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	1 Ex Libris C. K. OGDEN

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

'f/

A

TREATISE

OF THE

THREE EVILS

OF

The Last Times :

I. The SwoRD^

II. The Pestilence^

III. The Famine ;

And of their

Natural and Moral Causes.

As also of the ensuing

Coming of ANTICHRIST;

According to the

Notion of the Ancient Fathers.

Originally published in 171 ].

LONDON:

Printed for Hatchard and Son, Piccadilly ; L. B. Seeley, Fleet-Street; and James Duncan, 37, Paternoster- Row, 1826.

Price 8s.

MERCHANT, PniNTKIt, INO RAM-COU RT, LONBON.

THE CONTENTS.

Page

The Introduction 1

PART I.

§ 1. The SWORD the proper Punishment of the

Lust of the Eye • 8

§ 2. That this Judgment shall surely come 10

§ 3. An Objection answered 17

§ 4. A second Objection answered 18

§ 5. The End or Design of those Desolations • • • • 21 § 6. The Region or Quarter where this Judgment

shall begin 23

§ 7. A Remnant saved 28

§ 8. The Manner of their Preservation considered •• 32

§ 9. A Recapitulation of this whole First Part..* • 37

PART II.

The PESTILENCE 42

§ 1. The Pride of Life 43

§ 2. The Pride of Life further considered 44

§ 3. That this Sin will be very rife in the last Days 47

§ 4. That there shall be sore Diseases in the last Days 50

/

THE CONTENTS.

Page

§ 5. That these Diseases are the proper Punishments

of the Pride of Life 54

§ 6. The material or instrumental Causes of them • • 59

§ 7. That there shall be a Concurrence of these

Causes in the latter Days • QQ

§ 8. Who they are that shall escape this Evil • • • • 69

PART III.

§ 1. The FAMINE the proper Punishment of the

Lust of the Flesh ' 73

§ 2. This Branch of Sin more particularly considered 75

§ 3. That this Sin does usually produce this Punish- ment • 77

§ 4. That there shall be great and universal Famines 81

§ 5. The Causes of this Evil excessive Heat. This

proved from Scripture • 8(>

BHghts, Mildews, &c. imputed to Heat 88

Devouring Insects produced by Heat 92

§ 6. A Recapitulation of these three Evils ih.

§ 7. A Remnant saved 94

§ 8. The Manner considered 97

§ 9. An Address to those vpho are unqualified for

Preservation 98

§ 10. Of the other lesser Evils that shall prevail at

that time • <>•> lOO

PART IV.

§ 1. The Word ANTICHRIST considered 107

§ 2. The State of the Controversy concerning a

personal Antichrist 109

§ 3. Of the mystical and natural Body of our Lord 110

§ 4. Of the mystical and natural Body of Antichrist 111 § 5. That the Charge of Antichristianism cannot be

appropriated to the Church of Rome 117

THE CONTENTS.

Page

§ 6. The Authorities for the Proof of a personal

Antichrist 119

I. From Scripture ih.

Two Objections answered 121

II. From the ancient Fathers of the Church 123

III. From the Jews 124

§ 7. The Types of Antichrist • • • ih.

§ 8. His Birth and Parentage 129

§ 9. That he shall come out of the Tribe of Dan . • 132

§ 10. Of his Infancy 133

§ 11. Of the Region where he shall first appear • • 134

§ 12. His first Appearance and Conquest of the Ten

Kings 135

§ 13. Of the Eastern Beast, or False Prophet • • • • 138

§ 14. The Opposition that shall be made by the

Church 140

§ 15. A Digression concerning the Restitution of Spiritual Gifts and Miraculous Powers to

the Church 143

I. From Scriptures 144

II. From the Ancients • 146

§ 16. The Opposition between the Christian and

Antichristian Characters 148

§ 17. Antichrist's invading the East, and the Pro- phecy of Joel explained in this Sense • • • • 149

§ 18. Of his taking Jerusalem • 155

§ 19. Some Personal Characters attributed to Anti- christ in Scripture, viz. 158

His Blasphemy • ib.

Not regarding the Desire of Women 159

His Worshipping the God Maozzim ih.

His doing Wonders 160

§ 20. The State of the World at that Time considered 163 § 21. Some Observations upon the preceding Quota- tions and concerning the Mark of the Beast 170

§ 22. Of the Two Witnesses 174

viii THE CONTENTS.

Page

§ 23. The Death of the Witnesses, and the End of

the Beast's Reign 181

§ 24. Places of Holy Scripture alluding to the Reign

of Antichrist 184

§ 25. The Destruction of Antichrist by the Effusion

of the Seven Vials 188

The Seven Vials distinctly considered 190

The Seventh Vial more distinctly considered; as comprising under it Two great Events : viz. •

I. The Great Earthquake which shall destroy Rome and Jerusalem 197

II. The Battle of Armageddon 198

§ 2G. Antichrist and the False Prophet taken and

cast into the Bottomless Pit ♦ 200

THE

PREFACE.

THE following Treatise, especially that Part of it which conceryieth The Antichrist, being founded on Priticiples entirely different from the Modern Opinions upon that Subject, must not be sent into the World without a short Preface, to engage the Favour and obviate the Prejudices of the generality of Readers ; ivho will be apt to condemn at first sight any thing, that shall contradict the current Opinions, though never so agreeable to the Traditions of the first and purest Ages of the Church. This is evident from the general Contempt thrown upon the Ancient Fathers and Lights of the Church, particularly as to their Notions of Catholic Communion, Church Censures, and the Holy Eucharist, concerning all which they delivered their Opinions as plain as Words could make them ; yet they are now forced to give way to the inconsistent Schemes of giddy Innovators. That most contemptibly dull Projector, the Author of The Rights of the Christian Church, has his Admirers, who set him up in opposition to the old fashioned Doctrines of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, as they were understood by Ignatius, Justin, Irenseus, Tertullian, Cyprian, and other Primitive Writers upoti those Sub- jects.

xii THE PREFACE.

I. FAR be it from ?ne that I should draw a Parallel hetivixt those a?id the Case in hand, or set those Controversies on the same foot with the Subject of this Discourse ; either side of this Question being at least Innocent, and having no relation to the Essentials of Christianity : Where- as, the Design of those is to destroy. Root and Branch, the very Principles of Revealed Reli- gion. JBut this, I must say, that I could never yet conceive what Service it could do to the Reformed Cause, to assert the Pope, or Church of Rome, to be The Great Antichrist, in Oppo- sition to the constant Doctrines of the Ancient Church ; ivhereas I think, as on the one hand, the acknowledging the Church of Rome to be a most corrupt Church, and by consequence in that Sense Antichristian, (as from my Heart I firmly believe it is,) is sufficient to justify our Separa- tion from her : So, on the other hand, the desert- ing the Traditions of the Ancient Church, with- out any Necessity Jor so doing, must needs have prejudiced many a Learned arid Judicious Man; who might thence be tempted to conclude, that the Reformers, in other Cases as well as that, despised the Doctrines of Antiquity, and were for setting up new Lights and 7iew Interpreta- tions of Scriptures, in Oppositio7i to those old ones, which the most primitive Ages had esteemed Orthodox.

II. St. Paul writing to the Thessalonians, 2 Epist. Chap. 2. concerning this Man of Sin, or the Great Antichrist, gives them a special Charge, v. 15. Therefore, Brethren, stand fast, and hold the Traditions, which ye have been taught either by our Word or Epistle; meaning.

THE PREFACE. xiii

no doubt, especially the Traditions about the Personal Antichrist. For that this was St. Paul's Meaning, I have two very good Reasons to believe. 1 . I presume it will puzzle a Learned Man to explain that Chapter of the Pope or Church q/'Rome so consistently as to satisfy his own Mind. 2dly, Which is to me no contempti- ble Authority, that all the Writers upon that Subject, through every Age of the Church till the Times of the Reformation, (begimiing with the Waldenses and Albigenses,) understood it in the same Sense, applying it (if not, in the same that I do, to a Person yet to come) to some indi- vidual Person to whom those Characters should most properly belong. Atid how caji we other- wise account for the concurrent Testimonies of the Ancients about that matter, than by supposing that this was the Tradition of the Apostles, par- ticularly of St. Paul, to which he refers, v. 5. Remember ye not that when I was yet with vou, I told you these things. Arid that from !iim and the other Apostles this Tradition was conveyed down to after Ages ; particularly con- 'Idering that the most early Writers speak ex- pressly in this Sense. Jrenseus, who ivas the Disciple of Poly carp, and by consequence but one remove from the teaching of St. John, Hip- polytus the Disciple of Irenseus, Cyprian, Origen, and Cyril o/' Jerusalem, are no incompe- tent Wit7iesses of an Apostolical Tradition, and are so appealed to in other Cases ; and ivhy in this particular Case we should be iviser than they, I confess I am at a loss to explain.

111. AND here I cannot but take notice of an Objection raised by the Judicious and Learned

xiv THE PREFACE.

Mr. Mede, and since revived hy Mr. Wbiston in his Essay upon the Revelations, p. 239. That the Authority of the Fathers in this Case is not to be regarded, because the particular Time for the Explication of the Doctrines concerning Antichrist was not till these two last Centuries, so famous for the Improvements of Learning ; grounding their Opinion on those Words of the Angel to the Prophet Daniel, Chap. 12. v. 4. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the Words, and seal the Book, even to the time of the End. Many shall run to and fro, and Wisdom shall be increased. Unde consequitur, (saith Mr. Mede) Patrura Authoritatem in Negotio Anti- christi, et novissimorum temporum (utut in aliis multum iis tribuendum sit) omnino nullam esse, utpote quorum setate Mysterium illud juxta Angeli Prophetiam adhuc clausum et obsignatum foret. Non igitur esse cur hie Patrum opinationibus tantopere movearaur ut nonnulli solent. Vid. App. p. 733.

TO this I ansiver, 1st. That it may very well bear a Question, whether The Increase of Know- ledge, mentioned by Daniel in this Place, be meant of the Improvements of Mathematical, Philosophical, and Philological Learning, for which these two last Centuries have been more re- markably famous ; which cannot very properly be supposed to co7itribute to the Understanding the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God. May not then the Words Knowledge and Wisdom, the increase ivhereof is foretold in this Prophecy, signify more emphatically a Divine, Extraordi- nary Light and Knowledge more fully to be cominmiicated in succeeding Times, whereof' that rational Leatming may be a Forerunner.

THE PREFACE. xv

2clly, IF it prove that these 31ysteries could not be known till these last Centuries^ then it will follow that none of the Ancients kneiv them; and by consequence St. Paul and St. John, luho wrote professedly of these things, talked of ivhat they did not understand: for if they understood them, why might they not convey them down to after Ages ; as we have good reason to believe they did.

3dly, / am rather of the Opitiion of Mr. AVhiston in this Point, ivho makes the great Article of these Prophecies, whereof the Ancients were ignorant, to be the understanding of the Prophetical Numbers, and the adjusting the Times of their Completion; and then though ive grant that the Apostles and Ancient Fathers knew not the precise Time of their Completion, yet it does not thence follow, that they knew not whether Antichrist was to be a single Perso?i, or a collective Body. Let it then be grarited that the Ancients knew not the Time of the Completion of these Prophecies, because the Time was not yet com£ ; would not an unwary Reader be hence tempted to conclude, that the Time for the understanding of them is 7iot yet come, be- cause so many unsuccessful Attempts have been made to fix every Event to a particular Time ? And TYiay it not possibly happen that even Mr. Whiston himself may in time be convinced, that he knows as little of the Matter as St. Paul himself did? I know not what use Mr. Mede might make of the above-cited Observation. His singular Modesty and Humility, as well as great Judgment, persuade me that he could not Tumke a bad one ; but whether others who pretend

THE PREFACE.

to tread in his steps, may not hence be encouraged to desert the Doctrines, and despise the Fathers, of the Primitive Church, to set up new Opinions, and to be wise above that which is written, ought carefully to be consideied by those whom it may concern.

IV. I do not here take upon me to censure the Learned Labours of the many Great Men, who have written in Defence of the contrary Doc- trine; much less am I able to unravel their Schemes of Apocalyptical Interpretation. My business in this place is only to revive the Ancient Doctrines of the Primitive Church, which I cannot easily part with, though I am not able to reconcile every part of the Apocalypse so as to draw a coherent System of Prophecy. JBut if' the Doctrine here contended for shall appear to the Learned World a true and justifiable Doc- trine, it may be improved and set in a clearer Light by some more able Hand.

V. THE Reader, I hope, will not be offend- ed, if he find up and down in this Essay several Mystical Interpretations of Scripture, for most of which lam not without great and good Autho- rities. Hoiv justifiable such Allegorical Inter- pretations of Scripture are in general, to pass over the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, may appear from St. Paul's Allegory of the two Covenants, answering to Mount Agar and Mount Sinai, Galatians 4. and in his Epistle to the Hebrews, wherein he expoundeth a great part of the Levitical Law in a Mystical and Spiritual Sense; 7iot to say that the Hellenestic Philoso- phy, ivhich ivas that of the New Testament, ivas

THE PREFACE. xvii

chiefly of this sort, ivhich ivas closely folloived by several of the most Aiicient Writers, as by Origen, Eusebius, and Athanasius, in their Commentaries on the Psalms a?id other Scrip- tures. Whereas I have also in several places offered at a 7nore particular Explication of the Modes of some Events. The Reader, I hope, will not censure me as Dogmatical, since I only propose them as things probable according to the Analogy of Scripture and Nature, not lay- ing any stress upon them, much less proposing them as undoubted Truths.

VI. HOJV seasonable a Discourse of this nature may be at present, is but too evident to any one that ivill but observe the prodigious in- crease of Antichristian Principles, more parti- cularly in this siiful Nation. For ivhat are all those execrable Clubs and Societies, of Atheists, Deists, and Freethinkers, which noiv swarm amongst us, but Antichristian Spirits banded toget/ier in a Diabolical Confederacy, to propa- gate Infidelity, and subvert (if it be possible) the very Principles of Religion! For this is Antichrist (saith St. Jolm) that denieth the Father and the Son, and whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. ] Ep. Chap. 2. V. 22, 23. And this is done without Fear or Restraint by the Scoffers of this Dege- nerate Age, who Elaspheme the God of Heaven, Contemn and Deride the Person and Doctrines of the Blessed Jesus, and that in such a manner, and ivith such Circumstances, as would not even in a Mahometan Coimtry be suffered with Im- punity. Rut because he is out of their reach they assault him in his Priests, and in his Spouse

h

xviii THE PREFACE.

the Church, whom ivith the most implacable Malice they endeavour to Vilify and Destroy ; by despising and affronting her Governors and their Orders, and profaning her most Sacred Institutions. These being Contemners of Reli- gion, and owning no Obligations of ConsciencCy a?-e by consequence presumptuous, selfwilled, de- spise Government, and are not afraid to speak Evil of Dignities. But let them know, that though they speak great swelling Words against God, and their Superiors in Church and State, beguiling unstable Souls, and promising them Liberty from Priestcrcft and Slavery, they them- selves are but the wretched Slaves of Con^uption ; and the vilest Advocates and Propagators of the Antichristian Kingdom. And I pray God for- give me if I am uncharitable in thinking that these are the o» ^Airoxxif/.ivoi mentioned by St. Paul.

A SERMON

OR

HOMILY

CONCERNING

ANTICHRIST,

AND THE END OF THE WORLD.

POSTSCRIPT.

INCE this was ivritten, and just going to the Press, there is come to hand the Oxford Edition of I^phraim Syrns printed from the Greek Bodleian MSS. a Thing so much desired, and so long wished for by several Learned 31eny {particularly by our Learned Countryman Dr. Cave, that Great Assertor of Primitive Anti- quity) for which the Church and Learned World are indebted to Dr. Milles, a late eminent Orna- ment of that University ; whom for his Noble Work upon the JSew Testament, Posterity will knoiv how to honour: Ey luhose Copy left behind him after his Death, which he at his own Charge had caused to be transcribed with all Exactness from the said Manuscripts, this Impression is made. In which there is a Pathetic Homily or Discourse of the End of the World and the Coming of Antichrist, which I am encouraged by some Learned Friends who had the Revisal of these Papers, to translate into our oivn Language, and add to this Discourse as a most solemn and Authentic Testimony of the Oriental Church, (which ive are told had so high a Veneration for the Writings of this Holy Father, as even to read the same together ivith the Scriptures in their sacred Assemblies,) in Co?i/irmation of the Doctrines advanced, or rather revived, in this Essay.

XXI

A Sermon or Homily concerning Antichrist, and the E^id of the World,

HOW shall I Ephraim the meanest of the Pag. 359. Servants of God, a Sinner laden with Iniquities ; How shall I be able to instruct you in Things that are above my Capacity. But as our Blessed Saviour was pleased in mere Mercy to instruct his illiterate Disciples in the Mysteries of Wisdom, and by them to con- vey Divine Light to all the Faithful : So he will without Grudging bless me with the Gift of Utterance, to the Comfort and Edification both of me who am to speak, and all you that are to hear. But I cannot preach to you with- out Sighs, nor speak without Tears of the approaching Consummation of all Things, and of that most blasphemous and terrible Serpent, who shall put the wliole Earth in Confusion, and shall infuse Cowardice, Negligence, and Infidelity into the Hearts of Men, and do Signs, work Wonders and dreadful Sights, * insomuch * Mat. 21. that if it tuere possible he should deceive the 24. very Electa and seduce all Mankind by lying Wonders and miraculous Appearances that shall be wrought by him. For by the Per-

b2

xxii ^7: EPHREM SYRUS

mission of the Righteous God he hath Power to deceive the World, because the Measure of their Iniquities is fdled up, and all Places are full of all Kinds of Abomination. And for this Cause the Holy God will suffer the World to be tempted by the Spirit of Error because of their Iniquities, because Men have forsaken the God of Truth, and loved a Lie. My Brethren, great will be the Tribulation of the last Days, especially to the Faithful. When Signs and Wonders shall be wrought by this Old Serpent with great Power. When he shall again show himself, as if he were God, in dreadful Operations, (a) flying to and fro in the Air with Legions of evil Spirits, accom- panying him as ministering Angels to this ter- rible Tyrant. For he roareth mightily, ap-

(a) Even as Simon Magus, a' Type and Forerunner of hiuQ, is represented flying in the Air, and thereby op- posing- the Gospel of Ciirist, as preached by St. Peter : And as the same is' also reported concerning Apollonius, another Representative of him, and other dark Ma- gicians, Ancient and Modern. Whence one of our Modern Pseudo-Prophets was, it seems, not vpell ad- vised by the Spirit which acted him, not to content himself with the Power of walking upon the Water, as Christ; but to lay claim likewise to a Promise o( fly- ing in the Air, according to the express Characteristic of Antichrist and his Apostles. This is very agreeable to the Devil, being called in Scripture the Prince of the Air, and to his Transportation of our Blessed Lord, when tempted by him, from the Wilderness to the Pinacle of the Temple in Jerusalem; if that were a Real and External Transaction, as commonly is supposed, and not merely transacted in Spirit.

OF THE END OF THE WOULD. xxiii

pearing in Variety of Forms, to the unspeak- able Amazement of all Mankind. Who, my Brethren, will then be found standing bold and unshaken, having the (b) Seal in his Heart,

(b) There is a twofold Seal : viz. The Seal in the Heart, and the Seal in the Forehead. The former pre- cedes the latter, and is the Cause of it. The latter follows this, and is the external visible Sign thereof; which is to be imprinted by an Angelical Power in the last Days upon ail the true Followers of Christ, to distinguish them, even outwardly, from the Follow- ers of Antichrist. Of the former St. Paul has made sufficient mention, 2 Cor. i. 22, saying, Who hath SEALED us, and given the Earnest of the Spirit in our Hearts : and again, Eph. i. 13. Iti whom (i. e. Christ) tje were SEALED ivith that holy Spirit of Promise. And iv. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God whereby ye are SEAL- ED, unto the Day of Redemption. And of the latter St. John has made like mention, calling it emphatically the Seal of the living God ; and that with a particular respect had to the Time of Antichrist. See Rev. vii. 2, 3-9, and ix, 4. Now as for the outward and visible Seal, where- with Baptized Christians were at Confirmation anciently sealed, and which was for a sensible Sign oi' the inward and invisible Seal of the Heart; it was certainly no other than the Sign itself of the Son of Man, or of Christ considered in his Humanity, being as a Coun- terpart to the said Seal of the living God, or of the same Christ considered in his Deity. Thus the First Sealing was to be chiefly into the Merit of Christ's Death ; but the Second is to be into the Power of his Resurrec- tion. Accordingly the visible '£(p^ct.yU of Cliristianity which was given in the Primitive Church, by the Ministry of the Ecclesiastical Angels, was the anoint- ing the Forehead with Oil, and making therewith the Sign of the Cross thereupon. Whence o-^p^ayifw and i7(p^a.y\^o^on are thus used in Ecclesiastical Authors; and even St. Paul himself may possibly allude hereto

xxiv ST. EPHREM SYRUS

the Holy Appearance of the Only Begotten Son of God ! When he shall see that mi-

in that remarkable Passage, Rom. xv. 28. And it is very observable that Christ Himself is the First of the Sealed Ones, according to his own Word, TStoi/ y«p o Tlo[{n^ i(T(p^a,yKjiv, 0 0EO{, Joh. vi. 27. Whence by this Divine Sealing, and Powerful Inauguration, he may with respect even to his Mediatory Office, no less than to his Divine Nature, as He is the Only Begotten of the Father, be called Xa^otiilyip t?? vvocrlua-eu^ ocvtS : And it is the holy Appearance of this Only Begotten Son of God in the Heart, which is the Secret and Invisible Seal wherewith we first must be sealed ; that so we may be fitted for the second Sealing, viz. that on the Forehead, against his second Coming and glorious Ap- pearance from Heaven, Outwardly to all the World. Wherefore by the First we are Sealed to be as the express Image of His Person, even as He is of the Father's Person, through the impressed Character of his Nature and Life in us : And to as many as shall attain this, and thereby overcome the Power of Satan, it re- mains that Christ, whom they are made to represent, and of whom they are living Images, should fulfil the Promise which he has made to his conquering Saints, Rev. iii. 12. Which is to be effected by that Eastern Angel, to whom the i:<p^a.y]q ©ea ^mli^ shall for that End be by Him committed; and which, not without a wonderful Propriety of Speech, He calls the Inscrip- tion of the Name of HIS GOD, and of the Name of the CITY of His God: For he speaks this in his Human Capacity, and as raised from the Dead: And in the Words there is an evident Relation to the State of the First and Blessed Resurrection. But however tliis may be now esteemed, it was no such strange thing in the earliest Days of Christianity; and particularly among the Oriental Christians, in the midst of whom this Holy Father was a Bright Star in his Day : And both the First and Second ^e'dVinrr iif ^^rjv ocIu^hov were most significantly expressed by the Ancient Forms of Confirmation, as may bt seen.

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxv

speakable Tribulation that shall come upon every Soul, without any Prospect of Rest or Consolation either by Land or Sea ; When he shall see the whole World in Confusion, and every one shall be fleeing to the Mountains for Shelter, when he shall see some perishing w ith Hunger, and others melting like Wax at the great Tribulation, and none to pity them. When he shall see all Faces cover- ed with Tears, and asking with great Earnestness, Is there any (c) Word of God upon Earth? and it shall be answer- ed, No. Who shall be able to bear those Days, who shall stand under this insup- portable Affliction ? When he shall see the confused Multitudes coming from the

(c) See this general Famine of the World ultimate- ly prophesied of Amos viii. 11, 12, Nevertheless here by Earth is not to be understood the whole Terrestrial Globe, but the Kingdom of Antichrist only, or the whole Extent of his Empire, which in the Prophetical Lan- guage is called Earth, as in opposition to the Kingdom of Christ, wheresoever that may be. either in Heaven or upon Earth, being in the same Language generally called Heaven. For thus the Apocalyptical Interpreters commonly understood the Church to be symbolised by Heaven, even while it remains upon Earth, ac- cording to the Rules of Hieroglyphical Literature. And thus, not without good Reason, is a Wo so solemnly proclaimed against the Inhabitants of the Earth; that is, all those that live under the Antichristian Empire, Rev. viii. 13, which Empire not improbably may be included within the Limits of the old Roman Empire, or there- abouts ; and v.'hich was also called oixajiAsvj), by our Tran- slators rendered the World. See Luke ii. 1. Acts xi. 28. Rev. xvi. 14.

ST. EPHREM SYRUS

Ends to behold this Tyrant, and many worshipping before him, and crying out with Amazement, Thou art our Saviour. The Sea roareth, the Earth is burnt up, the Heavens do not rain, and the Fruits of the Earth wither! Then they that are in the East shall flee into the West, and they of the West shall run with Terror into the East to escape the Evils! Then shall this Blasphemer exert his Power, and send his (d) evil Spirits into all Na- tions, to make public Proclamation, saying, A Great King hath appeared in glory^ come and see him. Who then will have a Heart so hard, as to be able to bear up with Courage against so great Abomina-

( d) That is, in like manner as Christ did send his holy Spirit, which is One, out into all Lands, as the same did rest upon, and was transfused through his Apostles ; even so shall this Deceiver send forth his Evil Spirits, which are many, to make every where loud Proclamation of his Kingdt)m and Glory, by possessing chosen Instruments for his Purpose, and speaking through them as his Oracles, Apostles, and Ambassadors. By these Spirits therefore we are here to understand the Inspired by them, or the Pseudo- Prophets and Pseudo-Apostles ; of whom fair warn- ing is given us both by Christ and his Apostles. They are called the Spii'its of Devils, or of Demons; and are represented by our great Evangelical Prophet, as be- ing of three different Kinds ; but to show that theie is to be a sort of Egyptian Magic, whereby their Minis- tration shall chiefly display itself in Public, he gives a most fit resemblance of them under the Figure of Frogs, as if they were generated out of the Mud of Nilus.

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxvii

tions? Who is that Man (as I said before) that all the Angels of God may bless him? For I (my Brethren, Lovers of Christ, and (e) perfect) tremble at the Thoughts of this Deceiver, when I but think within myself of the Tribulations of these last Times. For howsoever mischievous and cruel this Old Dragon may be to all Man-|/ kmd, yet will he be more furious against a^rS, i. e. the Saints, who shall be able to overcome Spectra, t his Terrors. For there shall be many ^'^^ *^'^"" found at that Day, who being dear to God j" ^^"i shall be preserved in Mountains, and xi'v. 26. Hills, and desert Places, * because of ^/«r. vi.49. their many Prayers and terrible Com- ^ppariti- plaints. For the Holy God beholding f!*' , their inexpressible Mourmngs, and Sin-;^^^^^- cerity of their Faith, will show Compas- 7is-s<Tt, &c. sion towards them, as a tender Father,

(e) By Perfect is here to be understood an Order among the Primitive Christians, not that was wholly excepted from every Spot of Sin (as some of our Modern Perfectists do understand the Word) but that was ad- mitted to the most perfect and highest Degree of the Communio7i of Saints, in the Church of Christ ; and that was not only instructed in the first Rudiments and Elements of Christianity, which were sufficient for Sal- vation, but were initiated also into the Mysteries atid Arcana oi our most Holy Religion, Among the Number of these Mysteries I reckon this Doctrine concerning Antichrist and his Kingdom to be one : And hence we may infer, that this was not at first to be promiscuously communicated to all Christians, but only to those of the most perfect Order and Rank in the Church. And to such as these this Discourse of St. Ephrem seems prin- cipally to be addressed.

xxviii ST. EPHREM SYRUS

and will preserve them where they have been hidden. For this Accursed One shall be continually searching after these Holy Souls by Land and Sea, reckoning that he has now established his Domi- nions over the whole Earth, and brought all the Inhabitants thereof into Subjection under him. Nor does he question with himself but that he shall be able to with- stand that dreadful Hour, when the Lord shall descend from Heaven, not consider- ing his own Weakness and Pride by which he at first fell. Then shall he disturb the World, and strike an universal Terror by the lying Wonders of his false Magic. In his time there shall be no Rest upon Earth! But great Tribulation, Trouble, and Confusion, Pestilences, and Famines to all the Ends of the Earth. For thus Mat. xxiv. saith the Lord, There has not been the like Vj ... Ji'om the beginning of the Creation. And how ^g '"■ shall we sinful Wretches explain the ex- ceeding Terrors of that Time, which the Lord himself hath told us are inexpressi- ble? Let every one therefore fix his mind stedfastly upon the Holy Scriptures of our Lord and Saviour, knowing that of his Mercy towards us, because of the exceed- ing Danger and Trouble, he will shorten the Days of this Affliction. For thus he Mat. xxiv. warns us all, saying, Praij that your flight 20. Luke jjQ ^qi Iji iiiQ njifiter, nor on the Sabbath-dau : and agam, Watch and pray always, that ye may be thought tvorthy to escape this Tribula- tion, and to stand before the Son of Man.

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxix

For the (f) Time is at hand, and we all stand in the (g) Antichristian Spirit, and believe it not. Let us pray earnestly with Tears and Supplications, Night and Day,

(f) By the Time being at hand we are to understand no more, tlian that the Mystery of Antichristianism was then already at work in the Lifetime of this Holy Father ; and that by the working of this Mystery, it was highly probable that the Personal Revelation of Antichrist would soon follow the Spiritual. But he not knowing how long the Spiritnal Revelation of Antichrist was to endure, might easily apprehend that the Personal could not be far off, since the other was actually present, and clearly discernible. Moreover, if there was a Mistake in the Anticipation of the Time, it is no more than what was in the very Days of the Apostles; and wherein they themselves might also be in part overtaken, without the least Prejudice thereby to the Divine Authority of their Inspirations, so far as they concern the Doctrine itself. See the Commentators upon 1 Thess. iv. 15, 17. 2 Thess. ii. 2.

(g) Hence it manifestly appears, that according to our Author's Sense, there must be a Spiritual as well as a Bodily Manifestation of Antichrist, whereof that ought to precede and make way for this ; since even in his time he was convinced that the generality of Christians had apostatized from their first Love, and did stand in an Antichristian Spirit, though at the same time they could 7iot believe if, but did look on themselves as good Christians. For his plain meaning is, that there was a Mystery of Antichristianism then actually working in the Professors of the Christian F'aith, the Operation whereof was so secret, as to be hidden from themselves ; and which was Preparatory to the Last and Greatest Manifestation of the Power of the Devil in the Person of Antichrist, his Seed and Image, as that Man of Sin, and the Perfection of that Diabolical Mystery in the Flesh.

XXX Sr. EPHREM SYRUS

falling down before God, that we Sinners may be saved in that Day. Whosoever therefore has the Gift of Tears and godly Sorrow, let him beseech the Lord, that we may be delivered from this Distress wiiich is coming upon the whole Earth ! That he may neither see this terrible Beast, nor hear his Terrors. For there shall be Fa- mines, and Earthquakes, and Variety of Diseases over all the Earth. Then will it show a courageous Spirit to make even Life itself supportable in the midst of these Distresses. For if a Man be found never so little remiss, he will be easily assaulted, and carried away captive by the lying Wonders of this wicked deceiving Serpent. Such a one shall not be forgiven in the Day of Judgement. For his (h) Face shall discover, that be

(h) The Face is very often an Index of the Mind, even in this present cloudi/ State wherein we live ; and therefore it ought not to appear so strange, what seems here supposed by our Author, that in the Day of Judgement, when all Things shall be nakedly exposed as they in truth are, that the whole Inwanl State of the Soul shall most clearly display itself in the Coun- tenance : So that the Disciples and Followers of Anti- christ shall palpably discover themselves by their very Looks: And it shall be then clearly discernible, who have taken the due Precautions, and who have not, in trying the Spirits which go forth in the Name of Christ, and with the highest Pretences set up them- selves in the Temple of God ; both by the darkness of their Aspect, and by the outward Mark and Character also of the Seat of Antichrist diabolically imprinted on

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxxi

willingly believed the Deceiver. Belo- ved, we have need of many Prayers and Tears, that any of us may stand stedfast in the Day of Temptation. For many are the wonderful Works that shall be wrought by this Beast ! For he, being the Enemy of God, will endeavour to accom- plish an universal Destruction. For this End he will endeavour to make all Men receive his (i) Mark, when he comes in

their Faces, in the most eminent Part thereof. This Antichristian Mark, with the gloomy Saturnine Cloud sitting upon their Brow; whereby their express Com- pact with Satan, and his Vicegerent Antichrist, is de- noted and testified to the World ; must be undoubt- edly such an Infallible Mark of Discrimination in the last Days, as it shall not be possible for the Faithful, elected out of the World, and having the Seal of Faith, to be deceived even with all the deceivableness of Un- righteousness in the Appearance of Antichrist and his Apostles.

(ij Concerning this Antichristian Mark there is no suflScient Keason alleged why it may not be an exter- nal and visible Mark or Character, or why we should here recede from the Literal to a Metaphorical Sense, when there is not the least Inconvenience following the former ; and this latter is so strained, and attended with so many Difficulties, as will presently appear to every Impartial, Considerer. This external and visi- ble Character of the Antic hristians, as the Sign of the internal and invisible Seal of the Spirit of Antichrist in their Hearts, is to be imprinted not once, but twice, for the more firm Binding of the Subjects, on whom the Impression thereof is made. The two Impressions are upon the Hand and the Forehead, Rev. xiii. 16. The Military Mark of Antichrist is the first of these, accord- ing to the Ancient Custom of stigmatizing Soldiers in the

xxxii ST. EPHREM SYRUS

his appointed Time to deceive the World

by his Miracles, till the Number of his

tnSvElJo^ Days shall be accomplished. That so they

XuaTant "^^y "^"y ^<'^^' ^"^ t the Pleasures of form or Life. And the Rulers of the People do ac- Image. It complish his Design. My Brethren, be- waShowo/^are of the * Exaltation of this Beast! rJther7han ^^^ ^^^ Artifices are Diabolical. Observe Pleasure ii- ^ow he begins with the Belly ; that when self; and a Man is pinched for want of Food, he theRepre- jQ^y be Compelled to receive his Mark: sentation 0/ jy^^ as it miffht be upon every Member rather than of his Body, but in his (i) right Hand, theThing it- and upo'n his (k) Forehead, shall he re-

self. From whence is

Erasm in 1

Cor. viii. 4 Hand. Hence Aetius the Physician, having occasion to Simula- make mention of such sort of Marks in the Flesh, hath cnrum est these Words : Erty/AaT* xa?v5<ri ra, IttI tuv 'mq^avuicH, h aXAa vox Jjatma a -j-jy^j f*epa? twv cwftaro? Itny^ocipo^ivoi,, olct tov aT^cclevoj/.ivav iv Simtilando ; tS.i<; xepsi. And Radulplms Flaviacensis in his 14th Idolon Book upon Leviticus, explaining that Precept of the Lave,

Graeca, ab Ye shall not print any MARKS upon you: I am the ils(^, Spe- LORD ; Lev. xix. 28, gives hereof this Reason, Stigmata cies, quod dicebantur qucedam Signa, quce in MAN I BUS Militum speciem & Jlehant ; ut de militia Imperatoris esse cognoscereniur. iraaginera Prohihet ergo ne hujusmodi Characteres facerent sibi, qtii- manem, prw bus hnmanam videantur profiteri subjectionem, qui divinam se lerat, professi sunt potius servitutem. And hence was also the quum absit Constitution of Gregory the Great, Ne quis MANU Veritas. Signatus, ante expletam Militiam in Monasteriis recipere- TiJ" tur. Whence likewise in the Notitia utriusque Imperii,

ij-jt\^Qo-Knv, 2 we have the Names of the Honorians, the Theodosians, Cor. IV. 7, the Conslantians, and others, who were such Soldiers as I'' had received in their Hand, or in their Arm, the Mark of

that Emperor under whom they served.

(k) The Servile IMark of Antichrist is that upon the Forehead ; whicli is to he distinguished from the fore-

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxxiii

ceive this Hellish Mark, that he may not be able with his right Hand to make the (k) Sign of the Cross, nor im-

going, as implying a great deal more than it : The one of these Marks is less visible, the other is to be seen of all ; the one is the Badge of a Warfare that is to have an End at a certain Period, but the other of perpetual Servitude, of a Slavery never to have End ; and the one, I think, may hence be called a deliable, but the other an indeliable Character. To which may be well applied that of Suidas, speaking of the Father of Sion, who had been a Slave, Ov 'mgoawKov, aXKa. a-vyy^afpriti Itt* tuv 'W^oaru/Tra, rn; ruv ^Eo-Tz-ora •E7ix^i«? crvfxQo>^ov. Voc. 'EvjaQ, And Petronius speaking of Eumolpus, says agreeably, Implevit FRON- TED! utriusque ingentibus Literis, Whence a Slave bearing such a Mark in his Forehead, is called Literatus by Plautus, in his Casin. Act II. Sc. 6, and FRONTE notatus by the Epigrammatist. Mart, Lib, 3. Also FRON- TES Literati by Apuleius, after the same manner as Literarum nota per summam ORIS contumeliam inusti, by Valerius Maximus, are thus applied to denote the deplo- rable Estate of those condemned Bondslaves who are stigmatized in the Face or Forehead. To which also Clemens Alexandrinus and Chrysostom do allude : And Cardinal Cajetan, according to them, thus explains St. Paul ; Ad similitudinem servorum gestantium in FACIE impressam noiam Dominorum inustione ferri factamf descri- bit se Paulus portare manifeste in corpore suo, non unam, sed multas impressas notas Domini Jesu. Comra. in Gal. vi. 17. Wherefore the Difference betwixt this tivqfold Mark of Antichrist, viz. in the Hand and the Forehead, or Military and Servile, may deserve well to be heeded. For they that receive his Mark but in the Hand only, are not thereby absolutely out of all possibility of being reco- vered again : but they that shall be so unhappy as to re- ceive it in their Forehead also, will thereby be sealed to Destruction together with him, without the least possibili- ty of an Escape remaining ior them. What manner of Diabolical Mark this shall be in the Flesh of these Anti-

xxxiv ST.tlPHREMSYRUS

press on his Forehead the Holy Name of the Lord, or the Glorious and Venerable Cross of Christ our Saviour. For the Deceiver knoweth, that the (I) Sign of the Cross, if it be made, destroyeth all

christians, either in the Hand or in the Face, to distinguish them from Christians at the first sight, we cannot be certain : But most probable it is, that there shall be some- what of Darkness and Deformity in it not to be dissem- bled, with something suited to express their highest Con- tempt of the Cross of Christ, and Abjuration of his Name and Doctrine,

(I) This seems to have been a sort of Social Tessera and Characteristic among the First Christians, whereby they could all know one another, without discovering themselves to the Heathens, in whose Company they might be ; and could also undiscovered silence their Demons in their Temples, put a stop to their Sacrificial OflSces, loose such as were Bound by Satan, and after several manners destroy and frustrate the Works of the Devil, looking earnestly through Faith at the same time up to JESUS, as treading upon the Serpent's Head by his Death for Man on the Cross : Who, according to the African Father,

Serpentis Spolium, devicto Principe Mundi, Affijcit Ligno, refugarum immane Tropeum.

See Tertullian against Marcion, and his Apology; with what Justin Martyr and Minucius Foelix have said hereof, in their Apologies for Christianity : As also what Origen in his Commentaries, St. Cyril in his Catechise, St. Basil in his Treatise of the Holy Ghost, St. Chrysostom upon St. Matthew, the Ancient Book of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, under the Name of St. Dionysius ; and what the Apologists of the Church of England for the Use of the Cross in Baptism have produced in Honour of this Sacred Sign.

OF THE END OF TH^ WORLD.

XXXV

his Power. Mark

on

and therefore the (m) right

he will set his Hand ; for by

(m) The Reason which is here twice given for the Impression of a Diabolical Mark upon the Right Hand deserves not to be slighted : But there is also another •which is coincident with it, and may be as Old as the Days of Samuel at least, and that is, that this Hand is the Symbol of Power, and consequently of Victory also, whence the Sign thereof was anciently used both by Jews and Heathens for a Trophy, or for a Monument of good Success, as appears from the Sacred Writer of the First Book of Samuel, and from David also in seve- ral of his undoubted Psalms, with respect to the former; and for the latter Lipsius may be consulted, and Sfewe- chius upon Vegetius, with other Learned Critics that have written De Re Militari. Particularly it is observable, that the Monument or Trophy which King Saul erected for his Victory over the Amalekitcs, was set up upon this very Supposition, and took thence also its Denomination, as you may see in 1 Sam. xv. 12, where in our Version it is, He set him up a Place, and in the Vulgar Latin, Erexisset sibi forniceni triumphalem ; but in the Original it is n» ffw Hand, and the LXXII have accordingly ren- dered the Place u.viaTa.y.tv uvTu xsifa : And that this also was no other than the Right Hand, is pretty plain, upon an Allusion thereto of David, upon his Victory over the Edomites, in Ps. Ix. 4, 5, 6. See likewise for this, Ps. cvi. 2t», Isa. xlix. 22, Ezek. xvi. 27, xxi. 22, and Zach. ii. 9. And compare Ps. cix. 6, with Zach. iii. 1, which bear an express Relation to this Satanical Power. The Mark of which Power received in the Right Hand is probably to be a Bloody Mark, being no other than a Diabolical Consecration, and therefore not without sprink- ling of Blood, 1 think, if no more. Consider Exod. xxix. 10, Lev. viii. 23, 24, and xiv. 14, 17. Perhaps also it may be on the Thumb of that Hand for the same Reason; as likewise for that other which is here given. Moreover, it is an Observation ai Servius, that the Right Hand was of Old consecrated to the Goddess Fides, as all the

C

xxxvi ST. EPHREM SYRUS

that we make Impressions on any Part of our Bodies : So also our Forehead bears aloft the Mark of our Blessed Saviour, like a bright Candle set up upon a Can- dlestick. In short, my Brethren, it will be a terrible Trial to all sincere Lovers of Christ, to persevere resolutely to the Hour of Death, and not stand in suspense, when this Evil Serpent is sealing with his Mark, instead of the Cross of our Saviour. For thus will he endeavour that the (n) Name of Christ may not be so much as named at that Time. For, being weak himself, he does this out of Fear and Dread of the Holy Power of our Saviour. If a Man receive not his Mark, he is free from his Power: Such a one the Lord will not forsake, but enlighten him, and draw him to himself. My Brethren, we must care- fully observe, that the Operations of this Enemy are cruel and unmerciful ; where-

Members of the Human Body were appropriated to some particular Deity or other, Ad Lib. 3, JEneid. And this is taken notice of by the late Baron Spanheim in his lid Dissertation, De Freest. S^ Usu Numism. and may afford not a little Light to this Antichristian Sacrament, if well weighed.

(n) The Ground of this Prohibition is to be found in Mar. xvi. 17, and Phil, ii, 9, 10. For there is in the very Name of Christ when uttered, as well as in the Sign of Christ when made by Faith, a certain irresis- tible Force too strong for the Gates of Hell to oppose. Wherefore the Sealing of Antichrist with his Mark, is on purpose to prevent, if possible, what is feared by biin from this Holy Name and Sign.

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xxxvii

as the Spirit of God comes to us in a (o) calm and gentle Manner, to oppose, throngh us, the Artifices of the Serpent. If we preserve an unshaken Faith in the Lord Jesiis, we shall destroy the Power of the Enemy, we shall preserve a stedfast Re- solution and Constancy, and he shall grow weak, and depart from us, not being able to hurt us. I, who am the meanest of you all, beseech you, Brethren and Lo- vers of Christ, that ye be not faint-hearted, but be more and more strengthened in the Power of the Cross. Unavoidable Affliction is at the Door. Let us all take the Shield of Faith. Be ye all ready as faithful Members of Christ's Family, that ye may receive no other Master. For seeing this Thief, the Accursed One, this Tyrant will come before the Appearance of the Blessed Jesus in Glory, intending to plunder, to kill, and to destroy the chosen Flock of the true Shepherd Christ

(o) There cannot be a truer and juster Observation than this, that whereas the Evil Spirit did fall upon the Person possessed generally in a fierce and violent manner, and often did express something that was very Savage and Unmerciful, as well as Extravagant, and Preposterous, both in the Manner of the Delivery, and in the Oracle itself; it was quite otherwise with the good Spirit, whose Inspirations are calm and gentle, as the Dove, Maimoni- des in his More Nevochim, and Cardinal Bona in his Book De Discretione Spirituum, have very useful Re- marks upon this Subject. See The History of Montanism, Art. II. Sect. 4, and Art. IV. and VII.

C2

xxxviii ST. EPHREM SYRUS

Jesus; Let us be instructed, my Friends, in what Manner this shameless Serpent shall appear amongst us. For as our Blessed Saviour designing to save Man- kind, was born of a Virgin, and in our Human Nature beat down our Enemy by the Holy Power of his Divinity: So the Enemy has contrived to assume his Manner of Appearance, and deceive us. Our Lord shall descend in bright Clouds, like a terrible Flash of Lightning, upon the Earth : But the Deceiver after an- other Fashion. For he is an Apostate. The Organical Body in which he shall act, shall be exquisitely formed out of the Womb of some (p) accursed young Har-

Cp) As Christ was conceived in the Womb of a pure immaculate Virgin, and was born a True Man of the Seed of the Woman; so the Father thinks that Antichrist shall be conceived in the Womb of a most impure and abominable Strumpet, or of some accursed Witch ; and that when he shall be born of her he shall be a very Devil Incarnate, as born of the Seed of the Serpent ; yet not incarnated in a strict and proper Sense, as having more in him of the Devil than of the Man. Whereby we are to understand, that since Christ really took upon him the Human Nature, and was in the most proper Sense Incar- nated in our Mortal Flesh, Antichrist must herein fall short of Christ, as not being able to assume that Nature Hypostatically, which did now of right belong to Christ only by virtue of his Assumption of it. It seems there- fore to be his Opinion, that Antichrist shall have indeed a Real and Organical Body, and shall appear in all Things like unto others in the Form of Man ; but that the Dragon, or Serpent, which giveth Power unto him, and liveth and worketh in him with all deceivableness of Un~

OF THE END OF THE WORLD.

lot. Yet shall he not be in a proper Sense (p) Incarnate. In this Manner

righteousness, shall actuate this Organized Human Body by way of Obsession, rather than of true Impersonation. Why he and some others will not have it to be a strict and real [mpersonation, or an Hypostatical Union of the Two Natures, viz. Diabolical and Human, in One Numerical Person ; is because they do not think that this Deceiver can properly assume to him the tvkole Human Nature, of a Reasonable Soul and Human Flesh subsisting, but that the Diabolical Spirit shall in him Operate after the same manner, as ordinarily in Demoniacs, or Energumens, ia whom the Human Soul (or at least its Superior Faculties) seems to be perfectly bound up, during the whole Terra of the Possession by the Demon ; and as in the Traitor Judas and Simon Magus, Two of his Forerunners and Representatives : And will thereby act upon the Body whereto he shall have united himself, xctr ivipretav, accord- ing to the Energy or In-working of Satan, 2 T/iess. ii. 9,. as we find it was actually so, both in the Traitor and the Sorcerer afore-named : Who were not only, it seems, Acted by a Diabolical Inspiration, to Do what they Did; but were, moreover, made expressly the Organs of the Diabolical Spirit entering into them, and filling them. Hence one of these is called by Christ a Devil ; and the other by the Ancient Christian Writers the Son of the Devil, and the First-born of the Devil. And some have well observed, that as siion as ever it entered into the Heart of Judas to betray his Lord, this was properly a Diabolical Inspiration : but that immediately after his re- ceiving the Sop, this became a Diabolical Possession ; and the Devil from that time forth acted in Judas, as in an Organ or Body prepared for him. So that it seems agree- able to the Notion of the Fathers concerning Antichrist, that the Devil shall not properly Incarnate himself in the Person of Antichrist, as the Word was made Flesh, or as God did properly Incarnate himself in the Person of Christ; but ouXy seemingly, and to nM Appearance : But that he shall Act in him as in a Vessel of Wrath, and in an

xl ST. EPHREM SYR US

shall this Accursed One come as a Thief to deceive all the World. He shall show himself humble, meek, proclaim him- self an Enemy to Injustice, abhorring Idols, reverencing Piety ; good, chari- table, and he shall be extremely beauti- ful, courageous, affable to all Men, show- ing a most particular Respect to the Na- tion of the (q) Jens ; for they expect his Coming. In the midst of all these things he shall show Signs and Wonders, and dreadful Sights with great Power. He shall craftily endeavour to please all Men, that he may quickly get the Love of many. He shall refuse Gifts, he shall not speak

Organ every way fitted for his Use, as if he were really and indeed Incarnated in the Human Nature ; and that for this Purpose he shall have a Body prepared from the very Womb for him, being most exquisitely adapted and framed for the Manifestation of all the Evil Properties which are in Fallen Nature, and for all his abominable Designs and lying Wonders, which shall successively be wrought forth through that Body : Wherefore this must not be a Phantastical Body, as some would understand the Fathers, since it is to be properly Organical : But this Organical Human Body, by the habitual Possession and Impregnation of the Spirit of the Dragon is suppo- sed to be made capable for Diabolical Transfiguration, or to appear at least in sundry Forms and Figures, according as he may have occasion to work his Cheating Wonders.

(q) That the coming of Antichrist must be Ji7'st to the Jews, was generally the Opinion of the Ancients : Or at least in whatever Part of the World his first Ap- pearance might be, they thought these should be the First to join him, and to offer to make him their King. Fid. Par. IV. p. 135.

OF THE END OF THE WORLD.

with Anger, but shall put on a Show of great Modesty, and by this Appearance of Virtue and Regularity, he shall de- ceive the World, till they make him their King. When therefore many People and Nations shall see these Virtues and Powers in him, They shall all come together with one Consent, and proclaim him their King with great Joy, saying one to another, Can we any where find such a Man as this, so good and so just? and immedi- ately his Dominion shall be established, and in his Wrath he shall smite down three mighty Kings. Then shall this (r) Dra- gon lift up his Heart, and vomit out his Serpentine Poison. He shall dis- turb the World, and put all the Ends of the Earth into Confusion, oppressing their Bodies, and polluting their Souls. Then shall he lay aside his pretended Piety, and show himself severe, cruel,

(r) Notwithstanding that the Dragon be as distinct from the Beast, who is Antichrist, as one Person can be from another, yet is he here and elsewhere properly enough called the Dragon, or the Serpent, that is, the Devil ; as having his Father's Name written upon him, and subsisting in his Father's Nature, even more properly than in that which he Outwardly carries about him. Whence both the Dragon that has given Power to the Beast, and the Beast that Acts in all Things by the Power of this Old Dragon, may very fitly be called by the same Name, by reason of this most strict Union betwixt them, and Communication of Properties by the Inhabitation of this Serpentine Spirit in the Body of Antichrist.

ST. EPHREM SYRUS

wrathful, passionate, unmerciful, uncon- stant, terrible, defonned, hateful, abo- minable, haughty, accursed, blasphemous, endeavouring to precipitate all Man- kind into the Depdi of Iniquity. He shall show (s) false Miracles in great Abundance. And when many People are standing by h™, and magnifying him for the great Wonders which they shall behold, he shall proclaim aloud with a mighty Voice,, which shall (t) shake the Place where they are gathered toge- ther, saying, Behold, all people, my poiver and my might. Then shall he (u) seem to

(s) Consider Mat. xxiv. ^, compared with 2 Thess. ii. 9, and Joseph. Antiq. Jud. Lib. XX. c. 6, and De Bello Judaice, Lib. II. c. 23. Lib. VII. c. 30.

(tj This shaking of the Place where Antichrist is sup- posed, in the presence of a great Multitude met together at the noise of his Wonderful Appearance, to make Pro- clamation of his pretended Universal Kingdom^ is plainly nothing else but the Counterfeit of the Miraculous Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost, when by a rushing mighty Wind the Place wherein they were sitting did seem to move. For it is neither impossible, nor improbable, by the Ministry of Spirits both Good and Evil, as well as by the Concurrence of Natural Causes, for great and extraordinary Winds sometimes to be produced, yet still under the Conduct of the God of Nature. See and consider Gen. viii. 1. 1 King. xix. 11. 2 King. ii. 1. Job xxxviii. 1. Psal. cxxxv. 7. Je7: x. 13, xxiii. 19, XXV. 32. Ezek. xxxvii. 9. Jon. i. 4. Nah. i. 3. and Rev. vii. 1,

(uj The pretence of Kemoving of Mountains, and casting them in the midst of the Sea, and of commanding New Islands at a Words speaking to rise up suddenly out

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xliii

remove Mountains, and make Islands arise out of the Sea in the Sight of the People, not that he shall really do such mighty Works, but shall impose upon the Spectators by false Appearances. Thus shall he deceive and delude the World, and many shall believe in him, and .glo- rify him as the (w) mighty God. Then

of the Sea, may in the Person of Antichrist meet with Credit from the Multitude of his Followers, though nothing hereof be really done, by the Contagion of a Spiritual Fascination in all them that shall have fitted themselves to receive his Mark, while he shall by his Devilish Art im- pose upon the Spectators with Phantasms and lying Ap- pearances, called Ti^ara ij/su^a?, by the Apostle, 2 Thess. ii. 9. that he may mock at them. Since for as much as all Power belongs only to God, and God has committed it all to Christ for the Exercise thereof; there remains no Power, which is properly such, for the Devil, or for this his Son, to put forth : But all is barely a Semblance of Power, a false Appearance without any Reality, a Diabo- lical Dream, and an Hellish Cheat. For the Dragon's Power infused into this deceitful Beast, is nothing else at the utmost but the Prevarication and Abuse of the Powers of ISature, which are made subject to Vanity till the Times of Restitution. Wherefore nothing can be more unreasonable and absurd than to be afraid of his Power, which in Effect is none at all ; neither is there a greater Infatuation than to rob God of his Power, or Glory, by allowing but the least Part thereof to the Devil, or to any of his Prime- Ministers.

(w) But by these and such like strong Delusions the Sealed Number of the Beast, or Antichrist, which is opposed to the Sealed Number of the Lamb, or Christ, shall be even so far infatuated as to worship him not only for a Divine Person, or for one made Partaker of the Divine Nature in the most eminent Degree, but even for the Mighty God, that is, for the Father Almighty.

xliv ST. EPHREM SYRUS

shall every Soul mourn bitterly, and be afflicted. Then shall all see themselves in continual Affliction Day and Night without a Glimpse of Comfort, not know- ing where to find Bread to satisfy their Hunger. For Merciless Governors shall be set over all Places ; and if a man bring with him the Mark of the Beast in his right Hand or on his Forehead, he shall presently buy such Food as they can get. Then shall the Children faint in the Mo- ther's Bosom, and the Mother shall die upon her Children, and the Father with his Wife and Children shall perish in the Streets, and there shall be none to bury them. From the Multitude of dead Car- cases lying in the Streets shall a grievous Stink arise, that shall be noisome and in- tolerable to the Livino-. In the Morning they shall say with Tears and bitter La- mentation, When will it be Evening, that

And I know some that have been let deeply into this Mystery of Iniquity, and that have been prepared for many Years to receive a Manifestation of this Nature, as having drawn up a certain System concerning the Incarna- tion of the FATHER, as somewhat much greater yet to be than the Incarnation of the SON was in the Person of Jesus Christ. Innumerable are the Devices and Strata- gems of Satan for the Subverting the Great Mystery of Christianity ; but perhaps among all these, nothing is more cunningly contrived and accommodated for the pleasing both of Jews and Christians, and even of Maho- metans too, than the Scheme hereof which I have seen, and was communicated to me by a Learned flaud that had been himself infected with it for some time.

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xlv

we may take a little Rest? And when it is Evening, They shall speak one to an- other with bitter Tears, When will it be Mornino:^ that we may fly from this dreadful Affliction? And there shall be no Place for them to fly unto for Protection, for all Things shall be in Confusion, both the Sea, and the dry Land. Therefore thus saith the Lord, * Watch, and pray * Mat. xxir. always, that ye may escape this tribulation. ^^^[^ ^'!'* There is a noisome Smell at Sea, and a ^^ ^ ^^'* dreadful Stink by Land, Famines, and Earthquakes, Confusion upon the Earth, Terrors at Sea, and Terrors at Land. Their Silver and their Gold, and their sumptuous Clothes shall not profit in that Day of Wrath. But the Living shall say, Happy are the Dead that are departed this Life before the coming of this great Desolation ! Their Gold and their Silver shall be cast forth into the Streets, and no Man ^hall touch them, but look upon them with Abhorrence, and they shall all seek for Shelter and Protection, but shall not find it. More- over because of the Famine, and Tribu- lation, and Terror, the wild Beast and devouring Insects shall rove about de- vouring all that they can meet with. Within is Fear, and without is Trembling. Night and Day shall the Carcases lie in the Streets ; in the Streets shall be a noisome Smell, within Doors an intolerable Stink! Hunger and Thirst in the Streets, and Hunger and Thirst in the Houses. The

xlvi ST. EPHREM SYRUS

Voice of Mourning in the Streets, La- mentation in the Streets, Lamentation in the Houses. They shall meet one another in Tears, the Father the Son, and the Son the Father, and the Mother the Daughter. Friends and Brethren shall meet one another in the Streets, and sink down dead with Astonishment at their mutual Miseries. The Beauty of all Flesh is withered ; their once charming Fea- tures are become like those of a dead Man, The Beauty of Women is become hateful and abominable. All flesh shall decay, and the Desire of Men shall perish. Then all that have believed the dreadful Beast, and received his (x) Seal, and his accursed (cc) Mark, shall run to him, and say with Lamentation, Give us Meat and Drink, we are ready to perish with Hun- ger, and drive away from us the destroy- ing Beasts. Then shall he be perplexed, and answer them very roughly, saying, Where shall 1 find Meat and Drink to give you ? The Heaven will not give

Cx) The visible Seal and Mark of Antichrist, I con- ceive may be thus distinguished ; that the latter is to be a Sign, either on the Right Hand or the Forehead, and may respect both the Orders of Antichristians which have been hinted at; but that the former is to be a Sign properly on the Forehead, and visible to all the World, even as the Horns of Glory were upon the Face of Moses, when he descended from conversing with God and his Holy Angels in the Mount; and that this doth chiefly respect the Antichristians of the Higher Order, who are past all Recovery and have sinned the Sin unto Death.

OF THE END OF THE WORLD, xWn

you Rain, and the Earth will not bring forth Harvest or Fruit. When the Peo- ple shall hear this they shall weep and lament, having no Comfort in their Af- flictions. But one Misery shall come upon the Neck of another, because they so readily believed this Tyrannical De- ceiver. For he shall not be able to help himself, how then shall he show Mercy to them? In those Days shall the Tribu- lation be very great from the Oppressions of Antichrist, from the Terror, the Earthquake, the Roaring of the Sea, the Famine, the Drought, and the Bitings of wild Beasts. But all they that have re- ceived the Seal of Antichrist, and wor- shipped him as the Great God, shall have no Portion in the Kingdom of Christ, but shall be cast with the Dragon into Hell. Blessed is he that shall be found Holy and Upright in that Day, having his Heart entirely fixed upon God ! He shall valiantly break through all his Tempta- tions, despising all his Snares and trea- cherous Designs. But before these things come to pass, the Lord shall send (i/) Elias Rev. x\. 3,

4.

Mai. iv. 5.

(t/J This Passage is cited Part IV. § 22, p. 174, as from the Latin Copy of this Father, which was then only extant when the following Treatise was written : And it is here observable, that the Name of Tishbite is for greater Distinction's sake of the very Elias, from any one arising and ministering in his Spirit, added in conformity with the Septuagint Version of Malachy.

ST. EPHREM SYRUS

the Tishhite and Enoch, out of his abun- dant Mercy, that they may preach Righ- teousness to all Mankind; and boldly publish the true Knowledge of God to all Men, that they may not through Fear believe this Tyrant. They shall pro- claim aloud and say, " O Men, this is the " Deceiver, let no Man believe him, " nor obey this Enemy of God. Let " none of you be afraid, for he shall soon *' be destroyed. Behold the Righteous " Lord is descending from Heaven to " judge all those that give heed to the " Antichristian Signs." But there will be few that will regard or believe the Preaching of these Prophets. But this will our blessed Saviour do to manifest his exceeding great Love towards us, that Mankind even at that Time may not be left without Witnesses of the Truth, and that the Disobedient may be without Excuse in the Day of Judgement. Then as many of the Saints as shall be found at the Coming of this wicked One, shall pour out Rivers of Tears and Sighs innumerable to the Holy God, that they may be delivered from the Power of the Dragon. They shall fly with great Fear and Speed into (z) desert Places, and

(z) Under the Persecution of the Church by Anti- christ, and the General Apostacy of the Nominal Chris- tians, the Real Christians will be obliged, for the short Season of its Duration, to take their flight into Desert and

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. xlix

hide themselves in Mountains and Caves of the Earth. They shall put Dust and Ashes upon their Heads, praying Wight and Day with great Humiliation. And this shall be the Privilege granted them by the Righteous God, He shall lead them by his Mercy into appointed Places, and they shall be securely hidden in Dens and Caves of the Earth, and shall not see the Signs and Terrors of Antichrist. For to them that have Understanding, his Coming will be easily known, but he shall come unawares upon them whose Hearts are set upon the Affairs of this Life, and their Desires upon the Things of this World ; for he whose Heart has l^een long bound up in Things of the World, though he hear, yet will he not believe, but revile those that would in- struct him. And for this Cause the Saints are mighty in Strength to oppose him, because they have cast off f all Concern t nSa-a* twi- for this temporal and transitory Life. Vsc*""** i^i" Then shall all the Earth and the Sea '^^^'f*^*'"'^''

Uninhabited Places ; perhaps into America, which may not unfitly deserve to be called the Great Wilderness. And whether the Wisdom of God may not have some greater Design in View to bring about in that vast Tract of Land, which has been brought under the Subjection of European Princes, than doth hitherto appear by those Temporal Advantages and Disadvantages which have hitherto been made thereby ; may, I think, be not alto- gether unworthy of the serious Consideration of as many as are looking after the Signs of the Times.

1 ST. EPHREM SYRUS

mourn. The Air shall mourn with the Beasts of the Field, and the Fowls of the Air. The Mountains and Hills shall la- ment, and all the Trees of the Field. The Stars of Heaven shall take up a La- mentation for Mankind, for they have departed from the Righteous God, and believed a Deceiver, and received tlie Mark of the accursed Enemy of God, instead of the quickening Cross of Christ our Saviour. The Earth and the Sea mourneth, for the Singing of Psalms, and the Voice of Prayer is no longer heard among Men. All the Churches of Christ lament with bitter Lamentations, * Dan. vi. because of the Cessation of the * Daily 25. Sacrifice and Oblation. When therefore

^^^'i^u' ^^^ shall have exercised his Tyranny Three PmpitiaV ^^^^^ ^^^ ^ Half, and when the Desola- ry Oblation tions of the whole Earth shall be accom- in the Holy plished, then as the Lord himself has Eucharist, gaifj^ The Holy, Pure, Terrible, and Glo- ^c.Prmted^^ Ood shall descend like a Flash of

tor J. max- , . , . /» n • i •

phew, 1710. Lightnmg out oi Heaven, with mexpres- sible Majesty, with Legions of Angels and Arch-angels, all in bright Flames of pire, and a roaring Stream of Fire running before him. Cherubims with their Eyes cast down, and Seraphims flying and hi- ding their Faces and Feet with their fiery Wings, crying out, in a dreadful Manner, Awake ye that sleep, behold the Bridegroom Cometh. The Graves shall open, and in the Twinkling of an Eye shall all the Na- tions of the Earth arise, and look upon the

OF THE END OF THE WORLD. li

resplendent Beauty of the Bridegroom. The innumerable Armies of Angels and Arch-angels shall triumph with great Joy, and the Just and the Righteous that have not received the Mark of the Beast shall rejoice. Then shall the Tyrant and all the Unrighteous and Ungodly that have received his Mark be led bound to the Tribunal of the Righteous Judge, Who shall pronounce their Sentence of Eter- nal Condemnation to unquenchable Fire : Whilst all they that have not received the Mark of Antichrist, and all that have been hidden in secret Places, shall rejoice with the Bridegroom in the Eternal and Heavenly Rest with all the Saints for ever and ever. Amen.

N.B. I have not in this Translation strictly followed the Letter of the Text., hut have through- out taken such Liberties as 1 thought most pro- per to accommodate it to the English Idiom, and make it more serviceable to the common Reader. For the Stile of this Author being short and sententious, I have sometimes cast two or three Sentences of the same Import into one, by Way of Explication; sometimes have illustrated a Difficulty by Way of Paraphrase ; and where the literal Sense is something unintelligible by antique Words and Phrases, I have endeavoured to give it such a Turn as might be most agreeable to our common Expressions and Notions of Things.

THE

INTRODUCTION.

Dan. 12. 1 . And there shall he a time of Trouble, such as never was smce there ivas a Nation, even to that same time.

Or, as it is expressed by

St. Matth. 24. 2 1 . For then shall he great Tribu- lation, such as was not since the beginning of the World to this time, no nor ever shall be.

Or, by

St. Mark 13. 19. For in those Days shall he Af- fliction, such as ivas not from the beginnitig of the Creation, which God created, u7ito this time, neither shall be.

THIS PROPHECY thus differently ex- pressed, contains a Solemn Denuncia- tion of the dreadful Judgments that shall come upon the World in the last Times, which will display themselves in two sorts of Evils.

1. Natural.

2. Supernatural.

1. By the Natural Evils I understand principally, The Sword, the Pestilence, and the Famine.

INTRODUCTION.

2. By the Supernatural, The Afflictions which the Church of God, and the whole World, shall undergo in the Reign of Anti- christ, who is the Consummation of the Curse.

The Reasons why I imagine these Na- tural Evils to be the Sword, Pestilence, and Famine, are these:

1. Because these (with that of the noi- som Beasts) are called God's Sore Judgments ; or, as it is in the Original, his (emphati- cally) Evil Judgments^ Ezek. 14. 21 ; and though, indeed, in this and one or two other Places, we find the noisom Beasts, and sometimes the Earthquakes joined with them ; yet, generally speaking, these Three are in most of the Prophets put together, as the Sum or Completion of all the Natural Evils that can befall a People.

2. Because they correspond to, and are the Natural Fruits and Productions of the Three great Divisions of Sin, mentioned by St. John, 1 Ep. 2. 16. 1. The Lust of the Flesh; 2. The Lust of the Eye; 3. And the Pride of Life; which he calls all that is in the World ; meaning, that all other Instances of Sin, may (generally speaking) be reduced to these Three Heads.

These shall ravage up and down in the World, in different Places and Degrees, ac- cordingly as Persons, Places, or Nations, may be more or less ripe for Vengeance; and are not only intended as a Punishment for the Sufferers, but as Warnings for those that shall escape them, that greater Evils are at hand ; For so saith our Blessed Lord,

INTRODUCTION. 3

Matth. 24. 7, 8; Mark 13.9. Nation shall rise against Nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom : And there shall be Families, and Pestilences, and Earthquakes in divers Places ; and immediate- ly subjoins, All these are the beginnings of Sor- rows. Where the Original Word,* which * '^^"'' we translate Sorrows, signifies particularly the Pains of a travailing Woman, and seems to be most emphatically used in this place, to represent to us, that these shall be, as it were, the Throes and Pangs of the King- dom of Darkness, or Hellish Principle, la- bouring to bring forth Antichrist, who is to be the Head and Completion of the Apostacy, the Top-Fruit of the Mystery of Iniquity, in whom shall dwell the Fullness of Diabolical Deceit and Wickedness, in opposition to our Lord Jesus Christ, in ■whom dwelt the Fullness of Grace and Truth; yea, of the Godhead bodily.

Before I proceed to a distinct Conside- Theprece- ration of the several Parts, I shall premise ^^"^ .^^""" one Thing; That seeing there are in ^c^ip- cZjirmed. ture many terrible Denunciations of great Judgments, which have not yet been fulfilled, at least in their utmost Extent and Meaning ; it is natural to imagine, that they do ulti- mately respect those latter Times, according to what our Blessed Lord tells us of them, Luke 21. 22. That these are the Days of Vengeance, that all Things that are written might be fulfilled: i. e. These are the Last and Great Days of Vengeance, in which shall be ultimately fulfilled all those heavy Denun- ciations of Judgment, which God, by the Mouth of his Holy Prophets, ever since the

b2

4 INTRODUCTION.

World began, has threatened to the Enemies of his Church, which is now beginning to lift up her Head, and triumph over the Opposi- tions of all her Enemies. The times of her refreshing are about to commence ; she shall pass securely through this Deluge of Afflic- tion, and shall come forth gloriously. This hath been represented to us, as it were, in miniature, by divers lesser Manifestations of the Divine Justice and Mercy : Thus the Apostle St. Peler tells us, 2 Ep. Chap. 2. That the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was, as it were, a little Sketch and Represen- tation of this last dreadful Scene: The De- struction of the City and Temple of Jerusalem is likewise described in such a Manner, and with such Characters, as plainly shows it to be typical of that more dreadful Destruction, that shall come upon the Apostate World in the latter Days : Thus the Crimes and Punishments charged upon Babylon, Tyre, Edom, &c. in the prophetical Books, though they were, in some measure, verified according to the Letter in the Type ; yet it is clear to any that are acquainted with History, that they were very far from being entirely ful- filled, but are rather Types and Figures of the Antichristian World, as standing in some eminent Property or Character, whence we see they are transcribed by the Divine Author of the Revelations, Ch. 17. 18. and applied to the Mystical Babylon, or Apostate Chris- * See Dr. tendom. So, lastly, to go yet further, the* c*^— / V Ancient Prophecy of Enoch did, no doubt, l^'p 344 '" '^^ "^^^^ obvious and immediate Design,

INTR OD UCTION.

point at the State and Inhabitants of the old World, before the Fk)od in ^\'hich he hved, warning them of the sad Deij;eneraey of Man- kind, and the terrible Punishments that would ensue upon it: Yet the Aposthi St. Jude, V. 14. expressly says, that Enoch prophecyed of the Antichristian Members of the Church which were m his Days, but more parti- cularly of those that were to come in the last Periods of the Church, v. 17. 18. All which Instances do help to confirm this Hypothesis, that all those great and signal Punishments, denounced by the Holy Pro- phets against a People or Nation ; those particularly which seem to run in General and Universal Terms, did ultimately and finally refer to this last terrible Catastrophe, when Vengeance shall be poured out to the full, corresponding to the full Measure of Iniquity : For the Judgments never take place, till the Sins of a Nation are filled up. So God did not bring the Flood upon the old World, till the Earth was Jilled with Violence, as he himself complains, Gen. 6. So also God tells Abraham, Gen. 15. Id that he could not yet possess the Land, which he had promised to him and his Seed, he- cause their Sins were 7iot yet full. So then in the latter Days, when the Measure of the Iniquities of Mankind shall be filled up, their Judgments and Punishments shall be so likewise : This Last and Great Desola- tion being the Forerunner and Introduction to the blessed Millennial Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, was what the Prophets

INTRODUCTION.

and Holy Men of old had continually in their Eye; it was, as it were, the Burden of their Prophecies ; and whensoever they were denouncing the Judgments of God against a Nation or People, they (or ra- ther that Holy Spirit that guided them) did ever and anon, for wise Ends and Reasons of Providence, drop something too great and illustrious to be applied to any Thing less than this last Vengeance, which shall be, as it were, a Recapitulation of all the Evils and Miseries that were ever sent upon the Earth. For, as in a Drama or Play, all the preceding Acts and Scenes are only in order to introduce the last, and are, as it were, summed up in it; so that in this Sense the latter End (being First and Principal in the Intention of the Agent) is more Glorious than the beginning, as the wise Preacher tells us, EccL 7. 8. the Beauties and Graces of the whole Transaction appearing more gloriously in the Catastrophe: So also the whole Scriptures, as well Historical as Pro- phetical, (which are nothing else but a vision- ary Representation of all the great Events and Transactions relating to the Church of Christ, since the first Commencement of his mediatorial Kingdom, till the last Delivery of it up to God the Father,) have the End and Design of the whole Economy, which is the conquering of Satan, and the introducing the Glorious Millennial Kingdom continually in their Eye : This being the chief Action or End of the whole Dispensation, to which all the other Actions are subservient, serving

INTRODUCTION.

either to represent the Thing to us in little, or to give us Hints to be improved by Medi- tation to the Glory of God, in clearing up the Grand Mystery. And having thus cleared the Way, 1 shall proceed to consider each of these afore-mentioned Evils in their ])roper Place distinctly.

PART I.

OF THE SWORD.

Isa. 34. 2. The Indignation of the Lord is upon all Nations, and his Fury upon all their Ar- mies: He hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the Slaughter.

1. The § l.'T^HE First Evil to be considered, is, Sword, the JL the Sword or War, which our Bles-

The'^Lmtof When ye shall hear of Wars and Commotions , the Eye. be not terrified, for these things must first come to pass. And so we find it generally reckon- ed by the Prophets as the beginning of Ven- geance. This being (if I may so express it) a more circumferential Evil, may be an Alarm to the rest of the World, that other and greater Evils are following. For though indeed War be a very great Mischief to a Nation, yet it cannot properly be called an universal One in the Sense here meant, as not affecting every particular Member of the offending guilty Nation, unless in their Fears and Apprehensions, or at most in their Estates, not their Persons, which are the only, or properly, the capable Subjects of Punishment or Amendment. Wars then are as the gathering of the Clouds, which are the forerunning Signs of an approaching Storm,

OF THE SWORD. 9

and will be to the wise-hearted a warning to shift for themselves, and prepare them a Shelter from the subsequent Showers of Wrath. These are the proper Punishment of that great Branch of Sin, The Lust of the Eye, to which they owe their Original, and from whence they proceed as their proper and immediate Cause or Principle. For from whence come Wars and Fightings amongst you? (saith St. James, c. 4. v. 1, 2, 3.) come they not hence, even of your Lusts, that war in your Members ? Ye lust, and have not : Ye kill and desire to have, and caiinot obtain : Ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not : Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your Lusts. This is the predominant Vice of those, who having given themselves over to a boundless Ambition, make it their whole Concern and Business to grasp and seize all the Riches, Estates, Pre- ferments, and Kingdoms, that either their Power or Interest can bring within their reach ; who (as the Prophet Mabakkuk, 2. 5. expresses it) enlarge their Desire as Hell, and are as Death, and cannot be satisfied; but gather unto them all People, and heap unto them all Nations. This is the Sin to which Satan tempted our Blessed Saviour, when he showed him all the Kingdoms of the World, and the Glory of them, all which he promised to be- stow upon him, if he would fall down and worship him, 3Iatthew 4. 8, 9. Whosoever are in this covetous and wrathful Spirit, are properly the Subjects and Children of Wrath ; and according as they are Persons of more or less Authority in the Earth, may more or less

10 OF THE SWORD.

spread and dilate this Fire of Contention; which, when it comes to its heighth, produces always bloody Wars and Desolations. Un- der this Signature or Form, Babylon seemed to stand among the Ancient Prophets, as * J«-.49.50. may be seen at large;* as did also, in a Jsa. 13. 14. legs degree, Assyria and the Philistines, Egypt and Syria. These, like so many Fires break- ing out in different Quarters of a City, did ever now and then set the World in a Blaze, and put all the neighbouring Nations into Confusion; whose End was this, that when they had sufficiently executed the wise Coun- sels of God (who often turas the Fierceness of Men to his own Praise and Glory) they quickly fell by the same Fate; so saith the Lord to the King of Assyria by the Prophet, Isaiah 10. 12. Wheri the Lord shall have pejformed his whole Work uj}o?i Mount Zion and Jerusalem^ I will punish the Fruit of the stout Heart of the King of Assyria, and the Glory of his high Looks. And so in this Sense also, they that drew the Sword perished by the Sword, even as the Prophet Hahakkuk assures us in the afore-cited Chapter, v. 7. 8. That there shall arise up suddeiily those that shall bite them, and awake that shall vex them, and they shall be for Booties unto them ; and, because they have spoiled many Nations, all the Remnafit of the People shall spoil them. 2. That § 2. That this Judgment of the Sword ihisJudg- sliall be more General and Universal in the ment shall j^^j^^, j) -^^ plainly foretold by the An-

* cient Prophets, as also by our Lord and his Apostles; by our Lord particularly in the above-mentioned place of St. Matthew

OF THE SWORD. 11

and St. Luke; and by the Holy Apostles, when they Prophecy of the perilous Times that shall come in the latter Days ; where they tell us, that Men shall abound in all those evil Qualities, which, as we before observed, are the Seeds and Fuel of all the Strife, War, and Bloodshed, that so often disturb the Peace of Mankind, and put the World in Confusion. Thus St. Paul to Timothy, 2 Ep. 3. 3, 4. tells us, that in the last Days, Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, proud, disobedient, truce-breakers, false accusers; or (as the Margin reads it) make- bates, fierce, traiterous, headstrong, and high- minded. Such are the Scoffers walking after their own Lusts, whom St. Peter, 2 Ep. 3. prophecies of; and the Mockers, Murmurers, and Complainers, of St. Jude 16. 18. By which I understand, that these Vices were to be more common and prevailing in the Times here prophecyed of, than usual ; otherwise it were no great wonder if it were only meant that there should be some such Per- sons in the World ; for that hath been in every Age and Period of it. And when- soever Mankind shall be thus corrupted ; when Men shall be discontented with their Conditions, and covet what does not be- long to them ; when Men shall despise and disobey their Superiors, violate their Oaths and Promises, delight in railing Accusa- tions, and slanderous Stories, be rebellious, stubborn, and headstrong, what can be the Consequence, but War, Contention, Vio- lence, and Desolation ? The Circumstances

12 OF THE SWORD.

of which must differ, according to the Quahty and Authority of the first Movers, and the Grounds and Principles upon which they act. Thus some Quarrels shall be only Do- mestic or economical, confined to one or more Families, dividing the Members or Relatives of the same House; as when the Father is divided against the Son, and the Son against the Father; the 31other against the Daughter, and the Daughter against the Mother ; the Mother-in-laiv against the Daugh- ter-in-law, and the Daughter-in-law against the Mother-in-law, Matthew 10. 34. Luke 12. 51. Others shall be Political, betwixt Mem- bers of the same Society or Body Politic, or betwixt the Members and the Head : Such are the bold Insults of Traitors and Rebels. The Last is National, when Kingdom shall 7'ise up against Kingdotn, and Nation against Nation, which in this place we particularly regard. 3. That it ^ 3. That this latter Kind shall be Uni- shallbe Uni- ^^,,^^1 -j^ ^j^^ j^^^^g^. jy - j jjjjnk abun-

dantly foretold by the Prophets, who do m many places tell us of Universal Desola- tions by the Sword, which shall come up- on all the Earth ; which, though some Inter- preters do understand only of the Land of Judea, and so confine it to that Destruction which was brought upon the Land by the Chaldeans, Babylon, or the Romans, rendering b'2 * the Words *not all the Earth, but all the

^f'^J^^• Land, or the whole Land : Yet I believe it is possible to produce some Prophecies, that are utterly incapable of such a Limi-

OF THE SWORD. 13

tation, and must by consequence be taken in a greater Latitude ; in many of which, I doubt not, but the Holy Prophets did principally and chiefly intend a general and universal War in the Last Days, which should engage all Nations, and of which all the lesser Desolations brought upon any People, but especially Judea, by the Sword of an Enemy, were Types and Prefigura- tions. The first of this Kind that I shall mention, shall be the 25th Chapter of Jere- miah, V. 15. where God commands the Prophet to take the Wine- cup of his Fury, and cause all the Nations (whom he afterwards enume- rates) to drink of it. And he is commanded to begin at Jerusalem and the Cities of Judah, to make them a Desolation, an Astonishment, an Hissing aiid a Curse, v. 18. Thence he is ordered to proceed to Egypt, v. 19. To all the mingled People (*that is, the Arabians) to * From all the Kings of the Land of Uz, (probably con- ^*^^ jectured to be that Tract of Land that lay miscuit. South of Damascus, comprehending Palestine, the lower Parts of Ccelesyria, and the ad- joining Borders of Arabia Petrcea, and De- serta) and all the Kings of the Philistines, (supposed to inhabit the Western Parts of the Land of Canaan, bordering upon the Medi- terranean), V. 20. Then to Edom, Moab, and Ammon, (lying East of Judea) v. 21. The Kings of Tyre and Sidon, (lying North, or t ^o the rather North- West of Jerusalem) and the}^!^^l Kings of the Isles that arcf beyond (or besides) ^" • the Sea; that is, the Great Sea or Mediter- ^•'- ranean. If it be the former, it must be ^j^^" ®^*" understood of the Western or European j^xxwiay /

rendered.

TTOK at;Ta.

14 OF THE SWORD.

Continent and Islands ; if the latter, it may not improbably be meant of the lesser Asia or JEgean Isles, which may be proper- ly said to lie beside, or on one side of the Sea, V. 22. Thence to Dedan, Tema, and Suz^ and all that are in the utmost Corners; ^1^1^|5 * or, as the Words * may be rendered, and as HKD the LXX understood it,t that have the Cor- t war wij- ners of their Head polled or shaven; who gixExapxii'oi' are supposed to be the Arabians, i. e. The xaTa-axpoVw- Jshmaelites, Madianites, and Amalekites, who inhabited great part of Arabia, especial- ly Deserta and Petrcsa. Which is expressed again in the next Verse, by all the Kings of Arabia, and all the Kings of the mingled People that dwell in the Desert, v. 23, 24. Then all the Kings of Zimri, or the Zamareni, a base ignoble People mentioned by Pliny; and which may be mentioned to show us, that there is no Nation or People, however lit- tle, mean, or contemptible, but shall be of some Account at that time, and shall ac- cordingly bear their Part in that last dread- ful Scene. Then the Kings of Elam, i. e. Persia, and the Kings of the Medes, v. 25. Thus far all seems pretty agreeable to the fore-mentioned Hypothesis, That this Judg- ment doth only intend the Destruction brought upon these Countries by the King of Babylon, who conquered all or most of them. But let us look further to the two next Verses, which are these ; And all the Kings of the North far and near, and all the Kingdoms of the World, which are upon the Pace of the Earth ; and the King of Sheshach shall dri.ik after them. Therefore thou shalt say

OF THE SWORD. 15

unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Drink ye a7id be drunken, and spue and fall, and rise no more, because of the Sword which I send amo7ig you, v. 26, 27. Which two Verses, (with the following) do, I think, plainly ex- press that this War or Judgment of the Sword shall be Universal, even upon all the King- doms of the World, that are upon the Face of the Earth.

This Interpretation may be abundantly confirmed, by comparing this with many other Places of Holy Scriptures, of which I shall take notice only of two or three that are most remarkable. The first shall be the 24th Chapter of Isaiah, where the Holy Prophet does in lofty Expressions, foretel the utter Desolation of the whole Earth. Sehold (saith he) v. 1. the Lord maketh the Earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad all the Inhabitants thereof, &c. Now, that some of the Ancients understood this Chapter in the Sense here intended, will appear by com- paring the 13th Verse of this Chapter, and V. 6, of the 17th, with the 16th of the Se- cond Book of Esdras, for that Scarcity of Men which Isaiah speaks of as the conse- quence of this great Desolation ; so that they shall appear like the two or three Olives that are left after the shaking of an Olive-tree, or the gleaning Grapes when the Vintage is done : the same is mentioned by Esdras, as not con- fined or limited to any one People or Nation, but in the most general and universal Sense, as denounced against the v*^hole World, which does most plainly appear by many Passages

16 OF THE SWORD.

of that Chapter, notwithstanding it begins with a woe to Babylon, and Asia, Egypt and Syria. And if it be but allowed that this Book is Ancient, though written by a Chris- tian, it shows however, that the Chris- tians of that Age understood it in this Sense.

A Second Argument shall be drawn from the 30th Verse of tlJs 25th Chapter of Jere- miah, compared with the 3d Chapter of the Prophet Joel, and the 14th Chapter of the Revelations. Jeremiah says. The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his Voice from his Holy Habitation ; he shall give a shout as them that tread the Grapes, against all the Inhabi- tants of the Earth. So the English Bible reads it : But the Original seems more expres- n^y* * sive, saying * it shall be heard, or answered by, or it shall sound to all the Ends of the Earth. The Prophet Joel speaks of the roar- ing, V. 16. and v. 13. he bids them put in the Sickle, for the Harvest is ripe, the Press is full, the Fats overflow, their Wickedness is t 'jTiv^.ii- great; or, as the LXX f understood it, their ^"Z'"*' I* ''«- Iniquities are full. This overflowing of the HOC avrcoK Pa^g^ ^ud fulucss of the Press, answers to tlie treading of the Grapes afore-men- tioned. In the Apocalypse, Chapter 14. v. 1 8. l^ie Angel that had the sharp Sickle, was commanded to thrust it in, and gather the Clus- ters of the Vine of the Earth, and cast it into the Wine-press of the Wrath of God; a7id, V. 20. the Wine-press ivas trodden, &c. Now that these three Prophecies are of the same Design and Extent, will, I presume, be dis- puted by none that are acquainted with

OF THE SWORD. 17

the Idea and Genius of Proplietical Scrip- ture. The Vine then that is mentioned to be trodden, is the wicked and antichristian Church, which is the earthly Vine, whose Clusters and Grapes are bitter, like the Vine of Sodom and Gomorrah, Deuteronomy 32. 32, 33. as the true Church, and Holy Mem- bers of it, are called the Vine of the Lord and of Christ, Isaiah 5. Psalm 80. John 15. And as the reaping of the Harvest signifies the gathering of the Saints at the first Re- surrection, as our Lord tells us, Matthew 13. 24. so the gathering of the Vintage, the gathering together of the Wicked to Destruc- tion.

§ 4. Against the Universality of this Judg- . 4. AnOh- ment, as proved from the former place of-^^^J.^^ '''*■ Jeremy, there are two main Objections.

I. The First is. That in the beginning of the Chapter, the Holy Ghost has, as it were, given us a Key for the understanding of the whole, in a more narrow and limit- ed sense; telling us, v. 1. That the Word (or Prophecy following) was concerning the Land of Judah. In answer to which, I think it is plain that this Chapter consists of two Parts, from the Beginning to v. 15. and thence to the End, of a quite distinct Argument and Design. The former Part respecting the Jews, the Inhabitants of Ju- dah, and threatening them with the long- Seventy Years Captivity to be brought up- on them by the King of Babylon, whom he says, V. 12. that he will punish with the Chaldeans with utter Desolation, after the Accomplishment of the Captivity. From

18 OF THE SWORD.

hence the Prophet takes a very natural Hint, and raises his Thoughts to the Con- templation of the great Afflictions or Judg- ments that were to come upon the whole World in the latter Days, of which that of the Jews was a little Sketch or Representa- tion; that Nation in the prophetical Books often standing for the whole World. Thus in like manner the Holy Prophet David, whose Psalms are almost nothing else but a continued Description of the Glories and Beauties of the Messiah's Kingdom, begins very often with the Thoughts of his Suc- * See his cessor Solomoji, intendmg (* says the Learned riniversal Bishop of Meaux) to celebrate the Glory of 2/3^' ^*** aS'oti, when on a sudden he is transported beyond himself, and carried far aivay, contem- plating him ivho was greater than Solomon both in Glory and Wisdom. It was this inspired him with that inimitable Eloquence, to sing the triumphant Praises of our dear Redeemer, and the Glory of that Virgin Church which he should constitute upon the Earth at his Second Coming ; to which (as I have before showed) it chiefly had respect, and which was most beautifully shadowed out, and re- presented to us, by the Theocratical Economy of the Jewish Church under that Illustrious Monarch. A 2d Ob- II. The Second Objection is, That this Jection an- is an hyperbolical lofty way of Speaking, swered. j^^ch in use amongst the Oriental Writers, who did often express particular Things in very copious extensive Terms, and with an Air of Universality. In answer to this, I must own I am very cautious of admitting

OF THE SWORD. 19

Hyperboles in Scripture, where the literal Sense is not impossible in Nature. I con- sider, that as God's Thoughts are 7iot as our Thoughts, so neither are his ways of Expres- sion like our ways. And though it must be acknowledged, that as God made use of weak Instruments to declare his Will to Mankind, so He left a great deal to them as to the manner of expressing or delivery of it ; from whence proceeds that great Variety of Style that appears amongst the Holy Writers. Yet I make no question, but that the Holy Spirit, under whose Go- vernment and Direction they were, did take care so to direct them, that the Prophe- cy, Reproof, Exhortation, or whatever else was the Subject of their Discourse, might not be more obscured than the Nature and Design of the Thing did require ; which it must necessarily be, if this latitude of Expression be allowed. It must also be ac- knowledged, that there are many Expres- sions purely Hyperbolical, of which many Instances might be produced ; yet they may easily be distinguished, by being un- capable of a literal Meaning, which can never be said of the Case before us ; for- asmuch as the Holy Spirit has, in the afore- cited 25th Chapter of Jeremiah, been very exact in a particular Enumeration of Na- tions and People, even of all the Nations that are upon the Face of the Earth. So then, in answer to those who fancy that the sublime Expressions of the Prophetical Writers, was entirely owing to the warmth of their Fancy and Imagination, or to some

c 2

•20 OF THE SWORD.

peculiar Advantage of their Language; I must own, I cannot but think that the An- cient Learning, in the Schools of the Pro- phets, was very different from ours ; and that the Literati among them had their No- tions and Ideas of Things very different from ours. I cannot think that their Learning consisted so much in barren Theo- ries, logical INiceties, and barren Specula- tions ; which are so far from being Truth itself, that they are very often at the most remote distance from it. I cannot think that the Modern Learning of the Schools, was even that celebrated Egyptian Learning, which was so much sought after, and admired by the better and wiser part of Mankind ; in the search of which Py- thagoras spent so many Years ; and at last travelled into Egypt, and submitted to the pamful Rite of Circumcision, rather than be disappointed in his Expectations ; and the result of this Labour and Travel was, that he attained to a very great Degree of Natural and Divine Knowledge. This was that Knowledge in which Moses was said to be learned, whilst he was educated in PharaoJis Court, and which made him Mighty both in Word and Deed, Acts 7. 22. * Isq; li-* I rather think that the Knowledge of the cH Coeli re- Holy Prophets, or Seers, consisted in a ^^^"^j^^™°' more deep and intimate Knowledge of God Deosadiit, ^^^ Nature, in surh Degrees as they were etquae Natu- capable of receiving them, or God was

ra negavit pleased to communicate them : They in Vis.bus hu- ji^g gi jj^ ^f Q^j,^ g .j..^ jj^^^ ^^^

mams, oculis r\ ^\ c ^\ t-, • • i tt? i ■ ^

ea pectoris l^epths ot the Spiritual World; they saw

hausit. Ovid.

OF THE SWORD. 21

into the Great End, Purpose, and Design of the Eternal Love, which as a chie gui- ded them through all those inscrutable la- byrinths of Providence, in which so many weak and ignorant Searchers have been baffled and lost. They saw that wonderful Harmony, that surprising Correspondence, that is betwixt all the Dispensations and Revelations of God ; and how the lesser, and seemingly • contemptible Occurrences in the Church, throughout all Ages, did (like the lesser Wheels in EzekieVs Cha- riot, Chapter 1.) move in a perfect Union and Concurrence with the greater, accord- ing to the Will and Direction of the Great Mover and Director; which Consideration may be also not a little confirmed by Tes- timonies of many eminent Heathen Wri- ters, who had a traditional Knowledge of many great and surprising Truths and Doc- trines of this Nature : See particularly the Learned Mr. DodweUs Dissertation of the TahulcB Cceli of the Ancients.* Instead * Dr. then of rejecting the plain and literal Grabe's Meaning of the Holy Writers, under pre- V'^^^^^- tence of their being Figurative and Hy- " - -P- perbolical, we should rather endeavour to search into the Depths which they designed, and so not cramp the spirit of Prophecy, by measuring with our own Line, which is indeed much too short : No Man knoiueth the Things of a Man, hut the Spirit of a Man that is in him, &c.

§ 5. There shall be then Wars and 5. TheEnd Fightings; and those General and Univer-<'^^^*^S'«<i/' sal. over all the Kingdoms and Nations'/,''?'^''*'''

22 OF THE SWORD.

that are upon the Face of the Earth, which shall begin the Accomplishment of those many Prophecies, which foretel the utter Destruction of the Wicked, the rooting out of their Seed, and the planting in of the Meek and the Righteous in their stead. This seems to be the great Meaning of the 37th Psalm; where the Prophet persuades the Church of God, in some eminently pe- rilous time, when the Wicked prosper and are mighty, and plot the Destruction of the Righteous, to he patient and wait on the Lord ; and not to fret at their Prosperity, nor to he afraid of their Devices, v. 7, adding, that in a little time. The Wicked shall tiot be, and the Evil-doers shall be cut off; but that tlie Meek, and they that wait upon the Lord, shall inherit the Earth, and shall he refreshed in the multitude of Peace, v. 9, 10, 11. Which Psalm, however some have confined it to some par- ticular Affliction of the Prophet David, making- it to be rather an Act of Hope and Confi- dence, than a Prophecy ; yet our Blessed Lord himself seems to have determined it against them, having quoted, verse 11. as * Matth. a Prophecy yet to be accomplished * in the *• S- last times of refreshing, when Righteous-

ness and Truth shall flourish in the Earth, in opposition to the present World, which (St. John 1 Ep. 5. 19. says) lieth in Evil. This I own is ultimately to be understood of the great Destruction of Antichrist; yet not exclusively of these lesser Desolations, which the Princes and Rulers of the Earth shall bring upon themselves ; till finally, by the just Vengeance of God, the Wicked shall

OF THE SWORD. 23

he shaken out of the Earthy as that ancient Writer Joh expresses it, Chapter 38. 12. to make way for a Kingdom of Righteousness and Peace, which must at last take place upon the Earth. And as these Desolations are by our Blessed Lord reckoned amongst the Signs that shall precede the Coming of Antichrist ; so are they by the Holy Fathers counted as the very Means that shall intro- duce him. So says St. Cyril of Jerusalem;* * Cat.i5. The second Sign of the Coming of Antichrist is, p- 209. when ye shall hear of Wars arid Rumours of^"^^^' ^''<^"' Wars ; and even now are the Persians and Ro- mans at war about Macedonia. And a little after ; The Cojitentions between Erethren make way for Antichrist; and the Devil shall sow Discord betiveen Nations; that the Enemy (viz. Antichrist) may with more ease overcome them. All which is largely attested by Lactantius;1[ t P. 647. The whole Earth shall be in Confusion ; Wars ^'^'*' ^ ''''''• shall rage in every Place ; All Nations shall be in Arms against each other, &c.

§ 6. The Quarter from whence this bloody ?• '^^^ ^^' Desolation shall first arise, is expressly C*''".^*. asserted to be the North, or the Sides of the u^here this Earth. So saitli the Prophet Jeremiah, Chap. Judgment 25. V. 32. Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, shall begin. Eehold Evil shall go forth from Nation to Na- tion, and a great Whirlwind shall be raised up from the Sides or Coasts of the Earth: Which is also largely attested by many other Places of Holy Scripture.f Besides which, there is ano- X See Chap. ther not contemptible Argument, (especially to ^- 22. 50, some men,) fetched from the Contemplation of the Harmonious Providence of God, who in the economy of the Moral, as well as

24 OF THE SWORD.

Natural World, so fitly orders and disposes all Occurrences, that even the least and most contemptible, do to those who are disposed to receive them, discover in the Spirit and Mystery of them great and sur- prising Truths. An Instance of which, the whole Story of the Destruction of Ju- dea by the King of JBabylon^ and of Sahylon by the Medes and Persians, has been thought to be by many, both Ancients and Mo- derns; whose, both Crimes and Punish- ments (as I before observed) are transcri- bed and applied to Apostate Christendom, by the Divine Author of the Apocalypse. Many of the most minute Circumstances of which are not slightly to be passed by or neglected ; but this more particularly, that the Judgment is so often threatened to * Compare them both from the North,* which was ha 13, 14. certainly mentioned for some good Reason. Zf,mdb\ T^^. ^^^^ t which we translate the North, Chapters, signifies properly a f Place of Darkness, be- 15V t cause (say the latter Rabbins) of its great from]p)i X distance from the Sun, and enjoying so Obnubilavit. very little of its Light. Whether it be up- on this or some other Accounts largely in- sisted upon by the Cabbalistical Writers, 1 cannot determine: But the North has been generally used to express the Place of Dark- ness, of the Curse or Vengeance; as may be seen at large in the afore-cited Places of the Holy Prophets. And this I conjecture to be the Reason why the Destruction of Judea by the Babylonians, and of Babylon by the Persians, is so often said to come out of the North ; though Babylon, in respect of

OF THE SWORD. 25

Judea, and Persia from Babylon, seem rather to lie North-East. For the Destruction of Babylon having a doable End and Design ; the one of Mercy, in delivering the Jewish Captivity ; and the other of Vengeance, in destroying the Enemies and Oppressors of the Church ; so there is a different Stile appropriated to each Part of the Design. For when the Prophets speak by way of Denunciation of Judgment, they always say it comes out of the North, as may be seen at large ; but when they speak by way of Comfort and Encouragement to the Jewish Captives, they then change their Stile from the North to the East. Thus Jeremiah, Chapter 50. 9. says, That God will cause to C07ne up against Babyloti, an Assembly of great Nations from the North-Country : which he confirms, «;. 41. saying, A People shall come from, the North; meaning, no doubt, Cyrus with his 3Iedes and Persians. Never- theless the Prophet Isaiah, comforting the People of God with the Promises of Deliver- ance, upon the Destruction of Babylon by the same Cyrus, says twice, that God calls him from the East, Chapter 41. 2. 46. 11. Cyrus being an Eminent Type of our Blessed Saviour, who is called The Morning, Job 38. 12. Light, Isa. 8. 20. The Day-Spring, Luke 1 . 78. The Day-Star, 2 Ep. Peter 1. 19. and Rev. 22. 16. he says of himself, I am. the Morning- Star. And to show how both these Designs were united in him, he is said in the self- same Verse to come from the North and from the East too, Chapter 41. v. 25. 1 have raised up one from the North ; from the rising

20 OF THE SWORD.

of the Sun shall he call upon my Name, And as from this Quarter of the World the Judg- ments came upon the Jewish Church of the two Tribes, so did they also upon the Western Christian Church by the Goths, Huns, Vandals, and other Barbarous Nations: Which Western Church was understood, by *Vid.Com.ihe highly Illuminated Abbot Joachim,^' in Jer, to be expressed to us in the Type, by the

^-'aiT^" Jewish Church properly so called, or the ^^ ' ^ * two Tribes. So also it will be again ; and out of the North shall come that terrible Army upon Christendom, so dreadfully de- scribed by the Prophet Joel 2. 20. Such as there hath never been the like, tior ever shall be, to the Years of many Generations. And as the Apostle St. Peter (1 Ep. 4. 17.) tells us, that Judgment must begin at the House of God ; and the Prophet Jeremiah, that the Destruc- tion must begin at Jerusalem, Chap. 25. 29. I understand by it, that the Desolation must begin in the Northern Parts of Christendom or Europe; which (as I may say) are the principal Parts of the Holy Catholic Church, for whose Purgation and conse- quent Glorification, all these Punishments are designed. So then the Scourge shall first light upon the Western or European Church, and probably for the same Rea- sons on the most corrupt Parts of it, to bring them to a Sense of their sad Condi- tion, to put them in mind of their abomi- nable Deviations, and lamentable Apostacy from their first Love and Zeal, which were once stronger than Death ; but now, through the miserable abundance of Iniquity, quite

OF THE SWORD. 27

cold and dead. And as a raging Fire ari- sing in one Corner of a City, often wrestles and spreads itself, in spite of Opposition, to the consuming of the whole : So shall the Northern Princes kindle a Flame that shall not be quenched, till it have accom- plished the End for which it is sent. Their Disputes and Contentions shall influence and engage their Neighbours, either by Virtue of Leagues and Alliances, or upon the Account of Public Safety, by keeping the Balance; or of Politic Interest, by promoting their Divisions, with a Design to make an Advantage thereby ; or by some more secret contagious Influence of the Enemy of Peace, the Author and Spi- rit of Confusion ; till at last all shall be involved in War and Bloodshed, though per- haps not at the same Point of Time, nor upon the same Interests and Pretensions. By this God will break to Pieces and de- stroy the Antichristian Powers of the Earth, and prepare a way for the Establishment of the true Primitive Evangelical Spirit, which shall at last take root and flourish as out of the Earth, notwithstanding all the Opposition that either Men or Devils can make against it. Here then we see the Wrath of God gone forth, and his Sword drawn against the Antichristian Nations ; a Spirit of Drunkenness and Fury is upon them; so that Ammou and Moab shall he divided against Mount Seir, and at last shall help to destroy each other; as in the Day of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 19. 23. or as the Philistines, 1 Samuel 14. 16, 20. and the Mi-

•28 OF THE SWORD.

dianiies, Judges 7. 22. Every one shall help to destroy his Brother, and every Mans Sword shall be against his Felloiv. Which the Pro- phet foretold should happen again at the times of the Messiah, Isaiah 9. 4. For as Christ at his first Coming, though ushered in by a most profound Peace, yet came to kindle a Fire; and as he himself said, Luke 12. 51. to bring Division; to set the Father against the Son, and the Son against the Father: So also in these last Days, when he is coming to settle and reconcile the whole Creation to the Creator, and to ascend his Throne in Peace, his rising in Spirit is ushered in by hot burning Wars, and bloody Revolutions through the whole Earth : And the Man of Blood must introduce the King of Peace, and precede and prepare the Way for the glorious Building of the Temple, I Chronicles, 28. .3,4. 7. A Rem- ^ 7. BuT in the midst of these Destruc- nant saved, tions God will preserve a Remnant ; who, as they have by his Grace escaped the In- fection and Contagion of the Antichristian Spirit, so shall they also escape their Pu- nishments. This is the Promise to the Church of Philadelphia, Rev. 3. 10. Because thou hast kept the Word of my Patience, I also ivill keep thee from the Hour of Temptation^ ivhich shall come upon all the World, to try them that dwell upon the earth. These are Men who, though living in the World, and in an Apostate Antichristian Church, yet were not of it ; i. e. of its Spirit as Corrupt and Antichristian; who, though rejected and disallowed of Men, yet are precious in

OF THE SWORD. 29

the Sight of God ; whose Righteousness consists not in Word and Name, but is sub- stantial, sincere, and powerful, in the Heart and Spirit, whose Praise is not of Men but of God; who shall accordingly testifj'^ to all the World his Approbation of it, by setting his Mark and Seal upon them, and so preserve them from the Great Desola- tion. Thus under the sounding of the Seven Trumpets, Revelations 7. God took special Care for the Protection and Preservation of his Servants ; giving a particular Com- mand to the four Angels, to whom it was given to hurt the Earth and the Sea, v. 3. Saying, Hurt not the Earth, neither the Sea, nor the Trees, till we have sealed the Servants of, God in their Foreheads. Accordingly they were sealed and preserved from the Judg- ments, which upon the sounding of the Trumpets fell heavy upon the rest of the World. Which Mark or Seal, though like the New Name or Nature, Revelations^. 17. No Man knoweth (perfectly) but he that hath received it: Yet it hath pleased God to give us such Intimations of it in his Holy Word, that even we who have but the very First- Fruits of the Spirit may be able, with God's Assistance, to improve to some imperfect Degrees of Light and Knowledge. The Use of a Seal most commonly referred to in Scripture, is to set a Mark or Character upon Wares and Commodities, to denote the Owner's Right and Property, and to distinguish them from the Goods of others. Now the Church of Christ, or the New Peculium, is in innumerable Places of the

.30 OF THE SWORD.

New Testament said to be bought or re- deemed as a Property. So 1 Corinthians Q. 20. Ye are bought with a Price; which is again repeated Chapter 7. 23. So the Apostle St. Peter, 1 Ep. 1. 18, 19. Ye luere not redeemed with corruptible Things, as Silver and Gold, but with the precious Blood of Christ. And in this Sense our Blessed Lord is called the Lord that bought them, 2 Ep. 2. 1. meaning, that he hath redeemed us from the Bondage of Corruption, and made us his Sons by Adop- tion and Grace. This Redemption and Adop- tion is twofold ; the First inchoate, or in its first Principles, which is meant by the first sealing in Baptism, answering to the First-Fruits of the Spirit: The Second, which is the End and Consequence of the First, is the fulness of the Spirit, the com- plete Adoption and Redemption. So saith the Holy Apostle St. Paul, Rom. 8. 23. We that have the First- Fruits of the Spirit (which is the first sealing) eveti ive ourselves, groati within ourselves, waiting for the (complete) Adoption, even the Redemption of our Body, Which plainly shows that the Adoption here meant is distinct from the First-Fruits of the Spirit, because they which had these, yet waited for that ; and what a Man seeth (or hath) why doth he yet hope for? As the same Apostle says, v. 24. And as the Redemption of the Natural Body is the last completing Act of the perfect Redemp- tion, it will follow that the internal Work must be first finished, and so the Redemption to which we ivere sealed by the (First-Fruits of the) Spirit, as the same Apostle witnesseth,

OF THE SWORD. 31

Ephesians 4. 30. must be the Restitution of the whole Man, Body, Soul, and Spirit, from the Bondage of Sin and Corruption, by the overshadowing Power of the Holy Ghost producing in us the New Birth or Nature, which is from Heaven; being not born of corruptible Seed, or of Blood, nor of the Will of Flesh, nor of the Will of Man, but of God. These therefore hav- ing passed through the Cross, and by Faith overcome the Spirit of this World, and the Corruption of their Natures, have by consequence overcome Death and the Curse, and are out of the reach of both : I do not mean in such a Manner and De- gree, as they shall be when they shall have put on their Resurrection-Body, and are come to that State of Impassibility which is the Privilege of the perfect Renova- tion ; but that they shall be in such a State or Principle that God shall interpose his Providence, perhaps in a miraculous Way, for their Preservation, with some faint Appearances of the afore-mentioned super- natural State, hinted to us Revelations 15. by their being upon Mount Sion. This is what the Prophet Joel tells us. Chapter 2. v. 32. Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lordf shall be saved. The Reason of which is given in the following Words ; For (or be- cause) m Mount Sio?i and Jerusalem shall he Deliverance; (saith the English Translation) or, as it is in the Hebrew,* a saved Remnant pito^^Q * or Company. Which is confirmed by t^^G p^^t for the Prophet Obadiah, v. 1 7. Upon Mount Sion shall Adjecf^x be a Deliverance ; or (as it is in the Margin) D'tO vB

32 OF THE SWORD.

they that escape; who are, v. 21. called Cy^K^D * Saviours (or the saved) * upon Mount Sion; 'Ava.ffu?j>^ivQi (or as the LXXII understood it, from Mount LXXll.^ Sion-\) expressing those who are preserved t E|opa? fj.Qjjj ^j^g Judgments and Vengeance, by be- ing in the Spirit of the Heavenly Kingdom ; who by the Faith and Patience of the Cross have fitted and disposed themselves for the Reception (^f their Influences. For nothing hinders those heavenly Worlds, or Principles, from opening and displaying themselves in our Souls, seeing we have in us the Seeds of them all, but our un- fitness to receive them ; such as these shall be preserved from the Power of the Swordy Job 5. 20. And whilst the rest of the World are groaning under the Miseries and Con- fusions of Battle, They shall divell in peace- able Habitations, in sure Dwellings^ and in quiet resting Places, Isaiah 32. 18. 8. The ^ 8. The Manner of this Preservation,

Manner of ^y wherein it shall consist, is hard to deter- serration. ^^^^ '• Whether they shall be, like the Is- raelites in the midst of the Plagues oi Egypt ^ preserved secure, not only in their Persons, but also in their Estates and Possessions, God making a miraculous Distinction be- twixt the one and the other ; or whether it shall be only of their Persons; but the latter is most probable, viz. That God shall suffer them to be robbed and stripped of their Estates and Possessions, but shall save their Lives by a wonderful Delive- rance ; that they shall survive those dread- ful Times of Vengeance, and when they are ended shall come forth with Songs of Praise,

OF THE SWORD. 33

and everlasting Joy shall be upon their Heads, and Sorroiv and Sighing shall Jiee away, Isaiah 35. 10. and 51. li. They shall lift up their Voice ;* they shall sing for the 3Iajesty of the "'■ or kcctu- Lord. Wherefore praise the Lord in Urim, ^•^"P^f''^? ^t' even the Name of the Lord God of Israel, from lxx/i the Isles of the Sea, Isaiah 24. 14, 15. mean- ing the Western Islands, not improbably our own Country, called in the next Verse, the Wing of the Earth, from whence Songs of Praise, or (as the LXXII ■\ seem to under- t T£>«t« stand it) wondrous Things were heard ; which wacra^/.E?. may possibly be a place of Refuge in that Day. But to return ; the Holy Scriptures seem plainly to favour this Opinion, That the Preservation of the Righteous shall be only of their Persons (unless perhaps also of their near Friends for their sakes) as it was in the Case of Lot; for whose Sake even his Sons- in-Law (who it plainly appears by the Se- quel of the Story were not personally qua- lified) might have been preserved if they would, Genesis 19. 14. But by no means of their Estates and Possessions. For, alas ! these they have long ago forsaken in their Hearts : They are the poor in Spirit, and the Meek of the Earth, to whom this Deli- verance is promised ; such as have forsaken the World, have forgotten themselves and their Father's House, and are seeking after a better House, even that is not made with Hands ; and an abiding City, even an hea- venly. They are dead to tlie World, with the Pleasures and Profits of it, esteeming the Reproach of Christ greater Riches than all the Treasures of Egypt or l^abylon; for

D

34 OF THE SWORD.

their Hearts as well as their Treasures are in Heaven, out of the reach of Disappoint- ment and Loss, where neither Moth nor Rust do corrupt, and where Thieves do not break through and steal : The only Use they made of their Riches, was to please God and accomplish his Will, in mi- nistring to the Necessities of the Saints, and relieving their needy Brethren. And they know that the Will of God is perhaps better obeyed by a cheerful submission and Resignation to the disposals of Providence, than by all the most costly Offerings that a charitable Soul can make. Finally, they desire nothing but to be fixed in God, to be clear and void of all Creatures, and to maintain in themselves a holy Quiet, a divine Peace; enjoying in their Poverty great Riches; in their Miseries great Con- tent ; in their Afflictions exceeding Joy ; and in their continual Labours great Rest and Peace. Hence are those Admonitions to the Servants of God, in order to pre- pare them for that time, to sit loose from the Things of the World, and to seek prin- cipally the Kingdom of God, and its Righ- teousness, and not to be seeking great Things for ourselves (i. e. Honours, Estates, and Pre- ferments) at a time ivhen God is about to break down what he has builded up, and to pluck uj) ivhatsoever he hath planted ; and our Lives only shall be given us for a Prey, in all Places whi- thersoever we shall go ; as the Prophet Jere- "> miah tells Baruch, Chap. 45. 5. So also that of Esdras, O my People, hear my Word: Make you ready to the Battle ; and in those Evils be

OF THE SWORD. 35

even as Pilgrims upon the Earth. He that selleth, let him he as him that jiecth away ; and he that buyeth, as one that shall lose : He that occupieth Merchandize, as he that hath no Profit by it : And he that buildeth, as he that shall not dwell therein : He that sotveth, as if he shotdd not reap : So also he that j)l(it^teth the Vineyard, as he that shall riot gather the Grapes : They that marry, as though they shoidd get no Children ; and they that marry not, as the JVidotvers : And therefore they that labour, labour in vain, 2 Esd. 16. 40. Hence also our Blessed Saviour, Matthew 2, A. 16*. warns his Disciples, and in them all Christians, that when they shall see the Abomination of Desolation in the Holy Place: That is, in its complete and ultimate Meaning, Antichrist ; but in a more lax and open Sense, Sin and Error patronized and justified in those Places, and by those Per- sons where, and amongst whom, nothing but Truth and Holiness ought to be found ; that then, in Expectation of the approach- ing Judgments, They that are in Judea should flee unto the Mountains: Which Words, though in their first and literal Signification they did imply, that the Jews, when they saw Jerusalem compassed about with Armies, should take that for a Signal to escape to the Hill-Countries of Judea, that so they might be more out of the reach of the Roman Ar- mies : Yet in a mystical Sense, the same may be applied to all Christians : under- standing by the Hills, the Everlasting Hills, the Heavenly Mountains of Virtue and Contemplation, from whence alone we must expect Help and Protection. Psalm 121. v. L

d2

30 OF THE SWORD.

Then he that is upon the House-top ; that is, advanced in the Spiritual Life, let him not come down to take any thing out of his House ; i. e. let him not condescend to intermix with the impertinent and trifling Concerns of this World. And let not him that is in the Field; i. e. working in God's Vineyard, re- turn to take away his Clothes ; i. e. return to his old clothing which was not of God's Spirit , Isaiah 30. 1 . and which must be taken off, to discover the nakedness of those who are not clothed with the true clothing, which is the Righteoustiess of the Saints, Rev. 3. 18. 19. 8. and so on ; teaching us thereby, the Ne- cessity of withdrawing our Affections from those Pleasures and Enjoyments which must be forsaken, when we shall be forced to leave all, and shift for ourselves. For it is pro- bable, that as God hath generally dealt with his Servants at such times, so he will deal with them then, i. e. by some secret means or other, warn them to escape out of those Places which are in danger. So God did to Lot in the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah ; and so (to mention no more) Ecclesiastical History informs us, that he did to the Christians in Jerusalem, a little before its Destruction, warning them to escape to Pella, a little Ancient City of Pa- lestitie, not far off. So it is probable God will deal with his Servants again, even so many of us, as have, in the Faith and Ex- pectation of this time of trial, waited pa- tiently in the way of the Cross, for that Spirit of Adoption and Sealing, which shall baptize us into that living Communion and

OF THE SWORD. 37

Fellowship of Love, where tliose Virgin- Souls, in whatever Kingdom, Country, or Nation, they are hidden, scattered, and dis- persed, shall be united in the Spirit and Centre of Unity, which is the true Com- munion of Saints, John 17. 2]. Eph. 1. 10. 4. 13. to whom the Glory of the Mount Sion Kingdom shall come, consisting in a perfect Security from the Curse, where Dark- ness, Sin, and Death, are perfectly swallowed up in Victory.

§ 9. The Sum of what is here advanced 9. A JRe- seems to be elegantly comprised in the capitulation 9th Chapter of the Prophecy of Ezekiel. ^* ^^^ ^ ^' In the preceding Chapter God shows the Prophet in a Vision, the Abomination in the Holy Place, which provokes him to Jealousy, and to bring Ruin and Desolation on the Church and Nation of the Jews. Thus he speaks, v. 17, 18. Hast thou seen this? (i. e. The various kinds of Idolatry afore-men- tioned) Is it a light thing to the House of Judah, that they commit the Abominations which they commit here J For they have Jilled the Land ivith Violence, and have returned to provoke 7ne to Anger ; and lo ! they put the Branch to their Nose : Therefore ivill I also deal in Fury : Mine Eye also shall not spare : Nei- ther will I have pity : And though they cry in mine Ears with a loud Voice, I ivill 7iot hear them. By the Jewish Church in this Place, which was then the Peculium or Visible Church, we may understand, in a mystical Sense, the Christian; whose Abominations when they are come to the heighth, call for the same Vengeance and Judgments as theirs

38 OF THE SWORD,

did. And accordingly in Chapter 9. he be- gins to show how the Vengeance is execu- ted. The first Thing remarkable is, a great Cry to them that had the Charge of the City, to come near every Man with his de- stroying Weapon in his Hand. Which may answer to* the Cry and Roaring afore-men- tioned, out of the Prophet Joel and the Reve- lations ; And behold six 3Ien came from the ivay of the higher Gate, which lieth toward the North, and every 3Ian a slaughter (or break- ing) Weapon in his Hand: By the Number Six we are to understand destroying (and probably evil) Angels, the Executioners of the Divine Vengeance, to whom the Num- * Hence ber* Six is most fitly applied ; expressing this Number ^Ym^ they have not yet attained to the peatedi?tthe^^^^^^^ Septenary of Harmony and Peace, Character- where all Discord and Strife are done away, istic o/Anti- being swallowed up in the Universal Prin- chrtst, Rev. (>jp|g Qf Rest and Love. The next Thinsi:

xiii 18 • •

observable is, that they came Jrom the North ; that being, as was before observed, the Region of the Curse and of Vengeance. And one Man among (or in the midst of) them, was clothed with Linen, with a Writer s Ink- horn by his side, v. 2. In the midst of these six Destroyers is a seventh Person, coming in the Spirit of Peace and Mercy, figured by the Number Seven ; he is clothed with Linen, signifying Evangelical Righteousness, Revelations 19. 8. And the Glory of the God of Israel ivas gone up from the Cherub whereupon he was, to the Threshold of the House. The \r\^'0 t Word t which we translate Threshold, seems to have been otherwise imderstood by the

OF THE SWORD. .'J9

LXX in this Place, having translated it afOpioi/, as they have also in three other Places of this Prophecy ; a Word signify- ing the open Air, or the Door-place, as it is used in three Places of the 40th Chapter of this Prophecy ; it has also been nsed to signify the Covering or Roof of a House ; whence 'Aae^ohG^joi/ in Sophocles, is rendered by the Scholiasts Qs^^ov v.ocra.'n-ira.C^fj^oi ; all im- porting the departure of the Skecinah, or Glorious Presence, from the Cherubims to the Door, the Roof or Covering of the House; by all vi^hich we are to understand God's forsaking his Church, because of the full Measure of their Iniquities. And he called to the Man clothed with Linen, that had the Writers Inkhorn by his side, v. 3. And the Lord said wdo hitn, Go through the midst of the City, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a Mark upon the Foreheads of the Men that sigh, and that cry for all the Abominations that be done in the midst thereof, v. 4. Here we see God's first and princijial Care is to show Mercy to his chosen Children and Ser- vants, by marking them as his peculiar Property, as Persons on whom the Curse can have no Power ; and so we find in Holy Scripture, that Vengeance cannot be poured out till the Servants of God are safe and out of Danger. So the Angel that was commissioned to destroy Sodom and Gomor- rah, advises Lot to make haste to escape to his little City of Refuge ; For (saith he, Gen. 19. 22.) / cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. So Revelations 7. 3. The Angels are commanded. Hurt not the Earth,

40 OF THE SWORD.

fieither the Sea, nor the Trees, till we have sealed the Servants of our God in their Fore- heads. They being like the Twelve Priests in the River Jordan, Joshua 3. who stopped the Floods from overflowing till they were clean got over. And when this Sealing of the Righ- teous was finished, an audible Voice came to the six Destroyers, saying, Go ye after him through the City; and smite: Let not your Eye spare ; neither have pity. Slay utterly Old and Young, both Maids, and little Children, and Women ; but come not near any Man, on whom is the Mark ; and begin at my Sanctuary. It is to be an utter Destruction, and to begin at the Sanctuary or House of God ; that, when it is corrupt, being the Source and Spring of all Abominations ; Religion, when it is corrupted, of the best Thing is become * Corrup- the worst.* Then they began at the ancient tio optimi Men ivhich ivere before the House. By the an- pessima. ^^^^^ 3Ien which were before the House, may be understood, those ancient Levites, who being for their Age discharged from the difficult and laborious Services of their Functions, were said to be free, as it is ex- pressed, 1 Chronicles 9. 33. who are said also to be the chief of the Fathers, or ancient Men; and who might properly be said to be before the House, their Charge being to lodge round about the House of God, and to open it every Morning, v. 27. And thereby may possibly be meant the Heads of the Apostate Chinch, in whose Guilt they cannot but be deeply involved, they being constituted Overseers and Watchmen, to take charge of the Flock antl Church of God, and put a stop to

OF THE SWORD. 41

every the least beginning of Corrnption ; and these being first in the Guilt, are to be first in the Punishment. And he said wito them, De- Jile the House, and Jill the Courts ivith the slain ; Go ye forth. These last Words, Go ye forth, seem to be the last Charge or Instruc- tion given to these Six Executioners, which it is said in the next Words they punctually ob- served : They went forth arid slew in the City, V. 7. as the Seventh Man, who had the Writer's Inkhorn, did his; for it is said, v. W. Behold the Man clothed with Linen, which had the Writer s Inkhorn hy his side, reported the mat- ter; sayin'^, I have done as thou hast command- ed me. All which the Lord will hasten in his time.

PART II.

OF THE PESTILENCE.

Jerem. ix. 21, 22.

2 1 . Death is come up into our Witidows, and is entered into our Palaces, to cut off the Chil- dren from ivithout, and the young- Men from the Streets.

22. Speak, thus saith the Lord, even the Car- cases of Men shall fall as Dung upon the open Fields, and as the hatidful after the Harvest- man, and none shall gather them.

The Pesti- rTT^HE next Instance of Judgment to lence. J^ be considered, is the Plague or Pes-

tilence ; which, as being one of the Sore Judgments that God inflicts upon a guilty Nation, Ezekiel 14. 21. must also bear its Part in that Great Day of Trouble, as our Lord tells us. For Nation shall rise against Nation, and Kitigdom against Ki7igdom; and there shall he Famines, and Pestilences, and Earthquakes, in divers places, Matthew 24. 7. And this indeed seems to be a deeper and more internal Manifestation of the Curse or Wrath of God in external Nature : For whereas the former seemed to be a more general and circumferential Evil, in re- spect of particular Persons, who cannot be supposed (at least a great Part of them) any otherwise to suffer, than in their In-

OF THE PESTILENCE. 43

terests and Estates ; this does affect every particular Person that draws in the com- mon Air of the Country or Nation thus infected ; that very Air which is the natu- ral Medium of Life and Vegetation, be- coming to us a Vehicle of Corruption and Death.

§ 1. With this God will chastise and mor- The Pride tify that other grand Division of Sin, The of Life. Pride of Life, which consists in a perfect Opposition to the Humility and Self-Abase- ment of the Cross ; as the other, viz. The Lust of the Eye, to the Love, and Meekness, and Poverty of the Christian Spirit; ma- nifesting thereby, their Antichristian Root and Original. But that we may be able more perfectly to discover its ISature and Properties, it will be necessary to trace it to its first Principles, viz. The Birth or Rising of the corrupt or bestial Image in Man, upon his withdrawing himself from his Depend ance upon God. The Conse- quence whereof was the withdrawing the chaste Virgin of God's Wisdom, wherewith Man was clothed and illustrated, both in- ternally and externally ; instead of which came Ignorance, Infirmity, Darkness, and Death : His Soul that was before all Light, Harmony, and Beauty, being estranged from the Light of God, became full of Darkness and Sin. His Passions, that were before in perfect Subordination to the ru- ling Principle, viz. The Spirit within him, run into Confusion and Rebellion. His Body which was before Paradisiacal, Holy, Pure, and Immortal, became weak, heavy.

44 OP THE PESTILENCE.

and infirm. He is subject and exposed io the evil Influences and divided Properties of the Elements, which have Power to impose on him the Necessity of Pain, Sick- ness, Want, Hunger, Mortality, and Pu- trifaction. So that, in short, his Light is become Darkness ; his Strength is Weak- ness ; his Beauty is Deformity ; his Wisdom is Folly ; and he thai was created in the Image of God, bears now in his degenerate State the Image of the Devil. The same ^ 2. Now the Consideration of so glo-

further con- ^,-^ ^ ^idle as we have forfeited by our Transgressions, and the deplorable Condi- tion into which we are fallen, ought to have this good Effect upon us, viz. to keep us constant in HumiHty and Self-Abasement : It should teach us to despise this vile bestial Image, and to mortify our corrupt animal Life, refreshing and feasting ourselves with the Contemplation of the glorious ever- lasting Inheritance, out of which we have been so long driven; but which is re- deemed for us by the promised Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ ; even for so many of us as shall follow him in the dying Process of his Cross, that we may be raised up with him in Newness of Life, as we are told by the Holy Apostle ; Jf we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign ivith him, 2 Tim. 2. 11, 12. But * /?o»i. 8. notwithstanding all this, * though the Church

'■^- of God has for many Ages been groaning

and travelling together in Pain, for the complete Adoption, viz. the Redemption or Restitution of the first pure paradisiacal

OF THE PESTILENCE. 46

State or Body, and the wliole Creation; nay, and the Spirit of God himself lias been assisting and interceding with Groans unutterable, v. 26. yet (it is sad to see, how) the greater part of Mankind do neg- lect and disregard so glorious an Inheri- tance, thereby doing Despite to the Spirit of Grace, and to the Blood of the Cove- nant ; by the Virtue and Efficacy whereof, we may (as Prisoners of Hope, Zech. 9. 12.) be redeemed and set free from our Capti- vity : Instead of which, we, like the Israel- ites in Egyptian Slavery, or the miserable Remains of the once celebrated Greek Na- tions, have been Slaves so long, as to lose (if not the very Name, yet) the Idea of Liberty and Dominion, being not only contented with, but proud of our Chains ; and who, therefore, instead of putting our- selves into the way of the Cross, in the Spirit of Mortification and Obedience, that so we may return to our long forfeited Pos- session, after the Revolution of a perfect Septenary in the great Jubilee, Leviticus 25. 8. do confine our Hopes and Prospects to this external Principle or animal Life ; placing that Love and Complacency, which God that made us for himself, has the only Right or Title to, on those imaginary Per- fections which our deluded Fancies repre- sent to be in ourselves. Such are Beauty, Strength, Wisdom, &c. And this irregu- lar Complacency or Love, is truly and properly The Pride of Life* To which also * ^A^ctiit- may be reduced that other Species of Pride, "e** tS /Sia. called particularly Spiritual : Which (though

46 OF THE PESTILENCE.

appearing to be of a distinct Nature) is plainly founded on the same Ground, and ariseth from the same corrupt Root and Original, viz. degenerate Nature being chiefly visible in them ; who being Stran- gers to the true internal Ground of Reli- gion, which is the internal Conformity of our Will and Understanding to the Light and Will of God, place it all in the Outside and Appearance, making it to consist of a few mechanical Actions, graced with an Air of Severity and Seriousness. These, like Day-flowers, make the greatest Show, and are under the greatest Temptations to Pride and Self-Conceit. These are they whom the Apostle mentions, 2 Timothy 3. 5. Having a Form of Godliness, but denying the Power of it. That Esteem, therefore, or Love, which each of those may have for his imaginary Excellencies, which may any way lessen or destroy his Humility and Love towards God, is this Pride of Life. But alas ! Why is Earth and Ashes Proud ? For such a one selleth his Soul to Sale ; because while he liveth, he casteth away his Bowels. The Physician cutteth ofl' a long Disease ; and he that is to Day a King, to Morrow shall die : For when a Man is dead, he shall inherit creeping Things, Beasts, and Worms. The beginning of Pride is, when one departeth from God, and his Heart is turned away from his Maker. For Pride is the beginning of Sin ; and he that hath it shall pour out Abomination: And therefore the Lord brought upon them strange Cala- mities, and overthrew them utterly. TheLoi'd

OF THE PESTILENCE. 47

hath cast doivn the Thrones of proud Princes, and set up the meek in their stead. The Lord hath plucked up the Roots of proud Nations, and planted the lowly in their place. So that Pride was not made for Men, Ecclus. 10. 9 — 19.

§ 3. That this Branch of Sin will be That this eminently prevailing in the latter Days, ^"^ "''/jf *5 will appear. First, from what has been ob- Yhf latter "^ served in the former Part, p. 1 . concerning Dai/s. the Universal Increase of the whole Body of Sin. And if the whole Body be arrived at its complete Stature, this (which is so considerable a part of it) must be likewise. And as the former sort were so deeply in- fected in the Malice and Cruelty of the dark World, as to delight themselves in Blood and Rapine : So those who are in the Pride of Life, shall forget the God that made them, and idolize their own fancied Perfections, inverting that grand Precept of the everlasting Gospel ; * Thou shall love the * Maith. Lord thy God, ivith all thy Heart, and with 22. 37. all thy Soul, Sfc. and transferring it to them- selves ; being themselves the Centre of their own Happiness, and setting up their own impotent and corrupt Nature in the place and stead of God.

This is also particularly and expressly fore- told by St. Paul ; In the last Days, perilous Times shall come; for Men shall be lovers of their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud,^ bias- t 'AXa^««?. phemers, disobedient to Parents ; unthankful, unholy, ivithout natural Affection, heady, high- minded ; having a Form of Godliness, but deny- ing the Power thereof, 2 Tim. .3. 1, 2, 3, 4. Which Places, compared with 2 Peter 3. 3. and

48 OF THE PESTILENCE.

Jiide 18. do express a sort of Men, who, in Opposition to the SimpUcity and Obedience of the Cross, (the peculiar Badge and Charac- teristic of the real Christian,) do acknowledge no other Law or Obligation than what their brutish Appetite, or (at most) their own weak and benighted Reason shall sug- gest or approve : And who consequently shall think it their greatest Concern, and spend the greatest Part of their Time to accomplish themselves according to their own Ideas of Perfection ; and (as they call it) make a Figure in the World. They have no notion of those Christian Duties, of Meekness, Poverty of Spirit, Self-denial, and Mortification, • so earnestly recom- mended by our Blessed Lord. The Beauty of Holiness doth not affect them half so much, as that of their own Persons ; and the Praise of Men, in their Opinion, is every way preferable to the Praise of God : And the Wisdom of God himself, if it seems to interfere with, or contradict their Oracles of Reason, must be decried as Un- reasonable, foolish, and contradictory. Now if these are the Persons comprehended un- der this grand Division of Sin, The Pride of Life, as it seems plain to me they are, then we need not multiply Arguments to prove the future Increase of these Men : Since we ourselves (upon whom the Ends of the World are surely come) do every Day see such prodigious Excess of this kind, as ought to excite our most generous Compassion for them, and most diligent Watchfulness for ourselves, that we fall

OF THE PESTILENCE. 49

not under the same Condemnation. In the Proof of which we need not be very par- ticular, but only appeal to the daily Ob- servation of every impartial Spectator. Do not we see how the Men of Power and Fortune, which God that gave them will exact a severe Account of, do very often, instead of applying them to the End for which they were designed, only make use of them to aggrandize themselves, and sup- port them in their extravagant and luxuri- ous Pleasures ? Do we not see how the mo- dern Pretenders to Wit and Sense, set it up in Opposition to what is Good and Sa- cred, making it the grand Concern of their Lives, to deserve that Character? To go yet further; Do we not see the Great Pa- trons of rational and philosophical Truth, some of them expressly denying the very Being and Existence of a God ; others granting this, yet denying the Necessity or Possibility of having any Revelation or Discovery made of Himself or his Will? And all for no other Reason, but because they cannot comprehend the Manner or Reasons of God's acting with Men; nor exactly reconcile every Difficulty which their darkened Understanding may meet with, and very often themselves make: Whilst a third sort, admitting what the others deny, yet are so in love with their own darling Opinions and Prejudices, as to make them the Standards of Divine Truth ; to which the very Scriptures themselves must be reduced, and made to speak their Language, though never so contrary, before

E

50 OF THE PESTILENCE.

they shall pass for such. So also amongst the divided and subdivided Parties, into which our modern Christendom is rent and crumbled, how few are there that follow their Saviour Christ Jesus, in the Spirit of Humility, Resignation, and bearing the Cross. Do they not rather every one pride himself in the Rags of his own filthy Covering, instead of the Covering of God's */««. 30. 1. Spirit? *They have forsaken the Fountain of living Waters, and have hewn out for them- selves broken Cisterns that will hold no Water, Jer. 2. 13. And rather than they will walk in the dark and disconsolate Path of the Cross, they will kindle a false Fire of their own, and ericompass themselves with Sparks of their own kindling ; hut their End must he that they shall lay down in Soitow, Isaiah 50. 11. That is, All those Persons, whose Love, whose Happiness, and whose Religion is founded no deeper than the Flesh, or outward Man, shall be punished in a more remarkable and exemplary Manner, by Plagues and Diseases, which shall blast and destroy that Life or Principle, on which they have bestowed all their Care and Pain, and in which they have put their Trust. That there ^ 4. That there shall be t Pestilences or shall he sore Diseases in the last Days, more remarkably Diseases in _„ • n xi • i /> ^ i i

the last ^^ universally than ever, is expressly foretold

Days. by our Lord. There shall he Famines, Pesti-

t Aoi/Aoi. lences, and Earthquakes in divers Places, Mat. 24. 7. Luke^\. 11. (to omit several Places in the Prophetical Writings which undoubtedly belong to the same time) by which, as I principally understand that Species of Dis-

OF THE PESTILENCE. 51

eases, commonly called by us the Plague and Pestilence, so also in a more general Sense all sorts of Diseases incident to lumian Bodies, those more particularly that arise from im- moderate Heat, such as are all sorts and de- grees of Fevers, Inflammations, &c. and the Holy Writers understood the Word in this more general and comprehensive Significa- tion, does appear from many Places of Holy Scripture, whereof I shall only mention one or two.

(1.) All those Maladies and Diseases which are called Terror, or, (as the *Word * 'A7rop{<». used by the LXXH seems rather to import) extreme Melancholy or Dejection of Spirit; Consumption, Burning Ague, or (f as the t 'iKTeg*. LXXH understood it) the King's Evil, (which also seems to be implied by its Predicate, viz. that shall consume the Eyes) as also what is called, Deut. 28. 22. The Consumption, Fever, Infiammatiori, extreme Eurning, Elast- ing (or Blight), and Mildew, as also v. 28. Madness and Elindness, v. 27. the Eotch of Egypt and the Emerods, the Scab, and the incu- rable Itch, and v, 59, 60, 61. All the great Plagues and sore Sicktiesses, and all the Diseases of Egypt, and every Sickness, arid every Plague that is not ivritten in the Eook of the Laiv. All these, I say, are briefly comprehended in the one \ Word which we translate Pestilence. *l5![f ^ When ye are gathered together within your Cities, I ivill send the Pestilence among you, Levit. 26. 25. The Lord shall make the Pesti- lence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the Land, whither thou goest to possess it. Deut. 28. 21. In the latter of which

E 2

52 OF THE PESTILENCE.

Places it is observable that God threatens to smite them with this Pestilence, till it have consumed them (utterly, or perfectly consumed IV * them,* as the Words signify) from the Face of -jiL^ the Earth or Land, &c. which if it were meant - precisely of that Species of Distempers so commonly called, it cannot be easily con- ceived what occasion there should be for those other Evils mentioned in the very next Verse. We are, therefore, rather to under- stand by it the whole Complex or Body of Diseases, in which Sense it is commonly used by the latter Prophets, whensoever they had occasion to threaten the Jews with those Judgments which God had before in this Place so solemnly denounced against their Disobedience : So also it is used by the latter Rabbins; as appears particularly from the Book of R. Jacob, intituled Sepher Abehoth Roc/tel, which treats of the last Times, and of the Signs and Tokens that shall precede the Coming of the Messiah^ where Lib. 1. Pait 1. there are these Words, speaking of the second Sign. * God shall ' send upon the World an excessive Heat ' from the Sun, with Consumption and ' Burning Fevers, and other bad Diseases,

* the Pestilence also, and other Plagues, ' which shall destroy daily thousands of ' People, and so shall all the Wicked in

* Israel perish.' All of them understanding no more by all these various kinds of Dis- eases, than what is comprehended, by that

*^5?^one Word t Pestilence, Ezekiel 14. 21. and other Places of the Prophetical Writings, where undoubtedly it was meant to signify

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more than the Plague or Pestilence precisely so called.

(2.) This may also be proved by the common use of this Word by the LXXII, who have only in three Places of the Old Testament translated it by Aoj|Uo?, but no less than thirty-five times (by QcHuxlo?, by which Word we understand Death) as it is particularly used Leviticus 26. 25. both by the LXXII, Chaldee Paraphrast, and Vulgar La- tin. So even the Word Aoj|ao? itselfj both in Matthew 24. 7. and Luke 21. 11. is by the Syriac Interpreter rendered Mors. And lastly, the Word Jl^p though in almost innume- rable Places it be translated ©avalo?, and never by Aoi/Ao?, yet it is plain, that in many Places it must be understood by the latter ; to instance only in two or three Places. Death, Qdvoclog, is come up into our Windows^ &c. Jer, 9. 21. and c. 18. v. 21. Deliver up their Children to the Famine, and pour out their Elood by the Force of the Sword, and let their Wives be bereaved of their Children and be Widows, and let their Men be put to Death (&ccva,Too) and let their Young Men be slain with the Sword in Battle. And Eccles. 39. 29. Fire, and Hail, and Famine, and Death, (©avalo? ) all these were created for the Day of Vengeance. All which Places compared together, do show that the Word 15? is promiscuously used with nip, Qxvoilog, and Aoif^U, all expressing that infinite variety of Diseases, Infirmi- ties, and Sicknesses, which are the com- mon and ordinary Means of our Natural Death : Perhaps for this Reason, because the Evils of all other Distempers are, as it

54 OF THE PESTILENCE.

were, summed up in that one. So then it appears from Scripture, that there shall be a strange Variety of great Sicknesses and Diseases in the last Days ; which might also be further confirmed by many probable Arguments, drawn from Scripture and the Nature of Things : But all these falling more properly under the Third Head, I shall at present omit them, and proceed to show : That these ^ 5. That these shall be the proper and Diseases are pgcuhar Punishments of that great Branch vumshihe ^^ ^^"^ afore- mentioned, viz. The Pride of Pride of Life. Life^ which can be shown no other way, than by making it appear, that whereso- ever in the Holy Scriptures God has either punished, or threatened to punish this Sin, he has always done it in this manner, as I shall endeavour to show in four or five In- stances.

(1.) The First Instance of this kind shall be that of David numbering the Tribes of Judah and Israel, whose Sin is commonly supposed to consist in the Pride and Con- fidence that he reposed in the Strength of his Armies, and the Number of his Sub- jects ; upon the Commission of which Sin, the Prophet Gad comes unto him, and in the Name of God proposes to him these three Plagues, the Sword, the Famine, and the Pestilence ; and bids him choose for him- self which of them he had rather suffer. In answer to which, he prays that he may fall into the Hands of God, rather than into the Hands of Men, 2 Samuel 24. Not (as it is commonly thought) that he pre-

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ferred or chose the latter, which is not at all implied in the Text ; since he that pe- rishes by the Famine, doth equally fall into the Hands of God with him that dies by the Pestilence; but he prays that God would turn away the Sword from him, and then punish him as it should please him; Whereupon God proportioning^ his Punish- ment to the Quality of his Sin, sent upon him the Pestilence, to destroy and blast that Arm of Flesh, in which he had so vainly put his Trust.

(2.) The Second Instance that I shall mention, shall be that solemn Denuncia- tion of Judgment, Isaiah 3. 16. against the Pride of the Daughters of Jerusalem. He says, V. 17. God shall smite with a Scab the Crown of their Head: So the Word* was un- jlDti^ * derstood by Vatablus, Piscator, Junius, and Tremellius, rendering it by Lepra vel Scabie inficiet; and after he had threatened them, V. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. to take away their Ornaments in which they so prided them- selves, he adds, v. 24. that God would in- stead of a sweet Smell punish them with a Stink; or (as the Wordf seems rather to import) pD t with Rottenness : So it was understood by MontanuSy Piscator, Junius, and Tremellius; and so its| radix (because the Word itself 'p'pt^ X is found but in one other Place throughout the whole Scripture) is rendered Psalm 37. 5. Zech. 14. 12. by rmm, (rnVw, and puEw, in the LXXn. And instead of a Girdle, there shall he a Rent (as we render it); or (as §the Word ^^"^^ § may be rather understood) a rotting or decaying in the Parts of the Body ; for

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though the Word itself occurs no where else in the whole Scriptures, yet such is the Signification of its radix ^j^J importing, to break or shake a thing, till its Parts be sepa- rated one from another ; in which Sense it is particularly used, Isaiah 24. 13. expres- sing the shaking of an Olive-Tree, in order to shake off his Fruit: Not meaning (as is commonly thought) a Rent of their Clothes, but the breaking and consuming of their Bodies ; which it is very probable must proceed from Ulcers and corrupted Sores, from whence proceed Putrefactions and Gangreens, which must be followed by Excision of the Flesh or Members of the Body, God punishing them in the Destruc- tion of that Flesh or Body, which they had so inordinately loved. It is an ingeni- ous Conjecture of a learned Man, that by these Expressions, a Stink, and a Scab, v. 17. and 24. are emphatically meant the Lues Venerea ; and that it seems peculiarly adapted to the Word p^ when complicated with a Consumption, which is thence by some Wri- ters called the Venereal Consumption ; a Dis- temper, which, though it be the Natural Effect and Punishment of The Lust of the Flesh, and therefore may be thought more properly reducible to that Head ; yet may not im- properly be taken notice of in this Place, as being by its noisomeness and filth a pro- per Punishment of The Pride of Life. This (as the Learned too well knew) is at this time commonly complicated with other Dis- eases ; as Scurvy, malignant and hectic Fevers, Vertigo, Falling-Sickness, Catarrhs,

OF THE PESTILENCE. 57

Fluxes, Ulcers, and other cutaneous Distem- pers.

(3.) The Third Instance shall be that of Antiochus Epiphanes, 2 Mace. 9. who in the Pride of his Heart (Aia -rnv i-m^ oIv^^uttov ocXa- ^oviocv i. e. so proud was he above the Con- dition of a Man) threatened that he would come to Jerusalem, and make it a common burying Place for the Jeivs; but v. 5. The Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, smote him with a7i invisible and incurable Plague ; for a Pain in the Eowels, ivhich was remediless, came upon him, arid sore Torments of the inward Parts ; so that he ivho a little before thought he might comma7id the Waves of the Sea, and lueigh the high Mountains in a Halance, was noiv cast on the Ground, and carried in a Horse-litter ; showing forth unto all, the manifest Power of God. So that the Worms rose up out of the 3ody of this wicked Man ; and whilst he lived iti Sorrow and Pain, his Flesh fell away, and the filthiness of his Smell was noisome to all his Army: And the Man that had thought a little before, that he could reach to the Stars of Heaven, no Man could endure to carry for his intolerable Stink, 2 Mace. 9. 5, 8, 9, 10, 11. The consideration whereof, brought him at length to this pertinent Reflection, v. 12. It is meet to be subject unto God ; and that a Man that is Mortal, should not proudly think of him- self, as if he were God.

(4.) The Fourth Instance shall be that of Herod, Acts 12. haranguing the People, whereupon they cried out. That it was the Voice of a God, and not of a Man ; and immediately the Angel of the Lord smote him^

58 OF THE PESTILENCE.

V. 23. because he prided himself in their * 'av9' uv blasphemous Flattery,*' and gave not God ^K ^hiiBjnv ^/^g Glori/ ; and being eaten up of Worms ^ he ^»'|«v rZ 0'?-^,^^g ^^p ^/^g Ghost. God convincing him here- by of his Folly and Madness, in arrogating to himself the Perfections of God, who could not preserve himself from being a Prey to such mean Insects as the Worms that arose out of his own Body.

And to show (Fifthly) how natural a Connexion there is between this Sin, and this Punishment ; the Prophet Jeremiah, Chap. 9. threatening the Jeivs with dreadful Deso- lations by the means of a Pestilence (as it appears plain to me, notwithstanding what Grotius and others have said to the contrary ; compare v. 10, 12, 21, 22. of which more here- after. For the Mountains ivill I take up a weeping and ivailing, and for the Inhabitants of the Wilderness a Lamentation, because they are burnt up, so that none can pass through them, neither can Men hear the Voice of the Cattle, both the Fowl of the Heavens, and the Eeast are fied, they are gone. V. 12. Who is the wise Man thai may understand this, and ivho is he to whom the Mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it, for what the Land perisheth, and is burnt up like a Wilder- ness that none passeth through? And v. 21. Death is come up into our Windows, and is en- tered into our Palaces, to cut off the Children from without, and the young Men from the Streets. V. 22. Speak, thussaith the Lord, even the Carcasses of Men shall fall as Dung upon the open Fields, and as the handfid after the Harvest- man, and none shall gather them.) The Prophet,

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I say, after he had threatened them with the dreadful Effects of this Pestilence, he comes, V. 23 and 24. as it were, to point out the Cause of it, and to show them how they should escape it Thus saith the Lord, let 7iot the tvise Mmi glory in his Wisdom, Jior let the mighty Man glory in his Might, let not the rich Man glory in his Riches. But let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, ^c. Plainly intimating', that as their excessive Pride and Self-love had brought those Calamities upon them, so there was no ways to escape them, but by Repentance, Self- denial, and Humility.

§ 6. The Reader will, I hope, pardon The mate- my dwelling longer than ordinary upon the »*«^ <'»' *"- next Head, considerino^ that the present ^Jj^'""*^"'^^

• • . (Joiiscs of

commonness of the Distemper, may justify ^/j^^g Dig- my being more particular upon the com- tempers. mon and ordinary Causes of all infectious and pestilential Diseases ; which may, in general, be reduced to these two: 1. The evil Influences of the heavenly Bodies, and the Irregularities of Seasons. 2. Noxious and hurtful Exhalations from the Body of the Earth. The former sort were called by the Greeks NoVot '"EinhiJ^ixoi, as being of a more universal Contagion than the other ; as we may conceive the Influences darted from those Bodies, (specially when their Positions are so, as that many of them con- cur in the same Influences and Operations) to be of a greater and more extensive Force, than any Halitus, or Vapours, arising from the Earth ; because the Heat of these hea- venly Bodies, which is the Medium whereby

r

60 OF THE PESTILENCE.

they are generally supposed to act, must affect our Air and Atmosphere much more powerfully by its direct darting upon us, than those Exhalations which arise from the Earth, and which a very moderate de- gree of Heat will easily extract; and that too, after it is weakened by Reflexion, can be supposed to do: Supposing still, that there is not generally a Concurrence of both these Causes; which, notwithstand- ing what has been said to justify this Dis- tinction, I am very inclinable to believe. The second sort were called simply, Morhi Lethales and Pestes ; as being, though fatal to the Per- sons infected, yet not accounted so universally Contagious as the other.

(1.) As to the First of these Causes, viz. The Influences of the heavenly Bodies, that they do act upon us, is indisputable; but what particular Bodies these are that have this Power, and by what Virtues or Qualities, or through what Mediums they act, is not so easy to determine : Whether it be some secret innate Power; or, as the Ari- stotelians call it, by their substantial Forms : Whether they act by Effluviums, or some more subtle and powerful Energy ; or, whe- ther they vary their Influences with their Aspects and Positions (as the Crisis of some Distempers depends upon the Change or Full of the Moon.) Or, 2dly, Whether they do not act simply by their Heat, which may at some times be more Intense, by a more strong and vigorous Fomentation of the subtle Fire of which they are composed, which may also depend upon other secret

OF THE PESTILENCE. 61

and unknown Causes, Natural or Superna- tural. These (I say) are Questions that cannot be fully answered, till this Veil of Darkness, that separates betwixt us and pure Nature, shall be fully taken away. But the most common and plausible Opi- nion is, that of the Planets, only some have this Power, which they never exert, but in some particular Positions or Conjunc- tions ; and that Comets also (which, con- trary to the common Opinion, are sup- posed to be solid fiery Bodies in an eccen- tric Motion, not Exhalations only) have this Power in a more eminent Degree ; as also fiery Meteors of all sorts : That all these act by subtle Effiuviums^ which first of all affect our Air, and thereby corrupt not only our Bodies immediately, but also all those Plants and Bodies that we feed upon ; which Particles, or EJfluviums, are supposed to be hot in such a Degree, as to destroy the natural Temperature of our Bodies. Thus (Edipus in Seneca, lamenting the sad Pesti- lence that was at Thebes.

Ignes auget cBstiferi canis (Edip.

Titan, Leonis terga Nemcei premens ^^*' '• ^' ^^»

Deseruit amnes humor atque herhas calor,

Denegat Jructum Ceres

Adulta, et altisjiava cum spicis cremat.

With many other Places to the same Pur- pose in that Tragedy. These Influences of the heavenly Bodies, as producing Diseases and Distempers upon Mankind, are largely attested both by the Ancients and Moderns.

62 OF THE PESTILENCE.

Hippocrates, de Flatibus, p. 197. Edit. Focsii, observes, that most of the Distempers in- cident to Mankind, did arise from the Air we breathe ; and that, therefore, all sudden and violent Changes in it were dangerous. Upon which Account the latter Physicians acknowledge, that the Solstices, especially the Summer ; and the Equinoctials, espe- cially the Autumnal, were very dangerous Seasons. And the great Sydenham himself, Prcefat. ad Opera, Edit. Lond. 1685. confesses that Quartan Agues are almost peculiar to the latter. That great Man owns further, that Epidemical Distempers, and the Pes- tilence itself, do proceed from a corrupt and poisonous Disposition of the Air, but such as is secret and unaccountable ; ac- knowledging, that they are very different in their Nature and Properties, according to the different Constitution of Air; and that besides those which manifestly depend upon the Qualities of the Year, there are some whose Cause is perfectly hidden and unknown; and others that are perfectly re- gular and returning every Year. Many and excellent Reasons may be seen at large in Dr. Goad's Astro-meteorologia Sana, Cap. de Morb. Epidem. p. 13.3, 4, 5, 6. built upon the Authority of Aristotle, Hippocrates, Ptolemy, Kepler, 6fc. showing also what Positions of the heavenly Bodies they are that produce * Raymun- these pestilential Dispositions. And an* us- vinano. gjjjjjjgjjl- physician, who wrote an histori- cal Account of Four several Pestilences that had been in his time, observes, that just before the first, which happened in the

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Year 1345, there was a Conjunction of Sa- turn. Mars, and Jupiter, in the 19th Degree oi Aquarius, in the Month of March; which Conjunction (says he) was always looked upon to be of fatal Consequence to Man- kind ; and accordingly he says, it was fol- lowed by a strange Alteration in the Air, which produced a most grievous Pestilence, which lasted a long while by fits ; stopping sometimes upon a brisk Frost, or refreshing Shower of Rain ; but breaking out afresh upon very little Occasion : Such as an Eclipse of the Sun, the rising of a Meteor, or such like. The second happened in the Year 1361, just before which Saturn and Mars were in such an Opposition, as was foretold would be fatal to the World. The third happened in the Year 1373, when Mars and Jupiter were in Conjunction. The fourth happened in the Year 1382, before which 31ars and Jiipiter were in Opposition. And the same Year there appeared a dread- ful Comet, seeming to be Twenty Ells in Length. The Year following, for two Months together, viz. August and September, there flew about in the Air, a fiery Body which the Astronomers call Draco, of a very great Length. The Stars (as we call it) shot frequently, the Sky was of a deep Red, or Purple Colour, with a very great Chasm, (or Vorago, as he calls it) appearing in one part. AH these were followed by Abor- tions in Women ; Pains in the Bladder, Sides, and Privy Parts ; especially in the Country which lay under his Tail, or un- der those Signs which were aflfected by it,

64 OF THE PESTILENCE.

viz. Westward and Northward. The Blood and Choler began to ferment violently, and corrupt. The whole Year was exceeding Dry and Hot, and all People grew Melan- choly ; which Hippocrates says, always fol- low these Appearances, Aphor. 7. lih. 2. Upon this followed the Pestilence, which breaking out first at Avignon in France, spread itself over all that Country, Switzerlafid, Italy, Greece, Germany, Britain, Spain, and Portugal: In all these Countries, more or less, according as they were more or less disposed to receive it. Thus far that learn- ed Physician ; who, through the whole Ac- count, seems to insinuate, that all these Maladies and Distempers were principally owing to these Appearances in the Hea- vens, as their immediate Causes. Lastly, This Doctrine hath received no small Con- firmation, by the learned Dr. Mead's excel- lent Essay, De infiuxu Solis et LuncB, who begins his Book with this Assertion, That all the Ancients did believe, that the rise and progress of some Distempers did de- pend upon the Influence of the Moon : And others (says he) they have affirmed to be entirely owing to the Influences of the Stars: And the earliest Accounts we have of Epidemical Diseases, talk largely of the Motions and Influences of the hea- venly Bodies ; therefore (as he goes on) Hippocrates, in his Epistle to his Son Thes- salus, advises him to apply himself principally to the Study of Arithmetic and Geometry ; because in Distempers much depends upon the rising and setting of the heavenly Bodies.

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The Truth of which Position of Hippocrates, this learned Gentleman doth largely confirm in the progress of his Book, by many excel- lent Reasons, founded upon clear Observation and Experience.

(2.) The Second general Cause is, nox- ious Exhalations from the Earth, which may proceed from various Causes, such as are in some particular Places ; stinking Marshes, or standing Waters ; the Smells of Sinks, or common Sewers ; the Stink of dead Bo- dies unburied ; Earthquakes, or fiery Erup- tions from the Body of the Earth. A re- markable Instance of Diseases proceeding from both these Causes, is that mentioned by the learned Dr. Geo. JBaglivi, in his Ap- pendix to his Practice of Physic ; which was an Apoplexy, that in the Year 1694 and 1695, was almost Epidemical at Rome, and all over Italy ; which he imputes first and principally to the unusual Constitution of the Weather. The Summer in 1693 was extreme hot and scorching, which was fol- lowed by nipping cold Weather in the be- ginning of 1694 ; and, contrary to the Cus- tom of Italy, with a rigid Frost, Snow, and Ice. The Campania di Roma and Piiglia, which are seldom subject to Snow, were then covered with it to the height of a Cubit. The Summer after that was much hotter than the former; insomuch that for five Months together there was no Rain. About the beginning of October, it began to be wet Weather ; and continued such, with a south- erly Wind, to April 1695, to such a de- gree, that so much Rain was not seen to

F

06 OF THE PESTILENCE.

fall at one time within the Memory of Man. After fifteen Days of a continued Rain, perhaps they had two Days clear Weather, which were followed by heavier Rains than what went before. The second Cause to which he imputes it, was the malignant Steams raised by so many Earthquakes as Jtali/ had felt since the Year 1687, to the Year 1695, in which he wrote. And Seneca, Nat. Qucest. cap. 27. says, That such sub- terraneous Vapours do cause Apoplexies. One Ex|)ression more of his I cannot omit ; which, though impertinent to the immediate Design of this Quotation, yet shows the Author's Thoughts not much different from mine. ' Perhaps,' says he, ' some part of the

* Epidemical Illness was owing to the uni-

* versal Grief and domestic Care occasioned ' by such calamitous Times.' All Europe be- ing at the same time engaged in a sharp War, the like of which has scarce been heard ever since the Foundation of the Universe ivas laid; so many Cities rased and burnt ; so many Thousands of Men slain ; all Commerce dis- turbed, and the Avenues of Peace blocked up, that the strongest Hearts can scarce bear the Thoughts of it.

That there ^ 7. Now it is SO highly probable, that shall be a in the last Days there shall be a Concur- Comurrenct ^.^^^^^ ^^ ^]j ^j^^^^ Causes. As to the supe-

the last ^'i^^ Causes, which are the heavenly In- Days. fluences, by which we understand not only

the Operations of the Planets or fixed Stars, but also all Appearances of Meteors, Comets, &c. we have great Reasons to ex- pect them. Thus the Prophet Isaiah, Chap.

OF THE PESTILENCE. 67

.14. 4. tells us, that in the Day of the Lord's Vengeance, in the Year of his Recompen- ses, for the Controversy of Sion, v. 8. that all the Host of Heaven shall* he dissolved^ ^pDJ * rot.m(Tovroi,i say the LXXII, which I have ex- plained before, to signify a decay or breaking away of the Parts of any Body ; whereby per- haps may be signified, that many other of the heavenly Bodies shall suffer a Dissolu- tion (perhaps by Fire) like our Earth. And the Heaven shall he rolled together as a Scroll^ and all their Host {iravltx. "Arpa, say the LXXII) shall fall doivn as the Leaf falleth from the Vine, and as a falling Fig from the Fig-tree. Whereby possibly may be understood, that those Bodies thus on fire, may be torn from their proper Centres, and have an eccentric indeterminate Motion, through the vast j3^ther in which they move. The same Thing is fore- told also by our Blessed Lord, Matthew 24. 29. Immediately after the Tribulation of those Days shall the Suti he darkened, and the Moon shall not give her light, and the Stars shall fall from Heaven, and the Poivers of the Heavens shall he shaken. Where, indeed, it must be confessed, that these Appearances are to be after the Afflictions of these Days of which we are treating, i. e. as to its Fulness, as I understand it; but that there shall be some preludia or forerunning Appearances long before, is not at all disagreeable to the Ana- logy of Things ; and these possibly may be what St. Luke, Chap. 21. v. 11. caWs fearful Sights and great Signs in Heaven : And v. 25. Signs ifi the Stars; when Mens Hearts shall fail them for fear, and for looking after those

F 2

OF THE PESTILENCE.

things that are coming upon the Earth, v. 2G, And these may serve to scatter the many Ob- jections that some Commentators have raised to themselves, about the falling of the Stars, who could not imagine whither they should fall, understanding as if they were to fall upon our Earth, which they could not re- concile with their Philosophy, as knowing some of the Planets, and most of the fixed Stars, to be vastly larger than our Earth. But why may they not be imagined to swim, or fly to and fro, in that infinite Abyss or Space in which they have hitherto moved more regularly? Which may pos- sibly be proved to be necessary upon some natural Accounts, and also for wise Ends and Reasons of Providence. And we know that it is thought probable by some of our modern Theorists, that when our Earth shall be gradually prepared and disposed for a Conflagration, one of those Stars or Co- mets shall finish the Work, by flying through its Vortex, and so setting it on fire : But however that may be, this is generally be- lieved, that there will be more frequent Appearances of Comets and other fiery Bo- dies at that time, than ever has been : Which must needs have a mighty Influence upon us, by those prodigious Degrees of Heat which they must produce in our Air; thereby destroying its Humidity, which is the principal Instrument of Vegetation, and which by consequence must produce in us a great Variety of Distempers. And for the inferior Causes, hot and dry Exhala- tions from the Earth, they must certainly

OF THE PESTILENCE, 69

be produced first by the afore-mentioned Phenomenas, and also by the gradual Ap- proaches of the central Fire in the Earth to the Superficies, in order to dispose it for a Conflagration, which is supposed by most of the modern Writers upon that Subject ; and which, by how much the nearer it ap- proaches, though perhaps at a considerable distance, must drive out a yet greater Quan- tity of Vapours ; all w hich must partake deeply of the Nature of the Element, which by insinuating itself into the Pores of the Earth, hath forced them upwards.

§ 8. But even in this Desolation shall Who they the Mercy of God interpose to preserve \^\^^^^th(,tsfmll ^ •*! r 1 c' X 1 1 • 1 *i I ^'^ccpe this

laithiul (Servants, who having passed through e^h^

the Cross, are dead to this animal Life, and to the Pleasures of it, living in constant Humility, Abstraction, and Mortification ; not priding themselves in their own fancied Perfections, whether of the Body or Mind, but in deep Simplicity, sacrificing all that they have or are, to that God that made them, and who has the only Right to their Love and Service. These, as being living Members of the mystical Body of Christ, and having by Faith triumphed over the Spirit of this World, and the Corruptions of Nature, shall be in a State of Security an€l Peace. These, as true Denizens and Inhabitants of the Spiritual Kingdom of Mount Sion, though conversing visibly in Bo- dies of Flesh, shall be really and truly in- stated in all tlie Privileges and Immunities of that State, and shall no longer be subject to the Powers and evil Influences of this

70 OF THE PESTILENCE.

* Psalm 90, Astral World or Principle. * Thei/ shall dwell under the Defence of the Most High, and shall abide under the Shadow of the Almighty ; he shall deliver them from the noisome Pestilence, he shall defend them under his Wings and they shall he safe under his Feathers, so that they shall not be afraid for the Terror by Night, nor for the Arrow that flieth by Hay, nor for the Pesti- lence that walketh in Jjarkness, nor for the He- struction that wasteth at Noon-day. A Thou- sand shall fall at their side, and Ten Thousands at their right-hand, but it shall not come nigh them, only with their Eyes they shall behold and see the Reivard of the Wicked, but as for themselves there shall no Evil befall them, neither shall any Plague come nigh their Hwel- lings, for the Lord has set his Love upon them, therefore ivill he deliver them, he tvill satisfy them with long Life, a?id show them his Sal- vation ; i. e. They shall survive the Afflic- tions of those Days, and come forth trium- phantly in the Glories and Powers of the New World. / have ivaited for thy Salva- tion, O God, Genesis 49. ] 8. Behold the Lord has proclaimed unto the End of the World, say ye to the Haughter of Sion, Behold thy Sal- vation Cometh, behold his Reward is with him, and his Work before him, Isaiah 62. 11. Rejoice greatly, O Haughter of Sion ; Shout, O Daugh- ter of Jerusalem: Behold thy King comet h unto thee, he is Just and having Salvation, SfC. Zech. 9. 9. And as the Mercies of God are over all his Works, and his Judgments are sent, not for the Destruction but Reformation of Mankind, so shall it be manifested towards all those who are in the Beginnings of the

OF THE PESTILENCE.

New Birth, though with much Weakness and Infirmity. He will not quench the smoking- Flax, nor break the bruised Reed ; and though they may suffer with the World, yet they shall not be condem- ned with the World ; their Sufferings shall only serve to purify them. And as for others, who are yet in the Spirit of this World, and Strangers to the Life of God ; even they also, as they shall be found obe- dient to the Calls and Chastisements of the Divine Mercy, shall be admitted into this State of Blessed Security, whose Gates stand open Day and Night to receive all those that are willing to enter in through the Path and Way of the Cross. I shall conclude this Part, with that Rabbinical Observation in Sepher Abkath Rokel, Part I. Lib. i. upon the Second Sign, which is the Pestilence. ' Here (says he) you will ' ask, How shall the Righteous be preser- * ved in this terrible Pestilence ? He an- swers, That ' God shall provide them a ' Remedy against this Heat, which was ' foretold by the Prophet, Malac. 4. 2. But ' to you that fear my Name, shall the Sun of ' Riohteousness arise with Healing i7i his ' Wings' Which Place plainly refers to the last Times : (see the whole Chapter) : And the Rising of the Sun of Righteousness with Healing in his Wings, doth seem to express the sublime state of those, who being regenerated in the Spirit of Jesiis Christ, the true Son of Righteousness, are secure and safe from all evil Influences of

72 OF THE PESTILENCE.

the Astral World, represented by the Sun, the great Luminary of our Vortex, and the Parent and Fountain of Natural Heat. O may that Sun of Righteousness be our Protection and Defence in that evil Day, that we may be thought worthy to escape it.

PART III.

OF THE FAMINE.

Amos 4. 7. / have ivithholden the Rain from you, when there is yet three 3Ionths to the Harvest, and I caused it to rain upon one City, and caused it not to rain upon another City : One piece was rained upon, and the piece where- upon it rained not withered.

V. 9. I have smitten you ivith Blastijig a7id Mil- * Began to dew : when iiour Gardens, and Vineiiards, and 1^^ ' ^' ^^^

ri. ^ , A,. V 7* Blossoms, or

your Tig-trees, and your (Jtive-trees increased,^ Fruit more the Palmer-worm devoured them. properly.

§ 1. ^ I ^HE next Instance of Judgment, The Famine JL which God will bring upon the ^^^^^ *^ '^^ impenitent World in the latter Days, will ^""//^Tsf be the Famine ; which (according to our of the Flesh. Blessed Lord's Prediction, Matthew 24. 7. Mark 13. 8.) shall be one of the great Afflictions of those Days, and which seems as if it were peculiarly intended to punish the last great Branch of Sin, the Lust of the Flesh: Which is such a degree of brutish Degeneracy, as to set a Man almost upon the Level with the Beasts that perish ; and those Persons who are in Captivity to this Sin, are not only Strangers to the Life and Light of God, but are so miserably blinded, as not to be able to receive the dim Light of Reason itself, which (if they would

74 OF THE FA3IINE.

but open their Eyes) would reprove and condemn those beastly and luxurious Plea- sures, which they so inconsiderately indulge themselves in. These are they that put far aivay to the evil Day^ and cause the Seat of Violence to come near ; They lie upon JBeds of Ivory, and stretch themselves upon Couches, and eat the Lambs out of the Flock, and the Calves out of the midst of the Stall ; they chaunt to the sound of the Viol, and invent to themselves In- struments of Music ; They drink Wine out of Boivls, and anoint themselves ivith the chief Ointments, Amos the 6th, ?;. 34, 56. They rise up early in the Morning that they mayfolloio strong Drink, and continue until Night, till Wine inflame them ; and the Harp, and the Viol, and the Pipe, and Wine aix in their Feasts, Isaiah 5. 11,12. Hut they regard viot the Works of the Lord, nor the Operation of his Hands : Nay, though the Hand of God be lifted up over them they ivill not see, Isaiah 26. 1 1 . But in their impetuous Pursuit of new Pleasures and fresh Enjoyments, they despise and overlook all manner of Obligations, whether of Civility or Religion ; and rather than want what they desire, they will stick at no manner of Vio- lence or Injustice. They will even remove Land-marks, and violently drive away the Flocks of the Poor, and feed thereof; They drive away the Ass of the Fatherless, and take the Widow's Ox for a Pledge ; They turn the Needy out of the way, and make the Poor of the Earth hide themselves together ; They cause the Naked to lodge ivithout Clothing, that they have 7io Covering in the cold ; They pluck the Fatherless from the Ureas t, and take a Pledge of the Poor;

OF THE FAMINE. 75

They cause him to go Naked, and take away the Sheaf from the Hungry, who though they make Oil within their Walls, and tread their Wine- presses, yet are forced to siiffer Thirst, Job 24. They ivill not give Water to the Weary to drink, and they ivithhold J3read from the Hungry ; They send the Widoivs away empty, and break the Arms of the Fatherless. Whilst themselves are mighty and possess the Earth, Job 2*2. Their Seed is established in their sight, and their Houses aj'e safe from fear, neither is the Mod of God upon them ; They send forth their little Ones like a Flock, and their Children dance; They take the Timbrel and Harp, and rejoice at the sound of the Organ, Job 21. They are not in Troidile like other Folks, neither are they plagued like other Men; their Eyes stand out with fatness, and they have more than Heart can wish ; These are they that prosper in the World, and these have Riches in abundance. Psalm 73.

"§ 2. These seem to me to be the Persons This pointed at by the Holy Spirit, as eminently ^.'''^"'^^''/ and peculiarly comprehended under this ^^^^^ JarUmlarly Branch of Sin, The Lust of the Flesh. Now considered. this Sin may be considered divers ways ; I. In General ; as it consists in a perfect Opposition to that Mortification and Ab- stinence, so earnestly recommended both by the Examples and Precepts of our Bles- sed Lord and all his faithful Followers, and so it expresses a fixed Resolution, or rather a blind Impetus or Inclination to all sorts of Pleasure, though never so brutish, or op- posite to the Purity and Dignity of Human Nature, or the Will of God : And at the same time (which is necessarily implied)

76 OF THE FAMINE.

a fixed Aversion to all sorts of Crosses and Sufferings, though never so Salutary, or for never so good Reasons, yea, though it were to gain an infinity of Happiness in Reversion; but, like the Beasts that perish, the Man of Pleasure is aflfected with no- thing but what can for the present gratify the furious Appetites of the Animal Life, to which he is intimately wedded ; that being the only Principle that is awakened in him, and in which he may be properly said to be swallowed up, II. It may be considered in its several Branches, as it may be diversified in the Gratification of each particular Sense ; such are the grati- fying the Palate with delicious and luxu- rious Meats and Drinks, solely for the sake of Pleasure; the Ear with Jovial Songs or Dissolute Tunes, which can have no other Effect, than to stir up and soothe the Ani- mal Inclinations, &c. And so of others, even those which are particularly and em- phatically called The Lusts of the Flesh. III. It may be also considered in its Efiects and Consequences ; such as are the strengthen- ing our Self-love, the great Root and Fountain of Iniquity in us, and the De- struction of Christian Charity ; inasmuch as this prompts a Man to all manner of Violence, in order to obtain whatsoever his Soul lusteth after; whether his Neigh- bours Wife, Goods or Estate, if he can but do it securely from the Judgment of this World ; and at the same time hardens his Heart against the Afflictions of his _ needy Brother, whom he neglects and despises,

OF THE FAMINE. 77

lest it should disturb his Rest, or sour liis Enjoyments; or because he is sure he shall get nothing by him. Under this Head may also be comprehended that Sin of theirs, who being Strangers to tlie Life of Faith, believe that Man can live no other way than by Bread alone, notwithstanding what the Scriptures have told us, Dent. 8. 3. JSIatthew 4. 4. Evke 4. 4. that Man doth not live hy Bread alone, but by every JVord that proceedeth out of the 31outh of God ; i. e. God can, notwithstanding the want of all external visible Means of Subsistence, supernaturally provide for us, either by procuring for us necessary Food, or supporting us with- out ; of both which we have frequent In- stances in the Holy Scriptures : Of this sort were the Israelites in the Wilderness, who murmured against God, for having brought them into the Wilderness, where he was not able to support them, Exodus 16. As also the unbelieving Lord, 2 Kings 7. And those Gentiles of whom our Saviour speaks, 31atthew 6. who were perpetually carking and caring for their Subsistence in this Life, without one Grain of Faith, to believe that God knew their Wants and Necessities, and would infallibly supply them, if they had but Faith to believe in him. But these latter seem not to be so deeply immersed in the East of the Flesh as the other.

§ 3. This seems to be the Portraiture That this of the grand Branch of Sin, which is at '^'" "J!^^ this Day so very prevailing amongst all ^„^^ /jj^ Sorts and Degrees of Men, in some In- Punishment.

78 OF THE FAMINE.

stance or other ; insomuch that Lewdness and Debauchery triumph in the World, in spite of all Opposition ; Charity is waxed cold, yea frozen and dead ; and vast Mul- titudes are there in the World, whose God Philip. 3. is their Belly, and who glory in their Shame ; and who (in the most literal Sense) mind nothing but earthly Things. And this is that 'A-x^^tioriq, (that useless and unprofitable Temper, when Men live only to devour the good Things of the World, without doing any Good to themselves or their Neighbours) ; which, as good Old Tobit tells his Son, Tohit the 4th and 13th, is the Mother of Famine : Which seems indeed to be the first Punishment for that Sin, viz. That God should punish the Abuse of his good Creatures, by taking them from us. And this is the Punishment which in divers Places of Scriptures he has denounced against this Sin. Thus God, by the Pro- phet Hosea, Chapter 2. threatens the Jewish Nation for their Idolatries and Forgetfulness of him, who had given them Plenty and Increase of all good Things. Let her, says he, Verse 2. put aivay her Whoredoms out of her sight, and her Adulteries from between her Ereasts, lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the Day that she tvas born, and make her as a Wilderness, and set her like a dry Land, and slay her with Thirst. V. 3. For she said, I iv ill go after my Lovers, that give me my Eread and my Water, my Wool and my Flax, my Oil and my Drink. V. 5. For she did 9iot know that I gave her Corn, and Wine, and Oil, and midtiplied her Silver and Gold. V. 8. Therefore I ivill

OF THE FAMINE. 79

return and take away my Corn in the time thereof, and my Wine in the season thereof. V. 9. And I will destroy her Vines and her Fig-trees, whereof she hath said. These are my Rewards, that my Lovers have given me ; and 1 will make them a Forest, and the Eeasts of the Field shall eat them. The same Judgment is threatened, Chap. 4. for their want of Mercy and Truth. The Lord hath a Controversy ivith the Itihabi- tants of the Land, because there is no Truth, nor Mercy, nor Knowledge of God in the Laud, V. 1. JBy swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing Adultery, they break out, and Stood toucheth JBlood, v, 3. Therefore shall the Land mourn, and every one that divell- eth therein shall languish, with the Seasts of the Field, and ivith the Fowls of Heaven, yea the Fishes of the Sea also shall be taken aivay. Intimating the Destruction of those Creatures, which are the common Food of Mankind ; either for want of the Fruits of the Earth to nourish them, or that those Fruits if they do grow, shall be so cursed as to lose their nutritive Quality ; which seems to be hint- ed, V. 10. For they shall eat, and not have enough.

So also the Prophet Amos, in Chapter 4, 5, 6. reproves the Luxury and Uncharitable- ness of his Nation. Hear this Word, ye that oppress the Poor, which crush the Needy, Chap. 4. V. 1. / have given you cleanness of Teeth in all your Cities, and ivant of JBread in all your Places ; yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord, v. 6. And I have also ivith- holden the Rain from you, v. 7. So two or three Cities wandered to one City to drink Water, but

80 OF THE FAMINE.

they were not satisfied, v. 8. I have smitten you

with Blasting and 31ildew, SfC. So Chap 5.

V. W. Forasmuch as your treading is upon the

Poor, and ye take from him Eurdens of Wheat ;

ye have built Houses of hewn Stone, but ye shall

not dwell in them: Ye have pla?ited jjleasant

Vineyards, but ye shall ?iot drink Wine of them.

Foi I know your manifold Transgressions, and

your mighty Sins: They cifflict the Just, they

take a Eribe, they turn aside the Poor in the

Gate for their Might, v. 12. Therefore the Lord

God of Hosts, the Lord saith thus. Wailing shall

be in all Streets, and they shall say in all the

Highways, Alas! alas! and they shall call the

Husbandman to mournino' : And such as are

skilful of Lamentation to ivailing, v. 1 6. And

in all Vineyards shall be ivailing ; for I will pass

through thee, saith the Lord, v. 17.

The Prophet Micah likewise threatens the same Sins with the same Punishment, Chap. 6. V. 10. Are there yet the Treasures of Wicked- ness in (he House of the Wicked, and the scant Measure that is abominable ? Shall I count them pure ivith the ivicked Ealances, and ivith the Eag of deceitful Weights ? For the rich Men thereof are fdl of Violence, and the hihabitants thereof have spoken Lies, and their Tongue is deceitful hi their Mouth. Therefore also will 1 make thee sick in smitinfr thee, in makino- thee desolate because of thy Sins. Thou shall eat, but not be satisfied ; thou shalt sow, but thou shall not reajj ; thou shalt tread the Olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with Oil, and sweet Wine, but slialt not drink Wine. And accord- ingly* whensoever this Branch of Sin shall be come to its complete State or perfect Ful-

OF THE FAMINE. 81

ness, in any Place, Country, or Nation, then also may we expect to see this Plague more common, xara ^o^r^q, i. e. in divers Places, as it is expressed, Matthew 24. 7. before it become strictly Universal, which must be afterwards. We need not, T think, look far for Arguments to prove the future In- crease of this Sin, which is at this Day so very rife in the World ; and is so far from being checked by those other Evils, of War and Poverty, under which we groan, that we have just Reason to fear, that it is grow- ing to its Perfection, and will proportionably bring upon us this fearful Scourge before we are aware.

§ 4. Now that there shall be Famines That there thus General and Universal, seems plainly * ''^"/^ intimated in divers Places of Holy Scrip- universal tures ; besides those other Arguments (\r3.wn Famines. from the Analogy and Proportion that God observes in the Distribution of his Ven- geance, according to the Degree and Quality of the Sin; and those others that may be drawn from the Nature and Ne- cessity of the Causes that shall produce them.

I. The First Proof that I shall insist on from Scripture (besides what I have just touched upon in the beginning, from the Words of our Blessed Lord, Matthew 24. 7. Mark 13. 8.) shall be from Isaiah 24. where the Holy Prophet, in lofty and sublime Expressions, foretels and describes the Punishments that God would bring upon the Earth in the latter Days, for the Ful- ness of their Iniquities. That this Pro-

G

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82 OF THE FAMINE.

phecy belongs to the whole Earth in gene- ral, and not to Judea in particular, seems very plain; because. Chapter 22. the Pro- phet had been very particular in his Denun- ciations against Jerusalem and Judea; as also, Chapter 23. against Tyrus ; and it is not likely that the Prophet should so soon return again to the Jews, of whom he had been lately speaking so particularly, especially considering withal, the Prophecy runs in the most general Terms, without any par- ticular Marks or Characters, that may war- rant so particular an Application. And therefore says he, v. 5. The Earth is defiled, • or profaned (as the Word * rather signi- fies ; which is by the LXXII translated rvo/Aiio-f) under its Inhabitants ; A»a tou? Ivoixsvlotg say the LXXII ; signifying, as if Nature were out of Course, and the Earth were barren or irregular in her Productions and Operations, because of the Iniquities of those that inhabited it: Because they have transgressed the Law (of God,) changed the (or his) Ordinance, and broken the everlasting Covenant; which is the Law or Covenant of Eove, which may be in the most pro- per Sense styled Everlasting ; this being, as our Blessed Saviour witnesseth, Matthew 22. 38. not only the great but the first Com- mandment, being indeed coeval with God himself, whose Nature and Essence is Love, 1 Joh. 4. 8. From whence also it follows, that it must be Everlasting, a parte pdst, according to which we are told, 1 Cor. 13. 8. That Charity never faileth. Because therefore of the Transgressions of this Everlasting

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OF THE FAMINE.

83

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Covenant (or Law, as the Word (nn^) is sometimes rendered by the LXXII) of Love, which is in a more peculiar manner the Character of this Branch of Sin, as we have before observed. The Curse hath (or, according to the Prophetic Idiom, shall) devour the Ground, and they that divell therein are desolate. Thence he proceeds to a more particular Account of the Causes and Effects of a Famine, which is to be at that time. V. 7. The neiv Wine lan^uisheth, the Vine mourneth, and all the merry-hearted sigh ; The mirth of Tahrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the Joy of the Haiy ceaseth; They shall not drink Wine with a Song, strong Drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. I There is a citing for Wine in the Streets, all

' joy is darkened, the mirth of the Land is gone,

j Sfc. All expressing a State of great Affliction,

! or Trouble, to be brought upon the World

in the last Days, to punish their enormous Deviations from the Love of God, and which shall be effected by some great Dis- orders in inferior Nature ; so that the Earth shall not bring forth her Fruits, and Mankind shall be in want of the common Necessaries of human Life, expressed by Bread and Wine.

II. The next Place that I shall mention, shall be that Prophetical Description of a dreadful Famine in the Prophecy of Joel, Chap. 1. which, though in its ultimate and complete Sense it refers to the Times of the Great Antichrist, as I shall show more at large upon that Head, yet I think it may not improperly be touched upon in this

G 2

82 OF THE FAMINE.

phecy belongs to the whole Earth in gene- ral, and not to Judea in particular, seems very plain; because. Chapter 22. the Pro- phet had been very particular in his Denun- ciations against Jerusalem and Judea; as also, Chapter 23. against Tyrus ; and it is not likely that the Prophet should so soon return again to the Jews^ of whom he had been lately speaking so particularly, especially considering withal, the Prophecy runs in the most general Terms, without any par- ticular Marks or Characters, that may war- rant so particular an Application. And therefore says he, v. 5. The Earth is defiled, nQ)T^ * or profaned (as the Word * rather signi- fies ; which is by the LXXII translated ^voiJi-na-s) under its Inhabitants ; A»a tou? ivoixxvloig say the LXXII ; signifying, as if Nature were out of Course, and the Earth were barren or irregular in her Productions and Operations, because of the Iniquities of those that inhabited it: Because they have transgressed the Law (of God,) changed the (or his) Ordinance, and broken the everlasting Covenant; which is the Law or Covenant of Love, which may be in the most pro- per Sense styled Everlasting ; this being, as our Blessed Saviour witnesseth, Mattheiv 22. 38. not only the great but the first Com- mandment, being indeed coeval with God himself, whose Nature and Essence is Love, 1 Joh. 4. 8. From whence also it follows, that it must be Everlasting, a parte post, according to which we are told, 1 Cor. 13. 8. That Charity never faileth. Because therefore of the Transgressions of this Everlasting

OF THE FAMINE. 83

Covenant (or Law, as the Word (rnn^) is sometimes rendered by the LXXII) of Love, which is in a more peculiar manner the Character of this Branch of Sin, as we have before observed. The Curse hath (or, according to the Prophetic Idiom, shall) devour the Ground, mid they that dtvell therein are desolate. Thence he proceeds to a more particular Account of the Causes and Effects of a Famine, which is to be at that time. V. 7. The new Wine languisheth, the Vine mourneth, and all the merry-hearted sigh ; The mirth of Tahrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the Harp ceaseth ; They shall not drink Wine with a Song, strong Drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. There is a citing for Wine in the Streets, all joy is darkened, the mirth of the Land is gone^ Sfc. All expressing a State of great Affliction, or Trouble, to be brought upon the World in the last Days, to punish their enormous Deviations from the Love of God, and which shall be effected by some great Dis- orders in inferior Nature ; so that the Earth shall not bring forth her Fruits, and Mankind shall be in want of the common Necessaries of human Life, expressed by Bread and Wine.

II. The next Place that I shall mention, shall be that Prophetical Description of a dreadful Famine in the Prophecy of Joel, Chap. \. which, though in its ultimate and complete Sense it refers to the Times of the Great Antichrist, as I shall show more at large upon that Head, yet I think it may not improperly be touched upon in this

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Place; because the Prophet does plainly point out the natural Causes of that Plague ; which, though ultimately referring to the Grand Divisions of the Antichristian Army, yet in its Beginnings or first Principles may be placed much nearer. He begins, there- fore, Chap. 1. V. 4. with a Description of the first and natural Causes of a Famine ; such were the Palmer-worm ; the Locust ^^l'^^? * (or Grasshopper, as the Word * may be sometimes rendered) ; the Canker - Worm ; and the Caterpillar ; all being generally reputed very mischievous Creatures to green Corn and other Fruits of the Earth ; and these, he says, shall succeed one another in such a manner, as that the latter shall still destroy what the former left. Now all these Creatures are generally produced by excessive Drought and Heat, which shall be the prevailing natural Cause, as may be proved at large from many Ex- pressions, not only in this Place, but many - others ; of which more hereafter. Now if this Prophecy be capable of a literal Sense, not excluding the Interpretation which I understand to be couched under it, as referring to the Reign of Antichrist, as I think it fairly may, then it will be difficult to prove, that it has ever been ac- complished ; the Historical Part of Scrip- ture having made no mention of any such Thing : And if it be not accomplished, to what fitter Time can we assign it, than that Great and Terrible Day of Vengeance, to which the Prophet in this whole Pro- phecy seems chiefly to have respect, and

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of which we have been hitherto treating so far as it relates to natural Evils? For this we need look no further than that solemn and pompous Preface, wherewith he ushers it in, as a Matter or Subject of the greatest Importance to all succeeding Generations. V. 3. Tell ye your Children of it, and let your Children tell their Childreny and their Children the next Generation ; which may be very fairly so interpreted, as not to be limited to that, but to be still propagated from one Generation to another, till the very Times of its Completion should come. From thence he proceeds, v. 5. as it were to point out the sins that had particularly deserved this heavy Judgment, and to warn and awaken the Committers of them to look about them, and prepare themselves for the approaching Vengeance. ' Awake

* ye Drunkards and weep, and hoivl all ye

* drinkers of Wine, because of the new Wine ;

* for it is cut off from your Mouth. By Drunkards and drinkers of Wine, are under- stood all sorts of luxurious Persons, which is frequent in Scripture, that being the most scandalous, open, and visible Instance of it ; and so, as the Learned Dr. Pocock observes, Abarhenel has explained the Place. Ye, says he, who are drunken with the Vanities of the World, and the Delights of Meat and Drink all the Day, and do 7iot regard the Work of the Lord, awake from your Drunkenness, and weep and howl for the Destruction of your Land : For the Wine and Must being of the delightful Things of the Products of the Earth, tvhich ye did eat and drink, are now cut off

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from your Mouth. An Expression that seems to intimate the sudden and unexpected coming of this Judgment ; as if the Fruits were all destroyed, just in the midst of a great Plenty, when they were all ripe, and the People preparing to enjoy them, and as it were ready to taste them. Which brings to my Mind those Words of the Apochry- phal Author of Esdras, referring to this time, used Part 1. 2 Esdras 16. 21. Behold Victuals shall he so good cheap upon Earthy that they shall think themselves in good Case., and even then shall Evils grow upon them^ Sword, Famine, and great Confusion. From hence the Prophet proceeds, in the following Verses of this Chapter, to give a more particular Account of the Nature and Causes of this great Evil ; of which we shall make a more particular Use when we come to the next Head. There are, be- sides these, several other Places up and down in the Holy Scriptures, especially the Book of Psalms, and the Prophets, that may not unfairly be interpreted of this Time ; but because they seem to have a further Intent and Meaning in the Times of Antichrist, we shall omit them for the present, and consider them more fully under that Head ; and proceed to inquire what shall be the natural Causes of this heavy Judgment. The Causes ^5 And these are probably presumed fJ^l^J^'^'^'to he the same with the former, viz. The Heat. 6vil Influences of the Heavenly Bodies,

operating particularly by the Means of ex- cessive Heat. What I have said in the fore-

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going; Part, concernino' the Natures and Ope- rations of those Bodies, may suffice for this Place: And 1 shall proceed to point out the Reasons that move me to attribute these Effects to the same Cause. And these are. First and chiefly, the Expressions which the Holy Scriptures make use of upon these Occasions. 2r%, That according to the com- mon Philosophy, all the other usual Causes of Famines are reducible to the afore-men- tioned, and may not improperly be said to be the Effects of them.

I. In that particular Place of Isaiah's This proved Prophecy, Chap. 24. which I have before {^^^^ '^^^^^■ quoted, as relating to this heavy Judgment, there are several Expressions up and down that Chapter, which being intended to describe the Nature and Effects of this Evil, do plainly point out and discover its Causes also. Of which sort are Verses the 6th and 7th. ^ Therefore hath the Curse de- voured the Earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the Inhabitants of the Earth are burned, (y^'^) and there are few Men left : Which Burning, or Heat, no doubt is the Cause also of those other Evils mentioned in the following Verse ; The new Wine mourn- eth, the Vine languisheth, all the merry-hearted do sigh, SfC. and by consequence of that great Want or sore Famine so pathetically described in the following Verses. So also in the Prophecy of Joel, Chap. 1. there are plain Indications of the same Thing : The Field is wasted, the Land mourneth, the Corn is wasted, the ?iew Wine is dried up, the Oil languisheth, v. 10. Again, The Vine is dried

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up, Sfc. V. 12. And plainer yet, v. 19 and 20. O Lord, to thee will I cry, for the Fire hath destroyed the Pastures of the Wilderness, and the Flame hath burnt all the Trees of the Field : The Beasts of the Field cry also unto thee, for the Rivers of Water are dried up, and the Fire hath devoured the Pastures of the Wil- derness. All which Expressions seem plainly to show, that this heavy Judgment shall be effected particularly by excessive and preter- natural Heats, occasioned either by a more frequent appearance and descent of Meteors ; or from a more vigorous and intense Fer- mentation, in those Bodies which are the ordinary Instruments of Light and Heat to us ; or else from some Disorders in the Body of the Earth, occasioned by Eruptions of its central Fire ; or at least by some nearer approaches of it to its Superficies, which about this time may be expected, as we observed before; or else ^perhaps from the Concurrence of both these Causes to- gether. Blights and H. The Second Reason is. That all the Mildews, other usual Causes of Famines are reduci- £fc. imputed i^\q ^^ ^[jg afore- mentioned. These are ^ ^" ' Blights, Mildews, and devouring Insects, viz. The Palmer- Worm, Grasshopper, Cater- pillar, &c. mentioned in the afore-quoted Place of Joel; all which are certainly oc- casioned and produced by Heat. As for Blights, &c. not to mention the Names used to express them by both Greeks and Latins (such are Uredo, KauO/x-o?, &c.) Every Season furnishes us with sensible Demon- strations of their hot and burning Quali-

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ties ; such as may be discerned by the Look, Touch, and Smell of Fruits, Leaves, or Herbs, that have been touched by them : What may be the primary and original Cause of these Meteors, (for so 1 am forced to call them, not knowing to what Class of Na- ture to reduce them,) or wherein those burning Qualities do consist, is hard to say; but it is very probable, that they are no- thing else but condensed Vapours, deeply impregnated with hot and dry Effluviums, proceeding from some of the Heavenly Bodies. Which may probably be further illustrated (not to say confirmed) by con- sidering the Seasons in which they happen, and which of the Heavenly Bodies are pre- dominant in that Season. Now there were some critical Seasons observed by the An- cients, in which Blights, &c. were more common and ordinary : Such were parti- cularly the Calends of May, on the VHth of which, i. e. April the 25th New Stile, the Romans observed a Festival, called Robi- galia, instituted to implore the Blessing of their God Rohigus (whom they supposed to preside over the Fruits of the Earth) that their Corn might be preserved from Blights. See Pliny 18. 29. From whence, in after- times, the Christians took an Occasion of instituting Solemn Fasts and Processions, called to this Day Rogatioti-Week ; by the Old Britains, Gang-Week; in Latin, Amhar- valia; because then the Bishop or Presby- ter, with the People, did use to walk to and fro in the Fields, with the Host or consecrated Elements, and beg a Blessing

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upon the Fruits of the Earth. At that time, according to the Computation then in use, the Sun was between 10 and 14 Degrees of Taurus «. And the true Cause of keeping that Festival upon that parti- cular Time, Rosinus (Lib. 4. Cap. 7.) says was this : That 19 Degrees after the Venial Equinox, for four Days together, accord- ing to the Observation of divers Nations, a hot, dry, and angry Constellation, called Canis Major, or the Great Dog, was used to set (achronically I suppose he means, as it appears by rectifying the Globe to the Latitude of Rome). But Goad, in his Astrometeorol. Sana, p. 92. says. It was not only upon that Account, but because about that time there did Arise and Set with the Sun an illustrious Company of Stars ; mean- ing the Hyades and Pleiades, upon the Neck and Head of Taurus: Which Stars, as in- deed the whole Asterism of Taurus, he says (upon Ptolornys Authority) have both Qua- lities, hot and cold, in them. And though they (especially the former) have been dis- tinguished by their watery Qualities, from whence they have their Denomination, u-nro t5 ufii/, yet he says, page 90. That those Parts of Taurus about the Pleiades, occa- sion Earthquakes, Clouds, and Wind ; those about the Hyades are of a fiery Nature, and produce Thunder and Lightning, for which he alleges many Reasons ; (see the place.) Now every one knows, that those Meteors are produced by great Quantities of Nitro- sulphurious Particles, which must be either exhaled from the Body of the Earth,

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by the excessive Heat of these Bodies; or emitted immediately from these Bodies themselves ; which may not improbably descend in a watery Vehicle. Be it which way it will, it seems to amount to some Proof, that the grand instrumental Cause of these Appearances is excessive Heat : And how much more do we think those Effects should be produced; if, besides these common and ordinary Causes, there should be at the same time a concurrence of some accidental Disorders in those Bodies, which should render their natural Quali- ties more intense and piercing. I would not here be supposed to think, that Blights, Mildews, &c. are so appropriated to this Season, which I have been speaking of, as not to fall also at other times : But this Season is particularly remarkable, be- cause of the Condition of the Corn and other Fruits ; as being, if not in Blossom, yet of so tender a consistency, as to be affected by any the least touch of malign Influences. But to return, this same thing seems to be hinted by the Apocryphal Author of the 2d Book of Esdras, Chapter 15. where speaking, v. 5. of the last sore Plagues, the Sword, Famine, Death, and Destruction, (or Pestilence,) which God would bring upon the World ; when (v. 6.) Wick- edness shall have exceedingly polluted the ivhole Earthy and the Measure of their Iniquities shall be filled up. He says (v. 12.) Egypt (i. e. Mystical Egypt, or the whole Earth, this World in which God's Children are kept in Bondage or Slavery, compare v. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,

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11, 12, 13, 14.) shall mount, and the Founda- tion of it shall be smitten with the Plague and Punishment thai God shall bring upon it. V. 13. They that till the Ground shall mourn, for their Seeds shall fail, through the Elasting and Hail, and tvith a fearful Constellation. Thatdevour- ju ^g fo,, t^g Second Sort of Causes, ^"f^,"J^J*^ devouring Insects, that they are produced by Heat. by Heat, we have a strong Presumption from an Observation common amongst us, that they abound most in hot and dry Sea- sons ; besides what Eochartus has observed, Zuograph. Sancta, Lib. 4. Cap. 6. and Cap. 4. in both which Places he expressly asserts, That Drought is the Cause of Locusts and other devouring Insects. But as to the pre- cise manner of their Production, whether it be equivocal, i. e. by some latent Seeds in the Superficies of the Earth, which are im- pregnated by the Sun, or other astral In- fluences ; or univocally, by the common con- currence of Male and Female, is hard to determine. However, the former Opinion seems more probable, because it is difficult to conceive how the Heat can be any way instrumental in the latter way ; much less how it can be said to be a Cause, as Eochart and others have asserted upon the Authority of the Ancients. A Recapitu- ^ Q, WiTH this threefold Evil, viz. Sword, a ton of Pestilence, and Famine, will God chastise Evils. ^be iVpostate Antichristian World in the

latter Days, 2 Esdras 15. 14. Woe to the World and them that dwell therein, a Fire is kindled and shall not be put out, till it consume the Foundations of the Earth. Eehold Famine,

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mid Plague, and Tribulation, and Anguish are sent as Scourges for amendment, but for all this they shall oiot turn from their Wickedness. One People shall stand up against another with Sivords in their Hands : There shall be Sedition amongst Men, and invading one another; they shall not regard their Kings, nor their Princes, and the Course of their Actions shall stand in their Power. A Man shall desire to go into a Oity, and shall not be able; for because of their Pride the Cities shall be troubled, the Houses shall be de- stroyed, and Men shall be afraid : A Man shall have no pity upon his Neighbour, but shall de- stroy their Houses with the Sword, and spoil their Goods, because of the lack of Eread, and for great Tribulation. The Cities shall be broken down, and the People shall perish with the Sword in the Field. They that be in the 3Iountains shall die of Hunger, and eat their own Flesh, and drink their own Elood, for very hunger of Eread, and thirst of Water. The Dead shall be cast out as Dung, and there shall be no 3Ian to comfort them ; for the Earth shall be tvasted, and the Cities shall be cast down. There shall he no Man left to till the Earth and to sow it. The Trees shall give Fruit, and who shall ga- ther them ? The Grapes shall ripen, and ivho shall tread them ? For all places shall be desolate of Men ; so that one Man shall desire to see another, and to hear his Voice. For of a City there shall be ten left, and two of a Field, which shall hide themselves in the thick Groves, and in the Clefts of the Rocks. As in an Orchard of Olives, upon every Tree there are left three or four Olives, or as when a Vineyard is gathered, there are left some Clusters of them that diligently

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seek through the Vineyard; even so in those Days there shall be three or four left by them that search their Houses ivith the Sword. The Virgins shall mourn, having no Eridegroom; the Women shall mown, having no Husbands ; their Daughters shall mourn, having no Helpers. In the Wars shall their Bridegrooms be de- stroyed, and their Husbands shall perish of Famine. Compare 2 Esdras 15 and 16. with Isaiah 17, 24, 33 Chapters, A Remnant ^ 7. BuT in this great Destruction God saved. will preserve a Remnant, even the sealed

Number upon Mount Sion. These are they who by a Holy Severity have been conti- nually dying to the animal sensitive Life ; who, though willingly submitting to the Necessities of Nature, yet made no Provi- sion for the Flesh, to fulfil the Lusts of it ; but their Meat and Drink was to do the AVill of their Father which is in Heaven. They laboured not so much for the Meat that perisheth, as for that Eread which came down from Heaven ; even that spiritual Meat and Drink which sustained the Fathers in the Wil- derness, 1 Cor. 10. and which our Blessed Lord gave his Disciples in the Institution of his last Supper, which has in all Ages been the Spiritual Food of the inward new Man ; and of which (we are told by Christ himself, Joh. Q. 53.) that They which do not eat and drink, have no Life in them. They had thoroughly learned that Divine Lesson of St. Paul, Phil. 4. 1 1, 12. To be content in every State ; They know both how to be abased and how to abound, to be full and to be hungry, to aboimd and to suffer need. And accord-

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ingly, whensoever it pleased God to lay his afflicting Hand either upon their Persons, Families, or Countries, by reducing them to the Necessities of Want and Poverty, they still offered up their Souls to him in deep Resignation, being satisfied that he that knew their Necessities, would infalli- bly relieve them in his due time : Nay, so firm was their Confidence, as that they hoped even against Hope, i. e. when there was no visible Means of Escape left; con- tentedly submitting all to the Will of God, whether he would please to be glorified by their Life, or their Death; making that indeed their only Aim and End, that God might be glorified, and his Will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven. This Divine Temper was, as it were, the Soul of their Souls ; which, like an Holy Ferment, im- parted a Sacred Warmth and Vigour to all their Actions ; flaming out, upon every Occasion, in heroic Acts of Charity to all their Brethren : So that whensoever it pleased their Heavenly Father to bless them with plenty of this World's Goods, they took special Care not to abuse them to Luxury and Intemperance, but employ them to relieve the Necessities of their Brethren. They liberally dealt their Bread to the Hungry, and satisfied the Souls of the Afflicted : They brought the Strangers, and them that were cast out, into their Houses ; and whomsoever they saw naked, they covered with Garments, Isaiah 58. They never withheld the Poor from their de- sire, or caused the Eyes of the Widow to

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fail ; they never eat their Morsel by them- selves alone, withont saftfering the Father- less to partake with them. They could never endure to see any perish for vs^ant of Clothing, or any Poor without Covering, but warmed them with the Fleece of their Sheep, Joh 31. They were none of those who made any trifling Excuse serve to jus- tify their love of Mammon, and who thought to relieve the Wants of the Needy with Compliments and fine Words ; but as living Members of Christ's mystical Body, they thought themselves obliged to mourn with every one that mourned, and to rejoice with those that rejoiced, viz. with so strong a Sympathy, as to make the Sufferings of others their own, and to endeavour by comfortable Words, generous Alms, and affectionate Prayers to God, to procure them Relief and Comfort in their Johb. Afflictions. Such was the Charity of Job, David, Elijah, Tohit, Cornelius, and other great Saints and Servants of God. Such as these shall be delivered in six Troubles, yea in seven there shall no Evil touch them ; in the time of Famine God shall redeem them from Death, and in War from the Power of the Sword ; at Destruc- tion and Famine they shall laugh, yea they shall lift up their Faces without spot. Psalm 33 They shall be steadfast and shall not fear : andM. p^j. ^|jg Eygg of the Lord are upon them to deliver their Souls from Death, and to keep them alive in Famine : Though the greedy Lions should lack and suffer Hun- ger, yet such as these shall want no man-

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ner of thing that is good. The Lord shall guide them continually, and shall satisfy their Soul in Drought, or in the great Droughts ( rmn^^nV^ ) says the Hebrew ; which may, I think, not unfairly be un- derstood in the Sense before us ; though I freely acknowledge, that the LXXII un- derstood it of Spiritual Hunger and Thirst, rendering it kx^uttb^ i-7n^v[xs7 n ^^v^n o-S, Isaiah 58. 11. which may very well be reconciled, that being indeed the most deep and inti- mate Sense of the Place, of which the other is only a Type or Shadow. Compare it with Psalm 42. 1.

§ 8. As to the Manner how, or the The Man- Means whereby it will please Almighty ^"' ^*''"'' God to interpose for their Preservation, the Scriptures are silent ; saving that they show us how God has dealt with many of his Servants in the Days of Old ; how^ when the Famine has been sore in one Land, he has moved them to fly to another ; and has commanded others to sustain them there. So by a strange Series of providential Occur- rences, Joseph was advanced fi'om being a Prisoner to be Viceroy of Egypt, only for this Reason, as he himself tells his Brethren, Genesis 45. 5, 7, 8. and 50. 20. that he might make a Provision for his Father and his Family, who were at that time the Peculiuniy the Heirs of the Promises, out of whose Loins all the Families of the Earth were to be Bless- ed. He being instructed by the Spirit of the Most High God that was in him, to foretel to Pharoah what was coming upon his Coun-

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try, and the Means to prevent the fatal Con- sequences of such a Calamity. So (to men- tion no more) in that great Famine foretold by the Prophet Elijah, 1 Kings 17. God Almighty provided for him in a particular Manner, having first of all commanded the Ravens to supply him with Bread and Flesh Morning and Evening, till the Brook that supplied him with Water w^as dried up : After which he expressly orders him to repair to the Widow of Zarephath, whom he had com- manded to sustain him ; which she was enabled to do, by a miraculous supply of Necessaries, till God sent Rain upon the Earth. Whether it may be by this, or by any other Means, yet we may rest satisfied, that God knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of Temptations, (or Trials, as 'U ts^sj^ ao-jw-S may be better rendered,) even as he delivered just Lot, vexed with the Conversation of the Wicked, out of the Flames that consumed the Ungodly ; and saved Noah, a Preacher of Righteousness, from the Great Deluge that came upon the Disobe- dient World, 2 Peter 2. An Address ^ 9. To those therefore who are yet Stran- to those who ^^^.^ ^.^ ^l^|g State, and to these Promises,

sers to this ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^ amiss to apply the Advice State. given by the Prophet Da7iiel to King Nebu-

chadnezzar, Daniel 4. 27. That they break off their Sins by Righteousness, and their Iniquities by showing Mercy to the Poor ; it may be a lengthening of their Tranquil- lity, or a deferring of their Punishment. As also that Passage of St. Hermas, in the Third Vision of the First Book, which

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relates to the glorious Building of the Tri- umphant Church, and the various Sorts of Reprobates, (Vide Locum, Edit. Cotel.) which by many Passages plainly refers to these Times ; as also by the Title of the Chapter immediately following. (De Tentatione et Tribtdatione, Sfc.) Where, when the Woman had shown him the Mystery of the Build- ing, and the various Sorts and Orders of Men that should be rejected, she comes at last (§ 9.) to put him, and in him the whole Church (to whom these Truths were to be committed. See the End of the preceding Chapter.) in mind of some Duties, the prac- tice of which would be extremely necessary, in order to secure their Part in this Spiritual Building ; amongst which she gives this as the chief. Abundatitius aiitem inspertite egen- tihus, Sfc. i. e. ' But give liberally to them

* that be in need ; for some by too free Feed-

* ing, contract an Infirmity in their Flesh, and

* do Injury to their Bodies ; whilst the

* Flesh of others, who have not Food, wi- ' thers away, because they want suffi- ' cient Nourishment, and their Bodies are

* consumed. Wherefore this Intemperance ' is hurtful to you who have, and do not ' communicate to them that want. Pre- ' pare for the Judgment that is about to

* come upon you ; ye that are the more ' Eminent, search out those that are Hun-

* gry, whilst the Tower is yet unfinish- ' ed. For when the Tower is finished, ye ' shall be willing to do Good, and shall

* not find any Place for it. See therefore

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* ye that glory in your Riches, lest perhaps ' they groan who are in want, and their ' sighing come up unto God, and ye be shut ' out with your Goods without the Gate of ' the Tower. Those therefore who have ex- ' ercised themselves in Abstinence and Alms-

* Deeds, shall be wrought into this Tower :' i. e. Be living Members of Christ's Mystical Body, and by consequence shall Escape those Evils and Punishments, which in the End of the following Chapter are foretold, as coming upon those who are shut out. Agreeable to which is that Declaration of our Blessed Lord, 31attheiv 25. 35. That in his Judg- ment of Men, he chiefly regards these Virtues, telling those Holy Souls whom he admitted into his Kingdom, that it was for (or because) they had fed him (in his Mem- bers) when he was hungry, and given him Drink when he was thirsty, took him in when he was a Stranger, and visited him in Prison. Such as these shall dwell on high^ their place of Defence (in the Day of Evil) shall he the Munition of Rocks ; (even the Rock of Ages, upon whom the whole Spiritual Building is founded, Jesus Christ himself being the Head-corner Stone) ; Bread shall be givcfi them, their Waters shall he sure^

^ , , Isaiah 33. 16.

Other lesser r-iz-wT' i tj j i. •

Evils shall ^ ^^' ^^us have 1 endeavoured to give

prevail at ^n Account of those Three Great Evils,

that time. viz. Of the Sword, Pestilence, and Famine ;

which shall be, as it were, the great and

principal Strokes of that great Destruction,

whereby God will punish the Apostate

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World, when their Iniquities are come to the height. Besides which, we may imagine several other lesser Manifestations of Judg- ment and Terror ever now and then, flash- ing forth in a dreadful Variety, representing as well as punishing that vast Variety of Iniquities, in which the Body of Sin displays itself, though it be briefly expressed by that threefold Division, The Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eye, and the Pride of Life. Such may be particularly, First, Strange Ap- pearances in the Heavens, as Comets, &c. expressed in St. Luke 21. 25. Ei/ Signs in the Sun, ajid in the Moon, and in the Stars. Ey fearful Sights and great Signs, v, 11. ^dly. Earthquakes, foretold also by our Bles- sed Lord, Matthew 24. 7. St. Mark 13. 8. St. Luke 21. 10. These have been lately felt in a dreadful manner in America, and since that in Italy more than usual : As also in our own Country, which has been all along reputed to be less subject to them than many other Countries, we have had seve- ral warning Shocks, ^dly, Tempestuous and Stormy Winds ; such was that never-to- be-forgotten-one, in 1703, which made so many Widows and Orphans in this Nation ; and which, like a Besom of Destruction, swept through the Length of Europe, from the Shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the North of Moscovy. Athly, Inundations ; such was (not to mention those occasioned by the aforesaid Tempest) that dismal one which lately happened in Italy, in the Vene- tian Territories, which overflowed vast Tracts

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of Land, and a very great Number of People and Cattle, bthly. Fiery Eruptions out of the Bowels of the Earth ; such have been very lately in the Canary Islands, breaking out in different Places, where many of the Inhabi- tants perished, either by the Flames or by the Terror. So says the Apochryphal Au- thor of the Second Book of Esdras, Chapter 15. speaking of the Destruction of Mysti- cal JBahylon, v. 38. There shall come great Storms from the South, and the North, and another part from the West, and strong Winds shall arise from the East, 6fc. Fire, and Hail, and flying Swords, and many Waters, that all Fields may he full, and all Rivers ivith the abundance of great Waters. And they shall break doivn the Cities and Walls, Mountains and Hills, Trees of the Wood, and Grass of the 31eadows, and their Corn, (ythly. Terrible Thunders and Lightnings ; such as we have often experienced in most dreadful and fatal Instances ; of which one Phcenomenon in particular, our Modern Mechanical Philoso- phers have put us off with very trifling Ac- counts, the most probable of which would be easily confounded, only by asking two or three Questions. But Job, who may be pre- sumed to have known as much of the Philo- sophy of Nature as any of them, calls it (^t,-j »jji^) the angry Voice of God, Chapter

37. 2. Which, though our English Transla- tion reads (the Noise of his Voice) so making the Word (»ji^) signify no more than Souitus

or Cotnmotio, as some render it ; yet LXXII

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render it by ('O^yrl) Wrath or Answer, as they have also in Chapter 3. v. '2Q. Chapter 14. V. 1. Chapter 39. v, 24. and Habakkiik 3, v.\. so caUing it the Voice of his Anger; and he says it was so terrible to him, (though we may suppose hini to be too good and too wise a Man to be frighted at Trifles) that his Heart trembled at it, and was moved out of its place. Lastly, Fires in divers Places, which shall devour Towns and Cities, and all the other Instruments of Vengeance, which God has reserved in liis secret Treasures against the time of Trouble, against the Day of War, and Battle, and Destruction of the Ungodly. By all these various Tokens of his Indignation, is our Good God at this Day alarming and awakening the impenitent World, and warning them to flee from the Wrath to come ; which is now ready to be poured out to the full in the Height of the Anti- christian Kingdom, when that Man of Sin shall be revealed, who is the Perfection of the Apostacy, the Top-Fruit of the Mystery of Iniquity, whose coming will be after the Energy of the Devil, with all Power, mid Signs, and lying JVonders, and ivith all de- ceivahleness of Unrighteousness, in (or among) them that perish ; or (as the W ord dTroXXvfAivoig rather signifies) that are already lost or re- probate, i. e. whose Measure of Inic^uity is full, because they ivould not receive the Love of the Truth that they might be saved, 2 Thess. 2. 10. I shall conclude this with these re- markable Words oiHippolitus, page 10. (Edit. Par. per Morellium, 1561.) De consum. Mundi el de Antichristo, ^c. ' These Tilings

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have we told you before, that ye may know the Trouble and Affliction that shall come in the last Days, and the Envy, Hatred, and Strife, that shall be at that time rife among' Mankind ; the neglect of the Clergy towards their Flocks, and the Contempt of the People to their Pastors : The Children shall lay Hands on their Parents ; the Wife shall deliver up the Husband to Death, and the Husband tlie Wife. Masters shall be cruel to their Servants, and Servants shall be disobedient to their Masters : None shall reverence the grey Hairs of the Ancient, or pity the Beauty of Youth ; Churches shall be as Common Houses, and in many places shall be destroyed : The Scriptures shall be despised, and profane Songs shall be sung up and down : Out of those who call them- selves Christians, shall arise false Prophets and false Apostles, Deceivers, Corrupters, Evil-Doers, Liars, Adulterers, Unclean, Greedy, Covetous, False-Swearers, Slan- derers. The Shepherds shall be as Wolves ; the Priests shall embrace a Lie : Those who have dedicated themselves to God (Movx-xoi vox meritd suspecta) shall covet the Things of this World. The Rich shall be unmer- ciful to the Poor ; Great Men shall cast off all Compassion; Magistrates shall be un- just, and for Bribes shall pervert the Truth. The Elements also shall be confounded, and become irregular in their Motions : There shall be Earthquakes in divers Places, and Pestilences in every City ; Thunders, Winds, terrible Lightnings that shall burn up Houses and Fields : Tempestuous Winds which

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* shall do unspeakable Mischief both by Land ' and Sea. The Earth shall be barren ; the

* Sea shall roar ; and there shall be great

* IVouble for the Destruction of so many ' Men : There shall be Signs in the Sun, and

* in the Moon, and the Stars shall be irregular

* in their Courses : There shall be Distress of

* Nations; the Air shall lose its Tenipera- ' ture ; grievous Hail ; insupportable Winters;

* unusual sorts of Ice ; intolerable Heats ;

* sudden Lightnings ; unexpected Fires ; and,

* in a Word, unspeakable Afflictions over all

* the Earth.' All which, according to this Blessed Author, are to precede the coming of Antichrist, in whose time they shall be completely fulfilled.

PART IV.

OF ANTICHRIST.

Zech. 11. 16. Lo, I ivill raise up a Shepherd in the Landj which shall 7iot visit those that he cut off, neither shall seek the young Ones, nor heal that that is hrokeii, nor feed that which standeth still: 13ut he shall eat the Flesh of the Fat, and tear their Claws in pieces.

V. 17. Wo to the Idle Shepherd that leaveth the Flock : The Sword shall be upon his Arm and upon his right Eye : His Arm shall be clean dried up, and his right Eye shall he utterly darkened.

ALL the afore-mentioned Evils, of which I have been treating, shall be ulti- mately and completely accomplished in the Reign of Antichrist; the different Notions and Doctrines concerning whom, I shall en- deavour to set in their true Light. The Terms of Antichrist, and Antichristianism, have been so liberally bestowed upon each other, by the differing Parties of Christendom, each of them casting it upon their Adversaries, and disclaiming it themselves, that he who at- tempts to lix it, if he act counter to the

OF ANTICHRIST. 107

commonly received Schemes, and does not set himself to vindicate one of the con- tending- Parties, and make all the rest Mem- bers of Antichrist, will certainly be looked upon as a Traitor to that Church in the Com- munion of which he lives, and a Man of Latitude and Comprehension towards all the rest. Notwithstanding all which Discourage- ments, I shall endeavour (in the Fear of God) to speak my Thoughts freely and impartially upon so momentous a Subject.

§ 1. The Word Antichrist expresses a The Word Principle, Spirit, or Person, standing in Op- Antichrist position to our Blessed Saviour, the Lord ^''"''*^^^^^* Jesus Christ ; which Term being original- ly Scriptural, is certainly intended to ex- press the most perfect Opposition, accord- ing to the Analogy of Nature, and the plain import of the Word. The Passages of the prophetical Scriptures relating here- to, were by most of the Ancient Fathers (as 1 shall show at large) interpreted of one particular Person, who should empha- tically and especially deserve that Title, which in a more lax and open Sense should be applied to many others. This Sense of the Primitive Church was generally re- tained without public Opposition, till the Times of the Reformation; upon the dawn of which, many of those who had long groaned under the Tyranny and Idolatries of the Church of Rome, and considered how opposite she was, both in her Prin- ciples and Practices, to the true Spirit of Jesus Christ ; and withal, how agreeable some

108 OF ANTICHRIST.

of the great Antichristian Characters were to the Pope, as Visible Head thereof, began to assert openly, that the Pope was that Great Antichrist, or Man of Sin, concerning whom the Holy Spirit witnessed by the Mouths of his Servants the Prophets ; which some others understood not so much of the Pope, as of the whole Rommi Hierarchy. And amongst most of the Reformed Churches, * Notwith- i\^\^ has been the* current and common standing it Doctrine ever since ; and it must be con- muchTppo- fessed, that this Charge has been very learn- sed hy some edly defended by many eminent Protestant particular Divines. See particularly Doctor Henry Mores Writers,^ Mystery of Iniquity. To obviate this, several H^^I"^' . ^* of the Romanists, that they might at the same Thorndyke, time defend and support that absurd Position &c. of the Commencement of the Millennial Glo-

rious Visibility of the Church at the Reign of Consta7itine the Great, asserted that Hea- then Rome was the Seat of Antichrist, and that the Roman Emperors before Constantine, or Nero in particular, was that very Son of Perdition who was to precede the Millen- nial Reign, but sure at a great distance ; whilst others, with no better Success, ap- plied it to Julian the Apostate. Now it must be owned, that both these Emperors were very remarkable Types of him in some respects or other ; but it is as plain, that neither of these were that very Per- son intended by that Appellation. How- ever, these Opinions have been long de- fended by many of the Learned of the Roman Communion; whilst some very few

OF ANTICHRIST. 109

have stuck to the Old Primitive Doctrine. The weakness of the two former Opinions has been very solidly exposed and baffled by the Learned Reformers ; who, though they did not set themselves professedly to oppose the latter Opinion, yet thought it must of Necessity fall to the Ground, if they could once prove their grand Position, viz. That the Pope was Antichrist, which upon the Grounds afore- mentioned most of them as- serted .

§ 2. I SHALL not here presume to enter The State into a Detail of the several Arguments where- of the Con- with these Learned Writers have ^^^^^- cerm^ngT"' voured to support their different Opinions, personal yin- but shall only say, that whilst Men do not tichrist. seek the Truth sincerely and impartially, it generally happens, that each Party finding what makes for her Turn, runs away with that, not regarding the rest; and thus not rightly dividing the Word of Truth, they make Distinctions where there is no Difference; and set those Truths in Opposition to each other, which, if rightly understood, would serve mutually to explain, strengthen, and support each other. This (I cannot but think) has been the Case between the Roman and Reformed Churches in this Controversy : The one finding that the Holy Scriptures, and the Doctrines of the purer Ages of the Church, seemed to understand by Anti- christ, one particular Person that should arise in the latter Times, viz. in the End of the Roman Empire, justified and defend- ed this Doctrine in Opposition to that Charge of Antichristianism which was justly cast

no OF ANTICHRIST.

upon them by the Reformers ; fondly ima- gining, that if one were true, the other must be false ; whilst, on the other Hand, the Reformers, to make good their Charge, without regarding that Doctrine which they were forced to allow was Ancient, plied them only with those Arguments which were pro- per to the Case in Hand ; without doubt iDelieving, that since they had proved the Pope to be Antichrist, they were to look no further. Whereas it appears to me, not at all disagreeable to that perfect Oppo- sition that shall be between Antichrist and the Blessed Jesus ; that as our Lord Christ has his Mystical, as well as his Natural Body, so Antichrist should have likewise. Of the Mys- § 3. The Mystical Body of our Lord tical and Christ is that Company of Believers through- S"o/-oMr^"^ the World, united in the Blessed Cen- Lord. ^^^ ^^ Unity in the Spirit of Christ, who

is the great Spring and Foundation of the Spiritual Life in them, and which does so truly unite those who partake of its Ful- ness, as to make them one in themselves, and one in God, even as the ever Blessed Trinity are one themselves, John 17. 21. and these are properly said to be Mem- bers of Christ, because he is their Head, and from his Fulness of Life and Strength, they all receive, in their several Measures and Proportions ; and from him the whole Mody fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every Joint supplieth, accord- ing to the effectual working in the Measure of every part, making increase of the I^ody unto the edifying of itself in Love, Ephesians 4.

OF ANTICHRIST. 1 1 1

16. The Members of this Mystical Body have been, in all Ages, labouring in the deep Resignation and Simplicity of Love, and in patient bearing of the Cross, to fill up that which is yet behind of the Sufferings of Christ (ra vfi^iixoi]ot,* &c.) and to accom- * Col. i. 24. plish that Measure of Sufferings, which shall put a glorious Period to the suffering Eco- nomy, by which we are wrought up to Per- fection, Hebrews 2. 10. Till ive all come in the Unity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge of the Son of God unto a jjerfect Man, unto the measure of the stature of the Fulness of Christ, Ephesians 4. 13. Which Perfection and Fulness, when it shall be obtained by a select Number, determined by God, in the spiritual Kingdom of Mount Sion ; upon these, as the First-fruits of his Kingdom, shall Christ appear in his gloritied Person, to fulfil the Joy of his Saints, and to confound his Op- posers; where he shall reign as the visible Head of his Church : And so his glorified Person, or natural Body (if I may so express it) shall be as it were the head-covering of his mystical Body, which is the Church, Colossians 1. 18.

§ 4. Now I see no absurdity in suppo- Ofthemys- sing, that the workings of Antichrist in the ['^fj^ody Powers and Centre of Darkness may be ^y j^^j. something analogous to this Economy oichrist. the Blessed Lord Jesus, whose Designs for the Restitution of the lapsed Creation, he endeavours to counteract and overthrow. The Devil, that grand Deceiver and Ene- my of Mankind, has ever since the Fall

112 OF ANTICHRIST.

of our first Parents, been plotting and con- triving to plunge us deeper into Destruc- tion, and to make our Fall irrecoverable. In order to this, he has endeavoured to ape and imitate the Dispensations of God, and to assimilate, as near as might be, the Spirit of Error to the Spirit of Truth. Thus without doubt he acted even in the Patriarchal Times: He had, we find, his Magicians in Egypt to oppose the Finger of God in his Servants Moses and Aaron ; so after the giving of the Law, as God had his consecrated Places for holy Worship, his Altars, Priests, Festivals, &c. so had the Devil his likewise, as appears at large not only from Scriptures, but Hea- then Antiquity. So in like manner this same Spirit of Delusion, ever since the Ascension of our Blessed Lord into Heaven, set himself to oppose and undermine that Spiritual Dis- pensation, whereby God is preparing for himself a peculiar People, a royal Priest- hood, a Church without spot or wrinkle, or any such Thing. Thus he stirred up Simon Magus, under the Preaching of St. Philip at Samaria, to exalt himself, and give * Tiva /A£y«v. out, that hc was some great Person ;* which the People explain, saying. This Man is the great Power of God, i. e. the Christ ; for by that Name he is called, 1 Corinthians 1. 24. Upon which Account this may not improperly be called the Head or Beginning of that Opposition ; which in regard of its being peculiarly intended against the Per- son and Offices of Christ, is emphatically called Antic hristian. And St. John in his

OF ANTICHRIST. 113

first Epistle brings it as an Argument to prove that they were in the last Times, or under the Dispensation of the Messiah, He- breivs 1, 2. because the Mystery of Antichris- tianism was then working, and there were many that denied that Jesus Christ was come in the Flesh, 1 Ephesians 1. 18, 22, 23, and Chapter 4. 1, 2, 3. This is Antichrist that denieth the Father atid the Son ; He that de- nieth the Sou, hath not the Father, i. e. doth not believe in the Father. Which denying, or not Confessing, the Son, (I believe,) doth express a denying that Christ had appeared in the Flesh ; notwithstanding what some Learned Men have said to prove that this Text was levelled at the Gnostics, amongst whom it was a received Principle, that they might lawfully deny Christ in time of Perse- cution, if at other times of Freedom and Secu- rity they professed him ; forasmuch as that absolute denying Christ's Appearance in the Flesh, was much more fatal to the Interests of Christianity, and consequently much more Antichristian than the other. For if Christ were not come, then by consequence all the Obligations to strict Obedience, Mortifica- tion, and the Cross, drawn from his Life and Doctrines, are null and void ; and, 2^%, They must be forced to look for another, who should appear in a State more agreea- ble to their Prejudices concerning him, which was a fatal Step to Delusion, John 5. 43. 2 Thessalonians 2. 10, 1 1, 12. And those very Persons who. Chapter 4. 3. are said to be in the Spirit of Antichrist, are for that reason, Chapter 2. 18. called Antichrists. (Even as

I

114 OF ANTICHRIST.

They that are led by the Spirit of God, are the Sons of God. Romans 8. 14. and they to whom the Xoyog came, or who were Partakers of the Xoyog, were called Gods, John 10. 35. and Partakers of the Divine Nature, 2 Peter 1 . 4.) But ever since the Doctrines of Chris- tianity have been clearly vindicated, and the same Antichristian Spirit has been settled in different Forms and Measures in such Chil- dren of Darkness, who sheltering themselves under the Name and Profession of Chris- tianity, have either by their Doctrines or Prac- tices, or both, endeavoured to undermine and overthrow that very Religion which they profess. And Antichristianism was not such a professed Enmity as was that of the Jews and Heathens, but, generally speaking, they were false Brethren, who either broached pernicious Doctrines in the Church, or lived very scandalous Lives, to the Reproach of their Religion; who, when they were at last discovered by the Illuminated Governors or the Church, were ejected out of it, of which we have many Instances in St. PauVs Epis- tles, and from that time did commence a professed Opposition. These were called Heretics, such as went out from the Church, hut were not of it; for if they had been of it, no doubt they ivould have continued in it; but they went forth that they might be made manifest, 1 John 2. 19. And in the pro- gress of the great Apostacy, the Poison sunk yet deeper, and discovered itself not so much in any Opposition to the Received Doctrines of Christianity, as to the great End and Design of it, viz. The Restitution

OF ANTICHRIST. 1 1 5

of Mankind to that Love of God from whicli they were fallen, by Humility, Mortification, and bearins: the Cross. For when the Em- perors embraced Christianity, and the Church began to enjoy the Favour and Protection of the Secular Powers, that Primitive Love and Fervour which shone so visibly amongst them in the hottest Persecutions and Oppo- sitions of their Enemies began sensibly to cool and languish, and more carnal Inclina- tions to start up in their room. The distin- guishing Marks of Favour and Honour which were put upon the Governors of the Church began sensibly to soften and corrupt that Holy Severity that had so long flourished amongst them ; they began much more to aspire after Honours, Riches, and Authority, and the Church itself was early beginning to be modelled according to the Form of the Civil Government in the Empire, which was one chief Occasion of the many Quarrels amongst the Bishops about their Sees; and of their aspiring to a worldly Dignity suitable to the Places of their Residence. This Ambi- tion and Strife of the Clergy produced also a fatal Degeneracy in their Manners, much complained of by Ancient Writers ; having entertained wrong Notions of their Power of binding and loosing, inflicting of Cen- sures, distributing the Charity of the Peo- ple, and determining of Controversies in Civil Matters voluntarily referred to them according to the Apostle's Advice, they laid the early Foundations of the Antichris- tian Pre-eminence now visible in the Papacy,

I 2

116 OF ANTICHRIST.

* Ep. 203. St. Austhi * inveiglis severely against the worldly Pomp of Ecclesiastics in his Time, and accordingly, in conjunction with the rest of the African Bishops assembled in Council, passed their Censure upon it. As did also \ha''\ cln ^^- -^^^"^^^^t -and St. Basil,l so did also St. 16 Clirysostom,^ but particularly St. Beryiard, in

X See Soz. his Memorable Sermon de mails Pastoi'ibus. Lib.G. Cap.'Yhe Church in short became too like a ^^' „ Worldly Kingdom, even in the worst respects, Mat. 10. 10. especially when Kings and Emperors became i7i 1 Tim. over lavish in their Liberality to purchase Horn. 50. Pardons for their Sins ; whereupon a Learned Man observed, that the Discipline of the Church was very much relaxed, in recom- pense, as it were, for the large Endowments received from them. This Prospect of Riches, Honours, and the Good Things of the World, was an Encouragement to Men of worldly and corrupt Minds to get themselves into Places of Trust and Authority in the Church, ■where resolving to enjoy them to the Height, they quickly sought out such Glosses and Expositions of those places of Holy Scrip- tures which witnessed against their Corrup- tion, as might reconcile their Religion with their Inclinations, so verily making the Word of God of non-effect by their Traditions, which were so effectually conveyed to Pos- terity, both by Precept and Example, that at length the Face of Religion was quite changed, and under the Name and Pro- fession of Christianity, the very Design of it, (viz. the Restoring Mankind to the Love of God, by the Mortification of themselves)

OF ANTICHRIST. 117

Was utterly undermined and subverted, till it pleased God, about the beginning of the fifteenth Century, to raise up some who boldly and resolutely bore their Testimony against many Corruptions, and began such a Reformation, as would (if the Primitive Standard had been closely observed) have been most glorious.

§ 5. Now all these Corruptions were no That the doubt Antichristian, and so far as the Ro- ^.^"^'.^.^ ¥ mish Church abetted and maintained ^^^'<^^ tianismls Idolatry and Superstition, that insolent and not appro- blasphemous Usurpation of a God-like Su-priatedto premacy, in opposition to the Supremacy *^/ Church of Christ and the Civil Magistrate, that ^-^ ^''°'^- bloody and persecuting Temper towards those that witnessed against her Corrup- tions, which are the plain and distinguish- ing Characters of Antichrist,* so far she * See Dan. might properly be called Antichristian, and ^^- p7-39. the Pope as the Visible Head of the Apes- ^_^'"' ^^^ tacy, might (according to what was before 7, 3*21, 20* laid down) be properly called Antichrist ; 25. 8. 9-14, which has been learnedly defended by Mr. 23, 24, 25. Mede, Dr. More, &c. But that Antichris- "• ^^- ^ tianisra should be so far confined to the Church of Rome, as to exempt all the other difi^erent Communions of Christendom from that Charge, is hardly justifiable. It might be reckoned an invidious Design to ofter to expose and lay open the Failures and Defi- ciencies of the Reformed Churches as to their Constitution and Discipline, many of which we lament, and wish to reform ; but the Iniquity of the Times will not suffer it. Whilst Policy and worldly Wisdom make

118

OF ANTICHRIST.

That the Spirit of Antichrist reigns also in the re- formed Churches.

Men unreasonably afraid of giving Scandal by the Restitution of that Discipline, which others were not afraid to give by abolishing it. However, this may with too much Jus- tice be said, and is too evident to be de- nied, That the Spirit of Antichristianism reigns at this Day far and wide amongst much the greater part of the Members, even of the best constituted and purest Church, and other Congregations of the Reforma- tion. For the Antichristian Spirit of Error and Delusion has so far insinuated itself into almost all sorts of Professions, that under the cover and pretext of Religion, and the Cause of God, they stand in direct Oppo- sition to the Great End and Design of Reli- gion ; depending in the mean time upon their Blind Zeal for each of their particular Schemes and Discipline, and (that Grand Idol of the Reformation) hearing of Sermons, which one part is come to that abuse at this day, as to justle out an essential part of Christian Worship, the Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, without which the Service of the Church is imperfect, (as hath been learnedly proved) and which doth too appo- sitely fall in with one of the Characters of Antichrist, viz. the taking away of the daily Sacrifice or Oblation. Thouii;h at the same time it must be confessed, to our Grief and Shame, that even that most Sacred Symbol of Christianity is as capable of be- ing abused as any of the other, and actually is so. With these outward Duties and Forms (as they make them) of Christianity (though few do observe even these) Men are amused.

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and made to C believe that they are good Christians, though really in their Hearts they have not one of the Qualities of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. This is a Truth too melancholy to be insistf^d upon, and too plain to be denied. And all those Persons who are in this Spirit, who either practice, encourage, or support these Corruptions, are properly Members of the mystical Body of Antichrist, of whom when a (perhaps deter- mined) number shall have filled up the Mea- sure of their Iniquities, they shall produce as the Genuine Fruit of their complete Apos- tacy, an embodied or Personal Antichrist, who shall be the Reverse or Opposite of the Blessed Jesus ; so that as the Perfection of Goodness was lodged in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ; so the Perfection of Evil should be in him who is called Anti- christ; and as the One is the Son of God, so the other is the Son of Satan. So Origen* * Lib.Q.p. tells Celsus. 306. Edit.

§ 6. Now this Opinion of a Personal An- ^^^^'j^^ff^g. tichrist is (I.) plainly the Doctrine of Scrip- ritiesfor a ture, in some places whereof there is an in- Proof of a disputable clearness, and others (that have?«^«fnfl/ been controverted, and by the Modern Writers Antichrist. upon that Subject have been applied to the Papacy) have been so understood by the Ancients. 11. It was the uncontroverted Doc- trine of the Primitive Church. III. It was a common Doctrine amongst the Jews, which is to this Day retained by those among them who treat of this Subject.

I. The Remarkably singular Epithets given From Scrip- in Scripture do plainly point out a parti- '"'^*

OF ANTICHRIST.

cular Person, such are, 1. 'O 'Avrix^n-og, or the Antichrist, by way of Eminence. 2. The Man of Sin, the chief Author and Ser- vant of Sin, the Head of the Apostacy. 3. The Son of Perdition. 4. 'O 'Ai/lixst/Asvo?, or the Diabolical Adversary. 5. 'O 'T7r£^aipojM,£i'Of, the Blasphemous Usurper of the place of God. 6. 'O "Avofjt.og. The Lawless one, who pretends to be above all Laws, and violates all both Human and Divine : Whosoever, 1 say, will observe these Titles and Charac- ters, must needs think them sufficient Argu- ments of the Truth I am pleading for ; but there is yet another Place that will, I think, put the Matter beyond all doubt, and that is the remarkable Declaration of our Bles- sed Saviour to the Jetvs, John 5. 43. (who sought to kill him for asserting his Divine Mission, v. 18.) / mn come, says he, iti my Father s Nafne, and ye receive me not, if another shall come in his oivn Name, him ye will receive. Which Words are a Prophe- tical Denunciation (notwithstanding what some have objected from the conditional Parti- cle iocv, which they understand to include a degree of Doubt and Uncertainty) of the just Judgment of God upon their Infidelity, that forasmuch as they had rejected the Lord of Life and Glory, coming in the Name, and doing the Works of his Father, there- fore, by the Permission of God, there should arise one in the last Days, who should come in his own Name, and glorify himself, exalting himself in the place and stead of God, whom by reason of die Darkness and Blindness of their Understandings, they should

OF ANTICHRIST. 1 2 1

receive as the Christ. Now can any Ex- pression in Nature be conceived more plainly to point out Personality than these! How can we else understand the Opposition be- tween / and Another ; between coming in his Fathers Name, and coming in his own Name? Besides, is it to be imagined that the Jews, who did from the Beginning, and do to this Day expect their Redeemer to come as a Deliverer and a Prince, clothed with all the Majesty and Splendour of an Everlast- ing Kingdom, should ever believe any Civil or Ecclesiastical Society, especially that are now in being, to be their Messiah? Much less can we imagine, that they will ever fix upon the Bishop of Rome, or look for Deliverance from his Hands ? This can hardly be conceived. There are moreover, many Places in the Prophetical Scriptures, which by the Ancient Fathers were generally ap- plied to the same Person ; as Isaiah 14. and 17. was by St. Cyprian,* with many others,* Lib. 2. ad which falling more properly under another ^""■^"^'^'"' Head, I shall at present omit, and endea- vour to give a brief Answer to Two or Three little Objections which have been made by the Reformed against this Doctrine. The First was that Assertion of St. Paul, 2 Thes- t^,o Objec salonians 2. 7. that the Mystery of Iniquity tions an- did even then ivork; and that of St. John,^^^^^^- 1 Ep. Chap. 2. V. 18. that there luere then many Antichrists ; and Chap. 4. v. 3. that the Spirit of Antichrist ivas then in the World. All which Assertions amount to no more than this, that the Antichristian Spirit was actually

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operating at that time in the Beginnings of the Apostacy ; and that there were many engaged therein, who, according to what I have laid down, p. 113. are therefore called Antichrists, but do by no means weaken the Truth contended for; but (as I have there shown) are very consistent with it. The other Objection is taken from the Pro- phecy of Daniel, who. Chapter 7. saw the Vision of the Four Beasts, and the Ten Horns of the fourth Beast, and the little Horn that arose out of the midst of them. Now (say the Objectors) the Four Beasts are explained, v. 17. to be Four Kings, i. e. Monarchies or Kingdoms, as it is explained, V. 23. and if by the Ten Horns of the fourth Beast be to be understood Ten Kingdoms, into which the fourth Monarchy shall be divided ; then by the same Rule of Inter- pretation, by the little Horn arising out of the Ten, if it be applied to Antichrist, which is generally owned by the Ancients, must be understood not a Person, but an Antichris- tian Society, Church, State, Monarchy, or Kingdom. To this 1 answer, First, That 1 see no reason why we should understand by the Four Beasts Four Kingdoms, and not Four Kings, as the Letter of the 17th Verse expresses it; that is, the Founders of the Four Kingdoms or Empires ; and so the call- ing the fourth Beast the fourth Kingdom, may be easily reconciled to the common way of speaking in Scripture, where not only Fa- milies and Cities, but even Countries and Kingdoms are expressed by, and compre-

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hended under their Founders and Gover- nors ; and of this Opinion are not only St. Jerome, among the Ancients, but even Va- tahlus, PereriuSy &c. among the Moderns. 2dii/, Though we should grant, that Four Monarchies are to be understood by the Four Beasts, and by consequence a long Suc- cession of Princes, yet will it not from thence follow, that Antichristian Kingdom (precisely taken) must be so too. For the long Dura- tion and Continuance of the Four made such a Succession necessary ; but the short Reign of Antichrist being limited to Three Years Six Months, must necessarily terminate in one single Person ; who, by being called a little Horn, Chapter 7. 20. must be explained of one Person, as the Ten Horns are asserted to be Ten Kings, v. 24. and (says St. Jerome upon Daniel 7.) shall arise from among the Ten Kings, who shall destroy the Roman Empire, and divide it between them ; (and a little after) who shall not be as some imagine, the Devil himself, but a Man in whom the Devil shall dwell corporeally.

II. This was also H. The uncontroverted i^^'om the Doctrine of the Primitive Church ; by which f^^^chjL I do not mean, that it was ever established by the Authority of Councils, much less made an Article of Faith : But that all the Fathers who wrote about Antichrist, who were neither few in Number, nor of the least Repute in the Church, nor at great distance from the Apostolical Age, were of this Opinion. Amongst whom were (to mention no more) St. IreriiBUSf Cyril of Jerusalem, Hippolytus,

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Origefiy the Author of those Writings com- monly attributed to Lactantius, Methodius Patarensis, Ephrem Syrus^ Sulpitius Severus, &c. nor do we find that they were ever blamed, much less censured for this Doctrine. And their Authority must certainly weigh with those who have any Reverence for Primitive Antiquity, and will judge impartially of the Truth of Things. It will be here needless to quote the particular Passages of these Writers, which favour this Opinion, because we shall be forced frequently to have re- course to them upon the following Heads. From the HI. This was also, and still is, III. The

Jews. Opinion of the Jewish Writers upon this

Subject, particularly Rabbi Jacob, in his Book intituled, Ahchoth Rochel, published by Hul- sius, under the Name of Theologia Judaica ; as also Rabbi A ben Ezra, Rabbi Solo7nou and Kimchi, upon the Psalms and Prophets; and the Hebrew Chronicon, intituled Seder Olam. In all which you meet with abun- dance of fabulous Stories concerning his Parentage, Birth, Education, Size, &c. which we are no otherwise concerned with, than as they prove the Opinion of the Jews to have been, that the Antichrist which they expected was to be a single Person, not a Society, Church, or Monarchy. To which also may be added, the many remarkable Testimonies of the Sybilline Oracles, which are full of this Doctrine.

The Types of ^ 7^ Xhe coming of this Man of Sin

^4 ft it ch VI st ^ 1 •

has been variously prefigured and typified both under the Law and the Gospel (even

OF ANTICHRIST. 125

as our Blessed Lord also was) by many diabolical Opposers of the Truth and People of God ; such were Antiochus Epiphanes, He- rod the Son of Antipater, Simon 31agiis, NerOy Julian the Apostate, and Mahomet, &c. In the History of the Lives of most of the afore-mentioned Persons, are to be found such Circumstances, and as it were Marks of Antichristian Opposition, as may war- rant such a Persuasion. The fierce Perse- cutions raised by Antiochus Epiplumes against the Jews, who were at that time the P ecu- Hum, or Visible Church ; as also his Pro- fanation of the Sanctuary and Temple of God, related at large I Maccabees 1. were such as have made many of the Modern Expositors, who were prejudiced against the Doctrine of a personal Antichrist, apply all those Places of the Prophet Daniel to him, which were by the Ancients applied to Antichrist. And who is moreover distin- guished by the Author of that History, with this remarkable Epithet, 'Ai^x^uKoq 'ViC^oc ; Words deeply emphatical, and that express a very great degree of Corruption. The History of Herod is full of Antichristian Charac- ters ; as First, his setting himself up for the Christ, or at least assenting to those that did, falsely applying to him that Pro- phecy of Jacob, Genesis 49. 10. That the Sceptre should not depart frotn Judah, nor a Lawgiver from betiveen his Feet, till Shiloh should come; finding that the Sceptre was taken from Judah, and translated to him. These were they who were called Herodians,

126 OF ANTICHRIST.

not as Origen and some others imagined, upon a Civil Account, but as St. Jerom, Epiphanius, and Theophilact asserted, because they held Herod to be the Messiah. Which also our Blessed Lord seems to hint at, Mark 8. 15. bidding his Disciples to beware of the Leaven of Herod; by which the Disciples understood, Matthew 16. 12. the Doctrine, &c. Secondly, (not to mention his Cruelties to his own Friends, largely described by Josephus) his murdering Forty young Men, with their Masters Judas and Matthias, who, in their Zeal to the Worship and Honour of God, pulled down the golden Eagle, which he in Contempt of Religion had set up upon the Porch of the Temple, Recorded by Jose- * Ant. lib.phus* Lastly, His diaboHcal Design to mur- 17. cap. 12. der the Blessed Infant, whom he looked upon as the Rival of his Hopes and Kingdom; which Cruelty extended so far, as to murder (if what is Recorded by the Ethiopic Liturgy, and Greek Menology be true) Fourteen Thou- sand Infants ; and amongst the rest his own Son, as the Historians of those Times attest. What we have before observed of Simon Magus, setting himself up as God, is sufficient to justify our making him one of the Antichristian Types ; (not to mention his dark Magical Power and Knowledge, whereby he deceived and bewitched the People of Samaria, who looked upon his mighty Works to be Proofs of his Divinity, Acts 8. 11.) which blasphemous Exaltation of himself, because it may seem to some not to be fairly proved by that Text of

OF ANTICHRIST. 127

Scripture which I have before produced, p. 112. I shall mention a Passage or two out of some of the early Christian Writers, who lived not long after his own Times. St. Jus- tin Martyr'^ tells the Emperor, that this Simon * ^p- 1- § Magus had been esteemed as a God, ^ven^f- P*^^* in his own Imperial City of Rome; mention- ing also an Inscription which he had seen upon a Statue, which he took to be his, with this Inscription, 2j/aoh Aew o-afrw. The same has been related upon his Authority, by Irenceus, Tertullian, and other later Writers. Which, though Valesius in his Notes upon Eusebius-\ has endeavoured to invalidate, fan- t EccL eying it to have been a Mistake in that Holy ^'*'' ^^J^ Father, proceeding from his not understanding ' ^' Latin ; alleging, that the Statue mentioned by him was lately dug up, with this Inscription, SEMONI SANGO DEO fIDIO. Yet he has been clearly answered by the Learned Church Critic 'TiUemont,\ and so has Mr. X Vid. Til-

Le Clerk, under the borrowed Name of The- f"'"!'^' 5.T

' , T7- / • lensio a. Au-

reponus, who asserted the same as valesius ; ^^^ adver-

and since by our Learned Countryman Dr. sus phere-

Jenkins. Origen^ understands that Expres- pon: ani-

sion of his being called the great Power ^J!fg * ^*

God, of his being called the Christ, as I (^ Cont.

have explained it, p. 96. And further, the Celsum.

Fragments of his own Writings testify as Lib. VI. p.

much ; amongst which is that particularly, ?^^'^' ^"■^*'

quoted by St. Jerom, in his Commentary

upon these Words, in the 24th of St. Matthew,

Many shall come in my Name. Simon the

Samaritan (says he) whom we read of in the

Acts of the Apostles, has left us this Testi-

1 28 OF ANTICHRIST.

mony of himself, among many others. Ego sum Sermo Dei, Ego sum speciosus, Ego Paracle- tus. Ego Omnipotens, Ego omnia Dei. Be- sides those blasphemous Assertions of his, which are quoted by Moses Bar-Cephas, a Syrian Bishop, in the Third Part of his Com- mentaries upon Paradise, which you may see in the End of Dr. Grabes First Volume of his Spicilegium. As is also that of Nero, in which I shall only observe, that his Apostatizing (if I may so speak) from his happy Beginnings in his Quinquennium, observed by almost all the Historians that speak of him, does most ex- actly answer to the Opinions of the Fathers concerning Antichrist; as doth also the Apos- tacy of Julian. For thus saith Hippolytus concerning him, in his Oration de Consumma- tione Mu7idi, published in the Bibliotheca Patrum, Tom. II. p. 13 and 14. ' In his

* Beginnings he shall be Merciful, Mild, Reli- ' gious, and Peaceable; he shall punish In-

* justice; he shall not suffer Idolatry; he

* shall love the Scriptures ; he shall reverence ' the Priests : After this he shall cleanse the ' Lepers ; he shalK heal the Paralytic ; he ' shall cast out Devils ; he shall foretel

* Things to come ; he shall raise the Dead ; ' he shall support the Widows and Fatherless;

* he shall reconcile Differences. Then all the

* People, especially the Nation of the Jeius,

* shall meet together to make him King : At

* first he shall craftily refuse this Honour; ' but they persisting in their Intentions, shall ' make him King : Then shall he lift up his

* Heart, and change his Manners ; he shall

OF ANTICHRIST. 129

* become fierce, unmerciful, unjust, proud,' &c. agreeable to what is foretold by the Prophet Daniel concerning him, Chapter 11. V. 21. that thei/ shall not give him the Honour of' the Kingdom, (i. e.) by a usual Hebraism, The Honour of a Kingdom shall not be given him; meaning that he shall have no Right nor Title to it before this flattering Usurpation, (or else it contradicts what fol- lows) but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the Kingdom by Flatteries; (^^pL,-jL,pj^) by

insidious treacherous Dealings. The Story

of Mahomet is well known and the Parallel

very easy and Natural ; besides whom there

have been many others, who have in some

Respects or other typified this Mystery of

Iniquity.

§ 8. The Man of Sin then whom these Of the Birth

have represented shall certainly arise in the ^^^^ Paren-

latter Erid of the Kingdoms, i. e. of the fourth '?^/ f^.^'*"

■^ '^,^ . * , ' f^ tichrist.

or Koman Jimpu'e, ivhen the Transgressors

shall be come to the full, or (as the LXXII

read it 7rX7\oii[ji.ivuv rm a,[ji.cic,fliu)v dvloov) when the

Measure of the Iniquities of the World

(or perhaps Christendom) shall be filled up,

as we are told Daniel 8. 23. Hippolytus

supposes (Page 30. Edit. Paris.) that he shall

be the Devil himself, who shall take upon

him the appearance of Human Flesh, and

shall falsely appear to be born of a Virgin,

(which he expressly asserts) not knowing

otherwise how to reconcile to his Opinion

that place of Moses, Exodus 13 and 2. That

ivhatsoever openeth the Womb is the Lord's, or

K

]M) OF ANTICHRIST,

as the Vulgar Latin lias it, Sanctum vocahitur Doinino. Which Opinion seems to have been y,, . J A transcrihed from him by Epiirem Syrus in counts hcreof^^^'^ Sermon concerning Antichrist. But this by some is a contrivance to salve an Hypothesis which Writers. Jg §0 far from being necessary, that it con- tradicts the very Letter of the Holy Scrip- tures, 2 Thessalonians 2. 3. (where he is ex- pressly called The Man of Sin, 6fC,) as well as the common Sentiments of most other Writers. Others have been of Opinion that he shall be an Incarnate Devil, which St. Hilary asserts in his Comment on the afore- cited Place of the Thessalonians. This Opi- nion (notwithstanding what has been said to justify the Possibility of the Incarnation * Dfi Curti. of Angels by Tertidlian* and Origen-\) is, as Chrisil, cap. upon many Accounts unreasonable, so con- Rlltfi ^''" ^I'atlicted by Damascene, Lib. 4. Cap. 27. Chry- t Tom. 2. sostom and Theophylact upon the Second in Joh. Epistle to the Thessalonians. Others are of Opinion that he shall be born of a very im- pure unclean Woman, and begotten by an Incubus, or Evil Spirit. Whether such Pro- creation be possible, and whether the Tradi- tions of the Ancients concerning such Births be true, (as that of Remus and Romulus, and Servius Tullius, recorded by Dionysius Hali- carnassceus. Lib. 1 . that of Plato, by Diogenes Laertius; of Alexander the Great, by Plu- tarch, (S^x.) I shall not here determine; but The most shall Only say, that it appears to me probable, probable. that his Generation shall be according to the ordinary natural course, between two Persons who shall have tilled up the measure

OF ANTICHRIST. 131

of their Iniquities, the Devil so magically co-operating with them, as to take posses- sion of him in the very Womb, and make him throughout as completely diabolical as it is possible for a Man to be. This is the Opinion of Rabaniis Maurus (to whom the later Critics attribute that little Treatise (le Antichristo, published at the end of the Ninth Volume of St. Atistitis Works,*) he * /^. 2.59. shall be born (says he) like other Men, not ^''''' '*^'"'^- of a Virgin, as some affirm ; in the begin- ning of his Conception the Devil shall en- ter into his Mother's Womb, and there shall cherish and defend him. So St. Cpil of Jeru- salem says,t The Devil shall use him as +^'''i^§^'' an Organ, or Instrument through which he shall act. For so he understands that Ex- pression of his coming yiotl' ivi^ynxv Tou loijavac,

2 Thessalonians 2. 9. His Parents, as most Writers imagine, shall be Jews; but I ra- ther believe a Jew and an Apostate Christian^ such mixed Births having been observed to be fatal. Such were the Rebel-Giants, be- gotten between the Sons of God and the Daughters of Men (whether by the Sons of God we understand only the Spiritual Seed of Seth, or the 'Ey^^'yopof, as in the Prophecy of Enoch\) ; such was rebellious Absaloin, \ SynceUi the Son of Maachah, the Daughter of the ^''^rmo^r King of Geshar ; and such, it is commonly yA^-^' ^^'^^ thought, was Adonijahy the Son of Haggith, whose Country indeed the Scripture takes no notice of.

K 2

132 OF ANTICHRIST.

Thatheshall ^ Q. His Extraction by the Jewish Side

Dau.' ^ nerally asserted by Hippolytus,^ by Iren(eus,'\ * P. 12. who in a mystical Sense interprets that Pas- t Lib. 5. sage of Jeremiah, Chapter 8. v. 16. The Cap. 30. snorting oj' his Horses ivere heard from Dan (or as the LXXII read it, oi•A^<To^i^cc, we shall hear, Sfc.) of the coming of Antichrist. By these Words (saith he) Jeremiah shoivs out of what Trihe he shall arise ; adding withal, That this is the Reason why Dan is omitted amongst the Tribes that are sealed. Apoc. 7. St. Ambrose also, de Sened Patriarch, asserts the same from these Words, Genesis 49. 16. Dan shall judge his People (viz. the Jews) as one of the Tribes of Israel (or as the one single Tribe of Israel, to whom the Govern- ment is given, i. e. Judah) ; speaking thus, Chapter 7. Sampson indeed came out of the Tribe of Dan, who judged Israel Twenty Years, but the Prophecy pointed not at him, but at Antichrist, who shall arise out of that Tribe, a severe Judge and cruel i QuiBst. Tyrant. Theodoret\ asserts the same thing; 109. m Gen. jj^^ij^g. ^it^^l^ T^^t as the Sceptre given to Judah, did principally point out our Lord, who arose out of that Tribe, so the promising a sort of Rule or Government to Dan, did point out Antichrist, who should usurp the Government of Christendom in the later Days. The same is asserted by .§ ^^Jj.^' Prosper. Aquitanicus,\ in these Words : It is Duaci.^ 67. P^^^^ ^^^^ Antichrist shall arise out of the ■ Tribe of Da7i, which is now in Persia, ac- cording to the Prediction of the Patriarch,

OF ANTICHRIST. 133

Genesis 49. So does also Anastasms Smaita* * Ham.io. St. Gregoiy,-\ mentioning that afore-cited Ge- ^"^ Hexaem. nesis 49. says, That Antichrist shall come j^i^Hqiji out of the Tribe of Dan; for which reason, Patrum. says he, in the Division of the Camp of Tom. I. Israel, Dati pitched first towards the North, . ^ ■^'*' ^'• thereby to signify him who said in his Heart, ^^ ^ ' ^^' I will ascend into the Sides of the North, I will he like the 3Iost High, Isaiah 14. 13. of whom also another Prophet spake, saying, The snorting of his Horses shall be heard from Dan, Jeremiah 8. 16. And this I think is fairly hinted in the Prophecy of Jacob, Genesis 49. 17. Dari is a Serpent in the ivay, biting the Horses' Heels, that the Rider shall fall backward; which, when he had said, pointing at Antichrist, he adds, by way of Confidence in the Promises and Mercies of God, I have waited for thy Salvatio?i, O Lord! i. e. The Coming of the Messiah, Luke 2. 30, as if he had said, Dari, out of thee shall arise the last and greatest Enemy of the Church of God ; but this is my Consolation, that the Messiah shall come upon thee and destroy thee, and bring Salvation unto Israel, and unto the Ends of the Earth. And this the Jews are so fully persuaded of, that Ben-Dan, or a Son of Dan, is a proverbial Expression amongst them, to signify a notorious Villain, or Murderer, as David de Pomis observes in his Lexicon upon the Word Dan.

§ 10. As for the Stature, Shape, and Fea- OJhisIn- tures of his Person, his Education in his^"^^' Infancy, &c. which have been with great Confidence described by some Writers of the

,34 OF ANTICHRIST.

middle and later Ages, I shall omit them as things that have no footsteps in Scrip- ture (excepting only Daniel 8. 23. capable of divers Constructions) nor Primitive Anti- quity; and shall only observe, that as it is recorded of our Lord Jesus Christ, Luke 2. 52. that from his Childhood he increased in Wisdom, and Stature, and Favour, both with God and Man; so it is highly probable that Antichrist, during his Minority, shall be con- tinually improving in Magical Diabolical Arts, and converse with Evil Spirits, by which he shall be accomplished and fully instructed for the great Work which he is to do. T/ie Region § 11. As for the Place of his Birth, there where he ^^^ Reasons (though not equally convincing tppem-'^ to all) why we may think he shall be born in the East, though his first Appearance may be in the West. But that not being very clear, we shall pass on to consider what St. Johfi says of him, Apoc. Chapter 13. that he shall arise out of the Sea, (for of him * Lib. 5. that Place is interpreted by Irenceus,*) by Cap. 28. which, upon a twofold Account, we are to understand the West. First, Because the Sea, and the Isles of the Sea, have been con- stantly so understood by the Jeivs : And, 2dly, Because it agrees with the Prophecy of Daniel, that he shall arise out of the Ten Horns of the fourth Beast ; that is, the Ro- man or Western Empire. The Region of the Western Empire, from whence he shall come, is the North; as appears by compa- ring Jeremiah 4. 6. and Joel 2. 20. Joel 1.2;

OF ANTICHRIST. 135

2. 2; 3Iatt/ieiv 2i. 21. not to mention many other Places, for the same Reasons probably that were mentioned Part I. that Region being more particularly expressive of the Ven- geance and Judgment of God.

§ 12. At his first Appearance in the His first World, he shall (as we observed before) ^Ippearancr seem to be very lleligious, Wise, Tempe- ;^';J/';^^^^'^''^'' rate, and Peaceable, so says Cyril f by ^^^^^ quest of the counterfeit Virtues, jomed with the great Ten Kings. Powers of Magical Knowledge, he shall (says *^«'-^5. §5. he) deceive the World, especially the Jews, (who, according to the line of Time, shall then begin to expect their Messiah and Redeemer,) into an Opinion that he is the very Christ. Upon which (says Hippolytus aforecited) they shall offer to make him their King, which he shall craftily refuse, but they shall force him to accept it. Here then we find him invested in the Royalty and Majesty of a Kingdom, to whom, by degrees, shall be gathered from all parts those whose Iniquities are full, and who are qualified for a nearer converse with him, by partaking of his Magical Power, which he (in imitation of our Blessed Lord's shed- ding forth his Spirit upon his Disciples) shall probably impart to some select Fol- lowers, as the First Fruits, to be as Head Powers and Rulers of his Magical Army, described by Joel, Nahum, &c. as I shall prove, of which they shall all be in a less degree Partakers. Now it is probable that the first Act of Power that he shall perform, shall be revenging upon Rome, (which is Ba-

1.36 OF ANTICHRIST.

hylon, say the Reformed Commentators) the Ancient Ruins of Jerusalem, at the Instiga- tion of the Jews his Followers. This is the * P. 439. Opinion of Irenceus^ and Hippolytus, § 56. 1. 23. 449. ajjjj to tl^ig bQj}^ of tijej^^ apply the Parable

^' " of the unjust Judge that feared not God,

neither regarded man, to whom the Widow, that is, the Earthly Jerusalem applied her- self, entreating him to avenge her of her Adversary, meaning Rome, which he accord- ingly did. The Manner, in which he shall punish her, is thought to be that he shall invade the ten Kings, into whose Hands the broken and divided Power of the Ro- man Empire shall be delivered. These had not received a Kingdom at the writing of this Prophecy. Revelations 17. 12. hut shall re- ceive Power as Kings one hour (or in the same hour or time) with the Beast. We are not, therefore, to imagine that by the Roman Empire is to be understood the Em- pire as it was then, or as it is now, but as it shall be at that time when the Beast or Antichrist shall arise, plainly also intima- ted to be the last Kings by being called Toes, Daniel 2. 41. Three of these Kings Anti- christ shall set upon and overcome, and they shall submit to him, Daniel 7. 24. And the rest being affrighted shall give up their King- doms and Authority to him. Whence St. John says of them all, that they have one mind, and give their Strength and Power to the Beast, Revelations 17. 13. Because the first three submitted by Force, the other seven through Fear : These he shall make his Exe-

OF ANTICHRIST. 137

cutioners to punish the Romans l)y making them Slaves and Vassals, and destroying their Polity, and bringing them into so se- vere a Condition, as may be understood by making her desolate and naked, and eating her Flesh and burning her with Fire. * Which * Vid. Ibid. Expression of burning her ivitli Fire may, perhaps, have a particular regard to the Manner of besieging her, viz. by bombard- ing her. Revelations 17. 16. Which is not to be understood of the utter Destruction of the City, for that is to continue till the pour- ing forth of the last Vial, when it will pe- rish in the great Earthquake that precedes or accompanies the Destruction of \\\X\- christ; and so far even the Roman Catho- lic Writers agree, that Antichrist shall de- stroy Rome, though none of them say he shall do it in Person. Which, when he has done, it is not improbable that he shall re- ceive Divine Homage and Worship, perhaps in the very Cathedral of St. Peter. Even as Mahomet II. when he had taken Constan- tinople and entered it in Triumph, placed himself blasphemously upon the Altar of St. Sophia, to receive a sort of Divine Wor- ship from his military Slaves. And this will seem more likely when we shall consider what Effects such a Conquest will have up- on the Minds of his Followers, who shall see him Triumphant in that City where once Religion flourished gloriously, and in which, at this time, there is more of the Pomp and external Grandeur of the (so called) Christian Church to be seen than

138 OF ANTICHRIST.

any where else, they must needs look upon this to be no less than a vanquishing of Chris- tianity and triumphing over its Holy Author, and by consequence to be a firm Proof of his own Divinity. i)f the East- § 13. Whilst these Things are transact- ern Beast, or \^^\t^ the West, St. Johi sees another Beast False Pro- ^^jgjj^o, qjj^ ^f i\^q East, expressed by the Earth, m opposition to the .Sea, which is * Lib. 5. the West. This is his false Prophet. IrencBus* ]). 444. calls him his Armiger (or uVao-Trirri?, as the t 5'«;rt. 13 Word is preserved by Andreas Ccesariensis'\ ) in Ajwc. p. ^jjj] J cannot but think that this is the same that is mentioned by Lactatitius, p. 652. as arising in the Power of the Evil Spirit out of Syria, distinct from Antichrist whom he mentions, p. 650. as coming out of the far- t 2. D/rt/ r/V thest parts of the North. Sulpitius Severus\ Vda Mar- .^^^^ counts two Antichrists, one arising in ini, ap. -. ^j^^ East, and the other in the West, though it must be confessed in an order which is the Reverse of ours, supposing that Nero shall rise again in the West, and Anti- § Dt Pro- ch list in the East. And Prosper^ asserts the miss.p.Gif. game, understanding the 40th and 41st Chapters of Job, concerning Eehemoth and Lemathaii, one arising out of the Earth and the other out of the Deep or Sea, of these two. This Eastern Antichrist, or false Prophet, shall be to the Western, as the Moon to the Sun, his reflex Image or Light, whom in his own Region he shall preach up as the Messiah, that shall shortly come and take Possession of his Kingdom. So it is observable in History, that Mahomet

OF ANTIC HR 1ST. 1 3J)

arose in the East very near that notable Era of Antichristianism 600, when Boniface 111. was declared Universal Bishop by P/iocas the Emperor of Constantinople* the Anti- * yifi //t/. christian Spirit aiming, as it were, to op- i/oms. p. ion. press both Regions at once, to be as a faint Representation of the Universal Monarchy he asserts, and to observe the growth of any Enemy that may arise in either Region. Even so the Angel that limited the Dura- tion of the Antichristian Times is repre- sented as setting one foot upon the Earth or East, and the other upon the Water or West, Revelations 10. 2- thereby, perhaps, sym- bolically representing as well as foretelling the ntter abolition of the Antichristian Power out of the Church, both in Body and Soul (if 1 may so express it); for even that also is, 1 believe, hinted in the Distinction of Earth and Water. But to return, this false Pro- phet shall exercise all the Power of the first or Western Beast, as his Deputy or Vice- roy, Revelations 13. 12. but not so eminently or Universally till after the Western Beast shall have received his deadly Wound, and been healed of it, v. 12 and 13. This deadly Wound shall be probably that he shall seem to die (perhaps to be slain) and rise again in imitation of our Blessed Lord's Death and Resurrection, 1 say seem to die, for so the expression cJ? i(r<p(x.yiJ^iVY\v, v. 3. seems plainly to import, after which sham Resur- rection he shall impower the false Prophet to do great Wonders in his Name, v. 13, 14, 15. (probably in imitation of our Blessed

140 OF ANTICHRIST.

Lord, who, after his Resurrection and Ascen- sion, sent his Spirit upon his Holy Apos- tles, giving them thereby a Commission to preach his Gospel, and do Miracles in his Name). He shall cause to be made an Image of the first Beast who had the deadly Wound, and by his great Magical Power shall make it live and speak, i. e. perhaps cause some Evil Spirit to inhabit it and give Oracles from it ; who shall command all that will not worship it to be put to Death, v. 15. This Image might probably be in this respect represented by the Image which was set up by the King of JBabyloriy Daniel 3. as Irenceus asserts it was upon another, viz. the Number, it being sixty Cubits high, and six broad. Iiencsus, Lib. 5. Cap. 29. The Oppo- § 14. And as the Mystery of Iniquity sitionthat shall thus work, so it is probable there fy'lhe^'^'^''^^^^^ be a proportionable Opposition made Church. ^y some who sliall be anointed to be as tlie First-fruits of the Kingdom of the Lamb, and who before they are gathered into one Body, as they shall be afterwards, may bear their Testimony in both these Re- gions (perhaps in the two Cities of Babylon or Rome, and Jerusalem) against the Blas- phemous Usurpations of the Antichristian Beasts. These shall be such who having been long exercised in the Discipline and Patience of the Cross, shall before the Ap- pearance of Antichrist be so perfected, as to be qualified to receive the Everlasting Gos- pel, which shall be preached to all Nations.

OF ANTICHRIST. 1 4 1

This we are to understand, Revelations 12. 1. By the Woman clothed with the Sun, crying out, travailing in birth, and being in pain to be delivered. That is, the Church labour- ing in pain to perfect Christians and con- vert the Nations, to bring into herself a perfect Number known to God before the great Antichristian Persecution. And it is not improbable that there shall be at that time a very great Efflux of Grace, which may stir up some pious Souls to a more frequent and devout Celebration of the Holy Eucharist, and accompany the Celebration of it, which may be the visible Medium whereby their Perfection may be wrought out ; answering to that great and notable Passover instituted by good Josiah a little before the Sabylonish Captivity, and that of Hezekiah not long before, of which the Scrip- ture witnesseth, 2 Chronicles 30. 2(3. that the like had not been kept in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon the Soti of' David King of Israel. For the reason of that so solemn Institution given by Hezekiah himself was. Chapter 29. v. 10. that the fierce Wrath of the Lord might turn away from them, and that God might be merciful to their brethren that were gone into Captivity, Chapter 30. 9. i. e. the Ten Tribes carried away by the King of Assyria, v. 6. Those then that shall be thus perfected shall go forth preach- ing the Kingdom of God, and foretelling the sudden coming of Antichrist. So says Abbot Joachim.* The Persons whom God * ^**- '?• o.e

shall design for this High Office, and qua-

Tribulat. p. 5.

142 OF ANTICHRIST.

lify to bear it, shall probably be chosen here and there one out of all Nations and People whom the Spirit of Wisdom shall instruct and teach, enter into them, and fully possess them, making them thereby Friends of God, and Prophets, Wisdoms 7. 14, 27. at first she will walk with them by crooked ways, and bring Fear and Dread upon them, and torment them with her Discipline, imtil she may trust their Souls, and try them by her Laws ; then will she return the straight way unto them, and show them her Secrets. Ecclesiastes 4. 17, 18. And from this Divine Teaching and Wis- dom these Persons are frequently, in the Prophet Daniel, called the Wise, and Men of Understanding, and those that know their God, Daniel n. 35; 12.3, 10; 11.32. and as they shall go forth in the Spirit of Wis- dom, so shall they also in the Spirit of Power, being accomplished with the higl» graduated Gifts of the Holy Ghost. For to them also does the Great Charter of the Apostles extend, 3Iark 16. 17, 18. that thei/ shall cast out Devils, they shall speak ivith New Tongues, they shall take up Ser- pents, and if they drink any deadly Thing it shall not hurt them, ^x. For it is not said that these Signs should follow the Apos- tles, but in general all them that believe, i. e. who have the same Faith that they had, according to what is said Matthew 21.21, 22. Mark 11. 22, 23, 24. that all things are possible to them that believe. So also St. Peter declares. Acts 2. 39. that the Promise^

OF ANTICHRIST. 143

viz. of the Spirit, loas not to themselves and that Generation only, but to their Chil- dren also, and to all that ivere afar off, even to as many as the Lord God shoidd call. Thus accomphshed and completed in the New Birth, which is nothing else but Faith working by Love, Galatians 5. 6; 6. 15^ they cannot be supposed to want those Virtues and Powers, which our Lord hath promised shall always accompany Faith, though no greater than a Grain of Mustard-Seed, which, as himself says, is the least of all Seeds, Luke 17. 6; Matthew 13. 31, 32.

§ 15. This is a Doctrine that will never A Digres- go down with those who are wedded to sjon concern- the commonly received Opinion, that the '"fffjfllj^ Jf miraculous Powers and Gifts of the Holy Spiritual Ghost were appropriated to the Apostles, Gifis, (md or the next succeeding Age, looking upon Miraculous them indeed to be no better than the Infant ,/"J^!*A Supports 01 a rising Church, things proper to gain Respect and Authority to new Doc- trines and the Preachers of a new Religion, but not at all necessary for times of greater Perfection and Improvement, such as came afterwards, when the Truths of Christianity were sufficiently settled, and generally be- lieved ; much less can they be necessary for these Days of Light and Wisdom, for us who live under such a Dispensation, which, some would have us believe to be as Per- fect, both as to Doctrine and Discipline, as any thing can be on this side Heaven. This is a common and prevailing Opinion, which deserves a very particular Examination, too

144 OF ANTICHRIST.

long for this Place; I shall, therefore, only make two or three Remarks upon it, and return to my Subject. From the I. St. Paul, Ephesians 4. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Scriptures, asserts that the various Gifts and Dispensa- tions of the Spirit given by our Lord after his Ascension, which were those before men- tioned out of St. Mark 16. 17. with the other, whereby they were distinguished into Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers, were given, for the Perfecting of the Saints, for the Work of the Ministry/, for the edifying of the Body of Christ, till we all come in the Unity of the Faith, and of the Knowledge of the Son of God, unto a Perfect Man, unto the Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ, 6fc. i. e. as the succeeding Verses explain it. The End of these Gifts and Powers was the gathering and com- pleting a perfect Church upon Earth ; which is a Doctrine of Scripture of singular use in things of this Nature. Now can any one show me when this End was attained ? When and where was this Perfection of the Saints ? When did all come in the Unity of the Faith and Knowledge of the Son of God unto a Perfect Man? and yet it has pleased God to suspend these Means, these Powers are ceased. What shall we say then? that God determined an End which he could not accomplish, or pitched upon Means disproportionable to the End proposed? God forbid! The Early Apostatizing of the Church from her iirst Love, and the gradual Progress of

OF ANTICHRIST. i45

that Apostacy, made God abhor his Sanc- tuary, and withdraw those visible Tokens of his Presence; and among- the Jews the suspension of these miraculous Powers was constantly looked upon as a Mark of the Divine Displeasure. Thus Exodus 33. 3, 5. God refuses to go up with the People be- cause of their Iniquities, which cannot be understood of his general Presence, who is every where, and fiUeth all Things, but of his special miraculous Care and Protection of them. So when Joshua humbled him- self before God, for the Defeat of Israel by the Men of Ai, Joshua 7. 12. God tells him the Reason, and threatens him to be with them no more, unless they did de- stroy the Accursed Thing from among them. To mention no more, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon in his Thresh- ing-floor with this Salutation, The Lord is with thee ; Thou mighty Man of Valour, Judges 6. 12. His Ansiver ivas. Oh my Lord! if the Lord be with us, why is all this befal- len us, (viz. the Oppression of the Midian- ites?) and where are all his Miracles which our Fathers told us of, such as the Deliver- ance out of Egypt ? &c. As if he had said, the suspending his wonted miraculous Pro- tection of us, is a sufficient Mark of his Indignation. And I cannot but think that the wise Compilers of our Excellent Li- turgy had this in their Tlioughts, when after those moving words. Psalm 44. 1. O God, we have heard with our Ears, &c. The Church devoutly achls, by way of

L

\4(i OF ANTICHRIST.

Confidence in the former Mercies of God, O Lord arise, help, and deliver ns for thine Honour. From the II, It was the Opinion of many of the Ancients. Fathers, (not to say the Doctrine of the Ca- thoHc Church, which the Learned Mr. Dod- well asserts, Dissert. Cyprian, p. 12. § 10.) that Miracles, or the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, would always accompany the Ca- tholic Church, and l)y consequence were never to cease, unless (which was hinted by many of their Expressions) there should be wanting fit Persons to receive and execute * Lib.'d, those great Commissions. Irenceus,^ speak- cont. Hceres. \^^ of the Gifts of the Spirit, says, They ^' "' ' were a Treasure deposited by God in the Church ; which Spirit, he says, is the Prin- ciple of Divine Life and Energy in the Church, even as the Soul to the Natural Body; adding, ' God has placed in the ' Church Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, and ' all the other Gifts of the Spirit, which all * they are not Partakers of who are out ' of its Communion ;' (plainly intimating, that the Faithful were Partakers :) ' For (a little ' after) where the Church is, there is the ' Spirit of God ; and where the Spirit of ' God is, there is the Church, and all Graces ' (or Spiritual Gifts, as the Word signifies'). t Lib. 7. Origen also,! speaking of the Jews, says,

f!l' oo^ ' They had no Prophets amons; them after sura, p.337. < .1 'ri • r di ^ § • t7

the Commg of our Blessed Saviour, ror

' they were forsaken by God, after they

' had rejected him whom the Prophets fore-

' told : But these Powers, revived again at

OF ANTICHRIST. 147

* the Pleaching of Jesus, and much more

* after his Assumption ; then they decreased

* again : But there are still some Foot- ' steps of them remaining among a few

* Persons, whose Souls are purified by the ' Word of God, and whose Actions are

* conformable.' For (as he goes on) The Holy Spirit of Discipline will Jlee Deceit, and remove from Thoughts that are without

Undcf standing, yS'lsdoms 1. 5. JEusebius,^ dis- * Eccl. puting against the Montanists, has this Pas- ^'*^' ^**- ^• sage : If (as the Montanists tell us) after ^^P' ^'" Quadratus and Ammianus Philadelphus, these Women of Montanus succeeded in the Gift of Prophecy ; let them show us who shall succeed them, for the Apostle teaches us, that the Gift of Prophecy must continue in the Church till the Second Coming of our Lord ; which, lest any should interpret only of the ordinary ministerial Succession, as it has been expounded, 1 shall produce another Passage, (Lib. 5. Cap, 7 J where, after he had quoted a Passage out of Irenceus, concerning the continuance of Miracles to his time, adds. That these different ^oc^i<r[xoilx (a very comprehensive Word) were exer- cised even in his own times Tra^a tok aH»°'?> by those that were worthy to receive them. Many other Testimonies might be produ- ced, which I shall omit, excepting only one out of Cardinal Cajetans Commentary upon Aquinas.-\ Speaking of the graticB t '^da. Ida. gratis datcB, he puts a Question, why the Gift Q"^*^ ^'^^' of Tongues is not continued in the Church ? To this, says he, 1. St. Augtistin answers,

L 2

148 OF ANTICHRIST.

That the Gospel hath been preached among all Nations. This Answer he rejects as un- satisfactory, and contrary to the Know- ledge and Experience of that time. 2. That being- of the Number of the grati(B gratis dates, which were l)y them conceived to be given to Men without any regard to the moral or natural Disposition of the Recei- vers, it must be resolved entirely into the arbitrary Pleasure of God, who divides them severally to every Man, according to his good Pleasure : But neither does this Answer satisfy him. He adds, The chief and great Reason seems to be our luke- warmness, and neglecting to fLdtil that Com- mand of our Lord, of praying the Lord of the Harvest to send more Labourers into his Harvest. To which, says he, may be added, the want of Piety, particularly in the Prelates, or Governors of the Church, whose Iniquities make them uncapable of receiving those Graces ; for it is plain, that those Graces are not regularly bestowed on those who unqualify themselves for the receiving them, though they are not given upon the Score of Merit. So the Marriage Conver- sation rendered even the Prophets them- selves uncapable of receiving the Influences of the Spirit. Thus far this Great Man. But to return to our Subject from whence we have made this (1 hope not unprofitable) Digression. The Opposi- § 16. Let us here contemplate a little flTcA^'T'* ^'^^ Opposition that tlie Holy Scripture seems andAnti"^^^ "^^'^^ between the Antichristian Company

christian (Characters.

OF ANTICHRIST. 149

and the Followers of the Lamb, according- to the different Characters and Denomina- tions by which they are distinguished to us. First then, answerable to Babylon in the West, the great Whore, the Mother of Harlots, Revelations 17. 1, 5. is the Wofnan in the Wilderness, bringing forth the Man- child, that luas to ride all Nations with the Rod of Iron, Revelations 12. as the being in the Wilderness or Solitude, is opposed to being in the City. Answerable to the Wor- shippers of the Image of the Beast in the East, Revelations 13. 15. are those that wor- ship in the Temple, Revelations \\. 1. The Beast and False Prophet are opposed by the Two Witnesses, Revelations 11.3. The Hun- dred Forty and Four Thousand that receive the Mark of the Lamb upon 31ount Sion, Revelations 14. stand in Opposition to those who receive the Mark of the Beast, Revela- tions 13. 16. And all these, no doubt, with a peculiar regard to some particular Marks and Signatures, according to the arch-typal or mystical Order of Scripture Names and Cha- racters ; all which we must be content to be ignorant of, till the Spirit that searcheth the deep Things of God, shall be pleased to reveal them to us.

§ 17. Our last View of Anticln'ist was. Antichrist as triumphing at Rotne ; we see him next '"^'^'^'"^'^^ with his Magical Army marching to invade p,'J' J",^'^} the East. This Translation of his Govern- joeipx;;/am- ment is attested by Ireneeus ;* as also by ed in this Lactantius,-\ in these remarkable Words: The;^^«f-^ Government shall again return into ^*«« ; 3^ *„ ^449^ '

t P. 647.

150 OF ANTICHRIST.

the East shall govern, and the West shall obey (speaking of Antichrist). The terrible and dreadful Pomp of this Army is largely described by the Prophet Joel and Nahum, and some small touches of it in Hahakkuk, Zephaniali, Daniel, and Zachary ; which, be- cause it may appear to be a new and un- warrantable Assertion, I shall endeavour to strengthen by two or three Considerations. The Prophecy then of Joel has not been yet perfectly fulfilled, either in the Destruction of the City and People of the Jews, by Nebu- chadnezzar, or in that by Titus Vespasian. Now this Expression is much like that of our Saviour, Mark 13. 19. In those Days shall he Aifflictions, such as was not from the Begin- ning of the Creation which God created, even to this time, 7ior ever shall be. Which Words, as they relate indeed to the Destruction of Jeru- salem by the Romans, yet are ultimately to be completed at the End of the World : So like- wise those of the Prophet Joel. For in v. 2. a Day which is called The Day oj' the Lord, is described as a Day of Darkness, and of Gloominess, of Clouds, and of thick Darkness : And this shall herein consist, that a mighty and a strojig People, of ivhotn there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more to all Eternity, shall come upon Jerusalem as the Morning spread upon the Mountains. 2dly, From the 12th to the 16th Verse of the 2d Chapter, the Prophet gives Counsel how the Inhabitants of Jerusalem ought to behave themselves, and what they ought to do to be exempted from the Calamity, which

OF ANTICHRIST. 151

does not so properly agree to the Babylonish Expedition, because it was known out of the Prophet, that not only at that time there would be no Remedy ; but that the Jews were bound, according to God's Will, to surrender themselves up to the Babylo- nians; which, when they refused to do, the King, together with the Nobles, made their Misery fall heavier upon themselves, their City, and their People, Jeremiah 21. 9; 38. 2; 52. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. Further, in the 17th Verse, Joel prosecutes the Counsel by advising the Priests to weep between the Porch and the Altar, and to say, Spare thy People, O Lord! &c. whereupon follows in the 18th Verse to the 27th, the Answer of this Prayer, viz. that God luould be jealous for his Land, and pity his People. Now it is not found that either the Priests did then make such a Prayer, or that the promised Answer followed ; the Temple, City, and whole Land being utterly destroyed and made desolate. Neither did this at all come to pass in the Destruction from the Romans ; for the Temple was destroyed some Weeks before the City, and then no Relief followed, but such a Desolation as conti- nueth to this very Day. 3f%, If the Promise of the Effusion of the Spirit upon all Flesh, V. 28. be accomplished fully and ultimate- ly (as some contend) at Pentecost, then it was accomplished full Forty Years before the Desolation ; which nevertheless the Pro- phet says must come after. This Prophecy then is yet to be fulfilled ; and what can

OF ANTICHRIST.

be meant by this great and terrible Army, but that of Antichrist, who is the Consum- mation of the Curse, and who by the Ma- gical Power of his Spirit shall unite all his Followers in the Principle and Powers of Hell ; to which also we may reasonably refer all those great Things in Prophecy, which cannot with any Congruity be ap- plied to any other notable Period of His- tory. The Prophet Joel begins in such a manner, as plainly to point out to us the last and great Affliction of the Church. Compare Chapter 1. v. 2. Chapter 2. 2. with Daniel 12. 1. Matthew 24. 21. In the 4th Verse of the first Chapter, he nameth Four grand Causes of the great Desolation. The Palmer-tvonn, Locust, Canker-worm, and Ca- terpillar: By which Four Species of In- sects, which are frequently the natural Causes of a Famine, he does probably point out to us Four grand Divisions of the Anti- christian Army. The Three last of these being applied in Scripture by way of Com- parison to Men, we need not doubt but that the first bears the same Relation in this Place. These Four Divisions may march under Antichrist their Head, at some Dis- tance from each other; the Second plun- dering what was left by the First ; the Third what was left by the Second ; and the Fourth utterly consuming what was left by the Third. These may properly be typi- fied by the Four Angels, mentioned Reve- lations 9. 14, 15. and may really be under the Influence of the Four dark Hieiarchies,

OF ANTICHRIST. ir>.)

mentioned Ephesians 6. 12. Moreover, v. 9. The 3Ie((t' Offering, and the Drink- Offering is cut off from the House of the Lord. This may be upon a double Account. First, In respect of the Famine, and decay of the Fruits of the Earth, so that there will not be Corn and Wine enough for the Conti- nuation of such Offerings. And, 2d/i/, In respect of Antichrist, who will not suffer such Oblations to be made, but take away the daili/ Sacrifice, according to Daniel, Chap- ter 8. 11, 12. Which is another Argument that the Vermin, v. 4. and the strong and innumerable Nation, v. d. is the Army of Anti- christ; as the 31eat-Offering and Drink-Offer- ing is the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. V. 11, 12. saith Joel, Be ye ashamed ye Husbandmen, howl O ye Vine- dres- sers, 4^c. because the Harvest of the Field is perished, the Vine is dried up. Whence it appears, that this Antichristian overflow will be in Autumn; which is also confirmed by Jeremiah 8. 13, 16, 20. Mystically it ex- presses the last Times, when the Fulness of Blessings (expressed by Harvest or Autumn) is expected. Chapter 2. v, 1. Blow the Trum- pet, sound an Alarm; the first gathers the Congregation together, and the latter sounds an Alarm against the Enemy, Numbers 10. 7, 9. and serve both here to advise of the coming of the Enemy, and to gather the Con- gregation to the Temple to afflict their Souls. This great. Sounding before the Day of Affliction, answers to the Feast of Trum- pets on the first Day of the Seventh Month,

1 54 OF A NTICHRIST.

which precedes the great Day of Humilia- tion on the Tenth ; and shows that a Minis- try will go forth to convince the World of Sin, Isaiah 58. 1. call them to a solemn Repentance and Humiliation, and forewarn them and prepare them against the coming of Antichrist, that they may be ready to oppose him. V. 2. A Day of Darkness, &c. See Zephaniah 1. 15. A Fire devour eth before them, and behind them a Flame biirneth. Hence it appears, that they are the same with the Judgments mentioned before, Chap- ter 1. V. 4. otherwise the Land devoured by those, could not have been as Eden before the Face of these. The Fire may be ©ai/olo?, and the Flame "Ah;, which are represented marching together in the Northern Army, Revelatio7is 6. 8. compared with Zechariah 6. 3,6; Isaiah 'IQ. 15, 18. It is observable in the same Place of the Revelations, that ©acalo? and "Ah<;, or the Northern Army, destroy by I'our Means, iv pcc[ji.(pocio(,, Iv Xif/Lcc, Iv 3'ai/aTw, and uTTo Tuv ^ripiocv rrig yyig, which, as they are the same mentioned Ezekiel 14. 21. so may they very well correspond to the Four Kinds of Evils enumerated Joel, Chapter 1. 4. it being certain that Antichrist, the End and Accom- plishment of the Four Beasts, contains in him- self, and comes in the Properties of all the Four, Revelations 13. 2.

V. 4. The Appearance of them is as the Ap- pearance of Horses, Jeremiah 6. 23 ; 8. 16. As Horsemen so shall they run, Ezekiel 28. 4, 15; Hahakkuk 1. 8. Expressions denoting their Strengtli and Agility.

OF ANTICHRIST.

•JO

V. 5. He says, They shall he like the Noise of the Flame of Fire that devoureth the Stubble, The Prophet Nahum. says, they shall seem like Torches, they shall run like Lightning', Chapter 2. 4. Fire, Flame, Lightnings, 6fC. being common Metaphors in Scripture, to express the Powers of both the light and dark

World.* * ^'*^^ Isaiah

V. 7, 8. They shall run like mighty 3/ew ; ^- ['j |^^'^^' They shall climb the Wall like Men of War, ^\ Zi(^ji,2, &c. Here is an Account of their assaulting 5. ;)/<//. :j. 2. and taking- Jerusalem : under which also mav F.cffus. 3. 0, be comprehended and understood the other '• , I ,^' Cities belonging to the Church of Christ, ^q There is, v. 8. one very remarkable Ex- pression which doth strongly express their Magical Power, that tvhen they fall upon the Sword (or Dart) they shall not be icouuded. Something like that Privilege granted by our Lord to his Apostles, Luke 10. 19. That nothing should by any means hint them. Mark 16. 18. If they should drink Poison, it should not hurt them. That Jerusalem shall be taken in this last and great Inva- sion, is evident from Zechariah 14. 2. Reve- lations 11. 2.

§ 18. If Jerusalem is to be taken, it must of the be re-^ored, and the Temple rebuilt before '^/^'w^" "i this Invasion, and be inhabited by convert- J*^^' »'''''*■'"' ed Jeivs, as will appear by the sequel of this Prophecy. Now the Fathers who talk of Antichrist's sitting Blasphemously in the Temple at Jerusalem, as if he were God, do generally agree that both Tem|)le and City should be rebuilt by Antichrist him-

* ♦

" j:

n

\o6

f

OF ANTICHRIST.

self, Vid. Snip. Sev. Dial 2°. Cyril Hieros. Cat. 15. § 7. HippoJylvs de Consum. p. 12. Edit. Biblioth. Patrum, &c. Upon what Au- thority this Opinion was grounded, I am not able to determine ; but that it is erro- neous I am verily persuaded, particularly by this Exposition of the Prophecy of Joel, which I believe the more it is considered, the more reasonable it will appear. For thereby it is plain, that the Temple shall be standing, and the true Worshippers as- sembled in it at the Approach of Anti- christ, Chapter 1. v. 18. Unless, perhaps, the afore - mentioned Writers meant by Anti- christ, the Eastern false Prophet (whom some of them call by that Name) as he that should rebuild the Temple, and place the Image of the Western Beast in it, whicli is the Opinion of some. But for my Part 1 think it more probable, that both shall be rebuilt by the Jews themselves, many of whom no doubt shall be converted by the Ministry tliat shall go forth with the Everlasting Gospel a little before the great Desolation, they being instructed in some of those great Truths that have long been hidden under the coverins: of and Error, and (indin<>- how far

long

Darkness .J, ..w.. .1*. Jerusalem shall be concerned in the great approach- ing Revolution, shall retire thither and build up the City and Temple (the Turkish Euipire being perhaps at an End, or at least some of those Parts in the Hands of the Christians) where the Christian Wor- ship may be Celebrated in great Purity and

I

I

' » #

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157

U

Exactness, as may be in a j^reat Measure collected, Daniel 11. 31. where mention is made of the Daily Sacrifice, (viz.) of tlie Body and Blood of Christ, whicii shall l)e then counted as an Essential Part of the Daily Worship, without which (as I be- fore observed) the Service of the Church is Imperfect, (See Mr. Medes Christian Sa- crifice.) Upon the Approach of the Anti- christian Army an Alarm is Sounded, and Advice is given upon the Cessation of tlie Daily Sacrifice by reason of the Scarceness of Provisions occasioned l)y the Multitude of the Armies, and perhaps by a Curse flowing; from these Magicians on all sides ; upon this (1 say) advice is given. Chapter 1. V. ]3. to the Priests to gird themselves and Lament, to lie all Night (or Day and Night) in Sackcloth, to Sanctify a Fast, to call a solemn Assembly, to gather the Elders, and all the Inhabitants of the Land, &c. i. e. to humble themselves, that they may be worthy to escape this Curse, and enjoy the following Blessings, v. 14. See Zephaniah 2. 3. From v. 14. it plainly appears, that upon the beginning of the Invasion, before the City shall be taken, the Daily Sacrifice shall be cut off, that being the Signal for tlie great Humiliation. Chapter 1. 9, 13, &c. The Fruit of this great Humiliation is v. 18. of the Second Chapter, that God ivill be jealous for his Land, and pity his People. By which it cannot be supposed to be meant that God will immediately oblige the Enemy to re- tire from Jerusalem; no, the City shall be

I \

156 OF AyriCIIRJST.

self, Vid. Snip. Sev. Dial. 2°. Cyril Hieros. Cat. 15. § 7. Hippolytvs de Consum. p. 12. Edit. BibUoth. Patrum, &c. Upon what Au- thority this Opinion was grounded, I am not able to determine ; but that it is erro- neous I am verily persuaded, particularly by this Exposition of the Prophecy of Joel, which I believe the more it is considered, the more reasonable it will appear. For thereby it is plain, that the Temple shall be standing, and the true Worshippers as- sembled in it at the Approach of Anti- christ, Chapter 1. v. 18. Unless, perhaps, the afore - mentioned Writers meant by Anti- christ, the Eastern false Prophet (whom some of them call by that Name) as he that should rebuild the Temple, and place the Image of the Western Beast in it, which is the Opinion of some. But for my Part I think it more probable, that both shall be rebuilt by the Jews themselves, many of whom no doubt shall be converted by the Ministiy that shall go forth with the Everlasting Gospel a little before the great Desolation, they being instructed in some of those great Truths that have long been hidden under the covering of Darkness and Error, and iinding how far Jerusalem shall be concerned in the great approach- ing Ilevolution, shall retire thither and build up the City and Temple (the Turkish Empire being peihaps at an End, or at least some of those Parts in the Hands of the Christians) where the Christian Wor- ship may be Celebrated in great Purity and

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Exactness, as may be in a great Measure collected, Daniel 11. 31. where mention is made of the Daily Sacrifice, (viz.) of the Body and Blood of Chiist, whicii shall he then counted as an Essential Part of the Daily Worship, without which (as I be- fore observed) the Service of the Church is Imperfect. (See Mr. Mecles Christian Sa- crifice.) Upon the Approach of the Anti- christian Army an Alarm is Sounded, and Advice is given upon the Cessation of the Daily Sacrifice by reason of the Scarceness of Provisions occasioned by the Multitude of the Armies, and perhaps by a Curse flowing from these Magicians on all sides ; upon this (1 say) advice is given, Chapter 1. V. 1.3. to the Priests to gird themselves and Lament, to lie all Night (or Day and Night) in Sackcloth, to Sanctify a Fast, to call a solemn Assembly, to gather the Elders, and all the Inhabitants of the Land, &c. i. e. to humble themselves, that they may be worthy to escape this Curse, and enjoy the following Blessings, v. 14. See Zephaniah 2. 3. From v. 14. it plainly appears, that upon the beginning of the Invasion, before the City shall be taken, the Daily Sacrifice shall be cut off, that being the Signal for the great Humiliation. Chapter 1. 9, 13, &c. The Fruit of this great Humiliation is v. 18. of the Second Chapter, that God will be jealous for his Land, and pity his People, By which it cannot be supposed to be meant that God will immediately oblige the Enemy to re- tire from Jerusalem; no, the City shall be

15«

OF ANTICHRIST.

taken, as v/as observed before, and the Tem- ple, 2 Thessalonians 2. 4. or rather the out- ward Court of the Temple, Revelations 11.2. will be in the Hands of Antichrist, where he will sit as God, to receive Divine Worship. What then is the Advantage of this Humi- liation, if it delivers neither the City nor Temple? Why it is this, that all they that obey and repent, shall deliver their own Souls, and he hid iu the Day of the Lord's Anger, Zephaniah 2. 3. How God shall de- liver them, is hard to determine ; it may be most probably by giving them notice lo de- part, before tiie City is invested, and hiding them in the Deserts or Mountains, where the Enemy cannot find them, as the Prophets were hidden, during Ahab's Apostacy, (a Type of these Times,) 1 Kings 18. 4. Thus Jehoash, the Heir of the Kingdom of Judah, was preserved in the House of the Lord from the Massacre of Athaliah, during the whole six Years (the Number of Affliction) of her Usurpation. 2 Kings 1 1 . So)ne Per- § 19. Here then we see Jerusalem taken isonal Clia- by the Antichristian Army, and Antichrist

■buted to An- . . . '^ , ••? •

lichrist in ^ifying himself as if he ivere God, speaking Scripture, marvellous things against the God of Gods, viz.his Bias- skoicing iiimself that he is God, according to re'ardhr* what was foretold, Daniel 11. 36. 2 Thessa- t he Desire lonians 2. 4. This is no doubt the ultimate of Women; meaning of the Abomination of Desolation his Worship-^ standing in the Holy Place. For what can be ^i"* '^'/^''^a o-reater i\bomination to the Divine Nature, liisdoin"- ^^^^^^ Antichrist, his very Opposite and Ke-

IVotidcrs.

OF A NTICHRJST. 1 69

verse? Let us here view him in all those Cha- racters and distingnishing- Marks whereby the Holy Scriptures point him out in his Complete and Perfect State, which 1 presume he must have attained when he is come to this Period. Both the Prophet Daniel, Chapter 11. and also St. Paul, 2 Epistle Tkessalonians 2. 4. and St. John, Revelations 13. foretell that he shall Blasphemously exalt himself above every thing- that is called God, sitting in the Temple, and commanding himself to be Worsiiipped as God. Daniel says, that he shall not regard the desire of Women, by which I understand (notwithstanding all that Dust that Exposi- tors have raised about it) that he shall not marry himself, and shall discourage it in others, (and, perhaps, it was with a peculiar Regard to this that St. Paid, 1 Timothy 4. 1, 3. calls the forbidding to marry a Doctrine of Devils, as the place is commonly under- stood,) thereby giving Encouragement to For- nication, and a promiscuous use of ^Vomen. The next thing that Daniel says of him is, that he shall not regard the God of his Fathers, but in his Estate he shall Worship the God of 3Iaozzim. Concerning this there are various />^/«.ii. 3>?, Conjectures of Learned Men, some taking it for Mars, others for Hercules, others for Jupiter Olympius the Abomination of Antio- chus, others applying it to the Papacy make it to be the Saints and Angels which the Ro- manists Worship with Divine Honom-s, others . make it to be the Mass itself. The Learn- ed Seldeti, after the most diligent Inquiry, chooses rather to be silent, as lindiuu" no-

1(J0 OF ANTICHRIST.

Wmyy among the Eastern Gods, to uliich he could vvitli any pmbabiUty affix the Name

Maozzim. Deuni Mnozzim prcelenni-

simus, tit plane ignolum alifer ac locus ills unicus S. HistoricE indicat. De Dijs Syr. Synt. 11. c. 17. It is no improbable Conjec- ture that it is the Devil himself, represented by the Dragon, the Author and Giver of all that Diabolical Power which is exercised by both the Beast and False Prophet, Revela- tions 1.3, 2. In the mean time (says a Learned Man) 1 am inclined to believe that his Name may have in it some magical mean- ing, and that it may ultimately refer to the Forces and Powers of Nature, as awakened by those that are skilled in the natural and ceremonial Parts of that secret Art, and as particularly applied to the Principle of Dark- ness and Wrath, and alienated from that of Light and Love. Besides this, Daniel observes that he shall be a Man of great Craft and Cunning, that he shall understand dark Sentences, all the Difficulties of Arts and Scitnces, which will be an accomplish- ment very necessary for the great Business he undertakes. But the great and remark- able Observation that all of them make is, that he shall be wonderfully skilled in the dark Magic, and thereby do strange Wonders to deceive and delude Mankind. Thus our Blessed Saviour, 3Iatt/ieiv 24. 24. says that , the false Christs and false Prophets (and no doubt chiefly the last false Christ and false Prophet) shall s/iotv great Signs and Wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they should de-

OF ANTICHRIST. J 61

ceive the very Elect, much more shall the Prince and Ruler of them, Antichrist him- self. St. Paul, 2 Thessalonians 2. 9, 10. says, that his comiiio; shall he after the ivorkins!- of Aatan, with all Power, and Signs, and lying Wonders, &c. St. John, Revelations 13. 13, 14. is so particular as to tell us what sort of Wonders he shall perform, viz. that he shall make Fire come doivn from Heaven on Earth in the sight of 3Ien; i. e. the Earth-bred Beast or False Prophet by his Power. Be- sides his healing the deadly Wound, and making- the Image of the Beast speak and deliver Oracles, as we have mentioned before. These are the most remarkable personal Qualities attributed to him in Scripture. The last of these, viz. his doing wonderful and miraculous Works is largely attested by the Holy Fathers. The Sybilline Oracles, Lib. 3. speak largely to this purpose, that Antichrist shall remove Mountains, stop the Courses of the Sun and Moon, raise the Dead, &c. St. Hippolytus, p. 30. Edit. Morell. says, * He ' shall remove Mountains in the Sight of ' Men, he shall pass through the Sea dry- ' shod, he shall call down Fire from Heaven, ' he shall change Day into Night and INight

* into Day, and alter the Course of the ' Sun at his Pleasure. (And elsewhere) He ' shall make his attendant dark Spirits ap-

* pear like glorious Angels of Light; he

* shall bring with him innumerable Legions

* of Spirits, and in the Sight of all Men shall ' seem to be taken up into Heaven, with the

* Sound of Trumpets and Shoutings of his

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162 OF ANTICHRIST.

* Followers, he shall fly to and fro in the

* Air, and descend again upon Earth with

* great Glory,' &c. Ephrem Sp^us, in his * Edit. Co- Discourse de Antichristo* gives a particular Ion. 1603. Description of his removing Mountains; P' ^^^' adding, that he shall seem to remove an

Island out of the Sea to the dry Land, that he shall gather together an innumerable Company of Serpents, and ravenous Birds, that he shall walk upon the Sea as upon dry Land, &c. To these might be added the Testimonies of Lactantius and others, which I omit as being nothing else but Repetitions of the same Things. One Thing I cannot pass by upon this Head without a particular Remark, which is that St. John mentions particularly, the Miracle of bringing down Fire from Heaven, which was no doubt for some particular Reason. It is to be no- ted then that all Sorts of miraculous Ope- rations were comprehended under these two Denominations, viz. Signs in the Heights above, and Signs in the Depths helow, Isaiah 7. 11. Now it was (and no doubt still is) the Opinion of the Jews, that to work Signs in the Heights above was a true Proof of Divine Power and Authority, therefore they desired of our Blessed Lord to show them a Sign from. Heaven, or the Heights above, Matthew 10. 1. as a Proof of his Divinity. At which Request of theirs, St. Mark 8. 12. says, our Lord sighed deeply in Spirit, no doubt bewailing the Hardness of their Hearts (and probably considering within himself how fatal to them that Persuasion of theirs

OF ANTICHRIST. 163

would be hereafter, when by that Means Antichrist should deceive them). And St. Luke, Chapter 11. v. 29. says, our Lord was so far from gratifying them, that he assured them 710 Sig7i skoiild he given them but the Sign of Jonas the Prophet, which we know was in the Depths below. And the Holy Spirit foreseeing that this Opinion would again prevail in the World, tells us, by Way of Caution, that that Deceiver Antichrist should be able to bring down Fire from Heaven; i. e. the Heights above, that so when he shall show that Sign, it may be so far from de- ceiving us into an Opinion of his being the Messiah, that it shall be to us a sure Token that he is the Antichrist.

§ 20. Now what a State must we imagine The State the World to be in, when God shall suffer of the World them to be governed by such a Ruler ^^otthatTime, this, when the Powers of Darkness shall be thus let loose, and the Devil himself shall reign corporally, himself ruling in chief, and sending forth on all sides innumerable Persons impregnated with his own diabo- lical Spirit, Blasphemers of God and Haters of good Men, mighty in the Powers of Darkness, to be as his Deputies and Vice- roys to rule and domineer in distant Pro- vinces and Countries. I tremble to read the dismal and terrible Account that both the Holy Scriptures and Ancient Writers give of those Times ; this will most cer- tainly be that Time of Trouble, such as never was since God made Man upon Earth, nor ever shall be afterwards : For the very

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Foundations of the Natural, Moral, and Poli- tical World shall be destroyed and cast down. His Conquest of the Kings and Nations of the Eastern and Western Empire we have already considered ; besides which, the Prophet Daniel assures us, that he shall stretch forth his Hand upon other Countries; that he shall have Power over the Treasures of Gold and Silver, and over all the precious Things of Egypt ; and the Lyhians and Ethio- pians shall he at his steps. His horrible Con- tempt of God and Profanation of Religion we have seen, setting himself in the Temple of God, and not suffering the daily Sacrifice, nor any Christian Solemnities to be ob- served. As to the Natural World, we know that the Devil is emphatically styled The Prince of the Power of the Air, Ephesians 2. 1. and as such has, no doubt, by the Permission of God, a Power of raising Disorders and Commotions there ; and especially at this Time, when by the Divine Nemesis this whole visible Sphere of Nature will be abandoned and delivered over to the over- flowings of the Curse. Antichrist, there- fore, and his magical Attendants and Fol- lowers, shall make strange Confusions and Alterations in external Nature ; terrible Earthquakes, Storms, Thunders, Lightnings, &c. and, according to their exact Know- ledge of the active and passive Qualities of Nature, may, according to some secret Rules of their diabolical Art, so temper them, as to raise poisonous malignant Ferments in the Air, Earth, or Water,

OF ANTICHRIST. 165

so as to spread pestilential Influences all round, to ravage not only a Town, but a Country or a Kingdom. Such dark Magi- cians there are already some in the World ; but (God be praised) we are not yet aban- doned to their Fury. The Measure of our Iniquities is not as yet quite full ; but that we are not very far off from that fatal Period, we have but too much Reason to fear. Whilst the Powers of Darkness are thus afflicting the Church, i. e. those Christians who have not so far wrought out their Salvation, as to be out of the reach of the Enemy, as it is plain some shall be ; the Vengeance of God shall by his Instruments, the two Witnesses, vex and torment the Antichristian Company. These two Witnesses (of whom more hereafter) being endued with Power to devour their Enemies, with Fire proceeding out of their Mouths. These have also Power to shut Heaven that it rain not in the Days of their Prophecy, Revelations 11. 5, 6. that is, for three Years and a half: Even as it was done by Elijah in the Days of that wicked Prince Ahab, which were no doubt a Type of these Times. Compare i Kings \1. 1. w'\i\i James 5. 17. So that from hence must proceed great Famine and want of Provisions ; to which the following Quotations do frequently allude. Hear the dismal Account St. Hippolytus gives of those Days. ' Hear,' saith he, ' ye that ' love God, what Affliction there shall be ' in those Days. That evil One (viz. Anti- * Christ) shall gather together evil Spirits

166 OF ANTICHRIST,

* in human Shapes, and shall mock and

* insult over the Jews who have made him ' their King, and shall set Devils to be ' Princes over them. And when the Famine ' shall be sore upon them, the Heavens ' being shut up, then (says he) he shall ' send forth his Messengers, both Men and

* evil Spirits, saying, There is a great King

* risen upon the Ei.rth, come ye and wor- ' ship him, and behold his Power, he shall ' give you Bread to eat, and Wine to drink, ' with great Riches and Honours. Again,

* Then (says he) shall he send forth Le- ' gions of evil Spirits into the Mountains,

* and Dens, and Caves of the Earth, to

* search out them that have hid themselves

* from him, and shall bring them to wor- ' ship him ; and those that obey him, he ' shall Seal with his Marl^ ; but those that ' refuse, shall he punish with unheard of

* Torments. Then they that have received ' his Mark, and cannot find either Bread ' or Water, shall come to him, and with a ' sorrowful Voice shall say. Give us Meat ' and Drink, we languish for Hunger and ' Thirst, command the Heavens to give us ' Rain, and drive away from us the rave-

* nous Beasts. Then shall he mock them ' and say, The Heavens refuse to give us

* Rain, the Earth will not bring forth ' Fruit, Whence shall I supply you? When

* they hear this Answer, then shall they ' lament and bewail their Misery, and with

* Sighs and Tears shall call upon that ' merciful God that shall deliver them out

OF ANTICHRIST. 167

of his Hands, and l)y an invisible Power protect those that call upon him wor- thily. So great shall be the Trouble of that Time, that in the Morning they shall wish for Evening ; and as soon as the Darkness of the Night shall cover them, they shall be so terrified with Earthquakes, Storms, and Tempests, that they shall long for Morning. The whole Earth shall bewail a Life so full of Mise- ries. The Sea shall mourn ; the Earth shall mourn ; the Sun in the Firmament of Heaven, the Beasts of the Earth, the Fowls of Heaven, the very Mountains and Hills shall mourn for the Miseries of Mankind, because all have forsaken their God. The Churches shall mourn with great Lamentation, for there shall be neither Offering nor Holy Worship in those Days : Churches shall be as Stables ; nor shall the precious Sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ be celebrated in those Days : There shall be no Pray- ers, no singing of Psalms, nor shall the Scriptures be read. (A little after.) With- out shall be Fear, within Trembling ; both at Home and Abroad dreadful Scenes of Horroi-, Hunger and Thirst, Lamen- tation and Sighing. The fine Faces shall languish. Paleness shall cover the beau- tiful Countenances. The Charms of Women shall vanish.' And in many other Instances

does he describe the Horrors of that time.

So also Lactantius:* ' Then shall the Cities * Lib. 7.

p. 650.

168

OF ANTICHRIST.

' be utterly ruined and destroyed, by Fire, ' Sword, Earthquakes, Inundations, Famines,

* and Pestilences. The Air shall be cor-

* riipted and pestilential ; sometimes there ' shall be scorching Heats, then pinching

* Cold, &c. so that the Earth shall not

* bring forth Fruit; the Corn shall be blight-

* ed ; the Trees and Vines shall fail. The ' Springs and Rivers shall be dried up ; so

* that the Beasts shall die upon the Earth, ' the Fowls in the Air, and the Fishes in ' the Sea.' A little after he speaks of the False Prophet ; how that he shall seal those that obey him ; shall burn the Holy Scrip- tures, and make the World desolate for forty-two Months, &c. St. Cyril of Jeru- salem^ Cat. 15. after he had spoken largely of Antichrist, adds, ' This is the cruel

Beast, the great Dragon, fighting against Mankind, being ready to devour them ; therefore the Lord knowing the Power of the Adversary, commanded the Chris- tians that should live in those Days, to flee to the Mountains, Matthew 24. 16. But if any one knoweth that he hath Strength enough to resist the Devil, let him stay ; for I do not despair of the Strength of the Church: But let the fearful take heed to themselves, for then shall be Tri- bulation, such as never was since the Beginning of the Creation to this pre- sent Time, nor never shall be.' ' My dear Brethren,' (says Ephrem Syrus, Serm. de Antichristo, p. 222.) ' then shall there be

OF ANTICHRIST. 169

a great Trial upon all Men, but especially the Faithful and the Saints, and great Tribulation shall there be in those Days, when great Signs and Wonders shall be wrought by the Power of that hellish Beast, Antichrist.' (A little after.) ' Who, my Brethren, amongst you all, shall be found at that Day so completely armed with the Shield of Faith, as to be fully persuaded in his Mind, that the Coming of the Son of God is nigh, when he shall see this inexpressible Tribulation upon every Soul of Man, without any Allay of Rest or Comfort ; when thou shalt see the whole World in Confusion (for every one shall flee to the Mountains for shelter); when thou shalt see some pe- rishing for Hunger, others languishing with intolerable Thirst, and none to pity them?'

(A little after.) ' There shall be at that time no Rest upon the Earth, but great Tribulation, Trouble and Confusion, Fa- mine and Death, in all the Corners of the Earth. Then shall the Saints shed Rivers of Tears, and flee to the Deserts. They shall hide themselves in the Moun- tains, and in the Valleys, covering their Heads with Dust and Ashes, praying to be delivered from the Beast. The Moun- tains, the Hills, and Trees of the World shall mourn. The Lights of Heaven shall mourn, because Men have forsaken their God, and believed the Deceiver, &c.' And

in many other Instances does likewise this

170 OF ANTICHRIST.

Holy Father elegantly bewail the Miseries of that Time : As does also St. Augustiuy Lib. 20. Cap. 8. St. Jerom in the 11th and 12th Chapters of Daniel, St. Cyril, Lib. 11. in Genesis. St. Gregory, Lib. 14. Moral, and Lib. 32. Cap. 12. Some Oh- § 21. Upon the aforegoing Quotations servations \ cannot but observe, I. That Hippolylus p^ecedin ^sserts, that the Mei^ns whereby the Church Quotations, (^^ Christians of that time, which are not and concern- counted worthy to escape) shall be deceived tng the by Antichrist, will be by his offering them ^"Jj/'^'^'Food in that great Famine. Which same thing is attested by Anastasius Sinaita (Con- tempi, in Hexaemer. Tom. I. Hib. Patr. p. 327.) in these Words : ' God said to the ' Serpent, He shall bruise thy head, and thou

* shalt bruise his heel; i. e. The extreme ' Parts of the Body of Christ, which is his ' Church ; so that the Heel shall be the

* Presence of Antichrist in the last Times ; ' and the evil Serpent waits for that Time,

* when he may again supplant the Church ' by offering them Food, when there shall ' be a great Famine.' So that they who have not Faith to believe that Man doth not live by JBread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God, shall not have Patience to expect God's Accom- plishment of his Promises, that God will at last be Jealous for his Land, and pity his People, and send them Corn, and Wine, and Oil, to satisfy them therewith, Joel 2. 18, 19. They, I say, that will not for

OF ANTICHRIST. J7J

this wait upon God, shall transo;ress the Law of their God, and poUute the Holy One, for handfuls of Barley and pieces of Bread, Ezekiel 13. 19. II. That those who thus Apostatize and go over to the Enemy, shall be sealed with the Mark of the Beast; concerning which the Holy Scriptures and Fathers speak expressly, only with this dif- ference, that as the Scripture attributes this Sealing to the Eastern Beast, or False Pro- phet, Revelations 13. 16. The Fathers attri- bute it to Antichrist himself; understanding, I suppose, the False Prophet, as being in the Spirit of Antichrist, to be as the Instru- ment by which he Seals them (even as we are sealed by the Spirit of God to the Day of Redemption, Ephesians 4. 30.) That the Impression of this Seal, and the Number of the Beast, are both one, is generally sup- posed by Ancient Writers, (as may be seen at large,) who therefore use them promis- cuously. But what that Seal, Mark, or Number is, or wherein it consists, is hard to determine. Most of the Ancients sup- posed that it was to be a Name composed of the numeral Letters which compose QQQ. Of which sort many are reckoned up by Hippolytus, IrencBus, and others, to the Num- ber of Sixteen or Seventeen, many of which are most violently drawn in ; and there is indeed so great a Latitude in that way of Interpretation, that some of the later Writers of the Church of Rome have made Luther and Calvin bear the Name of the Beast :

172 OF ANTICHRIST.

And when Monsieur Jurieu, Minister of the French Church at Rotterdam, upon the Autho- rity of Irenceus, had asserted that AalsiVo? was it, his Adversaries found that Rotterdam was comprised in the same Number, and asserted that to be the Name of the Beast. In short, by this way we may make any thing out of any thing; for which very Rea- son Hippolytus, p. 39. owns he does not un- derstand it. A very probable Hypothesis was that of the Learned Dr. Potter, who asserted that the counting of it consists in extracting the Root of it, which is 25, that being the only Number, which, by being mul- tiplied into itself, makes the Square Number QQQ, when the Fraction (which is 41 in this Operation) is added to it, which is what is meant by the Square Root of a Number. And this, as for many other Reasons reck- oned up by that excellent Writer, so espe- cially for this, that the Number 25 has always been esteemed by Sacred and Profane Wri- ters, who had never thought of Antichrist or his Kingdom, to be mysteriously Evil; and to be an Hieroglyphical Character of some unhappy, desperate, deplorable, and apostate State of the Church, because it is an oddly uneven Number, which is unevenly measured by an odd Number, so uneven indeed, that no square perfect Number can arise out of it, but wliat is made up of fractional Addi- tions. Whereas, on the contrary, the Num- ber 12, the Root of the Pure Church, is an even Number making 144,000, its Square

OF ANTICHRIST. 1 73

perfectly and entirely, to show the Perfec- tion, Entireness, and Agreeableness of its Foundation and Structure. And this way of counting or calculating this Number (a venerable Piece of the Ancient Oriental Learning) is certainly much more agreeable to the sublime Style of this Mysterious Book, than the forming technical Words out of numeral Letters, which is a Piece of Wisdom not so profound as that which I believe is referred to, Revelations 13. 18. But the most probable Opinion is, that as the Number Seven is the Number of Rest and Perfec- tion, as may be largely seen in Holy Scrip- tures ; so the Number Six signifies Labour, Affliction, and Persecution: Six being the Days of Labour preceding the Seventh Day of Rest and Refreshment. So we have seen, Ezekiel 9. there were Six Persons appointed to execute Vengeance upon the Apostate Church, whereas the Business of the Seventh was to set the Mark of Deliverance upon those that were to be preserved from De- struction. So as we before observed, the Usurpation of Athaliah lasted six Years, when in the seventh Year Jehoiada the Priest made a Covenant with the Rulers of the Army, and destroyed that wicked Woman, and Jelioash was established on his Throne. Many other Instances might be produced to strengthen this Observation, but these shall suffice : This Number then thrice repeated, may express the most desperate and deplora- ble State of the Church.

174 OF ANTICHRIST.

Of the two ^ 22. Whilst Antichrist shall be thus Witnesses, domineering and lording it over the Earth, God hath promised to send forth his Two Witnesses, who shall prophecy and bear their Testimony against him ; and not only that, but torment him and his Followers for the space of 1260 Days, or 42 Months, the whole Space of the Antichristian Kingdom, Revelations 1 1 . That by these Two Witnesses are meant Enoch and Elias, who never saw Death, but were translated alive, was a com- mon Opinion of the Fathers : Of Hippolytus in these Words, ' As John the Baptist was ' the Forerunner of our Blessed Lord's First ' Coming, so shall Enoch and Elias be of * Lih. de ' his Second.' Tertullian,* ' Enoch and Elias Anima, Cap. < ^gj-e translated and never saw Death, but ' are reserved to the time of the End, that

* they may destroy Antichrist by their Blood.' St. Cyprian, in his Tract, de Montib. Sion

t P. 36. et Sina;'f * Enoch was translated alive to a opusc. Edit. < certain Place known to God, and shall Oxon. i come from thence to oppose and confound

' Antichrist.' Ephrem Syrus, Serm. de Anti- christo ; ' The merciful God shall send Enoch ' and Elias, who shall preach to the Peo- ' pie, and warn them not to believe Anti-

* Christ, boldly crying out and saying. This ' is Antichrist the Deceiver, the Son of Per-

* dition ; O ye Men, let none of you believe ' him, or hearken to this Tyrant fighting

* against God : Be not afraid of him, for he ' shall soon be destroyed, and his Power ' broken.' St. Ambrose upon that Passage, 1 Corinthians 4. 9. / think that God hath

OF ANTICHRIST. 176

set forth us the Apostles, SfC. says, ' Thus

* Enoch and Elias, that shall be the Apos-

* ties of the last Times, must suffer many

* Persecutions and Afflictions, for they must ' be sent before to prepare the People of

* God, and to strengthen the Churches.' St. Jerom;* * We shall say nothing in this Place * Ep. 148. ' concerning Enoch and Ellas, of whom St. J"^ Marcel-

' John in his Revelation witnesseth, that they ^^'

* shall come again upon Earth and die.' The same (in short) is affirmed by St. Angus- tin, Lib. 9. de Gen. Cap. 6. by Prosper, de dimid. Temp. Cap. 13. by St. Gregory, in Job, Lib. 9. Cap. 4. by Damascen, de Jide Orthodoxd, Lib. 4. Cap. 27. Aretas CcBsari- ensis, in 11 Apoc. &c. And as for the Coming of Elias, the Holy Scriptures themselves seem plainly to assert it. For thus saith God by the Prophet Malachi, Chapter 4. 5. Behold I will send you Elias the Prophet before the great and terrible Day of the Lord come, he shall turn the Heart of the Fathers to the Children, and the Heart of the Children to the Fathers, lest I come and smite the Earth with a Curse. In which Place the Expres- sions of the great and terrible Day of the Lord, and of smiting the Earth with a Curse, do, I think, chiefly (if not only) relate to his Second Coming; for that his First Appear- ance, in the Form of a Servant, cannot with any tolerable Congruity be called Great or Terrible; and he came not then to perform any Judicial Acts, but what were purely Spiritual, the Judging of the Earth being the grand Design of his Second Coming. To

170 OF ANTICHRIST.

this it is objected, that our Blessed Lord ex- pressly asserted, that Elias there meant was already come, Matthew 17. 12. To which I answer, That our Lord meant no more than that John the Baptist, the Poiver and Spirit of Elias, or Elias in the Spirit was come, but not in the Body ; in which that he was yet to appear before his Second Coming, our Saviour himself doth not deny, but rather plainly assert. For when the Disciples taking our Saviour's Words in too large a Sense, asked him, How then say the Scribes that Elias must first come? Our Lord answers, that Elias shall come, and shall restore all Things ; which Words being spoken in the future Tense, can- not be applied to John the Baptist, who was already come, but had not restored all Things, which is still reserved to the Couiing of Elias in Person at the End of the World, or the times of Restitution of all Things, which God has spoken by the Mouth of all his Prophets since the World began, Acts 3. 21. And the Author of the Book of Ecclus. 48. 10. seems plainly to understand the Prophecy of Malachiy concerning the Person of Elias, of whom he had been speaking, saying, that he was ordained for Reproofs in their times, to pacify the Wrath of the Lord's Judgement, before it break forth into Fury ; and to turn the Heart of the Father to the So7i, and to restore the Tribes of Israel. — These then are the two Olive- Trees, atid the two Candlesticks, standing be- fore the God of the Eai^th, Revelations 11. 4. Zechariah 4. 3. called Olive-Trees from the Divine Unction, as being anointed Kings and

OF ANTICHRIST. 1 7 7

Priests in Christ's Kini2:dom ; and Candle- sticks, as bearing in them the burning and shining Light of the Spirit of Truth, who is the Light of the World ; in which Sense the Seven Churches, Kevelations 1. 20. are also called Candlesticks. And whereas Grotius upon the Place, has brought it as an Argu- ment to prove, that hereby are not meant Two Persons, but Two Churches, because they are called Candlesticks, which the Angel interprets to be Churches, Revelations 1. 20. we have, I think, as good a Reason to con- clude they are Persons, because they are called Olive-Trees, which Zechariah 4. 14. are interpreted of Two Persons, Joshnah and Zeruhbabel. Many Scripture Characters of par- ticular Persons being applicable to Churches, (as may be shown at large,) and vice versa. But to proceed, in St. Johns Account of these Two Witnesses, If any Man ivill hurt these (Revelations 11. 5.) i.e. make any Attempt upon their Persons, either by natural or magi- cal Violence, Fire proceedeth out of their Mouth (a plain Allusion to what Elijah did, 2 Kin^s 1 .) and devourelh their Enemies ; and if any Man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. V. 6. These have Poiver to shut Heaven that it rain not in the Hays of their Prophecy; (plainly alluding to what Elijah did, 1 Kings 17. 1; 18. 1, 41. as in the following Words to Moses turning the Waters into Blood. Exodus 1. 17.) and have Power over Waters to turn them into Elood, and to smite the Earth with all Plagues as often as they will. Which Words may, I

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think, fairly be understood in a literal Sense, without any Violence to the Text or the Nature of Things. V. 7. And ivhen they shall have finished their Testimony, the Beast that ascends out of the bottomless Pit (i. e. Anti- christ) shall make War against them, (with more Violence than before,) and shall over- come them and kill them. V. 8. And their dead Bodies shall lie in the Streets (i. e. in one of the Streets, by an usual Hebraism) of the great City which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord luas crucified. This great City is unquestionably Jerusalem, called Sodom, Isaiah 1. 10. and may possibly be meant by Egypt in many Places of pro- phetical Scripture. But that which puts it beyond all doubt is, that distinguishing Cha- racter of being the Place ivhere our Lord was crucified, which has been most violently wrest- ed by our Modern Expositors to signify Rome, or Christendom. V. 9. And they of the People and Kindreds, and Tongues and Na- tions, shall see their dead Bodies three Days and half, and shall not suffer their dead Bodies to be put in Graves. God in this respect making their Madness subservient to his Glory. For by being thus exposed in the open Street, their Resurrection and Ascension shall be the more visible and conspicuous to all that behold them. V. 10. And they that dwell upon the Earth (i. e. the Antichristian Com- pany) shall rejoice over them, and shall make merry and send Gifts to one another, (as in time of public Joy, Esther 9. 19, 22. Nehe- miah 8. 10-12.) because these two Prophets

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tormented them that dwell on the Earth; (as the Prophets, and particularly Elijah, were said to trouble wicked Kings and People, 1 Kings 18. 17, 18; 21. '10.) V. 11. And after three Days atid half, the Spirit of Life from God entered into them, and they stood Kpon their Feet, and great Fear fell ujjon all them that saw them. V. 12. And they heard a Voice from Heaven, saying unto them. Come up hither; and they ascended up to Heaven in a Cloud, and their Enemies beheld them. V. 13. And the same Hour teas there a great Earth- quake, and the tenth part of the City fell ; and in the Earthqtiake icere slain of 3Ien Seven Thousand, and the Remnant were affrighted, and gave Glory to God. By Seven Thousand Names, as it is in the Original, may be meant Seven Thousand, or perhaps an indefinite great Number, of the Chief* or Principal * That is, Members of the Antichristian Kin2,dom, Gene- ^;^"

T 7 «^ rrti 1 Trr • ^ -Name, or

SIS 6. 4 ; J 00 30. 8. I he second rvoe is past, Henown ; the third cometh quickly. Revelations 1 1. 14. opposed to But here it may be objected, If the Witnesses Men of no Prophecy 1260 Days, and the Times of the ^^J^j^^J^^S" Beast are 42 Months, which are the same „^^ ^„oj^„ j„ space of time differently expressed, for thsit the World bj/ in 42 Months, or three' Years and half, 1 2()0 their Acts. Days are comprehended ; then the Destruc- tion of Antichrist must synchronize with the Death of the Witnesses, which cannot be, be- cause the Death of the Witnesses is the End of the second Woe, and then what time shall we allot to the third Woe, or the pouring out of the Seven Vials, which is all trans- acted within the times of Antichrist, since

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he is to live till the pouring out of the last Vial, when Rome or BabylofL shall be de- stroyed by the Earthquake, and the Beast and False Prophet being taken at the Battle of Armageddoyi, shall be cast into the Lake burning with Fire and Brimstone, Revelations 11. 14; 19. 20. To this several Answers have been given. Some suppose that by the 42 Months, whereby the Times of the Beast are measured, are meant Lunar Months (the Moon being the Regent and Gover- ness of the Night or Darkness, a proper Emblem of Antichristianism, 1 Thessalonians 5. 5; Proverbs 4. 19; Epiiesians 5. 11, &c.) which do not amount to three Solar Years and a half, by the space of about twenty Days, which they allot to the third Woe; and be- sides that, the shortness of the Time allotted for its Completion is hinted at by the Expres- sion of coming quickly, or speedily, Revela- tions 11. 14. Others, with greater probability, would even truly suppose, that the Witnesses shall begin their Testimony before the Beast's Reign, and shall by their Preaching pre- pare the World against his Coming ; and that, though they should both be the same space, yet the one commencing before the other, must by consequence end before it; and so the void space of the latter Period may be allotted to the third Woe, or last Vials. And better Accounts may probably be given by those who are more exercised in the Knowledge of adjusting Times and Seasons, which 1 am not much concerned

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about, as being not essential to the Truths I am contending for.

§ 23. The Death of the Witnesses seems The Death to be the last Instance or Act of Antichris- 'J/''''^ " jj- tian Cruelty, and seems to determine a cer-l'll^^^Hllr

4. • n • 1 • 1 ■ 1 1 /^-(i 1 • f , the t.na of

tarn Period m which the Church is perfected, the Beast's and fixed in a State of Triumph and Secu- Reign. rity, represented by a Sea of Glass mingled ivith Fire, ivliereupon 'were staiidifii{ those that had gotten the Victory over the Beast, and over his Image, and over his 3Tark, and over the Number of his Name, having the Harps of God, and singing the Song of Moses the Servant of God, and the Song of the Lamb:* As on the other hand those * Rev.lb. that had worshipped the Beast and received *^' 3. his Mark, seem to be perfected in the Mys- tery of Iniquity, and are accordingly repre- sented as ripe for Vengeance, and the full Measure of the Wrath of God poured out of the Seven Vials, Revelations 15. 1 ; 10. 1. And I cannot but think that the serious Con- templation of this notable Period will afford us a more effectual Solution of the above- mentioned Difficulty (viz. the Times of the Third Woe) than any nice Disquisitions in Chronology. I. Then the Forty-two Months of the Beast, Revelations 1.3. 5. do not seem to limit his duration or Continuance under the Notion and Character of a temporal Prince or Governor, but as he is more emphatically Antichrist, an Opposer of God and Persecu- tor of his Church ; and this seems to be the true Import of the Word Troj^Vfi in the Ori- ginal ; (i. e.) he shall act in his Antichristian

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Spirit and Power, opposing and persecuting the Church. And so the Marginal Read- ings of the English Bible render it, he shall make War. So then when the Church shall be delivered and his Persecution shall be at an end, as it is Revelations 15. 2, 3. He may then be properly said h ttouTv, and his Forty- two Months be expired; and so the short- ening of the Time observed by the Evange- lists, is with a peculiar Regard to the Vio- lence of the Persecution, Matthew 24. 21, 22. 3Iark 13. 19, 20. which Persecution must end, and the Church be in Peace before the pouring out of the Vials, though he him- self must continue till the Effusion of the last, as was before observed. II. The Pro- phecy ing of the Witnesses 1260 Days, and the Church's being fed in the Wilderness, for a Time, Times, and half a Time, i. e. Three Years and an half, as it is gene- rally interpreted, Revelations 12. 14. may be fairly supposed to synchronize and run pa- rallel to the Forty-two Months as before interpreted. And III. There is no Neces- sity that the Effusion of the Vials should belong to any part of the Forty-two Months, but to begin upon their Expiration, as being the gradual Steps whereby God (by the Hands of some of his Servants that had stood out their Time of Trial under him, and were now in a State of Triumph, and represented as Angels coming out of the Temple, probably the inward Court in which the Righteous were shut up) will de- stroy Antichrist and all his Followers.

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By this Period of Time thus differently expressed, I cannot but think are meant Natural Days, Months, and Years, as find- ing no Reason to the contrary ; besides that I have the Authority of almost all the Ancients upon this Head, whom I have occasionally referred to. However, far be it from me that 1 should depreciate the Learned Labours of those who have endea- voured to prove the contrary, viz. that thereby are to be understood Days and Months of Years, &c. if they have proved their Point, applying it to the Duration of the Antichristian Church or Mystical Body of Antichrist ; yet that will not at all weaken my Assertion, that by the same are to be understood Natural Days, as 1 apply them to the Person of Antichrist, but will only help to make the Correspondence be- tween the Mystical and Natural Body of Antichrist the more remarkable and mys- terious ; if the Duration of the Spiritual Tyranny of his Mystical Body be limited to the same number of Years, as that of his Person or Natural Body is of Days ; though even these must acknowledge that if by the Times of Antichristian Persecution be meant 1260 Years, it will be something difficult, if not impossible, to give an Account how that Time should be called a short Time. Revelations 12. 12. as our Blessed Lord pro- mises, Matthew 24. 2J, 22. Mark 13. 19, 20.

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Places of ^ 24. This Grand Crisis of the Church Holy Scrip- ^^Il(^er the Workings of this Mystery of Ini- (Hn/to^this quity hath been variously pointed at by the Reign of Prophets of the Old Testament. St. Jerome Antichrist, has maintained that All the Prophets have spoken of Antichrist, in which (says the Learned Dr. Allix in his Preface upon the Psalms, p. 12.) there is no Exa2:geration ; for it was impossible for the Prophets to speak of the Messiah's Kingdom, without speak- ing of that Enemy who was to invade his Spiritual Kingdom, and without the De- struction of which he cannot obtain his Universal Empire over the Israelites, and afterwards over all Nations. Though it must be acknowledged that the Doctor means no more by Antichrist, than an Antichris- tian Kingdom or Church, notwitlistanding his quoting St. Jerome, whom he could not but know to be a Friend to the Hypothesis of a Personal Antichrist. I shall not pre- tend to be so particular as to point out all the Remarkable Passages of Holy Scripture that refer to him, but only to some few that may be useful for the clearer understanding of this Theory. May not this be the Time that the Prophet Isaiah principally intends, Chapter 5. 14. Therefore Hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her Mouth without mea- sure, when the Honourable Men are famished, and their Multitude dried up with Thirst, and the Glory, and the Multitude, and the Pomp of the careless Rejoicers (mentioned i;. 1 1 , 12.) shall descend into the Pit. Does he not mean the Antichristian Army, v. 26, 27, 28,

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29, 30. hy a People that shall come with speed upon the Church, none shall be weary nor stum- ble amongst them, none shall slumber rior sleep, their Arrows are sharp and all their Boivs bent, their Horses Hoofs shall be counted as Flint, and their Wheels as a Whirlwind, that because of them the Land shall be full of Darkness and Sorrow, and the Light shall be darkened in the Heavens thereof Is it not of the Times of his Reign that we are to understand the Tempta- tion that the Church shall be under, Chap. 8. V. 19. to have recourse to Familiar Spirits and Wizards, which they are warned against, and advised to seek unto their God, at a Time "when the Antichristian Company shall be hardly bestead and Hungry, and when they shall be hungry they shall fret themselves and curse their God and their King, and look upivards, and they shall look unto the Earth, and behold Trouble and Darkness, Di^nness of Anguish, and they shall be driven to Darkness. Do not the Prophecies against the King of Babylon, Isaiah 14. refer ultimately to Antichrist ? Is not he that Leviathan the piercing Serpent, even Leviathan that crooked Serpent, (who is a King over all the Children of Pride, Job 41. 34.) that for the sake of his Vineyard (or Church) God ivill punish with his sore and great and strong Sword, Isaiah 27. Is not this that Time to which we must refer Isaiah 65. 13. My Servants shall eat, but ye (viz. the Antichristian Company) shall be hungry; be- hold my Servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: My Servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed. V. 14. My Servants shall sing for

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joy of Heart, but ye shall cry for sorroiv of Heart, and shall howl for vexation of Spirit. This I understand to be that day of trouble which Habakkuk mentions, Chapter 3. and which he prays to be delivered from, v. 16. which he calls being at Rest in the Day of Trouble; the Contemplation of which draws from him this generous and heroic Resolution, that though the Fig-tree should not blossom, nor the Fruit should be in the Vines, (as at that time it will not,) though the labour of the Olive should fail, and the Fields shall yield no 3Ieat, though the Flocks should be cut off from the Folds, and there should be no Herd in the Stalls, that he will nevertheless rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of his Salvation. It would be endless to refer to the many Passages concerning him in the Prophets, but particu- larly in the Psalms, in which Sense Dr. Allix explains many of them, though meaning indeed nothing else by Antichrist, but the Pope of Rome. Lastly, (to mention no more) to him I apply that Prophecy of Jeremiah, Chap. 49. 19. that he shall come up like a Lion from the swellings of Jordan, and the same Chap. 50. 44. to which he also alludes, Chap. 12. 5. where, after he had talked of the miserable Effects of the Apostacy of the Church in that dreadful Day, he expostulates with them. If thou hast run with the Footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with Horses? if in the Land of Peace wherein thou trustedest they have wearied thee, (or as the Original seems rather to express it, if thou trustedest in the Land of Peace, i. e. been

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secure in the Prosperity of thy Land) how tvilt thou do in the Swellings of Jordan ? i. e. how wilt thou be prepared to bear the last and great Conflict of the Church? For the better understanding of which we will observe, T. That Lactantius asserts, p. 645 and 646, that the last Deliverance of the Church or Children of God out of the Antichristian Earth, was typified by the Deliverance of the Children of Israel out of Egypt, as were the Plagues that shall be sent upon the Antichris- tian Company, by the Judgments sent upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians. II. That the Scriptures themselves call their taking Pos- session of the Land of Carman their entering into Rest, Psalm 95. 11. Hebreivs 3. 18; and accordingly the Author to the Hebrews makes that Rest to be a Figure and Type of that great Sabbatism, that the Church shall en- joy in the latter Times after the Destruc- tion of Antichrist, Hebrews 4. 19. So that, III. by consequence the last and great Af- fliction of the Church, may be aptly repre- sented by the Overflowings of Jordan, which does constantly overflow its Banks in Har- vest or Autumn, (at which Season of the Year Antichrist shall also come, as we before observed out of the Prophet Joel,) and that does seem to be the completing Act of the suffering Economy of the Jeivs. For as soon as they were got over. Circumcision was com- manded anew for those who had escaped it during their Forty Years travel in the Wil- derness, which is called the removing the Reproach from Israel, i. e. the Reproach

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of the Cross or Suffering Period, upon which the Passover was observed in Commemo- ration of their complete Deliverance out of Egypt; as may be seen at large, Joshua 3. 4, 5. The De- § 25. Now when this Man of Sin shall structionof have finished his Time, and the Number of Antichrist j^jg j)ays shall be accomplished, then shall swn of Uie ^^^ ^'i^*^ upon him the Afflictions of his Seven Vials. People, He shall break the Staff of the Wicked, and the Sceptre of the Rulers ; he that smote the People in Wrath with a continual Stroke, he that ruled the Nation in anger, shall be per- secuted, and none shall hinder. Isaiah 14. 5, 6. So he that said in his Heart I will ascend into Heaven, I ivill exalt my Throne above the Stars of God, I will sit also upon the Mount of the Congregation, in the sides of the North. J will ascend above the Heights of the Clouds, I ivill be like the Most Hisrh. He that made the Earth to tremble and destroyed Kingdoms, that made the World a Wilderness, and destroyed the Cities thereof, shall be brought down to Hell to the sides of the Pit; v. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. This God will accomplish by various and gra- dual Steps, first, to magnify the Greatness of his Power, and that every Act and Instance of Vengeance may have time to produce its designed Effect ; i. e. reclaim those who are within the possibility of Mercy. The grand Pomp of this Destruction is largely described to us by the Author of the Apoca- lypse; who having described to us. Chap. 15. the Joy and Triumph of those who had gotten the Victory over the Beast, &c. tells

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us, V. 6. of that Chapter, that he saw Seven Angels coming out of the Temple having the Seven Plagues, clothed in Pwe and White Linen, and their Breasts girded with Golden Girdles. By the Seven Angels may possibly be meant, either literally Seven Spirits, or Seven Men of those who had been shut up during the Beast's Reign, or perhaps the Souls of Righteous Men departed commis- sioned by God to execute his Vengeance, of which more hereafter. They came forth clothed in the Habits of Priests and Kings, to show the Royal Priesthood of Christ's Kingdom and Heavenly Temple or Taber- nacle, out of which these Judgments pro- ceed, V. 7. and one of the four Beasts, (or living Creatures,) that were the Represen- tatives of the Apostolical Church, gave unto the Seven Angels Seven Vials (or Bowls, 2 Chronicles 4. 22. Revelations 5. 8.) full of the Wrath of God who liveth for ever and ever, V. 8. And the Temple ivas filled with Smoke from the Glory of God and from his Power, and no Man was able to enter into the Temple till the Seven Plagues of the Seven Angels were fulfilled. The filling of the Temple with God's Glory is a Phrase expressing his dwell- ing in the midst of his People, Ezekiel 43. 5, 7, 9. whereby is signified the Approach of the New Jerusalem Sabbatism. The Smoke appearing with it does intimate to us the Glory of God, who dwells in thick Dark- ness, or Light inaccessible, Isaiah 6. 4. And 2%, By the Impossibility of entering into the Temple till the Vials are poured out,

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may be signified, that none of the Anti- christian Company, though drawn to Re- pentance by some of the preceding Judg- ments, shall be received into the Favour and Participation of the Kingdom, till they have undergone the full Vengeance of God.

And now follows the Effusion of these Vials of Wrath upon the Antichristian World, by the Command of a great Voice out of the Temple, saying to the Seven Angels, Go your way, arid pour out the Vials of the Wrath of God upon the Earth, Revelations 16. 1.

I. THE First Angel ivent and poured out his Vial upon the Earth, and there fell a noisome grievous Soi'e upon the Men which had the Mark of the Beast, and upon them that ivor- shipped his Image. Tliis does seem to be much the same Judgment with that inflicted by Moses on the Egyptians, (from whence the Expressions concerning this Plague are taken.) 3Ioses took hot Ashes of the Furnace, Exodus 9. 8, 11. which became small Dtist in all the Land of Egypt, and was a Eile on Man and Eeast. And accordingly in this Plague it may by the like Congruity be supposed, that many hot and fiery Particles and Exhalations will be poured forth from these Vials upon the Earth ; which shall produce an extraor- dinary Heat and Drought, and be the Cause of the Sores here mentioned, which are wont to break out upon Men's Bodies in hot and dry Seasons ; such a Sore was that "Eaxo?, or Ulcer, that fell on Job and the Egyptians, such as Thucydides observes, Lib.

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2. p. 112. appeared upon the Bodies of the Athenians in the height of their Distem- per.

II. THE Second Angel poured out his Vial upon the Sea, and it became as the Blood of a dead Man, and every living Soul died in the Sea, i. e. The Waters of the Sea stagnated and became hke the Blood of a dead Carcass, if not quite in all the Natural Qualities, yet at least in Colour.

III. THE Third Angel poured out of his Vial upon the Rivers and Fountains of Waters, and they also became Elood. The Rivers are represented as stagnating after the Sea, be- cause they depend upon it, as their Cause and Original, and therefore by a Necessity of Nature partaking of the same Fate, this is a very dismal Judgment, depriving them of the Necessaries of Life, their Fish dying, and their Water which should have quench- ed their Thirst in the great Heat and Drought, being corrupted and unfit for use ; accord- ing to what God inflicted on Egypt, Exodus 7. 14-25. when the River Nile and all their Water stank, so that they could not drink of them, arid their Fish died. Besides that this Destruction upon the Rivers, joined with the Effects of the First Vial upon the Earth, must needs have a fatal Influence upon the Fruits of the Earth, and by consequence deprive them of all necessary Food. Upon the pouring out of this Vial, St. John, v. 5. heard the Angel that was commissioned to pour out these Plagues upon the Waters praising God for this just Retaliation upon

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the Antichristian Company. For, saith he, V. 6. they have shed the Blood of Saints and Prophets, and thou hast given them Blood to drink, for they are worthy. To which it was echoed back, v. 1 . by an Angel out of the Altar, (i. e. in the Name of the Saints and Martyrs that lay vmder it, ChajD. 6. 9. that is, a Place of Safety and Refuge, as the Altar was under the Old Law;) Even so Lord God Almighty, True and Righteous are thy Judg- ments, (in giving them Blood to drink for the Blood they have shed).

IV. AND the Fourth (who had Power over the Fire, Chap. 14. 18.) poured out his Vial upon the Sun, and Power was given unto him to scorch Men with Fire. As the Light of the Sun may be multiplied by Parhelia, and other Natural Causes, to which the Prophet alludes, Isaiah 30. 26. so it is not difficult to conceive that its Heat may be naturally augmented by the Dissolution or Dissipa- tion of its MaculcE ; upon the increase and breaking forth of those fluctuating Vortexes of Fire, which are in the Body of that Planet, and are stronger and clearer at its Centre, than near its Circumference ; and by other Natural Causes, not unknown to the Learned ; and if the Heat of the Sun may be increased by Natural Causes, how much more by Supernatural Ones, ordering and conducting them, and adding new ones? V. 9. A7id men were scorched with great Heat, and blasphemed the Name of God, which had Power over these Plagues, and they repented not to give him Glory. This seems to

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he an Allusion to the violent, scorching, and suffocating Heats of the Sun, and the burning Heat of the East Wind which afflicted Jonah, Jonah 4. 8, 9. and which usually accompany one another in the Eastern Climates, pro- ducing much Trouble and Grief as well in Mind as in Body.

V. AND the Fifth Angel poured out his Vial upon the Seat of the Beast, (i. e. Jerusa- lem,) and his Kingdom ivas full of Darkness (alluding to the Darkness that overspread the Land of Egypt) and they gnawed their Tongues

for pain, and v. ] J . blasphemed the God of Heaven, because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their Deeds, i. e. The Ter- rors of their Minds and Consciences made them blaspheme God and gnaw their Tongues, as in the greatest Rage imaginable, even as the Egyptians were vexed and tormented during the Darkness that covered them, with the Terrors of their own affrighted Consciences, and the Evil Angels, as the Hook of Wisdom testifieth. Chap. 17, 18.

VI. AND the Sixth Angel poured out his Vial upon the great River Euphrates, and the Waters thereof were dried up, that the Way of the Kings of the East might be prepared. The drying of Euphrates is unquestionably an Allu- sion to the Exploit of Cyrus, who drained it, when he took Babylon, as was literally fore- told by the Prophet Jeremiah 50. 38. 51. .32, 36. and to those Passages of the Prophets where the Return of the Jews into their own Land is described in the like Expressions, Isaiah 11. 15. Zech. 10. II. Now Euphrates,

o

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which was one of the Branches into which the River that watered Paradise was divided after it had passed through it, was also the Eastern Boundary of the Land of Promise, to which David and Solomon extended their Conquests, and upon this River was seated Sabylo7i, the Enemy and Oppressor of God's Church, and a Type of Antichristianism, over which River the Jews were carried captive for their Iniquities into the Assyrian and Sabylonish Countries. The Expression of the Kings of the East is undoubtedly an Allusion to the Story of Cyrus, of whom the Prophet Isaiah speaks, Chapter 41. 2. that God raised him up from the East, and v. 25. that he shall come from the Rising of the Sun to proclaim the Name of the Lord; so then in allusion to his Personal Character may be meant some great Persons, perhaps of the Ten Tribes, who shall come from the East to the Glory of the Kingdom, See the 4th Book of Esdras, Chap. 13. v. 42, 43, &c. or else as Cyrus was a Type of our Blessed Lord, by the Kings of the East may be meant those * Cfl/Zerffl/so Saints, who, as so many Inferior Messiahs,* by Obadiah ^nd Divinely Anointed Kings and Priests, ^amours, q^^ which Name Cyrus is called in Scrip- ture,) are to reign with Christ, who is called the East, the Morning, the Morning Star, &c. as was before observed. So then by the drying up of Euphrates I understand literally, the drying up its Waters to make way for some great Persons of the East, per- haps some remains of the Assyrian and Baby- lonish Captivity. And as this Vial makes

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soiiae Preparations or Dispositions for the Kingdom of the Messiali by the drying np of Euphrates, so does it in the next Verse begin to prepare for the Destruction of the Antichristian Powers. For v. 13. Three un- clean Spirits, like Frogs, came out of t lie Mouth of the Dragon, (i. e. the Devil,) and out of the Mouth of the Beast, (i. e. Antichrist,) and of the False Prophet; v. 14. And they are the Spirits of Devils (or Diabolical Spirits) ivork- ing Miracles, which go forth unto the Kings of the Earth, and of the whole World, to gather them to the Eattle of that great Day of God Almighty. By which is signified some strong Magical Influence diversified by the Opera- tions of Satan, Antichrist, and the False Pro- phet, to excite the Kings of the Earth, or Antichristian Powers, to meet together to oppose the Kingdom of the Lamb, who was then beginning to overcome the Beast, and that in the place (called Armageddon, v. 10.) where God had appointed to destroy them; as is shown imder the Seventh Vial. Now the word Armageddon in the Hebrew Tongue signifies the Hill of Blegiddo, called Megiddon by the Prophet, Zechariah 12. 11. yyr]>^j2 '^n Mxyia^u, LXXII. a Royal City in the Tribe of Issachar, but belonging to Manasseh, which the Canaanites possessed in despite of them. Joshua 17. 11, 12. and this City was famous in Scripture for the Miraculous De- feat of Sisera and the Kings of Canaan (a Type of the Kings of the Earth) by Barak and the Israelites who came down from Mount Tabor (which was not far from tliat

() 2

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place,) and discomfited them at the Waters of Megiddo, in the Hilly and Mountainous Parts of that Place, as Grotius upon the Place conjectures. It was also famous for the Death of Ahaziali, 2 Kings 9. 27. but especially of Josiah, who received his deadly Wound with a great Slaughter in the Valley of Megiddo, 2 Kings 23. 29, 30. 2 Chronicles, 35. 20-27. where he was bewailed with so great a Lamentation, that the Mournings of that Valley is used by way of a Pro- verbial Speech by the Prophet Zechariah, Chap. 12. 11. and Megiddo is interpreted by the LXXIl, the Valley of the Slain, or cut off, as if it signified a Place of great Grief and Slaughter; and 3Iegiddo may be chosen to be a Type and Symbol of the Place of this Valley of Decision, to show that as the Nation of the Jews did yearly bewail the Death of Josiah in that Place, so they should likewise bemoan him whose Type Josiah was, and was slain near that Place just when he had prepared the Tem- ple of God, which was the Emblem of Christ's Kingdom. 8ee Zechariah 12. 11. It may also signify {2dli/) that God, who over- rules Evil Designs for Good, and who de- clares, Judges 4. 7. (the Place here alluded to) that he drew Sisera and his Multitude together, had ordained that these Kings should be totally overthrown as the Kings of Canaaji were at Megiddo ; and that the Lamb and his Company should triumph over them and bless God for the great Victory, as Jehoshaphat and the Israelites did in the

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Valley of Beracha for the defeat of that great Multitude of wicked People that con- federated against Israel, 2 Cluonicles *20. 26.

VII. And now the Seventh Angel pours out Tin- Gvrat his Vial, v. 17. into the Air, and there came a l'^<"ff'<j""f<e great Voice out of the Temple of Heaven saij- ^Seventh"' ing. It is clone, i. e. This is the last com- yiai. pleting Act of Vengeance npon the Anti- christian World, in order to make way for the Kingdom of Christ. Under this Vial are com- prised and effected Two notable Events. The First is the Destruction of Babylon, i. e. the Antichristian City Rome ; and of the great City Jerusalem. The Second is the Destruc- tion of the Great Antichristian Army at Arma- geddon.

I. That the Great City, the Destruction whereof is so pompously described, Chapter 17. 18, 19. is Rome, has been (I think) plainly and fully proved by Dr. More, Mr. Mede, and all the Reformed Commentators. Aud this City is to be destroyed under this Vial, npon the Effusion whereof. Chapter 16. v. 18. There were Voices, and Thunders, and Light- nings, and a Great Earthquake, such as was not since Men ivere upon the Earth ; so mighty and so great. Upon which the Great City (viz. Jerusalem) was divided into three parts, and the Cities of the Nations fell, and Great Babylon came into remembrance before God, to give unto her the Cup of the Wine of the Fierceness of his Wrath. And the Islands, and the Mountains fled away, and a great Hail fell from Heaven %ipon the Men that survived, which

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Hail ivas exceeding Great. It may possibly be this Hail that Job means by the treasures of Hail, which God hath reserved for the Time of Trouble, against the Day of Battle and War, Job 38. 22. This being indeed the Great Day of Battle and Destruction of the Anti- christian Powers out of the whole Earth, to \vhich that Ancient Writer frequently re- fers.

II. The Second Great Transaction, and which more immediately concerns this dis- course, is the Destruction of Antichrist and his Great Army at the Battle of Armageddon. It is the Opinion of some, that the Prophecy of Ezekiel, Chapter 39. concerning Gog and Magog is to be understood of Antichrist and his Army ; though all know very well that by Gog and Magog, Revelations 20. is to be understood that vast Diabolical Multitude that shall encompass the Holy City after the Millennium. How true this Opinion may be, I shall not presume to say, but must ac- knowledge, that it seems to be favoured by several Circumstances of that Prophecy. 1. The same Invitation is made to the Fowls of Heaven, Ezekiel .39. v. 17-21. as is made, Revelations 19. v. 17, 18. for the Slain of the Battle of Armageddon. 2. The Gog and Magog, mentioned in the Revelations, are to be devoured by Fire, and consequently not left to be eaten by the Fowls of Heaven. 3. The Destruction of the last Gog by Fire in the Revelations is said to be immediately followed by the Great and last Judgment. Whereas in Ezekiel, the Destruction of Gog

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is mentioned with no such Consequences, but rather with a happy Succession of Peace and Repose to the Church in the very same Earth ; mention being' made of buryinj:^ the Dead, burning the Weapons, and a Dura- tion of Seven Years of Strans^ers travelhnsr that way, and of the Heathens glorifying God upon the Account of his Judgments, which may be understood of their Conver- sion, even as we believe that the Millennial Glory will follow after the Destruction of Antichrist. Before this Battle of Armaged- don, there is an Invitation to the Fowls of Heaven made by an Angel standing in the Sun, Revelations, Chapter 19. v. 17, 18. say- ing, Come and gather yourselves together to the Supper of the Great God, that ye may eat the Flesh of Kings, and the Flesh of Captains, and the Flesh of Mighty Men, and the Flesh of Horses, and of them that sit thereon, and the Flesh of all Men (i. e. all sorts of Men) both free and bond, both small avid great. As it is also Ezekiel 39. 17, 18, \9. Many different Opinions there are about this Place among the Commentators. Those of them who inter- pret it in an Allegorical and Mystical Sense, insist upon the Incongruity of setting an Angel in the Literal Sense to invite all the Fowls of the Air to a Banquet. But suppose we should grant that this part may be nothing more than an Oriental Form of Speech ; who attributed every thing, especially in Pro- phetical Writings, to the Ministry of An- gels, yet I see no reason why we may not understand the other Part literally, that is,

200 OF ANTICHRIST.

if this Antichristian Army be to be destroy- ed or slain in a literal Sense, then their Bodies will be literally dead, and when so are proper Food for ravenous Birds, and wild Beasts of the Earth, and why then may it not express, that there shall be such great Multitudes of them destroyed, that all the Fowls of Heaven may come and feast upon their Bodies ? Though I must acknowledge that there are good Reasons given by Dr. More in the last of his Divine Dialogues to prove that this cannot be understood otherwise than in a Mystical and Spiritual Sense. Antichrist § 26. And now foilov.'s the Grand Catas- takenand trophe. Whilst the Antichristian Army are Bottom/cIl^ thus gathered together. Behold the Heavens Plf ivere opened, Revelations 19. 11. and a white

Horse, avid he that sat upon him ivas called Faithful and True, and in Righteousness he doth Judge and make War. By the ivhite Horse may be signified Christ's Royalty and Glory from his Resurrection to his Second Coming in his Kingdom. The Rider is said to be Faithfid and True; because of his ap- pearing in his Kingdom, according to his Pro- mise, which Atheists, Deists, and they of the Antichristian Party had called in Question, asking, Where is the promise of his coming? These Unbelievers he will in his Righteousness judge and destroy.

V. 12. This Rider is described. His Eyes were as a Flame of Fire (penetrating and judging all things in a quick and terrible manner) and on his Head ivere many Crowns.

OF ANTJCHIUST. 201

(denotinj^ the Amplitude of his Dominion). And he had a Name ivritteu which ito Man knew hut himself. By Name in Scripture is often signified Nature, and so this Mysterious Name may be something expressing tlie Hypostatic Union of the Two Natures in our Blessed Lord ; which as it does infi- nitely transcend the short limited Capacity of Human Nature to comprehend, so it will appear now more Illustrious and Glorious than ever.

V. 1 3. HE was clothed ivith a Vesture dip- ped in blood, (expressing his Triumph through the Blood of his Cross,) and his Name is called (or he is) the Word of God, i. e. He is the Eternal word of God, the Second Person in the Ever-Blessed-Trinity, the Word by whom God spake when he made the World; and spake also to our Forefathers under the Old Testament, and to us in the Gos- pel.

V. 14. Are described his Companions and Attendants. The Armies which icere in Hea- ven, (i. e. the Angels and Saints, whether dead or living, in whom the Kingdom of Heaven is perfected) followed him upon while Horses, Companions and Partakers with Cln*ist in his Glory and Kingdom, clothed in fine Linen white and clean. Their Robes or Righ- teousness having been washed and made white in the Blood of him who is clothed with the Bloody Garment.

V. 15. AND out of his Moidh goelh a sharp Sword, (viz. his Word, which is sharper tJian any two-edged Sword, Hebrews 4. 12.)

OF ANTICHRIST.

that with it he may smite the Nations of the Earth, and rule them with a Rod of Iron, (during the continuance of his Glorious King- dom,) a7id he treadeth the Wine-press of the fierceness and Wrath of Almighty God (as he once trod it by himself alone when in his own Body he bore upon the Cross the Iniquities of us all, Isaiah 63. 3.) So will he now tread down the wicked who are the accursed Vine of Sodom, or rather, to speak in the Language of Isaiah in the afore-cited Place, make them tread it themselves whilst they suffer that Ven- geance which he inflicts upon them.

V, 1 6. AND he had upon his Vesture, arid upon his Thigh a Name written KING of KINGS, and LORD of LORDS. (He wore and discovered Glorious and Illustrious Symbols and Characters of his Supreme Uni- versal Monarchy). Some think that as his former Name mentioned, v. 13. denoted his Divinity ; so this may denote his Kingdom as Son of Man, therefore he wears a Title on his Vesture, as Kings do their Royal Cognizances, by which they are distinguished and made known.

With this Glory, this Might, and Autho- rity, he scatters and confounds the Diabolical Army, that are said, v. 19. to be gathered together to make War against him. They fall before him as the shades of Darkness before the Rising Sun. See how the Lightnings flash in their Faces, how they tremble and are amazed, they reel, and stagger, and are at their Wits end, and in this confusion they shall as in the Day of Midian, Joshua 7. 22. turn

OF ANTICHRIST. 203

their Hands against each other, and like as the Moahites, Ammonites, and the Children of Monnt Seir, 2 Chronicles 20. 23. helped to de- stroy one another, so shall these lift up every one his Hand against his Brother, and turn his Sword against his Fellow. Even as the Lord hath said, Ezekiel 38. 21. 1 will call for a Sword against him throughout all my Mountains, every Man's Sicord shall be against his JBrother. And I will •plead against him with Pestilence and with Slood, and I will rain upon him and upon his JBands, and upon the many People that are tvith him, an overflowing Rain, and great Hailstones, Fire, and Brim- stone. And (Revelation 19. 20.) the Beast, and False Prophet that ivrought Miracles before him, with which he had deceived them that had received the Mark of the Beast, and them that worship his Image, ivere both of them taken and cast alive into the Lake burning with Fire and Brimstone. And the Remnant (v. 21.) were slain with the Sword of .him that sat upon the Horse, which proceedeth out of his Mouth, and all the Fowls were filled with their Flesh. This is what St. Paul foretold concerning this Lying Deceiver, 2 Thessalonians 2. 8. That the Lord shall consume him ivith the Breath of his 3Iouth, and destroy him with the Brightness of his Coming. When he shall descend with the Power and Majesty of an Everlasting Kingdom, which shall descend with him upon the Earth, then shall all the Glorious Promises made to the Church be plentifully fulfilled ; then shall the Sons and Disciples of the Cross receive double at the Lord's Hand for the

204 OF ANTICHRIST

Shame which they have suffered for his sake, and instead of Confusion they shall rejoice in their Portion, and in their Land they shall possess the double. He will give them Beauty for Ashes, the Oil of Joy for Mourning, the Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness. Everlasting Joy shall be upon them. Yea the * See the Lord shall send forth his Spirit* and renew Original. ^/^^ j^^^.^ ^y- ^^g Earth. Psalms 104. 30. which is that Restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the Mouth of all his Holy Prophets ever since the World began. Acts 3. 21.

205

The Conclusion.

AJND now perhaps it may be asked, TAcCo«f/i/. as the Disciples asked our Blessed **'^"' »*''''* Lord, 3Iat. 24. 3. tell us; when shall these 'r^^^^^^f^^^ Things be? To which Question our Lord concerning- has upon another Occasion, Acts 1. 7. ^\\e\\ the Signs of us this short Answer, that it is not for us to '''^ ^""'*- Jctiow the Times and the Seasons, which the Father hath put in his oivn Poicer. And it must be acknowledged, that no one thing has given so fatal an Advantage to the Enemies of Prophetical Truth, as the vast Presump- tion of some Men, who upon very slender Grounds have dared as in the Name of the Lord to confine the Completion of some very great Revolutions to a very narrow Compass of Time, and that with as much Confidence, as if their Comments had been as Divine and Authentic as the Prophecies themselves which they pretended to explain.

Now though our Blessed Saviour condemns a too positive Curiosity in things of this nature, yet does he by no means discourage the modest and humble Inquirer, having himself vouch- safed. Mat. 24. 3Iark 13. and Luke 21. to give us some Marks and tokens whereby to judge of the near approach of that Time; at least with as much certainty as we can judge of the near approach of Summer, when we see the tender Branches of the Fig-tree begin to bud and put forth its Leaves, or judge of the Weather by the appearance of the

p2

OF ANTICHRIST.

Sky. Learn (saith he to his Disciples, Mat. 21. 32, 33) a Parable of the Fig-tree : ivhen his Branch is yet tender, and putteth forth his Leaves, ye know that Summer is nigh : So like- ivise ye when ye shall see all these things (mean- ing the Signs and Tokens afore-mentioned) knoiv that it (the great Desolation) is near, even at the doors. So Mat. 16. 2, 3. When it is Evening, ye say it will be Fair Weather : For the Sky is Red. And in the Morning it will be Foul Weather to Day: for the Sky is Red and Lowring. O ye Hypocrites, ye can discern the Face of the Sky, but cannot ye discern the Signs of the Times? Omitting therefore all Chrono- logical Disquisitions, which at the best are attended with infinite Uncertainties, we will take a short view of those Criteria, or Tokens, which our Blessed Lord has given us.

The first is Mat. 24. 6. Ye shall hear of Wars, and Rumours of Wars, Nation shall rise against Nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom, there shall be Famines and Pestilen- ces and Earthquakes in divers Places.

Another Sign is, v. 11, Many False Pro- phets shall arise, and shall deceive many.

The next Sign is v. 12. That because of the

abundance of iniquity, the love of many shall

ivax cold. Upon this saith St. Cyril, Ibid.

' Can any here present say, that he does in all

' Respects love his Neighbour with Sincerity ?

* Are not our Words very often friendly, our

' Countenances smiling, and- our Eyes cheer-

' ful, whilst the Heart contrives Deceit, and

' he that speaks Peace, has War in his Heart?"

(A little after) " The want of brotherly Love

OF ANTICHRIST " 207

" will make Way for Antichrist. The Devil " makes Divisions and Strife amongst Men, " that the Enemy (viz. Antichrist) may be " more easily let in." The same Account is given by Laclantius of the Times preceding' the Reign of Antichrist, pag. 646. " There " shall be so little Righteousness in the World, " and such Abundance of Covetousness, Im- " piety, and Lust, that the few good Men " that shall be left shall become a Prey to the " Wicked. They shall live in Plenty, whilst " the Righteous shall labour under Contempt " and Poverty ; Right shall be oppressed, the " Laws shall lose their Force, there shall be " neither Sincerity, nor Peace, nor common " Civility, nor Truth among Men." The same Account is given by Methodius Patarensis, *And alas ! who is there at this day that may * P. S96. not take up JeremiaJis Lamentation, chap. 9. Orthodox. and wish in the Bitterness of his Soul for a ^''''- ^^^''• Lodging of ivay-faring 3Ien, in the silent re- tirement of a wilderness, that he might leave his people and go from them. For they be all Adul- terers (loving the World, and the Riches and Pleasures of it more than God) Jam. 4. 4. An Assembly of treacherous men, and they bend their tongues like their bow for lies, but they are not valia?itfor the truth upon the Earth. Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother, for every brother will utterly supplant, and evei^ neighbour ivill walk with slanders, and they icill deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth ; they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity ; their tongue is as

OF ANTICHRIST.

an arrow shot out, it speaketh deceit ; one speak- eth peaceably to his Neighbour with his mouth, hut in heart he layeth his wait, v. 2, 3, 4, 8.

But you will say, if these be the infallible Tokens, whereby we are to judge of the near approach of that Time ; How comes it to pass that so many Holy and Good Men have been mistaken in their Judgements about it? Since so many of the Ancient Fathers, who have written about these Matters, have taken Pains to apply them all to their own Times, and to persuade themselves and others, that the Day of the Lord was at hand ? To this I answer. That the Illustrious Ideas which the Ancients had received from the Holy Scriptures as then understood, and from the Traditions of their Venerable Predecessors in the Faith, concern- ing the Glorious Kingdom of the Messiah, and the Restitution of Nature (which will be the Consequences of the Great Affliction) were so transporting and ravishing, that their infla- med Affections could not choose but outrun, or at least lay a strong Bias upon their Judge- ments, and make them often believe, that what they wished to be so near at hand, could not be far off. So even the Disciples themselves, as soon as ever our Lord was Risen from the Dead, could not choose but think that the Kingdom should immediately be restored to Israel, Acts 1 . 6. But if we, upon whom the Ends of the World are come, have not the same longing Expectation that they had, to see the return of our Dear Redeemer, to see his Church triumphant, and all his Enemies put under his Feet; yet let us however be

OF ANTICHRIST. 209

driven by the Terrors of the Lord, and not put far from us the Evil Day, considering that whatever Reasons our Fore-fathers had for judging the Consummation to be at hand, ought more closely to affect us, who at this distance of time are so much nearer to it than they. So then if we do in good earnest watch for that Day, in Abstraction from the Dark- ness of this World, and standing in the Spirit of Light and Truth, we shall as Children of the Light and of the Day see ivhen Evil cometh, so that that Day shall not overtake us as a Thief 1 Thess. 5. 4, 5. So says Hippolytus, \ 50. " But let us, having the Mystery of " God in our Hearts, faithfully attend to those " Things that have been spoken by the Holy *' Prophets, that we knowing them before- ** hand, may not be deceived ; for in the Ful- " ness of Times He, concerning whom these " Things are spoken (viz. Antichrist) shall " surely be made manifest." Whilst on the other hand they that neither love nor believe the Truth, hut take pleasure in Unrighteousness, upon them God shall send f the Energy (or t 'e«'?ti.«v strength) of Error (viz. Antichrist) that they '"^'''^^' shall believe a Lie to their Condemnation, 2 Thess. 2. 11, 12.

But whether we regard it or not, whether we be provided or not, that Day will surely come, the Times are ripening apace ; God hath begun to shake the Heavens and the Earth ; An Alarm is sounded to the Ends of the Earth ; The Day does already dawn upon the tops of the Mountains. And the Spirit of Love and Peace is descending in |)lentifnl

OF ANTICHRIST.

Showers, like the latter Rain upon the Earth,

to unite, strengthen, and prepare for himself,

a peculiar People to be the First-Fruits of the

Kingdom of the Lamb. Even so, Lord Jesus,

come quickly ! Turn Thee, O Thou Beloved

of our Souls, and come swiftly as a Roe, or a

young Hart over the Mountains of ( Bether)

Division (even the Divisions and Distractions

of the Christian Church) till the Day (even

Thy Day) break forth, and the Shadows of

Darkness be perfectly dissipated. O ! That

Thou wouldest rend the Heavens, that Thou

wouldest come down, that the Mountains

might flow down, and melt at thy Presence !

Lord pity the Stones of Zion! It is Time

that thou have Mercy upon her, yea the Time

is come. Thine Holy Cities are a Wilderness,

Zion is a Wilderness, Jerusalem a Desolation.

Our Holy and Beautiful House where our

Fathers praised Thee is burnt up with (the)

Fire (of Contention and uncharitable Zeal).

We see not our Tokens, there is not one

Prophet more, there is none amongst us that

knoweth how long. Wilt thou refrain thyself

for these Things? O God! Where is thy

Zeal and thy Strength, the Sounding of thy

Bowels, and of thy Mercies towards us ; are

they restrained ? Arise, and let thine Enemies

be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee

before Thee. Send Thy Fear upon all the

Nations that seek not after Thee. Show new

Signs, and make other strange Wonders :

Glorify thy Hand and thy right Arm, that they

may set forth thy wondrous Works. Make

the Time short, remember the Covenant,

OF ANTICHRIST. 2 1 1

gather all the Tribes of Jacob together, and inherit Thou them as from the Beginning. O be merciful to Jerusalem thy Holy City. Fill Sion with thy unspeakable Oracles, and thy People with thy Glory. Give Testimony to those whom Thou hast possessed from the Beginning, and raise up Prophets such as have been in thy Name.

O Lord hear the Prayer of thy Servant, ac- cording to the JBlessings of Aaron, yea of our everlasting High Priest Christ Jesus over thy People, that all they which dwell upon the Earth, may knoiv, that Thou art the Lord, the Eternal God. Amen.

AN

INDEX

OF THE

Passages of Scripture explained or illustrated in this Essay.

N.B. Where this Mark * occurs, the Passages are more fully explained: When this t, they are not expressly cited, but illustrated only. E. signifies the Discourse of Ephraim Syrus. Note also. That the Verses are here expressed, where they are not in the Sook itself

	G	ENESIS.			Exodus.
Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.	Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.
vi	4	4	179	vii	17	4	177
	11	1	5		14^sqg.	4	191
	13	1	ib.		25	4	ib.
viii	1	E.	42	ix	8	4	190
tx	10	4	194		11	4	ib.
XV	16	1	5	xiii	2	4	129
xix	4	1	15	xvi	2	3	77
	14	1	33	xxi	4	E.	44
	22	1	39	xxvi	25	2	51
xiv	5	3	97	xxxiii	3	4	145
	7	3	ib.		5	4	ib.
	8	3	ib.
xlix	10	4	125		Leviticus.
	IG	4	132
	17	4	133	i	11	1	23, 24
	18	2	70	viii	23,24	E.	35
1	20	3	97	xiv	14	E.	ib.

THE INDEX.

Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.		2	Samuel.
xiv	17	E.	35	Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.
XXV	8	2	45	xxiv	12	2	54
xxvi	5	2	53
	16	2	51		1 Kings.
	25	2	ih.	xvii	1	4	165,177
	Numbers.			6	3	98
				xviii	1	4	177
X	7	4	153 ih.		4	4	158
	9	4		17	4	179
	Deuteronomy.		18	4	ib.
					41	4	Ill
viii	3	3	77	xix	2	E.	42
xxviii	21 22	2 2	51 ib.	XX i	20	4	179
	27	2	ih.		2 Kings.
	28	2	ih.		10	4	177
	59	2	ih.		12	4	ib.
	60	2	ih.	ii	1	E.	42
	61	2	ih.	vii	2	3	77
xxxii	32	1	17	ix	27	4	196
	33	1	ib.	txi	3	4	158
	Joshua.		xxiii	29	4	196
					30	4	ib.
iii	4	4	188
	5	4	ih.		1 Chronicles.
	17	1	40	ix	27	1	40
vii	12	4	145		33	1	ib.
	22	4	203	xxviii	3	1	28
tx	3	4	171		4	1	«6.
xvii	11	4	105
	12	4	ih.		2 Chronicles.
				iv	22	4	189
		Judges.		xix	23	1	27
iv	7	4	196	XX	23	4	203
vi	12	4	145		26	4	197
vii	22	1	28	xxix	10	4	141
	1	Samuel.		XXX	9 26	4 4	ib. ib.
tiv	19	1	3	XXXV	20 to '21 4	196
tv	4	1	39
xiv	16	1	27		Nehemiah.
	20	1	ih.	viii	10	4	178
XV	12	E.	35		12	4	ib.

THE INDEX.

Hester. Chap. Vers. Part.	Pag.	Chap, xci	Vers. ] Isqq.	Part. 2	Pag. 70
ix	19	4	178	xcv	11	4	187
	22	4	ib.	civ	30	4	204
				cvi	26	E.	35
	Job.		cix	6	E.	ib.
iii	26	3	103	cxxi	1	1	35
V	Isqq.	3	96	fcxxvi	4	1	23
	5	1	32	cxxxv	7	E.	42
xiv	20 1	1 3	ib. 103		Proverbs.
xxi	12	3	75	iv	19	4	180
xxii	9	3	ib.	xvii	24	4	155
xxiv	2 sqq.	3	74		ECCLESIASTES.
XXX	8	4	179
xxxi	20	3	96	vii	8	1	6
xxxvii	2	3	102	fviii	1	4	155
	Isqq.	1	22		Isaiah.
	tl7	1	23
xxxviii	1	£.	42	i	10	4	178
	12	1	23,25	iii	16 sqq.	2	55
	22	4	198		24	2	ib. 56
xxxix	24	3	103	*iv	4	1	22
xl	Wsqq. 20 sqq. Isqq.	4	138			t4	157
	4	ib.	V	tl	1	13
xli	4	ib.		11	3	74
	M. J. 34	4	185		12	4 3	184 74
	Psalms.				4	184
xxxiii	1	3	96		14	4	ib.
xxxiv	1	3	ib.		25 sqq.	4	ib.
*xxxvii 1 sqq.	1	22		29	2	56
	5	2	55	vi	4	4	189
	11	1	22	vii	11	4	162
	22	1	ib.	viii	tl6	4	133
xlii	1	3	97		19	4	185
fxliii	3	1	32		20	1	25
*xliv	1	4	145, &c.	ix	4	1	28
fxlviii	6	1	3		5	4	155
Ix	4 sqq.	E.	35		18	4	ib.
flxxii	8	4	194	X	7	1	70
flxxiv	8,9	4	210		12	1	10
flxxvi	10	1	10		17	4	155
Ixxx	9	1	17	xi	15	4	193

THE INDEX.

Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.	Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.
xiii	\sqq.	1	10,24	xxxiv	t2	1	8
	8	4	154		4	2	66
	17	1	24		8	2	67
xiv	Isqq.	1	10,24	XXXV	10	1	33
	4	4	185	xli	2	1	25
	5	4	188			4	194
	6	4	ih.		til	1	22
	13	1	25		25	1	25
	14	4	133			4	194
	17	4	188	xlvi	11	1	25
xvii	t6	1	15,28,32	xlix	22	E.	35
		3	94	1	10,11	2	50
xxiii	13	1	15		11	4	155
xxiv	*1	1	15	li	11	1	33
		2	81	Iviii	1	4	154
	\sqq.	3	94		17	3	95
	*3	3	79		fll	3	96
	5	3	82	Ixii	11	2	70
	6	3	83	Ixiii	3	4	202
	Isqq.	3	ih. 87	Ixv	13	4	185
	13	1 2	15 56		14	4	ih. ,
		3	94		Jeremiah.
	*14, 15	1	33	ii	13	2	50
	16	1	ih.	iv	6	4	134
	17	2	56	vi	\sqq.	1	24
	24	2	ih.		22	1	23
xxvi	11	3	74		23	4	154
	20	4	157	viii	13	4	153
xxvii	1	4	185		16	4	132,133,
xxviii	15	4	154	ix	t4	4	203 [154
	18	4	ih.		10	2	58
XXX	1	1	50		12	2	ih.
		t2	47		*21	2	42,53,58
	16	3	94		*22 sq.	2	42,58
	26	4	192	x	13	E.	42
xxxii	17	1	32	xii	5	4	186
	18	1	ih.	xvi	20	4	151, 152
		4	157	xviii	21	2	53
xxxiii	19	1	31 , 32	xxi	9	4	151
	\sqq.	3	94	xxiii	19	E.	42
	8	3		*xxv	\sqq.	1	17
	16	3	100		12	1	ih.

THE INDEX.

Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.	Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.
XXV	15	1	13	xiv	21	1	2
	22 sqq.	1	14,15			2	42,52
	26	1	41			4	154
	27	1	ih.		+22	1	28,31
	29	1	26		+23	1	31
	30	1	16	xvi	27	E.	35
*xxv	32	1	23	xxi	22	E.	ib.
		E.	42	xxviii	4	4	154
XXX	Id	1	31		15	4	ib.
xxxviii	2	4	151	xxxvii	9	E.	42
xlv	5	1	34	xxxviii	21	4	203
xlvi	10	1	3	xxxix	Isqq.	4	198
xlix	Isqq.	1	10		4	4	ib.
	19	4	186		5	4	ib.
1	Isqq.	1	10,24		17	4	199
	*9	1	25		18	4	ib.
	38	4	193		21*^5'.	4	198
	41	1	23,25	xl	4	1	39
	44	4	186		6	1	ib.
li	\sqq.	1	24		11	1	ib.
	32	4	193		14	1	ib.
	36	4	lb.	xliii	5	4	189
	41	1	'2b		7	4	ib.
	48	1	ib.		9	4	ib.
lii	Isqq. 11	4 4	151 ib.		Daniel.
				ii	41	4	136
	EZKKIEL.		iii	1	4	140
i	16		21	iv	27	3	96
fvii	10		35,37	vi	25	E.	50
			43	vii	8	4	117
	11		37		10	4	ib.
	15		40		11	4	ib.
viii	3		35		17	4	122
	17		37		20	4	117,123
*ix	2		38		21	4	117
			101		23	4	122
	3		39		24	4	136
	4		ib.		25	4	117
	5		40	viii	9	4	ib.
	7		41		11	4	153
	11		ib.		12	4	ib.
xiii	19	4	171		13	1	37

THE INDEX.

Chap.	Vers	.	Part.	Pag,	Chap	.Vers.	Part.	Pag.
	14		4	117		5	4	155
	23 sqq.	4	117,129		7	4	150,155
xi	21		4	129		8	4	155
	31		1	37		9	4	153
			14	157		,11	1	38
	t32		4	142, 143			4	150
	35		4	142		\1sqq.	4	150, 153
	*36		4	117, 158		\Qsqq.	4	151, 157
	38		4	159		19	4	170
	*1		1	1		20	1	26
xii	1		4	152			4	134
	3		4	142		32		31
	10		4	ih.	Hi	2 9		12 sqq. 197
		HOSEA.			10		15
ii	^sqq.	3	78		11		ih.
	9		3	79		12		ih.
iv	Isqq.	3	ih.				196 .
	10		3	ih.		13		16
vi	3		4	204		14		15,16 196
		Joel.			15		15
•i	2		4	134,152		16		16,38
	3		3	85		17		15
	4		3	84		Amos.
			4	153, 154
	5		3	85, 155	iv	1	3	79
	6		4	153		6	3	ih.
	7,	8	4	155		*iy	3	73, 79
	9		4	153		9	3	73
	10		3	87	V	11	3	80
	11		4	153		12	3	ih.
	12		3	87		16	3	ih.
			4	153		17	3	ih.
	13		4	157	vi	3	3	74,79
	14		4	ih.		4	3	ih.
	18		4	210		5	3	74
	19		3 '	88		6	3	ih.
	20		3	ih.	viii	11	E.	25
*ii	1		4	153		Obadiah.
	t2		1	24		17	1	31
			4	150,154		*21	1	32
	4		4	154			4	194

THE INDEX.

	Jonah.		Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pao.
Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.	xiv	2	4	155,156
i	4	E.	42		12	2	55
iv	8	4	193
	9	4	ib.		Malachi.
	MiCAK.		i	2	E.	50
				iii	2	4	155
vi	10	3	80		16	1	33, 34
	11 sq^.	3	ib.	iv	2	2	71
	Nahum.			5	4	175
						E.	47
i	3	E.	42
	7	1	33,34		2 ESDRAS.
ii	4	4	135	xiii	42 sgq.	4	194
	Habakkuk.		XV	5	3	91
					6 sqq.	3	ib.
i	8		154		12	3	ib.
ii	5		9		13	3	92
	7		10		14 sqq.	3	92,93
	8		ib.		38	3	102
iii	2		39,40	xvi	21	3	86
	16	4	186		24	3	93
	Zephaniah.			28	1	15
i	9	1	39		29*^^. 30	1 3	ib. 93
	15	4	154		40	1	35
ii	3	1	33
		4	157, 158		TOBIT.
iii	18	1	33
				iv	13	3	78
	Zechariah.
					Wisdom.
ii	5	4	155
	9	E.	35	i	5	4	147
iii	1	E.	ib.	vii	14	4	142
iv	3	4	176		27	4	ib.
	14	4	177	xvii	18	4	193
vi	3	4	154	xviii	19	4	ib.
ix	6 9	4 2	ib. 70		ECCLESIASTICUS.
	12	2	45	iii	6	4	155
X	11	4	193		7	4	ib.
*xi	16	4	106	iv	17	4	142
xii	11	4	195, 196		18	4	ib.
xiii	9	1	33	ix	9 sqg.	2	47

THE INDEX.

Chap, xxxix xlviii	Vers. Part. 29 2 10 4 1 Maccabees	Pag. 53 176		Chap, xxiv	Vers. 21 12 22 24	Part. *1 4 4 E.	Pag. 1 131,152, 182 (182 21,42
i	37	4	125				4	160
	2 Maccabees	.			29 32,33	2 4	67 206
is	5	2	57			49	E.	45
	8	2	ih.		XXV	35	3	100
	12	2	ib.			Mark.
	Matthew.			vi	42	E.	27
iii	11	4	155		viii	15	4	125
iv	4	3	77		xi	22,23	4	142
	8	1	9			• 24	4	ib.
V vi	5 32	1 3	22 77		xiii	1 sqq. 8	4 3	206 81, 111
X	IQ	4	116			9	1	3
	34	1	12			14	1	35
xiii	31	4	143			18	E.	28
	32	4	ib.			*19	1	1
xiv	26	£.	27				4	150
xvi	1	4	162			20	4	152
	2	4	206			35	E.	45
	12	4	126		xvi	17	4	142,144
xvii	12	4	176				E.	36
xxi	7	2	42			18	4	142,155
	21 22	4 4	142 ib.			Luke.
xxii	37	2	47		i	17	4	176
	38	3	82			78	1	25
xxiv	3	4	205		ii	1	E.	ib.
	t6	1	26			30	4	133
		4	217			52	4	134
	7	1	3,	11	iv	4	3	77
		2	50,	53	X	19	4	155
		3	73,81	xi	18	4	ib.
	8	1	3,	11		29	4	163
	12	4	210		xii	29	4	23
	15	1	35			51	1	12
	16	1	ib.			56	4	206
	17	1	36		xvii	6	4	143
	21	E.	28		xxi	9	1	8

THE INDEX.

Chap.	Vers	. Part.	Pag		Cliap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag
xxi	9	4	206		vi	20	1	30
	10	1	13		vii	23	I	ib.
		3	101		viii	4	E.	32
	11	2	50,53,67	X	4	3	94
	19	1	8		xiii	8	3	82
	20	1	16
	22	1	3,	11		2 Corinthians.
	25	2	67		i	22	E.	23
		3	101		iv	7	E.	32
	26	2	68			til	4	151
	28	1	33			17	E.	32
	36	E.	28,	45
xxiii	30	1	35			Galatians.
					V	6	4	143
		John.			vi	15	4	ib.
V	18 *43	4 4	120 113,	120		17	E.	33
vi	27	E.	26			Ephesians.
	53	3	94		i	10	1	37
X	35	4	114			13	E.	23
XV	I	1	17		ii	1	4	164
xvii	21	1 Acts.	37			18 22	4 4	113 ib.
i ii	7 39	4 4	205 143		iv	Isqq. 8sqq. 13	4 4 1	ib. 144 37
iii	21	4	176,	204			4	110
vii	22	1	20			J6	4	111
viii	11	4	126			30	1	31
xi	28	E.	25				4	171
xii	23	2	57		vi	11	4	180
	Romans.				19	1	18
						12	4	153
viii	14	4	114
	15	1	13			Philippians
	23	1	30
		2	44		ii	9,10	E.	36
	24	1	30		iii iv	19 11	3 3	78 94
	1 Corinthians.			12	3	ib.
	24	4	112
ii	11	1	21			COLOSSIANS.
iv	9	4	28		i	19	1	3

THE INDEX.

Chap.	Vers,	Part. Pag.		Hebrews.
i ii	24 9	4 111 1 3	Chap, i	Vers. 2 3	Part. 4 E.	Pag. 113 32
	1 Thessalonians. j	ii	10	4	111
iv V	15,17 t3 4	E. 29 1 5,6 4 204, 209	iii iv	18 12 19	4 4 4	187 201 187
	5	4 180, 209		James.
	2 Thessalonians.	*iv	1	1	9
				2	1	ih.
ii	2	E. 29		3	1	ib.
	3	1 35		4	4	113
		4 130	V	17	4	165
	4	4 117, 158
	7	4 127		1 Peter.
	8-	4 203
	9	4 161	i	18	1	30
	10 s^^.	3 103 4 161	iv	17	1	26
	11	4 113		2 Peter.
	12	4 113,209	i	4	4	114
	15	4 i&, P. ii		19	1	25
		ii	1	1	30
	1 Timothy.		6	1	4
				7	1	34
iv	Isqq	. 4 117,159			3	98
	3	4 159		8 9	1 1	34 ib.
	2 Timothy.		10	1	ib.
			iii	3	1	11
ii	11 12	2 44 2 ?6.			2	47
	26	2 45		1	John.
iii	1	1 11
		2 47	ii	*16	1	2
	2	2 /6.			2	43
	3	1 11			3	73,75
		2 47		18	4	113, 121
	4	1 11		19	4	114
		2 47		22	4	113,120
	5	2 46		23	4	113

THE INDEX.

Chap,	Vers.	Part.	Pag.	Chap.	Vers.	Part.	Pag.
iv	1	4	113	*xi	14	4	179, 180
	2	4	ib.	xii	1	4	141
	3	4	113,121		5	4	149
	8	3	82		6	E.	48,49
V	19	1	22		12 14	4 4	183 182
	JUDE.		*xiii	1	4	134
	14	1	5		2	4	154, 16d
	16	1	11		3	4	139
	17	1	5		5	4	159
	18	1	5,11		12	4	139
		2	47		\^sqq.	4	139, 160
				14	4	160, 161
	Revelation			16	4 E.	149 31
	20	4	177			4	170, 173
ii	17	1	29		18	1	38
iii	*10	1	28			4	171
	12	E.	24	xiv	1	1	28,31
	18	1	36			4	149
	20	1	28		18	1	16
V	8	4	154			4	192
vi	9	4	192		19	1	\6
*vii	1	E.	42		20	1	ib.
	2	1	29	XV	1	1	31
		E.	23			4	181
	3	1	29,39		2	4	ib.
	bsqq.	4	132		3	4	ib.
		E.	23		6*^^.	4	189
viii	23	E.	24	*xvi	1	4	190
ix	14	4	152		*2	4	ib.
	15	4	ih.		5	4	191
X	2	4	139		6	4	192
*xi	2	4	154.158		9	4	ib.
	1	4	149		10	4	193
	3	4	ib.		12	4	ib.
		E.	47		13	4	195
	3	4	174		14	4	ib.
	4	4	176			E.	25
	5	4	165, 177		16	4	195
	6	4	177		17	4	197
	7	4	178		18	4	ib.
	9sqq	4	ib.		19	4	ib.

THE INDEX.

Chap. Vers. Part. Pag. xvii '^sqq. 4 145,197

xvin *xix

5 12 13 15 16

\sqq.

Isqq.

8

149 136 ib. 149 136 197 ib. 36

Chap. Vers. *xix 11

XX

xxii

12

13 sqq. 17 18 20 21 8 16

Part. Pag. 4 200

ib. 201 198, 199

ib. 203 ib. 198

25

THE END.

MARCHANT, PRINTER, I>rOEAM-eO V RT, LONDON.

'^"'i'^r^ad Word.

THE INDEX.

Chap. Vers. Part. Pag.

\sqq. 4 145,197

xvii

XVllI

*xix

5 12 13 15 16

Isqq.

Isgq. 8

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 I

Chap. Vers. Part. Pag

'^xix

149 136 ib. 149 136 197 ib. 36

XX

xxii

11 12

13 sqq. 17 18 20 21 8 16

200

ib. 201 198, 199

ib.

203

ib.

198

25

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