A Discourse Concerning the Witnesses, Question 2
Queſt. II. VVhat if we ſhould ſee ſuch a Slaughter, as ſymbolizeth much with that here, ver. 7, 8, &c. And yet when the three years and half are ended, there appeareth little or nothing in view, agreeable to ſuch a Reſurrection as the Text here holdeth forth, ver. 11, 12?
Anſw.
HEre lyeth the difficulty, that (as I ſaid in anſwer to the former Queſtion the laſt time) I dare not be poſitive in determining whether the Witneſſes are ſlain or not; only I laid before you what the Scripture ſaith concerning their ſlaughter, and left it to you to conſider: And the ſame courſe I ſhall take at preſent in anſwer to this Queſtion.
But before I come to the Anſwer, I ſhall premiſe a Poſition or two.
1. That there muſt not only be a Reſurrection of the ſlain Witneſſes, but ſuch a Reſurrection al…o as is here deſcribed, for the Scripture cannot be broken. It is not enough that there is an anſwerableneſs of things in the death of the Witneſſes, to prove their Slaughter; but there muſt be the like in their Reſurrection alſo, or we can conclude nothing. Every Slaughter hath not been the S…nght…r, and ſo every Reſurrection is not that Reſurrection; And to hold forth that which is like the death of the Witneſſes, but to fall in the Reſurrection, will not amount to ſatisfaction.
2. This Reſurrection of the Witheſſes muſt be homogeneal, and of the ſame kind with the Slaughter, … If the ſlaughter be partly civil and partly ſpiritual. ſo muſt alſo the Reſurrection be, and not proper and literal; for thoſe Bodies can never riſe from a natural death, which were never deprived of their natural lives. Theſe Poſitions premiſed, I proceed to the Anſwer.
1. Negatively, I ſhall not anſwer as ſome have done, who ſay, that after three days and … the witneſſes ſhall ariſe, but how ſoon after it is not ſaid. … not anſwer thus, for this were ponere Reſurrectionem … ſmite Reſurrection, without an, determination of time; and …o to what purpoſe would the Text in hand …rve? Or what comfort thould we have from it more than this, that there ſhall come a time when the witneſſes ſhall ariſe? For as Martha ſaid to Chriſt, of her dead Brother …, I know that he ſhall ariſe again i… the Reſurrection at the laſt day; all her doubt was, whether Chriſt would raiſe him then, John 11.24. Even …o might we ſay of the ſlain Witneſſes, if their Reſurrection here had … been mentioned at all, We know that they ſhall riſe again…: yea, but when ſhall they ariſe? After three days and a… half, ſaith the Text; therefore the time is determined. For in theſe words there is the Ep…, … O…inal or beginning of time from whence the Re…urrection doth commerce and proceed, i. …. preſently after the expiration of the ſaid … of their death. For the time of their Witneſſing had,
1. Its Epo…, though … dark and difficult to diſcover it.
2. Its Continuance, …
like manner the time of their ſlaughter hath.
1. … and …egi…ning, and term from whence to reckon; and
2. Its … c…ance, v…z. three years and an half: And ſhall not … …ction alſo have a certain fixed beginning?
God is very pun… … as to his times and ſeaſons, though our darkneſs knows not how to diſcern it, as you may ſee, Exod. 12.40, 41, 42. It came to paſs at the end of the 430 years, even the ſelf ſame day it came to paſs, that all the hoſts of the Lord went out from the Land of Egypt: It is a night to be much obſerved, &c. it is doubled and trebled to ſhew us Gods exactneſs in keeping time.
2. I ſhall not anſwer according to that Notion of ſome others concerning three years and half, i. e. three years (ſay they) and half three years for the words in the Original are theſe, foreign i. e. ſay they, after three days and half, leaving out the word an; ſo that they reckon the time to be three years and half three years, i. e. four years and an half. But this anſwer will not hold: For,
1. There are three notable Numbers in the Revelations, relating to the ſufferings of the Church, viz. 1260 days, and 42 months; and time, times, and half a time, i. e. three years and an half: For ſo many days are ſo many months, and ſo many months are ſo many years, a day being put for a year; ſo that there is a ſingular anſwerableneſs in theſe numbers, and therefore if we extend the three days and an half (i. e. three years and an half) to four years and an half, we break the proportion and correſpondence that is between theſe three numbers.
2. How will this notion hold, if at the end of four years and an half, there ſhould be no more ſhew of a Reſurrection, than there was at the end of three years and an half? I come therefore to an Affirmative Anſwer.
Firſt. There are ſeveral Reſurrections mentioned in the Scriptures.
1. The Reſurrection of the Soul from the death of Sin to the life of Grace, … 5.25. Eph. 2.1.
2. The Reſurrection of the Body at the coming of Chriſt, 1 Theſſ. 4.16. And the…e two Reſurrections are in inſtanti, or in a very ſhort and quick time, as it is ſaid of that great change, 1 Cor. 15.52. In th…twinkling of ….
3. There is the Reſurrection of the Jews at their Converſion, …for ſo it is calied, Ez…k. 37.12, 13, 14. Rom. 11.15.
4. The Reſurrection of the Witneſſes in my Text. And theſe two laſt are not ſo peedy as the two former, but have their gradual Proceſs and …e…ral …ucceeding ſteps. For, as touching that of the Calling or Reſurrection of the J…ws.
1. There is a noiſe.
2. A ſhaking.Ezek. 37.7.-11.
3. A coming together of Bone to Bone.
4. Sinews and Fleſh coming upon them, and skin …ve…ing them.
5. The breath of Life coming into them.
6. Their … upon their feet as an exceeding great Army.
So for the raiting of the …:
1. The Spirit of Life from God entreth into them.
2. They fraud upon their feet.
3. They hear a great voice from Heave, ſaying, Come up hither.
Secondly, I anſwer, that the Reſurrection of the Witneſſes ſeems to anſwer to the coming of the Children of Iſrael our of Egypt, for ſpiritual Babylon is called ſpiritual Egypt, ver. 8. Which Deliverance was a kind of Reſurrection, as appears from the reſemblance there made to Abraham in a viſion, Gen. 15.9, 10, 11. Now the Children of Iſrael aroſe our of their bondage by degrees, for their Reſurrection was not complete till they roſe out of the Red Sea, and ſang the ſong of Moſes, Ex. 15. For till then they were not quite free from the …yptians. They made ſeveral ſteps out of Egypt to the other ſide of the Red Sea, viz. from Rameſes to Succoth, from Succoth to Etham, from Etham to Pihahireth, from P…hahiroth to the red Sea, Numb. 33.5-9. And therefore that remarkable day ſpoken of, Exod. 12.40, 41, 42. is not to be underſtood of Iſraels complete Reſurrection, but that day was remarkable for the beginning of it.
3ly. There is a great Analogy between literal and ſpiritual Babylon, and the coming of Gods people out of that, and of the riſing of the Witneſſes and their deliverance from this. Now the people of God aroſe gradually out of literal Babylon. For 1. When the ſeventy years of their captivity were fulfilled,Jer. 29.10.-15. the Text tells us, that they muſt call upon the Lord, and go and pray to him and ſeek him; and ſearch for him with all their hearts, and then he would be found of them; then they ſhould do it, i. e. at the end of the 70 years. This then was their firſt motion in their Reſurrection; they muſt firſt of all riſe upon their knees.
And Daniel did his part in this Calling, Praying, Seeking, Searching. And when did he do it? In the ſecond year of Darius the Son of Ahaſuerus of the ſeed of the Medes, in which he was made King over the Realm of the Chaldeans, Dan. 9.1.
This then was after the accompliſhment of the 70 years, becauſe the Kingdom of the Chaldeans was now at an end. For note what Jeremy ſaith, It ſhall come to paſs when 70 years are accompliſhed, that I will puniſh the King of Babylon; and that Nation, ſaith the Lord, for their iniquity, &c. Jer. 25.12. It is apparent therefore that the 70 years were now ended, and that the time of the Jews deliverance was come; and yet (you ſee) after that very time did Daniel thus call, pray, ſeek, and ſearch. This (I ſay) is remarkable, as alſo, that after this time it was, that our Lord Jeſus Chriſt (the Angel of the Covenant) made interceſſion for the deliverance of his people, Zach. 1.12. Saith he, O Lord of hoſts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jeruſalem, and on the Cities of Judah, againſt which thou haſt had indignation theſe threeſcore and ten years? God therefore ſeemed to delay a while, ſome may ſay, after the 70 years were ended, that our Lord Jeſus ſaith, How long, when the years were expired. Yea, but God did not delay one moment, Hab. 2.3. for the Jews Reſurrection was now begun, for they were upon their knees, and Chriſt was interceding for them and in them. The Spirit of Life from God acted this way in them in their firſt motion; their riſing was ſomewhat like as when a man riſeth out of his bed, and falls down upon his knees by his Bed-ſide and prayeth. If any man now ſhould enquire and ſay, is ſuch a man riſen? it might truly be affirmed that he is ſo, though he be down upon his knees at preſent.Iſa. 26.1…9. It was propheſyed of the coming of the Jews out of Babylon, that their dew ſhould be as the dew of the herbs, and that the earth ſhould caſt forth her dead: Their Reſurrection out of Babylon ſhould be like the Reſurrection of Herbs in Spring, which ariſe out of the earth by degrees.
And alſo when they did come out of Babylon, they came not out all at once, but at ſeveral times; ſome of them in the firſt year of King Cyrus, upon the Proclamation which he made, Ezr. 1. Others in the Reign of Artaxerxes, came out with Ezra the Scribe,Neh. 2. & 7.7.— which was 13 years after Ezra's coming forth. Neh. 2.1. with Ezr. 7.7, 8. Ezr. 7.1.—Others with Nehemiah, in whoſe days alſo the bondage was not quite ended, Neh. 9.36, 37. So that it was upon that account alſo a kind of gradual Reſurrection or coming forth.
It is true, there was liberty of returning granted by Proclamation in the firſt year of King Cyrus, but there fell in certain impediments that hindred both the ſpeedy progreſs of their coming forth, and alſo of their carrying on of Religion when they were come unto Jeruſalem, for fear was upon them, Ezr. 3.3. and much oppoſition they met with for ſome years; for the people of the Land weakned the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building, and hired Councellors againſt them, to fruſtrate their purpoſe all the days of Cyrus King of Perſia, Ezr. 4th 5th, & 6th Chapters.unto the days of Darius the King thereof. They had ſtill very many Adverſaries.
For Military Occaſions withdrew Cyrus, who left the Government to his Son Cambyſes, who proved an Enemy to the Jews, and to the building of the Temple: He did not ſecond his Farthers Proclamation of Liberty, but rather hid it in the Houſe of the Rolls, inſomuch, that it was at laſt quite forgotten, as you may ſee Ezr. 5.13. with 17. and chap. 6.1, 2. Note therefore what is ſaid, Dan. 10.1—In the third year of Cyrus King of Perſia, a thing was revealed unto Daniel, and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long—In thoſe days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks, I ate no pleaſant bread, neither came Fleſh or Wine into my mouth, &c. It ſeems he underſtood of the oppoſitions which were made by Cambyſes and his Emiſſaries againſt the work of God at Jeruſalem, even in the third year of King Cyrus, who gave the Jews their liberty in his firſt year.Ezr. 4. And upon this occaſion Daniel humbleth himſelf greatly, and waiteth to know the mind of God, and what he purpoſed to do with his people: And our Lord Jeſus Chriſt appeared to him, and ſhewed him a great Viſion, which aſtoniſhed him very much, and made him to fall down upon his face, and he was caſt into a deep ſleep, his face being towards the ground.
And now behold, an Hand touched him which ſet him upon his knees, and upon the palms of his hands; afterward Chriſt ſaid unto him, Stand upright, for unt… thee am I ſent; and when he had ſpoken this word, Daniel ſtood trembling. Chriſt could have ſet him upright upon his feet at once, but I have ſometimes thought whether our Lord Jeſus did not hereby ſhew unto Daniel, the gradual manner of the Je…s Re…urrection out of B…bylon; for
1. They did lye in B…bylon as it were in a deep ſleep on their faces, as Iſalah propheſying of their coming out of Captivity, ſaith, Awake and ſing ye that dwell in the duſt.Iſa. 26.19.
2. They ariſe but in a gradual manner, viz. upon their knees (as it were) and the palms of their hands.
3. They ſtand upright, but trembling; and therefore as if the Lord Jeſus ſhould bid Daniel not to be ſo much dejected, the people of God, for whom he was thus ſolicitous, ſhould ſtand upright in good time.
This (I have thought) is the intendment of Chriſt in this Viſion, and of what befell the Prophet under it; ſ…eing it is likely that Jeſus Chriſt would inſtruct him by the Viſion and the Effects of it, concerning that buſineſs which lay moſt upon his Heart. Now to come to our purpoſe.
Even thus the Witneſſes are dead aſleep in the duſt. 2. The Spirit of Life from God entreth into them, and they riſe firſt on their knees and palms of their Hands, and there they ſtick a while, a… l… they ſtand upright but trembling, and then they begin to gather ſtrength by little and little, till at laſt their en…mies begin to ſtand trembling, and are afraid to look upon him, as we ſhall bear, ver. 12.
Thus the Reſurrection here will be gradual, and (which is more) not be the buſineſs of a few days, though in my Text it is comprehended in a very few words.
You know what vaſt Hiſtories are contained in the ſecond and ſeventh Chapters of Daniel, and in other alſo of his Viſions, which are but ſhort and brief in the Reading. And thus it is with very many Hiſtories in the Scriptures which are expreſſed with very great brevity. That which the Apoſtle ſpeaketh of Antichriſt,2 Theſſ. 2. and of what did then hinder his viſible appearance, and what he ſpeaks of his Wickedneſs, Revelation, Conſumption, Deſtruction, containeth many Centuries of years above a thouſand, and is the ſum of moſt that is contained in the Book of the Revelations, from the ſixth Chapter to the End; In which Book how are large Stories contained in a very ſmall compaſs? The large Hiſtory of the ten Perſecutions lyeth in a narrow Room in the ſixth Chapter; the Tyranny and power of the Turk, and how he hath been a Scourge to the Antichriſtian World, lyeth within the one half of the ninth Chapter, &c.
For it is in this Book, as in a ſmall Map of the vaſt World, wherein very great Countreys are deſcribed in as narrow a compaſs as the breadth of your hand: And in the S…ale of miles which you ſee in the bottom of the Map, the miles ſeem to be very ſhort, but he that travelleth them …hall find them very long. And therefore I conceive we are much miſtaken, when we think that the entring of the Spirit of life into the Witneſſes, and their ſtanding upon their feet, and their aſcending in a Cloud, are matters that fall out ſuddenly, and that follow cloſe one upon the heels of another. The ſlaying and riſing of the Witneſſes is a great part of that Story which is contained under the ſixth Trumpet, which ſoundeth ſeveral hundreds of years, and yet you ſee not many things expreſſed during the time of its ſounding.
Laſtly, That the riſing of the Witneſſes will be gradual, is apparent by the gradual fall of the Beaſt; for they cannot riſe faſter than he falls, like as in two Well-buckets, one cannot aſcend faſter than the other doth deſcend.
Autichriſt, you know, hath been long aſcending to his height, and his Vertical point is at the time of the ſlaying of the Witneſſes, after which he will riſe no higher, but begin to deſcend, yet ſo as that it will not be preſently diſcerned, no more than the declining of the Sun is forthwith obſervable after his height in Summer; there is a Solſtice, or a ſtay or ſtand (as it were) of the Sun for a time after the longeſt day, before the declenſion thereof is viſible: For even thus it is with the Kingdom of the Beaſt after the riſing of the Witneſſes: And when that Kingdom of his doth decline viſibly, it will not fall ſuddenly, but God will firſt begin with a tenth part thereof, verſ. 13. as a pledge of the ruine of the whole City under the ſeventh Trumpet, which will ſound preſently upon the back of the fall of the ſaid tenth part. But the deſcending of the Beaſt to his Center, i. e. till he be caſt into the Lake that burneth with fire and Brimſtone, will take up many years, during which time the Church will ſtill be aſcending. And therefore we muſt not think that when the Witneſſes begin to ariſe, they will preſently (no nor in a few years neither) riſe up to their heighth; for they muſt aſcend as Antichriſt deſcendeth, and that is, gradually.
And by this we may collect, that it is a miſtake in ſuch as think, that when the Witneſſes begin to ariſe we ſhall have Halcyon dayes, in which the Saints ſhall begin to ride as it were in Triumph, and ſee ſorrow no more. For ſurely their life from the dead will not preſently become the death of the Beaſt; only, after a while, when he perceiveth that the Cauſe of Chriſt is in a riſing way, he will be ſorely affrighted, as here verſ. 12. But great troubles will follow this Reſurrection after a ſhort time; for the tenth part of the City (i. e. of the Beaſts Dominion) will not fall eaſily, as the walls of Jericho did, without ſtriking of a ſtroak; there will be ſomewhat to do in the execution of the Vengeance of Gods Witneſſes, which will ſhake the power of the Beaſt ſo far, that he ſhall loſe the tithe of his Dominion. There will be nothing but woful ſtirs and ſhakings, till it be come to Armageddon. For when the Beaſt perceives himſelf falling, who hath ſtood, and that ſtrongly, theſe many hundreds of years, he will rage like the Angel of the bottomleſs Pit,Quoniam ad ſeptimum clangorem principatus Chriſti maximè eminet, ad ho… tempus praecipuus furor totius Pontifici…e nationis reſervatus eſt. Joh. Bright. in locum. ſo that Hell it ſelf will be moved, and break looſe to help him.
You know what is ſaid here after the ſounding of the Seventh Trumpet, The Nations were angry, &c.
Chriſts Kingdom will begin to ſhine forth at the ſounding of the ſeventh Trumpet, and therefore the ſpecial rage of the Pontifician Nation is reſerved unto that time. And if it be thus under the Seventh Trumpet which allarums the Beaſt more eſpecially, how will it be under the ſixth Trumpet, which is the ſaddeſt of all the Trumpets to the Church and People of God? And what a fearfull Farewell will it have? For it will not ceaſe ſounding preſently after the riſing of the Witneſſes, ſeeing there is an aſcending time to follow, and a great Earthquake at the heels thereof, which will make ſad work, and after that, The third Woe cometh quickly. Theſe things then will not be done upon a ſudden, nor without further tryals to the Church of God. For the Worſhips and Superſtitions of Antichriſt are woven (almoſt) into every thing throughout Chriſtendom, the unravelling whereof will ſhake that part of the World where theſe things are ſo twiſted and interwoven, and ſo have been theſe hundreds of years. And therefore we muſt take heed that we do not judge of the riſing of the Witneſſes by the times that ſucceed it, but by that Reſurrection Spirit which (after a while) will appear in the Witneſſes of Chriſt.
I ſhall conclude with a Conſectary flowing from what hath been ſpoken of the gradual riſing, and it will ſerve alſo in way of anſwer to the queſtion in hand; and it is this, viz. That ſeeing there is ſuch a gradual motion, the firſt beginnings of the Reſurrection will not (in probability) be ſo perceivable. How imperceptible were the firſt motions of Antichriſt?2 Theſ. 2. The Myſtery of Iniquity (ſaith Paul) doth work already; and yet how few diſcerned him in the dayes of Conſtantine, which was ſome hundreds of years after the Apoſtle thus wrote, and when alſo that which did let his more publick appearing and acting, was quite taken out of the way?
I ſuppoſe, they have been very few who at the opening of the Seals, and at the beginning of the ſounding of every Trumpet hitherto, could ſay, Now ſuch a Seal is opened; and heark, how ſuch or ſuch a Trumpet doth now begin to ſound.
Beginnings are many times very ſmall and obſcure, as it is with Rivers which ariſe from little Fountains, and yet at laſt grow to be very deep. Perhaps alſo there may be in ſome an aptneſs to expect the accompliſhment of ſuch or ſuch a paſſage in the Revelati…ns, in ſuch a way as they have fore-fancyed, and then when the fulfilling of them is very different from their pre-conceptions, they may be ready to queſtion it. In our eager purſuits after accompliſhments, it may happen ſometimes that we may leave them behind us, and yet think that they are before us. A little waiting therefore will ſet our Judgments right as to the queſtion in hand, and give you a ſurer Anſwer than I ſhall undertake to do.
One thing more; you have heard how the Death and Reſurrection of the Witneſſes do in many things anſwer to the Death and Reſurrection of Chriſt, though in ſome things again they differ: But if their Reſurrections correſpond in any thing, I am prone to think it is in their firſt beginnings: Let us conſider this a little, and finiſh the preſent diſcourſe.
1. When Chriſt aroſe it was dark, and for ought I know to the contrary, it might be near Midnight.Joh. 20.1. When Mary Magdalene came to the Sepulchre, it was yet dark, and Chriſt was then riſen I know not how long before. And when ſhe ſaw Chriſt afterwards at the Sepulchre, ſhe neither knew him, nor that he was riſen, but miſtook him, thinking he had been the Gardiner; And when ſhe knew him, ſhe went and told them that had been with him, and found them mourning and weeping, who therefore little imagined that Chriſt was riſen.Mark 16.10, 11. And when theſe heard what ſhe ſaid, they believed it not; and when the two Diſciples told them the ſame, they did not believe them;Mark 16.13. for as yet they knew not the Scripture, that he muſt riſe again from the dead. And when he appeared afterward to the Eleven as they ſate at meat,Joh. 20.9. he upbraided them with their unbelief and hardneſs of heart,Mark 16.14. becauſe they believed not them that had been with him after he was riſen. And ſo too he upbraided the two Diſciples that went with him to Emmaus. And when he appeared to the Ten, Thomas (who was then abſent from them) would not believe that Chriſt was riſen; yea,Luk. 24.37 and at his firſt appearing to them, they thought they had ſeen a Spirit, (which is more;) when the Diſciples went into Galilee into a Mountain where Chriſt appeared (which I conceive to be the time ſpoken of by the Apoſtle,Matth. 28.17. 1 Cor. 15.6.) it is ſaid, They worſhipped him, but ſome doubted.
By all this you ſee, how difficultly the Reſurrection of Chriſt was believed. Even thus it may be when He riſeth in his Witneſſes, whoſe reſurrection doth (in many things as well as his death) allude to that of Chriſt's.
The Witneſſes then (like Chriſt) may be up, and few know it, or believe it; that, as it is ſaid of the report of them who brought the firſt tidings of Chriſts reſurrection to his Diſciples, Their words ſ…emed to them as idle …ales, Luk. 24.11and they believed them not: Even ſo it may happen at the reſurrection of the Witneſſes, who do not only aſcend, but perhaps alſo riſe in a cloud, as many times the Sun doth, inſomuch that ſome lye a bed till ſeven or eight of the Clock in the Spring in a cloudy Morning, and think not that the Sun is riſen.
Now then, lay all the precedent paſſages together, and pray for light and help from the Spirit, and ſee what it doth amount unto. However wait for a while lo…ger, and time will prove a ſure Interpreter.