A Paraphrase on the New Testament, Revelation · Chapter 17
CHAP. XVII.
1. ANd there came one of the ſeven angels which had the ſeven vials, and talked with me, ſaying unto me, Come hither, I will ſhew unto thee the judgment of the great whore, that ſitteth upon many waters: 2. With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabiters of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
1. Say ſome, 1. I will ſhew thee what is coming from God on Imperial, Heathen, Idolatrous Rome, who by Power and by Learning (by the firſt and ſecond Beaſt) hath drawn Kings and Nations with her to Idolatry.
Others ſay, it is Papal Rome, and they prove it, becauſe if they had not been married to God before by the Profeſſion of Chriſtianity, they could not have been Adulterers. To which the former ſay, 1. That Fornication may be the ſin of the unmarried. 2. That by Fornication is meant Idolatry, and God's right may ſerve to infer this guilt, though men be not married to him by conſent: And that it is incredible that all the Heathen World are no Idolaters, becauſe they were not profeſt Chriſtians. By the Whore is meant the ſame as the Woman, the ſecond two horned Beaſt; and the falſe Prophet, ſay many, that is, the Church of Rome, with the whole body of the Roman Clergy; which others deny.
3. So he carried me away in the ſpirit into the wilderneſs: and I ſaw a woman ſit upon a ſcarlet-coloured beaſt, full of names of blaſphemy, having ſeven heads, and ten horns.
3. Into the Wilderneſs, ſay ſome, to repreſent the deſolation; ſay others, becauſe it was a Revelation not to be yet openly known in the City, for if the Rulers had known of all theſe terrible Predictions againſt them, they would have raged by Perſecution againſt Chriſtians; and therefore all this Prophecy was to be obſcure, and not communicated long ſo commonly as other Scriptures. Others ſay, it was to ſhew that Antichriſt's Kingdom is barren, without a drop of grace: Others, that ſolitude is fitteſt for contemplation: Others, that the Wilderneſs is Heatheniſm brought in by Popery; Others, that as the true Church was driven into a Wilderneſs of ſolitude and ſuffering, ſo now ſhall Papiſts be: Others, that the Papacy is a Wilderneſs, as an Apoſtatical Church ſucceeding the Apoſtolick Church.
Who is the great Whore, whether Rome Pagan, Rome Papal, or Rome hereafter fallen to a future Antichriſt, I ouce for all refer the Reader to my Poſtſcript.
4. And the woman was arrayed in purple, and ſcarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious ſtone and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthineſs of her fornication.
4. Idolatrous Rome was repreſented to me as a Woman richly and ſplendidly arrayed, by her wealth, and pomp, and power, enticing the World to her Idolatry.
5. And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERIE, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
5. The name written was [Myſtery, Babylon, &c.] that is, Myſtical (not literal) Babylon, the Great City Rome, the Mother of Idolatry and Wickedneſs, propagating them, by her Power and Learning, to all the Nations of her Dominions, and further in the World. As Babylon was the Idolatrous, cruel, Captivator of the Ancient Jews, overthrowing their Kingdom; ſo was Idolatrous, proud Rome, the Captivator and Perſecutor of Jew and Gentile Chriſtians, and the great Enemy of the Church.
6. And I ſaw the woman drunken with the blood of the ſaints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jeſus: and when I ſaw her, I wondered with great admiration.
6. Idolatry was not her only crime, but the guilt of being as drunken with holy blood: Both her pomp and her bloodineſs ſeemed wonderfull.
7. And the angel ſaid unto me, Wherefore didſt thou marvel? I will tell thee the myſtery of the woman, and of the beaſt that carrieth her, which hath the ſeven heads and ten horns.
7. Note, Seeing God profeſſeth to open the myſtery, who this Mother of Harlots is, it is ſafeſt to add as little, on pretenſe of fuller expoſition, as we can.
8. The beaſt that thou ſaweſt, was, and is not, and ſhall aſcend out of the bottomleſs pit, and go into perdition, and they that dwell on the earth ſhall wonder, (whoſe names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world,) when they behold the beaſt that was, and is not, and yet is.
8. Some take this as fitted to the time when the Empire ſhould firſt be Chriſtian; as if it meant, Rome was the beaſt when it was Pagan, but now is not when it is Chriſtian, but will be again when it was Papal and Antichriſtian. Or Rome is the Idolatrous beaſt under the Pagan; but is not now under that form; but yet is under the Papal form: Many other expoſitions I paſs by. They, that expound all of Pagan Rome, ſay that the ſenſe is [I ſhall notifie the beaſt, which is the Roman Emperor, by that one who now reigneth which is Domitian:] He was in the Government when his Father Veſpaſian was abroad: And he after ceaſed while his Father and Brother Titus reigned, and then reaſumed it, raiſed by Satan to perſecute the Church, and then is baſely kill'd himſelf.
Rather q. d. [I am now ſhewing thee the fall and deſtruction of the beaſt and whore, and will now notifie him to thee accordingly:] The beaſt or Emperor at this fall will be the bloodyeſt of all perſecutor, Diocleſian: Of whom then it may be ſaid, He was Emperour, But diſcouraged by the ill ſucceſs of his perſecution he, with Maxim. He…cillius, laid down the Empire, and both betook themſelves to a private life: But after the Devil would ſain have reſtored them, and they attempted to riſe out of their privacy; but did it to their own deſtruction, being both kill'd when Conſtantine prevailed: as were Licinius and Maxenti…s, who would have done their work. So that when Conſtantine was deſtroying the Pagan Empire it was true, that Diocleſian (and Maxim. H…cul) was Emperour, and now is not, and yet is, that is, in being, though not in power, but will riſe to his perdition.
And the Idolaters ſhall be ſtruck with wonder and con…rna…ion, when they ſee ſo cruel and great a Tyrant ſo brought to nought.
9. And here is the mind which hath wiſdom: The ſeven heads are ſeven mountains, on which the woman ſitteth. 10. And there are ſeven Kings, five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he muſt continue a ſhort ſpace. 11. And the beaſt that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the ſeven, and goeth into perdition.
9, 10, 11. That the ſeven mountains are thoſe of Rome is very plain: But who were the ſeven Kings I confeſs I know not: Here is work for a ſearching head (the mind that hath wiſdom.) But it is matter of fact, which when the thing was newly done the mind that hath wiſdom might know: But how can we know it, but by hiſtory, without a new Revelation? And hiſtory herein is lame and much uncertain, and the work of man, and all men are lyars; & few Chriſtians were writers till three hundred years after Chriſt; & the firſt Chriſtians had many fabulous reporters among them (as their ſpurious writings ſhew) When John wrote this book, and whether all at once, or at many years diſtance of the parts, is unknown (whatever confident men may talk.) Euſebius truſteth divers fabulous authors, and reports, for want of better, though he be credible himſelf. I take the ſtyle, and words of the Book, to be the beſt Hiſtory of the time, which intimateth that part of it, at leaſt, was written before the ſiege of Jeruſalem, which maketh me the eaſilyer believe Epiphanius, that John was firſt baniſhed into Patmos in the reign of Claudius, and there wrote part of the Book, at leaſt. For though ſome of it might be written of things paſt, its hardly credible that moſt of it ſhould be ſuch.
This Verſe hath many Expoſitions: Many ſay it ſpeaketh not of individual Kings, but of ſeven ſorts of Government, viz. Kings, Conſuls, Decemvirs, Dictators, Tribunes Military, and Emperours; and the Pope they make to be the ſeventh and eighth. But ſo much is ſaid againſt this, as I cannot anſwer: As 1. That it is not meer Power, but Idolatrous and Perſecuting Power, that the Text deſcribeth, And none of theſe perſecuted, ſave the Emperours; nor were they ſo Idolatrous as Athens, and other places. 2. That the meer Imperial Power as the Pillar of Idolatry, is plainly made the Beaſt; therefore not the five antecedent. 3. That indeed theſe five were no Supreme Power; for that was only in the Senate, which had the Legiſlative Power till violence raviſht them of it; which when it did, the Conſuls, Decemvirs, & Tribunes, had but a part: No nor the Emperours long, or oft. Theſe were not ſeveral Sovereigns, but parts of the Supreme, as the Tribuni Plebis were; and ſome of them very ſhort: And the Pontiſices Ma…. might as well be named as ſome of them. And who the ſeventh and eight Head were, is ſaid with ſo great difficulties, difference and confuſion, as would be tireſome to repeat.
The Papiſts Opinions about a future Antichriſt, and theirs that apply all to Mahomet I will not repeat.
They that expound it of particular C…ſars alſo, are oppoſed by many hard Objections. Some of them apply all to the ſeven Emperours, that the Chriſtians were firſt troubled by, viz. Cla…aius, N…s, Gal…a, O…io, Vitellius, Veſpaſian, Titus, and Domitian the eighth: But three or four of theſe perſecuted not. Some think that, ſeven, here ſignifieth not a determinate number, but many. They ſeem the ſame with the ſeven Heads, chap. 13. And if the ten Horns ſignifie not preciſely juſt ten, why ſhould the ſeven? I, that underſtand it not, may ſay, it is as probable as ſome of theſe that this be the ſenſe [it being the time of the Fall of the Beaſt and Whore that I am ſpeaking of] there ſhall be, at that time, ſeven Caeſars alive at once, of whom Diocleſian, Conſtantius Chlorus, Galerius Maximianus, Severus, and Galerius Maximinus, are faln at the time when Conſtantine is deſtroying Idolatry: Conſtantine is the ſixth who is then in being: Licinius is after to be uſed as one of them, ſeeming then a Friend. The bloody Diocleſian who, with Max. Herculius, laid down the Rule, is one of the ſeven, and together will, by the Devil's inſtigation, attempt again to be the eighth, but to his own perdition. Whether Maxentius paſs only for a partial Uſurper after, or paſs for the eighth, rather than Diocleſian, I let paſs. Both Licinius and Maxentius continued but a ſhort ſpace.
12. And the ten horns, which thou ſaweſt, are ten Kings, which have received no kingdome as yet: but receive power as kings one hour with the beaſts.
12. Say ſome, they are twelve Heathen Kings, that are not full Kings, but tributary to Rome: Say others, they are the Gothiſh and other extraneous Kings, that are not in the Empire, but are conſederates. Some ſay, it is the Tyrants that have headed the Devil's Kingdom in ſeven ſeveral Ages: But this is a vain Popiſh Evaſion. That ten Kings were dependent on Pagan Rome, is clear; and that ten or more of the Barbarians broke the Chriſtian Empire: But which is meant is the doubt.
13. Theſe have one mind, and ſhall give their power and ſtrength unto the beaſt. 14. Theſe ſhall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb ſhall overcome them: for he is the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, and they, that are with him, are called, and choſen, and faithfull.
13, 14. The ten Idolatrous dependent Kingdoms, ſhall aſſiſt and ſupport the Roman Pagan Empire with their Power and Strength: But Chriſt, who overcometh Rome, will overcome them alſo; for he is over all Kings and Kingdoms, and will help the Chriſtian Army under Conſtantine. Or, ſay others, ten Kings ſhall give their Power to the Pope, and make War againſt Chriſt, that is, his Doctrine and Worſhip, and Chriſt and the Reformers ſhall overcome them. But theſe cannot be the ſame barbarous Kingdoms of Goths, &c. forementioned, but moſtly others.
15. And he ſaith unto me, The waters which thou ſaweſt, where the whore ſitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
15. This Idolatrous Roman Power ruleth over many great and populous Nations of the Earth: Or, as others, the Papal Idolatrous Power is upheld by many Nations, even all the Empire.
16. And the ten horns, which thou ſaweſt upon the beaſt, theſe ſhall hate the whore, and ſhall make her deſolate, and naked, and ſhall eat her fleſh, and burn her with fire.
16. The ten Nations, that before upheld the Roman Idolatry, ſhall turn againſt her, and be the Inſtruments of her deſtruction. The Britains, Gauls, Germans, and divers others, firſt fought with Conſtantine againſt the Pagans, and many more of them after turned Chriſtians. Or, ſay others, the foreſaid Goths, Vandals, &c. ſhall overthrow the remnant of Pagans in Rome. Or, ſay others, The Reformation ſhall be wrought by Princes that have forſaken Popery. Whether it ſpeak only of deſtroying the Idolatrous Roman Power, or of deſtroying the Houſes, or City it ſelf, is controverted: The latter is not yet performed, nor the firſt as to the Papacy.
17. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beaſt, until the words of God ſhall be fulfilled.
17. God hath ſo over-ruled them, and all their hearts, that eventually they ſhall ſerve the Pagan Empire, ſay ſome, or the Papal Power, ſay others, till the time that God will pull them down, as he foretold.
Note; God can ſo order things, that all his Judgments ſhall be executed by ſinners, without cauſing any one of their ſins.
18. And the woman, which thou ſaweſt, is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
18. It is certainly Rome that then reigned. It is certain then that Pagan, Imperial Rome, was at that time the Beaſt, on which the Whore ſate: And certain that Pagan Idolatry was it that then made Rome the Whore: But whether (beſides this,) Chriſtian Imperial Rome under Conſtantine, or under the Weſtern Emperours after, or Imperial Conſtantinople, or Rome as the Popes Seat (before 606, or after only, or when) be the Whore And whether their very differen ſort of ſin make them two or three whores, or the concord, in general, or ſimilitude, make Pagan and Papal Rome to be the ſame whore, as meant in this Text, theſe and other are the doubts: But the certain part muſt not be doubted of.