The Whole Revelation of John in Two Treatises, Treatise 2 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
THE ARGVMENT
As God never left his Church deſtitute of Prophets and prophecies, to comfort and forewarne them againſt al troubles: So here is deſcribed howe Chriſt his Church, and throne of his trueth and true religion, hath this booke of prophecie adioyned: Wherein is ſet out, what great grief and dolour it were to the Elect, if they lacked this foreſight of the good ſucceſſe, and proſperous end of their miſeries: for the which cauſe, Chriſt here hath revealed this booke of prophecie to his Elect Church: like as on the other parte, his whole Saintes and elect congregation, doth render him praiſe and thankes therefore for ever.
The Text.
AND I ſaw in the right hande of him that ſate vp on the throne, a Booke written within, and on the backeſide, ſealed with ſeuen ſeales,
2 And I ſawe a ſtrong Angel, which preached with a loud voice, Who is woorthy to open the booke, and to looſe the ſeals thereof:
3 And no man in heauē, nor in earth, neither vnderunder the earth, was able to open the Booke, neither to look theron.
4 Then I wept much, becauſe no man was found worthie to open and to read the Booke, neither to looke thereon.
5 And one of the Elders ſaid vntounto me, weep not: behold, the Lyon which is of the tribe of Iuda, the roote of Dauid, hath obtained to open the booke, and to looſe the ſeuen ſeales thereof.
6 Then I beheld, and loe, in the mids of the throne, and of the four beaſts, and in the mids of the Elders, ſtoode a Lamb as thogh he had bene killed, which had ſeuen horns, and ſeuen eies, which are the ſeuen Spirits of God, ſent into all the world.
7 And he came and tooke the booke out of the right hand of him, that ſate vppon the throne.
8 And whē he had takē the book, the foure beaſtes, and the foure and twentie Elders, fel down before the Lamb hauing euerye one harps and golden vials ful of odours, which are the prayers of the Saintes.
9 And they ſung a new ſong, ſaying, Thou art worthie to take the Booke, and to open the ſeals therof, becaus thou waſt killed, & haſt redemed vsus to God by thy blood out of eueryevery kindred, and tongue, & people, and nation.
10 And haſt made vsus vntounto our God, Kings, & Prieſtes, and wee ſhall raigne on the earth.
11 Then I beheld, & I hard the voice of many Angels round about the throne, & about the beaſts, and the Elders, and there vvere thouſand thouſands.
12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthie is the Lambe, that was killed to receiue power, & riches, and wiſdome, and ſtrength, and honor, & glory, and praiſe.
13 And all the creatures which are in heauen, & on the earth, & vnderunder the earth, and in the ſea, & al that are in them, heard I, ſaying, Praiſe, & honor, & glory, and power be vntounto him, that ſitteth vponupon the throne, & vntounto the Lamb for euermore.
14 And the foure beaſts ſaid: Amen, and the foure and twentie Elders fell downe, and worſhipped him that liueth for euermore.
The Paraphraſticall expoſition.
AND I conſidered, that onelie in the mercifull hand of the Almightie, that ſitteth in the throne of his trueth, ſtandeth the a reuelation of al thinges done hitherto, or that ſhall occurre and come to paſſe hereafter, and that theſe myſteries were hid and cloſed from the world, as if they b were ſeuen foldly ſealed.
2 And I perceiued, that althogh the moſt mightie Angels of heauen were inquiſitiue, and ſhoulde openlie proclaime, who were worthie to open theſe ſealed myſteries, and to make the ſame patent;
3 They ſhould finde no creature in heauen, earth, or vnderunder the earth, worthy or able to open the ſame, or to foreſee them:
4 For the which cauſe, I (for the whole elect) greatlie mourned and lamented, that none was founde worthie to open theſe Euangelical myſteries of our redemption, and Chriſtian hiſtorie following thereupon.
5 Till by one of the twentie foure bookes of the old Teſtament, euen c by Geneſis (chap. 49.8.9.10.) wee receiued firſt this comfort, that out of the tribe of Iuda (which was the root and ſtocke, whereof Dauid and Chriſte ſprang) ſhould ariſe a victorious Lyon ouer all his enemies, who ſhould be our true Shiloh and Meſſias, in whom al nations ſhould be bleſſed, and ſhuld be the ladder (Gen▪ 28.12.) by which we ſhould attain to heauen, and all heauenlie myſteries: ſo that no ſecretes, although they were ſeuenfoldlie ſealed, could be latent or hid from him.
6 And behold, among theſe of Gods true Temple and holie religion, euen his foure Evangeliſts, & true profeſſors of the foure and twentie bookes of the olde teſtament, this came to paſſe, and was perfourmed in Ieſus Chriſt our Lambe, who was ſacrificed for vsus, and ſeeming vtterlie dead, did riſe again, and liueth aeternallie, in d ſeuenfolde power and prouidence of that only ſpirit of God, which is diſperſed ſeuerallie amongſt the electe throughout the whole world.
7 For hee is nowe come fleſhlie into this world, and hath receiued at the hands of his Father, perfect knowledge and reuelation of the whole myſteries of our redemption, and hiſtorie following thereupon.
8 Which as that immaculate Lamb receiued, & began to open & preach: his whole elect of the old & new Teſtaments, proſtrate themſelues before his majeſtie, and rejoicing as with timbrels, do offer vp their vials ful of the heauenly ſmel of their holie prayers.
9 Singing gladlie the joyful e ſong of our new redemption in his blood, confeſsing this their Lord, to be onlie worthy to receiue the doctrine of our redemption, and to open vp the myſteries, and whole hiſtorie following therupon, for that euen he it is, that hath died for vsus, & hath f redeemed vsus in his blood; and hath reconciled vsus to God, and of all the tribes, tongues, kindreds, and nations, hee hath gathered vsus together.
10 And made vsus Kings & Prieſts, to God, and euen with him ſhall we raigne, while wee are yet in this ff earth.
11 And I conſidered the joyful voice alſo, of infinite of Gods holie Angels, that ſtande awaiting on the throne of Gods trueth, and in defence of his holie religion, and doctrine of the new and olde Teſtamentes, euen thouſand thouſands beheld I,
12 Profeſsing openlie, that immaculate Lambe, that was crucified, to be worthie to receiue power, and riches, wiſedome, and ſtrength, with honour, glorie, and praiſe.
13 And al the creatures which are in heauen, and on the earth, & vnderunder the earth, and in the ſea, euen all that are in thē, vnderſtood I to yeeld, euerie one in his own kind, the like praiſe, honour, glorie, & power vntounto that Almightie, that ſits in the throne of his trueth, and vntounto this his immaculate Lambe for evermore.
14 And as the foure Evangeliſtes yeelded thereto their teſtimony, the 24. books of the olde Teſtament, euen all the true profeſſors thereof (vnderſtanding their prophecies and expectation of the Meſſias nowe compleate) doe proſtrate themſelues, and doe worſhip him therefore, that liueth for euer and euer.
Notes, Reaſons, and Amplifications.
a That by a booke is meaned Prophecies, Reuelations, and admonitions, conſider by the tenth chapter hereof: and Ezech. 3.1 But in that it was written without and within, it ſignifieth, that it contained patent hiſtories of thinges in S. Iohns daies, and ſecrete prophecies of thinges to come after his daies, among the Chriſtians, as euidentlie appeareth, Reuel. 1.19. and note u thereof: the like ye ſhal finde in Ezech. 2.10.
b That each of theſe ſeales doth containe ſeuen yeares, is prooued by our 9. propoſition: but why, and in what reſpects they are called ſeals, appeareth to be theſe cauſes: Firſt, becaus (as propoſition 9. is ſaid) they are a part of Daniels weekes, which indeed, are myſticall and ſealed weekes, as ſaith the Angell (Dan. 12.9.) Theſe vvordes are cloſed and ſealed. Therfore, juſtlie may both theſe weeks and theſe Seales be called ſealed weekes, or weeklie ſeales. Secondlie, becauſe in the time of theſe Seales, containing the ſpace of 42. yeares, the whole ſeales of our ſaluation were ſufficientlie opened by the doctrine of Chriſt and his Apoſtles, preached in that time (as Paul teſtifieth Rom. 10.18) throughout al the whol world: & in that ſpace the Iewes, & other enemies wer brought to confuſion. Thirdlie, this ſpace of theſe 42. years, is juſtly termed by ſeals, becauſe that ſhort ſpace, in cōpariſon of the reſt of the years vntil the latter day, which are cōtained in this book, is as the time of the opening of the ſeals of letters, in reſpect of the longer time in reading the ſame. Fourthly, as ſeals muſt firſt be opened, ere the letter be reade, ſo theſe accidents of theſe 42. firſte yeares, being firſt in time, muſt firſt be performed before the reſt follow.
e Although this be Geneſis, in the which this cōfortable promiſe of the Meſſias is firſt made to vsus, yet al the reſt of the 24. Ancients do alſo prophecie & forewarn the ſame, which moueth Iohn here not to ſay, only one Elder, but, one of the Elders, as if he wold ſay, the firſt of thē: & afterward, he repeates the ſame, for al the reſt of the Elders, in the 8. & 9. verſes: where they ſay al in one voice, Thou art worthy to tak the booke, & open the ſeals therof, &c. In which ſaying of this Elder ye ſhal not ſturre, although ye find not theſe words mentioned word by word in Geneſis, for Chriſt & his Apoſtles cite not their teſtimonies of the old Teſtament alwaies word by word, as ye ſhall find more ample in the note g Apoc. 7.
d Among the prophets, commonlie hornes are taken for Kings, Kingdomes, and powers, as in Daniel. 8. and Pſalm. 74.4.5. And eies are taken for wiſedome, prouidence, and foreſight, as in Eſay. 35.5. and Mat. 7. meaning hereby the princelie powers and wiſe foreſight, that is in Gods holie Spirit: but of their number of ſeuen, read e in the former chapter.
e That this ſong is the ſong of our new redemption, is prooued by the words following, to wit: And thou haſt redeemed vsus, &c.
f. ff That this, for this text and other cauſes, is a viſion of Gods throne, not in heuē but on earth, is proued by our 17. propoſitiō.