A Scripture Line of Time, Treatise · Part 1 · Section 10 – Table of contents
SECT. X.
Of the Third Line of Time in the Grand Line of 2300 Even. Morn. or of the Seven Seals from the Reſurrection: ſhewing it extends to a ſpace of 400 Years. Apoc. Cap. 4. cap. 5. cap. 6. cap. 7. cap. 8.
I Have now finiſh'd the firſt Real and General Line of Time that runs from Stem to Stern, from the Beginning to the End of Apocalyptical Time. I come now to the ſecond giving of the ſame Lines, which is not uniform and entire, as the former of the Churches; but made up, not only of various Parts as that was of ſeven Churches, but of various Repreſentations of each part, as Seals, Trumpets, Voices, and Vials, and each of theſe comprehends its following Order, viz. the Seals, the Trumpets, the Voices, the Vials, under the Seventh of each former, as hath been already clear'd, by which they are all kept in a cloſe ſucceſſional Connexion one with another, and the ſeventh Seal hath its Hold upon the whole, even to the laſt Day of Judgment, when the whole Book of the Kingdom is reſign'd back into the Hand of God, out of whoſe Hand it was received by Chriſt, ſeal'd. 1 Cor. 15. 24. &c.
I am therefore now, and in the firſt place, to ſpeak of the firſt part of this ſecond giving of the Line of Time, and that as in the Seals, before it came to the Trumpets.
1. And becauſe there is one general Preface to this whole Repetition of the Line of Time, I ſhall firſt conſider, how adequate it is to the whole Line, and to the great Adminiſtrations of it, in a brief or ſummary Survey of it; For to aſſure us, The Preface was to the whole Apocalyptical Book or Time, adorn'd with new Figures and Sculptures; John heard the first Voice that ſpake to him, and it was as it were of a Trumpet, ſaying to him, I will ſhew thee Things that must be hereafter, Rev. 4. v. 1, 2. and immediately he was the ſecond time in the Spirit, where the Diſtinction of things hereafter from the things that are, as Rev. 1. 19. was made only, as the Types of the Churches had a real Exiſtence at that Time, as Types in the then begun Chriſtian Church; but the following were deriv'd from things to come. And after this there was no more any ſuch Voice of a Trumpet ſpeaking to John: no more being in the Spirit, except a being carried in the Spirit into the Wilderneſs, to ſee the Apoſtate Church, and then to a Mountain to behold the Holy City. The Voice ſpeaking again, c. 10. v. 8. evidently relates to the firſt Voice in that chap. ſaying, ſeal and write not, v. 4. and then take the Book and eat, &c. and c. 1. 10. c. 4. 1, 2.not to theſe Trumpet-Voices.
2. At this ſecond Apocalyptical Volume, we have the great Theatre of the Throne, and the whole Grandeur of it, and adorn'd every way ſuitable to the Doctrine of the Goſpel, and as it were in the firſt Apoſtolical Church ſettled firſt in God; as the Doctrine of the One God, made known in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, is the Foundation of Chriſtianity. For the Father, the Word, and the Spirit, bear Record of it in Heaven; and theſe three are one in that Record, as they are in themſelves ONE.
3. About this Throne, at each Angle, or at each of the four Points of it, are four Living Creatures, ſo I chooſe to tranſlate foreign; not Beaſts properly and diſtinguiſhingly in this Prophecy call'd foreign; and theſe four Living Creatures repreſent the Apoſtolical Church of the New Teſtament, as in four Ternaries, or Threes of the twelve Apoſtles, in perpetual Action, and therein as it were encircling the twenty four Elders of the pure Iſraelitiſh Church. The Elders are upon Seats round about the Throne, and with Crowns on their Heads, as being of old a Kingdom of Prieſts, and they are in this Prophecy introduc'd in Service to the Kingdom of Christ, that ſhall be at the New Jeruſalem together with, and as by the Apoſtolick Church, who ſhall be Kings and Prieſts together with them repreſented by theſe four and twenty Elders, Heads of the prieſtly Courſes, who are firſt plac'd, as leading the Goſpel of Jeſus Christ, and his Kingdom by Prophecy, but yet in the very firſt Action the Order is revers'd, and the living Creatures are firſt in giving Glory. Firſt, there is the particular Song to the Divine Nature on the Throne, as the abſolute Creator and Lord of all; ending in this, For thy Pleaſure all things are and were created, and ſo are abſolutely under his Dominion and Diſpoſe, before whom they caſt their Crowns.
4. The grand Symbol of the whole Apocalyptical Time, and its Events, and of the ſupreme Conduct and Government, till they iſſue into the Kingdom of Chriſt, is the ſeal'd Book in the Hand of Him that ſat on the Throne, ſeal▪d with the ſeven Seals, which Seals have under them the whole Courſe of preparatory Events to this Kingdom, and the Kingdom it ſelf, till it be reſign'd back to God. Thus Daniel ſaw Prophecy and Viſion ſeal'd up, Dan. 9. and the Book ſeal'd, Chap. 12.
5. There is Proclamation made by the loud Voice of a ſtrong Angel, for the finding out a worthy Perſon to open the Book, and looſe its Seals: And none in Heaven or Earth was found worthy to open the Seals, or ſo much as look thereon.
All which, is certainly as Divine a Symbol to ſet out the ſupream and ſole Excellency of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, as far above all Principalities and Powers, and every Name in Heaven or Earth, as could be found out, and ſurpaſſing all Underſtanding or Invention finite, and is in ſurprize of any Admiſſions of Angels or Saints into any parts of his Mediatory Office, the very leaſt, ſo much as an Ability to look thereon; as alſo to forecloſe that grand Antichriſtian Aſſumption of the man of Sin, for his very Supremacy is hereby plainly declar'd to be Antichriſtianiſm, who undertakes not only to look upon this Book, but to open the Seals; and herein he ſhews himſelf in the Temple of God, as God.
6. The much weeping of John, that none was found worthy to open the Book, does moſt exactly and critically point to the time of the Death of Christ, or his lying in the Grave, when there ſeem'd a Deſpair upon all the Creation in that dark Interval, and a ſuſpenſion of the Conſolation of Iſrael, and when all the Apoſtles had given up, as it were, the hopes of it, of which the Apostle John was here a Symbol, and repreſented all the Apoſtles.
7. The ſame Article of Time is farther aſſur'd and confirm'd by the one of the Elders, as a Repreſentative of the whole Iſraelitiſh Church, who lead to Chriſt. Thus Christ open'd the Scriptures of the Old Teſtament, eſpecially of Daniel, That Christ was thus to ſuffer, and to enter into his Glory, viz. of ſitting firſt at the Right-hand of God, till his Foes ſhould be made his Footſtool. He ſate down on his Fathers Throne, in his Father's Kingdom: He ſhall have a Throne and Kingdom properly his own.
8. Chriſt hereupon exactly as in the Time, according to the Hiſtory of the Goſpel, appears as on the ſudden, and unexpectedly in the midſt of the Throne of the Elders, and the living Creatures, a Lamb, as it had been newly ſlain, and now riſen and aſcended; and ſo the Epoch of the Apocalyptical Time is moſt ſtrictly defin'd and fully aſſur'd. And at this Point of Time he receives the Book; which is the very ſame with ſitting on God's Right-hand, till his Foes ſhall be made his Footſtool: for when the Book is unſeal'd, and the thouſand Years begin, Then there is a putting down all Rule and Authority. At the End of the thouſand Year, and the Day of final Judgment over, the Book is quite unſeal'd in Death, the laſt Enemy overcome; and then the Book, the Symbol of the Kingdom, is reſign'd with the Kingdom it ſelf, into the Hand of the Father.
9. Hereupon the State of the Chriſtian Church in its Apoſtolical Purity, with the Order of the Living Creatures firſt, and then drawing that of the Elders along with it, in a Song of Redemption, in Praiſe of the Lamb, with a Prophecy of his Kingdom, in which his Servants and Saints ſhall reign above the Earth, or over it, as foreign ſignifies in ſeveral Places of the New Teſtament, joyn'd with a Genitive Caſe, particularly Matt. 25. 21. 23. I will make thee Ruler over many things, foreign.
10. To ſum up all; The State of the Church in the thouſand Years Kingdom of Chriſt is given in a ſecond Song of Praiſe, wherein all things bow in the Name of Chriſt, as Lord, and that not ceremonially, but in real Subjection, Phil. 2. 10. Things in Heaven and in Earth, and under the Earth, and that to the Glory of the Father, For the four Living Creatures having ſaid Amen to this high Celebration of Chriſt, the four and twenty Elders, as having by the Apoſtolical Church receiv'd an explicate Knowledge of Chriſt; to ſhew, The New Teſtament did not at all derogate from the Old; The four and twenty Elders, after they had fallen down with the four Living Creatures, and joyn'd in a Song of Praiſe to the Lamb, now as making up the Concent, worſhip him that liveth for ever and ever; and conclude that which the four Living Creatures, or the Apoſtolical Miniſtry began, and herein ſhew the Reſignation of the Kingdom of God at laſt, that he may be All in All, Rev. 4. 10. compar'd with Rev. 5. 8. 14. For as all began in God that made all things, ſo here it ends in him.
The ſealed Book being now in the Hands of Chriſt, and all due Acknowledgments made to him that ſits on the Throne, and to the Lamb, immediately follows the opening of the Seals, and therein the Courſe of Time flows out, and ſo flows on; of which we are now to take a particular and ſtrict Account: only I would deſire every Perſon that ſets his Mind and Thoughts to view this ſo auguſt Inthronization of God and of the Lamb, That he would ponder within himſelf, Whether the deſolating either the Jews or the Heathen Empire, can be Events great enough for ſo ſtupendious a Pre-Repreſentation; or any thing leſs than the Glorious Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt could anſwer to it.
And now, that we may eſtabliſh the Line of Time according to theſe Seals, and the Time of their opening, there are three Things to be conſider'd;
1. What it is that is the principal Jewel and Treaſure that lies under theſe Seals; and ſo to be ſet free by the unlooſing them.
2. What is the principal and ſupream Viſum or Thing to be ſeen in every Seal, and the opening of it, and how it ſerves the diſcloſing that Jewel.
3. What is the true method of fixing the certain Time that the whole Courſe of the Seals took up, and how it is to be meaſur'd and fix'd.
If we can now determine and ſettle aright upon the Reſolution of each of theſe Particulars, we ſhall be able to underſtand this firſt Sett of Apocalyptical Viſions, and to have ample ſatisfaction concerning them, and have great Light into the following Viſions alſo.
1. As to the Firſt then, That great Treaſure and Jewel of Truth that is inclos'd within theſe Seals, and ſo alſo, as we ſhall ſee, that the Trumpets ultimately ſounded unto, is the Glorious Kingdom of our Lord Jeſus Chriſt.
Every Event, and the Stage of Time it was to paſs over, is as a Seal or Stop upon this Kingdom, till it opens into Glory; and the opening of every Seal was an Advance towards it: and although when the ſeven Seals were open'd, there appeared a greater and more prodigious Cauſe of Delay, viz. the Antichriſtian Kingdom; yet every Trumpet was as an Alarm of War to the ſubduing that Mock-Kingdom that roſe in Deſpight and Oppoſition to the Kingdom of Chriſt. And becauſe all things were ſo ſet, and placed in their Seaſon and Order, that no one thing could come to paſs before that which was ſet before it had had its free Egreſs and Event, therefore every of theſe Events, and the opening of the Seals to let them out, though they did not in the Iſſue open to the true Appearance of that Kingdom, yet becauſe they did as it were, what they could, and there was a Remove of ſo many Prohibents, or Obſtacles to that Kingdom; and Time ſo advanc'd from Point to Point, that by the opening every Seal the Kingdom of Chriſt might be nearer to its Appearance; therefore they are juſtly underſtood, and expounded to be Seals, unloos'd, and opening to the Kingdom of Chriſt.
Now beſides thoſe foreign, or IT IS DONE, IT IS DONE, at the End of the Apocalyptical Time and all its Events, whither they one and all run together; beſides this, there is this abſolute Aſſurance, That the Kingdom of Christ was under the Seals; The Kingdom made ſo magnificent a ſhow of it ſelf at the ſixth Seal, that had not the Servants of God been ſeal'd in their Fore-heads, that they ſhould not then appear with him in Glory, the Kingdom had even then appear'd; for in Conſtantine's Chriſtian Empire, to the End of the Reign, or at the Victory of Theodoſius the Great over Heatheniſm, of which he endeavour'd the utter Extirpation, that Kingdom ſo far came out of its Retirement, that there was a ſolemn and loud Doxology in Heaven, that the Kingdom of God, and the Power of Christ were come; and yet at the very ſame time, the Woman, is recorded as fled into the Wilderneſs, Rev. 12. 10.
2. The firſt Particular then being reſolved with ſo much Evidence and Aſſurance, we may with the greateſt Clearneſs reſolve concerning the ſecond or the principal Viſum of every Seal open'd: for it muſt be ſome State of the Kingdom of Chriſt defin'd by the joyning together the Voices that ſummoned to the Sight and Obſervation ſo far, as theſe Voices continued; and then, when they ceaſed, the State of the Kingdom of Christ muſt be conſidered by the Viſa themſelves, as under the Ceſſation of thoſe Voices, and by any ſort of Voices we can find equivalent to them. And in this Method, and no other, that I can underſtand, we may juſtly and truly comprehend the Intention and Signification of the Seals.
For if all the Seals carry on the Kingdom of Chriſt by ſo many Degrees and Steps of Advance, as I have in ſome meaſure, I hope, made evident they do; By undeniable Proof then it muſt needs be, That every Seal hath ſome State of that Kingdom protuberant or ſwelling out in its Appearance upon that opening, and that the Voice that ſays, Come and ſee, calls to obſerve it, and the ſilence of any ſuch Voice moves Enquiry, Why there is no ſuch Voice? and every Viſum, or Thing to be ſeen in both ſorts of Seals, the Voic'd, or the ſeemingly ſilent Seals, are to be judg'd of, as they have Relation to the Kingdom of Chriſt, eſpecially becauſe we ſhall find the three laſt Seals without Voices, have ſomething to ſupply the want of the Voices of thoſe four Living Creatures.
3. As to the Time, and its Space, that is meaſur'd out by theſe Seals; ſeeing no Line of Time is expreſly given with them, it is impoſſible to be found out, but either, firſt, by ſome of the Viſa, or things ſeen at the opening of theſe Seals, that are ſo certain, as to be neceſſarily agreed in, and thereby meaſuring from them, on each ſide of them, to take the whole Courſe; or ſecondly, by the having good Aſſurance, what are the Viſa of the firſt, and laſt of theſe Seals, that thereby we may know, when they begin, and when they end, by the moſt undoubted Accounts of Hiſtory; or thirdly, by obſerving if there be any Light concerning the juſt middle Point of their Time; or laſtly, by ſome other Line of Time, that may (how much larger ſoever ſo as to comprehend it, yet) ſet Limits to it in its Beginning, Middle, and End, by ſome certain Line of Time that muſt end juſt before it, and ſome other Line of Time that muſt follow it; and that all taken together can anſwer that whole Line: And all theſe ways I ſhall uſe, to come to the exact Meaſure of the Space of the ſeven Seals, and what Meaſures of Time are and ought to be allow'd to them.
Let us then examine the Importance of every Seal, firſt by what it diſcovers of the Kingdom of Chriſt, upon the joyning of the Viſum or thing to be ſeen, and the Voice together, or remarking upon the No Voice, and the equivalent Supply with the Viſum or thing to be ſeen, and then collect the Time of theſe ſeven Seals.
The Viſum, or thing to be ſeen of the firſt Seal, is, as is Seal 1 hardly controverted by any, The riding out of Chriſt on his white Horſe, with his Bow, and the Right of a Crown, conquering and to conquer. This then was the Aim of Chriſt to obtain his Crown, in the firſt place by the pure and holy Arms, and Power of his Goſpel, in the Ʋniverſal, Perfect Miniſtry of the Apoſtles; and till the Effect of that was tryed, he makes ſhew of no other, whatever farther Aim Chriſt might have, if his Goſpel was not ſubmitted to.
Thus is Chriſt riding out propheſied of, of Old; Ride proſperouſly becauſe of Truth, Meekneſs, and Righteouſneſs, Pſ. 45. 3. And upon this Horſe he rides out with final Victory, Rev. 19. whoſe Name is the Word of God. This then, was then the State of Chriſt's Kingdom, the making an Univerſal Offer of it ſelf to Jews and Gentiles, by that high Miniſtry of Perſons immediately guided and infallibly inſpir'd, and accompliſh'd with the Gift of Tongues, and Power of Miracles, to make the Publication of that Decree, Thou art my Son; This Day have I begotten thee: Ask of me, and as I have ſet Thee upon my Holy Hill of Zion by thy Reſurrection, ſo I will give Thee the Heathen for thy Inheritance, and the uttermoſt Ends of the Earth for thy Poſſeſſion: And if they will not ſubmit, Thou ſhalt break them with a Rod of Iron, and daſh them in pieces like a Potters Veſſel, Pſal. 2. 6.
The Apoſtolical Voice, deep and loud as Thunder, royal as of a Lyon, the firſt Living Creature, Come and ſee, is a farther Aſſurance, That this was then the State of Chriſt's Kingdom in this free and univerſal Offer of it ſelf: It beſpoke the World therefore in the Language of the reſt of that Pſalm, Be Wiſe now, O ye Kings; Be Inſtructed, ye Judges of the Earth, Serve the Lord with Fear, Rejoyce with Trembling; Kiſs the Son, leſt He be angry, and for breaking his Bands, and caſting his Cords from you, He break you at laſt as a Potters Veſſel, with a Rod of Iron, or as the Stone cut out of the Mountain without Hands ſhivers the Image, of which the next Seal gives a Type.
Now this Appearance of Chriſts Kingdom, and the moſt Holy declar'd Annointed in it, was abſolutely neceſſary to make known the thing ſeal'd, and to be unſeal'd; and that the End might be known by the Beginning, and the whole Compaſs of the Time of the Seals by Both. For nothing could make all theſe more known, nor the ſtay, the ſealing had on this Kingdom from appearing more manifeſt, than this its offer to appear at the end of the laſt half week in the Apostolical Preaching, and yet Prophecy and Viſion concerning it ſeal'd up ſo, that it could not bring forth this Kingdom, till its juſt Time conſtituted by the Father, and the Oath of Chriſt himſelf; and that in regard of the Obſtinacy of the Body of the Jewiſh Nation, and of the World of the Gentiles.
Immediately upon the refuſal of this King upon the Holy Seal 2 Hill of Zion, He began to uſe his Rod of Iron, and ſent out the Red Horſe of War, the Viſum or Thing to be ſeen under the ſecond Seal, joyned with the Voice of the Goſpel, Come and See; but abated and weakened, not a Voice of Thunder; Whereas had the Kingdom been accepted, the Thunder ſhould not only have continued, but multiplyed into Thunders and Voices, and grown lowder and lowder to introduce the Kingdom; But the Antichriſtian Kingdom, upon the True Kingdom, rejected, work'd on, and enervated the Voice though it was ſtill Apoſtolical, Come, and See; As the Voice of an Ox, as if it ſelf were Falling a Sacrifice at the Altar, deploring the ſlaughter then coming upon the World; So this ſecond living Creature.
The State of the Kingdom therefore was as retreated in the Gracious and Merciful Offer; The Voice was not ſo Grand, and Sounding, but inſtead of it, He that ſat on the Red Horſe of War, had a Great Sword given him, and It was Given to Him, that He ſhould take Peace from the Earth, and that Men ſhould kill one another: This certainly was eſpecially verified in thoſe Deſolations of the Jews under Veſpaſian, and Titus, and thoſe ſucceeding War-like Emperours, Trajan, and Hadrian; under the firſt of which the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem was ſo dreadful and bloody, till the laſt ruines by Hadrian; That no Time, nor Hiſtory was ever deeper dyed in Blood, nor could this be without diſmal Recoyls of the Great Sword upon the Empire it ſelf, within the Bowels of which it was continually ſheath'd; inſomuch, that Hadrian in his account of the final Wars with the Jews, omitted the uſual Preface in his Letters to the Senate, Ego quidem, & exercitus valemus, We and our Army are well. This he ſuppreſſed, as not agreeing to that Seaſon of ſo great loſs of Blood to the Romans.
This was a very affrightful appearance of this Kingdom, and of great Evidence of its Greatneſs and Power of Revenges, eſpecially upon the Jews, thoſe Murtherers and Enemies that would not have Chriſt reign over them, and it returned back upon the Gentiles alſo, and the Roman Empire, guilty of the ſame Oppoſition to the Kingdom of Chriſt, though not againſt the ſame Light, nor with the ſame unnaturalneſs; for as to them, He came more particularly to his own, and his own receiv'd him not, and therefore having after the crucifying of him, rejected his Dominion, the People of that Prince Veſpaſian Came and destroyed the City, and the Sanctuary as with a Flood, and Torrent of Vengeance, and now unto the End of the War, Deſolations upon the Jews were determin'd, and by the overſpread of the abominable Armies was pour'd upon the Deſolate by Hadrian after the Deſolation of Titus, Daniel. 9. ult.
Now this great Judgment and Deſolation, as a grand Argument of the Truth of Chriſtianity, in Revenge of which this Deſolation came upon the Jews, and the Reverberations or Repercuſſions, and Returnings of it upon the Heathen Empire, and their Perſecutions of Chriſtians, was a great Subject for the Apostolical Voice to enlarge it ſelf upon, and to perſwade Men to pay Homage to the King of Kings, who could thus avenge himſelf; and ſo of great Uſe was that Sound of the Voice, Come and See, that beholding the Deſolations that were made by Chriſt in the Earth, they might be ſtill, and know, that He was God, and exalt him in the very Heathen Earth.
After this ſevere Vengeance of Chriſt by the Rider of the Seal 3 Red Horſe, there enſues the opening of the third Seal, and the Thing to be ſeen under it was a Black Horſe, and He that ſat upon it had a pair of Ballances in his Hand, and the Apoſtolical Voice continuing as under the last former Seals, Come and See, and it was the Voice of the third living Creature, the Voice, as of a Man.
Now that we may judge of the State of the Kingdom, under this Seal, it is to be cloſely examined, what this Viſum, or Thing to be ſeen imports, even the Black Horſe, and the Rider with a Pair of Ballances in his Hand; and then the diſtinct Voice in the midſt of the Living Creatures.
It hath been generally interpreted, all to Famine, as if the Seals were a Courſe of Judgments, but beſides that, neither the Firſt, nor the Fifth Seals carry any Signification of Judgment, by a more ſagacious Inſpection into the ſpectacle of this Seal, after that forenam'd excellent Duumvirate of Apocalyptical Interpreters, Mr. Mede, and Dr. More, and compare of it with the Voice of the third living Creature, as of a Man; I am abundantly ſatisfied, the Black Horſe, and the Ballances in the Hand of the Rider, are an Emblem of that ſolemn Imperatorial Juſtice of the Emperours of this Third Seal, the Antonines, eſpecially that great Mirror of Juſtice to Magiſtrates, Alexander Severus, in whom I account the interval of this Seal to End, who bore in his Hand continually in all Adminiſtrations, that great Ballance of the World, that Ballance of commutative Juſtice, given by our Saviour; Do as you would have done to you, and no otherwiſe; and this, as ſo remarkable in it ſelf, and of a higher Prophetical Ʋſe, as we ſhall Diſcourſe, when we come to the Time affix'd to theſe Seals, and particularly to this; A Voice in the midst of the living Creatures calls to the more ſolemn Obſervation of a Meaſure of Wheat for a Penny, Three Meaſures of Barley for a Penny, and ſee that thou hurt not the Oyl, and the Wine.
And now the State of the Kingdom, in Relation to this Viſum, I eſtimate by thoſe highly Rational, and Apocalyptick Diſcourſes for Chriſtianity, by Juſtin, Martyr, Athenagoras, Apollonius, in his publick Account of Chriſtianity to the Roman Senate, Clemens Alexandrius, Tertullian, Origen, Minutius Felix, who all appeal'd to theſe Juſt and Manly Emperors, and offer'd to lay Chriſtianity before them, as Equal Judges, and that would but ſhew themſelves Men. And Alexander Son of Mammaea, a Chriſtian Lady.Severus was ſo far prevail'd upon by thoſe weighty Reaſons, that History hath reported him to have decided for Christianity; and as he ſhewed a conſtant Reverence to that great Apothegme, of the Saviour of the World, ſo to have built a Temple in Honour to him, upon which very laſt particular yet, I lay no weight, as being too doubtful.
But the other Parts of the State of this Kingdom of Chriſt, born up by the manlieſt Efforts of Reaſon, manag'd by thoſe Apoſtolick Perſons before nam'd, before thoſe forenam'd Emperours, and Alexander particularly, are ſo beyond all Hiſtorical Diſpute, as to ſway me much more, than thoſe inquiſitive ſearches for ſome Dearth or Famine, that might be adjuſted to the Time of this Seal; For I account it a Rule in this, and all other parts of this Prophecy, That the Interpretation depend, not upon dark and obſcure Parts of Hiſtory, but upon the moſt Conſpicuous, Open, and Clear, and that are moſt known, and notorious in it; And it is to me a juſt Suſpition upon any Interpretation, that is otherwiſe grounded.
After this gracious Tryal and Eſſay upon the Heathen Empire, Seal. 4 to draw it by the Cords of a Man, and by the Bands of Reaſon, immediately follows the Fourth Seal, In which open'd, the Viſum, or Thing to be ſeen is the Pale Horſe, and in the Place of any Imperial Rider ſits Death, and Hades the Grave, or Hell followes it as its attendant Emblem, and the Voice of the Fourth living Creature, as an Eagle drawn by the Carcaſe, ſays, Come and ſee, This imports that Complication of Evils and Judgments; The Sword, the Famine, the Pestilence, and the Beaſts of the Earth, and Power was given to Death over a fourth part of the Earth, or every fourth of it, that is upon all Quarters of it.
Under this Seal then, in the Time of thoſe many, cruel, and ſhort liv'd Emperours, between Alexander Severus, and Diocleſian, which were as Beaſts of the Earth, for ſavageneſs, and ſo are a moſt famous Historical Commentary upon this Seal, is ſhewen the mighty Vengeance and Wrath of God, upon an impenitent and imperſwaſible Empire, and this by that Apoſtolical Voice, to Come and See, or to conſider it, the State of the Kingdom vindicating it ſelf is ſo far declar'd, that it was even ready to break in with Fury upon the Heathen World, and that Patience ſo much injur'd and abus'd was now about to flame out in utmoſt Wrath; ſo far therefore the Kingdom of Chriſt was advanc'd, as to have made its laſt Tryal of Grace upon Pagan Rome; and upon this undoubtedly, the Apoſtolical Miniſtry inſiſted, in its, Come and See, as Ezekiel Ezek. 14. from 12 to 22.of old; as God ſaith there, When I bring my four great Judgments, The Sword, Peſtilence, Famine, and the Beaſts of the Earth, though Noah, Job, and Daniel ſtood before me, to turn away my Wrath, They ſhould deliver only their own Souls.
And now as to the State of the Church, all along theſe Seals paſt, There was a plain Appearance of it in the Apoſtolick Voices, till juſt the Entrance of the fourth Seal; From that Time theſe Voices ceas'd, which had ſo far, as ſupported by the Characters of Imperial Hiſtory, declar'd to us the Times and States of the Church, as before drawn out in the Labour, and Patience, and Sufferings of the Epheſine Church, while thoſe Apoſtolical Voices laſted, although there was ſuch a Leaven of the Apoſtacy hid in it, that it was charg'd to have left its first Love; one great Inſtance of which, was in Victor's Excommunication of the Aſian Churches upon the ſcore of the unwritten Ceremony of keeping Eaſter at all, much more unwritten as to Criticiſm of Time, which made that ſo great Fewd.
The Fifth Seal ſo plainly opens in the Sufferings of the Seal 5 Chriſtian Martyrs, as to aſſure us, This Prophecy, as alſo other Scripture-prophecies, and Notes of Time, are for the ſake of the Church, and not of Heathen Empires and States: yet by the Courſe of the Seals, we may eaſily know at what hour of the Empire it was, as by referring to the peculiar foregoing Church-prophecy, we know under what Symbol of the Church it lies; and from both, That it was the laſt and cruel ten Years Perſecution, or ten Days Tribulation, begun by Diocleſian, while the Chriſtian Church was under that peculiar Symbol of the Church of Smyrna.
That it was about the Time of Diocleſian, the Current of the former Seals, and the immediately following Deſolation of Heatheniſm under Conſtantine aſſure us.
That it was under the Symbol of the Church of Smyrna, its peculiar Character of Sufferings, and ten Days Tribulation, make out; as alſo, in that there was no longer any Apoſtolical Voice, but the Voice of Souls, that were gone out of martyr'd Bodies, it ſignifies the Synagogue of Sathan near an height; and from that very occaſion of the Tombs, Relicks, Memories, and Veneration of Martyrs, and Truſt in their Negotiation out of the Body for thoſe they left behind in it, growing much higher. However, God graciouſly accepts this Suffering Church, and lays no Imputation upon it, but only on the Sathanick Synagogue. He ſeems to have more reſpect to the Souls Complaint than to the Survivers of that Church; He appoints them white Robes, but as unconcern'd in Mediations for any in this World, they are commanded to rest; and there is on their Inſtance a Signification of a new Roll of Martyrs under Antichrist, when the whole Number of thoſe of the firſt Reſurrection ſhould be compleat, over whom the ſecond Death ſhould have no Power.
This Seal then is the very Joynt betwixt the Kingdom of Paganiſm falling, but not yet fallen; and that ſhort Appearance of Chriſt's Kingdom in the Christian Empire till Theodoſius the Great. The Army of Martyrs had not yet overcome by the Word of the Teſtimony, which they held; The Kingdom of Christ was not yet celebrated with that Doxology, chap. 12. But there was nothing came between this Cry of the Souls and that Kingdom, although ſpeedily ſurpris'd by Antichriſtianiſm, into which Pagan Demonolatry was firſt tranſplanted on this very occaſion of Martyrs Sufferings, compleated within this Seal eſpecially.
And thus we have the State of the Kingdom of Christ in the Church within this Seal aſſur'd by one of the moſt famous Monuments of Eccleſiaſtick History.
The ſixth Seal is that great Seal opened, by which the Heathen Seal. 6 State of the Roman Empire was demoliſh'd; and which carries moſt abundant Inſtruction of this whole Time of the Seals, and alſo of the Kingdom of Christ in his Church during that Time.
1. That Heathen Idolatry that had ſeated it ſelf, as in the Heavens, and from thence reach'd down it ſelf into the Earth, and in the Deep, is as by an Earthquake remov'd from below, and as by a Tempeſt above is diſmounted and depoſed from thence: ſo that here Sathan, as the Dragon, was caſt down from Heaven, as by Lightning, according to the Viſion, chap. 12.
2. The Emperours, or Kings of the Earth, and all its great Men, lay'd aſide their Greatneſs, even to their Imperial Purple and Diadems, as particularly Diocleſian the Arch-Perſecutor, and Maximian with him; mov'd not ſo much by any thing as by a divine Terror, by the Fear of him that ſate on the Throne, and of the Lamb. And this is given as a lively Type of Christ's glorious Appearance in the Deſtruction of his Enemies; Who will be able to ſtand in that Day of his Wrath? What Mountains, Dens, or Caves, will then open to receive affrighted men?
3. From hence it plainly appears, What was to be open'd by Christ's opening of theſe Seals, even no other, than the glorious viſible Kingdom of Christ, and not his ſpiritual Kingdom only; As an eminent Aſſurance of which, He declar'd himſelf in the preaching of the Goſpel, and a Crown was given to him, as an Acknowledgment of his Right, though to obtain it, he was to go out conquering and to conquer. Here then in this Chriſtian Empire, beginning at the ſixth Seal, and ſo going on in the ſeventh Seal to Theodoſtus's Victory over all the Remains of Heatheniſm (after Julian) in the Senate, Magiſtracy, and People of Rome gather'd to a Head in Eugenius and Argobaſtes, This Kingdom appear'd as in an Emblem, and earneſt of it ſelf; and ſo it is celebrated chap. 12. with Praiſe and Triumph as in Heaven, though even there ſurpris'd.
4. Here the State of Chriſt's Kingdom in the Church is ſolemnly declar'd, and alſo as in the Chriſtian Empire. In the Church, to ſhew the high towring Synagogue of Sathan, There is no Voice of the Church, but of an Angel, crying to the four Angels not to hurt, &c. a certain Indication of bad Symptoms appearing at this, in it ſelf, happy Change. 2. There was a pure Church and Kingdom of Chriſt yet publick and viſible, but upon the Retreat; for it was juſt now retiring, and about to be ſeal'd, that is, under that over-growing Synagogue. 3. This Kingdom of Chriſt in his Church was to have (abating the general Unhappineſs of fallen ſinful Man) a more quiet and illuſtrious State than heretofore, viz. in a Chriſtian Empire; for till the whole Time of ſealing the Servants of God was paſt, the four Angels, that had the four firſt Trumpets, were commanded to hold the Wind, that no ſuch Hurt could be done upon the Empire, as was after to be done when they ſounded. This was Smyrna's Crown. So that tho' God had determin'd the Period of the Blood-guilty Roman Weſtern Empire, as Imperial, yet it was kept off, till it became Pagan-Antichriſtian (a new Paganiſm;) Then God gave it in Wrath, after a Time, an Antichriſtian King, its former Imperial King being taken away in Wrath firſt.
5. The preciſe Time of Sealing, that is of covering all the True, viſible Glory of Christianity in the Chriſtian Empire is hereby ſet, viz. until the Firſt Trumpet; For till all was ſealed, no Wind could ſtir; when therefore the firſt blaſting Trumpet ſounded, all true Chriſtian Glory was cover'd, ſhut, and ſeal'd; and Apoſtate Chriſtianity alone in any ſplendid publick Appearance could be hurt.
6. At this very joynt of Time, upon the Chriſtian Empire is grafted a Pre-Appearance of the Glory of the New Jeruſalem in the innumerable Palm-bearing Company.
7. That Glorious Kingdom is notwithſtanding the ſixth Seal open'd, apparently ſtay'd, and eſtopped in ſealing the 144000 of Gods Servants, that the Glory of Chriſt in them could not appear. For the Glory of a King is in the Multitude of his People, the ſealing therefore this ſquare Iſraelitiſh Apoſtolical Number is the ſealing, and eſtoppage of the Kingdom it ſelf.
The ſeventh Seal is the laſt Portion of this ſealed Time, and it keeps its hold on all future Time, till the Book and Kingdom are reſign'd. In which the Viſum or Thing ſeen was the ſeven Angels, that ſtood before God, to whom were given ſeven Trumpets, and theſe Angels preparing themſelves to ſound, till they juſt began to ſound make up the Repreſentation of this Seal.
The State of Chriſts Kingdom is to be underſtood, 1. By the Silence, as Characteriſtick a Note, as any of the former Voices; For in the ſtructure of this Divine Prophecy, the ſymbols are not only drawn and taken from the Events; but He that both manages the Events by his ſupream Power, and erects the Schemes upon them, hath deſign'd, provided, and contriv'd ſo much of Event, and Symbol, one for another, that it is a great Symbol, that there is no more of ſuch, or ſuch Event, That, while it looks, as if it were a Reaſon, why the Symbol goes no further, becauſe the Event goes no further, It is even yet a Symbol through the admirableneſs of this Mystick Prophecy, that juſt then, and there, where the Event ceaſes, the Ceſſation of the Event comes in the place, where that Ceſſation may create a Symbol; And this could be no way thus modelled, but by ſo ſupream an Authour, who is not only the Artificer of the Symbols, but the Opifex the abſolute Operator of the Events themſelves, The Reaſon, why the living Creatures ſpoke no more after the Fourth Seal, was, not only becauſe there were but Four living Creatures, but alſo becauſe the Pure Apoſtolical Miniſtry there ceas'd; The Reaſon, why the Souls cryed under the Altar, was not only becauſe the Martyrdomes under the Pagan Empire were then compleated, That all of that Roll might joyn in that appeal to God, but becauſe that was the moſt Pure and Excellent Voice the Church had then left to ſpeak to God in, the Voice of Martyrs Blood, that when they were dead, yet ſpoke, for after this the Church ſpoke no more, ſo as to be heard till after the Apoſtacy; nor did the four living Creatures or twenty four Elders appear any more after this Seal till then; c. 11. 20. And this Cry was tim'd juſt before that amazing change in the World, that Conſtantines Converſion produc'd. The Reaſon why an Angels Voice remarqu'd the ſixth Seal, except only as that ſo wonderful Event of the Deſolation of Heatheniſm ſpoke it ſelf, was becauſe the Kingdom of Chriſt was greater in the ſealing of ſo many of his Servants to be hidden under the Antichriſtian Kingdom, then, that very Converſion of Constantine, which as it let out the Kingdom of Christ, ſo far as in an Emblem, let out the Apoſtacy and Antichriſtian Kingdom alſo by accident, that juſt then the 144000 were ſeal'd, and the Woman took her Flight into the Wilderneſs. Laſtly, the Reaſon why Silence and Prayers without any audible Voice ſolemnize this Seal, is, becauſe the pure Service was reducing to the ſilent, private Prayers of the meaſured Temple, Altar, and its Worſhipers, and the publick Tammith Daily, or continual Pure Worſhip was about to be taken away by the Gentiles Intruſion into the outward Court. Chap. 11. 1. Compar'd with Chap. 8. 1.
Yet at this Time the Worſhip was both publick and pure in Gods Account, and the Prayers of all Saints came up as Incenſe before him, and the Proſecution, the Kingdom opened in all the Seals, had made againſt Heatheniſm, was completed in Theodoſius's Famous Victory against it, imported in the ſcatter'd Altar-Incens'd Fire of his and all Chriſtians memorializ'd Prayer, in the midſt of the Battel with Eugenius; upon which followed Voices, Thunderings, Lightnings, and an Earthquake, the uſual Symbols in this Prophecy of all the Acquiſts and Prevalencies of Chriſts Kingdom.
So the State of the Empire was during this Time a State of Reſpite, Quiet, Peace, or Victoriouſneſs, and Greatneſs under the Favour of the Precept given to the four Angels, that held the four Winds, which Precept was yet in full Force and Vertue.
But all this was but for an Half-hour, an imperfect, decurtated Time, ſeiz'd and ſurpriz'd from its Perfection, [as the Beaſt's Times have been, and much more ſhall be yet within the Half▪time:] The Purity of Worſhip was ſurpris'd by the Apoſtacy, the Kingdom of Chriſt by the Antichriſtian Kingdom, being immediately in Preparation; The Glory and Peace of the Empire no ſooner vindicated from Paganiſm, but merg'd in Antichriſtianiſm, and ſo purſued by Vengeance that puniſh'd the former in the latter; and ſo alſo made way by a high myſterious Counſel of Juſtice, for the Antichriſtian King, while it deſtroy'd the Antichriſtianiz'd Empire.
Now the juſt Time of the whole Courſe of the Seals opened, from the laſt half Week, I eſtimate at 400 Years; For the Decency of the Type of ſealed Time, it is indeed given in no numeral Account: Even as the ſeven Thunders ſeal'd are ever after conceal'd, and under the Name and explicite Series of ſeven Thunders never open'd, and yet, as we ſhall ſee, produc'd in the ſeven Voices; So this ſealed Time, and of this ſeventh Seal ending, may be underſtood;
1. By comparing that great opening of the Kingdom of Chriſt at the firſt Seal in the Apoſtolical Preaching, and the magnificent Appearance of it in the ſixth Seal in Conſtantine's Converſion, [and except that ſhort Nubecle,] that little Cloud of Julian's Apoſtaſie, all along the Chriſtian Empire to Theodoſius's Death. Parallels to each of which, nothing appears throughout the Time, either in Common or Eccleſiaſtick Hiſtory, wherein the Chriſtian Church is concerned, as ſhewing Chriſt's Kingdom.
2. By comparing all along the 2300 Ev. and Mor. the 75 of the Word going forth, the 490 of the Weeks, the 1260 of the Witneſſes, and its concurrent Numbers, and the 75 of the Voices and Vials we have, and ſhall farther find the ſealed Time determin'd to 400 Years, and ending at 437, when the Trumpets began to ſound; which ought to be ſhewn.
3. By the Signature of the half Time of the Churches Purity, and of the Weſtern Roman Empires Duration before the Vacancy; at which Vacancy it enter'd in the New and laſt In Auguſtulus.form, viz. the Beſtian, we may compute the Sealed Time.
This I account given by the Voice in the midſt of the four Beaſts in the third Seal, in the very Reign of that Mirror of Magiſtratical Juſtice, Alexander Severus, preſented with the Ballances in his Hand weighing out this Time juſt at the half Time, or 202 years from the Reſurrection, or 237 of Vulgar Account from the Incarnation: to which 202 Years added, as the other half Time, the Apoſtacy enter'd at 437, and then the Trumpets ſounded to the Empires Ruine.
And how fitly is the daily Service, at its juſt and even Ballance, ſymbol'd by the exact care of just Weight and Meaſure, (according to the Charge on the Prince in the Prophet Ezek.) without any Injury to the Wheat, Barley, Oyl, and (by Concomitancy no daily Oblation being without it) Wine, and as it were on purpoſe to ſhew us it was not the Levitical but according to the Unceremonial Simplicity of Goſpel Worſhip, the ſpiritual Sacrifice that is intended, Barley is added, which had no Place in the daily Levitical Oblation. Now to explain this Symbol, I deſire a diligent Compare of Rev. 6. 6. Exod. 29. 40. Numb. 28. 7. Ezek. 45. 9, 10. &c.
Oh infinite and ſupream Diſpoſe, that changes Times and Remark.Seaſons as it pleaſes, having firſt drawn them in an entire Table, lying always before it; where every Thing is beautiful in its own ſeaſon, and ſo every thing ſhall at laſt appear before Holy Angels and Saints; and even extort the Confeſſions of Angry and Male-content Spirits. How admirably hath it ſeal'd and open'd in this courſe of Seals, and for his own Glory ſuffer'd a new ſealing, by ſurpriſe, upon his Kingdom when that first ſealing was taken off, that he might bring Good out of Evil, Light out of ſo long obſcurity of the Apoſtacy, that even then when the Empire or Ʋniverſal Monarchy of the World was riſen out of Heatheniſm into the Acknowledgment of the only true God, and the one Mediator Jeſus Chriſt, ſuffered it to relapſe into the new Heatheniſm of Antichriſtianiſm: Even ſo Father, who haſt hid theſe things from the wiſe and prudent, and revealed them to Babes, it ſeemed good in thy ſight. For thou haſt what Time thou pleaſeſt, [to whom a Day and a thouſand Years are equal] to diſplay thy Kingdom in, within the moſt perfect Meaſure of Time, viz. a cubical thouſand Years, and then in a boundleſs Eternity.
To him then who ſits on the Throne, and to the Lamb, who hath the ſealed Book yet in his Hand, and is even ready to unſeal it into his Kingdom, within Ten Years to be proclaim'd, be Glory, Bleſſing, Salvation, Dominion, Obedience, for ever and ever.
Amen.
An Explication of Daniel's Grand Line of Time, as given in his four laſt Chapters.
SECT. I. OF the Viſion of the Daily taken away, and therein of the 2300 Ev. Morn. or the Viſion call'd the Viſion of the Ev. Morn. in general, on Dan. chap. 8. Page 1.
SECT. II. That this Viſion begins at the Perſian Monarchy, and the Proof of it. Page 8.
SECT. III. In which a Line of 75 Years, precedent to the 70 Weeks, is aſſerted, and endeavour'd to be proved, Dan. 9. Page 24.
SECT. IV. Gives the Proof, that the Time of the Words going forth was the firſt 75 Years of the 2300 Ev. Mor. Page 28.
SECT. V. Of the 70 Weeks themſelves in brief: the ſecond Line of the 2300 Even. Morn. Page 32.
SECT. VI. Brief Remarks on Daniel's laſt and longeſt Viſion, are made from Part to Part. Page 35.
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. Page 45.
SECT. VIII. Wherein is given a Prefatory Survey of the whole Apocalyptical Prophecy. Page 52.
SECT. IX. Wherein a Proof is given, The ſeven Churches carry with them a Line of Time contemporizing with the whole Apocalyptick Time. Page 62.
SECT. X. Of the third Line of Time in the Grand Line of 2300 Even. Morn. or of the ſeven Seals from the Reſurrection; ſhewing it extends to a ſpace of 400 Years. Apoc. c. 4 c. 5. c. 6. c. 7. c. 8. Page 72.