Exposition on the Catholic Epistles, Revelation · Chapter 10
CHAP. X.
ANd I ſaw another ſtrong Angell comming down from heauen, compaſſed with a cloud, Verſ. 1.and a rainbow vponupon his head, &c. Who is this Angell? What little booke open is it that he holdeth in his hand? Why doth he ſtand ſo ſtrangely one foot vponupon the ſea and another vponupon the land? What meaneth his loud cry, and the ſeuen thunders vttering their voices thereupon, which muſt not be written? And why doth hee ſweare ſo ſeriouſly, that time ſhall be no more but during the ſounding of the ſeuenth Angell? And what is meant in that Iohn is bidden to eat that little booke, &c. for all theſe things doe ſo hang together, that they muſt needs be expounded together?
Anſw. It is to be vnderſtood, that all theſe things come vnderunder the fixt trumpet, and therefore are to bee referred to the ſame times, though perhaps beginning ſomewhat after the iudgements before declared. Hitherto hath beene nothing but matter of terrour by fierce enemies in infinite multitudes, deſtroying a world of people for idolatry, murthers, fornications, &c. Now becauſe the Lord had ſome people in theſe moſt corrupt times, which read and cleaued vntounto the Scriptures, and impugned hereby thoſe groſſe corruptions, though with danger of their liues, and proſpered in reſpect of their cauſe in ſo doing: it ſeemed good vntounto the Spirit of God by ſome figure to ſhew this alſo, and the figure is an open booke in the hand of a ſtrong Angell, eaten vp by Iohn, which was ſweet in his mouth, but bitter in his belly. And againe, in the next Chapter a reed giuen vntounto him to meaſure the temple, the outward Court being left vnmeaſured, as being trampled v…der foot by the Gentiles two and forty moneths; in all which time, the two witneſſes of God propheſie in ſackecloth, &c.
C…y…rae…s. Bulling…r. Aret…s. Aug…ſt. &c. Br…ghtman. For…s, &c.This being thus generally premiſed, I come now to the particular Quaeres. This ſtrong Angell, by the conſent of moſt Expoſitors, is the Lord Ieſus, who hath a rainebow about his head, to ſhew the ſecurity brought vntounto men by him; is cloathed with a cloud, that is, the nature of man; his face ſhineth as the Sunne, becauſe he is the light of the world; his feet like pillars of fire, to ſhew that his miniſters propagating the Goſpell, kindle a fire of feruent louelove where they come; one foot being ſet vponupon the earth and the other vponupon the ſea, ſet forth his dominion ouer ſea and land.Ly…a. Lyra vnderſtandeth the Emperor Iuſtinus, and his Nephew Iuſtinianus about the yeere 518. who held a little booke open when he wrote his Epiſtles againſt the Arrians, in fauour of the Orthodox.
Laſtly, ſome vnderſtand an Angell properly, either Gabriel, or ſome other, perhaps the ſame that was before ſo deſirous to hauehave the booke opened, Chap. 5. but all the ſeales now being opened, and men not being moued to repentance, it is preciſely noted in the Chapter before going, he commeth againe roaring as a Lion, ſo loud, as that thunders Eccho-like are heard,Arethas. Andreas. Abbas. Ioach. Fox. and proteſteth that time ſhall be no more, &c. that men might hereby at the leaſt be awakened & made to repent. And vntounto this doe I ſubſcribe, becauſe I ſee no neceſſity of vnderſtanding Chriſt by an Angell here, but rather as the word ſoundeth: for it is expreſſed in none other termes but foreign, another Angell, that is, another ſuch, as the Angels blowing the trumpets. When Chriſt is ſet forth by this name, it is alwayes with ſome addition, as the Angell of the Couenant, &c. Moreouer, what need was there that Chriſt ſhould now leaue his royall throne in heauen to come downe to the earth, when hee had many miniſters fit for this ſeruice; and indeed, this cannot well be applied vntounto Chriſt, ſeeing it is expreſly ſaid,Act. 3. The heauens muſt containe him till the time of reſtoring all things. Whereas the apparatus of a cloud, rainebow, &c. may ſeeme not to agree to an Angell indeed: let it bee conſidered, that the Angels in heauen doe partake with Chriſt in his glory, as the Saints doe; and then it will not ſeeme abſurd that an Angell ſhould bee ſet forth thus deſcending, all making for the honour of God and of Chriſt, to whom they are miniſters, being glad with ſo great glory. The little booke opened,Pareus. ſome will hauehave to be the ſame which before was ſaid to be ſealed. Some the holy Scriptures, the opening and right vnderſtanding whereof,Aretius. after that they had beene long kept ſhut in the time of Popery, is here figured out. And this ſeemeth to mee to agree beſt, for the other booke muſt needs be very great, out of which ſo many horſes iſſued, and other things appeared, this of the Scriptures is but a little booke in compariſon. Moreouer, the contents of the other booke were before declared, and therefore ſuperfluous it was to propound it againe.Pareus. Bullinger. Forbs. One foot ſet vponupon the ſea and the other vponupon the land, ſome vnderſtand to hauehave beene done, to ſhew Chriſts dominion ouer ſea and land, euen in the time of perſecutions, when he might ſeeme to hauehave beene caſt out of his poſſeſſion. Others allegorically,Brightman. Tho. Aquin. Beda. by his feet vnderſtand the inſtruments of rearing vp the Goſpell againe, and ſo apply his right foot vntounto the moſt famous, and the left to others of leſſe note, theſe were ſet vponupon ſea and land, when all ſorts of people were admoniſhed by them. But there needeth no ſuch curioſity here, for what doth he come to foretell of, but the approach of the end of the world? Which for ſo much as it conſiſteth of ſea and land, how could hee addreſſe himſelfe more fitly to tell of the deſtruction of it, than by this geſture of ſetting his feet vponupon ſea and land, and lifting vp his hand to heauen.
Touching his loud cry, and the ſeuen thunders hereupon vttering their voyces, which Iohn muſt not write; theſe things ſerue further to declare the terrour of this meſſenger ſent from heauen: for when the Lion roareth, the beaſts of the forreſt tremble, ſo when this Angell is ſet forth roaring ſo loud that a thundering noiſe reboundeth againe from the ſound of his voyce, the Lord would hauehave men to tremble at it, and repent, and turne to the Lord from their ſinnes, wherein they are noted hitherto to hauehave perſiſted. The things vttered by the thunders the Lord will not hauehave written, becauſe in all likelihood they were copiouſly ſet forth in other parts of holy Scripture, nothing being more frequent than to admoniſh to repent, and to threaten the impenitent. And the thunders are ſaid to be ſeuen, which is a number of perfection, to ſhew that many terrours ſhould come vponupon the world, if haply they would be rouzed vp hereby. Others by theſe thunders vnderſtand the miniſters of theſe times,Brightman. who like ſons of thunder cry aloud to moue men to repentance, and the number of ſeuen is vſed, to ſhew that they are guided by the Spirit, with his ſeuen-fold gifts, neither doe they vtter any thing but from Chriſts mouth, whoſe ecchoes they are. What they vtter muſt not be written, becauſe there are ſome myſteries which ſhould not be knowne now,Pareus. but are reſerued for after times. Pareus, as he referreth all things here in common to all the ſix trumpets before going, as matter of conſolation to the godly, ſo hee vnderſtandeth the miniſters in the time of perſecution, who did not forbeare to vtter their thundring voyces againſt Tyrants, though vntounto deafe eares; which is noted, in that Iohn is forbidden to write: for when any thing is ſpoken or writtē, but not regarded, it is as if it were not written. And this is ſpoken, that Gods miniſters might not be diſcouraged, but account of their miniſtery as moſt precious, & therefore ſealed vp, though vnprofitable to ſaluation to the wicked world. Let the reader follow which of theſe he wil, but the firſt ſeemeth to me moſt naturall and leſſe ſtrained.Pareus. Pareus mentioneth other words here vſed in ſome copies, as foreign, in Andreas, and Bibliaregia, pro foreign, but all commeth to one; After theſe things write againe, and write not theſe things. Touching the oath here taken, it is to aſſure vsus, that it will not bee long before Chriſts comming to iudgement, but vnderunder the ſound of the ſeuenth Angell, that none might deferre the time of their repentance. And yet, for ſo much as the time of this Angels ſounding is vncertaine,Napie…. though we may know when it beginneth, the iuſt time of the Lords comming to iudgement cannot hence bee gathered. Wherefore that ſtraine of ſome (which make the ſeuen ſeales and trumpets to parallel one another, and to containe eueryevery one an equall portion of time, viz. either two hundred and fifty yeere more or leſſe, and from this ground determine of this time of iudgement) is to be declined as erroneous, ſeeing theſe times hauehave appeared to bee vnequall, ſome one being as long as two or three others. And he calleth the Lords comming to iudgment, & the conſummation of this world, the myſterie of God by the Prophets foretold, becauſe it is hidden from moſt men, and yet apprehended by faith onelyonly, but the Prophets did not ceaſe from time to time to ſpeake of it. Thus all Expoſitors agree but onelyonly Brightman, who expounde h foreign, delay; Brightman.and the myſtery of God of the calling home of the Iewes, and of their flouriſhing eſtate, after this their calling foretold by the Prophets. So that he will hauehave this booke to extend no further, but to the accompliſhment of this myſtery. But for ſo much as plaine mention is made of the riſing of the dead vnderunder the ſeuenth trumpet to come to iudgement, Chap. 11. verſ. 18. it is euident, that the myſtery to be finiſhed here mentioned, is the conſummation of the world, and not the vocation of the Iewes. Touching the eating of this little booke, Iohn is herein made a figure of thoſe inſtruments, whom God meant to vſe to ſet open the Scriptures,Ezech 3. after that they had beene ſo long ſhut vp. For by earneſt ſtudying they did euen deuoure this booke, taking great pleaſure in this ſtudy, but afterwards it was an occaſion of much ſuffering, ſet forth by the ſweetneſſe in the mouth and bitterneſſe in the belly. Thus moſt Writers agree,Rupertus. Thom. Aquin. but ſome vnderſtand this of the perſon of Iohn, who was to returne from baniſhment, and to preach the Coſpell againe. But the extent of his preaching here mentioned is ſo great, as that it cannot agree to his perſon, who preached onelyonly in Epheſus a few yeres after this. Againe it is vnderunder the ſixt trumpet, long before which Iohn was departed.And…a…. Some thinke that Iohn ſhall liue againe in the dayes of Antichriſt, and come and propheſie with Enoch and Elias. But this is a fond phantaſie, the truth hath already beene ſhewed, whereupon wee may build, becauſe confirmed by experience. The word of God being ſhut vp in the time of Popery, hath long agoe beene ſet open againe by the hand of a ſtrong Angell, and it hath beene propheſied againe to many Kings, Peoples and Nations: and although it be oppoſed to this day, and Popery oft getteth the vpper hand in ſundry places, yet herein the truth ſuffereth but as in the time of the Primitiue Church, it was aboue three hundred yeeres before that it was generally receiued then: ſo that the time of iudgement, when an end ſhall be put to all things, cannot be farre off, and this ſhould moue eueryevery one of vsus to turne ſpeedily to the Lord by true repentance, and to beare patiently any aduerſity for the Lords ſake, nothing doubting, but as the holding forth of this open booke hath beene already accompliſhed, and the preaching againe after ſo long a time of ſilence, ſo whatſoeuer is here further auerred by the ſame Angell of the conſummation of this world ſhall alſo vndoubtedly follow, and yet a little while he that ſhall come will come and will not tarry.