The Whole Revelation of John in Two Treatises, Treatise 2 · Chapter 15
CHAP. XV.
THE ARGVMENT.
The ſpirit of God, intending to repeat the propheſie of the ſeauen ages now vnderunder the tearmes of Vialls, which before were expreſſed by ſeauen trumpets, to the effect, the one may be a commentarie to diſcipher the other, firſt ſettes downe this chapter as a preface thereunto, containing in it cheiflie two godly inſtructions. The one of Gods mercy, that theſe laſt plagues being imminent & redy, do not the more fall out, till God hauehave firſt eſtabliſhed ſuch in ſecuritie amidſt the raging ſeas and conſuming fire of worldly perſecution, as refuſing the Antichriſtian errors, reioice triumphantly in god. The ſecond inſtruction, is of Gods iuſtice, that while as his temple is moſt patent, and his treuth publikelie preched in the dayes of the primitiue Church, forth of the open predication of the Evangell, proceedes both Gods horrible plagues, vniuerſally vponupon the contē ners thereof: As alſo, it pleaſeth Gods maieſtie to giuegive power and permiſsion to the Antichriſt, to obſcure the true contemned light of the Euangell, till the end of theſe plagues.
The Text
1 ANd I ſaw another ſign in heuen, gret and maruelous, ſeuen Angels hauing the ſeauen laſt plagues: for by them, is fulfilled the wrath of God.
2 And I ſaw, as it vver, a glaſſie ſea, mingled with fire, and thē that had gotten victory of the beaſt, and of his Image, & of his marke of the number of his name, ſtande at the glaſsie ſea, hauing the harpes of God.
3. And they ſung the ſong of Moſes the ſeruant of God, and the ſonge of the Lambe, ſaying, Great and maruellous are thy workes, Lord God almightie: iuſt and true ar thy waies, King of Saints.
4 Who ſhall not feare thee, O Lord, and glorifie thy name? for thou onelyonly art holy, and all nations ſhall come and woorſhip before thee: for thy iudgements ar made manifeſt.
5 And after that I looked, and beholde, the temple of the Tabernacle of teſtimony was open in heauen.
6 And the ſeauen Angells came out of the temple, which had the ſeuen plagues, clothed in pure & bright linen, & hauing their breaſtes girded with golden girdles.
7 And one of the foure beaſtes gaue vntounto the ſeuen Angelles, ſeuen golden vialles, full of the wrath of God, which liueth for euermore.
8 And the Temple was full of ſmoke from the glorye of God, & from his power, and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the ſeauen plagues of the ſeuen Angels were fulfilled.
The Paraphraſticall expoſition.
1 AND I behelde againe, farther of theſe great and heuenly maruells, and conſidered Gods meſſengers of the ſeauen latter plagues reddy, wherby in them the wrath of God might be fulfilled.
2. Then I perceaued and ſawe, how firſt, God would make for his own, the flowing a waues, and rageing tyrannie of the worlde calme, and firm as glaſſe, though mixed with a litle fire of perſecution, and thoſe that had victoriouſly attained to the true b knowledge, which is the Antichriſtian empyre, who are the counterfet emperours thereof, which is his marke, that comes c of the number of his name, would hee make firmly and conſtantly to ſtande in all theſe raging ſtormes, as ſtable and ſure, with perfite gladnes.
3 Singing and reioycing with Moſes and the prophets of God, in the old Teſtamēt, & with chriſt & his diſciples of the new teſtamēt
5 Thereafter I conſidered, and behold, the true Temple of God, even his holy Churche was viſible and patent, and the goſpell publikely preached, among his heauenly elect of the primitiue Church,
6 And vponupon the patēcie of that true church & d opening vp of the goſpell & true chriſtian religiō, ther flowed out vponupon the diſobedient contemners thereof, the ſeuen great plagues, powred out in the ſeuen laſt ages, by the Angels of God, who ar cled in e puritie and innocencie, & gloriouſly girded with juſtice, power and readines.
7 And Luke one of the f four evāgeliſts (ending here his acts of the Apoſtles) giues place frō this forth, to theſe ſeuen Angells, to proſecute out their prophecie of theſe plagues, which they are to powre foorth of the precious cuppes of the juſtice of God euerlaſting.
8 And during that time, ſhal the true church of God, and holy chriſtian religion be g obſcured and darkened with Antichriſtian errours, which the majeſtie and power of God hath pleſed to permit and ſuffer, for the contempt of his word, ſo that therby, there ſhal be no true viſible church, nor ſincere doctrin publikly opened, that any may hauehave acceſſe vntounto, till theſe h ſeuen plagues bee powred out, by theſe Meſſengers and Angels of God, againſt the wicked of the world.
Notes, Reaſons, and Amplifications.
a This glaſsie ſea, is the world, wherin, although the wicked be drowned ſometime, with the ſtormie waues and troubles; ſometime againe, with the pleaſures and voluptuouſnes thereof: yet doth God a litle quiet the rage thereof, and make it ſo firme and ſtable to his owne, that though they ſometime ſlide thereon, and be grieued with the fire of perſecution, yet ſhall neither the raging ſtormes thereof, on the one part, nor the alluring pleaſures thereof, vponupon the other part, ouerwhelm or drowne them, hereof reade the Paraphraſe of the Reuel. 4.6.
b The text here ſpeketh of victory, & ouercomming the beaſt, his image, and mark of the number of his name. Though the ouercomming the beaſt, might import a battell or ſtrife: yet it were vnproper to ſay, they ſtroue and ouercame the mark of the number of the beaſts name. This victory then, appeares to mean a ſpirituall ſtrife by knowledge, to diſcerne the treuth and true meaning of theſe, from the wrong meaning, and ſo to ouercome the difficultie of theſe myſteries, that knowing their true meaning, we may victoriouſly follow the truth.
c Many hauing miſtaken this text, hauehave not followed the originall greek, but thinking to make the matter more ſenſible, hauehave turned it to the wrong ſenſe: for ſome hauehave here interponed the conjunctiō, and, ſaying, of his mark, [and] of the nūber of his name: theſe, by interponing that coniunction and, woulde meane the beaſts mark to be a ſeueral thing, no waies pertinent to the number of the beaſts name. Others, not finding there that coniunction, and, which is foreign in the greeke, doeth apparantly iudge theſe words. [Of his marke of the number of his name] to bee put appoſitiué, as to ſay, Iohn an Apoſtle, and ſo doth iudg this mark and this number to mean both one thing, and therefore leaues out the one; to wit, the mark, and this is done in the vulgar latine tranſlation in theſe wordes. Et eos qui vicerunt beſtiam et imaginem eius et numerum nominis eius &c. that is, and they who hauehave gotten victory of the beaſt, & of his image, and of the number of his name &c. but betwixt theſe extremities, whereof the one addeth, & the other paireth the text, we hold the text it ſelfe as the true middeſt, which word by word according to the greek originall, & as both T. Beza in the Latine, and we here in the engliſhe hauehave expounded the ſame, doeth import not the victory of the beaſts mark, and of the number of his name, but of the beaſts mark of the nūber of his name: inferring expreſlie thereby, that the beaſts marke comes of the number of his name: and therefore, hauehave we cited this text in our 31. propoſition, as a ſure ground and authoritie to try this mark by, reade further hereof in the ſaid propoſition.
d That this Temple means Gods holy Church and whol contents thereof, euen his very treuth and true religion amongſt his holy and heauenly elect vponupon earth, is ſhewed in our 20. propoſition. And here is to be noted, that euer the more patently that this temple is opened, and the more openly that Gods truth is publiſhed, the greater euer are the plagues that floweth out from thence, if it be not duly imbraced, and reuerently accepted, as experience both here, after the daies of the primitiue Church, and alſo in al ages proueth, and ſhal, without al queſtion, be alſo proued vponupon vsus in this preſent age, except more ſpeedy repentance come not, yet appeareth.
e That fine linnen, is puritie, innocencie and iuſtification, read the Reuel. 19.8 and how this girding is a ſigne of readines, read Luke 12.35. and Luk. 17.8. and ſpecially meaneth readines to juſtice, as in Eſay. 11.5. Iuſtitia cingulum lumborum eius, Iuſtice ſhall be the girdle of his loynes, &c. and that with greate power, as Pſa. 17.33 40. So that the girdle of theſe proprieties, for their excellencie, is ſaid here to be of gold: that is to ſay, precious and glorious as is ſaid, Apoc. 1.13. note n thereof.
f Where it is ſaide here, that this beaſt or Euangeliſt, gaue the ſeuen Vials to theſe ſeuen Angels, it is not literallie ſo to be taken, but after a propheticall and figuratiue maner of ſpeach: as if hee would ſay, that that Euangeliſt Luke remitted, and gaue ouer the writing of the reſt of his Eccleſiaſticall hiſtorie and entred to, theſe ſeuen Angels to prophecie out, where he left off: The like phraſe is commonlie vſed, in ſaying, Thou haſt deliuered him thy penne: that is, Thou haſt giuen place to him to write the reſt. Here then note, that if either the foure beaſts were wrong interpreted, to be the foure Euangeliſtes, or yet the ſeuen trumpets, or ſeuen vials were not both one, or at the leaſte, began not about the yeare of God, 71. and ſo our 2. 6. and 19. propoſitions were impugned, then woulde there ſome repugnance appeare here: but in that there is no repugnance here (for the Actes of the Apoſtles end at the remaining of Paule captiue two yeares in Rome, in free warde, where ſhortlie after he ſuffered death, in the end of Nero his raign, which approcheth within a yeare or two to the ſaid 71. yeare of Chriſt) Therfore, the ſaid propoſitions are hereby confirmed and vndoubtedlie approoued.
g Some doe tranſlate this to bee the ſmoke and reeke of Gods majeſtie, and of his power, that hindreth vsus to enter into his Temple; which is not probable, but rather, as Ierome and other learned tranſlate it, a ſmoke, not of Gods majeſtie, nor of his power, but from Gods majeſtie, and from his power, as being the ſmoke of Antichriſtian errours, which neuertheles floweth from the permiſsion and power of Gods majeſtie, for the puniſhment of the contemners of his trueth. The like is ſaide in the Lordes prayer, Lord, lead vsus not into temptation. and Amos. 3.6. Is there anie euill in the citie, which the Lord hath not done: not that the Lord tempteth vsus, or doth anie euill in the citie directlie, but onelie, that that temptation and euill doing doth flowe from the permiſsion and ſufferance of his majeſtie, and his almightie power, as permitting, in his juſt wrath, his ſlaues, the deuil, the world, and the fleſh, to ſtirre vp all euill in vsus: And ſo, this ſmoke that hindereth vsus from entering into Gods Temple, is not his ſmoke, but the ſmoke of Antichriſtian errours, which neuertheles floweth from the permiſsion of Gods majeſtie and power.
h This abiding of Gods Temple ſo long latent and obſcure, is moſt certaine: For, during the moſt part of the firſt age, by diuers heretikes, forerunners of the great Antichriſt: and during the ſecond, third, fourth, fift, ſixt, and beginning of the ſeuenth ages, by the Romane Antichriſt himſelfe; the true Temple of God, & light of the Goſpell was obſcured, til by the ſeuenth plague, in this ſeuenth and laſt age, his kingdome began to fall; ſo that henceforth to the worldes end, ſhall Gods true Church and holie religion be patent, open, and publikelie knowne. Hereof read the paraphraſe of chap 11. 19. and note r thereof, with the diſcourſe of our 20. propoſition.