The Accomplishment of the Prophecies, Chapter 10
PROPHECIES SCATTEred throughout the Apocalyps, speaking of the Pope and his seate, noted by the King of Great Brittaine. CHAP. 10.
BEsides these prophecies formerly expounded, which describe the Popes seate, and his person, by a continued discourse of whole chapters; His Maiestie hath noted other places also to this purpose scattered here & there in divers places of the Apocalyps, which may not bee omitted. The first is in the 6. chapt. and 8. verse, Where the Popes seate is represented by a pale horse, & his name that sa…e on him was death, and Hell followed after him, & power was givē vntounto him over the fourth part of the earth, to wit over Europe. Hell followes him, because it is the reward for those which serue this seate.
His Maiesty notes also that the Pope is the king called Abaddon, or Apollyon, that is to say, one that destroies, and wasteth soules, who is spoken off in the 9. chapt. v. 11. and is king over the Locusts which came out of the thicke smoake of the bottomlesse pit, v. 2.3. that is to say, which arose out of grosse ignorance that proceeded from hell and the diuell, and that, after that a starre fell from heaven, that is to say, by the meanes of one which hauing beene a light vntounto the church for a time, tumbled downe, and fell away from heavenly things to earthly, of a spirituall Pastor becōming a Temporal Prince: which is altogither suteable to the Pope. This is confirmed by this, that the men which serue him are punished in the 20. verse for serving Idoles of Gold, of syluer, of brasse and of stone, to the end that no mā should apply this prophecie to the Turcks. For the Turcks hauehave all sorts of Images in detestation. And the vices reckoned vp in the 21. verse do all agree to the Romane Hierarchie, as the King hath shewed most exactly and truely.
He doth likewise apply the 16. chap. of the Apocalyps to the See of Rome, where God doth powre out 7 vials of his wrath, that is to say, 7 sorts of punishments vponupon those which beare the marke of the beast in their foreheads, ver. 1. and 2. The three last are the worst. For in the fift, which is spoken off in the 10. verse, God powreth out darknes vponupon the throne of the beast, and God smiting them from aboue, they blasphemed against him. But at the powring out of the sixt viall, verse 13. There came 3 vncleane spirits like frogs out of the mouth of the Dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, & out of the mouth of the false Prophet, by which Frogs his Maiestie vnderstands, the Emissaries, and new religious orders, which the Pope sends out to seduce the people, and especially the Iesuits compared (as the King hath most wittily obserued) to Frogs, because as these liue by land and water, and are of a mixt nature, so the Iesuits are halfe Ecclesiastical, halfe lay creatures; men of the church, & yet such as will thrust themselues into worldly affaires. And they are said to be 2, because (saith the King) of their threefold direction, being sent from those 3. mentioned v. 13. Which seemes to be cō firmed by that which is annext in the 14. verse. These are the spirits that worke miracles, which goe vntounto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world to gather them to the battell of that great day of God Almightie. For these men speake of miracles, and incite kings & people on to persecute the faithfull, but at the incounter God shall overthrow them in the day which he hath appointed, & doeth (as it were) expect them in battell.
The place where the Adversaries shal be discomfited, is called Harmageddon in the 16. verse, which is an Hebrew word, and signifieth the mounetaine of Mageddo, neere to which, that is to say, in the neighbouring vallie, the good *Chron. 35. v. 22. Herodotus in his 2 book called Euterpe speaking of this battle of Neco against Iosias. s…ith foreign for Meguido foreign.King Iosias was slaine by Neco king of Egypt. In the same place was Si…era, captaine of Iabins army king of Canaan, discomfited by Debora the Prophetesse; as it is to bee seene in the 15. of Iudges, ver. 19. whence it appeares that the holy Holy Ghost doeth heere allude that discomfiture which was effected by contemptible meanes, to wit, by a woman attended but by a small company; to signifie, that the Popes throne, and they which follow him, shall be vanquished by the Church compared to a woman, and by contemptible meanes. Notwithstanding we are to note that this word Harmagaddon doth also signifie the overthrow of the prowd or haughtie: yea and that in Hebrew it signifies foreign. Roma subversio, the subversion of Rome, which fals out by an admirable occurrence.
The 7 viall powred out in the 17 verse. Even to the end of the Chapter doth represent the plagues which must befall the Cittie of Rome, and the Romish Church, before her destruction. The great Earthquake, and the diuision of the great Citty into 3. parts. v. 19. doe foretell vsus of the divisions and dissentions which shall trouble her a little before her final overthrow: which is toucht by the way in these words. And that great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to giuegive vntounto her the cup of the wine of the fiercenesse of his wrath. This destruction of hers is described more at large in the 18. chap. which we hauehave expounded.
He that would be more fully informed in these thinges, let him read the Kings kooke; For all that we can doe herein, is nothing else but to follow his steps. Because the holy Ghost is more concealed in these last observations, then in the other Chapters which I hauehave expounded all along; Experience will make it more manifest, and posterity shall hereafter reckon this amongst one of Gods wonderfull workes, that hee did set such a great King vpō the Throne, to publish his secrets frō an high place, and to expose the truth to the sight of al mē. But especially the Kings and Princes of these and succeeding ages, will be admonisht hereby, and perceiuing that it is more then 1500 yeares since that God did speake of them, and that they do make a part of S. Iohns Revelation, wil apply themselues readily to execute his ordinance. To whō his Maiestie of England (towards the end of his preface) makes an exhortation, which deserues to bee written in letters of Gold, and which I hauehave put here for the conclusion of my booke, as a more delicate dish at the ende of a feast.