A Scripture Line of Time, Treatise · Part 1 · Section 7
SECT. VII.
Of the whole Line of Time from the Reſurrection of Meſſiah, unto the Time of Bleſſedneſs in the Lotts of the New Jeruſalem, and its Royal Prieſthood: On Dan. 12. v. 4. &c. to the End.
AFter the full and ample Diſcovery, according to the Allowance of Prophecy, of the State of the Honourable Reſurrection of the Servants of Chriſt, and the deſpicable Reſuſcitation of the Wicked, incluſive of all Miſery, follows the Delineation of Time.
Immediately upon this Declaration of this Reſurrection, Chriſt commands Daniel to ſhut the Book, and ſeal it to the time of the End; which End muſt be that End, When many of them that ſleep ſhall ſo awake. But in regard of the Laxitude of the Expreſſion, [The Time of the End] we muſt underſtand, The whole Time from Chriſt's Reſurrection to this Reſurrection, is call'd The laſt Time, The End, The End of the World, The laſt Days, frequently in Scripture; All Progreſſes in which Time are ſtill yet nearer the End, and ſo more the Time of the End, and the laſt Days, than the former Parts are. This then being firſt conceiv'd; Under ſome ſealing, more or leſs, The Book muſt continue till Chriſt ſays, Seal not the Sayings of this Book, for the Time is at hand; relating juſt to the Time of the Vials, when the Kingdom of Chriſt was not only entred, and proclaim'd, and all Things were in finiſhing in the ſeventh Trumpet; but the Time of the Dead, that they ſhould be judged, was nigh: when the Voices had now prepar'd for the Vials, and the Thunders then were unſeal'd for the Vials pouring out, Rev. 22. 10.
And this agrees with the ſealing Viſion and Prophecy at the very cutting off of Meſſiah, altho there was a Time of farther Tryal of the Jews, the laſt Half-week, yet it was then indeed ſeal'd, the Jews having rejected and crucified their King, who yet even by Pilate's Inſcription, in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, [This is the King of the Jews,] by his Reſurrection, Aſcenſion, and ſending down the Spirit, was Anointed. But till the End of the Indignation, The Prophecy of his Kingdom was ſeal'd from its Glorious Appearance, altho this Sealing had ſeveral new Sealings, after ſome partial and momentary Diſcoveries of the Kingdom; which are moſt neceſſary to be here underſtood, and carried all along.
It is moſt evident, It was here ſeal'd, and anſwerably in the Revelation, c. 5. It was a Book ſeal'd with ſeven Seals when Chriſt took it, at his very Reſurrection: and though the opening the firſt Seal was a Publication of his Kingdom to the Jews and Gentiles, and he went out conquering and to conquer, c 6. 1, 2.after the opening the firſt Seal; yet it could not then appear, for there were ſix Seals ſtill upon it; Now theſe Seals carry moſt evidently, as we ſhall ſee, a Courſe of 400 years from the laſt half week, when the ſealing was complete in the final rejection of the Jews; For the first Seal opened, and the Goſpel not received by the Jews, the reſt had greater Force of Sealing, which Sealing yet was determinately made at the very Death of Chriſt, and the Indignation upon that Parricide; And though theſe Seals carry a Courſe of Time, yet condecent to the Type of the great ſecrecy of the ſeven Seals, There is no expreſs Line of Time drawn till the Kingdom of Our God is celebrated as come after the ſixth of the Seals opened, and the Rev. 12. 10. compar'd with c. 6. 12. c. 8. 3. 4.ſeventh alſo opened as compleating that whole Viſion of the manly Birth, Caught up to the Throne, and the Dragon caſt down, Revel. 12. in Theodoſius the Great's laſt Victory over Heatheniſm, as we ſhall ſee in thoſe Viſions.
But then immediately at the ſixth Seal, as it were by way of prevention of the Kingdom of Chriſt, breaking out at the ſeventh; The 144000 were firſt ſealed, and this was ſuch an c. 7.obſcuring Chriſts Kingdom, under the Apoſtaſie, That the Lines of Time were according to the Decency of the Type concealed till the Thunders uttering their Voices, and the Book opened. Apoc. c. 10. c. 11. without which Apocalyptick Lines, theſe Numbers of Daniel could not be underſtood.
So till the End, viz. the ſeventh Trumpet, finiſhing all, and the Kingdom of Chriſt proclaim'd, there is a continuance of this ſealing, in ſome Degrees, even till the Thunders unſeal'd. Chap. 14.
But yet there are convenient Notations of Time along the Seals, For every Event upon their opening leads us demonſtratively enough from Time to Time, and that general Character of this Firſt ſpace of Time of the Seals, after Christs Reſurrection, is moſt ſignificantly imprinted by that Motto, Many ſhall run to and fro, and Knowledge ſhall be increaſed, Dan. 12. 4.which was ſo notably fulfill'd in the Apocalyptical Miniſtry it ſelf, and after that, eſpecially during the Three following Seals in thoſe Goſpel Voices, of a yet continuing Apostolical Miniſtry, though inferior to the Apoſtles, and daily growing flatter, but ſtill ſaying Come and ſee, All labouring to have then proclaim'd Chriſts Kingdom. For ſo Come and ſee imports all along c. 6. till the Fifth Seal.
Chriſt having now commanded the ſealing of the Book, with that Latitude, not, to the End, but to the Time or whole Current of Time to the End, The Two Angels on either Bank attending Chriſt, the Man in Linnen upon the Waters of the great River Hiddekel, as in the Preface. c. 10. v. 4. Theſe two by divine Ordination from that very word [The End] ſtart this Queſtion, Ʋnto how long the End of theſe Wonders? viz. That End, until, the Time of which Chriſt had juſt now ſignifyed The Book was ſeal'd; To this Chriſt is pleas'd, intending to reveal this Courſe of Time to his Church by Daniel, to return an anſwer in the very ſight of Daniel by lifting up both his Hands to Heaven, and ſwearing by the Eternal Being, living for ever, to whom all Time is but as the Drop of the Bucket. That there ſhould be Time, Times, half a Time, for the ſcattering of the holy People, or the Revel. 12.Womans being in the Wilderneſs, which is the Apocalyptick Comment on it, and when that was accompliſhed, According to the Correſpondent Oath in the Revel. c. 10. All theſe things ſhould be finiſhed in the Days of the ſeventh Trumpet. Now it is moſt obſervable Chriſt gives an anſwer by this Oath, not of the Time from the End of the Weeks, or at his Reſurrection, but from the Time of the Seals opened, confirming that ſealing the Book to make a Line of Time in its unſealing; For who can think Time, Times, &c. were together with the Seals, ſeeing thoſe three Times and Half are ſo plainly given after the Seals.
But becauſe the Divine Spirit knew, that neither could the Cypher of Time, Times, half a Time, be truly diſcypher'd but by it ſelf, and that the Half Time would open in ſome appearance of the Kingdom, and that this very Oath, that now Lett out this Time, would be revers'd upon it, at that very prophetical Juncture, Daniel is mov'd by the ſame Spirit, as not enough intelligenc'd by this Oracle to deſire a further Divine Reſponſal. I heard, ſaith he, but I underſtood not; and therefore I ſaid, Lord, what the End of theſe things? Upon which, Chriſt declares firſt a ſecond ſealing, and diſcharges Daniel from farther Attendance in this matter after this laſt Oracle given him; v. 9. which is again repeated v. 13. Go thy way Daniel, ſaith Christ; [that is, the way of all Fleſh, or Dye at thy Time,] till Thou ſtand in thy Lot at the end of the Days. Not the Book now, but the Words referring to the Thunders Ʋtterances, and the Words within the open Book, are ſeal'd, or ſtay'd from an immediate coming to paſs till the very Time of the End, much farther promoted; viz. to the Vials.
And then Christ is pleas'd to give firſt this Emblem of the Time of the Ʋnſealing, in theſe Words, Many ſhall be purified, and made white, and tryed, or refin'd, viz. by the Voices, and by the Efficacy of Divine Truth then breaking out; but, as is diſcover'd in the Vials, The wicked will do wickedly, and will not underſtand by ſo great a Thunder of Truth; and therefore it is ſo eminently noted of them in the Vials, They Repented not, but blaſphem'd: and in proper Application to the ſame Time, it is ſaid, He that is Ʋnrighteous, and Ʋnjust, let him be ſo ſtill, and He that is Righteous let him be farther juſtified, that is, clear'd from the Imputations laid upon him by the Apoſtacy, and let him farther alſo vindicate and juſtifie himſelf from it by a Miniſtration of the Vials on the Beaſt, and doubling to the infamous Woman the Cup ſhe had given and thereby making Preparation to the Kingdom of Chriſt. Thus is that great Time in its curious Emblematiſm in Prophecy. c. 22. 11. compar'd with Rev. c. 15. c. 18. v. 6.
And becauſe all this ſhould by the Will of Chriſt be yet drawn out more definitively, He is pleas'd to add, From the Time of the Daily, or Continual, in the very ſame only word Tammith, (no where applied alone to Sacrifice;) from that taken away by the Apoſtacy, I ſay are given exactly till the ſeven Thunders unſeal'd thirty additional Days to the 1260 Days, viz. 1290 Days; and to that very End ſo often mention'd of the Lots of Bleſſedneſs, by the Addition of 45 more are given 1335; and all caſt into Indictions; or eighty nine Fifteens; a way of accounting Time ſo notoriouſly known to have come into uſe after Conſtantine, as elſewhere ſhall be farther urg'd, and moſt evidently characterizing this Time.
And it is much to be obſerv'd, This ſo clear Line is given here, as in the Revelat. after a Suppoſition of the Book open'd at the Half-time, and not before, except in this Cypher of Daniel's Time, Times, Half-Time, not to be underſtood but by the 1260 Days, and other Apocalyptical Lines.
Now from all this may be collected, by compare with the Apocalyptick Prophecy, a Line of Time, as exact as from the very Ages of the Patriarks, allowing the Hebrew Copies there, and the prophetical Days for Years here.
For firſt, the 2300 Ev. Mor. are ſo exact undoubted an entire Number, as to leave no Diſpute, if granted to be a Line of Time: The Weeks ending at the Reſurrection is ſo very full and compleat a Viſion, before this Viſion not only in the Order of Prophecy, but of the expreſs Dates of Darius's Firſt, and Cyrus's Third. The ſealing of Prophecy in that Viſion juſt at the End of that Viſion of the Weeks, and the Book ſhut and ſeal'd in this Viſion, joyn thoſe two Viſions cloſe together.
The ſealed Time and of the Book ſhut, by the Apocalyptick Prophecy, in ſo orderly a Progreſs as by compare with Hiſtory it is found, cannot but be acknowledg'd to be 400 Years from the last half-week ending. Then the 1335 are ſo cloſe joyn'd, that they cannot be forc'd aſunder, and ſo riveted into the End, both by being a farther Reſolution to Daniel (in his Complaint of not underſtanding) for his Knowledge of the End of Wonders, as alſo by the Bleſſedneſs, and Daniel's ſtanding in his Lot.
Beſides, the Evidence from the Indictions ſo open and induſtrious, is not ſmall: But what could Daniel's Lot in the End of the Days be of or in, but of and in the New Jeruſalem, and its holy Prieſthood? It is impoſſible then the days ſhould fly back from the End: theſe therefore being the whole of the 2300, except 75, the 75 muſt be plac'd in the Forefront of all the Number, as we have ſeen, what Reaſon from the Viſion of the Words going forth hath been found ſo to place juſt ſo many: And if we allow that Number to be 75, there is as great a certainty the ſealed Time muſt be juſt four hundred; for one adjuſts the other neceſſarily; if 75 before the Weeks, there muſt be 400 between the Weeks or 490 Years, and the 1335; if 400 there, then 75 here; for ſo the 2300 require. Now how each of theſe Spaces of Time, the 400 of the Seals, the Time, Times, Half-time, or twelve hundred ſixty days of the Trumpets, the Thirty of the Voices, the forty five of the Vials; how theſe, I ſay, are all repleniſh'd with their proper Furniture, we muſt be inſtructed by the Prophecy of the Revelation.
What great Reaſon have we now to adore the Spirit of Remark.Jeſus Christ in this Prophecy of Daniel, and to ſearch what or what manner of Time it ſignifies in this ſure Word of Prophecy, giving in prophetick Schemes the very ſame Thing that the Transfiguration in ſo glorious a majeſtick Appearance repreſented; viz. Chriſt the Sun of Righteouſneſs with his Stars of the firſt Magnitude, Prophets and Apoſtles, thoſe wiſe turning many to Righteouſneſs, and then the leſſer miniſterial Stars, and the ſporadick Fellowſhip of Saints included, appear therein, as thoſe who are ſo turn'd to Righteouſneſs. And this Prophecy having been ſo long in the World, and traverſing ſuch ſpaces of Time, like a vaſt Tract of Earth, with Charts, Maps, and Sculptures fitted to them, and that came with ſuch Certainty and Aſſurance into every hand, is inlighten'd and enlivened with new and freſh Delineatories of the New Teſtament Prophecy, or the Revelation: Certainly, had not God in Juſtice upon the Apoſtacy diverted the Thoughts and Labours of his Servants from the Illuſtration and Demonſtration of them, ſo that they have not travell'd herein, as in other parts of Christian Verity, nor by ſuch a Concert of Minds and Judgments herein; the Evidences both againſt Atheiſm, and the Apoſtacy had much exceeded, what they ariſe to now; No Miracles except in conſtant and preſent Motion before our Eyes, nor hardly then, being ſo intellectually ſenſible Arguments of the Divine Being, of Chriſtianity, and againſt Antichriſtianiſm, as theſe Prophecies from Time to Time fulfill'd. And this very Prophecy of Daniel is a moſt certain Ground to expect ſuch a Prophecy as that of the Revelation; for one cannot be underſtood without the other: and how admirably do they conſpire? For juſt at that ſealing at the end of the laſt half Week, begins the unſealing alſo, or the Events coming to paſs in their juſt order, and the Apoſtolical Miniſtry, running to and fro to increaſe Knowledge; and juſt Scals 400. Rev. c. 6. then 1260 in the ſix firſt Trumpets c. 8. c. 9 Then 30 & 45 in the Voices c. 14. and Vials of the 7th Trumpet. c. 15. c. 16.as they have hitherto proceeded exactly according to their Time and Place, ſo far as within ten years end of the ſixth Trumpet, ſo ſhall they proceed in the ſeventh Trumpet in the Voices, and the Vials, till the laſt end of Wonders be produced and perfected. Bleſſed, therefore, is He that waiteth, and cometh thereunto; he ſhall, tho out of this Body, certainly then ſtand in his Lot of that New Jeruſalem State and Prieſthood, in a Body of the Firſt Reſurrection.