A Scripture Line of Time, Treatise · Part 2 · Section 9
SECT. IX.
In which the Time from the Forty two Months beginning is ſet out till 622, or the Mahometan Hegira, by Rome's dark State in the Fourth Trumpet; by the Angel proclaiming the three Woe Trumpets; by the Beaſt becoming a fallen Star at 606, and the Key of the Abyſs given him, viz. in the Univerſal Paſtorſhip by Phocas; and the Miniſtry of the other Beaſt to him herein, and the ſtate of the Witneſſes are alſo declar'd. Revel. c. 8. v. 12. &c. c. 9. v. 1. &c.
I Have in the former Section ſettled that ſo conſiderable Period of the Beaſt's Forty two Months, and ſettled them upon their own Baſe; the Beast in his moſt eſſential and fundamental Delineation: but this Part, reſted upon the Point of Time, that was even with his Succeſſion; His Riſing out of the Sea, that Sea, into which Rome was thrown; into which thoſe Fountains ran, where into the Imperial Star, Wormwood fell, and imbitter'd them: This gave opportunity to the Beaſts Succeſſion, to his riſing out of that very Sea, as hath been argued: for when Auguſtulus thus fell, the Name and Head into which the Beast ſucceeded, was in the midſt of the Tumults of the Winds ſtriving upon the Great Sea; the Winds rais'd by the three first Trumpets left ſupreme: ſo He ſucceeded.
The Judgment of God upon the apoſtatiz'd Chriſtian Empire, made way for him to riſe to a ſupreme Apoſtate. God took away that apoſtatiz'd indeed Imperial King, but no Head, and gave the Apoſtacy a proper both Head and King in his Wrath.
But he was at this time, and long after, a Beast, that Was and yet Is not. There being therefore no other Name of Potency and Auguſtneſs, Rome, the Abſolute Rome, (for Conſtantinople was but a mutuatitious Rome, it borrowed in Emulation the Name, Rome only;) becauſe, I ſay, there was no other Name but that of the Beſtian Succeſſion, in the time when he was under the Inſcription, Is not; Rome was very dark. All other Names, not only of Supremacy, but even of Subordinacy, by degrees were ecclips'd; yea, the Ecclipſe was total, 'ere the Light returned: no Emperour, no Senate, no Kings, under the Denomination of Rome, no Conſuls. And Rome it ſelf became a Provincial City under the Exarchat of Ravenna, as low a State as the Miſtreſs of the World could be depreſs'd into; more inglorious than an utter Extinction. Thus it was from 475 beginning, to about 550, under Juſtinian the Emperour. Herein all Hiſtory is at Peace, at one with it ſelf: and ſo things continued ſome time.
And how elegantly does Prophecy repreſent this under the ſymbolical Account of the fourth Trumpet! The fourth Angel ſounded, and the third part of the Sun, of the Moon, and of the Stars, were ſmitten; and the Day ſhined not for a third part thereof, and the Night likewiſe. The Beſtian Name being as yet in a Peerage, and out of that very Peerage to come in an Image into its luſtre, (and the Image not yet made) could not inlighten this great Orb; for its Name however, the only Name of Supremacy, was not yet known in its Beſtian Supremacy, but was yet as of another Order and Claim.
But now at the end of the fourth, and in the beginning of the fifth Trumpet, it began to dawn; and ſo Prophecy will by its Dawn convey us upon this Line, this wonderful Line, we have diſcourſed ſo long upon, the Line of the 1260 Days; with which the forty two Months of the Beast are now combin'd. Prophecy will, I ſay, very ſpeedily in the fifth Trumpet convey and ſet us upon a new Line of the Mahometan Hegira or Computation of Time; ſo that we ſhall run upon it for the ſpace of eight hundred and thirty Years together, with the 1260 Days, and with the Beſtian Line, comprehending in ſhort the moſt Oecumenical and illuſtrious Points of Hiſtory at that Time in the Univerſe; viz. of the Beſtian and the Mahometan Graſſation, or Invaſion into the ſame kind of Univerſal Power; and both upon the Account of Pſeudo-Prophetiſm, the due Obſervation of which, will perſuade us of the Divineneſs of this Prophecy, and that we are upon the true Explication of it.
As it were then, between the ending of the Time of the fourth, and the beginning of the Time of the fifth Trumpet; there was a loud Voice, as of an Angels flying through the foreign, that upper Region, like the Voice of Thunder, reaching down to the Earth, and ſaying, Woe, Woe, Woe, to the Inhabiters of the Earth, becauſe of the Voices of the Angels that are yet to ſound.
Now it were wonderful, if merely by the chance of Imagination, running ſuch a Path, ſo great and remarkable Configurations both of Prophecy and Hiſtory ſhould meet it ſo often, juſt where it would chooſe and deſire to be ſo met.
For at this very Time, Gregory call'd the Great, Biſhop of Rome, a Perſonage of ſo great Eminence for Vertue, Learning, and Eloquence, declar'd aloud in his Epiſtles to the Emperour Mauricius, and to John the Biſhop of Conſtantinople, So alſo to the Biſhops of Alexand. and Antioch.That Antichrist was near; That the Title of Ʋniverſal Biſhop was a certain Indication of him; That it was Pride to aſſume ſuch a Title; It was like Lucifer, Son of the Morning, aſcending the heights of the Stars, ſetting his Throne above the other Angels, above the other Stars, affecting to be like the Most High.
Now ſeeing no ſuch could be fix'd in the Firmament or Heaven of the Goſpel, he muſt needs Fall: How cloſe then is this to the prophetick Language, I ſaw a Star fall from Heaven; or as Chriſt in a like caſe ſpeaks, I ſaw Satan fall as Lightning from Heaven, as the Dragon fell, but found in the Beast a Kingdom on Earth, as before ſaid.
Juſt as when Satan fell from Heaven he had a Kingdom aſſign'd him by the Divine Permiſſion and Decree; viz. God of this World, Ruler of the Darkneſs of this World; This Star who is the Son of Perdition, whoſe coming is after the manner of Satan, had the ſame in Proportion; the Key of the bottomleſs pit is given to him, that is, permitted to him, given judiciarily into his hand by God's wiſe and holy ſufferance, and over-rule of all things to his Glory.
This Fall then of this Star, is like the Angels leaving their own Habitation, their first Eſtate, or true original Principality: Jude v. 6.a Fall, not like that of the Stars, the Dragon ſwept down with his Tail, or of the Star Wormwood, an involuntary Fall, a Fall from the Heaven of a political Order and Supremacy, to a low State without Power; but a Fall of Apoſtacy from his due Station, a planetary Defection from his own Orb, v. 16.into a Kingdom of the bottomleſs Pit, to which Darkneſs is reſerv'd for ever.
And whenever the Antichriſt came, the Beaſt roſe out of the bottomleſs pit, or which is the ſame, this Star had fallen: there muſt be then Woe, Woe, Woe, for the Vengeance of God at the ſame time made him way, and purſued him: every Trumpet ſounded againſt him; The firſt was to hurt only the Revel. 9. 4.Men that were not ſeal'd, of which he was the Prince: the ſecond was upon thoſe who were guilty of Murthers, Sorceries, v. 20.Thefts, Idolatries. The Woman whom the Beaſt carried was guilty of all theſe; was impenitent in them, although c. 11. v. 15. compar'd with c. 14. c. 15. c. 16.God gave her ſpace to repent. The Third Woe-Trumpet brought with it the Kingdom of Chriſt, and the Deſtruction of Antichriſt, or the Beſtian Kingdom: ſo there was Woe, Woe, Woe, on the Beſtian Earth whenever Antichriſt came.
Immediately after this Remonſtrance of the Biſhop Gregory, the Biſhop Boniface accepts from the parricidick Emperour Phocas, this Ʋniverſality: ſo that in his ſenſe, Antichriſt then came, and the firſt Woe-Trumpet, according to Prophecy, is dated from his Fall. What can be more wonderful? as Gregory was at all a good Man, his Prediction muſt be own'd to a better Spirit, and to the Knowledge Divine Prophecy gave him, and to the Impreſſion it had made upon him; As he was himſelf part of that Body, upon which his own Prediction ran, it was like Nebuchadnezzar's prophetick Dream of Dan. 2.the Ruine of that Image by the Stone, of which he was the head of Gold; or like the Prophecy of Caiaphas, a very bad Joh. 11. 51.part of which himſelf was concern'd in: however his eminent Station gave the Rebound of his Prediction, as through the World. And the time of Rome lying ſo low, is noted moſt emphatically by Prophecy; viz. Rome without any eminent Light of Government: and then follows ſuch an immediate Appearance of Antichriſt, according to the Signal given of him by that Biſhop of Rome, and according to Prophecy the Star Fell. This is in ſome ſenſe, I may ſay, but too remarkable in ſo plainly declaring who is Antichriſt, and that his Kingdom holds by the Key of the bottomleſs Pit.
It is true, the Beaſt had been in his forty two months above a hundred Years; yet, as a Tyrant, prophetically declar'd to be a Tyrant, is not yet ſo in his Infancy or Under-ſtate, no more than Hazael was a Tyrant when Eliſha told him what 1 Kin. 8. 11.he, as ſuch a Tyrant, ſhould do; no more was the Beaſt ſuch a Beaſt while he was under the Inſcription, Is not. So that though he was a Beaſt by way of Succeſſion, and ſome preſagious Actions, He might yet not be a falling Star till he now fell, and receiv'd this Key: for the whole Beſtian Body, or Succeſſion, is conſider'd in the whole Beaſt, not in its ſeveral Ages, nor in the ſingle Perſons making it, ſome better ſome worſe: all that enter its Compoſition, are conſider'd as one Beaſt in the prophetick Scheme, in any Age, in any Beſtian Qualities, more or leſs; yea though ſo moderate, as that they ſhould only bear up the Title, and maintain the Succeſſion. And this removes all poſſible Objection; as thus, Was he, that had been a Beaſt ſo long, a Star yet to Fall? You ſee, he might be ſo while he was the Beast; Is not; and yet not a falling Star; for this fall prepar'd his riſing out of the bottomleſs Pit, and ſo to ſhew himſelf a Beaſt, whereas yet he could not appear ſo, but muſt remain in his State, Is not, till this fall, and after it too, even till he came to his number, that Prophecy might be fulfilled, when he aſcends out of this Abyſs.
And though his fall was but to the Earth, yet becauſe inſtead of the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, he pretended to, he had only the Key of the bottomleſs Pit, he is juſtly ſaid to riſe out of it, for that he aſcended, what was it, as the Apoſtle argues in a much better Caſe, but that he deſcended firſt; Epheſ. 4. 9.for ſeeing he riſes to his Power by the Efficacy of his deceivableneſs of unrighteouſneſs in them that periſh, by his ſathanick Signs and Wonders, by his excommunicational Thunders from beneath, by which he affrights men downwards; and that much of his Potentacy lies in the management of a falſe Hell of his own founding; It is very proper to him to aſcend out of the bottomleſs Pit, and the Power of the Keys, he aſſumes, is very ominous to him; for what he calls Keys, is this, one Key of the bottomleſs Pit, and ſo in juſt deriſion of him he carries this device in Prophecy, The Key of the bottomleſs Pit was given him.
I confeſs, The Patriark of Constantinople was the Firſt in this Aſſumption, the Emulation of which mov'd Gregory, it is to be fear'd, as a lower cauſe to ſo high an Exclamation; but though he was Firſt, yet he was not to have the Key of the Abyſs in Supremacy; for Prophecy ſees not as Man ſees by degrees, and as in parcels, but at once; it therefore calls him, that fallen Star alone, who was to have this Key, although the other was a falling Star alſo, and ſpake as a Dragon.
He is then, and he alone, He that hath under Sathan the Key of the bottomleſs Pit, and though an Angel is call'd afterwards the Angel of the bottomleſs Pit, whom we ſhall find in its due place very diverſe from this Star, who may ſeem to have a better right to this Key; we ſhall yet find he was only a Warlike King of the Locuſts, under the Title of a Prophet, the falſe Prophet Mahomet, but was not, could not be this Star, whoſe fall muſt be from Heaven perpetual, even as his aſpiring Pretenſions to Heaven are ſo continual; (as ſhall be further declared) as one who once had a fixation in Heaven, which Mahomet never had.
He, that aſcends out of the bottomleſs Pit, is he that open'd it, and let out the Smoke, he opens it, he lets out the Smoke, out of which the Locuſts came, but againſt his own Intention, he intended himſelf to ride in this Cloud, as in an infernal Chariot alone; but with the Smoke Sathan alſo aſcended, and became an Angel of the bottomleſs Pit in the King of the Locuſts, who were the Flood out of his Mouth, propagating his Kingdom by both the Star, and by the King of the Locusts; The latter of which was principally a great Judgment of God on the Antichristian Star, as ſhall be ſhewn at large.
In the mean Time we find, the other Beaſt miniſtring to this delivery of the Key of the bottomleſs Pit, under the decree and judicial Ordination of God. For they made Trial for him, of the Efficacy of the Lamb-like Horns, joyn'd with the draconick Idolatry, and Perſecution, and ſo exercis'd the Power of the firſt Beaſt before him, while he, as one, and the chief Revel. 13.among them, look'd on. They eſſayed the calling fire from Heaven, and working lying Miracles in his ſight, to eſtabliſh the Grandeur of falſe Prophecy; they ſtirred up all to worſhip the firſt Beaſt, viz. The Roman idolatrous Supremacy, and to make an Image of Ʋniverſality to it in ſuch a Roman Catholick Supremacy, as of the Vicar of Chriſt on Earth.
And even the Eaſtern Horn that aſpired for it ſelf above this Beaſt, yet by approving the Idea, by making the Experiment, by aſſuming the Title, provok'd and inkindled the Ambition of him, who by the divine Decree had the Permiſſion, got the Poſſeſſion, and hath for many Ages wedg'd himſelf faſt into it, and left the other Horn leiſure only to be angry at his defeat, while his vain claim juſtifies the thing as lawful, and deſirable; and therefore gave the occaſion to the High ſounding Voice of Gregory the Great.
And it is very obſervable, on this very account the Divine Juſtice fell all along ſeverely upon the Eaſtern Empire, and Patriarchate, by the two first woe-Trumpets, eſpecially at the taking of Conſtantinople, and to this day lies heavy upon them: ſo that as the Grecian Emperours gave firſt to the Conſtantinopolitan Patriarch, and then to the Biſhop of Rome, this Antichriſtian Ʋniverſality; ſo moſt diſtinctly the Wrath of God was very dreadful upon both the Empire, and the whole Hierarchy as ſo antichriſtianizing; and ſo it continues, and will ſo far conjoyn them in the Puniſhment of the Beast and falſe Prophet, as they ſhall not divorce themſelves from them by Repentance.
For this Prophecy looks upon both the Eaſtern and Weſtern Hierarchy, as one and the ſame Beast with two Horns, under the ſame grand Beast, and their People, as one Body of Men, Gentiles, Inhabitants of the Antichriſtian Earth, and Sea, and as two Wings of the ſame Eagle. And they all along are both puniſh'd in, and with one another. 'Tis not the leſſer Controverſies among themſelves concerning Primacy, or ſome other matters, that can diſſolve the Antichriſtian Ʋnion, wherein this Prophecy leaves them; it muſt be ſincere Repentance, turning from Idolatry, Superſtition, Enmity to the pure Religion; and from Pride and Tyranny, enjoyed only by one, one of the Horns indeed for many years as moſt nearly allied to the Grand Beaſt, but affected by both, that muſt make that Wall of Partition, that hath not yet been made, between the Eaſtern and Weſtern Antichriſtians, or between any parts of each and their Antichriſtianiſm.
In the Interim from this very Time we are upon, the Beast, falling as a Star to the Antichriſtian Earth, receives, as Latin, that is, ſtrictly Roman, the Univerſality of both East and West, as was always deſign'd by God to be ſo given or permitted, and ſo by degrees enlightens Rome, when all the Rulers of the Day, and even of the Night, were ſmitten, gone down, and ſet; and now he begins to carry the Woman on high, even at his firſt aſcending, and ſo gradually as he aſcends to his Number.
And hereby the fallen Star appears to be the ſame Beast that riſes out of the bottomleſs Pit, to war with the Witneſſes; and therefore muſt be the ſame that wars with the Saints, who are the Witneſſes, and who is led captive or taken by the Lamb, and his Army of the faithful and true, and goes into Perdition; that is, is cast into the Lake: and ſo the ſame throughout.
And when he is ſo caſt into the Lake, an Angel of another Character does not fall, but deſcends from Heaven, having the Key of the bottomleſs Pit not judicially given, but committed to him; not to open the bottomleſs Pit, and let out the Smoak; not to looſe nor draw out at greater liberty, and by provoking God to give the Malice of Devils greater ſcope, by the Angel of that Pit, raging like a roaring Lyon, in a helliſh Mahometaniſm; but to lay hold on him, to bind him, to cast him into the bottomleſs Pit, to ſhut him up, and to ſet a Seal upon him, that he may deceive the Nations no more for the 1000 Years: which very Conſideration of that ſo oppoſite Viſion does much inlighten this of the fifth Trumpet we are now upon.
It remains, that we conſider now, what the Service of the two Witneſſes might at this time moſt agreeably with Prophecy be; and as ſo conſidering it, I look upon this joynt of Time, this Proclamation of the three woe Trumpets, to be the very entrance of the Witneſſes in the ſecond Type of that eminent Binary, or Pair of Witneſſes, and Prophets, Elijah and Eliſha.
The Witneſſes had now a long time, as the Sons of Oyl, emptied their golden Oyl by way of preparatory Furniture of thoſe two golden Candleſticks, the true Churches of Pergamus and Thyatyra, that ſtood, this whole Line of Time, before the God of the whole Earth; and though we have not the clear and unmixed Records of any ſuch Teſtimony; for that were to leſſen the Prophecy; beſides that the Indignation of the Apoſtate Church muſt needs have ſuppreſs'd them: they muſt needs have ſuffer'd more ſo than under the Injuries of Time: but I ſay it were to leſſen Prophecy, which ſays, They were cover'd with Sackcloth, they were ſeal'd, they were retir'd within the Temple, the Church was in the Wilderneſs through the ſcattering of its Seed. It is not then poſſible, according to the Prophecy, there ſhould be pure, liquid Remains of their Teſtimony.
But now the Antichriſtians, like Sanballat and Tobiah, and other the Enemies of the Jews, diſturb'd their Service, and in building with them hinder'd the Operation, and infus'd their Venome in ſome part into the Writings and Diſcourſes of Perſons of a much more excellent temper in the main.
Now the Witneſſes therefore, as we may in part ſee by Gregory (praiſed before) paſſed into the Spirit and Power of Elijah and Eliſha; they began now to have fire proceed out of their Mouths, to devour their Adverſaries; They began to declare the Wrath of God againſt Idolatry, and Antichriſtian Pride, and Blaſphemy: And this entred as Fire into the Conſciences of their Enemies, that in this manner they were kill'd, as it were by the Sword of Chriſt's Mouth, which he threatens to the Balamites in the Church of Pergamus; and herein they imitated the Zeal of Moſes and Phincas againſt the ſpiritual Fornication and Nicolaitaniſm of that time; and alſo prepar'd the Servants of God in Thyatyra with a holy Zeal againſt the Jezebeliſm, and Idolatry, and Fornication of that Time alſo, when the Apoſtacy was increas'd.
But how can we hope for much of Monument hereof? The Prophecy of Gregory is more than we could expect; and were it not that he ſerv'd the Apoſtacy to many other great purpoſes, we had not had ſo much of him; but God overrul'd ſo far. Now the Witneſſes were coming into the cloſeſt time of being ſeal'd; and therefore we have the mention of it reviv'd within the fifth Trumpet; They were ſed with hidden Manna, They were hardly known one to another at the very Time; Elijah knew not of the ſeven thouſand Knees that had not bowed to Baal, nor their Mouths kiſs'd him, but thought himſelf alone: How much leſs then can we now know them?
And which is very characteriſtical of this Period of the Witneſſes Prophecy and Teſtimony; They have Power to ſhut Heaven, that it rain not in the Days of their Prophecy; ſo that there ariſes a Famine, not of Bread, but of hearing the Word of the Lord: and this endured for the intimate Time, of which we are to ſpeak in the next Period of the Witneſſes, and the Remark of ſhutting Heaven for three Years and ſix Months will be of great Conduct to us.