodoxes adopte●ent la doctrine de la persecution, ce sut a●ssidans le mesme temps & dans le mesm● lieu, que Dieu fit connoistr● par des Effroiables, jugemens combien il avoit l' honour pources Maxims seuri●uses. Theodosius, which From 370, to 395. made an Universal conformity to the Imperial Religion to be a Law of the Empire under Penalties sufficient to affright the Consciences of the generality to a Compliance with them against the real judgements of their minds, did give the World a very fair mark to fix the date of these Trumpets upon them; For since this was much the same Tyranny, that had before been exercised by the Heathen Emperors, they might very well be judged to have brought the guilt of those Princes upon their own Heads; According to our Saviour's expression about the Jews in his time, That they did bear witness, That they allowed the St. Luke 7. 47, 48. Deeds of their Fathers in killing the Prophets; And by slaying and persecuting the Prophets and Apostles, (which were as much of their own Religion, as the several Sects of Christians are to one another) they did bring the Blood of all the Prophets, that were slain from the foundation of the World, upon their own Heads. And yet most of those Prophets were slain while the Kingdom of Israel was Idolatrous, whereas in the time of our Saviour, they were much reform from all those corruptions, as they generally were in all the time of the captivity; Which shows that there is (u) See Ribera in Note the Seventeenth of this Chapter. Idem in Cap. 14. Numer. 44. Wherhfore as Jerusalem should not have been destroyed by the Romans for its old Sins, unless it had increased them by new and very grievous ones, When it knew not the time of its Visitation, as our Lord says, but killed even them by whom it was to have been preserved. So Rome, after the Worship of so many Idols, after the most cruel effusion of the Blood of so many Martyrs, should have continued to the end of the World, because it was become the Seat of their Vicar of Christ, unless it had equalled its former Impiety by new and unheard of Barbarities and Sins. Idem. in ver. 24. cap. 18. Apoc. He shows, that as Rome ruled over all the World, so the Blood of all the Martyrs of Jesus were found in her. And those that were otherwise killed are not worth the mentioning. But, says he, there shall be many more also of the Christian Martyrs killed by the Romans in the same manner, that is, more than those under Heathen Persecution. a perfect agreement betwixt the avenging of the Heathen Tyranny upon the Christian Empire grown unmerciful to its fellow Christians, and the avenging of the Blood of all the Prophets slain by the Idolatrous state of the Jews upon the same Nation, when it was become free from Idolatry, but retained the same Spirit of oppression and cruelty. And though the several Captivities were the punishment of their Idolatry, yet the last ruin of their State is said to be in revenge of the Blood of all the Prophets and Apostles, that had been slain from the foundation of the World. Just as the pulling down of Paganism out of the Imperial Throne was God's Judgement upon them for the Idolatrous exercise of their power; But those Judgements which were to ruin their state are expressed to be a vengeance for the Blood of all the Martyrs, that had been slain by that Empire. And as the setting up uncertain Tradition for the Rule of Faith by the Jews in our Saviour's time, while they were building the Sepulchers of the Prophets, who were slain for the Word of God, was the leading crime of the Jewish Church in those days: So was Tradition coming in for the Rule of Faith into the Christian Church just before the judgements of the Trumpets, while at the same time they were raising Churches upon the Sepulchers of those Martyrs, which had been slain for testifying the Word of God to be the only rule of their judgements, and actions. But to make the case of the Jews in our Saviour's time, still more parallel to that of the Christian Romans after the conversion of the Empire, it may be further observed, That as the ruin of the Jewish state was deferred till after their rejection of the Messiah, which did make it evident, that there was no further hopes to be had of their Repentance and Reformation: So were the Judgements of the Trumpets deferred till after the appearance of Christianity upon the Imperial Throne of the Romans, and till after their continuance notwithstanding it in the same Spirit of cruelty and oppression towards their fellow Christians. For this did also show that there was no further hopes of Reformation from the Roman Empire in that respect. There was indeed this difference betwixt the case of the Jews and the Christian Romans, which made it a greater provocation in the Romans, That the last persecuting Spirit of the Jews before the Judgements, that brought them to their ruin, did make use of little else, but the power of their Church to affright the Consciences of Men from the Christian Faith; For the Civil Sword was before taken out of their Hands. But the Laws which were made by the Christian Roman Emperors against all that complied not with the Roman Religion, were enforced by the supreme Authority of the State. It is certain that the Trumpets can in no other sense be called a vengeance upon the Empire, turned Christian, for the Blood of the Martyrs mentioned in the fifth Seal, who were slain by Pagan Emperors, but only for their like persecutions of their fellow Christians, which made the Blood of all the Martyrs of God, that ever were slain by that Empire or Nation to be required at their hands: As the Blood of all the Prophets was charged upon that one Generation of the Jews, who persecuted the Church of Christ. And in this the Calamities that befell the Roman Empire, when turned Christian, did exactly resemble the miseries of the Jews about the destruction of Jerusalem, when a great part of that Nation were become Christians; For as those Calamities fell generally upon the gross Body of the Nation of the Jews, and the Christians did generally escape them: So also is the security of the true Members of the Christian Church in the time of the Trumpets here signified by the 144000, who were sealed to escape those Judgements. CHAP. V The Plagues of the Trumpets parallel to the increase of the degeneracy of the Church. An Analysis of the Prophetical Schemes from the First Trumpet in the Eighth Chapter up to the Fifth Seal in the Sixth Chapter. And the necessity of their Application, first from the Signification of the Schemes, and the order in which they are placed. And than from the remarkableness of the Events, which required such a Prophetical Scene to represent them. The direct order of the same Application from the Fifth Seal to the First Trumpet. The Schemes before the time of the rise of the Beast in the Twelfth Chapter paralleled with those in the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Chapters. THe Account, that has been given in the preceding Discourse, of the moving Cause of the Judgements of the Trumpets does make it sufficiently manifest, that the degeneracy of the Roman Church or Empire must be accounted at lest from the first beginning of the sounding of the Trumpets. For since the Trumpets are a revenge for the Christian Blood that was shed before the Empire was Theor. 13. and Conseq. 3. Theor. 19 converted, there must be first some great Provocation after the Conversion of the Imperial Throne, that could bring that former Blood upon their Heads; And since the Provocation must be some acts of Cruelty towards Christians, some way like those of the Heathen Emperors, as we see in our Saviour's Instance of the Jews, this Provocation can be nothing but the persecuting of their Fellow-Christians, who were sincere and conscientious in their Service and Worship of God. For that was the Crime for Rev. 6. 1●, 11. which God's Vengeance was desired and solicited, and for the continuance of which it was also promised to be granted. This than does now show us a very plain distinction betwixt the first Conception of the malignity of the Beast, (together with the several Processes of his growth in the Womb of the Roman Empire) And his first Birth and Appearance. For one may observe, that the bounds of the Plagues of the first four Trumpets reach not farther than to the end of Chap. 4. the Power of the Goths in Italy, or at farthest but to the first beginning of Justinian's Reign, and so do extend not farther than to about the first times of the Beast; But the three last Trumpets do come all after that time. And this does give a very accountable Reason of the vast disproportion betwixt the Plagues of the four first Trumpets, and those of the three last. The Plagues of the four first were proportioned to the nature of the Provocations for which they were inflicted; which being but the first endeavours and beginnings only of the malignity of the Beast in the Civil Power, had Judgements accordingly proportioned to them of no very long continuance upon the Empire. But the three last Woes being Judgements upon them after that the Tyranny of the Beast was come to its full appearance in confederacy with the false Prophet newly advanced to the Spiritual Monarchy, were vastly more dreadful. And the fury of this Tyranny being still much more whetted on by the increase and exercise of the Papal Power, just before the founding of the Sixth Trumpet, or the beginning of the Turkish Empire, the Woe of that Trumpet is accordingly much heavier and of longer continuance than that of the Fifth. It may hereupon be imagined, that since the Beast was translated from the Eastern Empire to the Western at the Anno 800. investing of Charlemaign with the Imperial Dignity, the Eastern Empire should have been not longer the Object of the Plagues of the Trumpets. But it is known, that though the Succession of the Line of the Beast, as Head of the City of Rome, might fall into the Family and Successors of Charlemaign, yet the Eastern Emperor must necessarily be a great Limb of him, because they retained still the same persecuting Laws for Uniformity and Conformity to the Roman Church in those Parts, which they had received from their Predecessors while they were the sole Heads of the Roman Church. And their differences from the Western Church in some few Instances did not hinder them from being much the same for the main; As we see at this present in the differences betwixt the Gallican and the Roman Church. Wherhfore the Eastern and Western Emperors after that Division in Leo Isaurus' time seem in this respect to be much the same one Head of the Beast, that they had been in Anno 730. the same kind of Division of the Seats of the Empire before the fall of the Western Empire in Augustulus; And though there was no such consent betwixt them in matters of Civil Government as there had anciently been, yet they both agreed in their joint designs for the advancement of the Honour of the former Roman Church in each of their Divisions, as the sole Rule of Faith, according to the Definitions of the ancient Roman Councils. But if the History of the Eastern Empire be more narrowly and particularly searched into, it will be found, that the Eastern Empire was in a perfect conformity to the Roman Western Church for all material Points, and even about the Worship of Images and the Supremacy of the Pope for some considerable part of the Reigns of those Eastern Princes, who came betwixt the Excommunication of Leo Isaurus and the end of the Constantinopolitan Empire. And this is very plainly signified to be the cause of the Success of the Turks against the Eastern Empire by what is said of the behaviour of the Western Romanists under the second Woe, Rev. 9 20. That the rest repent not. For that shows that those who were said before to have been killed by that Woe, were punished for the same fault of which the rest would not repent themselves. And it is known to be the Eastern Empire that is there represented by the third part of Men that are said to be killed by the second Woe. Wherhfore the Turks in the Sixth Trumpet may now very well be esteemed a Judgement upon the Eastern Empire for its share in the party of the Beast, notwithstanding the Excommunication of the Greek Emperor out of the Western Roman Church. For he was still the Roman Emperor in far the biggest remainder of the Empire, and used very often much the same kind of Tyranny over the Conscience that had been in use among his Predecessors; And that also upon much the same Plea, viz. the Divine Authority of the former Councils of the Roman Church. It is not difficult after the stating of the beginning of the first four Trumpets, to discover the intent of all the Actions Rev. 8. that are described to precede them in order from the end of the fifth Seal; And the best way to perform it will be to begin with those which are the nearest to the First Trumpet, and so to trace them upward from thence, as from things that are already known, and so most likely to determine the nature of those that are next them, according to the method that has been already used for finding out the signification of the first Trumpets. It is very plain at first view, that the Angels casting the fire of the Altar upon the earth, upon which followed Voices, Ver. 5. and Thunderings, and Lightnings, and an Earthquake, must signify great Judgements that were than coming upon the Earth. For besides the natural signification of those Expressions for that purpose, immediately upon it the seven Angels which had the seven Trumpets are said to prepare themselves to sound, that is, to bring on those Calamities, which were the business of the Trumpets. And than, when it is considered that this Fire of the Altar was cast out of the same Censer out of which the smoke of the Incense had just before ascended up before God, with the Prayers of the Saints, and that also out of the hand of the same Angel, Ver 3. and that the ascending up of the Prayers of the Saints with the Incense before God signifies their being accepted and wellpleasing to God, it may very reasonably be concluded, That the Plagues of the Trumpets were Judgements upon the Empire upon the account of those Saints that offered up their prayers to God, and were accepted and heard; which, according to what has been declared to be the reason of the Plagues of the Trumpets, would signify, that those Prayers were the Complaints of those who were prosecuted by the Roman Powers, from the first beginning of the sounding of the Trumpets to the end of them. Especially if it be considered, that these Prayers of the Rev. 8. Ver. 2. Ver. 5 & 6. Saints with the Incense are placed just after the first appearance of the Angels with the seven Trumpets, and just before the show of the Judgements, for which the Angels with the seven Trumpets are said to prepare themselves to sound. There is also, just before that first mention of the Angels with the seven Trumpets, another circumstance to signify the Prayers of the Saints to be just at hand, and that is, that there was silence in heaven for half an hour. For this Silence joined with the offering up of the Incense is a manifest Ver. 1. allusion to the custom in the Temple of offering up the Prayers in silence at the time of Incense, as Mr. Mede has observed. So that now here appears no fewer than four interchanges betwixt the Prayers of the Saints and the Trumpets to show their immediate relation to one another. First the Silence to signify the time of Incense and Prayer, than next the appearance of the seven Angels with the seven Trumpets immediately upon it; And than the offering up the Prayers with the Incense; And lastly, the execution of the Judgements of the Trumpets. When to this it is added, That the Prayers and the Judgements are conveyed by the same Censer, and by the same Ver. 3, 4, 5. Angel, and that the Judgements are returned down upon Earth by the same Censer, just immediately after that the Smoke of the Incense with the Prayers of the Saints, which had been offered up by it, was ascended up before God,— when they thus appear to have so plain a Relation of Cause and Effect to one another, it is very hard to withhold from determining that the Prayers of all the Saints with the Incense must be the immediate moving cause of those Judgements; And therefore that those Prayers must be the Complaints of those Christians to God that were persecuted by the Roman Governors from the first times, that that Spirit of Persecution appeared in the Roman Emperors. But if all these different interfering mentions of the Prayers of the Saints and the Judgements of the Trumpets should only signify a mere Priority of Order, and not really any Causality or Effect upon one another, than by the first bore mention only of the Angels with the seven Trumpets, just before the time of Incense and the Prayers of all the Saints Rev. 8. is to be understood the readiness of those Angels to begin Ver. 3, 4, 5. the Judgements of the Seventh Seal at the first opening of it, but that the execution of them is deferred till the first Zeal and Devotion of the true Christian Roman Church (after the Conversion of the Empire) was over, after which it was a very convenient season to begin the Vengeance promised to the Martyrs in the Fifth Seal. However in either of those ways it appears, that at the opening of the Seventh Seal the Judgements of the Trumpets are just ready at hand, and that they are the chief business of that Seal. For they are introduced immediately upon the opening of that Seal. So that though there should be a signification in it of the pure state of the Christian Church before the Trumpets by the Prayers of the Saints, yet it appears to be but of a very short continuance. For it is represented first by the half hours silence at the time of Incense and Prayer in the Temple; And that critical Ver. 1. Determination of it to that space of time in the words of the Prophecy, must be apprehended to signify the shortness of the time, that those Devotions should continued before the coming on of the Plagues of the Judgements. The Angels Ver. 2. with the Trumpets are also represented as just ready to execute those Judgements at the first mention of that half hour, the time of which had also been before signified to be just at hand by the Sealing of the 144000 in the Seventh Chapter before the opening of the Seventh Seal. All which does extremely well agreed with the short time of the free state of the whole Christian Church after Constantine's Death. It began to be the Spirit of the Imperial Authority soon after that time to make severe Laws about matters of mere Conscience, to force Men to a conformity to the Roman Church against their Wills and Judgements; And the Judgements of the Trumpets did immediately follow upon it. And further, that the time of the Trumpets could not be long after the Conversion of the Empire by Constantine, is also apparent from the place where the great multitude said to be come out of the great Tribulation are found; And that is betwixt the Sealing of the 144000, and the Seventh Seal. Rev. 7. 9 For the Sealing of the 144000 is known to signify that the Theor. 4. Judgements of the Trumpets were not than far of; And yet betwixt that and the execution of them there is described that great multitude come out of the great Tribulation, which has been found to be the last end of the Heathen Emperors, and of their Persecutions, (Theor 16.) And immediately after that appears the opening of the Seventh Seal, the first show of which is the appearance of the Angels with the seven Trumpets. This does very plainly signify that the end of Rev. 8. 1. the Pagan Persecution, and the beginning of the Plagues of the Trumpets were very near one another, if not immediately after. And yet since the Sealing of the 144000 comes in before Chap. 7. the great multitude, one would think that that should signify some providential design to secure the faithful part of the true Church from those evils before the end of the Heathen Persecutions; Which seems something difficult to comprehend at the first view. For it might seem to have been more proper to have put the Sealing of the 144000 just before the executing of the Plagues of the Seventh Seal, against which they were secured. But that may easily be thus accounted for. In the Fifth Seal there was a Promise of Revenge given to all those Rev. 6. 11. that were than killed, to be fulfilled, when the rest of their Brethrens that were to be martyred, as they were, should be slain. Immediately upon this, at the opening of the Sixth Seal, does follow a dreadful appearance of a Vengeance Ver. 15, 16. that was very near approaching with a great change of the Government of the Empire. It was than very natural to put in the Exception to this general Threat that was going to be executed; And so do we found the Seventh Chapter entering after the terrors of the Sixth Seal with a delay of execution Chap. 7. 2. till the 144000 were sealed to escape it. After which comes the great multitude out of the great Tribulation, or that Ver. 9 kill of the rest of the Brethrens which was set up in the Fifth Seal, as the Mark to discern the time of the promised Theor. 1●. Vengeance by; And presently after that opens the Seventh Chap. 8. Seal, with the appearance of the Trumpets which were to bring on those Calamities that had been threatened. So that the Sealing of the 144000 is but only to follow the decorum of the subject that was than in hand, or to put in the Exception in the same place where the Vengeance was represented to be general or universal. For the excepting of the 144000 is presently after the mention of the panic fear that all the World was in for the Wrath of God, that Chap. 6. 16. was foreseen in the Sixth Seal. It is also evident from the express words of the fifth Seal, That the Calamities of the Trumpets were to be very soon after the end of the Pagan Emperors. For the Vengeance is there promised to be within a little season after that time; Chap. 6. 11. And the Expiration of that little season is also further determined to be out when the rest of the Brethrens should be all killed, which has been found to signify the end of the Pagan Conseq. Theor. 16. Emperors, and of all their Persecutions. So that the Trumpets must begin to sound at farthest soon after the time of Julian the Apostate. And since the end of the Pagan Persecutions is represented Theor. 12. & 16. Chap. 7. by the great multitude come out of great Tribulation, which are described as coming after the time of the Sixth Seal: That great change of the State that is set out in the Sixth Seal just before them by the Eclipses of the Sun and Moon, Rev. 6. 12. and the change of the Stars, must according to the use of these Prophetical Schemes necessarily denote the Conversion of the Imperial Throne to the Christian Faith in Constantine. For the Effect of it is a very dreadful apprehension of an approaching Destruction by all those that had been the Enemies of him that sat upon the Throne, and of the Lamb, or the ruin of all the Enemies of the Christian Church, just after the Martyrdoms in the Fifth Seal, which are known to be the Persecutions under Heathen Emperors, (Theor. 16.) And there is nothing in the History of those times that can any ways answer that Description, but the beginning of the Conversion of the Empire, and of the ruin of the Pagan Rule in it by Constantine. But jest any should imagine, that the terrors of the sixth Seal are the vengeance, that is promised to the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, it must be remembered, That the great Tribulation, out of which the great multitude in the seventh Chapter are said to be come, cannot be any thing else but the same kind of persecution, in which the rest of the Brethrens mentioned in the fifth Seal were to be killed, (Theor. 12.) Rev. 6. 11. before the end of which persecution the vengeance there promised was not to begin; And that great Tribulation must necessarily be after the opening of the sixth Seal, according as it is described, because it is found to continued till just before the Calamities of the Trumpets, which are the business of Chap. 7. 9, etc. Ver. 3, 4. the seventh Seal, and is placed betwixt the sealing of the 144000 (which intimates the evils of the Trumpets to be than just at hand) and the real beginning of those Chap. 8. 1. evils. Besides if we should regard nothing but the expressions of the fifth Seal, it seems very plain, that the vengeance there promised must be after the time of the Calamities of the sixth Seal. For it is confined to a little season after Chap. 6. 11. those Martyrs in the fifth Seal; And that little season also determined to reach to the end of all persecution of that kind, in which the rest of the Martyrs were to be killed, as they were. Now these rest of the Brethrens could not be killed in the period of the fifth Seal; For they are distinguished from those, who are made the business of that Seal. And the Calamities of the sixth Seal appear at the Ver. 12. first opening of it after the fifth Seal; There is therefore no place before them for the kill of the rest of the Brethrens. They cannot therefore be that vengeance, which in the fifth Seal is promised to come after the kill of them. Wherhfore since the Contents of the sixth Seal are placed before the end of all Pagan Persecution, and yet are a very great show of Judgement upon the Enemies of the Lamb, who at that time could be none but Pagans', they cannot tolerably be apprehended to be any thing else, but the beginning of the ruin of Paganism, which was not completed before the perfect end of all Pagan Power in the Government, and the entire triumph of the Christian Church; And that was not till many Years after the Conversion of Constantine, But the continued decay, and weakening of that Interest, from the first change of the Imperial Throne, is very emphatically expressed by the characters of the things in the sixth Seal. If it should be objected, That those expressions in the Rev. 6. 12, etc. Prophets do never signify any thing lesle, than the total subversion of that State, of which they are spoken, it is to be considered, that the expressions in themselves have no manner of direct signification for any such thing. They are equally capable of being understood of the ruin of any sort of People; And the time of this Ruin and Destruction being confined in the Prophecy to the Pagan State of the Roman Empire, it cannot be understood of any thing else, but of the ruin of that. THE EVENT does confirm all the Application that has been made of the Actions before the first Trumpet, passed all scruple. For as there must have been one of the Seals to signify so dreadful a state of the Church, as the Dioclesian Persecution; so must there have been another to signify the change of the Empire by Constantine; And this last Seal, to answer the order of events in History, must have begun, as the sixth Seal does, before the last end of all Pagan Persecution; But than, after that, and before the execution of the vengeance, that was promised in the fifth Seal, there must also have been a description of the end of all Pagan Persecution, as there is at the end of the sixth Seal, because it is expressly said, in the fifth Seal, That after the rest of the Brethrens should be killed, the Martyrs, said there to have been already slain, should be avenged; And the multitude come out of Tribulation, just before the Trumpets, Chap. 7. 9 does exactly answer this. But yet that revenge could not come, before the Christian Church had put on the Spirit of those, that killed the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, and therefore aught there before the Trumpets to be, as there is (Chap. 8. 3, 4, 5.) a signification of the persecuting methods of the Christian Emperors, which brought down that vengeance upon their heads, which was promised for the Blood of the Martyrs that was shed under the Pagans'. BY the method which has been used to determine the Application of the first four Trumpets, it appears what is to be understood by all the Actions, that are recorded betwixt the fifth Seal, and the first Trumpet: And after this particular Analysis of all the mystical Representations of this part of the Prophecy, it will now be not unpleasant, to take a more direct view of the order and dependence of them upon one another, according to that series in which they lie, and to observe how exactly they answer to the events of those times, to which they are applied. THE fifth Seal is a very lively Representation of the fiercest Persecution of the Christian Church under the Pagan Emperors, and that but a little season before the last end of all Pagan Power. This does extremely well agreed with Rev. 6. 11. the Persecution under Diocletian, just before the appearance of Christianity upon the Throne. But than it is there foretold, That these judgements, which the Blood of those Martyrs did cry for from Heaven, should not be executed, till the rest of their Brethrens were killed; Ibid. Which suits very well with the continuance of the Persecutions of the Church in some parts of the Empire after the end of that fierce Storm in the Reign of Diocletian, and after the Conversion of Constantine. Maximinus and Maxentius, and after them Licinius did exercise very Barbarous Cruelties against the Church after that time. The accurate Petavius says of Maximinus alone, That the Martyred an innumerable Rationer. Temp. Part. 1. in Maximino. V 12. multitude. Accordingly do we found in the first place after these Predictions the sixth Seal opening with the significations of a very eminent change in the Governing part of the Empire, with the approaching ruin of the Enemies of the Church; And Constantine's appearance upon the Throne with the figure of the Cross, and the promising Motto of it, In hoc signo vince, aught not to have any ordinary characters to set it out by. The change of Paganism for the triumphant appearance of the Christian Church upon the Imperial Throne, did require as emphatical Characters to express it by, as the destruction of any other Monarchy, that tyrannised over the Church, for which those high expressions are made use of by the Prophets. And there is nothing in that lively expression of the general Panic Fear of V 15, 16. that whole party in the sixth Seal, which was not literally fulfilled in the voluntary retirements of Diocletian and Maximian from the Throne, and the recantations of Maximinus. And as the time seemed now to be come for the vengeance to be executed, that was promised to the Martyrs in the fifth Seal, so do we found an universal dread of Ibid. it in this Seal; And immediately after it the mention of those of the True Church, who were to escape it, and to Rev. 7. 4. be secured from feeling it, in the sealing of the 144000. That sealing did plainly show, That the time was just at hand for the Judgements, which were threatened; And therefore there wanted nothing now to bring them on, but the end of that great Persecution, in which the rest of the Christian Martyrs, in the fifth Seal, were to be killed; There is therefore next introduced the great multitude of all Nations, that are said to be come out of the great Tribulation, V 9 which signifies the whole number of those that were to be killed all over the World by the Heathen Emperors, to be now completed. Wherhfore presently after this is the seventh Seal opened, Rev. 8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. with the appearance of the Judgements of the Trumpets, and the Prayers of the Saints that were heard for the execution of those Judgements, just as it was made good in effect by the beginning of the eruptions of the Barbarous Nations upon the Roman Empire soon after the end of all the Heathen Emperors. But that the promised vengeance was not to fall upon the Empire, while it continued Pagan, is sufficiently shown by the intimation in the fifth Seal, that it was not to be fulfilled till after the end of all Heathen Persecution; And that could not be till the Pagan Government was destroyed. This shows the difference that there is betwixt the Judgements of the sixth, and those of the seventh Seal; For now it appears that the objects of the sixth Seal was Rome Pagan, but those of the seventh, Rome Christian degenerated. The Judgements of the Trumpets than were to be executed upon Rome Christian, but not till Rome Christian had begun to bring the guilt of its own Martyrs upon its head, by following the same cruel methods of Government towards its fellow Christians, as were in exercise by the Heathen Emperors. For the Roman Empire must be first fitted for the Wrath of God, before that wrath could be executed upon it; And it was sufficiently declared in the Prophecy, what provocations they should be, that should fit them for those Judgements, and that by the nature of them, as they were a revenge for the Blood of Martyrs. Nothing could make them a subject of God's revenge for the shedding of Christian Blood by their Heathen Predecessors, but the same kind of Spirit and Actions in themselves. This does excellently well suit with the practices of those times, when the first Trumpet began to be sounded; For just before that irruption of the Barbarous Nations upon the Empire, the Christian Emperors had begun to exercise great-Cruelties towards those who complied not with them, and to make unmerciful Laws against them; which though they enjoined not such corruptions as those afterwards in the time of the Beast, yet were they sufficient to make the Lives of Dissenters very uneasy to them, and to affright them out of their sincerity; And this Spirit continued in them to the time of the rise of the Beast, with some small intervals of toleration in the Eastern Empire. There were than manifest provocations enough to fit them for the Calamities of the first four Trumpets; And than, after the time of the rise of the Beast, there needs no enquiry to be made for the reasons of the far greater evils in the fifth and sixth Trumpet. AND NOW by the whole process of these figures, from the time of the fifth Seal to the rise of the Beast, we may discern a very exact resemblance betwixt the description of the State of the Church in this part of the Prophecy, and that description which we have of the same interval all along the Twelfth Chapter. It will be very convenient to compare them together, to strengthen the Application that has been already made. The cry of the Martyrs in the fifth Seal to express the heaviness Rev. 6. 11. of the Heathen Persecution, that they were under, is just the same with the cry of the Woman travelling in birth, and in Rev. 12. 1, 2. great pain, which is known to signify the Church under Heathen Persecution, crying for deliverance by the Conversion of the Imperial Throne. The opening of the sixth Seal immediately after, with all those Rev. 6. 12. great Significations of the change of an Empire, is very well fitted to express the great change of the Scene from Paganism to Christianity upon the Throne, and is of the same signification with the Woman's being delivered of a Manchild who was to rule all Nations with a Rod of Iron, and the Rev. 12. 5. taking up of that Child to the Throne of God, which is known to denote an advancement to the Royal Seat of a Kingdom. The first mention of the Woman's flying into the Wilderness Rev. 12. 6. before she actually did it, does extremely resemble the mention of the sealing of the 144000 before the time of the Rev. 7. 4. evils that they were sealed against; Though I take the first beginning of the time of the 144000 to be long before the time of the Woman in the Wilderness. But as her first flying into the Wilderness signifies her preparation only for it from the very time of her Delivery, and the advancement of her Son to the Throne. So does that answer the first sealing of the 144000 before the real danger against which they were sealed was come. But by both Figures is signified a very early Preparation of the Roman Church for the Judgements of God by some general degeneracy from the true Christian Spirit. The dreadful circumstances of the change of the Empire in the sixth Seal, so as to make the Kings of the Earth hid themselves Rev. 12. 16. with the Intimations of the Executions of God's Wrath upon the than great Enemies of the Lamb, is a particular account of the Tragical Effects of the War of Michael and his Rev. 12. 7, 8. Angels, with the Dragon and his Angels, ending with the casting them out of Heaven, or from the Ruling Power and Public Exercise of the Pagan Religion. But the complete Victory over them, and the casting them Rev. 12. 9, 10, 11. Rev. 7. 10, 11, 12. down in effect is very livelily expressed by the great multitude with white Robes, and Palms in their hands, who are said to be just than come out of the great Tribulation. For all the circumstances of that Triumph that is expressed to have been in Heaven at the casting down of the Dragon and his Angels Rev. 12 10, 11, 12. are very particularly answered by the same kind of Phrases in the Description of the Affairs of that multitude. There was in both the same crying, and that also with a loud Chap. 7. 10. voice in heaven. The words of their Triumphant Cry are much the same with that of the Multitude; it is in the one, Salvation to our Chap. 7. 10. Chap. 12. 10. God and to the Lamb; in the other, Now is come salvation and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the Power of his Christ. Those of the great Multitude are said to have come out Chap. 7. 14. of the great Tribulation, and to have washed their Robes, and to have made them white in the Blood of the Lamb, and are described as Conquerors with Palms in their Hands. And the Brethrens in the Twelfth Chapter are said to have Ver. 11. overcome the Dragon by the Blood of the Lamb, and because they loved not their Lives unto the Death. The Heavens and those that were in them are called to rejoice Chap. 12. 12. at the overthrow of the Dragon. And the Angels and Elders are represented in Heaven with Chap. 7. 11, 12. Rev. 12. 12. the great Multitude, as actually rejoicing and saying, Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might be unto our God for ever and ever, Amen. After this Victory there is warning given of a time of Woe upon the Inhabiters of the Earth and Sea, from the Wrath of the Dragon: So also in the Seventh Chapter the evils of the Trumpets against which the 144000 were sealed, are signified to come upon the Earth and Sea, but not till after the time of the Victorious Multitude there after mentioned. There is indeed this difference betwixt them, Rev. 7. 2, 3. That the time of the Dragon's Woe is designed by the Devil for the ruin of the Church; But the Evils of the Trumpets are designed by God to be Judgements upon the degenerate part of the Empire. It appears however in both places, that the gross Body of the new Christian Empire, is the Object of the Dragon's Woes, and the Calamities of the Trumpets. The Dragon gins the execution of the Woe, that was forewarned, with the Persecution of the Woman that brought Rev. 12. 13. forth the Manchild. His Intention was to destroy the Church by it; But the Woman had two Wings given her to fly into the Wilderness to save her from it. Just as the 144000 are said to be sealed against the Evils of the Rev. ●. 3. 4. Trumpets. But before the settlement of the Woman in the Wilderness for the number of days, that are allotted to her abiding there, the Dragon is said to cast out a Flood after Chap. 12. 15. her, to 'cause her to be carried away by it. As many Waters are interpreted by the Angel in the Seventeenth Chapter to signify multitudes and Nations, so must a Ver. 15. Flood signify a great inundation of People or Nations; And than, the Dragon's Flood must necessarily be, all that inundation of the Barbarous Nations, which destroyed the Roman Empire, and shared it among themselves. And since this Flood is here described as the last effort of the Dragon against the Church, till the time of the rise of the Beast in the Thirteenth Chapter. The time of this Flood must be the whole time of the inundation of the Chap. 8. Barbarous Nations upon the Empire, and therefore must it be the same with the Calamities of all the first four See CHAP. IU. Trumpets. To answer the first four Trumpets, this time is indeed divided into four considerable Events, by which this Invasion gained upon the Empire, because the four Trumpets do signify so many different Judgements upon the Roman Empire; But all these different parts of their success being no ways considerable for endangering the Church, but only for their overrunning the Empire like a Torrent, they might all very properly be comprehended under the Scheme of a Flood, which was the one general nature of them all, as they were the Devil's malice against the Church. Thus than we see, that the next attempt of the Dragon against the purer part of the Church, does run parallel to the Judgements of the first four Trumpets against the degenerate part of it; And so the same Calamities, that the Devil's malice did intent against the Church of God, are made the Executioners of the Wrath of God upon those whom the Devil had inspired to persecute them; And in this sense, is the Earth said to have helped the Woman by Rev. 12. 16. swallowing up of the Flood, when those Barbarous Nations came to have a fixed settlement in the Roman Empire, upon their destroying of the Western Power of it, and their dividing it amongst themselves. For by this the Roman Empire in those parts came to be one settled Roman Church in so many divided Kingdoms, in which the True Church did sojourn in Sackcloth and as in the Wilderness. Thus stood the Roman Empire ready prepared to be that confederacy, which is represented by the Beast, and the Ten Kings, and which is immediately after in the beginning of the Thirteenth Chapter set out by a Beast rising out of the Sea, (or out of this great Flood, that the Dragon poured out,) with Ten Horns, representing so many Kingdoms, springing out of this Inundation of People. CHAP. VI The signification of the Characters of the Two Witnesses demonstrated. Their Death fixed to the Suppression of the True Church in the Dominions of the Beast only. The Death of the Witnesses no general Massacre. Two general distinct Suppressions of the True Church not possible. The Bodies of the Witnesses kept from being buried, an Act of Friendship. This attributed to Peoples, Tongues and Nations, denotes the Assistance of Protestant States. AMongst all the inquiries, that are at present made concerning Rev. 11. the relation of the Affairs of the Beast to the times, that we now live in, there is none that is so much the general concern of all that are curious, as the kill, and the rising again of the Two Witnesses in Sackcloth in the Eleventh Chapter. And it will be expected that I should propound my apprehensions about that Affair, especially about the conjectures that are generally made concerning its Application to the present posture of the Affairs of the Church. I must indeed acknowledge, That, however different I am from Monsieur Jurieu in almost every thing else, yet I was extremely surprised with the light that he has given to the Prophecy about the Death of the Two Witnesses from the present face of the Protestant Churches all over Europe, and the foresight of what is likely to succeed them, compared with the Characters of the Text; I own this to have been the first occasion of all the thoughts, that I have had about those things, and it did so strongly affect me, that I was impatient to see it settled upon a clearer foundation, than he has laid for it. I have therefore nicely stated all the single Characters in the Text, that relate to that account, and have resolved the explication of it into clear Propositions in an orderly dependence upon one another; And have afterwards endeavoured to confirm the same apprehension by a new proof from the expiration of the time of the second Woe, or the last end of the Turkish Wars, and from the near approach of the business of the fifth Vial. I will not venture to say, That what I have here to propound about this part of the Prophecy, is as unquestionable as any of my Propositions; And yet I cannot but think the greatest part of it at lest will be judged to be but very little short of them, if the principles upon which I rely, and which are elsewhere secured, be once granted me. However, to show, that I am careful to distinguish betwixt the different evidence of the grounds, that I offer for all my Conclusions, I will not pretend to so high a degree of certainty for what I shall here deliver about these matters, as I make account there is in that part of these inquiries, that determines the nature and rise of the Beast. It has been already supposed, That the Two Witnesses do represent the True Church of God in all the time of its humiliation under the Beast in Sackcloth, (Suppos. 4.) As also that the Forty two Months of the Beast, and the 1260 Years of the Witnesses do begin and end together, (Suppos. 2.) It is said of the Witnesses, that when they should finish Ver. ●, 3●. 11, 12, 13. their Testimony, that, The Beast should war against them, should overcome them, and kill them; That their dead Bodies should lie unburied in the Streets of the great City three days and an half; And than should they come to life again, and stand upon their feet, and should be called up to Heaven, and ascend thither in a Cloud; And that their Enemies should behold them as they ascended; And that at the same time, that they should ascend, there should be a great Earthquake, and the fall of the tenth part of the City, and that in the Earthquake there should be slain seven thousand Men, and that the rest should be affrighted, and give glory to God. It is unquestionable in the first place, That The great City, where the dead Bodies of the Witnesses did Theor. 20 lie, is the same with Babylon the Great. Ver. 8. For it must necessarily be the City of the Beast, who killed the Witnesses, which is known to be Babylon all over this Prophecy, and which has also the same particular Name of the Great City in all the Chapters wherein it is mentioned: And in the Eighteenth Chapter alone it has this peculiar Epithet given it no lesle than five or six times; When with this it is also considered, that the term of the Great City denotes a reference to such a City somewhere before hinted at, it cannot possibly be apprehended to be any thing else. Accordingly do we found all kind of Protestant Interpreters agreed about it. But than it is also apparent, That By the Street of the great City must be meant, The Dominion Theor. 21 or Jurisdiction of Babylon, and not the real Streets of any particular City. Rev. 8. For since the Witnesses represent the whole Church under the Dominion of the Beast (Suppos. 4.) And under the Oppression and Tyranny of that Party for above a thousand years together (Suppos. 2.) It is a very absurd thing to imagine, that by the kill of them at the conclusion of their Testimony, in distinction to all their Sufferings before, should be meant nothing but the Destruction of them in one particular City only, or that their dead Bodies should be contained within so short a compass. (*) Ribera in cap. 17. Apoc. number. 7. Rome is not here said to be drunk only for that Blood, which was shed in that City, but also for that Blood, that was shed in other Cities by its Command and Authority. For Rome itself did also shed that Blood. Idem in cap. 18. v. 24. The Blood of all etc. was found in her, the Blood of all was imputed to her, as the Author of it. For— All things were done by the Governors, which Rome did set over the Provinces. Idem in cap. 14. number. 41. For She (Rome) killed all, that were killed by the Command and Authority of her Ministers. The Great City must therefore in this place necessarily signify that Dominion or Empire of Rome which is called Babylon, according as it does also usually signify very frequently in this Prophecy; And so also is the name of Babylon used among those Prophets, Isai. 1. 22. & ch. 47. Jerem. 50. & ch. 51. from whom it is here borrowed, for the whole Babylonian Kingdom. The presence also of the People's, and Kingdoms, and Tongues, and Nations, at the sight of the dead Bodies, does make the ver. 9 place where they were to appear to be some great Empire. For those Expressions do signify † Rev. 13. 7. ch. 14. 6. chap. 17. 15. Ver. 10. in this Prophecy all the several Nations of the Roman Empire: The same also does appear from what is said about the rejoicing of those that devil upon Earth, over the dead Bodies: For it would be a very extravagant thing to apply this to a three days Death of two Persons in any particular City. From hence it necessarily follows, That The tenth part of the City, ver. 13. must signify the tenth Conseq. 1 part of the Jurisdiction of Rome, which is called Babylon. For the term of the tenth part of the City is a plain reference to some known City, that had been before mentioned; And that can be nothing, but the great City just before it. Wherhfore by the tenth part of the City must be meant the tenth part of the Babylonish Empire; And than considering that that Empire is set out by the Figure of a Beast with ten Horns, which are said to be ten Kingdoms, Rev. 17. 12, 17. The tenth part of the City must be one of the ten Kingdoms Conseq. 2 of the Roman Party. And consequently The fall of the tenth part of the City must denote the Conversion of that Kingdom from the Roman Church. Conseq. 3 For the Fall of Babylon is the decay of the Interest of the Roman Church in general (Suppos. 5.) And therefore by the Fall of one of its Kingdoms must be meant the Conversion of it from that Church. And than it being evident from hence, that the other parts of Babylon do not fall at the same time, It is manifest, That The Roman Church continues in power after the Ascension Theor. 22 of the Witnesses mentioned ver. 12. For after that Ascension of the Witnesses is the fall of the tenth part of the City, which implies the rest of the City to be still entire. But this is made much more manifest by the nature of the third Woe, which supposes the Beast in being for its Object; And from the latter Vials, which are certainly part of the third Woe, and Plagues upon the Beast, as will appear Chap. 7. and Chap. 16. Wherhfore The Ascension of the Witnesses into Heaven can be nothing Theor. 23 but the advancement of them to a Throne here upon Earth. Ver. 12. For the Beast, or Roman Church, continues in power after that Ascension of the Witnesses (Theor. 22.) And the Witnesses continued with the Beast to the end of his Reign (Suppos. 2.) Therefore must the Witnesses continued upon Earth after that which is called their Ascension into Heaven. Their Ascension than cannot signify any real Ascension into Heaven. And than, if that Expression be necessary to be understood in a mystical sense, of some advancement of them upon Earth, it must signify their advancement to an earthly Throne. For it must be some visible advancement, because their Enemies beheld them ascending; And the usual signification of ascending into Heaven in a mystical acceptation, especially where Isai. 14. 12, 13. it is expressed to be a visible advancement, as it is here, is an advancement to an earthly Throne. What indeed can tolerably answer the Character of ascending into Heaven in a visible manner without leaving the Earth, but supreme power upon Earth? This is confirmed passed all scruple by being immediately followed with the fall of the tenth part of the City, which is said to be at the same hour that they ascended; For since that is found to signify the Conversion of a Kingdom Ver. 13. of the Roman Party (Conseq. 3. Theor. 21) It must be the Kingdom, that belongs to the risen Witnesses. And besides it is expressly said, That all in that place were either slain or converted, which denotes the entire Submission of it to the Ver. 12. Church. And than, by the Earthquake at the same time, which must relate to a whole Kingdom with these circumstances added to it, it would be hard to understand any thing else but the change of the State of that Kingdom, according to the mystical signification of that Expression in Prophecy. By these conclusions it does appear, That all this Account of the Fortunes of the Witnesses after their Resurrection is in Allegorical Expressions, which gives one a good ground to apprehended, that all, that is said of them before about their being killed, and rising again, is also Figurative or Allegorical only, as will be further proved for the clearer understanding of the Fortunes of the Church in the latter times of the Beast, which is here particularly described. But it may be the following Conclusions will be judged to be more clear and necessary in their own light, than those which have been here advanced before them; And than it will be useful to consider those that follow as good grounds to confirm the certainty of those, that have gone before them. For they have neither of them any show of a necessary dependence upon one another for their Evidence. Before any further advances to this purpose, it is to be considered, That The overcoming and killing of the Witnesses cannot Theor. 24 signify the whole time of their Persecution by the Beast. For, First, This War and Murder is at the finishing of the Ver. 7. Testimony of the Witnesses, whereas for the greatest part of their whole time they were Prophesying, and so could not be said to be killed. And the rendering of the Original, whilst they shall perform their Testimony, is a very forced Translation of it; And would make the Church represented by these Witnesses to be without any Life in it, whilst it was doing its Office, especially when it appears, That is was such a killing them, as to make them lie Dead in the Streets, which is quite contrary to their exercising the Office of Prophets for the whole time of their continuance. Secondly, The three days and an half also of their Death, which are made in this new way to be the whole time of the Witnesses, are described to come after the killing them; And this is impossible to understand of the whole time of their continuance for 1260 days. For than the whole time of their continuance would come after their Death which is a contradiction. Besides, that there is as manifest a difference in the signification of 1260 days, and 3 days and a half, as could be expressed. So that it looks like one of the greatest extravagancies, that ever Learned Men were guilty of, to make two Dr. Moore, etc. in cap. 11. Apoc. such plainly different, and inconsistent expressions to signify but one and the same thing. Wherhfore the overcoming and killing of the Witnesses cannot possibly signify the whole time of their persecution by the Beast. And than it will necessarily follow, That The overcoming and killing of the Witnesses must be the Theor. 25 fiercest persecution in the latter time of the Beast, that ever the Church was to suffer. First, It is in the latter time of his Reign. For it cannot signify the whole time of their Persecution, (Theor. 24.) and if it signify a particular time, it must be that which is a little before the time of the third Woe, as it is described to be; and that being the last Woe upon the Beast, it must be in the Ver. 14. latter time of his Reign. Besides, the proper signification of the expressions, by which the time of it is determined, is, when the Witnesses should have finished their Testimony; And the time of their continuance being of the same length with the Reign of the Beast, (Suppos. 2.) It must be also at the conclusion of his Reign, as well as about the finishing of their Testimony. Secondly, That it is the fiercest Persecution that ever the Church was to suffer from the Beast, appears by the Character of it in comparison with that of the state of the Church in all the other parts of his Reign. The state of the Church under the Oppression of the Beast at all other times has the name only of the Witnesses in Sackcloth; But this is represented by the making war with them, and overcoming them, and killing them, which must signify as much more considerable a Persecution than any other, as the kill a Man is in comparison of his being in a sorrowful and a mourning condition. To apprehended of what nature this storm of Persecution should be, it must be concluded in the first place, That The overcoming and killing of the Witnesses must at lest signify Theor. 26 a perfect Suppression of the Profession of the True Religion in all considerable Parts of the Dominion of the Beast. For it is the fiercest Persecution that ever the Church was to suffer, and that in the latter times of the Beast (Theor. 25.) And there have been all kind of Martyrdoms and Cruelties exercised against the Professors of the Truth in particular Parts of the Dominion of the Beast for many hundreds of years before the latter times of the Beast: For his continuance is for Twelve hundred and sixty years together (Suppos. 2) This overcoming therefore, and the kill of the Witnesses must be an utter Suppression of all considerable public Profession of the Truth in all Parts of the Dominions of the Beast. Indeed the kill of the Witnesses, since they represent the whole Church (Suppos. 4.) cannot without great force and wresting be understood of any thing lesle than of the Suppression of all public Testimony of the Truth in all the considerable Parts of the Dominion of the Beast, where they are in Sackcloth; They would not be overcome or killed, nor would they lie dead, if they were Prophesying in any considerable Parts of the Dominion of the Beast; The most absolute Suppression of the True Religion in particular Parts of the Dominion of the Beast, would be but the cutting of of some Limbs of the Witnesses, or of the Body of the Church, whom they represent. The kill of the Witnesses must therefore be a total Extirpation of the True Church, out of all the considerable Parts of the Dominion of the Beast. Hence it appears, That By the three days and an half of the dead Bodies of the Theor. 27 Witnesses, must necessarily be understood at lest three years and an half. Ver. 9 For it is impossible, that they should signify literally three natural days and an half only. For how is it possible that Peoples, and Kindred's, and Tongues, and Nations, which is used in Prophecy to signify many different Nations, should Ibid. Chap. 13. 7. Chap. 14. 6. Chap 17. 15. be represented, as looking upon the dead Bodies of the Witnesses, that is, upon the ruins of the whole Church in all parts of the Dominions of the Beast (Suppos. 4) for three days and an half only? Especially when we see half a day added to the number, which it is absurd to imagine of an Event, which is found to be of so general extent all over the Roman Empire. And than, whatsoever length of time a day may signify in mystical Language, yet since Twelve hundred and sixty days just before have been found to signify at lest so many Suppos. 2. years, That is a present Example to determine the signification of three days and an half to so many years. Wherhfore The dead Bodies of the Witnesses cannot signify literally Theor. 28 the dead Carcases of slain Men. For than (by Theor. 27.) they must be supposed to lie three years and an half unburied in all the parts of the Dominion of the Beast, where they are represented to be killed (Theor. 21.) which is a monstrous thing to imagine of any really dead Carcases of Men. For the same reason The Death of the Witnesses cannot possibly signify literally Conseq. 1 a bodily Death. For than by their dead Bodies must also be literally understood real Carcases, contrary to 28. Theor. By this than it is undoubted, That By the kill of the Witnesses cannot be understood any general Conseq. 2 Massacre of the Protestants. Wherhfore it is not now to be questioned, but that the kill of the Witnesses, is not to be understood in a literal, but in a mystical sense only. And than, By the kill of the Witnesses is to be understood nothing Theor. 29 else but a total Suppression of the public Profession of the True Religion in all parts of the Jurisdiction of the Beast. First, It is nothing but a Suppression of the Profession of the True Religion. For since it is not any bodily Death of the Witnesses, it must be a Suppression of that, which is the mystical Life of the Witnesses, and that is, their testifying to the Truth; And so their continuance in a state of Death for three years and an half, can signify nothing else, but that perfect state of silence, in which the Church continues in the Regions of the Beast during that space of time. Grotius to this purpose does very learnedly observe upon Mat. 8. 22. out of the customs of the Pythagorick and Platonic Schools (who were the most universally followed in the Apostles times) that those who had left of the Profession of Philosophy, and were become vicious, were represented as Men dead among them, and had their Coffins set up in the Schools. This is agreeable to the ordinary signification of killing and slaying in this Prophecy, as the slaying or killing the third part of Men in the Sixth Trumpet, the not killing them in the Fifth, and the Death of the Creatures in the Sea in the Second; in All which Killing and Death is taken for the Extinction of the Name and Profession of the Roman Nation, or the Non appearance of them under that Name, though they were really in being. Secondly, That this extends only to the Jurisdiction of the Beast, appears from the place where the dead Bodies of the Witnesses are said to lie, which is in the Street of the great City, and that has been found to be the Dominion or Jurisdiction of the Roman Church (Theor. 21.) And besides, they are the dead Bodies of the Witnesses in Sackcloth only, which signifies that part of the Church only, which is under the Dominion of the Roman Church (Suppos. 4.) And from hence it may be concluded, That The kill of the Witnesses is at an end, when the Profession of the True Religion is effectually suppressed in Theor. 30 all States, where the Roman Faith is the National Religion. For the kill of the Witnesses is nothing but the total Suppression of the Profession of the Truth in all parts of the Dominion of the Beast (Theor. 29.) And therefore it is at an end, when that Profession is suppressed in all considerable States that own the Roman Faith for the National Religion. For that is only the Dominion of the Beast, or of the great City, viz. where the Roman Church has the chief Power of the Nation. It may be objected, That the determinate Time of the last killing of the Witnesses cannot be known, because there may new States come under the Dominion of the Roman Church after the total Suppression of the True Religion in all parts of the than present Dominion of it; And that therefore the end of the kill of the Witnesses cannot be, till the Church be silenced in all those States, which are still to come under the Roman Yoke. But than, there would be two Deaths of the Witnesses, or two suppressions of the Church under the Roman Party. For since the Witnesses in Sackcloth are only that part of the True Church, which is in subjection to the Beast, (Suppos. 4.)— And that the killing them is found to be nothing, but the effectual silencing of all that part of the Church, (Theor. 29.)— The Witnesses must be accounted to be dead in all their Limbs and Members, whenever there happens such a total suppression of the True Religion in all parts of the Dominions of the Roman Party. And if the other parts of the True Church, which were not at that time in a Sackcloth state, but in a free and prosperous condition, should afterwards come under subjection to the Roman Church, there would than be a new appearance of the Witnesses in Sackcloth before the Resurrection of those that had been killed; And these Suppos. 4. new Witnesses being supposed to be the whole Church, which is at that time in subjection to the Beast, the suppression of their Testimony would be a second killing of the Witnesses in Sackcloth, or a new suppression of the whole Church under the Beast; Whereas, after the first three years of the dead Bodies of the Witnesses they rise again, and continued in Life to the end of the Reign Ver. 11. of the Beast; So that whenever there happens to be such a total suppression of the True Religion in all places, where the Roman Church is in Rule, for three years and an half together, the first appearance of that time aught to be looked upon as the only time of the death of the Witnesses. Wherhfore, the kill of the Witnesses must be at an end as soon as ever the profession of the True Religion is effectually suppressed in all places where the Roman Church is the Ruling Religion. TO take away all fears of an universal Conquest of the Church and suppression of the Truth all over the World in this great Persecution, here are very fair intimations, That The death of the Witnesses does not extend to all parts of the Theor. 31 True Church, that are at that time in being. This may very reasonably be gathered from what is said Verse 9 that those of the People, and Kindred's, and Tongues, and Nations, shall see the dead Bodies, but shall not suffer them to be buried. At the first one would be apt to look upon the hindrance of Burial by these People to be an high instance of malice in them against the slain Witnesses, according as it is almost every where in Scripture represented to be, when mentioned with the dead Bodies of the Saints. But it is to be considered, that the dead Bodies of the Witnesses do in this place signify, The Members of the Church in a state of perfect silence, without any outward Theor. 29. profession of the Truth: And than the putting them into Graves must necessarily signify a still higher mischief in that kind, or the utter extinction, disappearance, and annihilation of the silenced Church; This is confirmed by what is made to be the usual signification of lying unburied in a mystical sense amongst the Eastern Nations, whose ways of speaking are generally agreeable to the usage of Scripture. The being dead in a mystical sense without any signification of being buried does with them denote hopes of health and recovery; But the being dead and buried signifies the irrecoverable ruin of a Man; As it may be found in the 130th of the Apotelesmes of Apomasar or Achmetes the Arabian, which is a Collection of the ancient Interpretations of Prophetical Dreams or Visions, that were in use amongst the Kings of Persia and India, and is highly approved of for its use in the Schemes of this Book, by the Two most eminent Critics in these matters, Grotius and Mr. Mede, though the greatest Adversaries to one another in their Applications of this Prophecy. According to this, the hindrance of the dead Bodies of the Witnesses from being put into Graves, must necessarily signify, the not suffering the silenced Church to be wholly lost, and annihilated; And since with this it is said also, That those of the People's and Nations did see the dead Bodies all this while, this does plainly intimate the oppressed Church to be in a Visible state, and the hindering of their Burial must therefore signify the keeping the Church up in a visible, though ruined Condition; And than considering also that they were to rise again within three days after, the hindrance of their Burial must necessarily denote the keeping them in a readiness for their Resurrection; As on the contrary the setting a Watch, St. Matth. 27. 64, 65, 66. and the making all sure about the Sepulchre of our Lord (to whose death, and Resurrection, and Ascension, this account of the Witnesses does unquestionably refer) was a design in his Enemies to put an end to all hopes of his Resurrection. All these considerations may assure any Man, that the hindrance of the Burial of the Dead Witnesses was an act of great Charity, and Friendship; And than, those of the People and Nations, who were thus concerned for them, must be some People, who had a great compassion for the Church in that oppressed state, and who would not suffer it to be wholly lost in the Dominions of the Beast. These Friends of the oppressed Church must than be such, as were of a Party contrary to that of the Beast, who killed the Witnesses; and considering withal that they were able to hinder the utter extinction of the Church in all parts of the Dominion of the Beast, (Suppos. 2.)— They must be a very considerable Party; For they were able not to suffer the Enemies of the Church wholly to bury it; And those Enemies were the whole Power and Party of the Beast amongst whom the Church had been, Theor. 29. What than can these Friends of the oppressed Church be, but some States or People, that are independent upon the Roman Church, or the Beast, able to hinder them from making an utter end of the Church, which they had suppressed? And what can those States or People be but the rest of the True Church in some neighbouring Territories? It may indeed be objected against this, That the People's and Tongues and Nations, and those who are said to devil upon the Earth, Verse 9, 10. must be the same People. For so are they, Chapter 13. 7, 8. and Chapter 17. 8, 15. And than those People must be such, as rejoice, and make merry over the dead Bodies of the Witnesses, which shows them to be the worst of their Enemies. Ver. 10. But in the first place, there is always a very clear distinction put betwixt those, that devil upon the Earth, and the People's and Nations, where ever they are mentioned together in this Book, which is very often; And those that are said to devil upon the Earth, are every where, but in one place represented and set out with a signification of their being the Enemies of God, and the Church. As Chap. 6. 10. Chap. 8. 13. Chap. 13. 8, 12, 14. Chap. 17. 8. Chap. 12. 14. and very expressly in this place before us. And in that one place, where it has not the plain mark of this set upon it, (Chap. 14. 6.) yet it is expressly distinguished from the People's and Nations and Tongues; Whereas the worst that is said of the People's, and Nations, and Tongues, is that the Beast had power over them, and that the Woman did sit upon them, which is no more than Rev. 13 7. Chap. 17. 15. that the Beast, and the Woman, had an universal command of the World, which is all that the People's and Nations do signify. But here is besides under the terms of they or some of the People's and Nations, etc. an intimation of a select sort Ver. 9 of People distinct from the whole mass of those Nations and People, over whom the Beast is said elsewhere to have had power, that is, within the bounds of the ancient Empire of the Beast. And as those that devil on the Earth are set out as that part of these People's and Nations, which were the special Friends and Party of the Beast, by their rejoicing and making merry over the Dead Witnesses; So are these on the other side distinguished from them by the care they took to hinder their Burial, which kept their dead Bodies in a readiness to rise again to the confusion of their Enemies. Wherhfore it may now be safely resolved, That those of the People's and Nations that hindered the Burial of the Witnesses, must be some States, that had been formerly part of the Empire of the Beast, (as Peoples and Nations in other places are found to signify) but who were at this time independent upon his power, and who took part with the Church, to keep it from being utterly lost in this eminent oppression of it; And what than can these possibly be but some parts of Christendom freed from the Roman Yoke, who encourage and give protection to those that fly to them, and who animate and assist the rest, whom they left behind them, to continued firm to the Truth within them, which they were forced to deny with their Mouths, or to deny all the Life and Power of it in them? CHAP. VII. The Resurrection of the Witnesses is the Recovery of the True Church, where it was totally suppressed; It is fixed to this present time. Objections answered. The Resurrection of the Witnesses, the recovery of the Protestant Churches. And to begin in 1689, or at farthest in 1690. FRom what has been found to have been the undoubted Rev. 11. signification of the Death of the Witnesses, it is as unquestionable, That The Resurrection of the Witnesses is the reviving of the Theor. 32 outward public profession of the Truth in some part of the Dominion of the Roman Church, where it had Ver. 11. been wholly suppressed. For since the kill and the dead Bodies before the Resurrection, and the Ascension after it, have been found to CHAP. VI be but figurative expressions, there is no question but their Resurrection must be taken in the same sense; And than must the Resurrection of the Witnesses necessarily signify the return of the same Life into them, which was taken away from them by their Death; And that Death having been found to be the suppression of the free profession of the Truth, (Theor. 29.)— Their Resurrection must consequently be the open profession of it. And this must be in such places of the Beast, where this freedom had been suppressed; Because the Witnesses cannot possibly be said to rise from the Dead in places where they never were killed. Besides, that the Resurrection of the dead Bodies of the Witnesses must necessarily be where the dead Bodies are said to lie, and that is in the Street of the great City, or within the jurisdiction of the Roman Church, (Theor. 21.)— where they were killed. But than, it does not appear, that the Resurrection of the Witnesses was in all the places, where the dead Bodies lay. As their kill was carried on by degrees, so it is very probable, that their Resurrection will not be all at a time. But from what will afterwards be found to be the time of the fifth Vial, it will appear, that the Witnesses will be all risen again within a very few years after the first beginning of their Resurrection. For the third Woe, Conseq. 2. Theor. 66. Conseq. 4. Theor. 51. with which the fifth Vial gins will appear to be within a very short time after the Resurrection of the Witnesses; And that represents the beginning of the Kingdom of Christ in all the Kingdoms of this World: As the fifth Vial Ver. 11, 15. To● 6●. brings on a general Mortification of the Roman Church in all parts of his Dominion. But in the place, where they first rise from the Dead, the Protestant Church must be soon after the ruling Religion of that Nation, according to what has been observed about the Ascension of the risen Witnesses into Heaven, (Theor. 23.) About the particular time of this eminent recovery, and new Life of the Church after its last dreadful oppression by the Beast, there are various apprehensions amongst those, who yet agreed in the particular application of the Tyranny of the Beast to the Persecutions of the Roman Church. Some would have the time of this Resurrection of the Witnesses to have been at the first clear settlement of the Reformation, others would have it still to come, and some are positive that it cannot be till just about the end of the Reign of the Beast; And nothing is more worthy our Curiosity, or our most diligent enquiry to satisfy it, than the resolution of this Question. It will be a great advance toward this to be assured, That The Resurrection of the Witnesses is not yet past. Theor. 33 That which does most assure this to us is the knowledge we have of the second Woe. For the passing away of the second Woe is described to be just after the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses; And seems manifestly to have Ver. 14. been put in there alone by itself at so great a distance from the true place of it (at the end of all the business of it in the Ninth Chapter) for no other end than to stand for a remarkable event to know the time of this great deliverance by. Now the second Woe has been found to be the Turkish Empire, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 19) And cannot be yet said to be passed away. But this may be still much more confirmed; For it is easy to see, that the second Woe cannot possibly have been passed away either before, or since that the Turkish Empire began; 1. Not before, because the last deliverance of the Church by the Resurrection of the Witnesses must than have been before that time; And the glorious appearance of the Church in the third Woe, which comes quickly after the Ver. 14. second, must have been very soon after that time, and have continued for ever. But this is contrary to all the suppositions of those, that make the Roman Rule to be the Beast. The time of the Beast, and the Witnesses must also have been long since at an end, if the second Woe had been passed away before the beginning of the Turkish Empire. For the Resurrection of the Witnesses, which is just before the end of that Woe, is said to be when the Witnesses had finished, or were about to finish their Testimony. Ver. 7. 2. It is in the next place as impossible, that the second Woe should have been passed away at any time since the rise of the Turkish Empire. For the second Woe is known to be the business of the sixth Trumpet, which is the second of those Trumpets, which had the three dreadful Woes Rev 8. 13. proclaimed to be the business of them. Now the Woe of the sixth Trumpet is the Wars of the four Angels, which were loosed from the River Euphrates, and who by their Wars, and Conquests, and Equipage there described, must be some Princes of Asia about the course of the River Euphrates. But from the first rise of the Turkish Empire there has been no other Princes of any power, or continuance in those parts, but the Turkish Emperors. There has been therefore no appearance since the first rise of that Empire of any such Woe in those parts that could be different from them; And therefore cannot the second Woe have been passed since the beginning of the Turkish Empire, whatsoever that Woe may be in particular. And if the second Woe be not yet passed away, neither can the time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses be yet past, because the passing away of the second Woe, and the Resurrection of the Witnesses are described to be Ver. 11. & 14. much about the same time, whereas it is certain that for these thirty years at lest there has been so little an appearance of the last deliverance of the Church, that it has been rooted out of almost all places where the Roman Church has been in any considerable power. It may possibly be thought to be as impossible, that the Resurrection of the Witnesses should be near these present times, because they are said to have finished their Ver. 7 Testimony before they were killed. For according to that both the Witnesses and the Beast with whom they are contemporary, (Suppos. 2.) seem to be just at their last end at the time of their Resurrection; whereas it is utterly improbable that the Party of the Beast in so many several Kingdoms as he Rules in, should wholly loose all that power in so short a space of time. I grant it to be utterly improbable that the Reign of the Beast should be so suddenly at an end; But there is no such necessity from the Prophecy that the finishing of the Testimony of the Witnesses should signify the last end of their time. It is certain that the Reign of the Beast or the time of the Two Witnesses could not be at an end till some while after the sounding of the seventh Trumpet; For the seventh Trumpet brings on the third Woe, which Ver. 14, 1●. must be a Woe or Plague upon the Kingdom of the Beast, because there is no other remainders of the Roman Empire for it to fall upon. And it is elsewhere shown that the Roman Empire is the only object of the Plagues of the Trumpets, Conseq. Theor. 18. It is also said at the end of the sixth Trumpet, that the Rev. 9 20, rest did not repent of their Idols of Gold and Silver; And there is no part of the Roman Empire, but the Church of the Beast, to which that can belong, which shows them not to be converted just before the seventh Trumpet. Chap. 10. 7. This is further confirmed by the effect of the Ascension of the Witnesses, just before the passing away of the second Woe, and that was the Conversion but of the tenth part of the Kingdom of the Beast; so that there remained all the rest of it to be brought to Repentance by the third Woe, which is said to come quickly after; And the last effect of that Woe is said in the Eighteenth Verse to be to destroy those who had destroyed the Earth, who must be the Party of the Beast, and does exactly answer, what is said of that Party, Chap. 13. 10. That they that did lead into Captivity, and killed with the Sword, must go into Captivity and be killed with the Sword. The Beast than cannot possibly be at an end before the execution of the third Woe upon him; And therefore neither can the Twelve hundred and sixty years of the two Witnesses be at an end before the execution of that Woe upon the Beast. Now that the third Woe will require some considerable time to execute it in, after the beginning of the Seventh Trumpet, aught not to be questioned by any, who consider that the three Woes of the three last Trumpets have a very solemn mark set upon them, at the first notice, that is given of them Chap. 8. 13. Especially when it is also found, that the two first of these three Woes have taken up above a thousand years (Theor. 19) and that this last contains in it the three last Vials. Chap. 16. That which is argued for the short continuance of the third Woe, because it is said to come quickly after the passing away of the Second, is of no force, except the coming quickly can be proved to signify the going away quickly, which seems ver. 14. to be contrary to it. Coming quickly does indeed in several places in this Prophecy, and infinite places of Scripture beside, signify not more than the sudden appearance of a Riberain Ch. 1. Apoc. Ver. 1. That which is begun is already come.— The common usage of Speech, and the usage of Scripture, does approve of that way of 〈◊〉. So also in Verse 3. ●●●d.— For the time is at hand, i e. For these things will soon begin to come to pass, thing, not the short stay of it. Wherhfore it must be concluded, That the end of the Beast, which is the same with the end of the Witnesses Prophecy in Sackcloth, may be many scores of years after the first sounding of the Seventh Trumpet. For though at the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet it be said, that the Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdoms of the Lord Ver. 15. and of his Christ, and that from thence he should reign for ever, yet it is also said, That the Seventh Trumpet is the Third Woe; And it must first execute that great Woe upon the Beast, before there can be such an universal Kingdom of Christ established in the World. There will indeed be no manner of difficulty to apprehended this, if it be but considered, That all the Trumpets, as well as the Seals and Vials, take up long periods of time within the compass of which the business mentioned in them is fulfilled; And therefore the Universal Reign of Christ in the Seventh Trumpet must be understood of the concluding part of the period of the Seventh Trumpet, when the whole business of it is come to its complete perfection and accomplishment; And the means by which it is to be brought to its perfection being the ruin of the Kingdom of the Beast by the third Woe, well may the whole business of the Seventh Trumpet be represented to be the advancement of the universal glorious Kingdom of Christ in the World for all the time, that the power of the Beast is gradually decaying under the third Woe, and that the True Church is advancing upon the ruins of it. From hence than it appears, That the Two Witnesses continued a long while after their Resurrection and Ascension, or till the third Woe in the Seventh Trumpet be fully executed upon the Beast; Which, if it have any proportion to the two Woes before it, aught to continued for a great many years together. It is therefore now easy to understand, that by the finishing of the Testimony of the Witnesses just before their being Ver. 7. killed, cannot be meant the end of their Twelve hundred and sixty years' Prophecy. It may therefore denote either the time, when they had fully made known their Testimony to the World, which might be some time after the Reformation, or when they were about finishing the Twelve hundred and sixty years; As that word of finishing a business, is commonly used for the latter part, but not the last conclusion of Affairs that require a long time for the performance of them. The finishing them is many times meant of their being passed all the considerable business in them. But that the finishing of their Testimony cannot signify the end of the time of their Sackcloth Prophecy is manifest. For than the Forty two Months of the Beast would also have been at an end (Suppos. 2.) Whereas the Beast is said after that time to have made War with them, and to have killed them; Ver 7. Which must denote some years after that time, if we consider, that the Witnesses are the whole Body of the Church in all the Dominions of the Beast (Suppos. 4.) And to make the time of the Beast to be at an end before this, is to make the Beast to be in the highest flush of his power after the end of his power, which is a Contradiction; Besides what has been already said of the continuance of the Beast for all the time of the third Woe in the Seventh Trumpet. It may be thought to be inconsistent with the triumphant state of the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses, that their Sackcloth-Prophecy should continued for a long while after that time, and even after the sounding of the Seventh Trumpet. But it may easily be observed, That the Ascension of the Witnesses, and the Conversion of their Enemies, did affect but a tenth part of the great City, which can signify but a tenth part of the Kingdoms under the Authority of Babylon Ver 13. (Conseq. 2. Theor. 21.) which hinders them not from being in Sackcloth still under the rest, though they should be risen again from the dead in those other places also; And there is no more inconsistency in supposing them in Sackcloth an hundred years after their Resurrection in some places, than there was in their being said to be in Sackcloth ever since the Reformation; Whereas the True Church has been the ruling or triumphing Religion of many Kingdoms since that time, and therefore far from being in Sackcloth in those places. 'Tis enough to give them the denomination of their being the Witnesses in Sackcloth for their whole time, That they were all in a state of Humiliation under the Beast, till just about the latter end of their Prophecy, And that some of them continued to be so till the very last time of it. But that the being in Sackcloth for their whole time cannot be said of them in any other sense, appears from Theor. 33. where it is made unquestionable, that the Witnesses are not yet risen again, and therefore have been in their Sackcloth state ever since the Reformation, notwithstanding their flourishing appearance in several Kingdoms since that time. From what has been here premised there will now appear nothing in my Opinion concerning the end of the Reign of the Beast to hinder the fixing of the Resurrection of the Witnesses to these present times. For we see business enough in the third Woe of the Seventh Trumpet for to keep up their Adversary the Beast a long time after their Resurrection and Ascension, which will fill up the remaining part of the Twelve hundred and sixty years of the Witnesses, that in my way is still yet to come from this present time. IT IS therefore now to be enquired, Whether there be any Circumstances, in the Description of the kill of the Witnesses, that are sufficient to determine it to this present time. That which makes the fairest offer of this kind is the Expression of the kill of the Witnesses in Sackcloth. For since the kill of the Witnesses is not an universal Extinction of the Profession of the True Religion (Theor. 31.) It must than be supposed to extend not farther than to those, to whom the Expressions in the Prophecy seem to confine it, that is, to the Witnesses in Sackcloth, or to the Church in a state of Humiliation under the Beast, or his Party, which according to all Protestants can signify nothing but the Protestant Churches under the Rule of Roman States. IF NOW we cast our eyes upon the present state of the Reformed Churches, in almost all parts of Europe, wherever they have been under Roman Catholic States, it will appear, that they want very little or nothing of being totally suppressed. In all the Imperial Countries, in France, Poland, and Savoy, they have been silenced. And what other considerable part of the World is there, where they have any allowance under Roman Catholics? 'tis true, the Churches of England, and of the Palatinate, were lately come under Governors of the Roman Party; But they were far from being in a state of Humiliation under the Roman Church. For they were the ruling Religion in those Countries. They had all the Revenues and Preferments of the Church in those Places; They had an open freedom and liberty in the public Exercise of their Religion, and had all the Revenues of the ancient Roman Church for their encouragements in it; And the Exercise of the Religion of their Princes looked rather like a Toleration of it, than like the ruling commanding Religion of the Country. The Protestant Churches therefore in those places, must first have been dispossessed of their Rights, and have been brought down to a state of Toleration only, before they could have been in a capacity to be the Objects of this last Persecution. Wherhfore to all appearance, the Witnesses in Sackcloth have been as really put to death by the Beast, or Roman Party, as can be expected to be requisite for the fulfilling of a Prophecy about so large a Society, as the Witnesses are known to signify. For Prophecies about things of so general and comprehensive a nature, do not usually regard every small part or single member of that company; And therefore, though there may be some particular Towns, or little Islands under the Domination of France, or some inconsiderable Principalities in other places where the Witnesses are not yet altogether slain, That can signify little or nothing to make one judge the Prophecy not to be as yet fulfilled. If it should be thought that the Churches of England and the Palatinate aught first to have met with the same fate with the rest of their Brethrens, it must be considered, That their condition has not yet qualified them to be Objects of this Persecution, because they were not in a Sackcloth state. There is than all reason to judge by the outward appearances of things, that we have been now in the time of the Death of the Witnesses. I must confess I see no manner of force in the Criticism about the signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to induce me to it, Ver. 8. as if that must needs signify the Great Place, or Marketplace of the City, and so denote the place to be France; For I found it very frequent in the Septuagint to signify not more by that word in the singular number, than in the common streets of the City, in opposition to the being not so openly exposed to view, without any restriction to any one place in the Town, that is bigger than the rest. Besides, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the known word in the New Testament, and very commonly used to signify a Marketplace, and no where is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 certainly known to be used in that signification. But yet since the Suppression of the Protestants in France was so extremely remarkable for the new Methods, and the horror of it, and did extend to far the largest part of the Church, and especially because it was the last considerable slaughter of them, there is all reason to judge, That the three years and an half of their continuance in a state of Death did begin soon after the Revocation of the Edict of Nants, that is, as soon as the Promise in it of suffering the Protestants to continued in the Kingdom without any further molestation of them, was violated by the Military Executions upon them, the immediate effect of which was the general Apostasy of the whole Church there. It is certain that present Death could not have been so much dreaded, as those daily Vexations, which the Protestants were there under from those Barbarous Executioners; Because there was no prospect of any end of their misery under them; And nothing could have more shown that Persecution to be the last killing of the Witnesses. For as the kill of the Witnesses will appear to be the same with the great Persecution in Chap. 14. 12. So is Death there represented to be a great ease and deliverance from the evils which were to be endured in it, Theor. 40. I cannot think that the faithful continuance of some Confessors among them can signify any thing to the retarding of the Death of the Witnesses, because they were so few and inconsiderable. Nor can the Humiliation of the Protestants in Hungary signify any thing to the retarding of this Date of the Death of the Witnesses, because they were totally suppressed there, about the same time that the Persecution began in France. That which makes me the more inclined to this Opinion, is the common use of the things of this Prophecy to have very signal and remarkable Events, and such as all the World must take notice of, To fulfil every considerable thing, that is foretold in it; And as the French Persecution was the last so it made far the greatest noise in the World of any other. It is no small confirmation of this to consider, That as the time, times and an half of the Beast and Witnesses, have been found according to the very frequent use of the number 7 in this Prophecy to be a reference to some 7, of which they are the half; so also do the three days and an half of the Death of the Witnesses seem to refer to some seven years. For they are a very precise number, and the only instance of that kind, except the time, times and an half. This would exactly answer the time of the French Persecution from the first flight of the Protestants in Poictou to the People's and Tongues Ver. 9 in the Spring 1682, to the Resurrection of the Witnesses in the Year 1689, of which the fiercest part of it at the Revocation of the Edict of Nants would be the just half, or three years and an half; But the three years and an half of the dead Bodies being restrained to the Nations sight of them, the seven Ver. 9 years may very well be apprehended to begin when the People's and Nations began to see the first beginning of that last Execution in the Year 1682. But yet if the Resurrection of the Witnesses should be retarded for some small while after the time, that this would fix it to; Here is still matter enough from these Objections to justify the agreement of the Prophecy with the event; especially if we consider withal, that the Persecution in Savoy ended not till a year after that in France; And since that was the rooting out of all the remainders of the old Albigenses, Mornay. pag. 318, 319. who were almost the only Party of the Witnesses for many Ages together, that Persecution may possibly be intended to signify the last end of their Life for the last killing of the Witnesses, or their last struggles with Death; And than the Resurrection of the Witnesses will not be, till a year after the time, that is counted upon from the Revocation of the Edict of Nants. But till it appears to be deferred, we must think it much more probable to be sooner. However, from that which is said about the passing away of the second Woe just after the Ascension of the Witnesses, and from the Characters of that second Woe, not only the Resurrection but the Ascension also of the Witnesses seems plainly to be confined within the space of a very few years from this present time. For I make account there is very great Evidence, that the second Woe must necessarily be very shortly at an end, which will be the matter of the following Chapter. CHAP. VIII. The time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses confirmed from the Expiration of the time assigned to the Second Woe. The Second Woe is the Turkish Empire. The Explication of the Hour, Day, Month, Year assigned to the Second Woe. The first Date of that time. THE grounds that I rely upon to make me apprehended that the second Woe will be at an end within these few years, are these: 1. That the Second Woe is the Turkish Empire, and its Invasions upon the Roman Empire; And next, that the time of the continuance of that Woe is determined in the Prophecy to a set number of Years; which if we count from the first rise of the Ottoman Empire, about the Year 1300, will expire soon after the Year 1690. And first, That the Second Woe is the Turkish Empire, has been already demonstrated (Conseq. 2. Theor. 19) and will be still further confirmed when it appears, That the time of the continuance of the Second Woe is more than Three hundred and ninety years. And this I will now endeavour to make appear to be necessary from the Text. The Four Angels, which are the matter of the Second Woe, are said to be prepared for an Hour, and a Day, and Rev. 9 15. a Month, and a Year, to slay the third part of Men. To be prepared for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, to do a thing, does literally and properly signify the length of time, that one continues either prepared for it, or in the performing it. And we see every where in this Prophecy, that any mention of length of time in it, does signify as many Years as it has Days in it (Suppos. 2.) According to which, the Second Woe must continued at lest about Three hundred and ninety Years. For there is about that number of days in those Rev. 9 parts of time above mentioned in any account of the days of a year. It is a very frivolous Objection, which is here put in by some, That by the four Angels can never be meant, four Kings upon Earth; For their Armies are afterwards numbered and their place made to be the River Euphrates upon Ver. 14, 16. Earth. If it should be replied to this, That the being prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year does signify no more than that they were ready upon every occasion, or ready at a set appointed time to slay the third part of Men, here is this to offer against it. I. It appears not from any other example in Scripture, That there is any such use of these peculiar expressions in so indefinite a manner; To be prepared for an hour, or at a day, etc. put alone by themselves would, agreeably enough to the common use of them, signify the being ready at a set time, or at any time. But to be prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year joined all together must have a very particular signification in it. For it would look very oddly at this time to use such expressions as these, only to signify so common a thing, as a Man's constant readiness at all times for his employment, to say of him, That he was ready for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year; when any one of them would have been enough, and it is not at all usual to join them all together. The lest therefore that can be said of this interpretation, is, That it is arbitrary, and without example; There is good reason therefore to apprehended it to be a mystical, and no common expression. II. It is also contrary to the proper, and natural signification of these terms to understand them of a set point of time, and not of the continuance of time. The first of them would take away all the force of the other in the former signification. For if a Man be ready at an hour, it includes in it his being ready at a day, as his being ready at a day includes his being ready at a month, and a year; And if there had been any design to have signified an exact readiness by those words, they must have been in a quite contrary order; It must have been said that they were prepared for a year, and a month, and a day, and an hour. But in the order, in which they now lie, they do very properly, and naturally signify the time of their continuance, but very improperly, if not absurdly, any exact points of time; As this way of speaking would now appear to be to express the set time of the beginning of a Campaign, that it was ready to begin at a day, and at a month, and at a quarter; It's being ready at a day includes a much greater exactness in it, than its being ready at a month, and makes all that comes after it insignificant. III. On the other side we see it very usual in this Prophecy to join the length of the continuance of any considerable thing to the mention of it, and to express it by days, or months, which are known to signify, as many years, as there are days in that quantity of time that is made mention of; As thrice in the next Chapter but one Rev. 11. 1, 2, 9 Rev. 12. 6, 14. to this; And twice in the next to that about the Woman in the Wilderness. IU. But that which does still more confirm the use of these expressions here to be for a length of time, is the particular time of five months assigned to the Trumpet just Rev. 9 5, 10. before it; And this sixth Trumpet being of the same kind with that before it, or one of the three great Woes, there is all manner of reason to make one conclude, That the day, and month, and year in this does also signify the length of the time, that these Horsemen should continued to be the second Woe. For the particular heaviness of those two Woes, is thereby signified to consist chief in the prodigious length of their continuance in comparison with any of the other Trumpets; And since the length of its continuance is expressly mentioned in the first of them, and that there are words very proper for the signification of a particular length of time in this second Trumpet, it is a great presumption that they signify nothing else here, but the length of the continuance of this Woe. V The employment also, that they were said to be prepared for, does show that by the day, and month, and year must be meant the length of the time, that they were to perform it in, and not any set time, or upon every fit occasion; For it is very improper to say, That a Nation is ready at an hour, or a day, or a month to slay the third part of Men. The slaying of the third part of Men does the Ver. 15. note a continuance of action for a long time together. And it is impossible to apprehended, that that can be done at any set time, or upon every occasion offered. Wherhfore to be constant to the common use of all the parts of times in this Prophecy, by the day, month, and year of the four Angels in the sixth Trumpet must be understood about 390 years, that is, as many years as there are days in all those several parcels of time, and the Addition of the hour does determine it to that exact period of time. There cannot therefore come in any other Conquerors about the River Euphrates after the end of the Turkish Empire to be the second Woe before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, and the end of the Reign of the Beast. For the second Woe, if it were still to come, must continued more than 390 years before the end of that time. Whereas according to all the considerable Opinions of Protestant Interpreters, (Suppos. 3.) the end of the Reign of the Beast must be long before that time; And yet the Reign of the Beast does not end till after the passing away of the second Woe, (Theor. 1.) It has also been sufficiently assured before, that the second CHAP. VII. Woe cannot possibly have been passed away either before or since the Turkish Empire began, because the Resurrection of the Witnesses, which must be before the passing away of the second Woe, is not yet past, (Theor. 33.) It may now than be safely concluded, That the Turkish Hostilities are the second Woe, since the second Woe can neither be before them, nor come after them, and yet by the Character of it, it must be in the same part of the ver. 14. World, where they are now the Masters. This conclusion will be as necessary, let the years which are signified by the day, month, and year in the second Woe, be supposed to be of what kind they william. But it will be serviceable for the fixing of the time both of their beginning, and their last ending, to inquire, of what kind these years are. There seems to be a Key plainly offered for the opening of the number of days, that are assigned to the length of a year in this Prophecy; And that appears from the 1260 days in the Twelfth Chapter to be 360 days to a year. For the Woman's time in the Wilderness is there expressed to be a time, times and an half, and 1260 days. Now by the name of a time is by all agreed to be signified, a year, and the time, times and an half in that place, is an unanimously agreed to signify three years and an half. And than, from the 1260 days, which are the same with the time, times and an half, it appears that each of these years, can have but 360 days in it to make all the three years, and an half to contain in them but 1260 days. According to this account the day, month and year in the second Woe, will be but 391 of such years as are now in common use. It would a little puzzle one at the first to imagine what should be the reason of this strange computation of years contrary to what was than the common account of the number of days in them amongst both the Jews and Romans. For the Jews had long before followed the Graecian account of 365 days to the year ever since the Graecian Conquest of them. But the mystery of this will soon be discovered, when it is considered, that the time, times, and an half in this Prophecy is a known reference to the same account of the times of the little Horn in Daniel; (Chap. 7.) And the industrious explication of that time in this place by Forty two Months and 1260 Days, is for no other end but to signify, that the years here meant by the times are to be accounted according to the account of the Babylonian Month in whose Reign Daniel Prophesied; And 'tis known, that the Babylonian year after the time of Nabonassar consisted but of Twelve Months, each of Thirty days length, to which they added an Appendix of five days, which the Greeks called their Epagomena. So that when we found here 42 Months making but 1260 days, it is to be understood according to the Egyptian and Babylonian account of 30 days to a month; As also the account of but 1260 days to three years, and an half, where the Epagomena is omitted, because of the account by Months only. This is the only tolerable reason, that I could ever found for expressing the same length of time in this Prophecy in so many different ways, though others are pleased with other fancies, amongst which Mr. Mede's concerning the fitness of the Lunar to the Beast, and of the Solar for the Church is remarkable. But whether this way of account aught to be admitted of in the computation of the Day, Month and Year of the second Woe is not so certain. All that can be said of it, is, That it is possible to be so; But the example of the time, and times is no proof of it. For that was a peculiar Phrase taken out of Daniel, and so had reason to be explained by 1260 Days and 42 Months according to the Babylonian account, which Daniel and all in those Countries did ordinarily than reckon by. But the Day, Month, and Year of the second Woe are not borrowed expressions, and therefore seem to have reason to be understood in the common way of their acceptation in St. John's time, that is, for 396 days, and therefore in their Prophetical acceptation for so many Years, and those also Roman Years, because those were the years in use at the time of this Prophecy, as the Babylonian were in the time of Daniel. Upon enquiry after the first date of the years here signified by the Day, Month and Year; It will soon appear that they have so great a Latitude for their Application to the Turkish Invasions of the Roman Empire, that it will require some care to found the determinate Point of the first beginning of them; For the Turks, from their first Invasions of the Eastern Empire, have now continued above 600 Years; And therefore do we found very different apprehensions, about the first date of these years, Even among those, who agreed upon the signification of the number of the years from these Schemes in the Prophecy. The only considerable differences, that I have met with, are the Opinions of Mr. Mede and Mr. Brightman. Mr. Mede would have these years begin with the first settlement of the Turks about Euphrates, at the taking of Babylon in the Year 1057, and to end at the taking of Constantinople, by Mahomet the Great, in the Year 1453. Mr. Brightman would have them begin at the joint inroads of the Turks upon the Eastern Empire, about the year 1300, and to end in the year 1696. Mr. Mede's grounds for his Opinion are, First, That the four Angels are said to be prepared for so long a time to slay the third part of Men; And the slaying the third part of Men must mean the total subversion of the Constantinopolitan Empire to distinguish it from the Invasions of the Saracens in the first Woe, who are said not to have killed them, but only to have tormented them; Whereas Ver. 5. the Saracens did as much as the Turks against that Empire, excepting only the utter subversion of it; And the taking of Constantinople was the last conclusion of the Fate of the Constantinopolitan Empire, and so might well be accounted the last Act of the slaying the third part of Men; And therefore be the last point of the period of the 396 years. That which he thinks does much confirm this apprehension, is, That there were just the number of 396 years betwixt the first settlement of the Turks about Euphrates, (by which the Prophecy describes them) and the taking of the City of Constantinople, which was the last end of the Eastern Empire. But this Fancy of Mr. Mede's does not answer the account that we found in History of the end of the Eastern Empire; And besides, it puts a very unnatural force upon the literal construction of the Text. 1. For first, though it be acknowledged that by the third part of Men is meant the Eastern Empire, the taking of Constantinople has no reason to be accounted the last end of the Eastern Empire: For there was another Imperial Throne at Trapezond which was not destroyed till near ten years after; Which does take away the foundation that made Mr. Mede so very much pleased with this Fancy, that is, the exact agreement of the event with the words of the Prophecy to a year; Especially when with this it is remembered, that these years according to the number of days in a year in this Prophecy may not be above 391 of our common years, and so would have been expired about six years before the last end of the Empire of Constantinople, but fifteen years before the end of that at Trapezond. 2. Again, the number of years is agreed by Mr. Mede to be mentioned here, as the length of the continuance of the second Woe in slaying the third part of Men; And how incongruous would it be with the event to make those years reach not farther, than the taking the Imperial Seat of the Eastern Empire, when as the Turks have been for near Two hundred years since that time as bad a Plague to the remainders of that Empire, as they ever were before. And it appears from the difference betwixt the smiting the third part of the Sun in the fourth Trumpet, and the slaying the third part of Men in this sixth, (which is upon that account made one of the three great Woes in distinction to the first four Trumpets) that it is not the Imperial Throne, that is here signified by the third part of Men, but the Body of the Roman Power in that part of the Empire, as a distinct People of that name, which were put See Grotius in Note the first on Chap. 3. and Chap. 4. an end to, or lost in the Nation, that over-ran them, and conquered them. It will in the next place appear to put a very unnatural force upon the literal construction of the Text to make these 396 Years to end at the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. 3. For there is a description in the Text of four Angels Ver. 14. bound in the River Euphrates, * See Mr. Mede on v. 14. chap. 9 Rev. which is agreed on both sides to be the settlement of the Turkish Sultanies in those parts a long time before their famous joint Invasions of that Empire upon their removal from those parts of Asia. They are also said upon their being loosed, to be prepared for an Hour, and a Day, and a Month, and a Year; or, as it is Ver. 15. also * See the beginning of this Chapter. agreed, for 396 Years, to slay the third part of Men; And the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here rendered preparea does properly signify the being in a readiness to do it. Wherhfore, when they are said to be in a readiness for 396 years to slay the third part of Men, the natural signification of those expressions would by all impartial persons be judged to be either that they were in a readiness for 396 years together, before they were let lose, to do it, or that they were ready to slay the third part of Men for 396 years after they were loosed; Their being in a readiness for 396 years must signify either that they were ready for so long a time together before their being let lose to do it, or that they were in a readiness to act for all that length of time, after they were let lose for it. But in Mr. Mede's way it must signify that they were ready partly before and partly after they were let lose for that execution. For * In Cap. 9 Apoc. Ver. 14. he does grant, that the unbinding, or losing of the Turks in the Text was about the year 1300, and so makes 243 of the 396 years to be before that losing of them, and 153 of those years to be after their losing; Which yet is not pretended to have any thing in the Text to favour it, and besides is contrary to the natural force of the words. It may be said indeed, That the slaying the third part of Men signifies only the last Act of the Subversion of the Constantinopolitan Empire, since every thing else was but the same with the tormenting them, which is attributed to those Ver. 5. of the Fifth Trumpet before this with an express distinction of the term of tormenting them from that of killing them; just as the kill of the Witnesses in the Eleventh Chapter is agreed to be understood of the last considerable Suppression of the True Religion, though they had been killed in other Countries long before; For the three days and an half begin from that last Suppression of them only. In this sense, the readiness of the Turks for the Three hundred ninety six years to perform that last Act of the ruin of the Eastern Empire, may very properly signify their being ready from their first settlement in Asia for the performance of that last work, which was the business, that they were designed for, and for which all the time of their continuance there was wholly intended. But it is very easy to observe, that the slaying of the third part of Men is joined with the letting lose of the Angels that were bound in the River Euphrates, and that the design of their being loosed was for that end; And therefore that the first beginning of slaying the third part of Men must be soon after their being let lose upon the Roman Empire, which shows, that though the last murdering Act of this Employment was the utter Subversion of the Eastern Empire; yet that the whole process of it from the beginning to the end is here to be understood by the slaying them from that time, that it was begun upon the losing of the four Angels to the last accomplishment of it. Wherhfore the slaying of the third part of Men must begin long before the concluding part of the Three hundred ninety six years, or from the time of their being let lose. IU. And since their being in a readiness is placed in the Text betwixt the letting lose of the Conquerors, and the execution of the design, that they were let lose for, 'tis far more natural to understand it of a readiness at that time to execute their design, than of being ready Three hundred ninety six years before. V Since it is left indifferent in the Text to join the Day, Month and Year either with their being prepared to Act, or with the Action and Employment itself, it is far more agreeable to * See Chap 9 5, 10. Chap. 11. 3. and 12. 14. Chap. 13. 5. all the Examples of any length of time, that is mentioned in this Prophecy, to join it to the Action itself, than to the being prepared for it; And the Action itself is the slaying the third part of Men, which is agreed not to begin till about the Year 1300. VI Besides, it is very improper to call the time of the Turks being bound in the River Euphrates, their being ready prepared to slay the third part of Men, as they must do who will have the Three hundred ninety six years to begin before their being loosed from thence. For the binding the Angels in the River Euphrates, is agreed by all to signify a check upon their Power, and a confinement of them within their own Bounds, which is contrary to their being ready prepared to invade or to destroy others. VII. And than, as altogether improper is it to give the time, that they were executing this murdering design after they were loosed, the same Expression, of being in a readiness only to do it, which in this way is given to that state, in which they were for all the time that they were bound, or hindered from executing their design, before they were loosed. For of these two parcels of time, that is, of the Years in which they were bound, and of those in which they were loosed, must these Three hundred ninety six years of being in a readiness be made up in Mr. Mede's way. VIII. The time of the Saracen Hostilities against the Roman Empire, as the first Woe, is set out in the Prophecy by the number of five Months twice repeated, which do reach to the whole time of their Invasions of the Eastern and Western Ver. 5. 10. Empire; And this comes just before the mention of the Three hundred ninety six years of this sixth Trumpet, which is the second Woe. Well therefore may the time that is here prescribed for the continuance of the second Woe be concluded to signify nothing but the whole time of its continuance to be that Woe; And the time assigned for that, is those parts of time, which are agreed to signify Three hundred ninety six years; The Date of which is expressed in the Prophecy to be at the losing of the four Angels, which is agreed to be about the Year 1300. IX. From the proper and natural Construction of the Text, the whole matter of the second Woe will appear to fall within the time which is agreed to be assigned to the slaying of the third part of Men; And therefore the second Woe, or the Turkish Hostilities, not being yet past, the Three hundred and ninety six years can begin but very few years before the Year 1300; For there are very near Three hundred ninety six years passed since that time, though we should accounted them common Years. But according to the Apocalyptical Account of Three hundred and sixty Days to a Year in the than time and times, there has been already Three hundred ninety three Chaldaic Years and an half since that time. And that the whole matter of the second Woe does fall within the Years assigned to the slaying the third part of Men does thus appear from the most proper acceptation of the Expressions of the Text. The third part of Men, and the rest, that were not killed, Ver. 18, 20. are the whole matter, or Object, of the second Woe; And the kill the third part of Men, and the not killing the rest, must in propriety of Speech be understood of the same time of Action, when some were killed, and the rest escaped; As, when in the first Woe it is said, that they should hurt only those Men, who had not the Seal of God in their Foreheads, it is plain, that the rest, or the 144000 were signified to be secure for all that same time of the five Months during which that Plague continued upon others. Especially if we consider, that those who are said here not to be killed, are said not to have repent upon it; which intimates them to have been Sufferers in these Judgements at the time, when the other were killed, that is, within the time of the Three hundred ninety six years. Besides, the whole business of the four Angels, who are the second Woe, seems to be expressed at the first sounding of the sixth Trumpet to be to slay the third part of Men; and this is limited to a set number of Years, as it is granted by Mr. Mede. When therefore there comes in afterwards the mention of the Rest, who were not slain, who would ever understand their not being slain, but of the same time, when the others were slain, which had at first been mentioned, as the whole time of the Plague of the four Angels? The Three hundred ninety six years therefore are the whole time of the second Woe, and so are known not to be capable of beginning till about the Year 1300, because they are not yet at an end. For the Turks are at this present in Arms against the Western Empire. And besides it appears, That the second Woe is not to end till after the Ascension of the Witnesses, Rev. 11. 14. and the Ascension of the Witnesses is certainly yet to come, as has before been shown, Theor. 33. It is manifest, that the main reason of deferring the Declaration in Chap. 11. 14. concerning the passing away of the second Woe so long after the true place of it, that is, at the end of the Ninth Chapter, was only to determine the time of the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses. We may therefore now securely conclude, That the Years, agreed to be signified by the Day, Month and Year in the second Woe, are to be accounted from the time, that the Turks were let lose upon the Roman Empire, after they had continued for some time settled in the Parts of Asia about Euphrates. CHAP. IX. The particular Date of the Hour, Day, Month and Year stated. The end of the second Woe, or of all Turkish Wars just at hand. And therefore the recovery of the Protestant Churches by the Resurrection of the Witnesses to be very shortly expected. The Parallel in the Twelfth Chapter of Daniel with this of the Resurrection of the Witnesses, and the end of the second Woe. FOR our better satisfaction about the point of time to Rev. 9 which this losing of the Turks from their ancient Settlements in Asia is to be fixed, from whence the Three hundred ninety six years are to begin their Date, it is agreed by * Med. 586. A little before the year 1300. Mr. Mede, and others, that it was about the Year 1300. But because all hopes of coming to any determinate knowledge about the end of the second Woe, and consequently about the utmost bounds of the time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses, does wholly depend upon the clear stating of the first date of these Years, I will make a more particular Enquiry after the Circumstances that are to six and determine the first beginning of them at the letting lose of the Turks upon the Roman Empire. It is a very surprising thing to see how particularly the Circumstances of the first entrance of these Euphratean Kings upon their Office are described, as well as to how precise and set a number of Years they are confined for the discharge of it, as has been just now observed. Their first entrance upon their work is described to be after the losing of the four Angels, which had for some while been bound in the River Euphrates. By this very Description of them, they must have been always understood, since the Prophecy was given, to have been some four Barbarous Kings about the Confines of the Roman Empire in Asia. For Euphrates was the last Bounds of the Roman Empire, and of the Jewish Commonwealth, where the Prophecy was given. And by their Armies, and Conquests, and Equipage, these four Angels appear to be other kind of fashioned Kings, than were ever known among Civilised Nations. But we are spared the labour of any further particular search after them by the discovery that has been already made of CHAP. VIII. of this Part. them, which has made it unquestionable that they must signify four Kingdoms of the Turks. If we consult with History for the signification of this binding and losing of the Turks about the River Euphrates, this Account we shall found of it: The Turks, who before had been for the most part a wand'ring Knowles Turkish History. People, in the Year 1042, risen up against their Masters in Persia, by whom they had been taken into Pay, and made themselves Masters of that Kingdom. From thence they made their Encroachments upon the Roman Empire in Asia, and under several Leaders had erected four Kingdoms about the Confines of the River Euphrates, just a little before the first famous Expedition of the Western Christians, or the Crusadoes into Palestine, somewhat before the Year 1100. These Kingdoms were the † Mede 585. four Sultanies. 1. At Caesarea in Cappadocia, begun there by Cutlumusus, but confined to the Borders of Euphrates in the time of Solyman his Successor. 2. Of Aleppo. 3. Of Damascus. And 4. Of Bagdad, which were all up by the Year 1080. And though there was now and than a greater number of these Kingdoms than four, yet, as the many Divisions of the Graecian Monarchy in the third Kingdom of Daniel are determined to the number Four, because that was Dan 7. 6. the most lasting number of the most considerable of them: So may this number very well comprehend in it the whole time of the Divisions of the Turkish Monarchy, though they were not without some inconsiderable Variations from it. This Settlement therefore of the Turks in that fourfold Kingdom about the Confines of the River Euphrates for about an Hundred and fifty Years together without any considerable advances upon the Roman Empire, may very properly be called in Prophecy, as it is there, Their being bound in the River Euphrates, that is, about the Bounds or Coasts of that River; For in no other manner can four Kings be imagined to be bound within a River; And so would any one now conclude of the same kind of Expression concerning any River of England: For Example, That there were in former times three or four Kings bound within the River Thames, or Trent, or Severn, that it must denote the Settlement of three or four Kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy within the Bounds of those Rivers. Their being said to be bound there, would be judged to be nothing more, but their being there fixed by Providence, and kept in and confined there by neighbouring Princes. But there is a very eminent circumstance in the Account of the first Settlement of these four Kingdoms about the River Euphrates, to which the binding of these four Angels may be in all reason apprehended to refer; And that is, the forementioned Expedition of the Crusadoes into Palestine for the Holy War, and their continual Wars with the Turkish Sultan's from the very first. For by this means were the advances of the Turks upon the Eastern Empire repressed. Within lesle than Twenty Years they were beaten out of the most considerable places of the Western part of their Encroachments, especially in Syria and Palestine; So that they were forced back again to the more Eastern Parts of Asia about the River Euphrates. This was so very remarkable a check to the Turkish progress, and it makes so great a figure in the Affairs of those times, that it may very well be concluded to have a special remark set upon it in the Prophecy; Especially when it is considered, that this Holy War began just about those times, when these four Kingdoms of the Turks in Asia were first founded; Which was not above twenty years before that Expedition, and ended but just before that great Inundation of the Turks upon the Greek Empire, Anno Dom. 1300, and was backed by the greatest Confederacy of the Roman State that ever was known, by the Authority of the most famous of all the Roman Councils, that of the first Lateran. And than the losing of the four Angels from the place to which they were bound, must at lest signify the freeing of the Turks from this, and all other Checks and Confinements, And their Commotions and Invasions of the remainders of the Roman Empire, upon which this and all other Plagues of the Trumpets do certainly fall. The business for which they were loosed we see is said to be to slay the third part of Men, from which they had before been hindered. Now it is well known, that the check, that was given to the progress of the Turks by the Holy War, was all taken of at the Conquest of all the remainders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and at the abandoning of Palestine by the Western Christians; And there were therefore two points of time to which the losing of the bound Angels might refer in this respect. The one was at the taking of Ptolemais by the Anno 1291. Egyptian Sultan, which was the last Town than remaining in the Hands of the Christians, and from whence upon that account the end of the Holy War in Palestine is generally dated by the Historians. But it may be observed, that just about the same time Cassanes one of the Tartar Princes invaded Syria, and recovered Jerusalem together with all the most considerable Cities of Syria, out of the hands of the Egyptian Sultan, and did thereupon put Tyre into the hands of the Christians with many other Towns and Forts, which the Knights Hospitallers, and Templars defended till about the Year 1300; At which time the Egyptian Sultan recovered all again, into his hands; And all the Orders of the Knights, that had continued till than to be the Champions of the Christians against the Infidels for about 200 years, were thereupon for ever driven out of those parts. This is the account of the continuance of the Holy War in Palestine; But at the time of the first of these two dates, that is, in the year 1291 the Turks themselves were overrun by the Tartars, and made Tributaries to them, and had been for many years in that condition, before the end of the Holy War, which in the latter time of it, was only against the Mamalukes in Egypt, without any concern with the Turks. Wherhfore since there are now about 396 years passed since the year 1291, and that the Turks do still continued to be the Second Woe, the date of those years cannot be taken from that time; Nor can it be thought, that any remainders of that War with the Knights Hospitallers, and Templars till the year 1300 were a continuance of the binding of the Turks to the confines of Euphrates, since we see that the Holy War had had nothing to do with the Turks for many years before the year 1291. The Turks had been long before invaded, and overrun by the Tartars, and the Sultan's of Egypt were the only Adversaries, that the Crusadoes had to do with. Wherhfore for a further satisfaction about the point of time, when the Turks, who were before confined to the Western parts of Asia about Euphrates were loosed from thence, it is requisite to inquire from their History, at what time they were freed from the chief hindrances of their advances upon the Constantinopolitan Empire, and when they did thereupon actually begin their joint Invasions of it with success; Of which we have this following account. About the year 1260, when the power of the Crusadoes in Palestine was decaying, the Great Tartar Cham made such an inroad upon the Turks all over Asia, that they took away all their Sultanies from them. They did indeed suffer some of them to enjoy their Sovereignty in some small part of their ancient Dominions, but yet as their Slaves and Tributaries. This subjection to the Tartars continued to be acknowledged till the end of the Reign of Aladin the younger, which was about the year 1300. But he dying without Issue, and his Vizier Sahib being thrown of, the great Men of his Kingdom shared his Dominions amongst themselves; And from that time they began their several Invasions upon the Greek Empire with great success. Amongst these was Ottoman, the founder of the present Ottoman Empire; who, as he was far the greatest Conqueror of them all in his time, so did his Family after him soon swallow up the divided Kingdoms of the rest; And so have they continued the sole Monarches of the Turkish Empire to this day. Now as the present Ottoman Family has ever since the Union of all the other Kingdoms of the Turks to it been itself alone the whole Party of the four Angels, who in the Prophecy are said to slay the third part of Men, so are we by that directed to inquire, when that Family first began those Conquests upon the Eastern Empire, which have gone on ever since without any interruption. For from that time was the Ottoman Kingdom let lose to perform the Work, which is assigned to the four Angels in the Prophecy, and have ever since continued in it. It is unquestionable, that about the year 1300 upon Aladin's Death, Ottoman was an absolute Sovereign; And at that time all the rest of the divided Sultanies began with him to invade the Roman Empire; So that there is no question to be made, whether the losing of the four Angels was at that time fulfilled; All manner of check, or confinement was than taken of them, the Tartars Tribute was at an end, and every one of them set up for himself, and advanced upon the neighbouring Provinces of the Greek Empire. But we found Ottoman full of action and success before that time; He succeeded his Father Orthogrul about the year 1290. That very year he gained the Castles of Chalce, and Chara chisar, and soon after, the Castle of Einegiol, and before Aladin's Death he took the City of Nice, which had continued all the time of the Reign of the Latins at Constantinople to be the Imperial Seat of the Greek Empire till about thirty years before. He was indeed all this time but an underling to Aladin; But yet he had the absolute command of his Country, and power of making Conquests upon the Christians, and upon the taking of Nice had a Commission from Aladin to take the name and honours of a Sultan upon him. Ottoman indeed is said to have been sparing of using them, while Aladin lived; But his Conquests are sufficient to show that the murdering employment of the Angels was than begun with that success, that it continued ever after without any considerable interruption. Wherhfore though the Turks might continued to be under subjection to the Tartars for all the time of Aladin, yet since that was no stop to Ottoman's conquering Spirit, it is very reasonable to apprehended, that the losing of the Turks from their confinement to slay the third part of Men was begun by Ottoman in Aladin's life time; Especially considering that the Prophecy does generally pitch upon very remarkable events in all its figures; And that nothing can be more remarkable, than the first beginning of the Ottoman Power, which the taking an Imperial Seat of the Empire might be very well accounted. According to this it is possible enough for the 396 years in the Prophecy to begin some years before the year 1300, if we accounted them common years. But they cannot begin after that year, because there was in that year a very eminent letting lose of the Turks, who had before been kept under, and confined within their own bounds; The immediate effect of which was, their entering upon the murdering employment, for which the losing of the four Angels was designed, and which has been continued without interruption since that time. But it is also as certain, that the date of these years cannot begin long before the Year 1300, because, there are very near 396 years now passed since that time, and yet the Turks continued still to be the Second Woe. Wherhfore upon the same account is the end of these years as capable of various applications, as their beginning; That is, though they cannot be continued beyond the year 1696, yet may they be at an end some few years sooner. Thus were the seventy years of the Babylonish Captivity capable of being dated either from the first beginnings of it in the days of Jeh●jakim, or from the last accomplishment of it in the utter desolation of Jerusalem in the Reign 2 Kings 24 1. Chap. 25. 1. of Zed●kiah. And by the event we see it fixed to the first, which was that, which would have been the lest thought of. It is therefore manifest, that according to the common custom of almost all the Applications of the mystical figures in this Prophecy, there are very remarkable circumstances, to make the beginning of the Second Woe in the sixth Trumpet to be observed by all the World, and those are, The general Invasion of the Eastern Empire by the Turks, and this at the same time with the rise of the Ottoman Empire, and at the last end of the Holy War; Which had all of them eight or mine years Latitude to be applied to. The end of the Holy War may be either dated from the year 1291, or from about the year 1300. The beginning of the Ottoman Empire, and of the Turkish Invasions of the Eastern Empire, seems capable of being dated from any time of Ottoman's Conquests before the Death of Aladin. But the end of the Years assigned to the continuance of the second Woe, seems to be very precisely determined in the Prophecy to a Year, by the mention of an Hour, and a Day, as well as of a Month, and a Year, and that also without the interposition of a Week betwixt them, as the Order of the parts of time in a Year would require; Which seems plainly to determine the continuance of this Woe to the definite number of Years which are contained in those three parts of time; And since it must be some very remarkable Event, from whence the Date of these Years does begin, they cannot be supposed to end many years sooner than the Year 1696, (if we accounted by common Years,) because there was no part of Ottoman's Reign more considerable than another before the Death of Aladin, excepting his Conquest of Nice, and Aladin's Commission upon it for the Title and Honour of a Sultan, which could not be many years, though it must have been some while before the Year 1300. For in the Year 1300 Ottoman did certainly take upon him the Title of Sultan after Aladin's Death; And betwixt Aladin's Death, and the Division of his Kingdom among the several Sharers, there must some time be allowed for his Favourite Sahib's Government before the Year 1300. And some time also for Ottoman's Possession of Nice before that time, and for Aladin's Commission to be Sultan. And we have the Authority of the accurate Petavius from the Turkish Annals, which are esteemed the Ra●ion ●. Temp. 〈◊〉 1. lib. 9 cap ●. most exact Account of the Turkish Affairs, That Ottoman's Reign must necessarily begin near two Years before the Year 1300. And this last Day determines the end of the Years in this way to the Year 1694 at the farthest, but it may also be a few Years sooner, upon the other mentioned ground. This Calculation does all this while suppose these years to be such years as are now in use; But according to the Example of this Prophecy (as has been observed) a Year may possibly here be accounted to be but Three hundred and sixty See pag. 1●4, 100L. Days, and than the Day, Month and Year of the continuance of the second Woe will be but Three hundred ninety one Years. According to this, the term of them would be expired in the Year 1691, counting from the latest Aera of the Reign of Ottoman. But if from about two Years before, they would than be at an end in 1689; And than the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses, and the Conversion of the whole Kingdom, whence they shall rise, as well as the passing away of the second Woe, would be all in this present Year. Whatever uncertainty there may be as to the particular Year when this period shall end, it is certain, that the end of it cannot be far of; And it is a very wondered thing to see what great and eminent Circumstances there were to signalise the beginning of it, which must make it taken notice of by all the World, especially that of the rise of the present Ottoman Empire, which has been the Terror of the World for these many Ages, and this also just about the same time, when all the other Turkish Kings did begin to discharge themselves like a vast Torrent upon the Greek Empire, and from that first beginning continued their Invasions ever after with an uninterrupted Success, till they had seized upon all the broken remainders of that Empire. And to make this every way answerable to the Characters of it in the Prophecy, this was all accompanied with that eminent Circumstance of the departure of the Western Christians out of the Holy Land, who had continued from the very first Setlements of the Turks about Euphrates, till a very few years before the end of the Holy War, to give Check to the further progress of the Turks, and to keep them within the Confines of that River: So that their leaving those Parts did look like the giving up of the Greek Empire into the hands of the Turks, whom before they had always used to bridle in and restrain from invading it, and did very exactly answer the Expressions of the Prophecy concerning the binding them within the River Euphrates. For though the Turks at the departure of the Crusadoes were not in Arms against them, yet since their departure did take of all that restraint, which was the whole business of their stay in those Parts, and which they had always been active in, and which they must always have continued, as long as they should stay there, it is very reasonable to conclude, That the Greek Empire was left naked without its ancient Guards, and Champions, at their return home again, and so seemed to be delivered up into the hands of its Executioners, for that murdering Act, which is called in the Text, The slaying the third part of Men. But it is not necessary from the Text, that the Year of this departure should be thought to be the first of the 396 years, though it were the unbinding or losing of the four Angels; For the 396 years are described in the Text to begin with the actual beginning of the Execution of those Angels upon the third part of Men, after they were loosed, which may very well be allowed to be some few years after; As it has been found Necessary so to be from the number of years which Page 118. are already passed since the time of that departure. But from all the concurrent Circumstances, which have been specified, it is manifest, that the end of the second Woe is now almost just at hand: And does not the present posture of the Turkish Affairs extremely agreed with this? The lest that can come of the late Humiliation of them, must in all likelihood be the keeping them in perpetual Peace and Quiet, and so prove the End of the second Woe. I must indeed confess, that I do not think it necessary, that the end of the second Woe should be the utter ruin of the Turkish Empire. For I see, that the Saracens, who were unquestionably the first Woe, are said to be passed away, as they were the first Ver. 12. Woe, long before the end of the Saracen Empire, that is, at the time when they ceased to be any longer a Torment and Vexation to the Roman Empire, which was near 200 years before the last end of their own Empire. The torment of five Months, though twice repeated, could not be much longer than 300 years, which, as it does indeed well enough answer the continuance of each of the Hostilities against the Eastern first, and than the Western Empire, so was the last end of both near 200 years before the last end of the Saracen Rule. But all things concur to verify the Prophecy about the passing away of the second Woe within a very short time. The period assigned for it in the Prophecy is just almost at its last end: There is a very great appearance of the Death of the two Witnesses, which must hap before it. The Treaty for a general Peace with them is already advanced, and in all kind of likelihood to succeed, and the present Humiliations of the Turks, are the most like the last conclusion of all their Hostilities of any condition, that they ever yet were in; And whenever the Peace shall come to be made with them, there will be so many confederated Princes engaged in it by Interest to secure the perpetual Observation of it, as will in all likelihood affright those People from ever attempting to break it, before their Empire comes to its last end: And besides, it will require a very long breathing while, before that unwieldy Monarchy can recover itself from the weakness, that it is now reduced to. Here it might without any great difficulty be shown, how exactly agreeable this conjunction of the end of the Turkish Empire with the Resurrection of the Witnesses, is to the same kind of Description of the latter end of the Turkish Empire in the last Verse of the Eleventh Chapter of Daniel, and in the beginning of the Twelfth Chapter. For, as it is elsewhere made to appear, the full end and PART I accomplishment of the deliverance of God's People mentioned in the First Verse of the Twelfth Chapter of Daniel, is the beginning of the Universal and Eternal Kingdom of Christ. For it is the end of the times of the little Horn, which is just before the Kingdom of the Son of Man, as the Angel does expressly declare, Chap. 12. 7. And than is the scattering of the Holy People, or the Captivity and Bondage of the Church under the Beast, said to be accomplished, ibid. And therefore does the full deliverance of the Church in that place appear to be the same with the glorious effect of the Woe of the Seventh Trumpet, Rev. 11. 15. Wherhfore since there is also in the same First Verse of that Twelfth Chapter, the mention of such a time of Trouble, as never was, since there was a Nation, even to that same time, which was to be just before the beginning of that deliverance, what can that be but the kill of the Witnesses just before their Resurrection and Ascension, and the Woe of the seventh Trumpet? Which is elsewhere shown to be the fiercest Persecution, that ever the Church was to suffer (Theor. 4●.) And that just before the beginning of the last deliverance of the Church by the Woe of the seventh Trumpet. Now the time of this great distress in the Twelfth Chapter of Daniel is said to be at the same time (Verse 1.) that some great Empire, that planted its Tabernacle, or Royal Seat betwixt the Seas, in the glorious Holy Mountain, should come to its end, Chap. 11. 45. Which cannot be understood of any other Empire, than what must at lest rule over Palestine, or the Holy Land. The Holy Mountain does always in Scripture signify something of Mount Zion. And there is no other Empire but the Turkish Empire, which can have those Characters at the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses. For the Turks, who are unquestionably the second Woe (Conseq. 2. Theor. 19) are not at an end till after that time, Rev. 11. 14. The Turkish Empire does therefore there appear to come to an end just about the same time with the fiercest Persecution of the Church, which is said to be immediately followed at the Dan. 11. 45. & 12. 1. same time with the great deliverance of the Church, in the same manner as the second Woe is said to pass away presently after the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses, which was much about the same time with their Death, or Rev. 11. 14. with the fiercest Persecution of the Church just before the beginning of its last deliverance. And than the Description (Dan. 11.) of the Hostilities of the King of the North and of the South before the end of the latter of them, which are described to be against another great Potentate first mentioned at Verse 36. do very exactly agreed with the Descriptions of the Saracens and Turks, as the two first Woes in the Fifth and Sixth Trumpet upon the Roman Empire, which is (a) A L●aser on Ver. 2. Cap. 11. Apocal. Notat. 3. speaking of the latter end of the Eleventh and beginning of the Twelfth Chapter of Daniel,— From thence (says he) c●●e the common consent of the Doctors (of the Church) that Daniel did pass on from the Persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes, in the Eleventh Chapter, to the Prophecy of Antichrist: And quotes Bellarmin, lib. 3. de Pontif. cap. 8. for delivering there, That the Ancient Fathers made no doubt, but that those words of Daniel in the Eleventh and Twelfth Chapters, were to be referred to Antichrist. And that Pererius says the same on Dan. 12. And S●r●a●ius in Pract. Histor. fol. 590. agreed to be signified by the King in Verse 36. For Arabia, the Country of the Saracens, was South of the place, where the Prophecy was given, and Armenia, the Seat of the Turks, was on the North of it. CHAP. X. The last Slaughter, and first Resurrection of the Witnesses confined to the Kingdom of France, and its Neighbourhood. From thence it dispreads itself over all the Roman Jurisdiction. Why the passing away of the second Woe deferred till the Account of the Beast and Witnesses was interrupted, Chap. 11. The risen Witnesses the Executors of the third Woe. The third Woe of some considerable duration. The Western Empire the only Object of the third Woe. BY what has been just before shown concerning the time Rev. 11. fixed in the Prophecy for the last end of the Turkish Hostilities under the Character of the second Woe, it appears that the deliverance of the oppressed Protestant Churches, called the Resurrection of the two slain Witnesses, must begin at lest in some of the Dominions of the Roman Party within a very short time. For according to the Order of things in the Text, the Witnesses must not only rise again, but ascend into Heaven, or into the Throne, as that is generally known to signify in Prophecy, before the passing away of that Woe. They must also before the end of that Woe have conquered all the Opposition, Ver 12, 13, 14. that will be made against them in those Parts, where they rise up, which may reasonably be supposed to take up some time after their first Resurrection. For upon their Ascension there is a Description of the Fall of the tenth part of the City, and than a slaughter of 7000 Men of the opposite Party, and of the Submission and Conversion of all the rest of them; The effecting of all which may very well be judged to require as long a time as that interval which may be supposed to come betwixt the Resurrection of the Witnesses, and the last end of the Turkish Wars. Wherhfore it appears from hence to be very improbable, that the final slaughter of the two Witnesses should not be already past; For according to the best, and most exact account of the beginning of the Reign of Ottoman, and of his fellow sharers of the Aladinian Kingdom (two or three years before the year 1300.) There is now but a very short time yet behind according to the common account of years. And there must be time enough allowed after the kill of the Witnesses for the three years of the Dead Bodies of the Witnesses, and for their being so powerful as to ascend into the Throne after their coming to Life again, and for conquering all that opposition, which is signified in the Prophecy should be made against them; And that cannot be supposed to be done on a sudden; because, that after the slaughter of a part of their Enemies, the rest are said to have given glory to God, or to have been Converted; And Ver. 14. how can it be imagined, that there should be such a general Conversion of a Nation on a sudden, without any methods of violence, and constraint, which we are not to think, that the True Church newly restored out of Persecution will ever make use of? We have indeed of late been so used to miraculous Providences, that we may possibly enough see such a revolution in a neighbouring Kingdom, as Affairs do now promise'. But than that does still more invite us to expect the Resurrection of the Witnesses at this present time. It may therefore now be very reasonably concluded, That the Death of the Witnesses is already past, and that in all probability the point of time, from which the three years and an half of its continuance did begin, was at the revocation of the Edict of Nants by the King of France; Which, as it was done with the greatest Formalities of public Authority against far the largest Body of the Reformed Churches, that were in a state of humiliation under the Roman Party, so did it appear upon that account to have the proper mark of an event that was sit to be referred to in this Prophecy; Which, according to what has been observed of the signification of the Schemes of it, does generally refer to very eminent and remarkable events: And it is said of this in particular, That Peoples, Tongues and Nations should see the Dead Bodies for the three days and an half, to signify it to be so notorious, as that all the World should take notice of it; And nothing of that kind, since the Heathen Persecutions did ever make a greater noise in the World to draw the like observation of all Men after it, than the new Acts of Cruelty against the French Protestants, which made Life appear far more dreadful to them, than present Death and Martyrdom. There was indeed all Artifice used by the ecclesiastics to conceal and disguise the Truth of these Proceed, as if there had been no methods of force or violence heard of among them. But the vast multitudes, which poured themselves into all the neighbouring Nations round about them, were a sufficient Cloud of Witnesses to all the World to confirm them in the certainty of it; And the Miseries to which they exposed themselves to get free from the force and violence which they were there under, are unquestionable assurances of the horror of it. In all probability there cannot be any other Persecution yet to come, of which it can be so properly said, as of the late Persecution in France, That the People's, Tongues and Nations did than begin to take such special notice of it. But besides, The French Church was the last considerable part of the Reformation, that was in a Sackcloth state, and so must in all likelihood be the last murdering blow in the slaughter of the Witnesses. To this it is well worth the adding, That there must be some special reason, why the time of the dead Bodies of the Witnesses should be expressed by Three Days and an half. For as it has been observed of the time, times and an half, so is there the same reason, that the Three Days and an half should be judged to refer to some seven Days of which they are the half, because the whole Book of the Apocalypse was wholly upon the number seven in almost all its number of things. And therefore when we found such 〈…〉. a peculiar and precise number of Three and an half, in the times, and in these days, which are the almost only broken number, that can be found in the whole Book besides; It would make one strongly presume, that they must be the half of some remarkable Seven. Now as no other Hypothesis does give any Account of this about the time and times, etc. so cannot there be any other Persecution betwixt this of France, and the end of the Turkish Hostilities (as the second Woe) that can have room enough to come in for a claim to the Prophecy: Because it must be of seven years' continuance, according to this reference of the three days and an half, whereas the second Woe must be at an end before that time. But the beginning of the fierceness of this last Persecution in France does admirably well suit with this; as has been before observed. For from the flight of the Protestants in Poicton in the Spring 1682 (to give notice to the World, or to the People's, and Tongues, and Kindred's, and Nations, that the slaughter Ver. 9 of the Witnesses was than begun) to the full completing of the slaughter of them, Octob. 1685, was just about three years and an half; And than the three years and an half more of the dead Bodies of the Witnesses from that time, to the Year 1689, would make the exact whole number of Seven. This would incline one to apprehended, that the first reviving of the true Religion, that had been before suppressed, aught to be in the Kingdom of France. The dead Bodies of the Witnesses one would imagine should rise to life again in the same place, where they received their last Death's Wound; And it must be acknowledged, that all the Circumstances in this Prophecy would very well agreed with this. For there is the mention of the Fall of the tenth part of the City upon it, which, according as it is proved (Conseq. 2. Theor. 21.) must signify one of the ten Kingdoms, which are represented by the ten Horns of the Beast to be in league with Babylon. For by the City here is unquestionably to be understood the same City of Babylon, in whose Streets the dead Bodies of the Witnesses are said just before to lie; And by that great City is as undoubtedly signified the whole Theor. 20, 21. Dominion of the Church of Rome, and not the particular City of Rome, or the Territories only adjoining to it. And therefore the tenth part of the City may very well signify the Kingdom of France. But yet I must confess, I see no such plain Characters in the Text to determine the first rising of the Witnesses to that particular Kingdom. For as for that Criticism of Monsieur Jurieu's about the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as if that should signify the great place of the City, and so denote France, which is the biggest Kingdom of the Roman Party, I have before observed, that there is no force at all in it; which yet he acknowledgeth to be the chief thing that induced him to have that Apprehension. And than the other ground just now alleged for it, That the Witnesses should rise again in the same place, where they received their last deadly Wound, may be thus easily answered, viz. That by the two Witnesses are understood a large Society of Men; And by the killing them is only meant the kill of the last remaining part of them, which therefore was the final murder of the whole Body of them. Wherhfore by the same way of speaking, as the kill the last part of them is made the date of the Death of the whole Company, may the reviving of any other part of them be also made the date of the Resurrection of them all, since they are all to rise again. The first date of the Resurrection of the Witnesses may therefore begin in any other Kingdom of the Roman Party, as well as in that, where the last Body of them was killed. And yet when it is considered, That the Ascension of the Witnesses comes immediately after their Resurrection, which is known to signify their being placed in the Throne of that Kingdom, where they rise, it is very difficult to imagine, where this can hap, but in the Kingdom of France. For as it must be in a Roman Catholic Kingdom to be the tenth part of the City, so cannot it be in the Imperial Throne; For the Beast is to continued in his Throne long after this time, and how is it possible for the rest to be converted there, as it is intimated in the Text by the fright of the Remnant, and their giving glory Ver. 14. to God. Nor is it any thing likely to be in Spain or Italy; For it is utterly improbable, that there should be so strange and sudden a Conversion, as must follow presently after the Ascension of the Witnesses, in those Parts, where there are not the lest footsteps of the Reformation. Nor can it indeed be called the Resurrection of the Witnesses in a place where they never were in Sackcloth, nor put to Theor. 32. death in that condition. The same may be said of any other Parts of Germany, where the Protestant Religion was never, as yet, in the free and full Possession of its Liberty. The Duke of Savoy seems not to be considerable enough to have his Dominions accounted one of those Kingdoms, which are represented by the ten Horns of the Beast, and which only can here be meant by the tenth part of the City; And besides, he seems to be but one and the same Interest with France. And there is no other places to fix it upon, but either Poland or France; And Poland has been now so long settled in an universal conformity, that it is nothing so likely to be the place of so general a Reformation and Conversion, within so short a space of time; But the Gallican Church, in the present state of it, seems to be already in the fair way to a thorough Reformation. Again, one would be apt to conclude, that that which is said of the dead Bodies of the Witnesses, That Peoples, and Tongues, and Nations, would not suffer them to be put into Graves during the time of the three days and an half, must more particularly refer to the Protection and Provision that was made by other Protestant States for the late Sufferers of France. As the kill the Witnesses was the total Suppression of the public exercise of their Religion, so their not suffering their Bodies to be put into Graves must be the keeping up the Members of that Church which is in a state of death and silence, in a capacity of reviving the public Profession of their Religion again. And nothing does so properly provide for that as the encouragement of the slight of those Persons by which they are preserved from the necessity of conforming themselves to the Worship of the Beast, which would be the burying of the Truth in them passed all hopes of reviving. Now all the concern of the Protestant States in this kind in behalf of their persecuted Brethrens from the date of the three days and an half, was all to make Provision for the French, and their Neighbours of Savoy, who are to be accounted of the same Church and Persecution with them. Wherhfore since the persons that are to rise again from the Dead, are the same with those, whose Dead Bodies were not suffered to be put into Graves during the time of the three days and an half, it would make one apprehended that the Resurrection of the Witnesses must be first verified of the French Protestants; It is they alone who have been the considerable concern and care of all Protestant States ever since their slight, upon the final suppression of their Religion, and that is the time from whence the not suffering of the Dead Bodies to be buried is supposed to begin. And than by the reference, that has been observed to be in the three days and an half, to some whole number of a seven years' Persecution, the French Persecution, which does exactly answer this as yet, would make one almost confident, That France must be the concern of the whole time of those years from the first beginning of them at that slaughter of the Witnesses in Poictou, to the last end of them at the Resurrection. That which has been here discoursed relates to the first Resurrection of the slain Witnesses in one particular Kingdom, according to the Character of it in the Text. But that will soon be followed by the same kind of Revolutions in other places in respect of Religion, as we see the Trumpet promising it after the passing away of the second Woe, or after the end of the Turkish War; And if the care I have taken to fix the beginning of the date of the Vials be successful, the fifth Vial must in my way begin the business of the seventh Trumpet not long after the Resurrection of the Witnesses in France, or presently after the end of the Turkish Wars, as the second Woe; And the Revolution in the fifth Vial does promise' an universal disturbance in the whole Kingdom of the Beast, or in all the Roman Territories. It may now be observed upon what account the mention of the Beast, and Witnesses, comes to be interposed betwixt the conclusion of the business of the second Woe, at the end of the Ninth Chapter, and the signification of the passing away of that Woe at the Fourteenth Verse of the Eleventh Chapter. For the proper place for that declaration of the passing away of the second Woe, is at the end of all the business of it, which is concluded in the Ninth Chapter. It is manifest that the reason of this misplacing of things is for nothing but to join the latter part of the times of the Beast, and Witnesses, with the concluding part of the sixth Trumpet, and thereby to show what relation there is betwixt the History of the Beast (which is the business of the rest of the Prophecy) and the times of the Trumpets. But that which is the more particular design for this kind of interposing the account of the Death and Resurrection of the Witnesses before the end of the second Woe, seems evidently to be to show what Enemy it was that should be the third Woe, and who should be the objects of it. For after the whole business of the second Woe had been concluded in the Ninth Chapter, it is said Verse 20. That the rest repent not of the works of their hands; After which comes in the Relation of the Beast, and Witnesses to show who were those rest, that repent not for the Judgement of that Woe, (upon whom for that reason the next Woe was to fall) and who should be the inflicters of the succeeding Woe: According to the examples of the Two Woes, that went before, where there is first an account of the object of the Woe, which in the Chap. ●. ●. Ver. 15. fifth Trumpet is those who were not sealed, and in the sixth Trumpet the third part of Men, and than, the enemy, that was to be the inflicter of it, which in the fifth Trumpet is the Locusts, and in the sixth Trumpet the Euphratean Horsemen. So also here is the Party of the Beast introduced for the object of the last Woe, or the seventh Trumpet, and the Witnesses represented to rise from the Dead, and to be enthroned just before it, together with their Triumph over their Enemies, to show who are to be the Enemies, and Tormentors to execute the third Woe. It is plain, that the third Woe must be one and the same Enemy, and interest to hold any resemblance to the other two; And accordingly do we found it so represented by the effect of it, which was the advancement of the universal Kingdom of Christ; And since this is described to be begun by the success of the Two Witnesses just before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, it is to be concluded, That the executors of the third Woe are the risen Witnesses, and that they are altogether the Agents in it. The whole business of the seventh Trumpet is the continual advancement of the Kingdom of Christ; This is signified to be a Woe, and destruction to the Beast; And therefore must all the inflicters of it be of the party of that Kingdom, to make it one single Woe only: According as the Agents in the two first Woes have been found to be. Wherhfore the power of the risen Witnesses must be accounted the chief Agent in the third Woe or seventh Trumpet. That the Beast and Witnesses must necessarily continued together in the business of the seventh Trumpet for a considerable time, is unquestionable: because they both end together, and must therefore continued together during all the time of the execution of the third Woe upon the Beast. And if the time of the passing away of the second Woe, or the Turkish Hostilities, be any thing so near, as has been already proved, the continuance of the third Woe CHAP. VII▪ I●X, and X. must be for many years together: For the third Woe is said to come quickly after the passing away of the second, which, as has been shown, must denote the sudden beginning of the third Woe after the second, and not the sudden execution of it. As for that which is alleged in favour of the sudden execution of the third Woe presently after the end of the second, from that expression in the Tenth Chapter, When the seventh Angel should begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as if that should signify, That the third Woe should be fully accomplished at the first sounding of the seventh Trumpet, that objection has all its force from the Translation of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but that expression is as ordinarily taken for the whole time of any action to come, as it is for the beginning of it. If it should be questioned whether the seventh Trumpet, or third Woe may not concern the Eastern Empire, as the two Woes before it did, and so have little or nothing to do with the Affairs of the Beast; It is to be considered, That the Eastern Empire is signified to have been utterly destroyed by the second Woe under the terms of the slaying the third part of Men, which can signify nothing more against the Greek Empire, than what the Saracens before them did, but unless it was the utter ruin of that Empire; And so there is nothing now remaining of the Roman Empire for the last Woe to be executed upon, but only the Dominion of the Party of the Beast; And the Roman Empire has been before proved to be, the only object of the Calamities of the Trumpets, (Conseq. Theor. 18.) CHAP. XI. The Trumpets and Vials have different Objects. The first Date of the Vials not before the Protestant Reformation. THE Discovery that has been made of the nature of the third Woe, is a fair invitation to inquire, what Relation the Seven Vials have to the latter Times of the Beast. For it is certain that the third Woe must have some relation in it to the Vials, because the Vials are said to be the last Plagues upon the Beast, and the third Woe is found to be the last Woe that brings him to his ruin. It will indeed be found to be of the greatest importance, for the fixing the Applications of all the parts of the Prophecy which relate to the latter Fortunes of the Church, and of the Beast, to determine the first Date of the time of the seven Vials. At the first cursory view of the Matter of them, one would be very apt to judge them to be the same Plagues with the Trumpets. For as they are the same precise number with them, so do they, every one of them in particular, fall upon the same Subject, that each of the Trumpets are concerned about, and that also exactly in the same order; the first in each upon the Earth, the second upon the Sea, the third upon the Rivers, the fourth upon the Sun, the fifth upon the Men that had not the Seal of God in their Foreheads, or upon the Kingdom of the Beast, the sixth upon the River Euphrates, the seventh upon all the Remainders of the power of the Beast, to his final Destruction. But it is to be considered in the first place, That how great a Presumption soever this may give to think them to be but one and the same thing, yet it is certain, that it is very usual in this Book to give the same general Characters of very different Things. One great Instance of which, is the frequent use of the number Seven, to signify the Sums of Things of one and the same Kind, though the several Sums that have that name, be very different from one another in the number of the Particulars that are included in each of those Seven; so also are there the same Descriptions of the Doxologies of the 24 Elders in several parts of the Prophecy, which yet are agreed by all to be applied to very different Things. This than does sufficiently satisfy one, that it would be agreeable enough to the use and custom of this Prophecy, That the seven Trumpets and the seven Vials should have one or two of the same general Characters in each, though they should belong to very different Things. The Trumpets and Vials might thus have both of them the number of 7, to express their being the Sum of all the Plagues of each Kind; and each of these Kind's might have the same general Object assigned to them, though in other respects they were very different from one another. One may indeed easily perceive the reason of the Order in which the first five Subjects of the Plagues, both of the Trumpets and Vials are placed, to be only to resemble the Empire, upon which they fall to a System of the World; and accordingly do we found the parts of it reckoned up in that order in which the parts of the World do the most nearly regard us: The Earth first, with the Contents of it, the Trees and Grass; and than the Sea, with the Things in it, the Ships and Fish: After that the Rivers, which are the last considerable parts of this lower World; than the Sun, and Moon, and Stars, as the Description of the celestial part of the World; and after them, the Air betwixt Heaven and Earth, which in both the fifth Trumpet and fifth Vial, is represented to be darkened. But than that the Evils themselves which are inflicted in each of these Vials and Trumpets, must be Plagues really different from one another, is apparent upon these several Accounts. 1. The respective Plagues of each Trumpet and Vial, are signified by the Schemes of different Plagues. The Egyptian Hail is the plague of the first Trumpet; but the plague of the first Vial is that of the Boils and Sores. The plague of the third Trumpet is the Egyptian Plague of the Rivers turned into Blood: The plague of the third Vial, is the bitterness of the Waters of the River, like the Waters of Marah. The plague of the fourth Trumpet, is the Sun smitten and darkened: The plague of the fourth Vial is on the contrary, the Sun in great power, and scorching Men with the heat of its Light. The fifth Trumpet is the plague of the Egyptian Locusts, and the smoke of the Pit that brought them: The fifth Vial brings on the Egyptian Plague of Darkness. 2. The Plagues of each Kind are also distinguished from one another, by the different parts of the Subject that they fall upon; those of the Trumpets do generally extend but to a third part of the Subject that they are concerned about, those of the Vials do fall upon the same kind of Subject without limitation. 3. Again, The plagues of the Vials are very expressly distinguished by name from those of the Trumpets; they are called the seven last Plagues after the seven Trumpets had been before particularly described. There could not have been a more plain and manifest note of distinction from one another than this. For though the last Days and the last Times be taken in a great Latitude in Scripture, yet the Name of the seven last Plagues, after an account of seven other Plagues which had been described almost just before them in the same Prophecy, cannot without forcing and wresting the Expressions be thought to have no relation to the Plagues that had been mentioned before them. 4. And than it is expressly signified, that the first Vial is contemporary with the Reign of the Beast; for it fell upon those who had his Mark, and that not till there was a very signal Victory obtained over those that had that mark, as is described chap. 15. 2. But the Plagues of the Trumpets must be in their full power at the first beginning of the Reign of the Beast at latest, and when he is in the highest flush of Prosperity; for the whole time of the Reign of the Beast is in the time of the Trumpets. Theor. 5. It cannot be here pretended, that the Victory over the Beast, chap. 15. 2. was after any of the Vials; for it is described at the same time with the first sight of the 7 Angels with the 7 last Plagues, and before they went out to execute them: And besides, it is said, That after that they were seen to go out of the Temple for that purpose. Indeed, from the consideration of the place of this Victory in that Chapter, compared with the Circumstances in which it is mentioned, and with the Fortunes of the Church since the first rise of the Beast, I cannot but conclude that the first Date of the Vials must be some time after the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. The Grounds upon which I rely for it are various; and the strongest are those which are drawn from the 14th. Chapter, in the latter end of these Papers. But I will at present consider, what Advantages there are here offered in the 15th. Chapter, by way of Preamble, to the more particular account of the Vials, which follows it in the 16th. Chapter: And though I do not esteem all the particulars that I bring here in this Chapter, to confirm it to be of equal force for it, yet there is enough in them to make it unquestionable, that the Vials could not begin before that time. 1. It is plain from the Text, that the Time of the Vials began not till after a very signal Victory over the Beast, Rev. 15. 2. and his Image, etc. And as the whole Time of the Beast is described all over the Prophecy, as a State of outward real Tyranny and Oppression, so must the Victory over the Beast be as (b) Idem. To overcome the Beast is not only not to adore him, (for that they might do by flight,) but to denounce the fiercest War to the Beast, by the Ministers of the Gospel. real and literal a deliverance from that Tyranny; or be at lest the humbling or subduing the power of it. The Victory of the Witnesses over the Beast, which is the Victory here meant, must be allowed to be as real and literal as the Victory of the Beast over the Witnesses. The Conquerors are indeed said to be seen in Heaven, as if it were only a deliverance from the Tyranny of the Beast by Death; but it is well known, that Heaven all over these Visions, is taken in very different senses, and generally does signify nothing but the peculiar presence of God in his Church upon Earth, when it is joined with the Temple, as in this place; and so is it in several places of this Prophecy set out by the Temple, with the chief things belonging to it: And though perseverance to the death in the midst of Persecution, be also called a Victory in this Prophecy, yet that is a Victory that runs through the whole Time of the Reign of the Beast, whereas this is represented as a peculiar deliverance, just at the beginning of the seven last Plagues. 2. It is also represented as a deliverance out of Egypt as is (c) Alcazar in cap. 15. There is a manifest allusion in the Sea of Glass to the Read Sea, which the Children of Israel passed through— with this difference, that the Plagues in that History go before the entrance of the Israelites into the Sea; but the Plagues in this place, do not go before the Entrance of these mystical Israelites into the Sea, but follow it. Ibid. The Sea here is not to be understood of the Sea in the Temple, as it is in the 4th. Chapter, but of the Read Sea. Ibid. The Song of Moses here is the Song of Deliverance, in the 15th. Chapter of Exodus. And the Song of Moses and of the Lamb, is the Song of Moses taken mystically for a Christian Song. It is usual with the Prophets under the cover of Jewish Histories, to allude to the Histories of the Christian Church. John first saw (the Conquerors on) the Sea of Glass, and after that the Angels with the seven Vials: But the Angels are first mentioned, to signify the Judgements, that the Conquerors rejoiced to foresee just than coming. Ibid. The Victory is a Triumph over the mystical Pharaoh. Ibid. The Conquerors here mentioned, I make account, are unquestionably the 144000 in the 7th. and 14th. Chapters: And therefore as Conquerors they have Palms in their Hands, in the 17th. Chapter. And Harps here, and in the 14th. Chapter. Ibid. They are said to stand upon the Sea, as the Angel in the 10th. Chapter, because they stood in the Sea. Cornel. à Lapide, on the 15th. chap. Apoc. v. 2. This is an allusion to the Passage of the Israelites over the Read Sea dryfoot— It does therefore signify the Passage of the first of the Faithful through the Sea of Gentilism. Ribera, cap. 15. Apoc. The Conquerors stand upon the Sea, that is, just at the brink of it. (Upon, is taken here for near.) Now they stand just near the Sea, not within it, because they are not a part of that Sea;— though they live near the followers of Antichrist. Ibid. They sing the Song of Moses,— that is, the same that Moses sung with the People after their Passage over the Read Sea,— But with very good reason shall the Conquerors of Antichrist sing this Song, because as the Children of Israel sung it, because they were not catched by Pharaoh:— So they, because they are not overcome by Antichrist, whose Type Pharaoh was. And as the Children of Israel sung upon the Shore of the Read Sea, so shall the just sing upon the Shore of the Sea of Glass. evident from the mention of the Song of Moses, which they sung, which is much the same with that which was sung by the Israelites at their deliverance from the Egyptian Bondage; And therefore are they represented upon a Sea of Glass Exod. 15. 1. mingled with Fire, in reference to the Read Sea which that did represent. Accordingly do we found the Tyranny of the Beast represented by Egypt, which is one of the Names of Rome in this Book; and the seven Plagues are here described in a plain allusion to the Plagues of Egypt: But yet with this difference betwixt them, that the Song of Moses is here sung upon a Deliverance that was before the Plagues; whereas in that of Exodus, it was sung upon a Deliverance after the Plagues: And there is in this of the Vials the mention of two Deliverances; one of a part of the Church, which is Rev. 15. 2. described here as coming before the Vials; and another of the whole Church at the end of the Vials; and therefore are Chap. 11. 1●. there two distinct Songs of Victory and Deliverance. One here before the Vials, and another after the Vials, in Chap. 15. 3. Chap. 19 and in the last Trumpet, Chap. 11. just as the Temple of the Tabernacle is here opened before the Execution V 5. of the Plagues of the Vials, and is found in the same Expressions at the end of the Matter of the last Trumpet, Chap. 11. 19 which is certainly after the time of the Vials. And by the opening of the inner Court of the Temple, or of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, must be understood a greater Freedom of the true Christian Church, than before had been, as will be afterwards made to appear. This first Victory than cannot tolerably be understood of any thing lesle than a Freedom from the Bondage of the Roman Church, or of a free Exercise of the true Religion: For this Victory must answer the Deliverance out of Egypt. There must be a distinction made betwixt it and the serving God under Bondage and Slavery, as the Israelites did in Egypt: And therefore must it be not only a Spiritual Freedom from the worship of the Beast in their Souls, but an outward freedom also from the constraints and oppressions of their Enemies. This does Monsieur Jurieu very well urge about the last deliverance of the Church, before which it is said to be in a Captivity, which is called Egypt, under the Tyranny of the Beast; It's deliverance out of it must therefore (as he observes) be a state of freedom upon Earth, if not an Earthly Canaan. It cannot be lesle than an enjoyment of a freedom from all molestation from the Beast in the service of God; for that is the plain literal sense of the expressions. And since the victory in this place is allowed by him to have also the characters of a deliverance out of Egypt, there is altogether the same reason for interpreting it to be an outward freedom of a part of the Church from the same Yoke and Oppression, though not so full, and complete, as that glorious deliverance of the whole Church of Christ at the last end of the Beast; And there is no tolerable excuse for judging it to be otherwise, unless it were here joined with some other circumstances, which did make it necessary to be a Spiritual victory only. Now such a free Exercise of the true Religion can never be found to have been till the time of the Reformation. The Waldenses, and Albigenses were indeed in the public profession of their Religion before that time; but it was almost constantly with their Arms in their Hands; They were far from having any open secure freedom in it; or any Protection from the Civil Power; And how little like that was to a Victory over their Enemies, and all their Confederates, as it is here described to be over the Beast, and his Image, and his Mark, and his Name, etc. does appear from the constant troubles, and Wars that people were in, during that small interval, in which they had the public exercise of their Religion. If that can be called a victory over the Beast, what can be called Warring with him? As for other more spiritual notions of War and Victory, they must first be proved to be necessary, before we can be allowed to leave the literal acceptations of them, which is the common use of them in this book. The humbling of the Papal Authority by the Councils of Constance and Basil can be nothing of the Victory here described. For the most that can be made of that, is, that it was a Victory of the Image or of the Church of Rome, over the False Prophet, or the Papal Power. The Roman Church continued still to be the Rule of Faith, which is the great malignity of the Beast and his Image; and a very notorious effect was there shown of it at that time, when John Hus and Hierome of Prague were burnt for their Erroneous Opinions. 3. It cannot but seem very harsh and incongruous at the first sight, to place these Vials in any part of the Reign of the Beast betwixt the first advancement of the Papal Power, and the Reformation, because that was the most flourishing state of the Roman Church; and the Vials are but the several Judgements of God to bring that Church to its end by so many sensible decays of his Power. They are represented as so many present vexations and humiliations of that party, as the Plagues of Egypt were to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Now from the time of Gregory the 7th, 1074. till the time of the Reformation, the Roman Church was in its highest triumph, and the followers of the Lamb under the most absolute Slavery, and the most Tyrannical Oppressions; And how can that be consistent with any such signal Victory over the Beast, as is described to precede these judgements upon him? For this Victory cannot denote any thing lesle, than a freedom from the Roman Yoke, and some signal blow to the weakening of the Empire of the Church, and which was the beginning of their sorrows, and was followed by the rest of the seven plagues in order, till that Church was utterly ruined. Indeed there has nothing yet been offered that does give any tolerable account of any Victory of the true Church of Christ, before the Reformation, from whence the date of these Vials should begin. Most of the applications of the Vials themselves are so far from being accompanied with any Victory over the Beast, that the very Vials themselves and the judgements in them are applied many times to things, that were the greatest strength, and advancement of the Roman Church, such as these that follow; The reducing of the several Kingdoms of the World under the Obedience of the Roman Church, by a Sea of Blood, is made a Vial; and yet that was the greatest advancement of that interest. The Barbarity of the Tenth Age is made another Vial, and yet it was that that established the most absurd Doctrines of the Church of Rome. The Slaughter of the Crusadoes is made another; and yet that Holy War was the occasion of the encroachments of the Papal Power upon the rights of Princes in their absence. The Tyrannical Exercise of the power of the Church over Kings and Princes, is made the scorching Sun, and yet, that was so far from being a Judgement, that it was the most flourishing instance of the Commanding Sovereignty of it. The fury of Princes against the Waldenses and Albigenses is made the same Vial with as little reason. The Turkish Inroads are made another Vial; and yet 'tis known that it was the Greek Church only, that they oppressed before the Reformation, excepting some small encroachments upon the Venetians, which can hardly be called a Judgement upon the Beast. It is evident enough, that the Plagues of these Vials are described as so many sensible torments and present humiliations of the power of the Beast, as has been observed; And that indeed is the proper signification of a plague, and of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Original, especially when said to be as here, the fierce wrath of God, which sure must be some thing, that is very sensibly felt in the smart, and pain of it. But those events, tho' they might be judgements upon the Beast, as his greatest victories may also be made to be, yet they were so far from being any present sensible trouble to him, that they were either the fiercest exercise of his Tyrannical Rule, or the greatest advancements of his Interests. And than how can the Saints of God be represented as singing that Song of Triumph, that Moses sang at the destruction of Pharaoh and all his host in the Read Sea, when the Beast is in his greatest Exaltation and Tyranny? 4. Conscquent to these Characters of a victory and deliverance of the Church, before the inflicting of these plagues, is the opening of the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Heaven, which does also very properly signify, the Freedom of the true Christian Church at the Reformation. For as the Temple in general, with the présence of God in it, and called Heaven, does in many places of Scripture, but especially in this Prophecy, signify the Christian Church, so that part of the Temple, which is here described, is by all acknowledged to be the innermost part of it, and is generally agreed to signify the (d) Ribera, cap. 11. Apoc. v. 2.— None can be ignorant, that what is here said of the Temple and Altar, cannot be understood of the Temple of Jerusalem; since it was destroyed by Titus, and was not in being when John wrote these things. But by it, he signifies the Church, of which the Temple was the Figure or Type. Ibid. In the Temple were Two Parts. The first was that which none but the Priests and Ministers of the Temple were to go into, where the Altar stood, which was the inner Court. The other was the outward Court, where all the Laymen were placed. The first was properly called the Temple of God, because all the Sacrifices, Offerings, and Incense, were offered up there upon the Altar. The other part is often called the Temple, but in a more large and improper use of the word. By the first part, and the Priests in it, are here understood the best in the Church, and the most dear to God, and the Elect. By the other part, or the outward Court, is here understood the unsanctified part of the Church, that is, those that are at greater distance from God, and lesle under the sense of his Fear. By this may easily be understood what John here writes; he is commanded to measure the Temple, etc. which is the same with the making a separation and choice of the Elect Members of the Church, who are not to be delivered to Antichrist. nor to his Assistants. true Church of Christ upon Earth, in chap. 11. v. 1. Now the opening of the Temple here, is the same Expression with the opening of the Temple at Hezekia's Reformation, which had been shut in the time of Idolatry and Apostasy. And if this be compared with the place where those who are said to sing the Song of Victory did stand, that is, upon the Sea or Laver near the Altar, it seems to be a very plain Signification of a free exercise of the true Religion in the Church, which had been suppressed before, when the Temple was shut. However, we have great reason to think this opening of the inmost part of the Temple to be some new manifestation of God to the World; First, Because it is intimated to have been opened, that all Nations might come and worship before God, v. 4. And next, Because it is said, v. 8. That none was able to enter in till the Plagues of the seven Angels were fulfilled; which shows it to have been opened for their Entrance in, after that was over. And lastly, Because the Temple had been mentioned twice together just before this Chapter, without any such Circumstances: And than, what is meant by the Glory of God in the Temple, as we here found it may be understood from the Reason that God gives, Ezek. 43. 9 for the stay of his Glory in the Temple, viz. The putting away their Whoredoms, that is, Idolatry. 5. Especially, when we see this also followed with that remarkable circumstance of the Temples being filled with smoke from the Glory of God, so that none could enter into it before the seven Plagues of the seven Angels were fulfilled. For this seems to be a very plain allusion to the same Circumstances and Expressions about the first Dedication or Consecration of the Tabernacle, Exod. 40. 34. and also to the same Description of the first Dedication of Solomon's Temple, in Kings and Chronicles: For in those places 1 Kings 8. 10, 11. 2 Chron. 5. 13, 14. we found just the same peculiar Expressions with these here, and no where else besides in Scripture; and therefore aught the same phrase here to be interpreted of some new Dedication or Consecration of the Christian Church to God's Service, after the Profanations of it by the Beast: And what Eminent Change of the State of the Christian Church from the corruptions of the Roman Hierarchy can any ways answer this but the Reformation? If it should be here objected, that according to this the Consecration of the Christian Church must have lasted from the Reformation to the end of the Vials, and that none of the Reformed could have entered into the Church till than; and that therefore, the first mentioning of the opening of the Temple could not mean the Reformation, since it appears here to be as good as shut immediately after: That may easily be answered by the like Examples of the Tabernacle and Temple: None, not not the Priests could enter into them, till the Cloud of God's Glory was taken away: For it was not throughly dedicated till than; and so the continuance of the Cloud of God's Glory did signify the Time that was taken up in the Consecrating the House of God, to fit it for a continual Habitation for himself after that was done. And than the like circumstance in this mystical Temple, the Christian Church, can signify nothing else, but the preparation of the Church for God's Service, from the time of the Reformation to the end of the seven Vials, when all the World shall become one holy Temple to God, the new Jerusalem fitted and prepared for him to devil in with his People: Till than, though the Temple might be said to be opened, yet it could not be wholly set apart for God's Service; for the Christian Church was first to be purged and cleared, before it could be wholly dedicated to such holy Uses: And therefore the Vials were first to be poured out upon that Power which sat in the outward Court of the Temple, showing himself there that he was God. For this seems to have a very plain allusion to chap. 11. 1, 2. where the inner part of the Temple is possessed by the true Church only, while the outward Court is trodden under foot by the Gentiles, till the end of the Reign of the Beast. Wherhfore the not entering into the Temple in this interval, betwixt the Reformation and the Universal Reign of Christ in his Church, can only signify, That the Reformed Churches are but scattered Altars, and particular Synagogues, till they come all to be united into one Universal Temple at the end of the Consecration of the Christian Church, that is, at the end of the Vials and of all the Enemies of Christ. We do accordingly found, that at the last Trumpet the Temple, which is here described to be so full of the Glory Rev. 11. 19 of God that none▪ could enter in, is there said to be opened again, as it was expressed of it before that appearance of the Smoke, and the Glory of God in it. And this does confirm what before was said of the Significations of two several triumphant Appearances of the Church: The first of which is represented in this place, by the opening of the innermost part of the Temple upon the Victory Chap. 15. 5. v. 2, 3, 4. over the Beast and his Image, which is accompanied with a Song of Victory and Triumph; all which is described to be before the going out of the Angels with the seven Vials: And the other is at the sounding of the last Trumpet, with Chap. 11. 19 just the same Expressions of the opening of the inmost part of the Temple, which was introduced also with a Song v. 17. of Triumph, of much the same nature with the former. 7. But yet to show that these two Songs of Triumph did belong to very different Times of the Church; in the first Song of the 15th. Chapter, it is said of a Time than to come, All Nations shall come and worship before thee: But in the other verse 4. of Chapter the 11th. at the sounding of the last Trumpet, it is said of the Time than present, The Kingdoms of the World verse 15. are become the Kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ, and he shall Reign for ever and ever. And the Conquerors that sing the first Song, are represented standing on the mystical Read verse 2. Sea, not yet passed over it, but in a condition still to be pursued by the mystical Pharaoh, which does exactly represent the first State of the Reformation. 8. And yet without the consideration of either any signal Deliverance or freedom of the Church, the very nature of the seven Plagues is sufficient to satisfy one, that they cannot begin before the Reformation: Because, till than the Roman Hierarchy was in its full Glory, whereas the seven Plagues are all great Mortifications to the power of the Beast. They are said to be in Vials full of the Wrath V 1, 7. of God, and in which the Wrath of God is filled up. These are the concurrent Circumstances of the Text, to determine the Date of the Vials to be after the time of the Reformation; and the proof that has been drawn from them, will be still much more strengthened, if it be considered, 9 That the Reformation was so very eminent and general a Triumph over the Beast, so remarkable a Deliverance of a great part of the Church from Slavery and Captivity, so exactly answering the Characters of the opening of the Temple of God, and of the new Dedication of it to God's Service, That it aught to be somewhere in these Visions about the Beast described by as eminent Marks of Deliverance from Captivity, and of the free exercise of the true Religion. But no where is there any Characters that do so remarkably set out these things as those here in the 15th. Chapter. Those in the 14th. Chapter, which are the only Expressions besides which seem capable of signifying this great Change of the State of the Church, will appear to be necessary to be the same State of the Church with this, though they do nothing so fully and openly express it, as these in this place. Some indeed would have the time of the Reformation to be described in the seventh Trumpet. But though the Characters of that might well enough suit it, yet it is certain, that the seventh Trumpet is not yet sounded, because neither are the Witnesses yet risen again, (Theor. 33.) Nor the second Woe yet passed away, Ibid. Which yet must both be before the time of the seventh Trumpet, Rev. 11. 11, 14. 10. But after all, it must be also considered, That there have been since the Reformation, three or four more eminent Judgements upon the whole party of the Beast, than any of those that are made the business of the Vials before the Reformation; and these have been distinct one from another, and cannot be all comprehended in the seventh Vial, not more than the Judgements of the three last Vials can be comprehended under the third or fourth. Never was there so universal an Ocean of Blood all over Europe, and that to the establishment of the true Religion, and to the weakening of the Roman Party, as about the beginning of the Dutch Commonwealth: Never was there before such Rivers of Blood in the Imperial Countries, as during the time of the Swedish War: Who before could ever be so compared to the Sun in the fourth Vial, as the present King of France, since by that Character it must be the most eminent Monarch in Europe, in enmity to the Imperial Power? And what Heats and Vexations have the Imperial Party had at any time before the Reformation comparable in the length of their continuance to those hot Effects of the Sun, with which the King of France has enraged and inflamed them, and diverted them from advancing their Universal Monarchy over the World? These Plagues and Vexations than of so considerable and of so general a concern to the whole Roman, both Imperial and Papal Party, do more deserve to have so many distinct Vials for the matter of them, than those Events that are applied to these Vials before the Reformation. There is therefore no ground for comprehending these distinct remarkable Judgements, which were at such distance from one another under the seventh Vial only. Now if we compare all these Considerations together, they will still much more strengthen one another. The Victory here mentioned is such a Deliverance from the Roman Slavery, as the Deliverance of the People of God out of Egypt was: It must than be as real a Freedom as that was a real Bondage and Oppression. It was also a Deliverance that was followed with the last Plagues of Egypt, which brought the Beast to his ruin: And such also as was accompanied with a new opening of the Temple of God, which does elsewhere signify the full liberty of the true Christian Church; and is also described by a new Consecration of the Church to God's Service: It is also described as the first Deliverance of a part of the Church with the same kind of opening of the Temple and Song of Victory, that the last Deliverance of the whole Church is set out by. And therefore, this Victory and Deliverance must necessarily be at some great Mortification of the Papal Power before the last ruin of it, and with some great Triumph and Freedom of the Christian Church in the full and free Exercise of the true Religion, after a great Oppression under Antichristian Tyranny, and yet long before the last general Freedom from it. And what remarkable time can this be apprehended to be, since the first Exaltation of the Tyrannical Power of the Roman Church, but the Reformation? Especially, if we add to this, that so eminent a Change of the State of the Church, as the Reformation was, and the remarkable Judgements which have since happened upon the Roman Party, aught to have been somewhere in this Prophecy as particularly exposed. And yet there is not so clear or consistent Characters of either of them in any other part of the Prophecy: But these Circumstances here in the beginning of the 15th. Chapter, with the first half of the Vials, do all very exactly suit these Events, and concur together to express the Order of them. For we have here a description of a first Deliverance of a part of the Church of God from the Tyranny of the Beast, in reference to the last full Deliverance of the whole Church after the pouring out of those seven Plagues upon the Beast, which were to begin upon the first Victory over him, and which will be found to be to admiration, answerable to the several Humiliations that the Roman Church has suffered since that time. (a) A Leasar in cap. 15. Apoc. The seven Angels it may be, are an allusion to the seven Bedchamber Officers of the King of Persia. Ribera. cap. 15. Apoc. By seven I do not understand many, as Bede and others, but only seven. For, he calls them the seven last Plagues which were in the Vials of the seven Angels. CHAP. XII. Objections against the Date of the Vials from the Reformation answered. AGainst all that has been concluded in the former Discourse, it may be urged, That this Victory here mentioned in the 15th. Chapter, does seem to be set out as a Triumph over the Beast at the end of the Plagues. For the Song that they sing, does refer to the executing of the Judgements of those Plagues. But though this should be granted of the Song, yet this Victory is represented as a distinct thing from the matter of the Song; for the reason of their singing may indeed in all probability, be their sight of the seven Angels with the seven last Plagues, mentioned just before their Appearance, as it became the Conquerors of those Enemies of God upon whom the Plagues were to fall. But there is not the lest hint, that their Victory was nothing but the ruin of the Beast by those Plagues, and at the end of them all; on the contrary, it is represented as a Deliverance before the pouring out of any of the Vials, and as distinct from them. It may be further objected in confirmation of the former, That this Victory and Deliverance is set out as a Deliverance out of Egypt; and the Plagues have a manifest reference to the Plagues of Egypt; now the Israelites Deliverance out of Egypt, was not till after the Plagues of Egypt: And therefore neither should this Victory here be till after these Plagues. This would signify something, if the Deliverance here were expressly said to be just in the same manner with the Deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt, and that the Plagues here did go before the Victory, as it is related of the other Plagues of Egypt before the Deliverance of that People. But it is far otherwise here. The Victory here is as manifestly set before the Plagues, as the Deliverance in the History of the Israelites is related to come after the Plagues; the Conquerors here do only triumph at the manifestation of God's Judgements to them, after the seven Angels with the seven Plagues were seen, and before they went out of the Temple to pour out their Vials. Besides, we have the mention of two distinct Triumphs before and after the Vials, as has been observed; and this here before the Vials, is not the same with that after them in the seventh Trumpet: For in this it is said, All Nations shall come and worship before thee; but in that, The Kingdoms of this World are become the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever. The first relates to an Universal Conformity that was to come, and the latter to such a Christian Uniformity that was than present. It also follows here, that after the Victory and Song here mentioned, there was an opening of the Temple; and this was another distinct opening of it than that which is mentioned at the Deliverance in the seventh Trumpet; Chap. 11. 19 and therefore must the Deliverance here be also distinct from that which is mentioned there, which was at the end of the seven Vials. That the opening of the Temple here after the Song of Victory, was different from that after the seventh Trumpet is manifest; for the opening of the Temple here, was before the going out of the Angel with the seven Vials, and before the filling it with smoke from the Glory of God; but the opening of it after the seventh Trumpet, was after the end of the Vials; for it is said, That none could enter into the Temple till the seven Plagues were fulfilled. But it may be further alleged in Plea, for the placing the Deliverance here mentioned after the Vials, that it is usual in this Prophecy, before any extraordinary Judgements of God, to represent a Scene of Persons rejoicing and triumphing as Conquerors, by way of Anticipation; whereas the true time of that Victory is at the end of those Judgements: And so may the Victory here mentioned be not more, than the triumphant state of the Church after the fulfilling of the seven plagues. Thus we see before the sounding of the seven Trumpets there is a show of a great multitude, with White Robes and Palms in their hands, Glorifying God, all which are undoubted significations of a victorious state of the Church; But yet the time of these Palm-bearers, and of their Victory, could not be till after the Judgements of those Trumpets. For the Palm-bearers are said to be seen after the Vision of the 144000, which were sealed to be saved from the Judgements of the Trumpets, and who therefore must be contemporaries with the seven Trumpets. The Palm-bearers therefore must be after the Trumpets, tho' represented as before them, because they come after those that are Sealed, who are at the same time with the Trumpets; For whenever a Vision is said to be after another in this Book, as this of the Palm-bearers is said to be after the Sealed Company, it is pretended, that it always signifies, that the things seen in that Vision, are after the things that were seen in the Vision before it, and not only that the sight of the one was after the sight of the other. So also are the 144000 represented in the 14th Chapter upon Mount Zion, singing a new Song, with Harpers singing to their Harps, before the pronouncing Babylon fallen, or the threat of God's Judgements upon those who should Worship the Beast, and yet (say they) it cannot be thought, that that triumph could be before the fall of Babylon. In the latter of these instances, there is no mention at all of any triumph over Babylon: Their Song and their Harping may be very reasonably Judged to be the Religious Exercises of the Church in the time of Persecution, which seems to be very plainly intimated by what is said of the Song that they sung, verse 3. that it was a new Song, which none could learn but the 144000. For what can that signify but Religious Worship, kept up by them alone, since it is represented to be Sung before the Throne, as the song of the Elders? Chap. 5. 11. But the first of these instances requires a little more pains to answer it. That which the Objection from it does chief rely upon, is, that the vision is said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or after that of the sealed Company. But that does in propriety of speech signify not more, than that such things were seen after the other, and not that the things in the one, came after the end of those things that were seen in the Vision before. And there are also Examples in this very Prophecy of such acceptations of the same kind of phrase, as has been shown, Theorem 12. And yet, if this constant signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or after these things should be granted, it would be a new confirmation of what has been said about the time of the deliverance and Song of triumph in the 15th Chapter. For it is said, that after that, the Temple was seen to be opened, which has been shown to be necessarily understood of an opening of the Temple before the pouring out of the Vials; and therefore much more must the deliverance there mentioned be before the same Vials, since the opening of the Temple is said to be after that Vision. There is therefore either no force at all in the term of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to prove the Palm-bearers to come after the end of the fortunes of the Sealed Company, or the same force in it to assure us, that the Conquerors in the 15th Chapter were before the Vials. This does excellently well agreed with what the 6th Seal is generally interpreted by others to be; For if that be the Enthroning of the Christian Profession by Constantine, it is certain that nothing could have more shown the glorifying of God by this Multitude to be at that time, than the exact agreement of the description of it here, with those expressions which we found at the casting out of the Red-Dragon out of Heaven in the 12th Chapter; for in both they cry with a loud voice; They both use the same kind of phrases, Salvation to our God and to the Lamb, and, now is come Salvation, and the Kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ; They are both represented as Conquerors. The one with Palms, and white Robes washed in the blood of the Lamb, and the other by overcoming their Enemy by the blood of the Lamb; They are both represented as the Martyrs of God, the one is said to come out of the great Tribulation; The other, not to have loved their Lives unto the Death; They are both a victory that cause triumph in Heaven; In the one, the Heavens are said to rejoice and them that devil therein, and in the other, all the Angels about the Throne. And no where besides in this book are there any characters, that do so expressly agreed with the circumstances of these Palm-bearers, as these in the 12th Chapter, which is generally agreed to be the description of the Pagan Persecution, and of the Conquest of it by the establishment of the Christian Profession in the Imperial throne. There is indeed in that 12th Chapter, the mention of the Remnant of the Seed of the Woman, with whom the Dragon went to make War after the Woman was fled into the Wilderness, which may at first be thought to be the same with the rest of the Brethrens, that in the 5th Seal are said, should be killed; And than the Palm-bearers might be the rest of the Brethrens mentioned in the fifth seal, and yet by this appear necessarily to be after the Trumpets, as the Victory of that Remnant in the 12th Chapter, was to be. But it is manifest, that the rest of the Brethrens in the 5th seal cannot be the same with the Remnant of the seed of the Woman in the 12th Chapter; for those in the fifth Seal were to be all killed within a little season after the time of that Seal, and the vengeance of the Trumpets was also to be after that they were killed. For upon their Cry for Judgement, and vengeance, they are bid to rest for a little season, or to wait a little while with patience for it, till the rest should be killed; The plain obvious sense of which is, That after the kill of the rest of their Brethrens within a short while after, the Murderers should have filled up the measure of their wickedness, and than they should be ripe for judgement; which shows the judgement was to come after the kill of the rest, and that not long after the time of the fifth seal; But it is certain, that the Dragon's War with the Remnant of the seed of the Woman, and the killing them was during the whole time of the Reign of the Beast; and therefore not within a little season, nor before the vengeance of the Trumpets, or before the promised vengeance of the fifth Seal; for the time of most of the Trumpets is generally agreed to be within the time of the Reign of the Beast. Wherhfore if we now compare the forementioned circumstances together, the force of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will signify nothing to wrist the Palm-bearers out of their natural proper place and order in the sixth seal, to make them come four Chapters after the Order, that they have in the Prophecy, and after no fewer than seven long judgements which they are placed before. There is therefore no example now to be found of any such singing a Triumph before a victory, as some would have these Conquerors of the Beast, and of his Image here to do. But on the other side we may now with a great deal of satisfaction observe from this last instance, how exact a correspondence there is betwixt the seven Trumpets, and the seven Vials in the manner of their first Rise, as well as in all other respects; and it is chief for the clearing of this Remark, that I have so long insisted upon answering the last Objection. E. G. As both the Trumpets and the Vials are set out as just the same number of Plagues, or several instances of the wrath of God, and both seem to have a plain reference to the Plagues of Egypt, so are they both shown to belong to almost all the same subjects, and that in the very same Order, as the Earth, and the Sea, the Rivers, the Sun, the River Euphrates, Heaven. They are also both first foretold in General, before they are reckoned up in order, the Trumpets in the sixth Seal, and the Vials in the Harvest and Vintage; and both of them are described to begin at a signal deliverance of the Church, or at a signal humbling of the power of the Enemies of God. The Kings and great Men hid themselves in the rocks at the sixth Seal before the Trumpets, and the Conquerors of the Beast appear before the Vials, standing upon a Sea, like the Read Sea. The Church also is in a great Triumph of joy in the Palm-bearers with the Angels before the Throne just before the Trumpets, and the Song of Moses is sung just before the Vials; and therefore well might the Vials have the name of the seven last plagues, for their perfect resemblance with the seven Trumpets, which were the seven first plagues. And if we allow with the generally of Interpreters that the Deliverance of the Church before the Trumpets, was the first Conversions of the Christian Emperors, how natural is it to think that the deliverance of the Church before the Vials was nothing but a new Return or Reformation of the Christian Religion upon some of the Thrones of the ten Kings? The Objections against the beginning of the time of the Vials, before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet, are sufficiently answered chap. 18. CHAP. XIII. The particular Application of the Vials to the most remarkable Events since the Reformation. The Commotions in all Countries upon the Reformation, the first Vial. The Wars all over Europe for Religion, in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, the second Vial. The Swedish War, the third Vial. The Humiliations of the Papal and Imperial Interest by the present King of France, the fourth Vial. How providentially his owning the Sun for his Emblem does agreed with it. The general Humiliation of the Roman Church in all Roman States, the fifth Vial. Some Enemies beyond Euphrates, the sixth Vial. A conjecture about Harmageddon. THE Application of the seven Vials, does in my way give the Prophecy so great a part in all the great Actions and Expectations of this present Age, that I could not think that I could be accounted tedious in the nicest and most scrupulous Examination I could use, to strengthen and to secure the Foundation of it. 'Tis upon this account that I have been so careful to establish the first Date of the Vials, upon which the whole Application is chief grounded; and there are so many things of the greatest importance as well as of present concern, to gratify and surprise the Curiosity of all Men in the particulars of this Application, that I am apt to imagine, that nothing will be judged to have been unnecessary, that has been employed to establish the grounds of it. If we than date the Victory of the Reformation from about the year 1530. when it was carried on with the face of Authority in Germany and Switzerland, and by Protestant Leagues, there will than be about the space of forty years for each of the first four Vials to take their turn in. I do not confine the Period of every Vial to that precise number of forty years, because there is no Character in the Text that does so determine them to those bounds. But besides my own Suppositions about the end of the Beast, which would well agreed with it, there have been such remarkable Events that have happened within the space of every forty years since the Reformation, and which do very wonderfully suit the matter of these Vials, that one can hardly forbear from being confident, that they must be the fulfilling of the first four Vials, if the whole seven begin about the time of the Reformation, and have near 300 years to run their course in, as I make account has been elsewhere established. Especially, if we consider, That there are no other Judgements upon the Roman Church since the Reformation, that do so considerably answer the Characters of these Vials, as these signal one's that are here pitched upon. For (a) SEE note the first, and 6th, on the first Chapter, especially the 6th. these Plagues according to their Description, must first be so many very eminent Judgements upon the Roman Party, and that to the greatest extent of the Dominion of that Church to make them remarkable, and therefore upon the greatest part of Europe. They must also be eminent Plagues of a long continuance, to distinguish them from the lesser Evils which do usually hap within the space of forty years, which is supposed to be the Period for every Vial; and they must lastly, answer the Characters of each Plague in the Text. And those which I shall mention, and none other, will be found to be thus qualified for the time that is past since the Reformation, which is much above half the whole term assigned them. And first, I question not but that all will grant, that the Reformation gave vexation and uneasiness enough to the whole party of the Beast, to qualify it for the Application of the first Vial. For what does more properly answer the grievous sore of the first Vial, than the inward Torment and exulcerated Spirits of the Romanists in general, at the Success of the Reformation? And what but an inward uneasiness of Mind can be signified, by the inflicting of a grievous Sore upon a particular party of Men, in distinction to the rest who live amongst them, as this is said here to be inflicted upon the Men that had the mark of the Beast? To apprehended it to be any other kind of outward Sore upon a particular party of Men only, would be to make it to be some extraordinary Miracle from Heaven, which is not by any Interpreters of this Prophecy judged to be necessary, for the fulfilling of the Judgements foretold in it. On the contrary (b) It is also the opinion of the best of the Roman Interpreters, that these plagues are to be understood in a mystical sense. Alcazar in Note the third on the 11th Chap. does show all the Schemes to be Mystical allusions to the Histories of the Israelites, and says besides expressly, that the Seven Plagues are to be taken in a mystical sense. And for proof of this does instance in the fifth Vial, which he says is by none understood as it literally signifies, and thereupon demands, why the rest should not be interpreted after the same way, or in a mystical sense. And Ribera on the second Verse of the 16th Chapter, does show that many do understand the first plague (of the grievous sore) in a Moral (yet Mystical) sense; As Bede and others. And that Andrea's Bishop of Caesarea in particular, and Arethas the best of the old Commentators do in particular make the grievous sore to be a burning vexation of the heart, as it is here made to be. it is generally agreed by all the considerable Protestant Interpreters, that the Plagues of the Vials are generally to be understood in a mystical sense. And though this inward Vexation may be thought to be too common a Disposition of that Party under all the Vials, to be made the Judgement of any one of them in distinction to the rest, yet it cannot but be imagined, that their Fury and Indignation at the first appearances of this new Face of Religion, must be in a very different degree from what it was after they were long used to it. The History of that Time does sufficiently convince us, That the new Surprise, that the Spirits of Men were than in at this new Doctrine, did more inflame them about the first Times of the preaching it, than they can be supposed to have been since, though the Effect of it was chief within them: For Rage is the most painful and fretting before it breaks out into Revenge, and that was enough to make it a different Plague from all the rest. But besides, those inward Vexations were the peculiar Evils of those first forty years, without any other very considerable Judgement upon the Beast. For his loss of the States and Kingdoms which embraced the Reformation, is included in the Victory over the Beast before the Vials, though the first Date of that Victory be from the first considerable appearance of Authority in defence of the Reformation. But yet after all the Reasons that I have alleged for it, I do not expect that the Character of this first Vial should be generally allowed by any, that have been fixed upon any other way, to be so necessarily and clearly determined in the Text, to signify the Matter unto which it is applied. And I do not pretend to maintain, that it is uncapable of any other Interpretation, which may be thought to agreed better with the first beginning of the Reformation and the Characters of the Judgement of this Vial. But the effect of the second Vial, is expressed in terms of as manifest and open a signification in Prophecy, as it well could have been; The Sea becoming like the Blood of a Rev. 15. 3. dead Man, and that of every living Soul dying in the Sea, are Expressions that have no ambiguity in them. The Sea is known to signify in several places of this Prophecy, the same with that which many Waters is explained Rev. 17. 14. to signify in the 17th. Chapter, where the Angel tells the Apostle, That it was his design to interpret the dark terms of the Vision to him. The Sea must therefore here signify Multitudes, and Tongues, and Nations; and its becoming like the Blood of a dead Man, can than signify nothing but an Universal Sea of Blood amongst all People and Nations, that is, amongst those Nations who were confederates with the Beast. For the Dominion and Sphere of the Beast, must always be accounted the Scene of all the Judgements of these Vials. And what was there ever more notoriously answerable to this, than that Ocean of Blood that was shed in the Low Countries, in France, in Sea Fights betwixt England and Spain, and the Dutch, besides other lesser Effusions of it in Scotland, and other Countries, during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth of England? And all upon the account of Religion. The Succession of King James to the Crown of England, and the peace of Veruins betwixt the French and Spaniard together with the settlement of Henry the fourth, in the Throne of France, and his Edicts of Pacification with the Protestants, & the Truce betwixt the Spaniards, & the Dutch, may very well be accounted a very remarkable end of this Sea of blood, or of the General effusion of it in almost all parts of Europe. This event was so very famous a circumstance of the humbling the power of the Roman Interest, that it aught to have been very signally remarked by some of these Vials, and none could have more fully, and plainly expressed it than this Sea of blood in the second of them. Neither is there any other State of affairs since the Reformation that does so fitly answer the Characters of this Vial as this, that has been mentioned. And it is a sufficient prejudice against all other Interpretations of this second Vial, which place it, as I do, after the Reformation, that they take no notice of so signal, and so generally manifest a Judgement upon the Beast, as this universal Bloodshed was, notwithstanding that it is so plainly set forth in the expressions of this Vial, and was so remarkably fulfilled also in the event before the Eyes, and to the sense and feeling of almost all Europe, which is that part of the World who are the general concern of all the Vials. Whatever therefore may be scrupled at in the application of the first Vial, it cannot hinder us from determining the bounds of it to that time that was betwixt the beginning of the Reformation, and this Sea of Blood; For there could not have been a more open prediction, or a more exact conformity to it, than there is betwixt the second Vial, and the Sea of Blood, within the Time of the second forty years after the Reformation. Neither is it any objection against this, and the following Applications, that the Protestants were almost as great sufferers as the Roman Party. For all that is here to be regarded, is, whether all these evils were not great humiliations of that Interest, and of those, who were the great Lords and Masters of the World before. There is no considerable conquest to be had over any powerful Enemies, without a great loss of Blood on the conquerors side; For a Victory does generally suppose a fight before it, and there is no Fight without Blows on both sides. THE Rivers of Blood, which are the Judgement of the third Vial, began in those remainders of the Religious War betwixt the Spaniard and the Dutch: Or, if that seem rather the Ebb of the Sea of Blood, in the occasional Tumults of Hungary, and Transylvania for Liberty of Conscience, Anno 1605. wherein the Papal and Imperial party had generally the worst, especially under the management of Stephen Botski, who, as Petavius says in short of him, did exceedingly torment the Roman Catholics. But it may be very reasonably thought, that the Bohemian War in the same period, wherein both the Palatinates were gained to the Imperial party, was a sufficient amendss for all the other troubles, and losses, that the Beast had sustained; and the humbling of the Protestants in France at the taking of Rochel, soon after the other, was a great advancement of the Papal Interest. That therefore which does the most remarkably fulfil the intent of this Vial is the descent of the Swedes into Germany, and their overrunning it like a Torrent, and their continuing Conquerors there in one of the most Bloody Wars, that ever was heard of for near 17 years together; Which did all fall so heavily at last upon the Papal Interest, and the Roman Church, that at the treaty of Munster, the Pope's Nuncio, Fabio Chigi, who was afterwards Alexander the 7th, made a very solemn protestation there in the name of his Master against the peace of Munster, as if it had been but a bargain to betray, and give up the Revenues, Privileges, and Rights of the Roman Church. And who can be supposed to be a better Judge of the evil of this plague, than they who were the most interested in it, and the chief sufferers by it? There were indeed very strange Alienations made of Church-Lands and Goods into Secular hands by that Treaty, so as even to give great offence and scandal to many Protestants themselves; and a general Liberty for the exercise of the Reformed Religion was established by it almost all over the Empire: And it is well known, that the Swedes, at their first coming into the Empire, declared it was to restore the Liberties of the Protestant Religion, as well as of the Princes of the Empire. And in all the management of that War, one may see it was nothing but a War for Religion, and that it had as bloody effects every way suitable to the usual heats and animosities, in such cases. It is certain that (c) Ionas Wax de Antichristo. p. 86. who wrote about the middle of the Swedish War, and was himself a Swede, after he had divided the plagues upon the Beast into Spritual and Corporal, in the 91 and 92 Articles, says thus— The greatest Corporal Judgement that has been poured out upon the Kingdom of Antichrist since the first settlement of his Kingdom, is that which was brought upon it by a Northern Lion, that is, Gustavus Adolphus.— For in the year 1630. did he break in upon the Kingdom of Antichrist, upon the Babylonian Confederacy, and give it such a Corporal wound, as it never before had received since the first settlement of the Domination of the Pope, and the open discovery of the fornication of his Babylon. the Swedish War did make so great a noise in all parts of the World, that it must needs have a peculiar place to itself in some of these Vials, if they begin with the Reformation; Almost all Europe was engaged in it, the Princes of the Empire, France, Spain, the Dutch, the Swedes, the Pope, and England was an abettor and assistant; and where can we found a place for it so every way suitable to it, as in this of the Rivers of Blood? For tho' it did engage almost all the Princes of Europe in the Quarrel, yet in this it differed from the Sea of Blood in the second Vial, That the seat of this War was only in Germany and the borders of it. And so was it but Rivers of Blood in one particular part of Europe at one time, whereas the other was an Ocean of Blood almost all over Europe at the same time. Besides, there must be two distinct Vials for these two so distinct and eminent Events, and which were at such distance from one another, and therefore must the Sea of Blood in the second Vial belong only to the first of these two. This does extremely well agreed with what is added in this Vial, to determine it to the most considerable part of the Rivers, and that is, that it was poured out upon the fountains of Waters, which must signify, that it was a Judgement upon the Head, and fountain of the Empire of the Beast, since all the parts of the World mentioned as the Subjects of these Vials, are all but so many respective parts of the Territories, and power of the Beast; and than by these Fountains of Water must in all reason be understood the Imperial Family, or their Dominions, which are the chief Fountains of all the power of the Beast; and so was this War the most heavy upon the Territories of the Austrian Family, or their immediate dependants. The event does also very exactly answer the reason that is given for these Rivers of Blood, which is expressed to be some former very bloody Cruelties against the Saints of God; and the Cruelties of the Imperial party towards the Protestants after the end of the Bohemian War was one of the chief motives of the Swedish Invasion. Never did Germany drink so deeply of God's Judgements in blood, as during the time of this War; and the Triumph of the Protestant party in it, was much like the exultation of the Angel of the Waters at the pouring out of this Vial. v. 5, 6. Thou art Righteous, O Lord, because thou hast Judged thus. For they have shed the blood of Saints, and Prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And this by the way does give us a very satisfactory account, why the Swedish War should be accounted the chief matter of this third Vial alone by itself, tho' it continued not above a third part of the period of the Vial. For here is an intimation of a very dreadful shedding of Blood by the party of the Beast, before the return made to it by the Rivers of Blood; which does suppose the Cruelties of the Beast to take up a considerable part of the period allotted to this Vial, and to go before the Judgement continued in it; and than the shedding of their Blood in that War can be but the latter part of the Vial, as it does appear also to be in the event. The end of the plague of this third Vial may very reasonably be determined to the conclusion of the Treaty of Munster. For that Treaty was the most Eminent and Famous, as well as the most General agreement, and Peace of all Europe, to the great advantage of the Protestant Cause. We may therefore now conclude, that the Prophecy, and the Events, do extend the bounds of the three first Vials, to the end at lest of the chief part of the fury of the Swedish War in Germany; and this does very well agreed with the three first forty years after the Reformation assigned to them. There is no need of making any very curious enquiry, what eminent Interest it can be, that is signified by the Judgement of the next Vial, which is said to be the giving the Sun power to scorch Men with fire. For the Earth, and Sea, and Rivers having been found here not to signify literally, but Mystically, as they are often used in this Prophecy for the several states of Men in the Roman party, by the Sun must be meant some chief conquering Potentate within the compass of the Empire of the Roman Church, which is the common Scene of all the Vials, and Judgements. If to this we join, that it must also be some eminent Potentate, that is made use of as a judgement upon either the Papal or Imperial Interest, and therefore not the Emperor, (whose Supereminent Roman Title shows him to be an Head of the Beast;) who can it be, that can be the business of this Vial for the next forty years, but the King of France, who is so considerable in Europe as to go under the name of Lewis the Great, the Eldest Son of the Roman Church, and the Most Christian King in the Antichristian State? He is far the most likely to be the Sun in that Heaven, where the Beast sitteth as God. If it be Objected that he is an advancer of the Interest of the Beast; It must be considered, that all that he is regarded for in this Vial is that part of his History wherein he has been a plague to the Confederates, and supporters of the Beast. And has he not been so for almost the whole forty years after the Swedish War in his Quarrels with the Popes, and his continual Wars with the Austrian Family, to the great hindrance of the growth and Progress of the cause, which they were always so zealous to promote? Excepting that one expedition into Holland, which did leave little or nothing in the possession of the French after the King's return home again; Who is there that have lost any considerable part of their dominion by him, but the Austrian Family, and the inseparable adhaerent to the Interest of that Family, the Duke of Lorraine? As for the effects of his Quarrels with the Popes, we may sufficiently see, what heats they have put the See of Rome into by the preparations that were made by Alexander the Seventh against the French about the affairs of the Corsi, and by the zeal of this present Pope, in the business of the Regale, which concluded with the determination of those famous points concerning the Papal Authority by the general Assembly of the whole French Clergy; All which were as great humiliations of the Spiritual Head of the Roman Party, as the French Conquests were of the Secular Head of them. And both the Papal and Imperial Party may very properly be said to blaspheme the God of Heaven, for the inflicting these Plagues upon them, by attributing it wholly to the Devil, whom they would affirm to move the King of France to all these things against them, whereas they are the just Judgements of God upon them only to bring them to Repentance, as we see it plainly here intimated by way of Explication: They blasphemed God, who had power over these Plagues, or from whose hand they came, and they repent not to give him Glory, or the Glory of his Justice: For they attributed all this to the power of the Devil only in him. This Vial than does very fitly suit the Actions of the French King, till the late general Truce. In the mean while it is to be considered, That so eminent an Hostility against the Austrian Interest for so long a continuance, could not reasonably be omitted out of the Judgements upon the Beast; and besides, there would be so many years past since the Swedish War, without any Judgement considerable, unless this be allowed to come in for one. It is certain, there is nothing expressed in the Prophecy about this power given to the Sun, which is not very well answered by the heat and vexation that the King of Frances Quarrels and Wars have put the Papalins, and the Imperialists and Spaniards into. For the scorching with Heat being acknowledged to be mystically understood, it may properly enough signify any Vexation that comes by the means of him who is there meant by the Sun. But for the satisfaction of those who may desire a more literal Application of this Character of scorching Men with Fire, it may be further considered, That since by the Sun must here be meant some Sovereign Power of Men, according as we see Men to be understood by the Sea and the Rivers; the only thing that can be imagined to be answerable to the Character of scorching Men with Fire, by such a conquering Power, is the burning their Towns and Houses; and does not this very well suit with the French Bombs, which make a Town intolerable to the Inhabitants of it before it be taken? And so makes a distinction betwixt the Swedish War, which was by Blood and Cruelty▪ and the French War, which was little else than the taking of Towns without any such a great effusion of the Blood of the Romish Party. If there be ground enough upon other accounts, to fasten this Vial upon that King, it was very providentially ordered, That he should give the Sun for his device upon his Coin, from the first Times of his Appearance after the Swedish Wars, as may be seen in almost all his first Brass and Golden Coins, to signify his appearance like the Sun out of a Cloud after his first Troubles, with the Princes of the Blood. This is still the King of France's Emblem; but now is come to be a Sun shining upon the Universe, with this Motto, Nec pluribus impar; and it is publicly given him in his Triumphs and Honours, and is as gravely owned by himself: Anno 168●. An eminent confirmation of this was his last Reception at Luxemburgh, where all the Windows of the Streets were full of nothing but glorious Representations of the Sun by Artificial Lamps, on purpose contrived in honour of him. And the contention betwixt Dr. Wagenseil, professor at Altdorf, and Father Menestrier, about the conformity of this to the Laws and Rules for Devices, does give sufficient Testimony to the matter of Fact itself, which is the ground of their Dispute. Dr. Wagenseil is of opinion, that all well invented Devices of Princes, do come by Inspiration. I am sure, that would very well suit with the present Application of this part of the Prophecy to the King of France; if other Considerations should make it very probable, this remark would incline one to think, that God had put it into the mind of that King and his Flatterers to pitch upon, and to own this Device in so public a manner. But this I mention only as a concurrent circumstance, to make him known to the World by. The business of the fourth Vial, does than seem to end just about this present time. And now if we take a review of these four first Vials, it will be hard for any to found out any other four Events since the Reformation, considerable enough to be accounted Judgements upon the Beast, much lesle any four such remarkable ones, as those which have been pitched upon, that have been so much the concern of all Europe, and have lasted so long, and are so exactly answerable to the Characters of each Vial in the Text; and those are the proper Qualifications for the matter of every one of the Vials, that is, that it be of a general extent, that it last many years, and that it be agreeable to Vers. 1, 2, 3. the Characters of the Text. But if it should be questioned, Whether there be yet four of the Vials past, though it should be granted that the Reformation was the first Date of them all, That scruple may be easily removed, if it be considered, That there must be either four of them past or but two: For if it be allowed that the Rivers of Blood in the third Vial, were fulfilled before the present King of France's Appearance in Action, He must necessarily be the business of the fourth Vial, because for these forty years the Beast has not had any trouble from any other hand that can tolerably answer the general extent or vexation of a Judgement upon the Roman Party. But if it be not allowed, that the Rivers of Blood were fulfilled before that time, they could not have been fulfilled in his Reign; for they are very plainly described to be a bloody Revenge for the Cruelties of that Party to the true Church, to which the French Conquests have no manner of likeness. They were rather Surprises of Towns than any great Acts of Blood, and the Protestants were fellow Sufferers with the rest in those few Battles that were fought. Wherhfore if the Sea of Blood in the second Vial, should be extended to the beginning of the King of Frances Reign, there could have been no other Vial fulfilled since that time: For the Rivers of Blood are the next Vial; and there has been now forty years passed without any thing like the Characters of that. Now if there should be but two Vials yet past for these One hundred and seventy years since the Reformation, there would be no manner of proportion betwixt them and the other five, which would all of them be crowded within the space of about One hundred years at farthest, according to the third Supposition about the end of the Reign of the Beast. And yet there is no such remark upon these two first Vials, to distinguish them from the other five, as there is upon the three last Trumpets, to distinguish them from the four first, in respect of the different length of their continuance. And besides, there would be above sixty years' interval betwixt the second and the third Vial, without the concern of any of the Vials in it. THE Period of the FIFTH Vial than must begin at the extirpation of those forty years that began at the end Rev. 16. 10. of the Swedish War. The Judgement therefore to be poured out of this fifth Vial, is still to be expected. For it may be observed in all the former Vials, That the Period in which the Event happens, must be distinguished from the Judgement, which is the matter of it, and which many times does take up scarce half the time of the Period in which it happens. Thus the Sea of Blood was but for part of the time of the second Vial, and the Rivers of Blood but part of the third; and great interruptions were there in those scorching hot Actions of the Sun in the fourth. So also in this fifth it must be expected, That the Darkness over all the Kingdom of the Beast must be by intervals. And therefore no Man is to wonder, that in the time of a Vial that is poured out upon the Seat of the Beast, as this is, the Beast should at first have the greatest flush of power, and the greatest likelihood of a general Success. For such was the appearance of the Power of Charles the Fifth, at the beginning of the first Vial; of the power of Philip of Spain by the Duke of Alva, and of the Leaguers in France, and of Queen Mary in England about, or a little after the beginning of the second Vial; such also was the fair show of the Roman Interest in France upon the conversion of Henry the fourth at the beginning of the third Vial; and this was followed with the conquest of the Palatinate, and the victories over the Protestants in France, before there was any considerable appearance of any River of blood, which yet was very eminently fulfilled by the Swedish war; The Peace also of the Pyreneans did quite take of the scorching of the Sun for a while at the beginning of the fourth Vial. Wherhfore we are to look upon the present oppression of the Protestants in France, and in other places, and the flourishing show of the Papal Interest at present to be but a breathing while for them, and a preparation only for a very great cloud, which shall continued long upon them within the compass of these next forty years which are now coming on. By the description of the plague of this Vial, and the different characters of it, in distinction to the Sea and Rivers of blood and the being scorched with heat, which were the plagues of the preceding Vials; It seems rather to be some great confusion and vexation in the Kingdom, and Throne of the Beast, than any great Acts of cruelty against that Party; It must be as different from that, as a Cloud is from Rivers of blood. And than since there is the mention of the same effects of this Vial, with those in the first Vial, that is, of pains and sores, with the addition also of the great fury and indignation which they did put the Subjects of the Beast into, so as to make them gnaw their Tongues, and blaspheme the God of Heaven; There is good reason to apprehended, that it may signify much the same thing with the first Vial, And that is, the Rage, and fury of the Romanists at a new Reformation getting ground amongst them; And if this present juncture should be the time of the death of the two Witnesses in the 11th. Chap. as has in the 9th. and 10th. Chapters been made appear to be very probable, one cannot but be verily persuaded, that this fifth Plague which is now approaching must be such a fury and vexation at the Rise of a new Reformation amongst them upon the Resurrection of the two Witnesses. But however the darkness upon the Kingdom and Throne of the Beast, must be a great Eclipse of their present Triumphant Condition; And it is a character distinct from all the plagues that did signify any Acts of blood or literal Conquests of his Territories. The place for this Plague to be poured out upon, has a very signal mark given it. The Seat, or Throne of the Beast may be either that where he really Reigns, and resides, which is the Imperial Hereditary Countries, or that from whence he has the name of the Beast, which is the City of Rome, and nothing but the event can determine which of the two is here meant. But by his (d) Ribera on the 10th V. of the 16th Chap. Apocal. upon the Seat of the Beast:] That is, says he, upon the Kingdom, as Andrea's Caesareensis says; He smote the Kingdom of the Beast. Throne may also be meant only his Supreme Authority in general, because it is here explained by his Kingdom, the Darkness in which was the Plague upon his Throne. And by his Kingdom in this place will be found to be meant nothing but his power in general, Theor. 65. See further there. The Sixth Vial seems to be just such a confederacy of the Papal and Imperial Interest in a War against some Eastern Princes, as we see at present carried on against the Turks, Rev. 16. 10. but with a much different Success; This of the sixth Vial being intended for a very signal Judgement upon the Beast. By the mention of the River Euphrates one would at first apprehended, that the judgement of the sixth Vial was to be executed by the same people, who were the Actors in the Sixth Trumpet, who are there described to be Kings Rev. 9 14. about the River Euphrates, as these are here said to be the Kings of the East, for whose passage the River Euphrates is said here to be dried up. But it is plain, that they must be two different Nations; For those in the sixth Trumpet are described to be Kings bound within the River Euphrates, and are known to be the Turkish Empire, as has been shown: But these Kings in the Sixth Vial, are some Kings of the East, who are on the (e) Ribera. V 14. Cap. 16. Apocal.— Kings, who shall than be in the Provinces of the East— nothing but the River Euphrates shall stand in their way— to hinder the march of their Army. Andrea's Caesareensis does hereupon imagine, that Antichrist shall come with these Kings out of the East, that is, out of Persia. other side of the River Euphrates, and for whose easy passage towards the Beast, the waters of that River are to be dried up. The Kings of the East must therefore here be some Princes beyond the River Euphrates; The chief of whom now is the Persian; But before the time of this Vial may appear some other Princes of quite another nature. It may seem a little difficult at the first to comprehend how these Eastern Princes should be able to make their way to the Imperial Countries, for which here the River Euphrates seems to be dried up: For there is the whole Turkish Empire betwixt them. And it is hard indeed to apprehended how it should be done but by the destruction of the Turkish Empire; And the present posture of their Affairs does offer us sufficient ground to apprehended that to be possible enough. Here is almost all the length of the period of this present Fifth Vial to give time for such a work, besides the number of years that there may be allowed for it also in the period of the Sixth, before the Judgement of that Vial shall begin. But according to the description of the time of the Turkish vexations in the Sixth Trumpet, and the passing over of the second woe, together with the Ascension of the Witnesses, Their end should be within a very few years, according to the Reasons that I have given for it in the Ninth Chapter. As for the Interpretations of the River Euphrates, which would make it have a mystical signification, they seem to be sufficiently taken of by the known literal signification of the River Euphrates in the Sixth Trumpet, which is now generally acknowledged to be there taken for the real River only; And is also proved to be necessary to be so, Chapter the 9th. And so we have an Example in this Prophecy to determine this Interpretation of it, as well as the proper literal signification of the term itself, which aught not to be departed from, when it may as easily be retained. The effect of this Vial seems to be a great destruction of the party of the Beast by their Enemies, which according to the plague of every Vial is to continued a long while amongst them; And tho' it be called the Battle of the great V 14, 15. day of Almighty God, as if it were but some great Battle at one time, yet by that term of the great day of the Lord is in many places signified a long continuance of time. But here is a peculiar coming of Christ, described in that Verse 15. manner, that his coming unexpectedly, and suddenly for the inflicting of some Judgement is set out in several places of the New Testament; Which gives one ground to apprehended, That that War must be a very signal destruction of the Confederates of the Beast. And yet I cannot think it to be the same with that Battle, Ch. 19 where the Beast Verse 19, 20. and False Prophet were destroyed. For all that seems plainly to belong to the seventh Vial, as well as the Judgement upon Babylon mentioned before it, and threatened in the Cham 16. 19 seventh Vial; and it would confounded the Order of the things in these Visions to set the matter of the sixth Vial behind the business of the seventh. Indeed if it be well observed, there is a plain distinction to be found betwixt the Enemies in the sixth Vial, and those in the seventh. For the burning of Babylon, which is one great effect of the seventh Vial is known to have been foretold to belong to the ten Kings, that were to be the Confederates of the Beast till the words of God should be fulfilled, and wear his ten horns. Rev. 17. 16. But the Enemies in the sixth Vial are the Kings of the East, who are quite another part of the World, than those Western Princes of the Roman Party. As for the place of the Battle called Harmageddon I think Mr. Mede's determination of all the controversies about it is the best, that it is one of the secrets of God, and not to be defined by us, till the Event shall make it known. But yet it must be confessed, that the Expressions are not determinate enough to assure any that this meeting together in Harmageddon is more than a preparative for a continued lasting War in the seventh Vial. And than since by the drying up the River Euphrates, the Turkish Empire appears to be than utterly ruined, by the gathering together of the Beast with his Confederates, and the Kings of the East (f) Idem, in v. 16. ibid., Armageddon] He gives an Hebrew name, because it was a place of the Hebrews, not either known, or named any where else— But where it is we cannot certainly know, because the Scripture has made no mention of it any where: I apprehended it to be a place nigh Jerusalem, and the Valley of Jehosaphat.— Interpreters give various reasons for its name, but which seem all to be little to the purpose. But because none can tell where this shall be, and it is not where mentioned in the Scripture, I imagine that the name of it may be wrong wrote, and Corrupted, and that it should be Mageddon— which is known to be a large Plain fit for a Battle, where Josias died fight with the King of Egypt. Tyconius is of the same mind. Homil. 13. But if it is really Harmageddon, than it signifies the Mountain of Megiddo, because that Plain was upon a great Elevation. in Harmageddon seems to be signified, that Syria, and Palestine to which the name of Harmageddon does most likely refer, should be the Seat of the most considerable of the last conflicts of the Beast with his Conquerors. The Seventh Vial brings on the last Ruin of Babylon and the Beast. And the first expression in it does very fully signify it. It is done, must refer to the accomplishment of Rev. 16. 17. all the business of the Vials at lest; and the Vials are declared to be the last plagues, in which the wrath of God is fulfilled; And this wrath is against the Beast, and his Confederates, and therefore must the last of these Vials be the last act of the wrath of God against the Beast, or, his destruction. But this must be understood of the conclusion of the period of the seventh Vial, not of the beginning of it. For we see great preparations for the destruction of the Beast, and his Confederates after this first mention of the Vial in General. There is the great City to be divided into verse 19, 20, 21 three Parts; The Cities of the Nations to fall; Great Babylon to be judged; The plague of the Hail out of Heaven; and than the Armies of the Word of God, to fight with the Armies of the Beast, and of the Kings of the Earth. Chap. 19 19 This expression, It is done, at the first pouring out of the seventh Vial, is like to those at the first founding of the seventh Trumpet, The Kingdoms of this World are become Chap. 11. 15. the Kingdoms of the Lord, and of his Christ; Which yet were not verified, till after the third Woe (which is part of the matter of the seventh Trumpet) was Executed upon the Beast; And the time of the third Woe must be a good part of the seventh Trumpet to hold any proportion to those two Woes, which went before it, which took up the whole business of the fifth and sixth Trumpet, and are found to have continued very near Eleven hundred years. Wherhfore it is evident, that the seventh Vial contains in it the last ruin of the Beast and his party; Which is the same with the end of the third Woe in the seventh Trumpet, after which gins the Universal reign of Christ over Chap. 11. 15. all the Kingdoms of the World. And since the Vials are called the seven last plagues in relation to the Trumpets, which were the seven first, the last Vial must than be the last part of the third Woe of the seventh Trumpet. For the last of the seven last Plagues must be at lest after the beginning of the last of the seven first Plagues, or after the first sounding of the seventh Trumpet: The first of the seven last Plagues must needs be after the first of the seven first Plagues, and so must the last also of the one be after the last of the other. From hence than it appears, that the beginning of the seventh Vial is not yet come. For the last Trumpet is not yet sounded, because neither are the Witnesses yet risen again, nor are the Turks, who are certainly the sixth Trumpet, and the second Woe, yet passed away, as it is said of the second Chap. 11. 14. Woe before the seventh Trumpet. Besides, the seventh Vial is the last of the last Plagues upon the Beast, and therefore must be after the seventh Trumpet, which is also a Plague upon the Beast, as it is the third Woe, of which the Beast alone is the Object; because after the time of the second Woe there is no other part of the Roman Empire, but the Kingdom of the Beast to be the object of it; and all the Trumpets are certainly plagues upon some part of the Roman Empire, (Conseq. Theor. 18.) Besides, That the effect of the Woe of the seventh Trumpet is the same with that of the seventh Vial, which is the last end of all the Enemies of the Christian Church. The Seventh Vial must therefore be the last part of the Woe of this seventh Trumpet, and therefore cannot be yet past, because the sixth Trumpet is not yet passed away. The Seven Vials than cannot be yet poured out, as some would have them, and there must be another of the Vials found out to signify the Reformation, than this seventh Vial, by those who would have the Vials begin before that time. CHAP. XIV. The Preaching the Everlasting Gospel (Rev. 14.) is the preaching up a General Reformation of the Church of Rome. The Hour of God's Judgements (ibid.,) must be just about the same time. The Vintage is the last destruction of the Beast. The time of the patience of the Saints is the same with that of the kill of the Witnesses, Chap. 11. The Harvest after the Resurrection of the Witnesses. The death of the Witnesses no bodily death. The preaching the Everlasting Gospel the Protestant Reformation. The 7 Vials cannot begin before the Protestant Reformation. The Hour of God's Judgements the beginning of the 7 Vials. The 7 Vials begin soon after the Protestant Reformation. THO' the time of the first date of the seven Vials, and the application of every one of them in particular, seem to have been sufficiently cleared in the preceding Chapters, yet it will be convenient to take in all the light, that is offered from the Prophecy, to confirm the grounds that have been already given for them. And upon a small reflection it will at the first sight be found, that there are very fair advantages offered for this purpose in the 14th Chapter of this Book. I will therefore take a new prospect of the seven Vials with respect to the relation that they may be found to have to that part of the Prophecy, and will endeavour from thence to represent the reasons, that do still much more confirm the explication, that I have given of the Vials in as close and dependant an order, as any that have been yet delivered. In order to this I think it aught to be granted me, that The Events which are referred to in the 14th Chap. do follow one another in the same Order, in which the Schemes that represent them are there placed. For this is the natural and literal construction of the Order of all the Schemes in the Prophecy, and therefore without some great evidence for another Order (a) A Leasar in Chap. 13. Disputat de totius Capitis Argumento.— Therefore Ribera will have no Order of the things to be adhered to, nor the Series of the Prophecy to be observed. But that which Ribera thinks good to swallow, neither will the Millenaries nor any else swallow, who has found out a way to carry on a suitable Interpretation, according to the Order of the things in the Prophecy, without any Anticipations or Leaps, or confusion of the Order. it aught to be adhered to; For that I accounted one of the most certain Rules of Interpretation, and without it, the most seemingly plain Interpretations of all would be but arbitrary and groundless. But here is besides a, particular Order, and Succession of Angels one after another, from the beginning to the end of the Chapter, to make it unquestionable, that the Events which they signify are in an Orderly Succession to one another. That which is in the first place to be observed for the design is, that, The preaching of the Everlasting Gospel to every Nation, etc. Theor. 34 Chap. 14. 6. is a preaching up of a general Reformation of the Roman Church in the time of the Reign of the Beast. 1. It is preached in the Time of the Reign of the Beast; For it follows in Order after the account of the Rise of the Beast, in the 13th Chap. And after the account of the 144000, (who are said to be sealed, as the opposite party to those, who had received the mark of the Beast) at the first verse Rev. 14. of this Chapter. 2. It is the preaching up of a Reformation, because the matter of it is an exhortation to Repentance, upon a declaration of God's Judgements being than at hand, in these Terms; Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his Judgement is Rev. 14. 7. come; And to give glory to God in such circumstances is known to signify a public profession of Repentance. 3. And it is a general Reformation, because it is preached to every Nation, and Kindred, and Tongue, and People, and that also after a more depressed, and silenced state of the Church during the Reign of the Beast, which is intimated by the Select and chosen number of the 144000, said just before this to have been the first fruits, in distinction to the innumerable V 4. multitudes of all Nations, to whom the Gospel is said here to be preached, and who are therefore introduced immediately after the account of them. 4. It appears also to be a call to a general Reformation of the Roman Church, because that immediately after it follows a declaration of the nearness of God's Judgements, and thereupon there is a denunciation of a Judgement upon Babylon, and another threat presently after to those who should Worship the V 8, 9 Beast or his Image; which shows, that the friends of Babylon, and of the Beast, are the whole intent of this Reformation. The Hour of God's Judgements, chap. 14. v. 7. is just about Theor. 35 the same time with the preaching the everlasting Gospel. For the near approach of the Judgements of God, is made the motive to persuade Men to comply with the Preachers of the Gospel. They are moved to fear God and to give Glory to him, which is to make a solemn and public profession of Repentance, because the hour of his Judgement was come, or was just than at hand. There are indeed much the same expressions in the prophets that speak of the Judgements of God as than present upon Babylon, which were not to appear till many scores of years after that time. But than those expressions are joined with others, which show the time of their fulfilling to be a great many years of. But here the nearness of God's Judgements is made an Argument to persuade to a Reformation, at that present time when the Gospel was preached. They are exhorted to give Glory to God at that present time, because the hour of the Judgements of God was than come; which does very manifestly confine the hour of God's Judgements to the same time that the everlasting Gospel was preached. Again, the persons to whom Isaiah, and Jeremiah did preach the destruction of Babylon were not than present. But the persons to whom this Angel was to preach must be present, when he was to preach to them, or there must be a force put upon the words. For they are a plain relation of the preaching of an Angel to all Kindred, and Nations for the hastening of their repentance by alarming them against the hour of God's Judgement than coming upon them; Whereas the Judgements upon Babylon foretold by the Prophets were known not to concern any of that Age, And so were nothing but a prophetical representation of judgements at a distance. It may also be every where observed * See concordance in the Word near. amongst the Prophets, that when ever the Judgements of God are said to be near, it is certainly meant, that they are near those times in which the people, to whom it is spoken are exhorted to repent: And so must the time of judgement here be at the same time that the everlasting Gospel was preached to make men repent. The hour of God's Judgement in this place, must therefore be at the same time with the preaching the everlasting Gospel. The hour of God's Judgements v. 7. is the beginning of those judgements of God upon the Roman Church, which Theor. 36 brought it to its final ruin. For when the hour of God's Judgement is said to be come upon a Nation amongst the Prophets, it always signifies the Time of its last Judgements, or the gradual advances of its destruction. But more particularly does the hour of God's Judgement upon Babylon, to which this use of it here refers, most certainly denote the last forerunners of its Ruin, among the Prophets, Isaiah 13. ch. 47. Jerem. 50. ch. 51. And than by all that does follow immediately upon it, This hour of judgement appears to be the beginning of the last destruction of the rule of Babylon, and the Beast. For from this place to the end of the chapter is a continued declaration of destroying judgements, by the fall of Babylon, and by drinking of the Wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his Indignation, and by the Harvest, and Vintage, which are always taken for destroying judgements, Joel 3. 13. Jerem. 51. 33, 34. with Lament. 1. 15. Matth. 13. 39 The preaching of the everlasting Gospel to all Nations and Theor. 37 People v. 6. could not be before the Protestant Reformation. For this preaching the Gospel, is the preaching of an Universal Reformation of the Roman Church in all the Territories of the Beast. (Theor. 34.)— But there was no such general preaching up of Reformation before the Protestant Reformation. There are none but the Waldenses, and Albigenses who can be pretended to have began this design. But that which does most certainly exclude the Albigenses from any concern in this, is, That the hour of God's last judgements upon the Roman Church, was come at the same time, when this preaching begins (Theor. 35.)— But the Albigenses served for nothing but for matter of greater Triumph, and glory to the Roman Church. And though they might in their time have been a present check, and Mortification to that party, yet it could not possibly be said, That the hour of God's Judgement was than come upon them, because that expression does at lest denote the beginning of a continued Succession of such judgements upon the Roman Church as do gradually bring it to its last ruin (Theor. 36.)— Whereas the Roman Church was in a much higher exaltation for Three hundred years after that time, than ever it was before; And a much greater check had that party received from the Greek Church some Hundreds of years before the Albigenses, than it had from them. Wherhfore that preaching of the Gospel could not be before the Protestant Reformation. The Vintage in chap. 14. v. 19 is the last destruction of the Theor. 38 Beast. For so it is Represented (both in this chap. and in the 19 ch. 15.) as the last work of the conquest of Christ in his destruction of the Beast. But besides, The vintage is used among the Prophets for nothing but the last destruction of a Joel 3. 13. Lam. 1. 15. Nation, when it is used to signify any judgement upon it. The time of the patience of the Saints chap. 14. v. 12. is the fiercest persecution of the true Church by the Beast, Theor. 39 betwixt the preaching of the everlasting Gospel, and the last destruction of the Beast. I. That it is betwixt the preaching of the Gospel, and the last destruction of the Beast, is manifest from the place, that it has in the Prophecy betwixt the preaching and the Vintage. II. And that it is the fiercest persecution of the Church within that compass of Time, is sufficiently signified by these emphatical expressions — Here is the patience of the Saints.— Here are those that keep the Commandments of God: And — Blessed are they that die in the Lord from henceforth, for they rest from their Labours. There could hardly have been a more emphatical signification of a very extraordinary Trial of the patience and constancy of the true Church at that particular Time above any other Trial whatsoever; They are expressions of a most remarkable persecution, and distinguish it from all others of the kind: As if the patience of the Saints and their constancy to the Faith in all other Trials, had been nothing to be regarded in comparison with the exercise of it under this: And as if their deliverances from all other persecutions, were not at all to be compared with the happiness of their deliverance out of this, though it were by their deaths; Which by the way shows, that the sufferings in this persecution were much more grievous, than Martyrdom itself: For death is represented to be an ease and a deliverance from these sufferings; and that is repeated again, after the first mention of the Blessedness of such a death, together with the reason given for it, in these Terms; Yea, saith the spirit, for they rest from their Labours. There is indeed the first of these characters mentioned in the 13. ch. v. 10. But that seems to refer to the whole time of the Tyranny of the Beast in General, whereas this here is singled out, and fixed to a particular time, that is, just before the last destroying calamities upon the Beast; Or if that in the 13. ch. be any particular time of the Beast and the place of it, which is after the account of the Fortunes of the Beast, and the call for attention v. 9 and the threat of Revenge that is joined immediately with it, under the term of going into Captivity and of being killed with the Sword does Rev. 13. 9, 10. show it to be the same particular time of persecution, with this, which is just before the last destroying judgements upon that party. The particular time of this persecution is fixed by the order of the prophecy, as has been observed. For it is found betwixt the new preaching of the Gospel and the Vintage which is the last destruction of the Beast (Theor. 38.) The time of the patience of the Saints chap. 14. v. 12. is the Theor. 40 same with the time of the overcoming and killing of the two witnesses in the 11. chap. v. 7. For the time of the patience of the Saints is after the preaching the everlasting Gospel, (Th. 39) and therefore since the Protestant Reformation, (Theor. 37.)— It is also before the destruction of the Empire of the Beast, because it is before the Vintage, (Theor. 38.)— And it is the fiercest persecution of the Church by the Beast, of any other within those bounds, (by Theor. 39) Now the overcoming and killing of the two Witnesses Cham 11th, must also be after the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, because the Resurrection of the Witnesses is not yet past, (Theor. 33)— And their Resurrection must at farthest be, within three years and an half after their death, (Theor. 27.)— And than the overcoming and killing the Witnesses, must be before the last Woe upon the Beast, or his last destruction, because it is before the passing away of the second Woe, Chap. 11th. It is than within the same bounds of time that the other persecution is described to have been. It is also the fiercest storm of persecution within those bounds of time, because it is described by the overcoming and killing of the Witnesses, whereas all their other mortifications under the Beast, are represented only by their being in Sackcloth. Now there can be but one, and the same persecution, that can be called the fiercest of all that were within the same bounds of time. Besides, the kill of the Witnesses appears to be the same with the time of trouble, Dan. 12. 1. because they are both described to be just before the beginning of the last deliverance of the Church from the Tyranny of the Beast or little Horn; And at the same time with the end of an Empire, that ruled over the Holy-Land. Dan. 11. 45. Rev. 9 14. and 11. 14. And both of them have the Characters of a great Persecution of the Church in those circumstances. And than the kill of the Witnesses must necessarily be the fiercest Persecution of the Church, because that time of trouble in the 12th of Daniel was such, as never had been since there was a Nation, even unto that same time, v. 1. that is, not from the beginning of the World to almost the latter end of it, as the time that is there described does appear to be. Wherhfore the time of the patience of the Saints is the same with that of the overcoming and killing of the Witnesses. And from hence it is further confirmed, that, The Killing of the Witnesses (Chap. 11. 7.) cannot be a Conseq. bodily death. For death is in this persecution, represented to be a blessing, Rev. 14. 13. and a great deliverance, and time of rest from the pains and vexations, that they were here under. From the former proposition it is also evident, that, The Harvest just before the Vintage, chap. 14th, must be after the Resurrection of the Witnesses. Theor. 41 verse 15. For it is a part of the last destroying Judgements upon the Beast after the time of the patience of the Saints; and so Rev. 14. 16. is a Revenge upon the Beast for the death of the Witnesses, which cannot be till after the Resurrection of the Witnesses, because the Resurrection is within three years and an half Joel 3. 13. after their death, (Theor. 27.) The preaching the Everlasting Gospel to every Nation, etc. Theor. 42 Chap. 14. is the Time of the Protestant Reformation. Theor. 42 Verse 6. For it cannot be before the Protestant Reformation, (Theor. 37.)— And it is the preaching up of a General Reformation before the time of the patience of the Saints, that is, before the death of the Witnesses, (Theor. 40.)— And therefore cannot the preaching up of the Gospel to every Nation, etc. be either at the new appearance of the Risen Witnesses, or of the Harvest in the 14th Chap. which is after the Resurrection of the Witnesses, (Theor. 41.)— Or at the sound of the last Trumpet: And there is no other Scheme in the Prophecy, that does any way suit the character of it. Besides, it is represented here as the first preaching of the Gospel of Repentance to every Nation, etc. after a silenced or depressed state of the Church, during the Reign of the Beast, signified by the peculiar number of the 144000, in distinction to the innumerable multitudes of all Nations, to whom it was preached. And therefore must it be the first preaching up of the General Reformation of the Roman Church, or the first beginning of the Protestant Reformation, since it has been found impossible to be before that Reformation. (Theor. 37.)— From whence it necessarily follows, that, The Hour of God's Judgements, Chap. 14. 7. must be about Theor. 43 the first times of the Protestant Reformation. For the hour of God's Judgements, v. 7. is just about the same time with the preaching up of the Everlasting Gospel (Theor. 35.)— which is found to be in the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, (Theor. 42.) The seven Vials are an Orderly succession of Judgements upon Theor. 44 the Beast (b) Idem in Cap. 13. Apoc. Sect. 5. The Plagues of the Vials signify the War that the Christian Church make against Idolatry, till it did destroy it; As Irenaeus learned with a great deal of pleasure, of one of the Ancient Elders, who it may be was Polycarp the Disciple of John. to bring him to his last Ruin. For they are called the last Judgements of God, in which the wrath of God is filled up, Chap. 15. v. 1. And it is Rev. 15. 1. manifest, that the Beast is the Object of them all, and is brought to his last end by the last of them. 1. That the Beast is the Object of them all, is manifest from the Characters of them; it is expressly mentioned in the first Rev. 16. 2, 10, 12. v. 4, 19 Vial, and in the fifth and sixth, and openly enough intimated in the third and seventh. There remains than no question about any, but the second and the fourth. And the knowledge that we have of the Object of all the rest, is sufficient to determine them to the same party; especially, when it is plainly signified in the 15th. Chapter of all the seven Vials in general, That they V 3, 4. are the manifestations of God's Judgements, just upon the Victory that was obtained over the Beast and his Image; and this is expressed in the very Song of Triumph that accompanies that Victory. Besides, the Sea in the second Vial, becoming like the Blood of a dead Man, does naturally denote an Ocean of Rev. 16. 3. Blood; and the acceptation of many Waters, is found to signify in this Prophecy, multitudes of Nations and People; and so Rev. 17. 15. does comprehend in it at lest those People and Nations, that are within the Territories of the Beast, because it is a Judgement upon the Enemies of God, of which the Beast is in almost all these Vials, signified to be the chief; And than those in the fourth Vial after this, will necessarily be Chap. 16. 8. determined to the same party of Men with all the rest, especially, when it is found that they blasphemed God, and verse 9 repent not. 2. And further, that these Vials do follow soon after one another, to the last ruin of the Beast, appears from the effect of them all, which is, that they were the manifestation of God's Judgements, so as to make all Nations come, and worship before Rev. 15. 4. him; which, as it does denote them to be the ruin of the Beast, so could not this have been said of them, If there had been any such long intervals betwixt them, as gave the Beast time to recover himself of the Wounds of the former, before the next Judgement came to touch him. The continuance also of the Glory of God in the Temple Rev. 15. 8. until the Plagues of the Vials were fulfilled, and the constant continuance of the Smoke there, to hinder any from coming into the Temple before the end of those Judgements, does sufficiently intimate, that they were an uninterrupted Succession of Judgements, and the constant continuance of the Wrath of God upon that party, from the first beginning to the last end of them. Wherhfore the seven Vials are an immediate Succession of the last Judgements of God upon the Beast, which bring him to his ruin. And from thence it appears, That The seven Vials cannot begin before the Protestant Reformation. Theor. 45 For the seven Vials are the last Judgements upon the Beast, (Theor. 44. and Rev. 15. 1.) And they are said to be the Judgements Rev. 15. 1. V 4. of God, made manifest about the time that they begin; and therefore must the hour of God's Judgement upon the Beast have necessarily been come at that time. But the hour of God's Judgement is not before the Protestant Reformation, (Theor. 43.) And therefore, neither can the seven Vials begin before that time. But yet since this does not prove the certain time of their beginning since the Reformation: To determine the first Point of that beginning, it may be considered, That The seven Trumpets and the seven Vials, do contain in them Theor. 46 all the sensible Judgements of God, of a general concern, upon the Roman Empire, that are mentioned in this Prophecy, from the beginning of the Reign of the Beast to the last end of it. For the seven Trumpets begin before the Reign of the Beast, (Theor. 5.)— And both the Vials and Trumpets continued to the end of his Reign. (Theor. 1. and Theor. 44.)— And both the Vials and Trumpets have the Roman Empire for their Object, (Conseq. Theor. 18. and Theor. 44.)— And the seven Vials are called the seven last Plagues upon Rev. 15. 1▪ and CHAP. 1● of this part. that Empire, in relation to the seven Trumpets, which are the seven first; And there was no interval betwixt the first and last Plagues, for any other to come in betwixt them. For the Trumpets, which are the first continued to the last end of the Beast; And therefore may they well be concluded, to contain under them all the Plagues or Judgements of God upon the Roman Empire, at lest those that were the most considerable from the time of the first of them to the end of the last of them. For if there had been more considerable Judgements than those upon that Empire recorded in this Prophecy within that compass of time, the Plagues would have than been more than the number which is here assigned to them. It has also been made to appear, That the seven Trumpets are a continued Series of Calamities, which brought all Theor 1. and Theor. 8. the parts of the Roman Empire to their final ruin at the glorious Reign of Christ in the seventh Trumpet; And more particularly, That the four first Trumpets did ruin the first Western Empire; the two next, the Eastern Empire; and CHAP. 4. the last, the new Western Empire, called the Beast. And the seven Vials are a continued Succession of so many Calamities in particular, that brought the last Remainder of the Empire (called the Beast) to its last ruin, (Theor. 44.) And to what end should they be so particularly mentioned in a set number, if they were not all the considerable things of that kind, within that compass of time in which they were placed; that is, sometime before the Rise of the Beast to the last end of his Reign? But this does the most satisfactorily appear, from most of the particular Instances of God's Judgements upon the Roman Empire, which are mentioned in this Prophecy after the Rise of the Beast. For Example, The Judgements upon Babylon and the Beast, in the 17th. 18th. 19th. Chapters of the Revelations, were foretold to belong to the 7th. Vial, Chap. 16. 19 compared with the first verse of the 17th. Chapter. The Vintage in the 14th. Chapter is expressly named as the business of the seventh Vial, in the Verse 19 19th. Chapter. The Harvest in the 14th. Chapter, being after the Resurrection of the Witnesses, (Theor. 41.)— must Verse 15. be a part of the third Woe in the seventh Trumpet, which cometh quickly after the passing away of the second; and the second passeth away just after the Resurrection of the Witnesses. The lest that can be meant by the fall Rev. 11. 14. of Babylon in the 14th. Chapter, must be either the beginning Verse 8. or the end of the Vials, because that is the whole design and end of the Vials, to bring Babylon and the Beast to their last Ruin, (Theor. 44.)— The seven Thunders in the 10th. Chapter, are in a very proper place to be the same Vers. 3, 4. thing with the 7 Vials, and so are they generally accounted by almost all sorts of Interpreters. So that of all the particular Instances of God's Judgements, after the Rise of the Beast, there remains nothing but the hour of the Judgements of God, mentioned in the 14th. Chapter, that is Verse 7. not expressly known to belong either to the Trumpets or the Vials: And yet since the Fall of Babylon does immediately follow the mention of it, as the particular explication of the Judgements, whose hour was just before said to be come, it cannot be imagined, but the hour of God's Judgements must be the beginning of the same Judgements which are made to be the Fall of Babylon; And so must that also belong to some of the Vials. Indeed, the Fall of the tenth part of the City, and the slaying the 7000, (Chap. 11. 13.) is not to be reduced to any of either the Trumpets or Vials: But than neither is it to be looked upon as any considerable Judgement of God upon the whole Roman Church, because it is described to be done in a moment, and to extend but to a tenth part of the Jurisdiction of it. The Victory over the Beast and his Image in the 15th. Verse 2. Chapter, is but in a part of the Territories of the Beast, and not general, and is plainly a Spiritual Conquest of that Party, and rather a deliverance from them than a triumph over them; and therefore is no sensible Judgement upon the Beast, but the immediate effect of that Victory as a Judgement upon the Beast, is set out in the first of the Rev. 16. 2. Vials. Wherhfore, it may now safely be concluded, That the Trumpets and Vials are all the considerable Judgements of God upon the Roman Empire, that are mentioned in this Prophecy in any time betwixt the first Rise of the Beast and his last end. It is easy therefore now to apprehended, That, The hour of God's Judgements, Chap. 14 5. is the beginning Theor. 47 of the time of the seven Vials. For the hour of God's Judgements is signified to be the beginning of the last Judgements of God upon the Beast, which brought him to his ruin, (Theor. 36.)— And all the considerable Judgements of God upon the Roman Empire, from the first Rise of the Beast, are contained in the Trumpets and Vials, (Theor. 46.)— And the hour of God's Judgements cannot be the beginning of any Judgements of the Trumpets upon the party of the Beast. For it is found to be just after the beginning of the Reformation, which was the time of the sixth Trumpet, or of the Turkish Hostilities, (Theor. 19) But the Turks had been a plague to the party of the Beast, long before that time, in his Wars with the Venetians; And if it should be said, That they begun but than to attack the Empire of the Beast in Hungary, yet they cannot possibly be accounted the beginning of God's Judgements, which brought that Party to their ruin. For after one or two Expeditions of Solyman the Magnificent, they ceased from molesting them for above 130 years after, and now lately have lost much more to them than they ever took from them. The hour of God's Judgements cannot therefore be the beginning of any Plagues upon the Beast in the Trumpets; And therefore must it be the beginning of some of the Judgements of the Vials upon him, (Theor. 46.) Now if this hour of Judgement be the beginning of any of the Vials, it must begin with the Plague of the first Vial; for otherwise the Judgement in the first Vial would have been before that the hour of God's last Judgements upon the Beast was come, (Theor. 36.)— Whereas the first Vial is one of those last Judgements upon him, (Theor. 44.)— And so would the hour of God's last Judgements have been come with the first Vial before it was come, which is a contradiction. Wherhfore the hour of God's Judgements, Chap. 14. 7. must be the beginning of the time of the first Vial. It is a very great confirmation of this conclusion, That the Vials have the same peculiar Expressions, to signify the nature of them, that are found joined with the particular Instances of God's Judgements, immediately after the general Declaration about the nearness of the Hour of them in the 8th and 9th. Verses of the 14th. Chapter. For Example: The Vials are said to be the Wrath of God, and the Time of Rev. 15. 1, 7. Chap. 16. 19 the Wrath of God; and the last of them to be the Cup of the Wine of the fierceness of his Wrath; which are all the same Expressions with the Hour of God's Judgements, and with what is threatened, should be the last end of those who should worship the Beast or his Image, in the 10th. Verse of the 14th. Chapter, That they should drink of the Wine of the Wrath of God, that is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his Indignation, that is, should be destroyed in the Vintage, and be tormented with Fire and Brimstone. And it is said, That the Judgements of God were made manifest by the Vials, which is just the same with the Hour of his Rev. 15. 4 Judgements are come; And They are called the seven last Plagues, as the Hour of God's Judgement does also signify the Verse 1▪ last Judgements upon a Nation: And the Victory over the Beast, with the Song of Deliverance out of Spiritual Egypt, Chap. 15. 2, 3, 4. is of the same Signification with the preaching the everlasting Gospel to every Nation, after a narrower confinement of it to the 144000, and the exclusion Rev. 14. 6. of all the rest. It is not therefore now to be questioned, but that the Hour of God's Judgements, Chap. 14. is the beginning of the time of the seven Vials; And as necessary is it upon the same account, That The seven Vials begin soon after the firsttimes of the Reformation. Conseq. For that Hour of Judgement which is the beginning of the seven Vials, (Theor. 47.) is just about the time of the Reformation, (Theor. 43.) From hence it appears, That the Vials cannot be all fulfilled within a short space of time, as some would have it signified of them, by the coming quickly of the Rev. 11. 14. third Woe. For they begin with the Reformation (Conseq. praeced.) and end with the Beast, who is not yet at an end. CHAP. XV. A particular Application of the four first Vials; The second Vial must be already poured out. It was at an end at farthest at the Truce of the Netherlands, Anno 1609. The absured consequences of denying it. The Plague of the third Vial ended with the Swedish War in Germany. The demonstration of it. The Plague of the fourth Vial, the King of France: This evinced. The fifth Vial is now near at hand. THE first Date of the Vials, will make it easy to fix the particular Applications of them. But to avoid all lose Conjectures, it will be requisite to confine ourselves within the same strict order of deductions that has been before used; And the first Foundation for this End, is, That The second Vial is already poured out. Theor. 48 For the Character of the second Vial, is, The Sea becoming Rev. 16. 3. like the Blood of a dead Man, or a Sea of Blood; which does manifestly denote a time of general Bloodshed in the Territories of the Beast. For the Vials fall all upon the Beast, (Theor. 44.)— And as there is here a distinction made betwixt a Sea of Blood, and the Rivers of Blood in the third Vial, so by the Sea of Blood must be signified a general effusion of Blood in all parts of the Empire of the Beast, in distinction to Rivers of the same kind, which must be but in particular places of that Empire, according to the natural Signification of the Schemes: A Sea has been also found in Prophecy, to signify Multitudes, Rev. 17. 15. and Nations, and People. Now about the time of the first founding of the Dutch Commonwealth, almost all Europe was in Blood in Wars about Religion: England, France, Spain, and the Low-countrieses, were for a long time engaged in these Wars by Sea and Land; And than this time of Blood must necessarily be either the Plague of the first or of the second Vial: For they begin all soon after the Reformation, (Conseq. Theor. 47.)— And since the Character of the first Vial is a grievous sore upon the party of the Beast, and the second is the Sea of Blood, it is hardly possible for any impartial Person not to be assured, That this general effusion of Blood at the beginning of the Dutch Commonwealth, must be the Plague of the second Vial. By this, the time of the first Vial appears to be confined within the compass of forty years, that is, betwixt the first public Settlement of the Reformation, which might be called a Victory over the Beast and his Image, (Chap. 15. 1.) And the beginning of the Low Country Commotions, which was about the year 1570. And the first public Settlement of the Reformation after a Victory over the Roman Party, cannot be accounted before the Leagues of the Protestants with one another in Germany, about the year 1530. The time of the second Vial was at an end at the farthest, Theor. 49 upon the Truce betwixt the Spaniards and the Dutch, in the year 1609. 1. For the second Vial began to be poured out about the beginning of the Low Country Commotions, (Theor. 48.) And there was an end of all the Wars for Religion in Europe, at the Truce betwixt the Dutch and Spaniards, in the year 1609. So that the Sea of Blood in the second Vial, could not have continued longer than to that time. For there was no other Wars after that time for Religion, but such as the Roman Party were victorious in, till the beginning of the Swedish War, which was not till twenty years after; And the Religious Wars within that time, in some particular places and at distant times, as in Bohemia and France, in which none but the Party of the Beast was victorious and successful, could not be part of this Sea of Blood, because they were neither general nor Judgements upon the Beast, as all the Vials are, (Theor. 44.) — And yet are these two the principal parts of the character of the second Vial, both as it is a Vial in general, and as it is that particular Vial. This indeed does appear to be a sufficient ground of Satisfaction about this matter, to those who can allow the former conclusions concerning the time, that the Vials in general and that this in particular did begin at. But because there may a very great use be made of the full certainty of this position, it will be worth the while to consider, What inconsistent and harsh consequences will necessarily attend the extending the second Vial beyond that time. It is certain, That if the second Vial continued longer, it must reach to the end of the Swedish War; For since the business of it is a bloody Judgement upon the party of the Beast, (Rev. 16. 3. and Theor. 44.) there will be no other Religious War found before the Swedish, that it can be applied to, after the end of the general Commotions of Europe with the Peace of the Netherlands. For in the Bohemian and French Wars, as has been observed, Anno 1618., and 1627. the Party of the Beast did triumph over the Church. The second Vial must than according to this Supposition, be extended to the end of the Swedish War at lest, which was not till the year 1647. And than must these following Inconsistences be digested. 1. The time of the first Vial would not have been above forty years, but the time of the second would have continued for near eighty years, and that without the lest hint of any such difference betwixt them in the Prophecy; whereas it is usual in this Prophecy to set a mark of distinction upon Plagues of the same kind, that are any thing considerably different from one another in the length of their continuance. This may be observed in the distinction that is made betwixt the three last Trumpets and the four former; And there is a precise Time mentioned in the fifth and sixth Trumpets, to distinguish their disproportion to one another; And this distinction in some places does seem plainly to intimate, That there is no considerable difference betwixt the length of the rest, that have no such mark to signify it by. For exceptio firmat Regulam. 2. There would thus have been about 120 years betwixt the beginning of the second Vial and the beginning of the third, whereas there was but forty years' distance betwixt the beginning of the first and of the second. For if the Sea of Blood be extended to the end of the Swedish War, the third Vial would not be yet come; For there has been nothing since the end of the Swedish War, that can tolerably deserve the name of a dreadful Revenge upon the Beast for former Barbarities to the Church in Rivers of Blood, which is the Character of the third Vial. 3. There would also have been very great intervals betwixt the parts of the Plague of the second Vial, and betwixt the Plague of the second Vial and the third: Whereas the Judgements of the Vials are represented to be mortifying Judgements of the Beast, coming soon after one another, (Theor. 44.)— But in this Supposition, there would have been twenty years' triumph of the Beast in the second Vial, betwixt the Truce of the Netherlands and the Swedish War; And forty years' interval betwixt the end of the second Vial, with the War of it, and the beginning of the third Vial, which is not yet come: And all this without the lest hint of it in the Prophecy, as has been found to be usual in such Cases. 4. That which did most properly and exactly answer the Character of the third Vial, would thus be applied only to the second, for which it is unnatural and improper. The Rivers of Blood in the third Vial, which are signified to be sent as a Revenge upon the party of the Beast, for great Cruelties Rev. 16. 4, 5, 6, 7. that were committed before, do very properly and naturally represent the Swedish War in the several parts of Germany, which was declared to have been undertaken in Vindication of the Protestants States, who had suffered by the Imperial Usurpations and Cruelties some years before it; And was continued by them and their Allies only in Germany, or the Confines of it: Whereas that particular Seat of War, and the Revenge which it was to be for the former Cruelties of that Party, has nothing to represent it in the Sea of Blood in the second Vial, which must be a general effusion of Blood in almost all parts of the Western Empire, and in which the States that are the Friends of the Church, are comprehended as well as the party of the Beast, though it be a Judgement only upon the latter. 5. The Humiliations which the party of the Beast hath suffered ever since the Swedish War, would thus be passed over as no concern of the Vials; whereas the Mortifications that they have received from the King of France for this forty years together since that time, have been at lest as great as those that are signified by the Characters of the first and fourth Vials. 6. This Proof would be still more unquestionable, if it were further considered, That there is now but about One hundred years to the end of the Vials, as has been demonstrated PART. I. concerning the time of the first Rise of the Beast; And therefore that in this way, the second Vial would take up as much time as all the five that are yet to come. But the proof that has been already given of it, is sufficiently clear without it. It may therefore now be safely determined, That the Universal Bloodshed in the second Vial, must have been at an end, upon the League betwixt the Spaniards and the Dutch at the farthest. The Plague of the third Vial ended with the Swedish War Theor. 50 in Germany. For the Plague of the third Vial could end neither before nor after that War. 1. Not before the Swedish War; because betwixt the Universal Bloodshed in the second Vial, and the Swedish War, there was no such bloody Revenge upon the Beast for Cruelties before committed, as is made to be the Character of the third Vial. The particular Wars in some places before that time, betwixt the Romanists and the Protestants, though they might begin some execution upon that party, yet were almost all to the great disadvantage of the Church, as the Bohemian and French Wars in particular, which were the only considerable Events of that kind. 2. Again, If the third Vial had ended before the Swedish War, than that War must have been the Plague of the fourth Vial. For there could not have been more than the Judgement of one Vial upon the Beast, betwixt the end of the general Sea of Blood in the second Vial and the Swedish War, because the party of the Beast were the Conquerors for near twenty years after the time of the second Vial: And than the Swedish War must have been the fourth Vial, because it was the greatest Mortification that the Beast has received since the Reformation; And so could not be left out as no part of any Vial. But the Swedish War could not have been the fourth Vial; For than the time after it would have been the fifth; whereas since the Swedish War there has been nothing that comes any thing near the Character of the fifth Vial: But on the contrary, instead of weakening of the Kingdom of the Beast and humbling his Throne, the Beast has been successful in the extirpation of the true Religion out of all the Roman Catholic Countries, where it had been settled. For these forty years together he has been rooting them out of Poland, out of all the Imperial Countries, out of the Kingdom of France and the Dukedom of Savoy, where there is now no appearance of the outward profession of the Protestant Religion. 2. The Plague of the third Vial could not end after the Swedish War. For there has been nothing answerable to the Character of a bloody Revenge upon the Beast, that is signified by Rivers of Blood, since the fierceness of that War. And there would be an interval of eighty years since the end of the second Vial and the beginning of the third, if the third Vial were still to come; And the Swedish War would have been in that interval accounted no Judgement upon the Beast, which was the most bloody Revenge upon him that he ever yet had. The French and Spaniards did indeed continued the War. Till the year 1660. But they were both of the same Religion, and the contest was only Civil Jurisdiction; And so could not have in it any thing of the nature of a Vengeance for Blood. As for the beginning of this third Vial, it may be dated from Stephen Botsky's Cruelties to the Roman Party in Anno 1605. Hungary. For Botsky's Actions could not be accounted part of the Sea of Blood, because it was in none of the Territories in which the rest were; but might very well be looked upon as part of the Rivers of Blood, because they were the beginning of Bloodshed in the Fountains of Waters, Rev. 16. 4. that is, in the Imperial Countries. This indeed did hap three or four years before the Dutch and Spanish Truce, but that is not worth the considering. The Plague of the fourth Vial is the Vexations of the Imperial Theor. 51 and Papal Party, by the present King of France. 1. For the Plague of the fourth Vial is those Mortifications of the Party of the Beast, which came upon them after the end of the Plague of the third Vial, for any such considerable proportion of time, as the rest of the Vials have taken up, and which do answer the Characters of the fourth Vial. Now the Vexations of that Party by the present King of France, have first continued upon them for as considerable a length of time as any of the Plagues of the rest of the Vials; For they have continued for forty years together after the end of the third Vial or the Swedish War. The whole Reign of this present King of France has been nothing but an almost continued Mortification of the Papal Party and the Austrian Family, or its very near Dependants and Allies, with some small and inconsiderable Interruptions. The beginning of it may be accounted the continuance of the French Hostilities in Flanders after the Swedish War, and the Peace of Munster, which lasted till the Peace of the Pyrenaeans above ten years together. It was again renewed by the Seizure of Lorain, and was continued by the Conquests in Flanders and Burgundy, and after that carried on by the Germane War, and a new Invasion of the Low Countries; And followed with the taking of Luxemburgh, and will now be concluded with a Phaethontean Fall of this Sun in his scorching Heats about the Rhine. During these Humiliations of the Imperial Party, he had also very frequent occasion to vex and humble the several Popes within these forty years, for the Restitution Innocent X. of Castro, and the Rights of the Duke of Modena, but especially in the Affair of the Corsi, and about the Regale, Alexander VII. and now lately in the business of the Franchises. Innocent XI. 2. And next, that these Hostilities do very properly answer the Characters of the fourth Vial, has been already sufficiently shown, Chap. 13. Since the common Subject of all the Vials is the Empire of the Beast, never can one hope to found any Hostilities against him, that can so well answer the Character of the Sun, and the scorching that Party with his Heat, than Vers. 8, 9 the Vexations of him who is set out by the Title of the Eldest Son of his Kingdom, and who is in so Eminent a manner the greatest Potentate in Europe, and is every where known by the name of the most Christian King for his Eminency in the Roman Party. Again, If the French Vexations of the Imperial and Papal Party for these last forty years, should not be the fourth Vial, Than would there first have been an interval of near forty years betwixt the third Vial and the fourth; whereas they are signified to follow soon after one another, (Theor. 44.) And which is explained by the Example of the three first Vials that did come soon after one another, (Theor. 49, 50, 51.) And next there would have been no account made of all the Evils that the Party of the Beast has suffered from the French for these forty years, though they have been greater than the Plagues of the first Vial, and though they do very exactly answer the Character of the fourth. The Actions of the last passed forty years, do not answer the Characters of either the second, or third, or fifth Vials, much lesle can they at all be thought to have any relation to the Characters of the sixth or seventh Vials, but do very properly answer those of the fourth. After this evidence for the Application from the Prophecy itself, it cannot but surprise one to see how providentially it was ordered for the making it known to the World, as has been remarked, That from the beginning CHAP. XIII. of the Reign of this present King of France to this time, the French Court should be so extremely fond of the Figure of the Sun for their King's Device, so as even to stamp it upon the public Coin, and should be so zealous in the Defence of the Propriety of it against all Opposers. Now if the time of the Vials does begin soon after the Reformation, (according to Theor. 47.) And the present French King be the chief matter of the fourth Vial, it may safely be concluded of the Vials in general, That Every one of the Plagues of the Vials do take up a great Conseq. 1 many years to be fulfilled in. And than does it appear more particularly, That, The distance of the end of each Vial from the end of that Conseq. 2 which went before it, is about forty years. For it appears from the different Characters of the three last Trumpets in comparison with the four first, Rev. 8. 13. That the Prophecy takes care to give very plain and open significations of the different lengths of the several Plagues, where the difference betwixt them is any thing considerable in the lengths of the Events: And therefore may it be reasonably concluded, that if there were any considerable difference betwixt the distance of any one of the Vials from another that was next before it, in comparison with the distance of the rest from those that did immediately precede them, There would have been some peculiar Signification given of it in the Prophecy. But there is no such distinguishing mark set upon any of the Vials, as does in the lest intimate any difference betwixt them, in regard of the length of their continuance. It may therefore from hence be gathered, That the Ends of the time of the Vials, are at equal distances from one another; And this being determined by the four first Vials, (which are already known,) to the term of about forty years, is to be applied upon that account to the time of the three last Vials also. This would very much confirm that which is elsewhere PART I endeavoured to be demonstrated, That, The time of the Beast must be at an end about the Conseq. 3 year 1800. For the three last Vials according to the Example of those before them, are to continued each of them about forty years, and they are yet to come. But the last of them may be supposed to finish its business in a shorter time, and than the end of the Beast must be some years before that time. It does also follow from what has been observed, of the usual time of the continuance of every Vial, compared with the length of the Reign of the present King of France, That, The fifth Vial is now near at hand. Conseq. 4 For the present King of France has Reigned now above Forty years since the end of the third Vial, or the Swedish War. And that space of time will be found to be the common distance of all the other Vials from any other: Wherhfore the fourth Vial must be now very near its end, and the beginning of the fifth near at hand. CHAP. XVI. The Plagues of the three last Vials the same with the third Woe of the last Trumpet. The Slaughter and Conversion of the Enemies of the Risen Witnesses, is but in one particular Kingdom of the dominion of the Roman Church. The fifth Vial a general Mortification of the Roman Church. The third Woe in the seventh Trumpet, falls wholly upon Theor. 52 that part of the Roman Empire which belongs to the Beast. FOR all the Trumpets fall upon some part of the Roman Empire, (Conseq. Theor. 18.)— And the Woe of the sixth Trumpet does destroy the Eastern Empire, (Conseq. 2. Theor 19)— There remains therefore nothing to be the Object of the third Woe in the seventh Trumpet, but the Western Empire with the Church Rule of it, which is the Jurisdiction of the Beast. The last Act of the seventh Vial, is the same with the Theor. 53 last part of the third Woe in the seventh Trumpet. For the sole Object of the third Woe is the Party of the Beast, (by Theor. 52.)— And it ends with the ruin of that Party just before the Universal and Eternal Reign of Christ, Rev. 11. And the seventh Vial does end with the destruction of the Beast, (Rev. 19 Theor. 44.) The last Act of both, must therefore be but one and the same thing. The Plague of the sixth Vial cannot appear till after the Theor. 54 end of the second Woe in the sixth Trumpet. For the Plague of the sixth Vial is to be after the Reformation, (Theor. 45.) And therefore long after the settlement of the Turks on this side the River Euphrates, (Rev. 9 14. Theor. 19) It is also described to come from beyond the River Euphrates, and to have the Waters of Rev. 16 12. Euphrates dried up for a more easy Passage: And the drying up of the Waters of the River of a Nation, does signify amongst the Prophets the destruction of the Kingdom, to which they are a Fence, Isaiah 19 5, 6, 7, 8. Jerem. 51. 36, 43. compared with Isaiah 44. 27. Jerem. 50. 38. Isaiah 11. 15, 16. And Waters do represent a whole Nation amongst the Prophets, Isa. 8. 7. And than the drying them up can be nothing but the destruction of that Nation. Now there is no Kingdom that has appeared in those parts since the Reformation, but the Turkish Empire; much lesle any that can deserve that Epithet of the great River Euphrates any thing like the Turkish Empire; Wherhfore the Plague of the sixth Vial cannot appear till after the Ruin of all the Remainders of the Turkish Empire about Euphrates, that is, not till after the passing away of the second Woe. Indeed, it cannot be conceived how any Enemy should be able to come from beyond the River Euphrates against the Western Empire by Land, as is here signified by the drying up of the Waters of the River, as long as the Turkish Empire holds up in Asia. And besides, if there should be any such new Plague from those parts before the passing away of the second Woe, there would be a new Trumpet sounded against the Roman Empire from the same quarter of the World, before the passing away of the Trumpet before it; whereas the second Woe of the sixth Trumpet is said to pass away Rev. 11. 14. before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet. If it should be hereupon imagined, That the Plague of the sixth Vial might be nothing else but the passing away of the second Woe, or the end of the Turkish Empire signified by the drying up of Euphrates, it is to be considered, That the drying up of the Waters of Euphrates is not the Plague of the sixth Vial, but only to make way for the Plague of that Vial, which is the preparation of the Eastern Kings upon the Beast and false Prophet; Rev. 1●. 12, 13. And besides, the Plague of every Vial falls upon the Party of the Beast, (Theor. 44.) And therefore cannot that of the sixth be designed against any other. The Plague of the sixth Vial must necessarily be in the time Theor. 55 of the third Woe. For the Plague of the sixth Vial is after the passing away of the second Woe, (Theor. 54.)— And the third Woe comes quickly after the second, which it cannot be Rev. 11. 14. imagined to do if the Plague of the sixth Vial should come in betwixt the passing away of the second Woe and the coming of the third; For the business of the sixth Vial is the last destruction of the great Kingdom near Euphrates, and great preparations for War betwixt the whole Party of the Beast all the World over, and the Kings of the East, which cannot be brought about in a small time. And from hence it appears, That, The whole time of the Plague of the seventh Vial, is contemporary Theor. 56 with the latter part only of the time of the third Woe. For the Plague of the sixth Vial is executed in the time of the third Woe, (Theor. 55.)— And the whole time of the seventh Vial is after that of the sixth, (Theor. 44.)— And the last end of the seventh Vial is the same with the last part of the third Woe, (Theor. 53.)— The whole time therefore of the seventh Vial, is in the time of the latter part of the third Woe. It is also apparent from the former Proposition, That, The Plague of the fifth Vial is not yet come. Theor. 57 This does necessarily follow from what has been found to be the time of the fourth Vial, which appears to be but now at its last conclusion; But this is now still further confirmed from what has been just now found about the time of the sixth Vial. For the Plague of the fifth Vial is at an end before that the sixth gins, (Theor 44.) And the Plague of the sixth Vial is in the time of the third Woe, (Theor. 55.)— And the third Woe is not yet come, because the second is not yet passed away, (Theor. 19) If than the Plague of the fifth Vial were already come, it must be in being at this present time, because the sixth which is not yet come, must be soon after it, (Theor. 44.) But there is no manner of appearance of any such Darkness upon the Kingdom of the Beast at this present, as is described Rev. 16. 10. in the fifth Vial. But instead of it, we see the Majesty of the Roman Church to be so far from being Anno 168●. eclipsed, that it is now in the greatest Glory and Splendour, that it has been since the Reformation; it has been continually victorious over the Church for above these thirty years together in all parts of the Dominions of the Roman Church, where the Protestants had any allowance, in Poland, Bohemia, Silesia, Moravia, Hungary, the Bavarian Territories, and lately very remarkably in the great Kingdom of France, and in the Dukedom of Savoy, to the utter extinction of all profession of the true Religion amongst them. Wherhfore the Plague of the fifth Vial cannot be yet come. Now to show what Relation the fifth Vial has to the third Woe, it is to be observed, That, The third woe is a continual advancement of the Church Theor. 58 in all parts of the Dominion of the Beast till the last end of his Power. 1. The third Woe is an advancement of the interest of the Church, because it is a Woe upon the Party of the Beast, (Theor. 52.) that advances the Universal Kingdom Rev. 11. 15. of Christ. 2. It is such an advancement of the Interest of the Church in all parts of the Dominions of the Beast, because the whole matter of it is the Kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom Ibid. of the Lord and his Christ; And this also after the Resurrection of the Witnesses, which is the beginning of the new recovery of the Church in all parts of the dominion of the Beast, where they had been killed. 3. It is a continual or gradual advancement of the Church, and not a sudden total triumph over its enemies, because it is contemporary with the two last Vials at lest, (Theor. 55 and 56. Which are gradual advances of the destruction of the Beast; whereas if the third woe were nothing but a sudden general Triumph of the Church over the power of the Beast, it could not be in the time of the sixth Vial at lest, Rev. 16, ●●. which represents the Party of the Beast to be in a considerable posture of opposition. 4. It is a continual or uninterrupted success of the Church against the Beast, because first it is after the Resurrection of the Witnesses which appear to be the last deliverance of the Church from the oppressions of the Beast, (Theor. 1.) And next, because the Character of the third woe Chap. 11. 51. is the conversion of the Kingdoms of this World, which cannot signify lesle than an uninterrupted advancement of the power of the Church above the power of its chief enemies, which in this place are none but the party of the Beast, (Theor. 52.) 5. The third Woe is also a continual or uninterrupted success of the Church to the last ruin of the Beast, because it is the Woe of the last Trumpet, which makes all the Kingdoms Rev. 11. 15. of the World the Kingdom of Christ, and also because it is the same thing in the last end of it with the last part of the seventh Vial, (Theor. 53.)— For the last part of the seventh Vial is the ruin of Babylon and the Beast, upon which succeeds the everlasting Reign of Christ with his Saints. Wherhfore the third Woe is a continual advancement of the interest of the Church in all parts of the dominion of the Beast with an uninterrupted success against that Party to their last ruin. All the Vials, that are contemporary with the third Woe, Theor. 59 are parts of it. For the third Woe is the uninterrupted success of the Church to the last ruin of the Beast, (Theor. 58.)— It is also all the parts of that success to the last, because in all parts of the dominion of the Beast to the last, (Theor. 1. and 52.)— And all the Vials are the last Plagues upon the Beast to mortify his power in the Church, and to bring him to his last ruin, (by Theor. 44.) Wherhfore those Vials, which are contemporary with the last Woe, are but parts of the same uninterrupted success of the Church, which the last Woe is in general. This is confirmed by the example of the other two Woes before the last Trumpet. For the second Woe is all the parts of the success of the Turks against the Roman Empire; And the first Woe was all the parts of the success of the Saracens within the time allotted to it. And by this it appears, That The third Woe is nothing else but the Vials that are contemporary Theor. 60 with it. For if there were any more plagues in the third Woe, besides the Vials, that are contemporary with it, Than the Vials would not be the seven last plagues, which brought the Beast to his ruin; For those plagues which are supposed to be in the third Woe besides the plagues of the Vials, that are contemporary with it, would be some of the seven last plagues. Wherhfore the Vials that are contemporary with the third Woe, are All the parts of that Ruin of the Beast, which is the third Woe in general. And therefore, The beginning of the third Woe is the plague of the first of those Conseq. Vials. AS a further preparation for a discovery of the Relation of the fifth Vial to the third Woe, it may be considered, That The slaughter, and conversion of the enemies of the risen witnesses Theor. 61 ch. 11th. 13. is at the conclusion of either the fourth or fifth Vial. For that slaughter, and conversion is just before the third woe, and therefore just before that Vial that gins the Rev. 11. 13. third woe, (Theor. 60.)— And that Vial must be either the fifth or the sixth; For the third woe is not yet come, And the fourth Vial is just about its last end; (conseq. Theor. 51.) And the sixth is known to be a part of the third woe (Theor. 55. and 59) Wherhfore that slaughter and conversion must be either just before the fifth or the sixth Vial, that is, either at the conclusion of the fourth or fifth Vial. The slaughter, and conversion etc. chap. 11th. is but in one Theor. 62 particular part of the dominion of the Beast. For all the enemies of the Witnesses in that place are signified to be at an end, seven Thousand were slain and the rest Rev. 11. 13. converted; Which shows the Scene of that event to be but one part of the dominion of the Beast, because the party of the Beast continues in opposition to the Church long after that Time, for the whole continuance of the Time of the sixth and seventh Vials in the third Woe (Theor. 44.) The slaughter and conversion etc. chap. 11th is not part of any Theor. 63 of the seven Vials. For it is at the conclusion of either the fourth or the fifth Vial (Theor. 61.)— And the Persons, who are the objects of the fourth and fifth Vials continued impenitent after Rev. 16. 9, 11. the Plagues of them, whereas after the slaughter in chap. 11th the rest are said to give Glory to God or to repent and be converted; The persons therefore in that place of the 11th chap. must be different from those, who are the objects of the fourth and fifth Vials; And the sixth Vial is certainly after the time of that slaughter and conversion, which is described to be before the passing away of the second Woe; For the sixth Vial is a part of the third Woe, (Theor. 59) Wherhfore that slaughter and conversion can be no part of the plagues of any of the Vials. From hence it does appear, That The Plagues of the Vials do not fall upon one particular part Theor. 64 only of the dominion of the Beast. For if the Plagues of the Vials did fall upon any particular parts only of the dominion of the Beast, Than would the slaughter and conversion of the enemies of the Witnesses belong to one of the seven Vials, contrary to (Theor. 63.) The consequence is necessary, For the seven Vials are the seven last Plagues upon the Beast, And that slaughter and conversion, etc. is within the time of the Vials, because not yet past, (Theor. 33.)— It is also as considerable a Plague upon the Beast, as any can be in a particular part only of his dominion, because it appears to be the total ruin of the interest of the Beast in the place, where it is, Seven Thousand were slain and the rest converted; It is therefore as much qualified to be one of the seven last Plagues, as any of the Vials, if they fall upon particular parts only, of the dominion of the Beast. It may be replied, that the Vials may be the seven last Plagues in some parts of the dominion of the Beast, And yet this be a Plague different from them in another part of his dominion. But than there must be eight last Plagues upon the Beast in all, whereas the Vials are called the seven last Plagues in which the wrath of God was Rev. 15. 1. filled up: Which does plainly signify them to be seven, and no more. Especially when we see them reckoned up in order one after another, which shows the number seven to be a broken number, and therefore to be limited to just so many particulars. Wherhfore the Vials must be Plagues of a different nature, and much more considerable, than the slaughter and conversion of the enemies of the Witnesses was; And this they could not be, as has been shown, if they had been upon particular parts only of the dominion of the Beast. And therefore must they be of a more general extent. It is also apparent from all the objects of the Vials, that the Plagues are poured out upon all the chief supporters of the interest of the Beast. The first Vial pours out a Plague upon all those in general, that had the mark Rev. 16. 2. v. 3. of the Beast; The second brings in an Ocean of blood in v. 4. all parts of the dominion of the Beast, The third extends to all the considerable friends of the Imperial and Papal Interest, the Rivers and Fountains, the King of Spain, the Duke of Lorraine, the Duke of Bavaria, and all the Imperial Party in Germany. The fourth is found to be of v. 8. much the same extent; The fifth has nothing in it that contradicts this, but is said to fall upon the Kingdom of v. 10. the Beast indefinitely; The sixth is expressly intimated to concern the Beast and false Prophet, and all the Kings of the earth, that are their confederates; And the seventh is generally agreed to be the final destruction of the whole Party. Wherhfore it may now be concluded, that the Plagues of the Vials, do not fall upon particular parts only of the dominion of the Beast. The Plague of the fifth Vial is an eminent humiliation of the Ruling power of the Beast in all parts of his dominion. Theor. 65 1. It is an eminent humiliation of the Ruling power of the Beast, because it is said to fall upon his throne, and to fill his Kingdom with darkness; And darkness upon a Kingdom is Rev. 16. 10. commonly used amongst the Prophets, to signify at lest a great disorder in the Government of a Kingdom, but sometimes also it denotes the utter ruin of it: Wherhfore since the Kingdom of the Beast is said here to be full of darkness; The lest that that can signify is a very eminent humiliation of the Ruling power of the Beast. 2. The Plague of the fifth Vial is also an humiliation of the power of the Beast in all parts of his dominion, because this darkness is expressed to fill his Kingdom: And by the Kingdom of the Beast must be understood his Roman Kingdom. For it is his Roman Authority in general which in all parts of this Prophecy is signified by the terms of the Kingdom, or Power, or Authority of the Beast. And his Roman Kingdom is all the parts of the dominion of the Beast. 2. This is also further confirmed by the Sphere, and Object of all the other Vials which is the party of the Beast in general, as has been observed, (Theor. 64.) 3. Whatever might be signified by the Object of the other Vials, yet by the Kingdom of the Beast in distinction to the several Parts of it named in the other Vials, as the Earth, Sea, Rivers, &c. cannot be signified lesle, than that whole Kingdom of which the others seem to be but the Parts; And that must be his whole Roman Kingdom. For it is that dominion, of which the Earth, Sea, and Rivers in the other Vials are said to be the Parts. 4. By the Dominion, Authority, and Kingdom of the Beast in all other Parts of this Prophecy is signified his Rev. 13. 3, 4, 5, 7, 12. and Ch. 17, 13, 17. Kingdom and Authority indefinitely, or without any limitation to one particular Principality, where his chief Seat is; And so denotes his Authority in general or in all Parts of his Dominion; And therefore aught his Kingdom in the fifth Vial to be understood indefinitely, or without restriction to any particular Part of his Jurisdiction. 5. Especially, if it be considered, that in the figure of the Beast, The Ten Horns, which represent all the other Kingdoms, are shown to belong to him as his proper furniture; And in the explication Those Ten Kings are said to have one mind, and to agreed to give their Kingdoms to Rev. 17, 13, 17. the Beast, by which they become all his one Kingdom only. 6. By the Kingdom of the Beast must at lest be signified something more than what is called the tenth Part of the City chap. 11. v. 13. That is, more than one of the Ten Kingdoms which are said to be given to the Beast, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 21.) And therefore must the Kingdom of the Beast signify more than either the Imperial Countries or the Papacy; And than what can it signify, but the whole extent of the Dominion of the Beast or his Kingdom in general? The pouring out of the Vial upon the Throne of the Beast, need not be fixed to any particular Seat of the Beast. For the Seat and Throne of the Beast in this Prophecy, is frequently used for his supreme Authority in general, and not for any particular place, where it resides, as Chap. 13. 2. and Chap. 17. 15. The waters where the whore sitteth: As Babylon, and the great City, are also known to be used for the Universal Domination of Rome. CHAP. XVII. The whole Plague of the fifth Vial within the time of the third Woe: It gins the third Woe. The last end of the Turkish Wars or their Ruin, and the Resurrection of the Witnesses near at hand. Further evinced, that the Vials must begin soon after the Reformation, to signify the Plagues that fell upon the Roman Party by the Reformation, distinct from those that they suffered at the same time from the Turks as the second Woe; How the third Woe is said to come quickly. The date of the Vials soon after the Reformation, aptly intimated at the end of the 9th. Chapter of the Revelations, and the beginning of the 10th. The same further proved from the nature of the Victory mentioned, Rev. 15. 2. before the Vials. No proof from Rev. 10. 6, 7. That the beginning of the seven Vials must be after the sound of the seventh Trumpet. I Have been the more scrupulous to confirm the general extent of the Vials upon the whole Kingdom of the Beast, because upon the strength of that does depend all determinate Knowledge of the beginning of the time of the fifth Vial, which is very requisite for fixing the time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses: For now it appears, That The whole Plague of the fifth Vial is within the time of Theor. 66 the third Woe. 1. For the fifth Vial ends just before the time of the sixth, (by Theor. 44.)— And the sixth is part of the third Woe, (Theor. 55. and 59)— And would begin the third Woe, if it were the first of the Vials in the third Woe, (Conseq. Theor. 60.)— And than the fifth Vial being not long before it, (Theor. 44.)— Would be contemporary with that State of things which is described to come just before the passing away of the second Woe; For the third Woe comes quickly after the passing away of the second. Rev. 11. 14. But the Plague of the fifth Vial cannot possibly be contemporary with that State of things that is described to come just before the passing away of the second Woe. For the Plague of the fifth Vial continues for a great many years together, (Conseq. Theor. 51.)— And therefore, if it were contemporary with those things that are described before the passing away of the second Woe, it must be contemporary with the overcoming and killing of R 〈…〉 13. the witnesses. For they risen again from the dead within three years and an half at the farthest after their kill, And their Ascension into the Throne, is described to be presently after; And the Earthquake, and all that Verse 1●, 14. follows till the mention of the passing away of the third Woe, is said to be at the same time with their Ascension: So that the time of the fifth Vial must than reach as high at lest, as the overcoming and killing the Witnesses. Now the Witnesses represent the whole Church under the power of the Beast, (Suppos. 4)— And the overcoming and killing them, is the utter extinction of all public profession of the true Religion within the Jurisdiction of the Beast, (Theor. 29.)— Which must therefore require many years to accomplish it; especially if it be considered, That that Suppression of the true Religion in all Roman Catholic Countries, called the Death of the Witnesses, must be after the beginning of the Reformation, and when it has got ground in many Kingdoms; because it is just before the third Woe. But it is a plain contradiction, that the Plague of the fifth Vial should be at the same time with such a Triumph of the Beast over the Church in all parts of his Dominion for many years together. For that Plague is, on the contrary, an eminent Humiliation of the power of the Beast in all parts of his Dominion for many years together, (Theor. 65. Conseq. Theor. 51.)— Neither can the Plague of the fifth Vial be part of it before the passing away of the second woe, after the Triumph of the Beast over the Church in killing the witnesses and part of it in the time of the third woe; For than it must be contemporary with the Slaughter and Conversion of the Enemies of the Witnesses, or the Party of the Beast, Rev. 11. 13, 14.— Whereas the fifth Vial represents all Parts of the Dominion of the Beast to be impenitent. Rev. 16. 11. The Plague of it was upon his whole Kingdom, (Theor. 65.) And they are said not to repent, which signifies, That no part of his Kingdom were converted; And therefore can there be no part of the Plague of the fifth Vial before the time of the third woe, because the third woe follows presently after the second, at the passing away of which, Rev. 11. 14. that Slaughter and Conversion of the Roman Party is described to be. Wherhfore since no part of the fifth Vial can be before the third woe, it must necessarily All of it be within the time of the third woe. 2. It appears also by what is found to be meant by the Plague of the fifth Vial, That it could not be before the beginning of the third woe, because the third woe is the beginning of the uninterrupted Increase of the Success of the Church against the Beast, in all parts of his Dominion till his last Ruin, (Theor. 58.)— And the sixth Vial is certainly a part of that Success, (Theor. 55.)— And the fifth Vial is just before the sixth, (Theor. 44.)— And represented to be an Humiliation of the power of the Beast in all parts of his Kingdom, (Theor. 65.) The fifth Vial must therefore begin at the same time with the third woe, and be the same with it upon that account, (Theor. 59) 3. The Character of the fifth Vial does seem to have an immediate Relation to the business of the third woe. Rev. 16. 10. The Plague of it falls upon the Throne and Kingdom of the Beast, which does very naturally signify the beginning of a general Humiliation of the power of the Beast in all the ten Kingdoms, of which his Kingdom consists, which does properly denote, That the Kingdoms of this world do than begin to be the Kingdom of Christ, according Rev. 11. 15. to the Character of the third woe: And this is another confirmation, that the fifth Vial gins the third woe. 4. The Plague of the fifth Vial has also the same effect attributed to it that the first Vial had at the beginning of the Reformation, that is, Sores and Pains to make them gnaw Rev. 16. 10. their Tongues for pain; Which seems to intimate, That they shall have much the same uneasiness and indignation from alike Cause, or by reason of a new Reformation amongst them, since there is none of the other Vials that are said to have that effect, but only the first: And than what can be liker the Character of the third woe, than the beginning of such a Reformation, which is to continued to the end of all the Vials? And it is not easy to imagine, what else can be meant by the darkening of the Kingdom of the Beast, and the humbling of his Throne, but a general Reformation in all Roman Catholic Countries; For that is properly the Kingdom of the Beast. All the Proof that has been hitherto given of this Proposition, is wholly independent upon the Application of the Trumpets; And upon that account it may be made use of as another confirmation, That, The second Woe is the Turkish Empire. Conseq. 1 For the second woe is a Nation that was loosed from Euphrates to destroy the third part of Men, and it ending just before the third woe, that is, just before the fifth Vial, (Theor. 66.) It must necessarily be now in being; Conseq. Theor. 60. For the fifth Vial is near at hand, (Conseq. 4. Theor. 51.) Now there is no other Nation in being at this present, to which those circumstances can agreed; but the Turkish Empire on the other side, since it has been proved in the Interpretation of the Trumpets, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 19) That the Turkish Hostilities are the second woe; The present condition of the Turkish Empire does show, That the second woe is passing away at this present, that is, just before the time of the fifth Vial, (Conseq. 4. Theor. 51.) And therefore must the fifth Vial begin the third woe. For whatsoever may be the issue of this present Humiliation of the Turks, yet the lest that can be conceived of it is, That they will be not more a Woe to the Western Empire; For it appears from the sixth Vial, (Theor. 54.) that there will be no Turkish Empire at that time to hinder the Passage of the Kings of the East; And according to the Examples of all the rest of the Vials before it, the fifth must be passed within these next forty years; And therefore it cannot be above so many years at farthest before the end of all the Power of the Turks. Now it cannot be conceived, That they should be in any disposition or capacity, within so short a space of time, to be a new woe to their neighbour Princes, especially when it is considered, How many Allies must be comprehended in the next general Peace with the Turks, and how much it will be the interest of them all to join against any Violation of it. Thomas the Turks should continued a distinct People and Kingdom till that time, for forty years longer; yet according to the Example of the first woe, That would not qualify them to be still accounted the continuance of the second woe; for the time of the first woe was passed before the losing of the four Angels, or the Reign of Ottoman, that is, when the Saracens ceased to be a Vexation to the Roman Empire, which was long before the Saracen Empire was destroyed. Wherhfore, since in all Appearance the second Woe must at farthest be passed away upon the next general Peace with the Turks; And since either a general Peace or their last Ruin cannot be far of, the third Woe must begin very shortly; And therefore must the fifth Vial also, which is now near at hand, (Conseq. 4. Theor. 51.) be within the time of the third woe. 5. The description also of the kill of the Witnesses just before the third woe, does extremely well agreed with the State of the Protestant Church at this present, (as has been observed, Chap. 7.) which makes it very probable, That the third Woe is not farther of this present time than the fifth Vial, whose time is near at hand, (Conseq. 4. Theor. 51.) And therefore that the Plague of the fifth Vial is in the time of the third woe. The general Tendency of all Christendom at this present towards a Reformation, does still further confirm our Expectations of the near approach of the third woe; Molinos Success in almost all the Southern parts of Europe, to the alienating their Hearts from many of the Superstitions of their Church: And the general disgust, that the most considerable part of the Gallicane Church have against the offensive Doctrines of the Roman Party, are very plain Testimonies of the general Inclination of that Party to a new Reformation: The plainest instance of which, is their new way of defending their Cause by false colours, to make their Religion to be much the same with that of the Reformed Churches, which has now the Approbation of all the Ruling Part of their Church. NOW if the Plague of the fifth Vial be in the time of the third woe, since it must be the first of these Vials that are contemporary with that woe; it is than apparent from Conseq. Theor. 60. That, The beginning of the Plague of the fifth Vial, is the beginning Conseq. 2 of the third woe. AND as the present posture of the Turkish Affairs, and the present State of the Protestant Churches all over Europe, do much confirm the fifth Vial to be the beginning of the third woe; so do the other parts of the proof of that Proposition much more strongly prove, That, The final end of the Turkish Hostilities as the second woe, Theor. 67 and much more the time of the Resurrection of the witnesses is near at hand. For the third woe gins with the Plague of the fifth Vial, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 66.) and that Plague is near at hand (Conseq. 4. Theor. 51.) and therefore must the things which are described to come before the third woe be still more near this present Time, The first of which is the passing away of the second woe, or the final end of all the Turkish hostilities. Now if the final end of all Turkish hostilities be so near, the Resurrection of the Witnesses must be just at hand. For the advancement of the Reformed Religion, into the Throne of a Kingdom, where the Witnesses lay dead, called their Ascension (especially since it is accompanied with the end of all their Enemies in that Kingdom by the Rev. 11. 12, 13. conversion of it, all which is to hap before the end of the second woe) must in all likelihood take up almost all the Time that is now to come before the end of that woe, since it is determined to be so near at hand. And than the Resurrection of the Witnesses, which must be before all those events must be very near this present Time. This is very much confirmed by the examples of all the Vials that are past; The business of each of them did follow soon after one other. It is true, the Plague of the third Vial did not appear it may be to any purpose, till twenty years after the end of that of the second. But there was enough in the Hungarian, Austrian, and Bohemian commotions just about the end of the second Vial, to give them the name of the beginning of the third Vial upon the fountains of Waters; And the more considerable insurrections in Bohemia, and Hungary were not long after; And they were both in much the same place with the Swedish War, and upon much the same account, for a liberty of Religion. According to this general example of the rest, The fifth Vial must begin within a very few years: And since the third Woe gins with the fifth Vial, which is now at hand (Conseq. 4. Theor. 51.) The second Woe must pass away in a very short Time. The present State of the Turkish Affairs will not in all appearance allow any long delay for the accomplishing of this; That Government seems to be uncapable of subsisting so long without a peace. Their late pillages of Constantinople, and the impoverishing of the richer sort among them, which was the only thing they could have recourse to in a Time of need, has disabled all the great Men to relieve them on any emergent occasion; And the public revenue was so much fallen before, and their treasury so wholly exhausted, that there is no appearance of any way for them to raise a fund for the further continuance of the War, against such Victorious Enemies, as are now engaged by interest to continued their Conquests upon them. Now the next general Peace with their Enemies, if they have any, must, as has been observed (CHAP. 9) be the last end of their hostilities: But since these things were wrote, there has been an apparent beginning of the Peace. And if the second Woe must so necessarily be at an end within that compass of years, than certainly by the day month and year of the continuance of the second Woe, chap. 9 15. must necessarily be meant above 390 years, since it will be just about that number of years from the letting lose of the Turks, from their confinement about Euphrates to the forementioned Time: which is another confirmation that the end of the second Woe is near at hand. And yet before the end of the second Woe, there must be the conversion of an whole Kingdom of the Roman Party (Conseq. 2. Theor. 21.) which cannot be imagined to require lesle than the time, that remains to conclude the Turkish Peace; Especially when it appears, that all the Neighbouring Kingdoms of that Party are represented to be still impenitent, and powerful enough to encourage Rev. 16. 9 their friends against such an Apostasy; And that it cannot be thought that the Witnesses just risen with an abhorrence of the cruelties that they had suffered should carry on such a conversion by Force and Violence, after that all those that openly opposed them are destroyed, or at lest disabled from doing any hurt, as it is here represented. Rev. 11. 13. The conviction of the consciences of an whole Kingdom, while many other Kingdoms of that Party do at the same time continued their impenitence, must in all reason require at lest so short a time to accomplish it in. The Resurrection of the Witnesses than which is to be before all these things, cannot be judged to be a years distance from this present time at the farthest, and than this present time must be the time of the death of the Witnesses. For otherwise there would be three years and an half still to come before their Resurrection, whereas the end of the second Woe seems not likely to allow time for it. From hence does appear how unlikely it is that the last great Persecution of the Church should be yet to come. BUT if this present be the Time of the death of the Witnesses, there is no Persecution considerable enough to be made the date of it, that is, of the last suppression of the whole reformed Church, since the time of that which began with the Revocation of the Edict of Nants in France Octob. 1685. From which Time therefore the date of the three years and an half of the death of the Witnesses, may very reasonably be apprehended to begin, And their Resurrection may upon the same account be expected before the middle of this year. But especially when this consideration is joined with all the rest that have been mentioned before. Indeed if the length of the years, that are comprehended in the day, month, and year of the second woe be well attended to, and be concluded to follow the example of the years contained in the time, times, and an half, that is, 360 days to a year, the years of the second woe must end at farthest in the year 1691, but according to the most accurate account of the beginning of Ottomans Reign they must end before; And before the end of that second woe the Witnesses must be risen again, and be ascended. It is easy now to discern the reason, why the Ascension of the Witnesses, and the fall of the tenth Part of the City, and the ruin or conversion of all that were in it, are no Parts of the third woe, notwithstanding that they are the beginning of the uninterrupted success of the Church against its Enemies. † Theor. 65. For by the nature of the fifth Vial it appears, that the beginning of the third woe is a general calamity upon the Kingdom of the Beast; whereas all those other events have regard but to a tenth Part of his Kingdom. It is also easy to discern, why the third woe is said to come quickly after the passing away of the second; For the Witnesses or the Church having recovered itself from the oppressions of the Beast, and triumphed in the conquest of an whole Kingdom of that Party before the end of the second woe, The third woe which gins with the uninterrupted success of the Church to the last end of the Beast, cannot be far of from such a glorious beginning of the triumph of it. For coming quickly both in its own natural signification, and in its frequent use in Scripture does signify the sudden beginning of a thing to appear, not the sudden passing of it away, as some would have it understood. And from hence it appears, why the declaration concerning the passing away of the second woe, is brought Rev. 11. 14. in here alone by itself, at so great a distance from the proper place of it at the end of the 9th chap. to which it refers: It seems to be plainly for no other end, but only, that it might serve, as an eminent event to know the Time of the last deliverance of the Church from the power of the Beast by; And upon that account must the Time of its passing away be presently after the first triumph of the Church after its deliverance at the Ascension of the Witnesses, because the general success of the Church Theor. 59 which is the third woe, must begin soon after so fair an advance towards it. It may now with some satisfaction be observed, that as the whole account of the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of the Witnesses, is a manifest allusion to the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ; so also is the Universal Reign of Christ over the Kingdoms of this World in the third woe, represented to be just upon the Ascension of the Witnesses into Heaven, As the Kingdom of Christ is said to begin at his Ascension into Heaven. And as the whole time of our Lord's appearance in his office upon earth was three years and an half, and his stay in the Grave three days and an half, so also is the whole time of the Witnesses Prophecy three years and an half, and the time of their death three days and an half. THUS have we in the third woe first the general Agent, from whence it has its distinction from the rest of the Trumpets, and that is, the Interest of the Church, as the distinction of the two other woes is from the Persons, that execute them, The Locusts, and the Horsemen Rev. 9 about Euphrates. Here are also the divers ways by which this woe is executed, that is, by the three Vials, as we see in the other two woes the different manner of their vexations, of the Eastern first, and than of the Western Empire, under the Schemes of five months twice mentioned V 5, 10. in the first, and the third part of men, and the rest in the second. It might be hereupon demanded, why the rest of the Vials should not upon the same account have their place also in the third Woe; For they appear to be all Plagues upon the Beast to bring him to his ruin, and to advance the power of the true Church; And there is no appearance of any such thing any where else in the 11th chap. before the third Woe. For the Beast is set out in the highest flush of his power, till just almost before the sounding of the seventh Trumpet. But all that fair show of the Beast before the seventh Trumpet, is expressly said to regard nothing but the last issue of the last War of the Beast against the Witnesses, or the overcoming them, and the killing them; And that Rev. 1●. ● is but a very inconsiderable part of the latter times of the Beast. But if we cast our eyes upon the fortunes of the Beast ever since the Reformation, it must be acknowledged, that there has been other signal humiliations of his power, and so exactly answerable to the characters of the first Vials, that as they must have been somewhere signified amongst the judgements upon the Beast, and are not where else found to be intimated, so is there all reason to fix them upon those Vials. And tho' there be no mention of any such mortifications of the Party of the Beast, in the 11th chap. before the Resurrection of the Witnesses; and the third Woe, yet is there a manifest intimation in the 10th chap. of at lest the beginning of some terrible judgements upon them, some while before that time. For after it had been signified at the end of the 9th chap. that the Rest of V 20. the Roman Empire, who were not destroyed by the Turks, but only tormented, did not repent of their Idols of Gold and Silver, notwithstanding all that they had suffered by that Woe, it follows immediately upon it in the beginning of the 10th chap. that the seven Thunders uttered their Voices; which seems to be a manifest intimation of the farther chastisement of those, who could not be brought to Repentance by the former judgements; And those must necessarily be the Party of the Beast: Because after the destruction of the Greek Empire by the Turks, signified by the slaying the third part of Men, about the end of the 9th chap. just before, there was no other remainder of the Roman Empire, but they, that could be those impenitent Persons, much lesle, that could be said to worship any Idol of Gold and Silver. Now the seven Thunders are uttered long before the Declaration about the passing away of the second Woe Rev. 10. 4. in the 11th. chap. And therefore must the Time of them at lest begin before the third Woe. And what can the judgements of the seven Thunders be imagined to be, but the Plagues of the seven Thunders be imagined to be, but the Plagues of the seven Vials, since they are the same number of Plagues upon the same Party, and appear just about the concluding time of the Trumpets, which does sufficiently qualify them for the same name of the seven last Plagues, by which the seven Vials are known? There is therefore ground enough from hence to be very confident, that the seven Vials must begin before the found of the seventh Trumpet, or before the third Woe. As for the particular time of their beginning, it appears from the 15th chap. That the Vials do begin upon some eminent Victory over the Beast, and over his Image, and over V 2. his Mark, and over the number of his Name. A victory over the Image of the Beast, and the number of his name, that is, over the Church-power of the Roman Party, and the name of a Roman-Catholick can signify nothing but the PART I. Chap. ●●. free and undisturbed profession of the true Religion, reform from the Roman Impositions. And by the place of the seven Thunders in the tenth chap. which appears now to be the same with the seven Vials, this Victory or Freedom from the Yoke of the Roman Church, must be before the Resurrection of the Witnesses, and the passing away of the second Woe. So that it must than be, the first beginning of such a new Reformation, and of the undisturbed profession of it, as must hap before the Resurrection of the Witnesses, Theor. 33. who are elsewhere determined not yet to be risen again; And what remarkable time can that be, but the beginning of the Protestant Reformation? For the victory over the Image of the Beast, which denotes this freedom of Religion, must be understood in that indefinite sense in which it is expressed in the Text, and so to comprehend in it all the Parts of the Reformation; And it being also described as a Victory newly obtained, and a deliverance from oppression just newly appearing, it must than signify the first beginning of a general Reformation before the time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses; And therefore to no other point can this Victory be reasonably fixed, but to the first beginnings of the Lutheran Reformation. The Vials than must begin soon after that Time, and be fitted to those events, which do most remarkably answer the characters of them in that series, in which they follow one another; And the knowledge that is already had of the time of the three last Vials will confine the four first to those events, which do the most exactly suit them since the beginning of the Reformation. Again, since the seven Thunders are a further chastisement of the Party of the Beast, for their impenitency under the evils of the second Woe, or the Turkish Hostilities, the Vials may very well be supposed to begin presently after the invasion of the Imperial Countries by Solyman the Magnificent, and his famous Siege of Vienna, the Imperial seat of the Beast; Which happening just at the same Time, when the Roman Party were every where called to repentance by the Preachers of the Reformation, and they notwithstanding continuing obstinate after it, was a sufficient ground for new judgements upon them, and for those mortifications which they received by the success of the Reformation. It is indeed pretended, that from this very account of Objection. the seven Thunders in the tenth chap. it appears, that the Vials, which are the same with them, must begin with the third Woe, because immediately after the uttering of the seven Thunders, and the command to seal them up, the Angel there is said to swear, that the Time of them v. 6, 7. should not be yet, (as it is in the Original,) But that in the days of the seventh Angel, (which is the time of the third woe) the mystery of God should be finished. But it is manifest from all the description of that Angel, which is made up of several very strange, and peculiar circumstances (the very same with that of the Angel in the 12th chap. of Daniel. 7. 5.) That the solemn asseveration, that he here makes is the same with those which he swears so solemnly to in that place of Daniel, and that is, to declare, when the seven Thunders, and the Times of the Beast should end, not when those last Plagues upon the Beast should begin. As for that expression in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as if that should signify, that the Time of the Trumpets v. 6. should not be yet, or not before the seventh Trumpet: It is known that the general signification of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a space of Time taken Indefinitely, and that the word, that is every where used in the N. T. to signify the time or season of a thing is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; And tho' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might be pretended in some rare use of it to signify the particular Time of a thing, yet it has than most certainly the Article before it; And never will it be found that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without an Article does signify any definite particular time. And therefore cannot it here signify the particular time, or season of the seven Vials. The proper signification therefore of that expression, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, is either, that there should be not longer delay of those last Judgements of the Thunders, which should put an end to the Times of the Beast; But that they should all be finished under the seventh Trumpet; Which would both determine the time, when the Judgements of the Thunders should begin, that is, immediately after the impenitency of the Romanists, under some great mortifications of them by the second Woe, and would also fix the point beyond which the last finishing of them should not be delayed, which is signified to be the Time of the seventh Trumpet; Or else it must signify that after the seven Thunders, there should be not longer Time of any Roman Rule, which is the Object of all the Trumpets, but that in the days of the seventh Trumpet (after the last Thunder) All the Prophecy concerning the Roman Empire should be fulfilled. For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without an Article must signify length of Time indefinitely or in general; And thus does the proper import of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, still further prove the beginning of the seven Vials to be before the seventh Trumpet or last Woe. CHAP. XVIII. The exact Agreement of the Order of Things in the 9th. 10th. and 11th. Chapters of the Revelations, with that of the Schemes in the 14th. Chapter. The Vials contemporary with them both. The four first Vials evinced to be before the third Woe. The coming quickly of the third Woe explained. The last end of the Turkish Wars, and the Resurrection of the Witnesses further proved to be just at hand; As also that the three last Vials are contained in the third Woe. Why those three make but one Woe. An Objection that the third Woe must contain all the Vials, Answered. Another Reason why the third Woe is said to come quickly. Why the seven Vials cannot come after all the seven Trumpets. Why nothing of the great Persecution in the seven Vials. The Reason of the name of the seven last Plagues given to the Vials. OF all the Interpretations that have been made in this part, there is none that seems to be more near the certainty and clearness of a moral Demonstration, than the conclusions which have been just before drawn from the Order of things in the fourteenth Chapter. And by the use that has been made of those Deductions from the 14th. Chapter, it may with a great deal of satisfaction be observed, How exactly answerable the whole process of that Chapter is to the Series of Events, that are described from the end of the 9th. Chapter, to the end of the last woe in the 11th. Chapter. The time of the 144000, who are sealed to escape the Calamities of the Trumpets, seems plainly to be at an end, Rev. 7. after the chief Heat of the sixth Trumpet, at the last Verse of the 9th. Chapter. They could not be sealed to be secured against the Evils of the seventh Trumpet; For the Evils of the seventh Trumpet is the power of the true Rev. 11. 15. and Rev. 14. 6. Theor. 58. Church itself, or of the 144000 themselves, increased into a numberless number of all Nations, and advancing by degrees upon the Ruins of the remaining part of the Roman Empire, after the destruction of the Eastern Empire; And therefore could not the 144000 be sealed to escape the Evils of the last Trumpet. The end of that number of the 144000, seems than to be at the impenitency of the Romanists, after the Invasions of Germany by the Turks, and the Siege of Vienna by Solyman the Magnificent, just at the beginning of the Reformation, when all Europe began to come into the Church, and so turned the 144000 into the innumerable multitude, Chap. 14. 6. Or just before the uttering of the seven Thunders, immediately after the end of the 9th. Chapter, Rev. 10. 4. which are found by the seven Vials to begin with the Reformation. For though the 144000 are represented as the opposite Party to that of the Beast, and so seem to be made contemporary with the Beast to his last end, yet since it is certain, That the 144000 were sealed long before the Reign of the Beast, which was not till after the first Trumpets, (CHAP. I IU. Second Part.) Their time may be as well at an end before the end of the Reign of the Beast, according as it is here represented to be. Thus also is the time of the 144000 in the 14th. Chapter, represented to be passed just before the preaching of the Rev. 14. 6. Theor. 42. Gospel to all Tongues and Nations, which is now found to be the first Times of the Reformation. They are said to be the First-fruits to God and to the Lamb, and to be Vers. 3, 4. redeemed from the Earth, in distinction to the great Body of the Church of all Tongues and Nations, who are described to follow immediately after them, according to the known distinction of the First-fruits from the rest Rev. 14 of the Heap in the Jewish Law, and of the Firstborn from the rest of the numerous Family, who were to be redeemed by something else in lieu of them, and not to be sacrificed. And so their being said here to have been redeemed, does confine the Signification of the First-fruits to their proper Notion, as things distinct from and before the rest that follow, according as the use of this same term of First fruits is found to be in the New Testament itself, as Rom. 16. 5. 1 Cor. 16. 15. By this than it is here signified, That the time of the 144000 was passed at the preaching of the Gospel to all People and Nations, or at the beginning of the Reformation, just as their time is found to end after the fury of the sixth Trumpet, or with the beginning of the seven Thunders in the 10th. Chapter. Pag. 271. The first uttering of the seven Thunders, as the time that they begin at, is before the War, and the overcoming and killing of the Witnesses, in the 10th. and 11th. Chapters. So also is the Hour of God's Judgements, which is of the same import, described to be before the great Persecution, in the 14th. Chap. vers. 7, and 12. The War and Success of the Beast against the Witnesses in the 11th. Chapter, is described to be betwixt the beginning of the seven Thunders at the Reformation, and the end of the second Woe, and immediately before the second Woe. And so is the great Persecution in the 14th. Chapter, betwixt the Fall of Babylon at the Reformation, and the Harvest and Vintage, which are known to be the Theor 38, and 41. same with the third Woe. And in both of those Chapters, is that Persecution described to be the fiercest Storm that ever fell upon the Church, during the whole time of the Reign of the Beast. In the 11th. Chapter, it is expressed by the terms of overcoming and killing the two Witnesses, in distinction to all the other Humiliations of the Church over the Beast, which are represented only by their being in Sackcloth; And in the 14th. Chapter, it is set out by words of special remark, for the same purpose; As, Here is the patience of the Saints: As if the patience and constancy of the Saints and Martyrs under all other Trials and Sufferings in the time of the Beast, were nothing to be compared with this. And than the work of the Harvest being performed Rev. 14. 14. by one like the Son of Man, and the Wine-press after the Vintage being trodden by one whose name was the Word, does show, That they are both parts of God's last Rev. 19 13, 15. Vengeance executed upon the Beast by the interest of Christ and his Church, just as the third Woe in the 11th. Chapter, is known to be nothing but the Victories of the Christian Church over the Beast. The History of the seven Vials, has been already found to be contemporary with the whole time of these two agreeing parts of the Prophecy, and must therefore necessarily receive a great Light from them for the determination of the particular place of every Vial, as well as itself illustrate the Order of the Things that are delivered in those other Chapters. And by comparing all these three Accounts together, it appears first, That as the time of the Vials has been found to begin with the Reformation, so the Victory over the Beast and his Image, just before the Vials, Chap. 15. must be the same with the liberty of Preaching the Gospel to all People and Nations, Chap. 14. 6. And than it having been before proved, That the three last Vials are confined to the last Woe in the seventh Trumpet, And also that the beginning of the whole number of them is at the Reformation, That gives very good ground to conclude, That the place of the four first Vials must be betwixt the beginning of the Reformation and the last Trumpet. For if but one of those four should be made to belong to the last Trumpet, there would than be no proportion betwixt the time of the last four of the Vials and the first three. Since the time of the end of all the Vials must be the destruction of the Beast, which is determined to about the year 1800, (Suppos. 3.) there will be near 300 years betwixt the first Vial and the last; And than the last Woe in the seventh Trumpet, being known not to be yet come, there remains but about an 100 years for the continuance of it. Wherhfore if there should be four Vials in the last Woe, and but three before it, there would be no manner of proportion betwixt the time of the three first and of the four last. The three first would have taken up near 200 years, and the four last would not have above 100 years for their continuance; And so the three first, which are not half the number, would have continued near twice as long as the four last, which are more than half the number; which cannot be imagined of them, since there appears no mark of distinction betwixt them in the Text. For we have very good grounds to conclude from the mark of distinction, that is set upon the three last Rev. 8. 14. Woes, to signify the great disproportion of their continuance in comparison with the four first, And from the five Months allotted to the first Woe, to distinguish it from the much longer continuance of the second Woe, That if there were any such great difference betwixt the time of the first and last Vials, it would have been some ways hinted in the account of them. If it be here objected, that there is no such distinction of the third woe from the two former, which yet is not to continued a quarter of the time that is given to the second woe, it is to be considered, That the last woe is the end of all the business of the Prophecy, and so was the eternal Triumph of the Church over the Beast. As for that which may be pretended from what is said of the last woe, which is the same with the latter Vials, That it should come quickly after the second woe, as if that might be interpreted of the short time of every particular Vial contained in the third woe, in comparison with those before them. It is to be considered, That it is the last woe only in general, that is said to come quickly, and not the parts of the last woe in respect of one another, of which kind the Vials of the last woe are supposed to be; And that Expression can than at best signify no more, than that the last woe should come quickly, in distinction to the other woes before it; And let the last woe be as short as it will in comparison with those before it, yet that would give no Authority to place any more of the Vials in it, than would hold proportion to the time of the rest of the Vials that went before them. But it has besides been shown, (CHAP. 17.) That the last we is said to come quickly, because it was to begin very shortly after the end of the second woe; As to come quickly after another does naturally and usually signify in Scripture, and not because it was very shortly to be fulfilled. Wherhfore to keep any tolerable proportion betwixt the distant Periods of the first and latter Vials, the three last of them must take up the whole time of the last woe; And so there will be an equal proportion betwixt the time of the four first Vials (which will take up above 160 years,) and the time of the three last, which will not have above 100 years to perform their work in. From hence it may next be concluded, That the Resurrection of the witnesses and the end of the Turkish Hostilities is just at hand. For the time of the first four Vials which begin with the Reformation, is now run out; And there is but just room enough left for the three last Vials to have their course; And the three last Vials being Theor. 66. Conseq. 2. proved to belong to the third Woe, the third Woe must therefore be just at hand, and so the second Woe by the same Reason, must also be very nigh its end. Now the second Woe is known to be the Turkish Hostilities (Cons. 2. Theor. 19) And if the second Woe be so very near its end, the Resurrection of the Witnesses must be still nearer; For there seems to be many things to be done, betwixt the Resurrection of the Witnesses and the passing away of the second Woe. And this is another ground to expect a removal of the Clouds that are at present upon the Reformed Church, and an end of the Turkish Power within very few years, though there should be little strength apprehended to be in the proof of it, from the Day, Month, and Year, Rev. 9 15. From hence also we see the length of the third Woe in the last Trumpet to be determined to the whole time of the three last Vials, which in proportion to the rest, cannot take up much lesle than 100 years; This does also show, That the last Trumpet must begin to sound within very few years, and bring in a victorious State of the Church, advancing continually without any considerable check, upon the ruins of the Kingdom of the Beast and his Party, till it end in a perfect Triumph over all the Remainders of his Power in the World; And that the chief remarkable Events by which this shall be effected, shall be the Calamities of the three Vials. If it should be hereupon enquired, how the three last Vials can be the same thing with the one last Woe of the seventh Trumpet, there is a very obvious Account of it in that which is made to be the last Woe, which is the uninterrupted Triumph of the Church over its Enemies, (Theor. 58.) Now the three last Woes have their nature and distinction from those who are the particular Executors of them; And the only Agent in the Woe of the last Trumpet being the Interest of the Church or of the revived Witnesses, it is therefore made but one Trumpet, according to the Examples of the two Woes before it; Which make but two single Trumpets, though each of them contain in them many different Vexations of the several parts of the Roman Empire, which is the Object of them. But the Vials being the several kinds of Judgements upon the Party of the Beast from the same Agents, are therefore as many as there are different kinds of Humiliation of them by that one and the same Interest. And though the Plague of the sixth Vial seems to come from another hand than that of the Church, under the Name of the Kings of the East, yet before they are described to act against the Beast, or to come to the Battle, there is a manifest intimation of a very extraordinary Presence of Christ himself coming into their Party, and that in such a manner, as he is signified in other places to come to inflict some eminent Judgement. But it may seem at first sight to be something harsh, from the account just mentioned, to make but three of the Vials to be the Woe of the last Trumpet, since that Woe is here made to be the whole Series of the last Mortifications of the Beast by the Church, (Theor. 58.) And for that Reason aught to include in it all the former Vials, which were Mortifications of the Beast by the same hand. In answer to this, it is to be considered. 1. That tho' the last Trumpet be nothing but the last Judgements upon the Beast from the Church, yet it can be but that part of them, which began after the passing away of the second Woe, or of the power of the Turks; And the second Woe being certainly known not to be yet past, and there having already been several Judgements upon the Beast, since the Reformation, contemporary with the second Woe, and yet no parts of it, the third Woe, or the last Trumpet, cannot possibly be thought to have any thing to do with those Judgements. 2. Again, there is a manifest reason in the Text why the four first Vials should be before the last Trumpet, though they be most of them Plagues from the Church, as well as the Woe of that Trumpet; For there is a plain difference betwixt the power of the Church against the Beast in the first Vials, and the success of it in the three last. The four first Vials have been found to be before the death of the two Witnesses (Theor 61.) And the success of the Church against the Beast before that Time was very variable, and more like the chance of War; It was continually interrupted with the like fortunes of the Party of the Beast, and, considering the last Issue of this War betwixt them, viz. the kill of the two Witnesses, the Beast seemed to have gotten much the advantage of the Church by this War. But the success of the Church against the Beast in the three last Vials, is represented as an uninterrupted triumph over their Enemies in the way to their utter ruin. And thus the Death and Resurrection of the Witnesses put in betwixt the four first Vials, and the three last stands in the Prophecy, like a very Remarkable boundary and partition, to distinguish the bounds and nature of the first Vials from the last. And just as betwixt the fourth and the fifth Trumpet, comes in that great recovery of the Roman Empire by Justinian, before the three last destroying Trumpets, so here betwixt the fourth and fifth Vial, comes in the kill of the Witnesses, as a great recovery of the Beast before the beginning of the three last destroying Vials. Thus does the first beginning of the business of the third Woe, appear to be just like that of the second; The same thing, that was the matter of each of them, was acting long before it came to be the particular business of the Woe. The Turks who are the second Woe were a great Plague to the Eastern Empire near 200 years before the time, that they began the Execution of that Woe, by slaying the third part of Men, which was not begun Rev 9 15. till about the year 1300. As long as they were held in check by the Crusadoes in the Holy War, and were repressed by them, they are not made to be any part of the second Woe. So also are the Plagues upon the Beast from the Church not accounted any part of the third Woe in the Time of the first Vials, whilst they were continually returned again upon the Church; But the first date of it, as the third Woe, is from the first beginning of such a Victorious State of the Church, as continued triumphant over its Enemies to their last ruin without any considerable interruption. And as the beginning of the second Woe is determined to the Time, that the Turks were loosed from their confinement about Euphrates, which had a very great event in History to make it generally known: so is the beginning of the third Woe signified to be presently after the Death and Resurrection of the Witnesses, which was to be a State of the Church, that should alarm all the World to take notice of it. It is now apparent therefore from the Text, why the third Woe must of necessity come quickly after the end of the second, as it is there said of it; For the Resurrection and Ascension of the two Witnesses, which is just before the end of the second Woe, must be such a new flourishing of the Church, as is made by the Text to be the beginning of the third Woe. And it is easy to believe, that by the Resurrection of the Witnesses the executioners of the third woe were ready prepared to do their office, when we see they had already begun a part of it, at the fall of the tenth part of the City, just before the Rev. 11. 13, 1 passing away of the second Woe. The third woe therefore must needs come quickly after the second, because it began to appear just before the end of the second, whereas the characters of the second woe Conseq. 1. Theor. 19 CHAP. III. VIII, & IX. did not appear till about 300 years after the end of the first woe, nor the first woe till near an 100 years after the end of the Plague of the fourth Trumpet, that went before it. It must be acknowledged, that it would make a much fairer show of concinnity in the Prophecy, if the seven Vials were included in the last woe, or the seventh Trumpet, as the seven Trumpets seem to be included in the seventh Seal; For this would make these Visions seem to have a very orderly dependence upon one another, from the first opening of the Scene in the fifth chap. to the end of the Prophecy; whereas now these Vials seem to interfere confusedly with the Trumpets, four of them are in the Time of the sixth Trumpet, and three of them in the time of the seventh; And I must confess I was so desirous to have the Vials fall all under the last Trumpet, that I was sometimes thereby biased to apprehended, that the victory over the Beast before the Vials in the 15th chap. must be the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses, and than the Vials must have all fallen within the seventh Trumpet. But the Reformation was so remarkable a triumph over the Beast, and so plainly referred to in the Prophecy at the 14th chap. as the beginning of the Judgements Theor. 43. of God upon that Party, that I could not avoid the pitching upon that for the fixed point to date the Vials from; Especially when I found that there had been events since that Time, that did exceed the judgements of the first Trumpets, and are not where accounted for but in the Vials, that did exactly answer the characters of the four first Vials in the same Order, that they lie in the Prophecy; And saw no manner of ground from the Text to place them any where else, but only the Imagined concinnity of the Parts of the Prophecy; For that is not to be valued without good grounds, or where there is any considerable reason for a different way. And than, it is no wonder, that the Vials should interfere with the two last Trumpets, because at the same time that the woe of the sixth Trumpet was plying the Beast on one side, the Plagues of the first four Vials were upon him on the other side, and so were two sorts of Plagues contemporary with one another from several quarters, and therefore could not be included in one another. If the Turks were the sixth Trumpet, it is certain, that the sixth Trumpet could not include those eminent Judgements, that have fallen upon the Romanists since the Reformation, and therefore must these judgements be signified either by so many Vials, or not be signified at all; Whereas they were far more considerable humiliations of that Party, than their vexations from the Turks at the same Time; As that Ocean of blood, that has been shed to the end of the Swedish War, and that to the establishment of the Protestant Interest, must be acknowledged to have been. But it may be demanded, why the History of the seven Vials in the 15th and 16th chapters, and which is now found to be contemporary with almost all the time of the two former agreeing Parts of the Prophecy, (in the 11th and 14th chap.) should have nothing in it, concerning the great Persecution before the last end of the Beast, which is so distinctly mentioned in both of the other. In answer to this, it is to be considered that the Prophecy of the Vials regards nothing but the account of those Vials, and the judgements in them, for which end alone they are set apart by themselves, as singled out to have them particularly understood under the name of the seven last Plagues upon the Beast; And very improper had it been to interpose any discourse of the success of that Party over the Church of God in the midst of them. For tho' the great persecution (chap. 11.) be mentioned in the account of the Trumpets, which seemed to be as much singled out to signify so many Plagues, as the Vials are, yet there seems to be an evident Reason for that; and that is, because it was necessary before the last Trumpet, to give some account of those that were to be the Actors in it, which were the Witnesses risen again from the dead: As also to show the connexion of the Prophecy of the Trumpets, with the rest of the Prophecy that follows after it to the end of the Book about the Reign of the Beast; And no other account is there of the Tyranny of the Beast amongst the Trumpets, but only that Persecution, To show, that it was brought in as necessary to serve that end. Besides, that Persecution amongst the Trumpets did not check the Plagues of the sixth Trumpet upon the Beast, where it is placed, but was the success of the Beast against quite another Enemy, than those in the sixth Trumpet, and so was proper enough to be mentioned, with the account of the Plague, that the Beast did suffer from that Trumpet, at the same Time; But it could not be mentioned amongst the Vials without confounding the humiliations of the Beast in the Vials, with his Triumphs in respect of the same Enemy, that is, the Party of the true Church. It may indeed at the first be apprehended, that considering that there is no mention in the History of the Vials of any of the events that are signified to come before the last Trumpet in the 11th chap. That that very name of the seven last Plagues should intimate, that the Vials could not begin, till after the sounding of the last of the Trumpets, which are the seven first Plagues. But it is to be considered, that the last Trumpet is, the last Woe, or last Plague upon the Beast; For it brings him to his last Ruin; And therefore is it impossible for the Vials, which are Plagues upon the Beast, to be after the last Trumpet. And this does sufficiently satisfy us, that the name of the last Plagues given to the Vials cannot possibly signify, that they were to come after all the seven first; And if not after all the seven first, than there is no force in that expression to determine the Time of them to any particular part of the latter end of them; They may as well be called the last Plagues, if they fall in the Time of the sixth Trumpet, as well as if they fall in the Time of the seventh, if they be different evils from that of the sixth Trumpet; Especially when it is found that to make them contemporaries with the last Trumpet, they must be a part of the business of it (Theor. 59) And therefore cannot possibly have the name of the last Plagues for coming after that Trumpet, with which they are contemporary. There must therefore be some other reason for their name of the seven last Plagues, than their coming after all the seven Trumpets; And from the consideration of the nature and order of the Trumpets it is evident enough, that there is a great distinction betwixt the Judgements of God in the Trumpets according to the several Parts of the Roman Empire, which they ruined. Thus the four first which did ruin the first Western Empire, are manifestly distinguished from the three last, the two first of which did next bring the Eastern Empire to its ruin, and the last the new Western Empire restored, with the Church Rule of it. The seven Vials therefore are very properly called the seven last Plagues, because they fall upon the last remaining Part of the Roman Empire in the West, or the Jurisdiction of the Beast; Which because it is a Church Rule of a much different nature from those civil Jurisdictions of the Empire, that had been destroyed before, and especially because the first beginnings of its decay began before the last end of the sixth Trumpet, therefore are the Vials (which give an account of the gradual decays of it from its first declining state) very properly called the seven last Plagues, as those which brought the last remainder of the power of Rome to its final ruin; And as the civil state of the Empire, had seven Plagues allotted to the ruin of it by the Trumpets, so was it but suitable that the Church power of it, which makes almost all the figure of the Beast, should have the same number of Judgements to bring it to its last End by the Vials. Thus may we found all the objections against dating the Vials from the beginning of the Reformation fully answered; As 1. That of the great concinnity of placing the seven Vials under the seventh Trumpet, as the seven Trumpets are in the seventh Seal. 2. That against dividing pag. 280. the Vials betwixt the Time of the sixth and seventh Trumpet, 3. That of the agreement of the name, and pag. 279. pag. 278. nature of the seven Vials, with those of the last woe. 4. That of the inconsistency of the Vials, as Plagues upon the Beast, in the time of the flourishing State of the Beast, and the miseries of the Church at the Death of the Witnesses. pag. 273. RIbera on v. 3. c. 1. Apocal. Things which must shortly come to pass. How shortly, when most of the things in the Apocolypse were not to be fulfilled, till about the end of the World? This we may say, that which is begun is now done. The common way of speaking confirms this, and the usage of Scripture. CHAP. XIX. Conjectures about the particular applications of the Harvest, and Vintage Chap. 14. The Vintage cannot contain in it all the seven Vials. The Millennium to be upon the Earth: But after the conflagration of this Earth. Many Countries inhabited after the beginning of the Conflagration from Dan. 7. 12. A middle State of the Church betwixt the end of Antichrist, and the Millennium during the Conflagration. FRom the Knowledge that is now had of the third Woe, and of its Parts, the three last Vials, It may be concluded, that the Harvest and Vintage are nothing Rev. 14. 15, 18. Jerem. 51. 33, 34. with Lament. 1. 15. but the work of the last Woe. a For according to the use of those expressions amongst the Prophets for the judgements of God upon a Nation, they must here signify the final judgements of God upon the Roman Church in the last ruin of it. And since they are both known to be after the time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses (by Theor. 38, and 41.) what can they be but the work of the last Woe? But yet it must be acknowledged, that the Harvest and Vintage are represented, as two distinct Parts of the last destruction of the Roman Party by the two distinct Angels, which had the charge of them; And by that, the Harvest and Vintage seem to denote two very signal Rev. 14. 15, 18. Judgements immediately consequent upon one another to the last destruction of that Interest. And than, the intimation of two remarkable come of Christ to Judgement at the end of the sixth and seventh Rev. 16. 15, & 19, 11. Vials do thereupon seem to challenge the Application of the Harvest and Vintage to themselves. For the Harvest is described to be performed by one on a cloud like the Son of Man, as Christ is elsewhere described; And the Rev. 14. 14. treading of the Wine-press after the Vintage is said expressly to be done by him whose name is the word; and Rev. 19 15. what fairer ground can there be desired to judge the Harvest and Vintage to be the effect of these two Vials? especially when it is considered, that the fifth Vial, which only can pretend to have a share in this, seems evidently Rev. 16. 10. to be no destroying judgement. The Beast is after that in the sixth Vial represented to be in great power with the Kings of the Earth and of the whole World. And V 12. therefore does the fifth Vial seem to be uncapable of being a Part of the Harvest, which is always used to signify Jerem. 51. 33. Matth. 13. 39 a destroying Judgement. This would extremely well agreed with the Harvest and Vintage in the Prophet Joel, from whence the use Joel 3. 13. of that and of the Vintage in this place seems manifestly to be fetched; For the Harvest and Vintage are there used to signify the destruction of the Enemies of God's Church, in the valley of Jehosaphat at the deliverance of his People from them; And the Plague of the sixth Vial is just the same thing, in HARMAGEDDON, which signifies the same with the periphrasis of that in Joel, that is, THE VALLEY OF CONCISION. And the Kings of the East in the sixth Vial, are generally judged to be the Nation of the Jews returning towards their own Land from beyond Euphrates, where they are said to be in very great numbers. Thus would the Harvest be the Victory of the Jews over the Roman Party, and the Vintage the triumph of the Gentle Christians over them. And it may be observed all over the New Testament, that the Church of Christ is represented by these two as the constituent Parts of it. And thus would the distance of the end of the sixth Forty days. Vial from that of the seventh be very properly signified by the distance of the Harvest from the Vintage, which is not much above forty days, and would very well answer the forty years betwixt the ends of those two Vials. But when we see that the seventh Vial consists of Rev. 16. 17. & ch. 18. 2. ch 19 two distinct destroying judgements, one upon Babylon, and the other upon the Beast, and that that upon Babylon is represented to be of general influence upon the whole Party, and that all along the 14th chap. before the Harvest and Vintage, Babylon and the Beast are set out as the two great distinct Objects of the Plagues of God, there is ground enough to think, that the Harvest and Vintage may be nothing but the two Parts of the Plague of the seventh Vial upon Babylon and the Beast; And this would very well answer the nature of the Harvest and Vintage, as they are the two parts of the last continued Destruction of the growth of one year. It may indeed at first be imagined, That the last Destruction of the Power of the Beast in the Harvest and Vintage, may be the same with the Plagues of the seven Vials; For those Plagues do at the beginning of the 15th. Chapter, immediately follow the mention of the Vintage Chap. 16. 17. at the end of the 14th. Chapter, as the particular Judgements by which the last Destruction of the Beast (signified by the Harvest and Vintage) is executed; just as the last part of this Destruction is set forth in general in the seventh Vial, and does appear to be afterwards executed by the ruin of Babylon, and the Beast in particular, in the 18th. and 19th. Chapters; And, as the Vengeance for the Blood of the Martyrs promised only in general in the fifth Seal, is specified afterwards in particular, in the account of the Plagues of the seven Trumpets, (by Theor. 13.) There is this farther ground for such an apprehension; The Wine-press is called, (Chap. 14. 19) The great Wine-press of the Wrath of God. And Chap. 19 15. The Wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of God. And the seventh Vial which is agreed to be concerned in the Vintage, is said, Chap. 16. To be the Cup of the Wine-press of the fierceness of God's Wrath. It Rev. 15. 1, 7. cannot therefore be questioned, but that the seventh Vial is certainly of the same nature with the treading the Wine-press. Now the rest of the Vials have much the same Character with that of the seventh. For they are said to be the Wrath of God filled up, and Vials full of the Wrath of God. It must be acknowledged, That if there were nothing else against it, these concinnities might be listened to. But there are several Considerations, which show it to be necessary for the Vials to begin before the time of the Vintage or Harvest, as particularly that of Theor. the 47th. And the eminent Vexations of the Roman Party ever since the Reformation, especially that Ocean, and those Rivers of Blood, which was shed from the beginning of the Dutch Commonwealth to the end of the Swedish War in Germany, which were as eminent Plagues to the Party of the Beast, as the first Trumpets were to the Roman Empire; And which must be signified by either the seven first or the seven last Plagues: And it is not to be doubted, but that they are no ways signified by any of the Theor. 41. Plagues of the Trumpets, which are the seven first Plagues, and therefore must be signified by the Vials; And than must the time of the Vials begin long before the last destruction of the Party of the Beast in the Harvest and Vintage, because that time is certainly not yet come; whereas those Eminent Judgements since the Reformation, are long since past. It may also be observed, That there is no such exact Agreement betwixt the Character of the Wine-press and that of all the seven Vials. The Wine-press is said to be the Wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of God, and is indeed the same with the Cup of the Wine of the fierceness of God's Wrath mentioned in the seventh Vial. But that Expression of the seventh Vial, does plainly distinguish it from the rest of the Vials, as a very extraordinary Expression of the wrath of God, far beyond those in the rest of them: And therefore does rather distinguish the Vintage, (which has also the same Expression,) as well as itself, from the rest of the Vials, than prove it to be the same with them. The like may be observed from the 14th. Chapter, v. 10. where there is almost the very same particular Character of the Vintage that has been found in the seventh Vial; it is called the drinking of the Wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the Cup of his Indignation, which is the same with the Cup of the wine of the fierceness of God's wrath in the seventh Vial, and do both of them denote the highest point of the Fury of God's Wrath in the last Act of Destruction (which is certainly so in the seventh Vial,) and therefore do thereby distinguish the Vintage and the seventh Vial, from all the preceding Expressions of God's wrath in the rest of the Vials; According as we see the drinking of the wine of the wrath of God in the 14th. Chap. 10. Quite another thing than the Hour of God's Judgements in the 7th. Verse before it; And refers plainly to the Vintage that was to come, as the Hour of God's Judgements does refer to some Vengeance of God just than begun. And thus the one of them represents the time of the Vials just than begun, and the other the last end of them with the seventh Vial. It is plain enough (from Theor. 36.) That the Hour of God's Judgements must signify the beginning of the last Chap. 14. 7. Plagues of God upon the Roman Party; And since the first of the Vials is also the first of the last Plagues of God upon the same Party, it must be contemporary with the Hour of God's Judgements. And than must it as certainly Theor. 39 Verse 12. be before the Harvest and Vintage, which are after the great Persecution. THIS was the farthest Progress of my Design, when I received the late Learned and Ingenious Discoveries about the future State of this Earth, from my Honoured Friend, The Author of the New Theory of the Earth. Dr. Burnet. I cannot sufficiently express the satisfaction I took in the Choice, and very surprising Entertainment that I there met with; And I think myself obliged thereupon to communicate some of mine own Reflections in confirmation of what he has there advanced. If I chance to differ from Him in some small Matters, I am so well acquainted with the great Ingenuity and Freedom of his Spirit, that I think it not worth the while to excuse it. I do wholly subscribe to his Opinion about the necessity of the literal Acceptation of the first part of the 21st. Chapter of the Apocalypse, concerning the Resurrection of the Saints: And from thence do acknowledge the unquestionable grounds we have for a Blessed Millennium here upon Earth. Ever since I first learned it from Mr. Mede, I have extremely admired, How it was possible for it to stand suspected for an Heresy for so many Ages together, and even before the Times of the Degeneracy of the Church, ONLY because some inconsiderable Heretics had made a sensual Application of it. It is certain, That the Chiliasts have had very unreasonable Charges upon them by their Adversaries, from the first times of Imperial Orthodoxy; And nothing but such a kind of Injustice could have made so fair and modest a Writer as Mr. Mede, break out into such a Passion against St. Jerom upon such an occasion, as we found him pag. 898. Os Hieronymi! says he, and so goes on in expostulating with him. For it is now almost generally agreed, That the most Eminent Fathers of the Church for the first 300 years, were of that Opinion. The Jesuit Petavius, and others of his Society and Communion, as well as the most Learned of Protestants, do take it for a thing that cannot be denied. Justin Martyr alone is a sufficient Witness for the sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc. Justin Martin dial. cum Tryphone, pag. 307. Edit. Paris. of all the considerable parts of the Christian Church in his Days, which were the nearest the Apostolic Times of almost any remainder of Antiquity after them. In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, He tells him, That he himself, and All else that were than Orthodox Christians were of that mind, that is, that there should be a Millennium of the Saints upon Earth. The evidence that there is for this Opinion from the 21st. Chapter of the Apocalypse, must convince All that will hold to the true Rule of all Interpretation, which is, Not to leave the literal sense of the words, where there is no clearer grounds for another. For to make it unquestionable, That the Persons that were chosen to Reign with Christ for the space of a thousand Verse ●. 9 years, were to enjoy this Privilege upon Earth: It is expressly said, That their Enemies God and Magog went up upon the breadth of the Earth, and compassed the Camp of these Saints. They themselves are also said to live again after they were beheaded, in distinction to the rest of the Dead, who did not Vere 4, 5. than live again; which shows, That the Life that they enjoyed was a real Corporeal Life, and not that in which All Souls are said to live to God after Death. Therefore also is it, That this New Life is called by the same Name of a Resurrection, that is used to signify the return Verse 4, 5. of departed Souls into their Bodies again; And this is called the First Resurrection in distinction to the other, which is called the Second; Which denotes this living again of the Martyrs in the Millennium, to be the same kind of bodily Life that is promised at the last Resurrection. The further confirmation of this from other Authorities is so well performed by the Author of the Theory, that it needs not further concern about it of that kind. The first Epocha of the Millennium, seems to be more difficult to determine, viz. Whether it gins before the Conflagration or after? And if after it, Whether only after the first Effects of the Conflagration in some particular parts of the Earth, or after the end of the general Conflagration of the whole Earth. It seems to be passed all question, That the Millennium does not begin before the first Appearance of the Conflagration. For both Babylon and the Beast, are represented in the 18th. and 19th. Chapters, just before, to have been consumed by Fire: And in the account of the fourth Beast of the seventh Chapter of Daniel, which is unquestionably the same with the Beast in the Revelations, at the 11th. Verse, PART I The Body of the Beast is said to be given to the burning Flame; Where by the Body of the Beast all will allow, must be meant the Body of that particular Kingdom: Which is a sufficient Proof of its being a very remarkable beginning of a general Conflagration. For the Territories that must be signified by the Body of the Roman Kingdom, must be a considerable part of that which is to be destroyed by the last Conflagration; And therefore cannot but be accounted the beginning of it. We do also found the General Conflagration of the Earth, to be frequently represented as one continued Event, and fixed to one set time, which is called, The Day of the Lord, The last End, The coming of the Lord. And this is frequently fixed to the burning of the Seat of Antichrist, as its first immediate Effect; Which is a manifest proof, that this burning of the Beast, and of Babylon, is the first beginning of that General Conflagration, which from the beginning of it to the end of it, is represented as one continued thing. Thus does St. Peter call the time of the General Conflagration, The coming of Christ, The Day of the Lord, in which 2 Epist. 3, 4, ● 1● the Heavens and the Earth should pass away, and be burnt up; Now these same terms of the coming of Christ and of the day of the Lord, are by St. Paul given to the first appearance 2 Thess. 2. 8. of Christ from Heaven in flames of Fire, to the destruction of the Man of Sin. So also is the first appearance of Christ in flames of Fire, made to be the same with the time of the general destruction of all those that obey not the Gospel of Christ, and called by the same name of the day of the Lord, and his coming, 2 Thessalon. 1. 7, 8, 9, 10. It may than now be concluded, that the Millennium cannot begin before all appearance of the general Conflagration. But it may be questioned whether it is not to begin immediately after the first effect of it upon Babylon, and the Beast. That which gives the fairest occasion for this doubt, is the intimation we have after the relation of the burning of the body of the Beast, in the seventh of Daniel, that there will after that remain a considerable Part of the Earth entire, and inhabited. For it is there said at the 12th V. that the rest of the Beasts had their Lives prolonged for a season and time, tho' their dominion had been taken from them. The lest that can be apprehended to be meant by the rest of the Beasts, must be, that the three other Kingdoms, the Babylonian, Persian, and Graecian, which had been represented by three Beasts just before, were not destroyed by Fire, as the Roman Territories, represented by the Body of the fourth Beast, are described to be: that they had indeed lost their ruling power, or their dominion, but that the People in them were still alive; This seems to be the true, and genuine sense of that verse, because it follows immediately after the account of the slaying of the fourth Beast, and of the burning of his body; And therefore aught to be understood of the same time, and in opposition to what the other is said than to suffer. If this should be interpreted only of the continuance of the three Kingdoms, (signified by the rest of the Beasts) for all the time, that they were made a Part of the Roman Monarchy, that was no more than what was before signified v. 23. in the Scheme of the fourth Beast. For v. 23. that it is said of him, that the Kingdom represented by that Beast had devoured the whole Earth, out of which the v. 17. other three are said to arise; And this was represented in the description of that Beast long before this exception of the rest of the Beasts. This than would incline any to apprehended that Greece, and Asia, were here signified to continued still inhabited, after the Burning of the Western Part of the Roman Territories. And this apprehension would be fortified by what may generally be observed of the great judgements of God upon the World. They are ordinarily executed by the concurrence of the natural disposition of things at those times. This does the Author of the Theory observe in his explanation of the Deluge, which is every where made the great Parallel of the destruction of the World by Fire. According to this one would expect, that the Conflagration of the Earth should not be all at one time. For it is incredible, that the Seas about the Earth should be evaporated in any short time, if the Conflagration were carried on by the natural course of things; Besides, that it must require great distances of time to carry on so great a work through all the resistance, that it is to overcome in the body of our Earth. This consideration, I say, does fortify the other; But I would not have propounded it alone, because there are manifest intimations, that there will be the immediate hand of Heaven, for the beginning of this destruction in the Territories of the Beast. To this may also be added the consideration of the distinct, and separate accounts of the burning of Babylon, and the Beast; As if it were but the first earnest of the general destruction. Thus we see it, in Daniel, and the Apocalypse about the Beast, and 2 Thess. concerning the last end of the Man of Sin. And the Wine-press which does the most fully express the last end of all things in the Apocalyptick Scene, and as this Author observes, seems to be nothing but that Lake of Fire and Brimstone, which is the natural effect of a Conflagration, we see it restrained only to a certain number of furlongs out of the City Babylon, or to some Chap. 14. 20. certain bounds of the Roman Territories in Europe. These may be some inducements to apprehended, that there may be many Country's entire for some considerable time after the ruin of the Antichristian Powers by Fire. And than, the Prophecies every where representing the next State of the World after that to be the Universal Reign of Christ in the World, they seem to invite us to begin the Millennium there, when all the Enemies of the Christian Church are represented to be destroyed; especially when we see no distance made in the Prophecies, betwixt the end of the Beast and the beginning of the Millennium; And this would place the beginning of the Millennium within the time of the Conflagration, in those Parts of the World which were yet untouched and entire. But this is inconsistent with the Characters of the Persons, who are designed for this Blessed State. They are said to be those, that were beheaded for the Word of God, and which were to rise again from the Dead; And therefore are the remaining Inhabitants of any other Part of the World uncapable of this Character. It might indeed be replied, that those, who are described as risen from the Dead for this end, are only that Part of these Inhabitants, which were to sit upon Thrones, and to judge the rest, upon which account they are said to Reign, or to be the Kings in this World together with Christ; Which supposes, that there must be others besides, whom they were to Reign over, and to judge. That therefore, which does the most clearly determine the first point of the Millennium is the Characters of the New Jerusalem. Immediately after the thanksgiving for the destruction of Babylon chap. 19 6. It is said that the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth; And that the Marriage of the Lamb was v. 6, 7. come, and that his Wife had made herself ready. 1. It is unquestionable, that by the Wife of the Lamb in this place is meant the same thing in substance with that which is called the New Jerusalem, chap. 21. 2. For, as her being only ready for Marriage, in the 19 chap. does signify her to be yet but a Bride, so has the New Jerusalem the same names in the other Chapter, of a Ch. 21. 2, 9 Wife, and Bride to the Lamb, in reference to this. 2. It is as manifest, that the reason why this intimation of the readiness of the Lamb's Wife, comes in immediately after the account of the burning of Babylon, is to signify the succession of the true Spouse of Christ, in the room of the WHORE that was destroyed. 3. By this than it appears, that that State of the Church, which was to be afterwards the New Jerusalem, was to succeed soon after the destruction of the Beast; For it was said to be in a readiness just before the last Fight of Ch. 19 2, 11. the Armies of Christ with those of the Beast. 4. From hence does it appear, that the New Jerusalem, and the Millennium are the same state of the Church of Christ. For that state of it which is called the New Jerusalem could not either end before, nor begin after the Millennium. 1. It could not end before the Millennium: Because there was a New Heaven, and a New Earth, and the former Chap. 21. 2. were passed away before the Appearance of the New Jerusalem; Which shows, that this State of the New Jerusalem was after the general Conflagration; And than, it has the privilege of having no more death in it; And therefore V 4. must it always continued, and consequently be the same State of the Church with that in the Millennium during those years, let the first beginning of it be never so uncertain; Wherhfore the continued State of the New Jerusalem could not be passed before the Millennium. 2. The State of the New Jerusalem could not begin after the Millennium: Because it was in a readiness to come presently after the ruin of Babylon, and before the burning of Ch. 19 v. 7. the Beast, after both which the Millennium is described to be; Whereas if the New Jerusalem were to come after the Millennium, it would not begin till above a Thousand years after it was said to be in a readiness to come. And further, it is expressly said, that the Enemies of the Saints in the Millennium compassed their Camp, and the Beloved City, which is the same peculiar Character of the New Jerusalem, with those of the Holy City, and the Chap. 20. v. 9 Wife, or Bride of the Lamb, in chap. 21. 2, 9 This shows, that the Millennium, and the New Jerusalem were both at the same time. And this added to the former part of the Proof is a sufficient conviction, that the New Jerusalem, and the Millennium are the same State of the Church. 5. If the New Jerusalem, and the Millennium be the same state of the Church, than are we no longer to seek for the first beginning of the Millennium. For the New Jerusalem did not begin till after the general Conflagration, or not till there was a New Heaven, and a New Chap. 21. 2. Earth, and no more Sea. This is sufficient to determine the beginning of the Millennium to be after the general Conflagration. But after all this, the difficulty about the prolonging of Dan. 7. 12. the lives of the rest of the Beasts for a Season, and time, does still remain. For if the Eastern Parts of the Earth, Greece & Asia do after a while continued entire, as seems by those Beasts to be signified, there is all reason to apprehended that the Christian Church will flourish there free from all fear of its Enemies; And than there will be a State of the Church betwixt the ruin of the Beast, and the Millennium, that does not seem to have any mention of it either in Daniel, or the Revelations. In answer to this objection, it is to be considered that the true Church is described to be in a readiness for the Millennium, before the time of its being actually in that state; Chap. 19 7. And the dress, that the Wife of the Lamb is said to be put into, in order to the Marriage (Chap. 19 8.) gives room enough for that pure state of the Christian Church, which is to come in betwixt the ruin of the Beast, and the last end of the Conflagration. For these things seem to be prepared in the sixth Vial. For the matter of that is a War betwixt the Beast and his Confederates, and the Kings of the East beyond Euphrates. And the place of the Battle being said to be Harmageddon, which by the best critics is determined to refer to some place in Palestine, this does seem plainly to intimate, that all Asia will than be under Christian Kings, who shall subdue all the power of the Beast in those Parts. For tho' there be no express mention of a Victory in that Vial, yet since it must be a Plague upon the Beast, as all the rest of the Vials are, the only Plague, that it seems capable of inflicting upon them, is the conquest of that force, which were gathered together in Harmageddon; The very name of Harmageddon does alone evince this. For it does properly signify, a place of Concision or destruction. Here than appears ground enough to conclude, that Asia will be the last Stage of the Church on this side of the Earth; And this gives room enough for the fulfilling of the Prophecies concerning the conversion of the Jews, and for any of those Privileges, which by others may be thought to be necessarily confined to that Country. For in the first place the Air and Soil of that Country must in this way be supposed to be much changed to the better. Whether such a change in the body of the Earth, as the burning up of the Roman Territories must needs make, may so change the Centre of its gravity, as thereby to make it incline more to a direct situation of its Poles to the Sun, which will make its seasons equable, and healthful, as the first part of the Theory has observed, I know not; But the Exhalations, and Vapours, that may come cool to those Eastern Parts from the great Fire in the West, will make the Soil much more verdant and fruitful: As it is every where observed of those grounds, that are near Mount Ae●na, or Vesuvius. How the Ashes should fly so far, is easy to imagine from the distances, that the eruptions of ordinary Volcanoes have reached to; It will be as easy to apprehended, how the vapours should wander so far to congregate into fruitful showers, if we consider, that the heat of the Western Air will drive them into those quarters, that are farthest from the focus of it till they can be cool enough to condense into Clouds. This apprehension of the gradual, and slow Progress of the Conflagration, and of the continuance of the Christian Church for some while after the first beginning of it, is further confirmed by the different Ends of the Beast, and of the Kings of the Earth, that were confederated with Chap. 19 20, 21. him. The Beast and False Prophet, are said to be cast alive into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone; But All the rest of the Confederates to have been slain with the Sword that proceeded out of the Mouth of him that sat upon the Horse. The Sword of him that is there called the WORD Verse 13. OF GOD, and which is said to proceed out of his Mouth, is generally concluded by Interpreters, to signify the same with the Sword of the Spirit, which is said to be the Word of God, Ephes. 6. 17. The Effect ascribed to this Sword going out of the Mouth of the WORD, viz. that with it he should smite the Nations, does also confirm Verse 15. this. For it is the same kind of Expression, that is used to the Church in Pergamos, That he would fight against Rev. 2. 16. them with the Sword of his Mouth; Which therefore in both places, must denote the terrifying Power of the Word of God in the Conscience, in order to an inward Conviction; Just as it is described in the 4th. Chapter of Hebrews, v. 12. with the same peculiar Epithet of a Rev. 1. 16. and Chap. ●. 12. Twoedged Sword, that is here the Scheme of it, and in two other Chapters of the Revelations; And the Effect of it as a Twoedged Sword in that place of the Hebrews, is said to be, To pierce to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit, of the Joints and Marrow, and to be a discerner of the Thoughts and Intents of the Heart; All which is but a Description of the Terrors of an Evil Conscience, by the Power of the Word of God awakening it. Wherhfore when the Confederates of the Beast are said to be slain with the Sword coming out of the Mouth of the Word, nothing can be understood by it, but the terrifying Power of the Truth made known to their Consciences. And than the slaying them must be understood in that sense, which killing and slaying without mention of Blood, is in several places of these Visions known to have, that is, of having lost a former State, by which things were distinguished from the rest of the World. Thus is the kill of the Witnesses known to signify nothing but the Suppression of that outward Profession of the Truth, which made them Witnesses, and not possible to signify a literal Death, (Conseq. 1. Theor. 28.) And their Death and dead Bodies there mentioned, are to be understood in the same sense. So also is the kill of the third part of Men in the sixth Trumpet, found to Rev. 9 15. be nothing but the loss of that Roman Name and Power, by which they were before distinguished from the Turks. For it is a most incredible thing, That the third part of Men should be really killed, nor was it ever verified in History. In the same sense have the Expressions of killing and dying, been found to be taken in the fifth and second CHAP. IU. Trumpet; As also at the Ascension of the Witnesses, where 7000 are said to be slain, and the rest to be converted. For slaying must either signify in that place, only the Suppression of the Profession of the Roman Religion, or else the Kingdom there described to be converted must not have one real Romanist in it, which is absurd to imagine of it at that time, to which this is fixed, that is, long before the last end of the Roman Church. And in this sense does Mr. Mede explain this very place, pag. 907. and quotes Hosea 6. 5. to back it, where it is said, I have slain them by the Words of my Mouth. This is than a sufficient warrant to conclude, That by the slaying of the Kings and their Armies with the Sword, that proceeded out of the Mouth of him that sat upon the Horse, is to be understood nothing but the terrifying Conviction of the rest of the Romanists, after the burning of the Roman Territories; Whereas the Beast and False Prophet are said to be cast alive into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, to signify, That they were cut of in their Impenitence, and without Remorse or Change of their Profession. It is certain, That if the Sword out of the Mouth of Christ, should be interpreted of any such fiery Blast, as was to destroy so many Confederates of the Beast, it must much more have first struck down the Beast and False Prophet themselves, before the time of the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. From hence than, there is another ground to apprehended, That the Christian Church shall not only continued but increase, after that particular Conflagration of the Roman Territories. Against this distinction of the end of the Beast and his Confederates, it may be suggested, That the Beast is also Verse 11. said in the 7th. of Daniel to have been slain, and his Body to have been given to the burning Flame. But it is plain, That this is a manifest Contradiction to what is affirmed of him, in the 19th. of the Revelations, if what is said of him in both places should be understood of the same time of him in the literal sense. For in the seventh of Daniel, he is represented as slain before he was thrown into the burning Flames. And in the 19th. Chapter of the Revelations, as thrown into the Fire alive. That place therefore in the 7th. of Daniel, must be so understood, as to make it capable of being consistent with the other. Now it is certain, That in the 19th. Chap. Revelations, Rev. 19 20. it is expressly said, That the Beast was cast alive into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone: And in what sense soever the Beast be said to be alive, when he was thrown into the Flames, it must at lest signify, That he was not than literally dead; The most than that can be signified by his being slain, and having his Body cast into the Flames in Daniel, is only this, That he was not only slain, which the rest of the Beasts are said not to have been, but also was burnt: There is no necessary order of things imported in those two Characters. They are capable of being understood of the same last end of the Beast; And so are to be interpreted to reconcile it with the other Account of his end, which is not capable of being otherwise taken. But than it must be owned, That the term of Slaying the Beast in Daniel, must there be literally taken; And that upon this very good reason, viz. Because there is no use of that Expression in the Prophecy of Daniel in any other than the literal Sense, whereas it is most commonly taken in a Figurative Sense in the Revelations, as has been already observed. A further ground for this is, The intimation that is given of the Marriage Supper of the Rev. 19 7, 9 Lamb, just after the Ruin of Babylon, and of a Blessing pronounced to all that should be called to it; And thereupon follows the mention of a Cry with a loud Voice, to call all the Fowls of Heaven to the Supper Verse 17. of the great God. This would incline any to determine, that this which has so peculiar a Name, as that of the Supper of the Great God, must be the same with what was before called the Marriage of the Lamb, when it appears to have the same kind of Circumstances joined with it. Now this Supper is described to consist of the Flesh of the slain Kings and Captains, etc. which compared with what has been already found to be the Signification Pag. 298. of slaying them, does naturally invite one to determine, That the Marriage Supper of the Lamb must be the Conversions of the rest of the World after the Ruin of the Roman Church. For since their being slain is found to be a Figurative Expression, neither the feeding upon their Flesh nor the Fowls of Heaven, can be understood in a literal sense. Nor can it be understood in the literal way, Why the eating of the Flesh of Kings and Captains, should be called the Supper of the Great God, with any Reference to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; which must upon that account, denote some Relation in it to the beginning of the Universal flourishing State of the Church, and its nearer Union with Christ the Spouse of it; And than this Supper being described to be just about the burning of the Beast, and before the Millennium, and to consist of those same Persons that were confederated with the Beast upon this present Earth, it must be interpreted of some flourishing State of the Church after the beginning of the Conflagration, and before the end of it. This middle State of the Church before the last end of the Conflagration, is also intimated in the Show of the Holy City, that the Evangelist is called to at the 9th. verse of the 21st. Chapter; He is invited to that sight by one of the seven Angels with the seven Vials, just as he was to the sight of the Judgement of Babylon, by an Angel of the same Character, Chap. 17. 1. Who by the Plague of the seventh Vial upon Babylon, just before that Show, appears to be the seventh Angel; And than the immediate consequence of that Judgement upon Babylon, being the Freedom and Deliverance of the Christian Church, That Angel of the seven Vials who calls to the sight of the Holy City, aught in all reason to be judged to be the same seventh Angel, And consequently to call the Apostle to a sight of the Holy City that was to begin upon Earth, as well as the other of the Judgement upon Babylon. But this I mention only as an intimation concurrent with the other. Thus may the first Earnest of the Universal Reign of Christ begin with the Conflagration upon the Stage of our Earth; And so may the immediate Effect of the third Woe upon the Beast in the seventh Trumpet, be as it is described, The Conversions of the Kingdoms Rev. 11. 14, 15. of this present World, into the Universal Kingdom of the Lord and of his Christ. And from that time may Christ be said to begin to Reign with his Father for ever, though the Millennium will be his more peculiar share of that Reign. And thus may the Lord God Omnipotent Rev. 19 6, 7 be said to Reign, while the Lamb's Marriage Supper is eating, and his Bride preparing Herself to be READY Chap. 21. 2. in this World, before it comes to descend from Heaven, as the New Jerusalem. The Conflagration may indeed at the first thought of it, seem to be but a very improper Scene of Things for so refined a State of the Church to be constantly entertained with. But it is to be considered, That those Flames of Vengeance that they will have continually before their Eyes, will be only the means of keeping them in a more constant and strict observance of their Duty. It is certain, that this partial Conflagration would give reason enough for the Conversion of both Jews and Heathens in all parts of the World, which is difficult to found a place for in any other way. CHAP. XX. The three Great Revolutions, that are to hap very shortly, considered singly, and with Relation to one another. How they strengthen the Proof of one another. Why the three last Vials are distinguished from the four first. How the time assigned to the Vials, proves the first Rise and last End of the Beast. The time of the first Rise of the Beast further evinced from the Event. UPON a Review of the Explication of the Trumpets and Vials, it appears, That there are three remarkable Revolutions relating to these present Times that are fore-shewn in them. The first is, The Return of the Profession of the Reformed Religion in some Eminent Kingdom where it is now suppressed; This is signified by the Resurrection of the Witnesses, Rev. 11. 11, 12. The second is, The last end of all Turkish Wars against the Western Empire, signified by the passing away of the second woe, Chap. 11. 14. The third is, The General Mortification of the Ruling Power of the Roman Church, signified by the pouring out of the fifth Vial upon the Throne of the Beast, Chap. 16. 10. These Events seem to have very fair grounds for each of them, independent of the proof of the other two. But the full strength of the Application of them, does depend upon the Relation that they appear to have to one another. Thus may it be observed of the first of these, That the Resurrection of the Witnesses considered apart from the two other, has these grounds for its Relation to these present Times. The Resurrection of the Witnesses is after three days and an half of the Death of the witnesses in Sackcloth. Now the Witnesses in Sackcloth being agreed to be the Suppos. 4. Representatives of the whole true Church in subjection to the Roman Church, Their Death must be the total Suppression of the Profession of the true Religion in all considerable Countries, that are under the Domination of the Roman Church. This is still further confirmed by the place, where the dead Bodies of the Witnesses are said to lie; And that is, in the Theor. 21. Streets of the Great City, or within the Territories of the Roman Church. If after this we look into the present posture of the Protestant Churches all over Europe, it will appear too sadly plain, That the Protestant Profession has within these thirty years been totally suppressed in all the considerable Countries where it was under the Roman Church; And the last Act of this Suppression was either at the Revocation of the Edict of Nants, and the Military Execution of it all over France presently after the publication of that Edict, or at farthest at the conclusion of the Persecution in Savoy the year after. But that of Savoy seems not to be considerable enough to come into this account. It appears however from hence, That the Prophecy of the Death of the Witnesses, must have been fulfilled at the end of one of these particulars, unless we can imagine, That there will be two Deaths of the Witnesses in Sackcloth, which has nothing to countenance it in the Prophecy. For the present total Suppression of the Reformed Religion, and all Suppos. 4. Theor. 29. considerable Countries that are under the Roman Yoke, must be accounted one Death, according to the Signification of the Witnesses in Sackcloth, and the Death of them. Wherhfore the Resurrection of the Witnesses being described to be three years and an half after their Death, signified by the three days and an half, (Theor. 27.) Their Resurrection cannot be far of this present Time. And as their Death was the Suppression of the Reformed Religion, so must their Resurrection be the Freedom of that Profession returned again; And this is restrained to one Kingdom only, where that Profession was suppressed, under the Character of the fall of the Tenth part of the City, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 21.) The whole of which City is represented by Babylon, and Babylon is found to signify the whole Dominion of the Roman Church, and that Dominion is Divided into ten Kingdoms, and signified by the ten Horns of the Beast. Here is therefore good ground to expect the return of the Protestant Profession in the Kingdom of France within a very short time, and not only that, but the Conversion of the whole Kingdom of France soon after the grant of a Free Exercise of the Reformed Religion; because the Ascension of the witnesses, and the Repentance of the rest, follows soon after their Resurrection, Chap. 11. 12, 13. THE Grounds for applying the end of the Turkish Wars to these present Times without any consideration of the other two Events, are, The length of the time assigned to the continuance of the second Woe in the sixth Trumpet, and the present posture of the Turkish Affairs. For the time allotted to the continuance of the Woe, is an Hour, a Day, a Month, and a Year; And these parts of Time have Rev. 9 15. been proved, to signify so many Years as there are Days in that Sum, or more than 390 Years; (CHAP. VIII. of this Part.) It has been also made much more sure, That that woe of the sixth Trumpet is the Turkish Hostilities against the Roman Empire, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 19) The beginning of this length of Time has also been shown to be fixed to some beginning of the Reign of Ottoman, (CHAP. IX. of this Part.) And from the beginning of any Date of Ottomans Reign to this present time, there are already run out 390 of our common Years. But from some Examples in this Prophecy, it is possible, That the account of Time may here be by Chaldaick or Babylonian Years, that is, 360 Days only to the Year; And than the whole Sum of the Years assigned to the continuance of the second Woe or the Turkish Hostilities, amounts to but 391 of our common years: Which therefore must be now at their conclusion if those two accurate computers of Time, Mr. Mede, and Petavius, be in the right, who date the Reign of Ottoman from a little before the Year 1300. However, let the Day, Month, and Year, of the second Woe, be accounted by Roman Years, which was the received way of Calculation in St. John's time, as the other portions of time in his Prophecy that were taken out of Daniel, are according to the Babylonian Account in the time of Daniel; yet there is ground enough from the History of Ottomans beginning, to think them capable of expiring very shortly. For it has been found (CHAP. IX. of this Part,) That Ottomans Victories against the Roman Christians began seven or eight years before the year 1300; And than there is space enough left from that Date for the expiration of the Day, Month and Year, at this present time, though they should be accounted to be 396 Years according to the Roman Calculation of the number of Days in a Year, when this Prophecy was delivered. As this does sufficiently show, that which soever of the Calculations be taken, the time assigned in the Prophecy is capable of expiring about this present time: so does the present posture of the Turkish Affairs extremely concur to strengthen our Expectations of the last end of all the Turkish Hostilities against the Western Empire, by a lasting and general Peace. THE Application of the third Event to these present Times, that is, The general Mortification of the Power of the Roman Church, is grounded upon the Date of the first beginning of the Vials; Which compared with the Events that have since happened, and that have been applied to the four first Vials, does make it seem requisite, That the fifth Vial should be now just at hand; The effect of which is, To fill the Kingdom of the Beast with Darkness. And this Ground for it is independent of the Characters of the other two Events. BUT NOW if we come to compare the Proofs of these Events for the confirmation of one another, They will appear to have a much stronger Foundation for their Application. For Example, The first of these Revolutions or the Resurrection of the Witnesses, does appear to be much more closely confined to these present Times, by its Relation to the second and third. For if the Turkish Hostilities (the second of these Events,) Rev. 11. 13, 14. Theor. 21. and Conseq. must be very shortly at an end, than must the Resurrection of the Witnesses be much sooner. For there is the Conversion of an whole Kingdom of the Roman Party to be performed, betwixt the Resurrection of the Witnesses and the passing away of the second Woe, or of all Turkish Hostilities. And the present posture of the Turkish Affairs gives a further presumption of the likelihood of this. The nearness of the time of the Resurrection of the Witnesses, will be still more confirmed by the Grounds that there are for the near approach of a general Mortification of the Power of the Roman Church, which is the third of these Revolutions before mentioned. For if the Plague of the fifth Vial which is found to signify this Event, be so near at hand with the general Humiliation of that Party, the Death of the Witnesses must very shortly be over, and their Resurrection begin in one at lest of the Kingdoms of that Party, before the general Advance of their Power in All the Territories of the Roman Church, which is the business of the fifth Vial; Theor. 65. But especially, if the fifth Vial be the first part of the third Woe, which brings on the Universal Kingdom of Christ Rev. 11. 15. in the seventh Trumpet, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 66.) For the third Woe cometh quickly after the second; And the Witnesses must be risen again before that time, according to the order of the Prophecy. THE second Revolution, or the end of all Turkish Vexations, is also much more certainly confined to these present Times, by the Relation of its Schemes to those of the first and third of these Events. For if the Resurrection of the Witnesses be now very near at hand, the passing away of the second Woe cannot be far of. The second Woe passes away presently after Chap. 11. 13, 14. the Ascension of the Witnesses, which is described in the Prophecy to be much about the same time with their Resurrection. And next, if the third Event or the Plague of the fifth Vial be near at hand, for the general Mortification of the Power of the Roman Church, than All the Hostile Power of the Turks must be soon at its last end: Because the Plague of the fifth Vial gins the third Woe, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 66.) And therefore must the passing away of the second Woe, or the end of the Turkish Hostilities be before it. THE third Revolution or the general Mortification of the Roman Church, is much more certainly fixed to these present Times by the Relation of its Characters to those of the first and second of these Revolutions. This need no long proof. For the fifth Vial, which does describe this Revolution, is the beginning of the third Woe, (Conseq. 2. Theor. 66.) And it is said to come quickly Rev. 11. 14. after the passing away of the second Woe: If than the passing away of the second Woe (which is the second of these Revolutions,) be near at hand, the general Mortification of the Church of Rome which gins the third Woe in the fifth Vial, cannot be far of. So also, if the Resurrection of the Witnesses be at hand, the fifth Vial which gins the third Woe must be soon after that Revolution; because the third Woe is in the Prophecy described to follow soon after the second, which is the next in the Prophecy to the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses. And besides, the third Woe is the continual Advancement of the true Church, or of the Risen Witnesses in all parts of the World, to the last ruin of the Power of the Roman Church, (Theor. 58.) And this according to the order of the Resurrection of the Witnesses, and of the third Woe in the Prophecy, seems to be nothing else but an immediate Sequel of the Resurrection and Ascension of the Witnesses; For it seems to be nothing else but the immediate Progress of the Power of the true Church in all parts of the Dominion of the Beast, after its recovery from a State of Death in one particular Kingdom where it first revives. And so the third Woe is nothing else but the continual increase of that Recovery of the Church from the first Appearance of it from Death, at the Resurrection of the Witnesses. Therefore the Plague of the fifth Vial being the first beginning of this third Woe, must follow very soon after the Resurrection of the Witnesses. From hence may it easily be discerned, why the three last Vials are distinguished from the four first, and made so many parts of the third Woe. That which makes the difference betwixt them, is, That the four first fall upon the Party of the Beast from the time of the first general Decay of his Power. But the three last come upon them after a new recovery of that Party, and their Triumph over the Witnesses, And so are the three last Woes upon that party after the last flush of their Power; As the three last Trumpets are distinguished by the same name of three Woes from the four first, to denote the different Judgements, that were than to come upon the account of the recovery of the Roman Tyranny at the new Rise of the Beast, which had been much humbled by the Fall of the Western Empire. AND NOW it may be observed, that the proof of the Applications of the Trumpets, and Vials does stand upon its own bottom, without any other suppositions about the first date of the appearance of the Beast, than that it was before the year 620, which all considerable Suppos. 3. Protestant Interpreters do agreed in. And from thence it is easy to observe, what a new demonstration a posteriori, these Applications do offer for the fixing the first date of the 1260 years of the Reign of the Beast. For, in the first place, if the date of the Vials be the first times of the Protestant Reformation, and the fifth Vial be but just now at hand, than the three last Vials, which are now still to come, must require about an 100 years to be fulfilled in, to hold any proportion to the four first, which are found to have been past since that date; And it appears to be a common Rule in this Prophecy, to observe some proportion betwixt the Parts of every number in it, which are of the same kind with one another, as also to signify the disproportion, that there is betwixt such parts of numbers, when there is really any disproportion in the events to which they are applied. This has been already observed in the marks, that are set upon the three last Trumpets, to distinguish the length of that continuance from that of the four first; And this note of distinction betwixt the different Trumpets is a probable confirmation of the equal proportion, that there is betwixt the equal parts of other numbers, which have no such mark of distinction betwixt them. For Exceptio firmat Regulam. It is therefore very reasonable to conclude from hence, that the end of the time of the Vials will not be much sooner, or later than about an 100 years hence. And than since the last Vial ends with the destruction of the Beast, this is a new confirmation of that which has been elsewhere advanced, viz. that the first appearance of the Beast was at Justinians recovery of the Western Empire, from which time to about the year 1800 will be about 1260 years. Conseq. 4. Theor. 5. Conseq. 2. Theor. 66. THIS is very agreeable to the nature of the third Woe in the seventh Trumpet, which brings the Beast to his ruin, and is found to be just now at hand by the execution of the fifth Vial. For it is one of those three Trumpets, which are distinguished from the four first for the length of their Rev. 8. 13. continuance under the name of the three last Woes; And according to the length of the continuance of the other two Woes before, it must continued for a considerable time to hold any proportion with them. And that which remains for the ruin of the great City Babylon, after the fall of the tenth part of it just before the third Woe, does seem to require as considerable a length of Chap. 11. 3●. time to finish that work in. For it is the conversion of all the Roman Church, except a tenth part of it, which is thereby signified to remain for the work of the third Woe in the seventh Trumpet, and which therefore cannot require lesle, than such a proportion of time for it, as is allotted to the three last Vials. The coming quickly of the third Woe (chap. 11. 14.) is of no weight to hinder the length of its continuance, as has been elsewhere observed. Coming quickly does generally signify in Scripture, and every where else the sudden appearance of a thing, and not the sudden going of it away; But more especially in this place, where it is used to signify a succession only to another thing, that is said to be passed away. This Epocha of the end of the Reign of the Beast, may be also thus further confirmed from the event. The Reign of the Beast is supposed now in being, and that the continuance of his Reign is for the space of 1260 years. The Reign of the Beast than could not begin muchbefore the year 450. For there are very near 1260 years passed since that time. There wants now but 20 years of that whole space of time. And besides, there is certainly some part of the time of his Reign still to come. For the two Witnesses are certainly not yet risen, nor the second Woe passed away, after both which must come a third Woe of some continuance, to be able to make an end of the Beast with the three signal successive judgements of the three last Vials in it; Especially when the Plague of the 6th is described, by a great War betwixt several great Potentates. Now there was no appearance of any remarkable event, fit to signalise the first Rise of the Beast by, betwixt the year 450, and the time of Justinian. That which is chief urged for this purpose, is the new appearance of the Ten Kings in the Roman Empire about that time, amongst whom that Empire was shared. But is is certain, that the Ten Kings were in possession of their share of the Empire some while before that time; and therefore must the Beast have been risen before the year 450 according to that account; And than would he be at an end before any such long execution could be done upon him, as the three last Vials, or the third Woe do represent. Besides, the Beast in the Revelations is known to be the same with the little Horn in the seventh chapter of Daniel. And the Ten Kings are there supposed to have been risen before the appearance of the little Horn. For it is said, that he came up after them, and that Dan. 7. 24. v. 8. he came up among them. The first of which does plainly express the preceding appearance of the Ten Horns, and the latter the existence of them all, when the little Horn appeared amongst them. It is also said, that the little Horn had three of the first Horns plucked up by the roots before Him. Those first Horns had been before named the Ten Horns; Which is a clear signification, that the ten Horns were all arisen before him, who had three of them plucked up v. 8. for him. There is therefore no force from the pretended simultaneous v. 7. Rise of the Beast with the ten Kings to fix the Rise of him to about the year 450, or to any time after it, before the Reign of Justinian. THAT which is the chief mark to know the first appearance of the Beast by, is the New succession of a King, who was one of some other seven, that had been before him; The Beast— is the eighth, and is of the seven; Rev. 17. 1●. And it being agreed, that all the seven Kings are so many different appearances of the supreme Government of the Romans, it must be enquired, whether there were any such new appearance of the ruling power of Rome, betwixt the year 450, and the time of Justinian. It is certain that the Imperial Government was about the year 450 the Ruling Power, and that it received no change till the conquest of Rome and Italy by the Goths and Heruli. But it was impossible for those Barbarous Kings to be the Beast, because they were in that Age made an end of, whereas the Beast is agreed to continued to this day. Nor could it be any new appearance of the Papal superiority, which could about that time be called the Rise of the Beast. For all the increase of the Papal Power would concern the False Prophet only, who is the second Rev. 13. 11. 12. Beast; Whereas there is a manifest distinction betwixt that which is every where in this Prophecy called the Beast, and Him, who is called the False Prophet; For the latter is on purpose represented by a second Beast, to show the difference betwixt him, and the first. By this than it appears, that the first Rising of the Beast, could not hap before the return of the Imperial Government again to the City of Rome with Justinian; Which as it was a new change of the Ruling Power of that place after its Conquest of the Goths, so was it very properly qualified to bear the Name of the eighth King, who was one of the seven; For it was the Imperial Government, which had been the sixth King before, But upon its restauration after the ruin of the Goths, whose Reign was the seventh King, was an eighth, which had been one of those seven, that were passed, and gone before it. Thus does it appear, what a confirmation there is of the first appearance of the Beast with Justinian, from the grounds that have been given for the applications of the Trumpets and Vials, independent of any particular supposition concerning the first Rise of the Beast. And now on the other side it may be observed, what a confirmation it is of the applications, that have been made of the Trumpets and Vials, that the first appearance of the Beast, has been proved to have began with Justinian. PART. I. That which does receive the greatest advantage by this is the application of the Vials. For if the first time of the Beast was at Justinians recovery of the City of Rome, than must not it end till a little before the year 1800. And than since the last Vial is to bring the Beast to his end, The last Vial must also end about the same time. Wherhfore since the three last Vials have been found necessary to be contained in the third Woe, (Chap. 16.) which is certainly yet for to come, and that the Vials are found to begin with the Reformation, The fourth Vial cannot be still to come. For than there would be no proportion betwixt the three first, and the four last; The three first would have taken up about 160 years, and the four last would be finished in an 100 years at farthest, and this without the lest intimation of any such difference betwixt them in the Prophecy, which yet is found to signify any considerable difference betwixt the parts of the same number when really it is so; As in the mark of distinction, that it has set upon the three last Trumpets, and in that of the seventh King, Rev. 17. 10. to signify his short continuance This demonstration of the first Rise of the Beast does also confirm that remarkable difference, that the Prophecy makes betwixt the four first Trumpets, and the three last. For according to what has been found to be the unquestionable interpretation of the fifth Trumpet, the three last Trumpets begin soon after the first appearance of the Beast, and the four first end a little before his appearance, which gives a very sufficient reason why the three last should be judgements of so much heavier a nature than the four firsts as to be introduced with so dreadful a cry of Woe, Woe, Woe, and to be followed with such dreadful Representations answerable to it. The provocations of the Beast were of a much higher malignity, than those beginnings of the Roman Tyranny, that ushered him in, and were therefore to be answered with judgements suitable to them. But than the sealing of the 144000 before the marking of the Party of the Beast did show, that the main body of the Christian Church was corrupt enough before the appearance of the Beast to have the Vengeance of the four first Trumpets executed upon it. The length also of the time assigned to the execution of the third Woe upon the Beast, is by the same means further confirmed. For the third Woe ends not before the last end of the Beast; It is that, which ruins him; And by its character of coming quickly after the second Woe, and by the known end of the period of the second Woe (from the day, month, and year assigned for the continuance of it) the third Woe must necessarily begin within a very few years; Wherhfore the continuance of the execution of that Woe upon the Beast must be about an 100 years, that is, from a few years hence to about the year 1800. BEfore we take our last farewell of these considerations, it will be no unpleasing Entertainment of our minds to reflect a little upon the strange concurrence of Events, that come now to crowd into be accomplished about these present times. All that dreadful War, and slaughter of the Witnesses in the eleventh chapter, has happened within the compass of the last forty years. And the whole Plague of the fourth Vial has been executed within the same time. The last end of the slaughter of the Witnesses, Their not being suffered to be buried, Their Resurrection from the dead, Their Ascension into Heaven, The fall of the tenth part of the City, The general Repentance of it, And the end of the second Woe, are confined to a very few years, some past, and the rest at hand, And signify the most remarkable Events, that can be found in many Ages, viz. The utter extinction of the profession of the truth in all the considerable Territories of the Roman Church, the preservation of it in the Consciences of the deniers of it, the revival of the outward possession of it where it was suppressed, the advancement of the Protestant Religion into a Popish Throne, The Revolt of the Government of that Kingdom from the Roman Church, the conversion of that whole Kingdom to the Reformed Religion, and than the final end of all Turkish Wars, either by a general peace or the ruin of their Empire. Presently after this is to be expected the beginning of the fifth Vial, which is the most remarkable Plague of any that had happened, and at the same time the beginning of the Third Woe, set out by the eminent circumstances of the sounding of the last Trumpet, and to be soon fulfilled by the beginning of a general mortification of the Interest of the Roman Church in all parts of its Dominion, which is to continued for about forty years. These Reflections compared with the happy earnest, that we have already had in these Nations, of the speedy accomplishment of the lightsome part of these Events just now at hand, must make us with all pious gratitude acknowledge, that, BLESSED ARE THE EYES, THAT SEE THE THINGS, THAT WE DO, AND SHALL SEE. FINIS. Letters wrote, when there was the greatest Apprehensions of the late Dangers. To Henry Plumptre, Esq DEAR ....... YOU have made a true guess at the cause of my long silence. Indeed I have been almost buried in my Apocalyptical Thoughts for these several Months, and several times have resolved to found leisure enough to writ to you, and yet have been again diverted from it— for which I beg your Pardon. But to show you, that I have made some Improvement by it, I do now acquaint you, that I am in a condition to writ Prognostications of the Affairs of almost all Kingdoms for these Hundred Years next following. I will endeavour here to give you an Account of some of the Particulars of them in order. 1. I make account, that it is demonstrable, That the Woe of the sixth Trumpet is the Turkish Encroachments upon the Remains of the ancient Roman Empire. 2. That the last end of their Hostilities is determined in express terms in the Prophecy to the time of Three hundred ninety six Years at most, from the first rise of the Ottoman Family. 3. That they will either begin a perpetual Peace, or have an end of their Empire within these Eight Years at farthest, but there are grounds enough to expect it sooner. 4. But yet that there will be neither a general Peace with the Turks, nor the Ruin of their Empire before about the Year 1690.— And very probable, 5. That the Two Witnesses were killed at the Revocation of the Edict of Nants in 85. 6. And therefore improbable, that there should be any Persecution or Suppression of the True Religion in England, where the Witnesses are not so much as in a Sackcloth state. The same may be apprehended of the Palatinate.— But much more certain, 7. That the True Religion will revive again in some very considerable Kingdom before the general perpetual Peace with the Turks, or the Ruin of their Empire. 8. And from the first flourishing return of it in that Kingdom, it will continued advancing upon the Ruins of the Roman Church, without any Interruption, for about an Hundred Years, or till the last end of that Church. 9 That the Church of Rome will begin to be in that uninterrupted, or gradual decay of its Power, presently after the general Peace, or Ruin of the Turkish Empire. 10. That the first Humiliation of the Roman Interest after the end of the Turkish Hostilities, will be some Troubles in the Imperial Countries, or in the Lands of the Papacy, which must be within very few Years. 11. That those Troubles will continued till about the Year 1720 at lest, if not some years after. 12. That those Troubles will be an Humiliation of the Power of the Roman Church, most probably by a New Reformation getting ground among them, but without much Effusion of Blood. They will be a great Eclipse of the present flourishing appearance of the Imperial, or the Papal Power. 13. That the present King of France will be not much longer active against the Spanish Netherlands, or the Imperial Interest. 14. That betwixt the Year 1720, and 1760, there will be a very eminent War betwixt some Eastern Princes on the other side of Euphrates, and the Confederate Princes of the Roman Party. 15. That in the latter part of that War there will be some eminent Judgements, that will make way for a particular advancement of the Kingdom of our Lord. 16. That betwixt the Year 1760 and 1800, Rome will be destroyed, and soon after, the chief Supports of the Roman Church, Ecclesiastical and Civil, or the Imperial Roman Power, and the Papal will be destroyed. 17. I had forgot to add in its place, That it is most unquestionable, that the Two Witnesses Rev. 11. can never have yet been risen again from the Dead; Nor can their Resurrection be deferred till after either the end of the Turkish Empire, or the conclusion of the general Peace with them. But whatsoever becomes of all these Particulars, my main Demonstration about the time of the Rise of the Beast, and the fixing it to the present Heads of the Roman Church stands still unshaken. If you meet with Dr. Patrick, pray tell him, That his Encouragement was the great Motive to me to enter into the more obscure and uncertain parts of the Prophecy; But I think I have done it with so much Caution, that I am confident I shall be allowed to proceed upon acknowledged Grounds, and not to be very lose in my Deductions and Connections.— God grant I be not deceived in any thing material to the Comfort of his Church.— I believe all may be finished before Christmas. Novemb. 22. 1687. I am, etc. To the same. At the first Change of Corporations to get the Test of. I Was very much pleased with the divertisement which you made yourself in your last. Whatsoever pity others may meet with, the New Chartermen will found none. The present Revolutions I look upon to be the beginning of the preparations for the universal Kingdom of Christ upon Earth. Whatsoever others may intent, or design by this Liberty of Conscience, I cannot believe, that it will be ever recalled in England, as long as the World stands, and so may be, and is very likely to be of much surer, and more lasting continuance than Magna Charta. But yet, though vastly tempted to concur with the Court in the Persons, that are recommended to be chosen for Parliament, I cannot in Conscience comply. I look upon this Parliament as wholly designed for the composure of a Difference betwixt the King and the Nation, and therefore aught to consist of Persons wholly independent upon the favour of the Court, to be able to keep to their intentions of a lasting security for the Nation.— So that I, who could do it more according to these Principles, than any else, do now stand alone by myself to be the only Object of a Storm. But I hope that Liberty of Conscience will be faithfully observed.— New Matter coming into my thoughts, or new strength of Proof for the old, has kept my Work still upon the Anvil. But I hope to have quite done with the Second Part within these three Weeks, or Month, and to sand it to Doctor Patrick, and while he is perusing that, I will endeavour to finish the First. The Bishop of St. Asaph has a desire to see my Papers, having a design himself to Print something on that Subject. I desire you to correct one part of the Conclusions in my last Letter, and that is concerning the Troubles of Germany Imperial, or the Papacy in particular, and instead of them to understand it of the great Diminution of the power of the Roman Church in general. For it must necessarily be the Dominion of the Roman Church in general, which is meant by the Kingdom of the Beast in the fifth Vial, and which is very shortly approaching: But yet Imperial Germany, or the Papacy may be the chief sufferers in it. I am more and more confident, as Apocalyptical Men use to be, of the strength of my Conclusions; And from thence sand you the News of a continual increase of the flourishing State of the Church very shortly to begin, and to continued to the end of the World; And therefore desire you to take special Care of your Health, and to desire all good People to do so, that they may be so happy as to live to see a full confirmation of this Prediction;— But the next Year seems in all probability to be a Year of Wonders for the recovery of the Church. My Pen runs before I am ware of it; For my Head is full, and I think I have got one to ease myself upon, and so I desire you to bear it patiently; It is nothing but a great confidence in the interest I have in your Friendship, that is the cause of it, and therefore is to assure you how much without reserve I am Feb. 21. 1687/ 8. AS to your demand about my Opinion of the Year 89. I must own that I am of the mind of Monsieur Jurieu about the Resurrection, though I think that which he makes a chief ground for it, to be weak— I think such a thing to be highly probable to hap that Year in some eminent Kingdom of the Roman Party where the Reformed Religion has been suppressed, and upon comparing the circumstances of other Kingdoms with the Characters of the Text, I cannot imagine where it should be but in France. For the Ascension that follows, may, I think, be demonstrated to signify an advancement to an Earthly Throne. And where can that be the next Year amongst the Kingdoms of Poland, Bohemia, Silesia, Hungary, France? Upon this occasion I cannot but mention to you, That the King of France either has not long to live, or must be really made The Most Christian King within these few Years. But pray do not imagine that I affirm these things upon so fanciful a bottom as Monsieur Jurieu's grand place is, which besides other defects, is a wrong Translation, and has no clear known use of the Greek word in that sense either in the New Testament or the Septuagint. Feb. 28. 1687/ 8. FINIS.