A Paraphrase on the New Testament, Revelation · Chapter 10
CHAP. X.
1. ANd I ſaw another mighty Angel, come down from Heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the ſun, and his feet as pillars of fire.
1. The circumſtances deſcribe the Glory of this Angel, which ſome take for Chriſt, and ſome for a proper Angel.
2. And he had in his hand a little book open: and he ſet his right foot upon the ſea, and his left foot on the earth.
2. The plain ſenſe is, that he ſhewed the univerſality of his commiſſioned power (ſea and land comprehending the world below;) and that-the Book was the Decree of God committed to him to execute. But the conjectured ſenſe is manifold: Some ſay it was Gods Decree to deſtroy Jeruſalem, and that Sea and Land was Galilee and Judea: And others that it was Gods Decree to deſtroy the Roman heathen power, and deliver his Servants: And others that it was his Decree to deſtroy the Papacy, and reform and deliver the Church: And others that it was his Decree to deſtroy all oppreſſing powers, and ſet up Chriſts thouſand years reign in Righteouſneſs: And others that it was his Decree to end the World, and come in judgment.
3. And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, ſeven thunders uttered their voices.
3. His terrible Aſpect and Cry, was to prepare for a progreſſive Increaſe of the Plagues, ſignified by ſeven Thunders, which are louder than Trumpets.
4. And when the ſeven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven, ſaying unto me, ſeal up thoſe things which the ſeven thunders uttered, and write them not.
4. Say ſome, Becauſe the Plagues are ſo grievous, that (on Jeruſalem, ſay ſome; on the Empire, ſay others; on the Papacy, ſay others) they ſhall be known by experience, and not by words. Therefore write them not (at all, ſay ſome; or not yet, ſay others.)
5. And the angel which I ſaw ſtand upon the ſea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, 6. And ſware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven and the things that therein are, and the earth and the things that therein are, and the ſea and the things that are therein, that there ſhould be time no longer. 7. But in the days of the voice of the ſeventh angel, when he ſhall begin to ſound, the myſtery of God ſhould be finiſhed, as he hath declared to his ſervants the prophets.
5, 6, 7. He ſware by God, that there ſhould be no longer delay; that is, ſay ſome, of the Deſtruction of the Jews, but till Adrian's time; or, as others, of the Ruin of the Roman Empire; or, as others, of the Churches Deliverance from Popery and Perſecution; or, as others, that there ſhall be no longer Duration of this World: But that, at the ſeventh Trumpet, God's decreed Judgments ſhall be accompliſhed. Or, as Lira, that the Arrian Hereſie ſhould no longer proſper.
8. And the voice which I heard from heaven ſpake unto me again, and ſaid, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which ſtandeth upon the ſea, and upon the earth. 9. And I went unto the angel, and ſaid unto him, Give me the little book. And he ſaid unto me, Take it, and eat it up, and it ſhall make thy belly bitter, but it ſhall be in thy mouth ſweet as honey.
8, 9. The Voice bid me take the Book, &c. And I asked the Angel for it; who bid me eat it, &c. It ſhall be pleaſant to thee, to know what will be as News; but bitter to know ſuch heavy things: or, it will be ſweet to thee, to ſore-know the Churches Deliverance; but bitter, to know the dreadful Judgments that effect it, (againſt the Jews, ſay ſome; the Roman Empire, ſay others; the Papal Church, ſay others, &c.)
10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up, and it was in my mouth ſweet as honey: and as ſoon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
10. The Mercy revealed in it, was ſweet; but the dreadful Judgments of Bloodſhed, bitter.
11. And he ſaid unto me, Thou muſt propheſie again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.
11. Say ſome, When Titus hath deſtroyed Jeruſalem, there is more for thee to propheſie of, which many following Emperors, and their Armies, will do againſt them, eſpecially Adrian, to finiſh their Deſtruction. Or, as others, There are yet greater, and more dreadful things to be told thee, againſt many Nations and Kingdoms. Or, as others. The Work of Propheſie, or preaching the Goſpel, ſuppreſſed by the Pope, and his Prelates, ſhall be revived again, and proſper, before the end.