BENGELIUS^ INTRODUCTION T O H IS Expofition of the Apocalypfe: WITH HIS PREFACE to that WORK, And the greateft Part of THE CONCLUSION OF ITl ... And alfo his Marginal Notes on the Text, WKICH ARE A Summary of the whole Exposition. Translated from the High-Dutch By JOHN ROBERTSON, M. D. LONDON: Sold by J. Ryall and R. W^'^hy, at Hogarth's Head and Dial oppofite to Salifbury-Court, Fket-Jireet^ M.DCC.LVII, THE TRANS LAT R's PREFACE. TN the Propofah for printing the enfiiing Treatife I declared my high opinion of the merit of the Author^ and the Grounds of it 5 and my Defgn in piiblijhing in our la^iguage this Specimen of his Works ^ that as a tafte // may whet the readers appetite after the reft of them : of which therefore it will be proper to give here afjort Account. The pious Author propofed to himfelf one. principal Defign in his Studies -, in the Exe- cution of which he employed moji a?id the bejl years of his life^ and laid out on it the talents God had enriched him with — a great Saga-* city, ^/J^/W Judgment, and an indefatigable Induftiy, and all thefock of ujefid Knowlege he had acquired by the prudent ufe of thefe. This Defign was^ to illuftrate the New iv. PREFACE. Testament, not barely by Jhewing thefenfe mid meaning of thofef acred writings , but alfi the grandeur andmajejiy of the Sentiments, and the dignity afid beauty of the Expreffion in a Stile venerably fimple a?id delicately affeBing. For this pw'pofe^ he judicioufiy obfervedy a correifl Copy of the f acred writings was necef- fary in the fir fl place: which he accordingly prepared for himfelf, by 7nany years fiudy in examining and digefting into order (which he has done with a clearnefs and hcility that could fcarcely have been hoped for) the vafi colleBions ofhispredecejjors, efpecially Dr, MilVs, and his own from MSS, which they had notfeen 5 and publiped it for the benefit of others at Tubing A\ 1734, in %%j!^ pages in 4'° (of which the "text takes up ^t^ii) 'with the following title : I. H KAINH AIA0HKH. NovUM Tes- TAMENTUM GR-3iCUM, ita adomatum ut Textus probatarum editionum medullam, Margo variantium leftionum in fuas clafles diftributarum, locprumque parallelorum de- le6lum, Apparatus fuhjunBiis crifeos facrse, Millianac prsefertim, compendium, limam, fupplementum ac fruftum exhibeat; infer- yiente fo, Alberto Bengelio. PREFACE. V. The fame year he publified, at Stiitgardy an 8'° Edition of the Text and marginal VARIOUS READINGS and parallel places^ but without the critical Apparatus : which I have not been able to procure^ though dejirous to have it as a Curiojity in its kind, as having but one error of the prefix viz^ a wrong accent on the word i^ocKs^onxvy I Cor, xvi. 5, vid. Gnom. in locum. He had alfo begun a fecond S''* edition^ entirely the fame ^ in the Text, with the two former y but a little different in the Margin as to the Greek letters oi, p, y, ^, £, one of which in all his editions he puts after each various reading to fgnify his approbation or difapprobation and the degree of it f^ the hefty £ the worjl, y doubtfid) ; fome of which are here alter d^ efpecially y into |3 or ^, after 1 8 years time for farther enquiry. He did not live to fee this finifbed. It came out at Tzibing^ A\ 1753, in ^g 5 pages. In the preface to this 3'' edition he mentions a I'reatife he had by him ready for the prefs and would foon pub- lifhy viz. CLAvifcuLA N. Test. Grjeci ex iteratd hacce recognitione editi^ quae et generalia fundamenta crifeos N. T. ita repe« tit, ut noviflimas exceptioncs prascidantur, t^. vi. PREFACE. ad mxAt^fngidatim loca N. T. refiduis unius alteriufve eruditi viri oppofitionibus fafisfacit, alienafque corrediones, meafque curas ulte- riores adjicit. / am but very lately informed that this trcatife is printed^ and has been fold at London : fo that I have not yet had an oppor^ tunity offeeijig a work the title of which and the charadler ofifs Author raife my expeBatiort high. The next tlmig to be done was to comtnuni-^ cate the Obfervations he had for many years been making on the Scriptures of the New Tef tament, But^ in order to avoid interruptions and digrefions in that work^ and to attain in it the utmoji Brevity^ of which he is ever ftudi- cus that the attention of the reader may not be diverted from the I'ext itfelf \ he put the ge^ neral things^ that related to many particular texts^ into two fmall Treatifes ; the iirft of which is a new Harmony of the Evangeliftsy which he wrote in High Dutch a?id publifed at T^ubing A\ 1736, in 'i()o pages in 8'* with this Hitle II. JoHANN Albrecht Bengels richtige Harmonie der vier &c: /. e. An exacl Har- mony of the four Evangelists, in which the P R E F A C E. vii. Sijioryy the Works and the Words of Jesus Christ our Lord are difpofed in their proper natural Order, for confirmation of the truths and for exercife and edification in piety : by John Albert Bengel. With a Preface &c. The fecond of thefe two is the Chrono- logy, not only of the New^ but alfo of the Old T^efiamenty nay of all ages ^^Sifrom the Cre- ation^ and future //// the end of time : afingu- lar and furprifing work, and well worthy of the Attention both of the pious and of the learned; which was printed at Stutgard A\ ij^iy in /^^i pages in 8'*, entitled IIL ]q. Albert! Bengelij Ordo Tempo- rum, d Principio per Periodos oeconomiae divinse hiiloricas atque propheticas, ad Finem ufque ita deduftus ut tota Series & quarumvis Partium Analogia fempiternse virtutis ac fapientiae cultoribus ex Scripturd veteris et novi T'efiamenti^ tanquam uno revera docu- mento, proponatur. But before this lafi mentioned book he thought it proper to publijh his Expofition of the Re- velation, becaufe in the Introduction to it (which is the enfuing I'raB) he had eftablifhed a main principle of his Chrofiology^ efpecially vlii. PREFACE. of future times : which he did accordingly y A", 1740 at Stutgard in 1 162 pages in 8'" under the following T'itle, IV. Erklarte Offenbarung &c, /. e. An Exposition of the Revelation of. St, John, or rather c/' Jesus Christ, tran- i[2.ttdi from the original 'Text revifedj opened l?y means of the prophetical Numbers ^ and offered to the coniideration of all that regard the Work and the Word of the IjORB, and defre to he rightly prepared yir thofe Occurrences that are near at hand: by John Albert Bengel. The Author himf elf (in §.177 of his Abrifs^ ^c, to be fpoken of by and by) 77ientions a 1^ edition of this work^ A"' 1 746 ; in which he has brief y confuted the Moravians Mifapplica-^ tion of the excellent things f aid of the Church of Philadelphia to the Church of the Brethren as they call it^ and the perfevering cppofition they make to the right ufe of the Revelation^ in p. 1163— 1172. But thefe i o pages feem^ by their numbers following im?nediately after the laft (viz, the 1 162V page of the Booky to be a feparate Appendix not interwoven into the body of the work 'y the 2^ edition of which y as it con- fijis of the fame number of pages as thefirf^ one PREFACE. IX. *would think JJdOuld not differ from it but in that Appendix, Yet I was wiUi?ig to fee it^ and it is near a twelvemonth ago that a German Book- feller at Lofidon was employ d to get it for me : but I have not feen it yet, I had patience with another of them two years in procuring me fome other of our Authors works-, and at lajl had them by other means. This diffculty or ncgli'- gence I cannot account for : but it accounts for fome defeBs of my narrative. The laft Fart of the Work, and to which the reji were preparatory, was a continued Se- ries of Obfervations or Annotations on all the books of the New Teftament. It was printed at Tubifig A\ 1742, in 1208 pages in 4'% with the following Title y V. Gnomon * Novi Testamenti, In quo, ex nativa verborum vi, Simplicitas, B * The Author's Defign being to point out in the briefeft manner the Emphafis, the Beauty, the Method of the Text, without taking off the reader's attention from the Text itfelf ; he would have called it an Index of the N. T. But being pre- vented the ufe of a metaphor taken from that Jinger with which we point at any thing (common ufage having affixed a different meaning to Index when fpoken of a book) he bor- rowed one from that part of a Sun-Dial that points out the Hours, and from thence call'd his work a Gnomon to the N. Tcft, X. PREFACE. Profunditas, Conclnnitas, Salubritas fenfuum cseleftium indicatur, o^tviJo^AlbertiBengelij. These are the fever al Parts of his princi- pal Work, viz^ That oiz the New T'eflamejtt: of which I have given no larger an account than jufl to inform the Reader of the general defign of them ; having reflrained my firong inclination to give them fever ally their due praife, that I might not anticipate his pleafiire in finding them of much higher value than he can conceive from any thing I have f aid of them. As to his fmaller Works: — he publifhedy before any of tlie above-mentioned^ 1. St. Chrys OS Tom's Dialogue on the Priesthood, in Greek and Latin, with Notes, at T^ubing, A\ 1725, in 518 pages in 8'°. In the preface to this is his Prodromus Novi Teftamenti GrtJeci re6te cauteque adornandi, or Propofals for printing the above-mentioned critical edition of the Greek N, Tefiament, And 2. Gregorij Neoc^sariensis Pane- gyric u s : which I have not feen. As // is impofjible the fame work fJooidd uni- verfally pleafe men of oppofite opinions andtafles-y our Author was, after puhlifhing the N. Tefi. attacked by two different forts of writers, fome PREFACE. xi. nccujing him of over-caution a?id timidity in admittifjg the various readings of the MSS, which differ from the common editions^ and o- thers of too great forwardnefs and temerity in receiving them : a good proof that he really went in the right middle way avoiding both ex- tremes. He vindicated himfelf againji both in two Dissertations. I can add nothing to what he fays himfelf concerning fome occa- sional Pieces, iii §. iv of the eiifiiing Pre- face : nor can I tell whether his German Translation of the N. Test, mentionedin §. III. of the fame has been publijhed. And it little concerns our piirpofe that in \yi^ he gave an edition of fome Part of "Tullys works. 3 . B u T ^ fmall Piece which he had written y >4^ 1743, at the requeji of feveral friends who were earnejlly defirous to have his opinion of Coimt Zinzendorf and his Herrnhuters^ vizy XX Remarks on the Church of the Bre- thren fo called — this fmall Piece ^ I fay^ is more worthy of our Notice ^ as it gave occafion for his publijlnng afterward a more confiderable work, vizy a larger a?2d fuller account ofthefe people. 'T'he Remarks were not inte?tded for xii. PREFACE. the piiblick view; kit the Leaders of the Mo- ravians (for the Count and his people pretend to that Name^ and are commonly fo called among us) having got a Copy of them^ at a Synod which they held at Marienborn^ the Count wrote his Obfervations on them^ and publijhed both together, Bengelitis^ otberwife uf fully employ^ ed^ and ever averfe to the dif agreeable ofice of difputing [that is, mofly of laying open that chicane which many difputants artfully make vfe of in order to prevent a controverfy from being determined) declined publifhing any thing more about the Moravians, 'till a fcandalous report being propagated that he approved the New-mor avian Scheme, or at leaf had engaged himfelf to publip nothing more concerning ity and finding the frequent Variations and new^ modellings of it were in a continual progrefsfrofn had to worfe^ he determined to digefi in order his obfervations and reflexions of many years on the Moraviajis and their Caufe, and lay them before the world. Accordingly he publijhed them at Stutgard A\ 175 1, adding as an Appendix, the afore-mentioned Remarks with the Count's Obfervations on them and his own Reply to PREFACE. xlii. tbefey andfome other occaiional Papers relat- ing to the fame fubjedt, The whole is contained in 550 pages in S''' (whereof the Appendix makes 96) under the following Title : Abriss der fo genannten Bruderge- MEiNE, in welchem &c. i. e, A Draught OF THE Church of the Brethren as they call it, in which their Do&ine is ex- amined and their Caufe tried, the Good and the Evil diflingidfhedy and particidarly Span- genbergs Declaration and the Ordinary's fliort and peremptory Thoughts are fet in a clear lights by John Albert Bengel. The Count was no fir anger to the CharaBer of our Author^ and, even when he wrote his Obferva- tions on the xx Remarks, prof effed a great Re- fpeB for him, faying among his Frieiids, * O * that this beloved f7tan woidd go on in this Ipirit * to give a cenfure of my writings and princi- ^ pies \ to which our Docility might perhaps be ' a better anfwer than an explication by words* He has now gratified this defire ; requiring, he fays, no fubmifjive Docility, but earneflly wifld- ing to be uffid, and ferioifly protefting that he writes this Draught in the fame fpirit, of XIV. PREFACE. charity and loije of the truth, as he wrote the Remarks, T^he Idea Bengelius had early form d if the Ordinary, and in which many years obfer- vationfill confirmed him, was, T'hat of a man who had a mind to do our Saviour afervice i?i fome extraordinary manner, and in whofe opin- ion a good defign and meaning well made ^11 forts of methods lawful and fair. He believed that the young Count began in the fpirit: whether he believed the Ordinary ajtd his Bre- thren went on foy or in a new way ef their ewn, will plainly appear to the readers of this Draught : in the file and manner of which he expeBs that thofe who are throughly acquainted with the whole affair, and are impartial, will think he ought to have dealt more fharply with the Moravians -, and that thofe who are not, will judge he might have treated them more gently : and to the tafte of thefe lafi, who are hy far the greater number, be declares he has adapted himfelf though many of them may per^ baps think otberwife. Thus much may fuffice to give my reader a general Notion of the Nature of thofe Writings 'which I would recommend to him, I hope to bis PREFACE. XV. great benefit. As to the outward Circum^ Jlances of the Authors life^ I cannot gratify the reader s curiofity [for I have not been able to gratfy my own) with ajiy account of them. As to the prefent Work: f?ice the Revela- tion contains a Prophecy of the ft ate of the Chriftian Church through all ages ; it nearly concerns every Chriftian rightly to underftand ity in order to conduct himfelfin a manner fuit- able to the particular time he lives in, and to know in what part of the Prophecy that time isfpoken of ^he whole Exposition of the Apocalypfe is a very clear and well-fupported Interpretation of the Meaning and Senfe of the Prophecy^ and the enfuing Introduction to it fettles the proper Time of every event foretold in it : and from thence it appears that within 54 years from this prefent time^ many and great Events'' and of the utmoft Importance to every living Soul^ efpecially to Chriftians and Jews, are to be expelled: fome of which cannot be far off, if they are not already begun. Let the People of thefe Nations take a fiber view of the prefent ft ate of their wordly affairs, and a fad andforrowful one of theftate ofK^- ^ Sec §. VII. of the lad Seftion of the Condufion. wi. PREFACE. ligion among us, where open and avowed Infi^ delity^ and its necejfary confequence a general Corruption of Manners, is daily fpreading : and then let them ferioujly bethink themf elves (thofe of them who are not fo intoxicated as to make a jeji of all ferious thinking) whereabout they are, and what they have to expedt. My looking upon thisfmall Treatife as a very feafonable Admonition to the prefent and to the rifing Generation, determined me to the choice of it as a proper Sample of the ufeful and edyfying Works of its Author. And lam there- fore the more forry that it Jhould come out fo much later than it was expelled and than I hoped and believed it would. I folemnly declare that I did not delay the publication of it fo much as one day in order to increafe the number of Sub^ fcriptionSy after there werefo many as to anfwer the purpofe mentioned in the Propofals, viz, to fecure me from being a lofer by the undertaking, I was indeed ready to put to the prefs all that I had promifed in my Propofals [viz, the Preface, the Introdudlion and the greater part tfthe iii^ SeBion of the Conclufion; which J computed would amount all together to 24* PREFACE. xvii. p^g^s] early in the Summer : but the Printer was obliged to wait more than four months for a new Letter (that I might exceed rather tbaji falljljort of what I had engaged for) thd ex- peBing it week after week. When at lajl the work was begiin^ an accident in his affairs^ for which he is no ways to be blamed^ occafioned a very fow prcgrefs in it at firjl, and much Jicknefs retarded it after. But perhaps the reader may have little caufe to complain of the Delay : fnce I have employed the leifure it gave me in adding (I hope^ for his benefit) a T^ranfiation of the V\ IF, remainder of the Iir, the IV^' andMlV" SeBions of the Conclufion, as alfo the Author sfhort marginal Notes on his new Tranfiation of the Revelation from the original T'ext revifed^ prefixed to his Expofition^ ofwhich they are a Summary, exhibit- ijig a general View of the Scheme andOeconomy of the Apocalypfe 3 all which bring the Book to the bulk in which it now appears, Aftd here I beg leave to take notice, fnce printijig by Subfcription has often been abufed to mean andfelfifhpurpofes, that this voluntary Addition is an incontefiable proof that no lucrative mo- C xviii. P R E F A C E. tive /ay concealed under the pretence ^publick benefit which I gave as my priJicipal reafonfor puhlijlnng this T'reatife. Much lefs was I moved by any defire of Reputation : for in England no kind of writing does a man lefs credit than tranfating^ and in a work of this nature a faith- fid reprefcntation of the fenfe of the Author (which I hope I have given) in plain language is all that is necejfary ; oryiaments of ft He, the chief ground of a tranftators claim to honour, being moft wanted where the Senfe is of leaft Value, Pit COMB, in Somerfetfl/ire, April 1 8, 1757. ERRATA. Page X. line i. for intrude, read obtrude . — p. xxiii. I. 14. for has gone, r. has yet gone. — p. li. 1. 14. for cafe, r. caufi. — p. 85. 1. 19. for C. xviii. r. C. xvii. — p. 179. 1. 2. for left between them, r. left o-ver andabo"je them. — p. 227. 1. 8. for again, with, r. again. With. — p. 283. 1. 2. for ■ Revelation, r. relation. — p. 294. 1. 21. for Dr. Emiliane's, r. D'Erniliune's.—^. 305. 1. 16. for this, r. hii, — p. 324. for Though, r. Through. BENGELIUS's PREFACE TO HIS Exposition of the Revelation, The Contents. I. nr'h. § I. ^ / 'HE Importance of the Re- velation* II. "The Occafion of this Illuftration of it. III. The Parts of which it confefls. IV. Tloe Difference between this ajtd fome other wofks of the Author. V. The main D^iign of this, - A ("• ) § VI. Six Sorts ^/Syftems of the A- focalypfe. VII. An Admonition concerning the Expojitiom that prevail at this Day. VIII. Hoe Ground of this prefent Ex- pojition. • IX. It's FuUnefs, and it's Relation to our Times, efpecially with regard ta the Roman Papacy • X. Ihe Author s Orthodoxy; parti- cularly as to the thoufand Years. XI. Concerning the Determination of the prophetical Times. XII. Of praSiical Ufes. XIII. A necejfary hAmomtiony and an Anticipation of o\y]tdiiomthat might be made hereafter. XIV. 0/ /y6^ Stile. ( iii. ) S XV. 72^ Conclufion, That the time IS AT HAND. O LORD JESUS, * Deal boimttfully with thy fei'-vantSj that we may live and keep thy "word. Open thou our eyes^ that we may be- hold wondrous things out of thy Revelation. * PSAL. CXix. 17, 18. ( iv- ) DEAR READER, p'^rS'^UR Lord and Saviour Tesus ^ )^ Christ, both before his Paf- fion and after his Refurrec- tion foretold many things to his Dif- ciples, and they again, in quaHty of his Apojiles^ to the faithful after our Lord's Afcenfiion; as may be feen in feveral places of the Holy Scriptures of the new Teftament, But among thefe we have only one Book that is wholly and expreffly prophetical:, which, for that very reafon, becaufe it Is the only one of the kind, is fo much the more confiderable. This is the Revelation of St. John^ or ra- ther the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which he fent to his Servant John, Rev. i. i. This Prophecy ( V. ) (however little it may be regarded) requires the particular attention of the men of the prefent and rifmg generation. If any one then under- takes to contribute, to the right un- derftanding or the falutary ufe of it, fomething that has not perhaps been obferved before, he ought, whoever he be, to have one fair hearing, if not preferably to others, yet equally with them ; 'till it appears whether, with God's help, he can make good his Preteniions. I will explain myfelf on this head with Simplicity, Up- jightnefs, and Perfpicuity. II. After I had fpent a confiderable time on the Criticifm and Expofition of the Greek New Tejlamenty and, in the year 1724, was come as far as to the Revelatio7t\ I took in hand thi^ { vi. ) part of Scripture very unwillingly, and my only motive for undertaking of it at all vi^as, that the work might not come out deficient in a principal part, having no Defign or Expedation of making any extraordinary difcovery. When I was come near the intended Conclufion, there opened unexpect- edly to my viev^ a Refolution of the prophetical numbers contained in the xiii'^ and xxi'' chapters, and of the great things there fpoken of. Now as I had not in tlie leaf!; before then been in fearch of this, fo I had no reafon to fhut my eyes againft the arifing light; I went on therefore in this track, and frequently found that one thing after another laid itfelf open to me. The Importance of the fubjeft and regularity of the work, ' and my earneft defire to draw up a ( vii. ) fatisfaftory Plan of the agreement be- tween the Prophecies and the Events (to the confideration of which I was awaken'd by the notorious tragical doings at JThorn, which fell out even in our own time, by which the quan- tity of blood formerly fpilt on the ground has been fomewhat increafed anew) induced me to communicate fome part of my thoughts to thofe who might in one way or other be affiftant to me, or whom I might ex- cite to a further purfuit after the truth. Now the thing having fpread far- ther than I had thought or apprehend- ed; many perfons, learned and illite- rate, artful and iincere, Clergymen and Laymen, pious and vicious, peo- X The Maffacre at Thorn happened in the year 1724, of which a fhort account may be feen in Salmon's modern Hiftoay in the prcfent ftate of Poland, Chap, y. ( viii. ) pie of leifure and of buHnefs, acquaint- ances and ftrangersj experienced and unexperienced, thofe who had before embraced other opinions, and thofe who began but now to enquire, of both fexes^ of all ranks and ages, imparted to me their thoughts (which were very various, partly favouring my Scheme, and partly oppofing it) moftly by word of mouth, often by writing, and fometimes too in print. This proved very ferviceable to me by putting me upon confidering many things more maturely, guarding them more carefully, and expreffing them more clearly. So, tho' the moft con- iiderable objedions ftruck not at me in particular, but in general at the fiudy of the Revelation, nay at the Revelation itfelf\ I continued to ad- here purely to the Word of God^ and (ix. ) went on without being difcouraged in meditating on it (I hope not fruit- leffly) as I do ftiil. Some friends though they did not mean that I Ihould delifl from this ftudy, yet de:- fired to reftrain me, and in a manner conjur'd me that I would pubUfh no part of it; but others urged me to publifh it refolutely and without de- lay. Thefe laft, as they found op- portunities, have imperceptibly pufh'd me on and even drawn out of me one thing after another before the Plan was come to due maturity. It was, I may prefume, the will of God that it fhould not be buried in the earth; and I adore his providence, who, by the courfe the thing has now taken, has eafed me of the bur- thenoffoUicitQUsdeliberation,whether I ihould fpeak out, or keep filence* B (X. ) In the mean time, as I intrude no- thing upon any man, fo neither do I decHne the labour of difcovertng what I know of thefe things, to thofe who hope for any benefit from them ; nay at hi^That became almoft indif- penfible, in order to obviate thofe no- tions which people afcribed to me con- trary to my fentiments. They have on this occafion had various conjedlures; but I affiire them that I know nothino; of any cabbala, of any divination, of any aftral influence, or any ghoft or apparition. The fource of fuch and fo very different opinions concern- ing a new difcovery of a7tcknt Truth is this, — that many do not underftand, or do not confider, how rich a trea- fare the Holy Scriptures are. I am nothing •, and if somewhat of the Truth has fallen to my lot, I found it in the ( xL ) common way or high road to heaven, by fearching the PFof^d of God with fimphcity, and w^ithout any option of mine. This I diHgently laid up, and now exprefs it confcientioufly in proportion to the degree of Certainty I have of it, (which in the circum- ftantials is often fmall enough, but in the fubftantial part is, thro' God's grace, ftrong and clear) and modejlly offer it to examination. By fuch re- ftridions as thefe, by the affiftance of the Truth of God, I fhall limit myfelf in all that I advance, and therefore hope I Ihall not be reproach- ed, either before or after my death, for any thing that I fhall fay. III. In this manner there is here pro- pofed to all who are willing to receive it. (i.)The wholeTEXT o^xhtRevela- ( xii. ) tlon in the German tongue, tranllated from the Greek, revifed in the way I did the whole New Teftament-ffome time fince, according to the moft approved Manufcripts. [Many people do not like new tranflations of all the New Teftament or all the Holy Scriptures; but allow a new tranflation of fingle books for an Ex- pofition of them, as for inftance Ghebard's twelve 7ninor Prophets: and this Tranflation oith.^ Revelation may ferve in the mean time for a fpe- cimen of a German Tranflation of the whole New Teftament which I have written a confiderable time ago, but don't think to publifli unlefs there appears a reafonable expedlation of more benefit from it than con- t Publiih*d 1 734 at Tubing in quarto, with critical notes; arid at Stutgard in oftavo, without them. ( xiii. ) tcntion about it: in which cafe it jtiight come abroad accompanied with the neceffary Explanation of thofe turn$ of expreflion that will fometimes occur different from the German Idiom, l>ut efpecially with ufeful Illuftrations of the moft diffi- cult places, and edifying Annota- tions.} Why we Ihould read after this ot that manner in the ori- ginal Text, I have ihewedj:elfe where; and what great ftrefs ought to be laid upon a carefully revifed Text, eipe- cially in the Revelation^ may appear from its being in many places the principal foundation of the explana- tion. A fhort § Abftraa of the Ex- pofition is given on the margin of the text. (2.) The Exposition % In the quarto Edition mentioned in the laft note. § See this after the Introdudlion, ( XiV. ) at large, which confifts of three parts, Firft, in the IntroduSiio7t there is an 'A7iaJyfts of the Prophecy in general, and that both of the Things and the 'Times contained in it. After that follows a continued Expojition from beginning to end of the text; every verfe of which is repeated before the rcmarks upon it. In the Concluji- en will be added fome points that concern the Expolition in general. IV. In my Latin Annotations on the New Teftament, entitled the:}: Gno- mon, which will be publifhed in due tim.e, there will be Notes on the Apocalypfe too : but this prefent Ex- X The Author In his Preface to the Gnomon (which was printed in quarto at Tubing 1742) gives a prudent reafon for his ufing fo uncommon a name, which it will be much to the |!)enefit of the rea^ders of that Book never to forget. ( ^^- ) pofition is almoft every where different from them. As fome things f were more proper to be expreffed in Latin for the ufe of the learned in the lan- guages, and yet the fubftance of the matter might as well be deUver'd in the vulgar language for the ufe of thofe that are not fo ; I have accordingly difpofed of my Remarks in the one or the other of thefe Treatifes : each of which is indeed an entire one in its kind, yet it will be moft profit- able to read them both together. I have alfo heretofore publifhed in Literary yournals fome things relating to thiii Subje£t ; particularly, in the i oth part oi Alien und neicen aus de^n Reich Gottes^ what I call'd a J Plan or Draught : in the 23d part of Geijl- t Such as Criticifms on the Signification of the Origina! Words, the Phrafeology, ^vC. t Grund-Rifs. ( xvi. ) Ikhen FamUj A |i Caution for good men : and in fome of the former |).arts, one or two § Declarations^ &q. for which tjie Editors of thofe Col- ledlions had given me occajG.on. But jToow in this German and the other Latin Treatife, all thefe are brought together, explained and compleated. After pubHcation of thefe two trea- tifes, I muft, and wilHngly do, fub- mitmyfelf to the Judgment of all that are fkilled in difcerning of Truth. V. The principal Defign of this Ex- pofition is this, — that That ansel0> anU in t))t prefence of tl)e 5lamb : ZnU t\)t fmoKe of t!)eir torment afcenOeti) up for eijer anD ei}er : anD tl)ep |)at)e no reft Dap nor nigl)t, t»t)o toorftip tl)e ijeafl anD f^is image, anD toljo- fot^er receiijetl) tl)e marfe of i^is name. ( xxxi. ) I MAKE it my ftudy to keep dole to the plumb-line, as it were, of the Truth, not only in the articles of Faith, but alfo in all the other points that are prophetical, even in my Ex- preffions : and particularly I have, in the Expofition of the xx'' chapter, declared the foundnefs of my fenti- ments with regard to the true and the falfe notions of the Millennium. The bare mention of a Millemnu77t now no longer raifes horror or aver- fion among men of underftanding. In the fourth Sedion of the Conclufion will be adduced ten Pojitions long fince eftablifhed ^ the laft of which, concerning the prefent fubjeft, has an indiffoluble connexion with the former nine. 'Tis true human au- thority has little weight in the Cafe ; but whoever relifhes old better than ( xxxii. ) n€W things, let him here conlidcr ferioufly that the firft nine of thefe PojG.tions are to be found all together in the excellent Luther \ and the tenth was unanimoufly acknowledg'd in the moft antient times, and even at this day does not meet with any confiderable oppofition, though there are here and there fome few who will be the laft to affent to the truth in this point. My whole Expofition is conformable to and guided by thefe Fofitions fo that no Expofitor is Icfs liable than I am to be fufpefted of Novelty^ if any ftrefs is laid upon that. XL In a difquifition of this nature one cannot leave out the Chronology or Determination of the times without being deficient in a principal point ; t>iat he can never be too caudous in ( xxxiii. ) his manner of propoiing it. If I had not already let fo much of that mat- ter come abroad, and yet could have forefeen how few make a right ufe of it ; I would have dealt more fparing- ly in it. Now I cannot draw back : but I have all along fo often pro- tefted my Caution and Modefty, that I am afraid it will be irkfome to can did Readers; and on the other fide, J hope that whatever happens no man fhall be able to reproach me juftly with having mifs'd my aim. Three different Parts then concur here to make a complete Expofition ; i. The literal or hifiorkal Interpretation it- felf ; 2. The Refolution of the pro-- phetical "TimeSy where is fhewn what is the proper length of each of them; 3.. The ConneBling of determinate K ( xxxiv. ) parts of the hiftory of paft times and of future occurrences with particular Years, Months, &c. This third part will be deemed the moft liable to miftakes, . efpecially in what we look upon as foon to come. But if thofe times, for example, w^hofe end we have deliberately and of purpofe not exprefTed '//// the Conchijion of this Ex- pofition, and ^^then but conjeSiurallyj fhould end later, or even fooner • iieverthelefs the wholo, Jirji Point ftands firm, namely the hijlorical Expofaion of the xiii'' and xvii'' chapters ; and t]i^fecond point will alfo remain un- hurt, viz. The Refolution itfelfx£ the prophetical "Times^ and confequently the whole of the I NTR O D U C- T I O N ; in which I have taken great care to treat of the times wholly in the AbJiraSi^ and do not in the leaji refer ( XXXV. . ) any of them to any certain Year, nor fo much as in one inftance to any part of Hiftory. Now, he who, becaufe fome one co?tjeBure may fail, fhould haftily and eagerly drive on, and rejeft not only that part of the Conclujion^ but alfo every thing elfe both in the Expojition and IntroduSiion^ would do violence and wrong to the truth, to his own lofs. Some may fay, Would it not havebeen better to have let alone all Conjec- tures, and ftuck only to Certainties ? To which I anfwer. He that can \vl this cafe take precifely the one with- out ajiy part of the other, fhall have my full Approbation. ' But could the Fathers under the old Teftament ex- ercife their Faith and longing Expec- tation of the MeJJiah in fuch a man- E 2 ( XXXVl. ) ncr that they muft t i^t alone all Coniedures about the Time when f Let one only promife a child fome- thingj prefently comes the eager quef- 'X We know from \?et.\. \\^ that they did not. ; The Reader AVill, I hope, indulge me in a ihort DigrefTion to point out an Inference which feems naturally deducible from the Words of the Text now fallen in our way, i Pet, i. lo, 11,12; as I am not aware that it has been obferved, and it relates to a Queflion of great Importance, To the Prophets fwho prophejied of the Grcfte of GoD towards the Chriftians, it was REVEALED that thefe Blefiings did Tiot belong to their own Times but to a then future Time. But nvhat Time nvasfg- mfed by the Spirit of Chrift in them teftifying before -hand the Sufferings 0/ Chrift a- J the Glories after them^ was not REVEALED to them ; elfe they needed hot to \i2cvtfcarched for jt. Now "Mhere could they fearch but in the njcry Wc^-ds of the Prophecies delivered by themf elves from the Spirit 'f Chrift in 'them tefiifingt ^cJ But if thefe IVords were of their oiutz chujhig to expref^ the Ideas or Notions they were infpired with ; it was in vain to fearch for any Notions, implied in or deduci- ble from them, other than what they tiiemfelves intended to convey by them and which confequently v/ere revealed, be- cante well knonvn to them. They knew then that the Words they /poke or it'>-c/f had a more extenfive Meaning than they themfelvesj^^:/ apprehended, and implied things ^f/ unkn-nxj» to th^m and likely to be found out by fearching. Therefore the Words were fiot theirs ^ but thofe of the Spirit of Chrift in t^tm teftifying, ^c. that is to fay. The very Words, in which the infpired Writers fpoke qr nvrote their Revelations, were divinely inspired. ( xxxvii. ) tion, When? and if this queftion is iiot anfvvered, many conjedlures arife, and no body thinks it needful to reftrain him. Let us only propofe and receive the Truth as the Truth, and Conjectures as Conjedures. If any of thefe don't fuit, in That Par- ticular \^tx\\^Co7ttraryof it be received as a Truth : which however would not have fallen (o readily under our obfervationj if it had not been for that fame Conjedure. And this I think is a fair apology for Conjectur- ing. But if any one of them {hould prove to be right, let That be reckoned as a Truth; and thereby the Truth will be greatly confirmed in other points too. I intreat my Reader to remember this faff age here- after^ wherever there is occafw7t ; that if any body piakes objedions that arc ( xxxviii. ) iiereby anticipated, there may be no need every now and the7^ to refer him hither again. XII. . If any one is in great expedation of pradical ufes, he will not be entire- ly difappointed ; tho' I am not very copious on that head. A Phyiician cures his patient not by talking, but by doing. We may pj^opozmd the Word ot God to one another profita- bly in ptiblick difcottrfes or writings ; but apply it particularly only in clofer converjatioit : nay, one that is watch- ful over his foul can beft apply it to his own ufe in private, by the aid of the Spirit of Grace. Every one ought to propound for the common benefit what is given him ; and that too, juft as it is given him, Rom. xii. 6, 7, 8. I defire not to impart to others any ( xxxix, ) thing of 7ny own\ but to point out td them only what is contain'd in the. Scripture itfelf, and That is alv/ays accompanied with a falutary power. An Expofitor, as an Expojitor^ ('tis another matter when one is proving or exhorting) is Hke a man digging a well, who needs not himfelf throw any water into the fpring, but only contrive that it may run thro' a chan- nel and pipes into the veffels, without wafte, ftoppage or foulnefs : and thus he and others come at plenty of wa- ter. Many make a wrong ufe of a multitude of pradical Obfervations : they grow weary of them, and then let them all pafs unheeded : When a reproof or a comfort is particularly fuitable to any one, his confcience will be awakened or his heart fortified by it, when propofed to him in a ge- ( xl. ) neral manner. Faith, Hope and Clia-^ rity, when there is any food for them on the way, quickly find it out. It would be in vain to prefs a full Soul to eat and drink ; that would only tend to deftroy his appetite altogether: but a hungry and thirfty man is glad when fgmething is fet before him, and takes to it prefently. Likewife tho' what in reading we apply to our- felves may not ftrike fo fenfibly and forcibly as a pailionate difcourfe that is immediately direded to us ; yet both are efficacious, each in it's own way. I don't mean by this to dero- gate from any man : I only inform you of my manner of writing. Yet fometimes I come in unexpededly with something roujing : let him that is foUicitous about pradical Ufes of a right fort, carry this along with him ( xli. ) till he comes to fuch another pafTagCo If in the interim he meets with many- things that appear to be leaves with-- out fruit, let him but wait till he has got a comprehenfive view of the whole and he will find the fruit XIII. I WISH every man might take all things juft as they are offered to him, and in the moft important places would alfo weigh the words with ex- actnefs. Thus the whole would be profitable to every one, and do no man any harm. Sometimes I make a Remark that riiay appear obvious and indilputable, and therefore fu- perfluous ; yet it may be put there to obviate an error, or prevent a mif- take. Thofe that have x^^A fever al Expofitions will often perceive the F ( xlii. ) reafon for fuch or fuch an Admonl-^ tion or Caution; others may fafely kt it alone. Sometimes I propofe in cautious expreflions Thoughts not yet full ripe; which however by be- ing difcovered, may give a fair oc- cafion the fooner and more adequate- ly to bring to light the falutary Truth that is near at hand, but ftill hid. See for example C. ii. 25. xv. 3, 4. I cannot afk every one to read the whole : every one is welcome to judge of what he reads in a right manner, and underftands. To him that ca- fually glances his eye on fome one Thelis or other where there are fome unexpeded Particulars, which yet are confequences from the entire difcuili- on of the Point, it muft needs appear a little ftrange. But if he is a pru- dent man he will forbear, not only to ( xliii. ) contradidjbut alfo to give his afTent. He, that contrary to St. Ja7nes\ Ad- vice,(C. i. 19) but after the way of fo many learned men, cannot conde- fcend to hear^ to read (where there is much to be read) to learn \ and is only fwift to f peak ^ to write^ to judge y or perhaps too, to Wrath ^ to Heat ; has here Materials enough to work upon : but let him be alTured there lies alio a Humbling block in his way. I do not afk my reader to be prefently of my mind in things where I myfelf went through many doubts before I could attain to Certainty : but let him alfo not be poUtive that where he is as yet doubtful no man elfe can be certain. A great many objedlions, as I have mentioned above, have come to my hands, enough with the anfwers to them to make a pretty ( xliv. ) large Volume : fo that this work is by no means finifhed in a hurry ; but is fo contrived as to include all fuch objedions with their anfwers, in reali- ty, tho' without exprefs mention of them. Some few will be expreffly anfwered in the following /;^/r<;^//f^/^;^ § LIU. Every point will be proved in it's proper place, altho' it may be al^ ledged or cited elfewhere without proof. On fuch occafions one muft be well acquainted in the firft place with the Text^ and then with the^r^- fer place of the hitroduEimt and Ex- fofittoft on each point : otherwife he may in due time be obliged to own that his objeilion proceeded from miftake and precipitancy. What is contained in this Expolition or can be fairly inferred from it, that I abide by. On the other fide let no man { xlv. ) fufFer liimfelf to be drawn in to be- lieve that I have any where faid, or given ground for faying, any thing that has no relation to or connexion with this Expolition : but rather, if any one will charge me by word or writing with any thing abfurd, fcan- dalous, ufelefs, high-ftrained &c, contain himfelf fo long only as 'till he fhall have informed himfelf of my real fentiments; which I declare fo much the more freely, as I have found by experience that no caution is fufficient to prevent idle imputa- tions. I muft obferve one thing for the benefit of the publick. There is many a man that can find in his heart thro' ignorance, thro' vain glo- ry, out of wantonnefs, without the fear of God, without refped to the publick, to blacken his neighbour, ( xlvi, ) aiperfe iiim, curtail his expreflionsj pervert his meaning, in a word, lye and calumniate, in his Remarks, Ob- fervations. Reviews, &c. and all this only becaufe he lives near a Prefs: He that is attacked in this manner, often knows nothing of it, or for certain reafons does not anfwer, or his an- fwer does not come out fo foon, or is not difperfed fo far. In the mean time others letthemfelves bebiafs'dby thofe v/ritings, extoll them, bawl and write after them, inflame yet others, un- happily oppofe the truth under a fa- natical conceit of Zeal for it, and de- molifli more than perliaps themfelves build in mxany years : and yet would be coniidered as Heroes and Pillars. O vainly learned World ! take Warn-^ ing my Reader ! I am content if thou believeft no good that any one fays of ( xlvii. ) me, only beware alfo of admitting evil Infmuations. Hear what I my- felffay; and infpire others with the fame Caution. From them who fpeak in the fpirit of Truth, I accept of e- very corredlion or improvement with refpecft : yet nobody, I hope, will charge me with wilfulnefs, if I do not immediately, in complaifance to other people, retrad: this or that fen- timent which has oftner than once undergone an Examination and Re- finement in the long time it has lain by me. When I was attackt on oc- cafion of my Revijion ofth^ original facred "Text itfelf, I was oblig'd to make a fhort Defence more than once: but as to Expojitions (which people may form a right Judgment of when once they have a corredl Text) I jQiall fpend my time much ( xlviii. ) more fparingly in Apologies and Vii>- dications ; efpecially if my opponent conceals his name, and befides pro- duces no Objedion but what is here anticipated or anfwered before-hand. On a neceffary Occasion I may give a fhort Anfwer, and perhaps publilh it in the "Tubing literary News. XIV. As toPerfpicuity; Unce my man- ner of Writing has appear' d to fometo be deficient in that refped, I have not only taken great care about it myfelf, (as I have already explained myfelf in the Preface to the Har- mony oftheEva?tgeliJls § ii. 35.§viii) but alfo every now and then laid the parts of the work, as I fmifh'd them, before fkilfuU Friends^ and profited by their advice. ( xlix. ) Obscurity may arife from a vari- ety of Caufes, i/' from the Nature of theSubje&'s being fuch that the Illuf- tration of it depends more on labori- ous fearches and arguments of tedious deduction than on propofing of well known and already cultivated parts of learning, ii/'"^ From a Writer s Inability to exprefs himfelf clearly -y tho' for my part I am not ignorant of the requifites for Perfpicuity, and m reality I do^ I hope, moft times, and even this Moment, write clearly : and confequently can write clearly, iii/^^ Vvomxhtmoreorlefs clearKnow^ ledge and Certainty in an Expoiitor j who ought to ufe Exprejftons propor- tioned thereto : by which means he will likewifc give occafion to the ftarting of new Queftions in the minds G of his Readers, the Solution of which, however, both he and they muft wait for 'till God pleafes. iv,'''^ From the honeji Carefuhefs of an Expofitor, who when any DifHculty falls in his way does not decline the labour of unravelling it; whereas he might have filently paft it over, without any per- fon's taking notice of it. v,'''' From a Loathnefs to detain himfelf with a a Multitude of Words andExpreflions, when a Multitude of Thoughts flow in upon him. vi,'^'^ From putting too muchtruji in the diligence and ability of every reader, vii,'^'^ From the Indolence of the reader^ who perhaps would fain take the thing at a Glance, and can fcarcely allow himfelf fo much time, to apprehend the mean- ing, or even to publifh a Recenfton or critical Review of a book, as he ( li- ) muft fpend in reading or writing a paragraph in a News-paper : whereas a difcourfe whofe parts have all a clofe connexion with one another, let the method of it be ever fo plain and the expreflion ever fo clear, will yet re- main a very Riddle to every one that does not read the whole^ or does not read it right ^ or does not read it oftner than 07Ke. As to the above mention'd Plan or Draughty which appear'd fo difficult to fome (tho' not to all) there was,(viii,"''')a farther particular cafe of obfcurity. It was a fketch of an cxtenjGive and in fome degree new defign, whofe parts were varioufly in- terwoven w^ith one another ; and be- jGides, on mature conlideration I chofe not to give it in p7^int fo clearly as I had before imparted it to others in G 2 ( lii- ) writing in the Eajier-Thoughts fo Called. It was then high-time to publifli fomething for a teftirilbny in cafe of what might happen afterwards; but it was not proper to difcover allj lior is it yet ^ as to fo??te Points; but in the reji I have now made it, I pre- fume, plain enough, nay fometime^ plainer then many will like. He that is not fatisfied with all this, is at li- berty to read this Expojition or to let it alone. If he reads, he is iritreated to have patience with me, as I wa^ obliged to have patience while I wa^ labouring for his fervice. If any man has the gift of greater Perfpicliity, and can exprefs in an eafier mannei: thele very things which I lay before him ; I {hall, far from being difguft- fed, look upon it with pleafure. But^ to fpeak the truth, we are grown too ( li"- ) nice, and delicate. Where there fe Poverty of Spirit and an Appetite for Truth, where This is regarded not only as food, but alfo as a Medicine ; there people- will not require every- thing to tafte fo fweet and prefently to melt upon the tongue, but will alfo fometimes receive and fwallow that which is even four, or bitter, and not ferved up in a lordly difh, and has liothing befides to recommend it but its wholefomnefs. How far thole who are fond of the mathematical method will find their account here, I cannot fay. I have made it my Bufinefs to bring cogent Proofs : tho' itisnotneceffary to put the fignatures of the feveral pofitions, throughout the whole courfe of the work, like the letters of the A. B. C. on the Keys of ( "v. ) a Spinet. But enough of thefe ar- cumfiantial matters. XV. An enlarged Heart, purified from fubtile Self-will, and v/hich acknow- ledges God in all his gracious Gifts, and praifes him for th^m, is not every man's Portion : yet it is particularly and highly requifite, 'till the uncom- mon but yet true, variegated and yet fimple Illuft ration of this incompara- ble Book, and which tho' not plaufi- ble, is yet fuitable to the divine Wif- dom, fhall make it's way thro' fo many Obftacles as it will meet with. Thofe that have been longeft exercifed about fuch things will be moft at a lofs when they meet with any thing uncommon. There may be two Per- fons fo different in their opinions, that it is impoffible they can both be in the ( 1^- ) right ; yet both are convinced of their' being fo. Now each of them prefcnt- ly runs away with fomething (as it falls in his way) that he imagines he had made out before, gives fcarce any farther heed to the truth that v/ould awaken him, and falls afleep again over his formerly belov'd opinion. For the reft, fuch People will think it fufficient to fay, this or that remark (namely, where I do not differ from them) is a good one enough; but as to the main point they are greatly at a lofs. — IVew TVtne requires new Bot- tles. I do not mean by this to ob- trude myfelf upon any one. God hath taught me, from my youth up- ward, to have a view to him only ; and in the mean time I have under- gone fo many and (o various Judg- ments of Men, that as to matters of ( Ivi. ) Confclence 'tis all one to me whether God andMa7i^ or God alQ7Wy approve of my doings. A thing is neither good nor bad in reality for meeting with the ready affent of many or few. A greater degree of knowledge av/aits Pofterity. To them much, that is now made little account of, will ferve for a foundation on which to build more ; much, that is now current, will no longer pafs ; and many proofs that, to moft mxcn, feem not fufficient now, will then be more than enough. In the mean time, if thofe who love the Appear aiice of Jefus Ghrijl find here veftiges of the Truth, they will join with me to praife the name of God, and help to procure the fupply of all my defedts out of the fuUnefs of Grace and Truth which is in Jefus Chriji^ for their own benefit and mine. ( Ivii. ) The fame will be done by thofe who examine what is here laid before them with fervent Prayer, afliduous Medi- tation, and attentive Refleftion ; who bring it to a greater maturity by means of a greater light or more exacl know- ledge, and turn it to their own Ad- vantage with regard to Fait h^ Patience and Conjlancy. Here is now before you the Re- velation ILLUSTRATED, Men may pay what regard to it they pleafe ; but that Warning is ftill in Force, and at prefent in an emphatical fenfe, The Time is at Hand, Cati'vent of Denkendorfy Sunday, Sept. 4, 1 74Q. H (59) GENERAL ANALYSIS Of the Revelation, BEING Bengelius's Introdudlion to his full Expo- fition of That Prophecy. THE CO NTENTS. Part I. Confiderations on the Reve- lation by itfelf. §. I. ^HE Book op a IS or cxplatm iff elf. II. A Table ^r Summary of it, III. We miifi not lay a?iy arbitrary Foimda^ tion to build an Expofition upon, IV. l^he Confideration of both vifible and in- vifible things mujl enter into a right Expoftion, ( 6o ) §. V. VL Of the Centre a?2d Circum- ference in the main Vi^ Jion: T^hat many I'hings are propofed in a twofold Manner, VII. VIII. Of the Septenary or niim- her feven, efpecially as applied to the ChiircheSy Seals, "Trumpets ajidVials. IX. X. XI. The Beginning of the En- quiry, with the Trumpets, particularly with the three Woes under the three lajl Trumpets,— -and chief y the third Wo. XIL The Meaning of the feven Epifles, Seals, Trumpets andVials, asfiewn in § ii. XIII. That thefe are not feven Pe- riods of Time: XIV. XV. — but fourCircles or Spheres: XVI. -"—each of which has its in^ t7'vduBory Preparation. XVII. XVIII. The Order of the Text and the Completion of if, is fingle, or but one : ( 6i ) §. XIX. — /ind /jeref beSimultzncum is occafionally €xplai7ied. XX. XXI. XXII. "The Divifion of the Sevens into Fours and Threes : and to isjhat the Foin'i and the threes relate. XXIII. A Gradation cr gradual Advance is difcernibk^ throughout the whole : XXIV. ^^particidarly at each fe- venth ; XXV. ^-Which therefore has ifs peculiar Preparation, XXVI. TheUk^nds, and yet Dif- ference, of federal Paf- fages of the "Text : XXVII. '^-from whence the fuitablc meaning of homonymous * Words is to he deduced, XXVIII. Of the Afpea or View which this Prophecy has to IfraeL Part II. Of the Application of the Prophecy to Hijlory^ in general. XXIX. This Application to hiforical Events is necefaiy, * Words having feveral flgnifications; as, AngeJ^ Heaven, Star, Sea, Head, Horn, Sec. ( 62 ) §. XXX. — and has fe'^jeral Ufes in feveral Ages. XXXI. The Toints that ought to be C07ijidered by us at this prefent Time. XXXII. Four Conclujions deduced from them. Part III. Chronology; or, theReck- cning of the Times. XXXIII. XXXIV. This aljo is neceffary. XXXy. Great variety of Times mentioned i?t the T^exts^ luhich is a'Thifig of great Importance^ andon which much depends, XXXVI. 7he Numbers that accom- pany them muji be taken precifely. XXXVIL The Beginning of the Re- folution of thcniy viz,, at the three Woes a- gain (fee § ix J XXXVIII. XXXIX. /// thein ^the prophetical DAYisnoiacommo?2Tear: ( h ) §. XL. — nori'sk a commonDzy. ^bhrb^ ly iiccejjary Caution concerningDr. Pete?^fe?is Syjiem, XLI. The Source of th Errors of the greatejl part ^Expoiitors. XLII. T^he "truth lies in the Middle, or between the Extremes, XLIII. By taking to our AJftJiance the Num- ber of the Beaft, we come to know nearly what the 42 pro- phetical Months are: XLIV. — and moreover ^ what a Chronos, a Kairos, Gff. are^ nearly. XLV. By the Help of the 1000 Tears they are more exadly deter7ni7id'^ and /'^r^ ^Proportion rtm?ii?2g thf^oiigh the whole ^ and alfo the Number feven are obfervable, XLVL Hereby we come fome^vhat nearer yet to the true length of the prophe- tical I'imes, XLVIL The 42 Mofiths and the Number of the Beaji are of the fame Le?igth, The Number Seven is obfervable in the Moiiths alfo. ( 64 ) §. XLVIIL Jhe prophetical Month is proportion- able to a folar Months \being the 1 2 th Part of a prophetical Tear] : and the 1260 Days of tlje Woman are prophetical Days, XLIX. T^he precife Lejigth of the threeWoes determined: as alfo that of the 1260 Days of the Woman, L. A Septenary obfervable in the for- mer^ and a round Number \and alfo a Septenary] in the latter, LI. T!he Coincidence of Hifory with this Refohition of the T^imes is to be feen in the Expofitlon of the Text, LII. The near Determination [in §. xliii. xliv.) of the Length of a fingle prophetical Day, Month, Hour and Year maintained -, and the true precife Length of them is alfo fully fiewn : The Septenary and the Rotundity arifmg out of ity a7id the fo oft occur7'i?2g Num- ber 666 f are taken Notice of, LIII. An Objection aiifwered, LIV. The remaining Periods of Time are to he refohed in the Expoftion, ( 65 ) §k LVi T'he above-mentioned four Spheres (in §. xiv. XV.) are hereby further con^ firmed : LVI. — and an Interpretation 'which is at^ prefent gaining ground^ farther op- pofed. LVIL I'ranfition to the Expofition. PART FIRST. L ^kjJ^^HE Prophet Dajiielw^z commanded jm{ '^ k ^^fi^^^ ^^P i^^ "^^ords fpoken to him, k./«^"*5jtt{ and to feal the Book 'till the lajl Times, Ch. xii. 4. 9. On the contrary St. fohn, 2l long time after, v^-^^ forbidden to feal the words of the Prophecy revealed to him. Rev* xxii. 10. Accordingly the Revelation, not- withflanding the wide Extent of its prophe- tical Contents, is yet fo contrived that the other Prophets ar^ not neceffary for the un- derftanding of itj but it is rather neceffary for the underftanding of them. This very re- gularly difpofed Syftem brings it's Key along with it; having, tho' uncommonly difficult I 66 Introduction. in it's Subjeft, a fingularly eafy Method, being provided with Variety of Partitions, Paufes, Forms of Expreffion, and fucb helps to an Analyfis of it. IL The whole Contents of the Book at firft fight appear to be naturally divided into three Parts: of which we will at prefent draw up a Table and bring the rQquifite Proofs of it hereafter in their proper places. They are / I. The PRELIMINARIES: \, The Title of the Book C. i. 1-3. 2. The Addrefs or Direction of it 4—6. 3. The main Point and Summary of the whole — — • 7, 8. ^4. The glorious Appearance of Jefus Chrtjiy at which He 1 . gives John his Commiflion, and orders him to write 9—20, 2. excites the Angels of the Seven ChllrcheS"Q{Y.^^\yzi^x% and Smyrna and Pergamus ^ of Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia andLa- odicea, — to prepare themfelves worthilyfor his coming; and pro- mifeth to him that overcometh great things • — C. ii^ iii. i Part i. §. n. ,67 II. The DISCOVERT of things to ccme. Here are reprefented in one only and continued Viiion^ J. in general and at once, ALL POW- E R ^ in Heaven and on Earth given by Him that fitteth on the Throne to the Lamb^ by the opening of the Seals of the Sealed Book C. iv. v. The four firft Seals take in alhoijihle thiiigs to eaft and weft, fouth and north C. vi. 1—8^ And the laft three ^ the inviJJble: g&c. ^hcfeventhy being the moft impor- tant^ I., has its proper Preparation — — — C. vii. 2. exhibits the Silence in Heaven, the feven Angels with their Trumpets, and the much lur cenfe — C. viii. 1—6. [2. The particular EXECUTION ' of it 5 in which under thefefe'ven Augeh a This is a Reprefentation of the fohmn INAUGURA- TION of Jesus Christ into his Mediatorial KivgJum. ^ This is the ftoperly prophetical F^krt of the book; con- taining //^^/'ro/»/^f-//V«/HisTORy of CZtZ/^'s Ai>mimstrai ion of this Kingdom, from the Time of his RefurreBion or Afcen- fan till he delivers it up to the Father ; or, the royc.l M A- NIFESTOof Jesus, declacing how he will deal wiih hi* Subje^s as they are rebellious or obedient. i 68 Introduction. and their Trumpets one after a- nother, the Kingdom of this world is gradually broken, till it reverts to and becomes the Kingdom of God and his Christ ; where are to be confider'd !i . the four firft Angels and their Trumpets — 7—12. .2. the three \iL{\: Angels with their Trumpets, together with the three Woes by the Locufts, the Horfemen, and the Beafl. 13. ix. I &c. The Trumpet of the Seventh is of all the moft important, and with regard to it there is to be obferved /^i. the antecedently fworn Limitation of time, and the circumftantial ac- count of the certainly- future converlion of the great City, under the Trumpet of this Angel about the end of the third Wo. C. x. xi. ^2. the Trumpet itfelf^ and Part i. §. ii. 69 (i, 'Si Summary of the contents of it — C. xi. 15. 2. the previous Thankfgiving of the Elders on account of the Completion 16—18. 3. the Completion itfelf 19. And here .1. the Birth of the manly Son and theCafting down of the Arch-fiend from. Heaven xii. i— 12. the Oppofition on Earth, namely that hideous third Wo : and ^ I . it was brought on by mea^is of 1 . the Dragon xii. I2i>( 2. the two Beafts xiii. 2. Men in the meantime were I. warned by three Angels xiv. 6 &Ci z. cut off by the Har- vell and the Vin- tage 14 &c. chaillftd and ftir- red up to Repent tancc by the feven ^3 70 Introduction. Plagues or ViAts ^— — XV. xvi. 1^3. the great Whore along with theBeaft increafe the Calamity xvii. 3. the Royal Vidory, by which thefore-mentioned Enemies are removed ; and that in an inverted Order, viz. /i. the great Whore is judged and the King- dom of God gets the upper Hand xviii. xix. 2. the Beaft and the falfe Prophet are thrown into the Lake of Fire — — xix. \3. Satan is bound and Tmprifoned — xx- 4. the Government of Chrijl without oppofition: For after the advances made at feveral times (partly before the Trumpet of the Seventh Angel C. vii. 9. but moftly under it C. xiv* I. 13. xy. 2.) his Part i. §. ii. yx Reign goes on now in it s full Sway: For /i. The Nations are no longer feduced by Sa- tan but have Chrijl for their Shepherd xx. 3. 2. Thofe of the firft Re- furredtion reign with Chriji — 4* 3. Gog and Magog are deftroyed, and Sata?i who had been let loofe for a little while, is caft into the Lake of Fire — 7* 4. The dead are judged — — II. 15. A new Heaven; a new Earth; anewjerufa- lem, the everlafting. Kingdom xxi. xxii. 4ll, The CONCLUSION: which has a Relation to the Preliminaries above, and exaftly anfwers to them. xxii. 6-2 1 ^ The Reader would do well to make him- felf throughly acquainted with this Table ; 72 Introduction* for in the Expofition we fhall not give argu-^- ments or contents at the beginning of the; feveral Vifions or of the Chapters -, but han- dle the Text plainly and diredly in the Or- der of the chapters and verfes; The Con- tents of the whole will be beft comprehend- ed by means df the Seftions in the T'aik ; as they are properly diftributed in it accord- ing to their real P art s^ it being framed with a farther view then merely to be a help to> the Memory. It may alfo be ufeful to com- pare with this^ ajiother TCablc which is to fol- low in the firft SecSion of the Condiifion. III. There has been for a long time much Talk and much Writing about Hypvthefes, as they call them, widi regard to the Expofition of the Prophets; as many Interpreters want fuch Grounds to build their Interpretations upon. But thefe are commonly the Produdl of an arbitrary choice, dnd people fo twift and bend the Word of God to fait with them, that they deduce from it any thing that they would fain find in it. Nothing that is right can be fettled oh fuch a bottom: and I ear- Part i. §. iii* 73 ncftly entreat that no one will afcribe to me any particular Hypothecs, We may (nay, we muft) begin with fuch Remarks as the text clearly points out; afterward we inay advance farther and farther by means of right deductions and inferences. In making re- marks we ought to rely on the words of the text, without furmifmg, that perhaps the Fervency of Spirit in which St. John wrote, may have fometimes difcompofed him, and that thereby his difcourfe may be disjointed and out of order. The utterance of weak and frail me?i may be fomewhat difturbed by jtheir earneftnefs : but it is not fo with the holy meit of God» We ought then to receive what lies before us with the ?rverence due to what iswRiTTEN. In a difcourfe wherein your own profit or lofs, your own honour or diflionour is concerned, felf-kve will move ycu to weigh exadly every w^ord : in like manner the Love of God will not fufter us to be contented with a fuperficial view of the words, in a prophecy in which the honour of God is fo nearly concerned, K 74 Introduction. IV. Some interpret almolT: all the Prophecjr e^vifibk things, from civil and ecclefiaflical hiftory : and others moftly of the invifibk. This laft may be called a theofophical and philadelfhian or pneumatical, and the other a hiflorical and emblematical expofition. Writers of either ki?id are apt to overdo in fheir own way and fo come fliort in the other ^ #^^will not prefcribe to our Lord Jesus Christ, what he ftiould oi* fhould not have made known to us in his revelation; but Feeeive juft what he jQiews us with thankful- nefs, fimplicity and reverence. All Power not only o?i Earthy but alfo in Heaven^ is gi- ven to the Lord Jesus, as he himfelf tef- tifieth after his refurredtion : At his Name cvejy knee bows-, of things in heaven^ of things on earthy and of things under the earth. His Name is above every name that is named in this world and in that which is to some: He hath the keys of death and hell. This Power of his, and how by little and little he brings all into SubjeBion to himfelf, is the Principal THING defcribed in this precious book* Part i, §. iv. 75 ^Jobi is informed fometimes by the Lord Jesus himfelf, fometimes by Tan Angela now by cnc of the four ccleflial linji?ig Creatures^ then by one of the twenty four Eiders: and hence it is plain that thefe laft were not pil- grims or fojourners upon the earth, but in- habitants of thf )ther world, in which the liturgy and divine fervice is celebrated, Mi- chael fought his battle &c. C. iv. v, viii. ix. xii. xiv. XV. &c. Now as all that comes to pafs in the vifible world fprings from the in- vifible: thither aifo it flows back after it is done. Thus wonderfully are they inter- woven : and we muft adhere purely to what we find writte?;, Invifible things are more noble and important : but we, flrangei-s on the earth, more eafily underftand vifible things, and by thefe arife up to the others. All hiftory civil and ecclefiaftical ferves for a proof that Jesus Christ hath allPcrwer on 'Earth : but his Fewer in Heaven is incom- parably more extenfive. Now whoever fixes his eye on the one or the other only^ will look upon our conclufions as jejune and fcan- ty; but he who, v/here St. John treats of in- vifible and heavenly things, attends to invlil-. y6 Introduction. ble things too; and again, when St. John points to vifible things of this lower world, in iimplicity follows him, will in this middle ivay rightly underftand the whole. The Throne, and He that fits upon it, and the Lamb, is, as it were, the Center 5 near to which ftand the four living Crea- tures, the twenty-four Elders as priefts, and the Angels ; the Circimiference is all the in- vifible and vifible Creatures, Pfalm Ixxvi. 3 I . All that be rcitnd about kim. Hence this book has often a diJlinSl and yet intimately connefted reference to God, and to Christ ; and after them to the Angels, and to the Saints : and in confcquence of this, m.any things are propofed in a twofold manner : C. X. 7. xi. 3. and C. xiv. i — 5. and C. xiv. JO. and C. xviii. 20: 21 — 23: 24. and C. xxi. I, 2 — 9, 10. Many things are ex- plained and cleared up by the help of thi^ Obfervatioji : and therewith agrees what fol- lows in §. xix. and xxvi. Part i, §. vi, vii, vm. 77 VI. * Sometimes the motion is from the Cen- ter to the Circumference, viz. when the word of commatici concerning ihmgs to be done is iifued out and pubhfhed, C. v. 9 : Sometimes again from the Circumference to the Center, namely when the thing is cc- tically executed :md. fulfilled, C. xix. 23 both of them chiefly exprelTed in fongs of praife and thankfgiving. He that attends to this wdll duly conne(^t thofe things that have a coherence, and rightly feparate thofe that are difcin6l, VII. The facred number of Seven occurs of- ten 3 and even thofe Seveiis or Septcnaries that are the moft briefly and tranfiently mention- ed, are in themfelves very profound, myfle- rious and w^eighty : as the fevcn Spirits of God, the feven Eyes and feven Horns of the Lamb, and fo the feven Thunders, yea the feveh Heads of the Drao-on too. o VIII. But the feven Churches in Jfia widi their Angelsj the feven Seals, the fevcn Angels yS Introduction. with their T^rumpets^ and the feven Angels with their Viahy are defcribed at full length. Concerning the feven Heads of the Beaft we will fay nothing yet : and only obfervc that both in good and evil things the invifi- ble and vifible worlds agree in the Septenary Number; T^hat being reprefented and fet forth to us by this, as T&V is (as it were) a- nimated and ruled by that. IX. In our difqulfition concerning the above- mentioned exiaifive Septenaries, the fureil and eafieft way w^ill be to begin with the feven T^rumpets^ and of them the three lajly under which are the three Woes. Here we find manifeftly three periods of time diiliinguifhed from one another by determi- nate intervals and breaks, and accompanied with a great many plain characflers and to- kens; fuch as are not to be found either with the trumpets of the four firft angelsi or the churches and their angels, or with the feals or vials. In all difquiiitions cer- tain particular data are neceffary, to ena- ble us, by fettling them firft, to determine Part i. §. x. 79 afterwards concerning generals^ which are not fo prccifely characterized. Whoever thinks he can dij-petife with fueh data in his refearches, may take ^hat^ if he v/ill confi- der of it, as a token that he has not taken the thing by the right handle. A lock on the door of a well-fecured room or cabinet has, to be fiire, its own proper key, with- out which there is no opening of it, but by violence, X. THE^r/? wo has its indiijDiitable limits^ in C. ix. I — II. Thcfeccndis defcribed irk C. ix. 13 — 21 ; and the tkh'^d in the whole xiii^^ C. Let us diftindly examine the prin- cipal parts of thefe texts neceflary for our purpofe* I. The whole paffage from C. x. i. to C xi. 13. has a manifeft relation to the trumpet of the feventh angel. The fum €f the paffage is this : ^hat it potdd not be a full Chronos' more^ til!, in ths *= X^oyc? (CJjronos) fignifies Time in general : fo that \vc fay properly a long Chronos, ViJ/:ort Chronos, or Time. But «^ben the word is ufcd without ar.y rdlriclive epithet or 8 O Ln T R O D U C T I O N . days of the voice of the fevcntb angel ^ivheH he Jhould begin to found ^ the myftery of Go jy JJ:cidd be finifoed^ as he hath declared to his fcr- vants the prophets. But this paflage conlifts of two parts which run parallel to one ano- ther. The firft is C. x. 5 — 7 ; and the fe- cond, C. X. 8 — xi. 13. The contents of both parts begi?! indeed before the end of the fecond wo, with the Non-Chronos and the many Kings : but in the connedted Se- quel do not end under the trumpet of the fixth angel, but rather reach into the trum- pet of the feventh angel, nay under that quite on to beyond the end of the third wo; and that in fuch a manner that the whole IS infeparably connected. Thus the paffage confifrs not of fuch things as were all paji before the trumpet of the feventh angel ; name of any meafure, it figniiies in the beft Greek writers, a long time; as, oict x^ov^, after a time, is .the fame as ^ja iraTO^s ^povs, after a long time. Here however Chronos is fufpofed, and farther on in this Introduftion it will be pi o^ved^ to fignify in this prophecy a certain determinate meafure or fpace of time (and that a long one, more than a thoufand years) as Kairos, &rc. rendered a Time and Times and half a Time C. xii. 14. is vniverfally acknowledged to figivify. This Space of not a full Chrovds is for brevity called a Non'^ chronos. Part i. §. x. 8i but of a declaration of fuch things as^^A kw^ partly before, but moftly under that trumpet. Confider the following clear proofs of it, (i.) The Pofture of the an- gel, fetting his right foot on the Sea, and his left on the Land, and lifting up his hand to Heaven, concurs to declare that, under the trumpet of the feventh angel, the Enemies, notwithftanding all that they fhould attempt, as yet in Heaveriy and af- terwards on the Sea and on the Land^ muft however be driven out of Heaven, the Sea and the Land, and give way to the finifb- ing of the myftery of God. (2.) The Beaft does not arife out of the bottomlefs pit twice, but only once toward the latter end of his time ; and the proper place in the prophecy of this ariling is in the defcription of the beaft, namely, in C. xviii. where it is fpoken of in v. 8. as yet to come ; whereas in C. xi. 7, this arifing is only mentioned beforehand by the by^ but however for a ve- ry neceflary purpofe, viz. the declaration of the Time of the two Witnefles. (3.) It is in one and the fame great City that two L 82 Introduction. Earthquakes happen : now the firft of them falls out under the Vial of the feventh an- gel, and the other afterwards under the two witneiTes. The firft is general ; but the great city was not fo greatly hurt by it, be- ing only divided into three parts. The fe- cond is not general, but falls on the great city in particular, but then fo much the more heavily ; for feven thoufand people were killed and the reft put into a falutarjr fright. Certainly the Divifion of the city into three parts did not fall out after their being thus converted ; for (4.) In general the dreadful accomplifliment of the holy wrath of God comes firft, and after that follows the long'd-for finiftiing of the myf- tery of God. (5.) There are not two fuch finifhings of the myftery and words of God, but one only: the proper place of which is in C. xvii. 17. at the deftrudion of the enemies : but in C. x. 7. this joyful end is beforehand promifed. Thus all that is mentioned C. x. xi. concerning the Myf- tery of God, as alfo concerning the holy City and the two Witneflis, plainly reaches, cs to the Execution of it, far into the trum- Part i. §. x. 83 pet of the feventh angel, under which it will, at its proper feafon, be fpeedily finifh- ed. For this reafbh there is alfo a remark- able difference in the expfefilon : before and after this palTage the prophecy is ex- preffed moftly in the preterfenfe, but iii C. X. xi. moftly ih the future : where the certainty of the thing, the time how long it fliall be to the accompli fhment, its whole courfe, the place where it will be, and the inftruments to be employed in it, being all defcribed before-hand, the way is cleared that the defcription of the Raifer of the third wo and of his overthrow, under the trumpet of the feventh angel, may go on without interruption, II. The phrafe, ^e fecond wo is pajl^ behold the third wo cometh quickly C xi. 14. very well agrees with this, that much of what Is mentioned before it in C. X. xi. ihould be fulfilled, noturi- der the trumpet of the fixth> but that of the feventh angel. There are three important phrafes In C, viii, 13. ix, 12. xi. 14, The firft, Wo, Wo, 84 Introduction. Wo^ to the inhabitants of the earth : the fe- cond, ^hejirjl wo is pajl^ behold there come two woes more hereafter : the third, Tl6^ fecond wo is paft^ behold the third wo cometh quickly* And to this third phrafe refers that iterated declaration, Wo to the earth and the fea C. xii. 12. But no fuch fourth phrafe is to be found afterwards, that the third wo is pajt &c. Hence it follows that all thefc phrafes are principally denunciations or de- clarations of future miferies (juft as future good things are foretold by fimilar phrafes, C. xiv. 7. xix. 7. I^he hour of his judgment is come: the marriage of the Lamb is come) and that in the fecond and third phrafe the prin- cipal thing intended is the Coming of the fe- cond and third wo, and not the firft and fe- cond wo's being paft. Wherefore alfo it is not faid, the two woes are pajl\ but, the fe- cond wo is paji : whereby the iirft wo is as it were forgotten. On the contrary, the phrafes always have an equal regard to all the woes that are comings viz. Wo^ Wo^ Wo: ^wo woes are coming ^ not, the fecond wo is coming. Likewife in the denunciation of the yet future fecond and third woes \\% faid. .Part I. §. x. '8:5 hereafter y and, qiiickly-y and in both, behold. If therefore it fliould be objedled that, in the prophecy, the End of the fecond wo is not mentioned 'till after the death and refurredlion of the two witnefles and their being taken up into heaven, and that therefore all thefe things happen under the trumpet of the fixth, not the feventh angel: the proper anfwer would be, that in the above-mentioned fe- cond, and fo alfo in the third phrafe, the paft wo is juft taken notice of merely as paft, the t\\mg principally in view is that which is to come. Hence it plainly appears, i, That the third wo muft follow in the text very foon after the words, T'he fecond ivo is pafl^ behold the third wo cometh quickly. Accordingly there follow immediately after thefe words in an infeparable connexion (i.) the Sound- ing of the feventh angel, juft as the found- ing of the fifth and fixth angel follows after the firft and fecond phrafe; (2.) the Summa- ry of the contents of this fingular and fo im- portant trumpet, which contains in it fuch a variety of matters; (3.) the Execution of th.efe fame contents, and particularly the Oc- 86 iNTkODUCTION. cafion the Dragon takes to raife the third wo> together with the third wo itfelf ; jitft as in the trumpet of the fifth and fixth angel the Source of the firfl: and fecond wo and thefe two woes themfelves are mentioned. Now as the phrafe concerning the quick coming of the third wo could not be rightly feparated from the three juft mentioned points, to which it chief y relates, and be fet farther back ; fb neither again could it have a place before that paflage C. x. i — xi. 13. For under the trumpet of the feventh angel there fall out good, then bad, and again good things: now it was very fuitable that tlie contents of the trumpet in general fhould be propofed in that place, viz, fooner than the immediate propofal of the third wo^ w^hich makes but a party and indeed a fmall part, of the things contained under that trumpet. An- fwerably to which, from C. x. i. to C. xi.13. there is nothing faid about the third wo, and civen in C. xi. 14. it is not faid the third wo is come ; but, is coming. So then, neither was it the proper place before the beginning of the x'^ chapter to make this declaration. Beheld the third wo cometh quickly. Yea evea Part i. §. x. 87 the words, the fecojid wo is pajl^ would have come in too early at the end of the ix'^ chap- ter, where neverthelefs the defcription of the fecond wo is fully completed: for the fo oft mentioned paflage (C. x. i— xi. 13) adually begins, as to both it's parts, before the end of the fecond wo. Thus it is quite proper that in the third phrafe the lefs emphatical part, the fecond wo is pafl^ [fince it was not to be feparated from the principal part, Behold^ the third wo cometh quickly y tlie proper place of which is in C xi. 14, viz. juft before the founding of the feventh trumpet] fhould (palling over what comes in as it were in a parentheiis about the two witneffes &c.)have a retrofped: to the conclufion of the ix''* chapter. III. The Trumpet of the feventh angel begins C. xi. 1 5. and to this Trumpet belongs the reft of that xi'^ chapter, the xii'^ the xiii'*" and fo on. The Summary of the contents of this trumpet is in C. xi. 15. and in ver. 17, 18. And the Execution of it is opened in ver. 19. and from the beginning of the xii'^ chapter. 88 Introduction. is treated of at large. If any one ihould fancy that the Prophecy begins again quite anew at the birth of the Man-child C. xii. 5 ; this opinion will be throughly confuted by the remarkable, clear and important Parallelifm of the Voices in G. xi. 15. and the Voice in C. xii. 10. T^hofeVoiccs fay thus; T^he^king- do?n of the world is become cur Lord's and his Christ's: Afterward this Voice fpeaks; Now the fahatioriy the might and the king- dom is become our God's, and the poisoer his Christ's. The former voices belong in- difputably to the trumpet of the feventh an- gel; wherefore this latter voice muft necef- farily belong to it alfo. For the fubjed of both is entirely the fame, with this only dif- ference that in the latter voice the Execution is more particularly and precifely mark'd out by the word Now (a^'^O ^^^ ^^ ^^ following words more fully celebrated : from whence we may fee fo much the more clearly, that thofe voices were before this voice, and there- fore this belongs to the trumpet of the fe- venth angel, as certainly as thofe do. Yea the adual Breaking forth of the execution of tliis trumpet falls out in the midft between Part i. §. x, 89 ^ofe and this^ where Satan is caft out of heaven. All that follows, after this caft- ing out, is clofely connefted. From thefe III remarks we may draw thefe following conclufions. I. No part of what is written from C. x. i to C. xi. 13 belongetb to the fecond wo. This follows from the i'' remark^ and is farther confirmed from the following an- tithefis, viz. in the fecond wo things ended in a wretched impenitence, C. ix. 20, 21: on the contrary, Cxi. 1 3, (at the finifhing the myftery of God) in the converfion of a very great multitude. Only the latter end of the fecond wo, and the beginning of what is mentioned from C- x. i to xi. 13 in point of time run parallel a ^ little while, II. T!he third Wo is defcribedat length in C. xiii, and only notice gin^en of it before-hand in C xii. 12. This is proved in the \t^ remark. But let us more throughly confider in C. ix, xii, xiii, the following refemblances referring to M ^ Not above 40 years ; whereas the whole Non-<;hronos, C X. 6, is more than 1000 years. 90 Introduction. one another in many particulars, and advanc- ing by feveral fteps ; r^ Wo. i.T'heOccaficn'y A Star fallen from heaven, and the Pit of the Abyfs o pen'd. 2. The Leader; The Angel of the Abyfs. 'T^.neArmy-y Locufts. 4. The Perfons plagued *y All the Men that were not fcaled. I ir Wo. i,TheOccafiOn'y He who cry'd out of the horns of the golden altar, Loofe the four angels on the Euphrates. 2. The Leaders-, The four An- gels that had been bound on theEuphrates. 'l,TheA?'my', Some hundred millions of Horfemen. 4. The Perforis plagued 'y The third part of Men. iirwo. \,TheOccafio7i\ Michael, after whofe vidlory the Dragon is call out of heaven. 2. The Leader 'y The Dragon, who had hi- therto beenjn Heaven. '^,TheArmy\ Two horrible Beafts, and their Adhe- rents. 4. The Perfons plagued 'y All that dwell on the Earth, Part i. §. x 5. J'he DuraA 5. "The Dura- tion-, tion\ Five Months. One Hour, one Day, one 6. T^he Power-, To torment, without kil- ling. one Month, Year. 6. 'The Power; To kill. 91. 5. The Dura- tion ', A fliort time, forty-two Months, &c. 6. The Power; All Manner of Mifchief. Here are three Columns that fland by the Jide of one another ; and in each, fix points or articles that follow one another. In the firft column is the Jirjl, and in the fecond is the fecond wo. Now let any man confider if it is poffible there fliould be 770 wo, or even not a more horrible wo, in the third co- lumn, which refembles the firft and fecond in all points ; or whether he ought not rather to difcern and acknowledge in it the third wo, and that as the greateft of the three. Add to this fome other reflexions on the third woe's having fometimes a refemblancc, either to both the firft .and fecond alike, or (for reafons that will appear in the Expofition) only to one of them, and totr.etlnics fome- 92 Introduction. what particular to itfelf, as it is the moft grievous of them all. Let us produce thefe reflexions in the order of the fore-mention- ed articles. I. 2. The Occajioriy ^nd the Leader. The Occafion [of each woe] is always taken by the enemies from what is every now and then a doing by fome mighty Being who from one wo to another has a ftill higher fundtion. And the enemies come always from a higher and higher place, and are in their nature more and more mifchievous. 2. 3. The Leader y and the Army. The Leader in the firfl: wo hath an He- brew and a Greek name, Abaddon and Apol- Jyon: and in like manner in the third, a Greek and an Hebrew name, the Devil (^c^ta^oxo?) and ^ Satan. There is not the leaft mention made of this Dragon from C. iv, where the vifion begins, to C. xi ; but fo much the more frequently is he mentioned from C. xii to C. xxs fo that on his coming down hither from heaven it is faid, Wo to the Earth and the Sea. This, this, is that third Wo, which, « i. e. the Calumniator, the Traducer. f i. e. the Enemy. Part i. §. x. 93 as the moft horrible, is fo oittn foretold \m- der the exprefs name of a Woy viz, firft of all, together witli the firft and fecond wo, C. viii. 13 ; then after the firft and along with the fecond, C. ix. 123 again after the fecond, C. xi. 14 ; and laftly alone, C. xii. 12; and then, almoft prefently after this laft declaration, circumftantially defcribed in the xiii^'' chapter. Or iliall the difafters brought on by the Angel of the Abyfi and the four Angels from Euphrates be reckoned as two woes, but on the other fide the Dragon himfelf and under him the t^wo Beafls (in the defcription of whom the Man of Sln^ 2 Thefl^. C. ii. 3, is alfo included) bring no Wo by all the incomparably great miferies they are the authors of? 4. The Perfotis plagued. Whereas in the firft phrafe, JVo, V/o^ Wo^ mention is made of thofe that dwell on the Earth 'y 'tis thereby fignified (compare C. iii. 10 with C. vi. 10.) that on the whole the three woes fall not indeed upon the Saints, but otherwife are general. Now in the firft and fecond wo, as the firft touches the Jeu's particularly, and the other the 94 Introduction. Heathejiy but more efpecially thtfalfe Chrif- tians^ and fo both of thefe are not fo gene- ral ; mention is made only of men, with- out any great emphafis 3 on the contrary, as the third wo touches all thefe forts of people, and fo is flrid:ly general, now for the firfl time is exprefs mention made again of thofe that dwell on the earthy and indeed often, viz, in a paffage that has a view, fo early as in C. xi. 10 to the latter time of the third wo ; and in the defcription of the wo itfelf in C. xiii. 8, 12, 14, 3, 7: xvii, 2, 8 : xii. 12. 5. The Diiratlcn. The marks of Time appear firft along with the trumpets. Thofe of the firft, fecond, third and fourth angel have no marks of time : but thofe of the fifth, fixth and feventh, have. Now of the woes un- der thefe three laft angels, fhould only the firft and fecond have their marks of time, and not much rather the third? The prin- cipal fcope of the times of the three woes together is our information how long it will be yet to the finifliing of the myftery of God: and he who thus fuppofes a third Part i. §. x. 95 wo without any mark of time, in a great meafure frullrates the defign of the marks of time fet to the firft and fecond wo ; nay he will hardly be able to determine the duration of the firft and fecond wo without that of the third. Now there is no mark of time for the third wo but in C. xii, xiii. The firft wo has its duration allotted it by the Locujis^ in the vifible -, the fecond by the four Angeh let loofe, in the iwoifihle w^orld: and the third by the Dragon^ in the invifibky and partly alfo by the Beaft, the fubftitute or deputy of the dragon, C. xiii. 2, in the 'vifible world. 6. The Power, This word Power (fS^o-i^i) is found In each of the woes, C. ix. 3, 19 : xiii. 5, &c. So manifold a refemblance of what we reckon the third wo, to the firft and fecond, no man can pronounce to be a human fic- tion, or fliew fuch a refemblance to them any where but in the fubjedl of C. xii, xiii. in. T'he [even Vials are ?iot the third Wo. I. The feven holy angels with their i^vtvi vials have not the leaft Hkenefs, fo far are they from having fo manifold a refem- ^6 Introduction. blance to the firft and fecond wo, as the miferies have of which the dragon and the two beafts are the authors. 2. In thofe clear paflages C. viii. 135 xiv. 6, &c. there ftand in contrail ( i ) one who flies in the midft of heaven and proclaims fome- thing, and another who alfo flies in the midft of heaven and proclaims fomething : (2) The one cries Wo, Wo, Wo: the other, on the contrary, has a Gofpel (suayfixiov) or good 'T'idings. (3) The three woes have their duration exprefsly mentioned : fo alfo has the golpel or good tidings ; an everlaft- ingnefs ^ (aiwv) ig afcribed to it. (4) The three woes, and particularly the third, extend . to the inhabitants of the earth : the good tidings are to them that dwell on the earth, namely, who tho' they are upon it, do not adhere to it in their hearts. For which reafon as the whole firft and fecond wo, fo the third, as to the greater part of it, muft certainly ftand before the everlafting gofpel, and therefore much more before the ^ This word a»wv (a'ion) tevum has alfo its determinate fignification, and denotes a fpace fomewhat more than two thoufand years : as will be feen hereafter. Part i. §. x. j^ feven vials. 3. The third wo comes quickly after the fecond, viz, with the dra- gon, the beaft &c ; on the contrary the feven vials come long after ; for the vial of the very firft angel is poured out on them that had the mark of the beaft and worfliip- ped his image, tho* this mark and image came late, being the work of the other or fecond beaft. 4. As the iirft wo was caufed by the angel of the abyfs, and the fecond by the four angels let loofe ; in like manner the third is afcribed to the wrath of the De^cil: on the contrary, by the {