Commentary on Revelation, Vision 7 · Chapter 20 · Part 1 · Commentary · Section 3
III. What was the condition of the godly, firſt on earth, afterward in heaven, in theſe thouſand yeers.
The Explication of this Queſtion is contained in Verſes 4.5.6. which now we come to Treat of.
4. And I ſaw Thrones] Beza: Then I ſaw: but it is better copulatively, And I ſaw, for, alſo I ſaw, leaſt theſe things ſhould be thought to be done after Satans binding a thouſand yeers. For Iohn ſaw both Satan bound in the bottomleſſe pit, and thrones ſet in Heaven all at one time. Auguſtin doth very well joyne theſe things to the former, and obſerveth the ſcope, although he vary in the explication of the Thrones: When, ſaith he, he had ſaid that the devill was to be bound a thouſand yeers, and afterward to be looſed a little ſeaſon, by and by, by recapitulating what in theſe thouſand yeers the Church did, or was done in her: And I ſaw, ſaith hee, Seats, and them that ſate upon them, and judgement was given unto them: we may not thinke this to be ſpoken of the laſt Judgement. Thus far he ſaith well, but he addeth: But Seats or Thrones of the Officers by whom the Church is now governed. In this he ſtrayeth from the Scope: for Iohn intended to ſpeake, not of the Hierarchy of the Church, but of the lot of the godly, what that was in the meane while, both corporally on Earth, and ſpiritually in Heaven. And indeed, as for the corporall condition of ſuch as among the Gentiles had received the Faith, he ſaw the ſame troubleſome and bloody: for, he ſaith, they were beheaded for the witneſſe of Jeſus, that is, both by Heatheniſh Tyrants, and Hereticks in the firſt ſix hundred yeers of the thouſand: Secondly, they were ſlain by the Beaſt, becauſe they would not worſhip him and his Image, nor receive his Character This was the lot of the Godly upon Earth, repreſenting the firſt Act of this Viſion. But their ſpirituall condition he ſaw to be joyfull and royall, becauſe theſe ſlaine or beheaded, however, in the eyes of the ungodly thought to be miſerable, and that they periſhed, yet ſate on thrones, lived, and reigned with Christ thoſe thouſand yeers. This was the lot of the Martyrs in Heaven, exhibiting the ſecond Act of this Ʋiſion. If this ſenſe and meaning of the fourth verſe be well obſerved, there will be little obſcurity in the place, otherwiſe moſt obſcure. For hence it appeareth, as I ſaid in the Preface, that in this Ʋerſe is briefly contained the firſt Act of this Ʋiſion, touching the calamities of the Church, under the Romane Tyrants, Hereticks, and Antichrist beginning to rage: as alſo the ſecond Act, touching the conſolations of the Godly, who in thoſe thouſand yeers ſhed their blood for the witneſſe of the truth. Iohn therefore expounded what he ſaw, 1. Thrones, 2. them that ſate thereon, 3. their ſtate and condition.
I ſaw thrones] Thrones or Seats are placed either for reſt, for judgement, or the Kingdome. Before in Chap. 4.4. he ſaw foure and twenty Thrones, and ſo many Elders ſitting on them, that is, reſting from their labours, as alſo adorned with judiciary and royall Dignity. Theſe thrones may bee underſtood as placed for all the ſaid ends: but properly for the Kingdome, as is ſhewed in the end of the Verſe.
And they ſate upon them] Kathizein is properly tranſitive, to place, or cauſe to ſit. Thuryd: foreign placing his Army. Often alſo neutrally to ſit: Becauſe an action may paſſe into the Actor himſelfe, or a man may place himſelfe, which is to ſit. This tranſition is expreſſed in the Hebrew foreign he placed himſelf, in Hithpael, that is, ſate down. So the tranſitive ſignification remaineth, whether it be rendred they ſate, or placed themſelves upon them. Iohn therefore ſaw thrones, not empty, but having Sitters on them. But who were they? by and by he names them foreign The ſoules of the ſlaine with the ſword: but firſt he ſhewes what honour was done unto them.
And judgement was given unto them] This Judgement ſome underſtand actively of power given to judge the Adverſaries: Others paſſively of the judgement ſpoken unto them, againſt the Adverſaries. But nothing of ſuch a judgement doth appeare in the Text: And Auguſtine in the fore-alleadged place hath rightly obſerved, that here is not yet treated of the laſt Iudgement, which ſhall at length bee deſcribed in the end of the Chapter. I therefore take this Iudgement to bee the royall Dignity given unto them, as in Pſal. 72.1. O God give thy Iudgements to the King, becauſe by and by it is referred to the Kingdome: And they reigned with CHRIST.
And the ſoules] Now he nameth thoſe that he ſaw ſitting on the Thrones, the ſoules of them that were beheaded. foreign And, is referred to the Verbe foreign I ſaw, and declaratively to foreign ſate: as if he ſhould ſay: I ſaw, ſoules ſitting on the thrones, as Brightman and Toſſanus have well obſerved. Now he makes two rankes of ſuch as ſate, Martyrs and Confeſſours. The Periphraſis of the Martyrs is, the ſoules of them that were beheaded, that is, put to death any kind of way. Theſe again he deſtinguiſheth by the times, from the diſtinct cauſe of their Martyrdom: for ſome were ſlaine for the witneſſe of JESƲS: others for the Word of GOD.
The witneſſe of Ieſus] He meaneth the Goſpell of Chriſt (as in Chap. 19.10.) for the cauſe whereof the Gentiles that were converted to the Faith (ſeeing they profeſſed and teſtified the ſame with great zeale) were troubled and murthered by divers kinds of torments, throughout the whole Romane Empire by cruell Tyrants, in the firſt three hundred yeers. Now he ſeeth the ſoules of theſe ſitting upon Thrones, not indeed on Earth, but in Heaven: neither as yet reſtored to their bodies, as the Chiliaſts would have it, but without them: (otherwiſe he would not have ſaid: I ſaw the ſoules of them that were beheaded: but rather: I ſaw them that were beheaded,) the which Auguſtine in the ſaid place hath rightly obſerved: How Iohn could ſee the ſoules which are inviſible.neither are we to enquire how he ſaw theſe ſoules, being inviſible ſpirits: for he ſaw them by the Spirit of his minde, not with his bodily eyes. Now theſe ſoules, (to adde this in a word) for the greateſt part are the ſame which Iohn ſaw under the Altar, in the ſecond Ʋiſion at the opening of the fift Seale, who requiring avengement of their blood, had white robes given them, and were bid to reſt untill, &c. Here therefore he ſeeth the ſame ſitting or reſting on Thrones. Touching the other ranke of Martyrs, he ſaith.
And for the word of God] It is no Tautologie: for the article foreign is added to foreign That word, giving us to underſtand theſe ſoules were ſlaine for that Eſſentiall word of God, who in the foregoing Ʋiſion Chap. 19: 13. ſate on a white horſe, that is, the eternall Son of God, for whoſe ſake many thouſands laid downe their lives in the Arian, Macedonian, and Neſtorian tempeſts, &c. in the three hundred following yeers. Wherefore he ſaw both the ſoules of theſe, and of the other Martyrs reſting on thrones in Heaven.
And them that worſhipped not the Beaſt] Gr. foreign, Whoſoever. The Ellipſis or defect, is to be ſupplied from the foregoing part, Thus, I ſaw alſo the ſoules of ſuch ſitting, as had not worſhipped, &c. Theſe he diſtinguiſheth from the former, becauſe they are latter in time, which the adjuncts ſhew: They worſhipped not the Beast and his Image, &c. Perhaps alſo all were not Martyrs, but ſome of them Profeſſours onelyonly, though but few, ſeeing the Beaſt cauſed all to be ſlaine that worſhipped him not, and his Image: Chap. 12.15. Theſe therefore had to doe with the Beast. Now the Beaſt began to reigne, rage, and to be worſhipped in the laſt Ages of the thouſand yeers, viz. from the ſix hundred and ſixt yeer, as we ſhewed in Chap. 13. & 17. whoſoever therefore from that time, even unto the end of the thouſand yeeres did conſtantly oppoſe the Beaſt, and got the victory over him, (which was ſaid of the multitude of Harpers, ſtanding on the Sea of glaſſe, Ch. 15.17. and unto which multitude theſe alſo belong) are here ſpoken of, and commended for their conſtancy in baniſhments, torments, and all manner of puniſhments, which they ſuffered in maintaining the Faith of Chriſt, againſt the Beaſt: Whence we gather theſe certain concluſions.
I. That the Beaſt, his Image, and his Character, were within theſe thouſand yeers: becauſe there were then ſome who worſhipped the Beaſt, to wit, all the Inhabitants of the Earth, Chap. 13.8. and they that would not worſhip him, were either Martyrs or Confeſſours.
II. That Antichriſt was again to rage within the ſaid thouſand yeers: becauſe the Beaſt then was, and would be worſhipped. Now the Beast is Antichriſt, as appeared Chap. 13. & 17. and Ribera confeſſeth Cap. 13. Numb. 1. & Cap. 19. Num. 31.32.
III. That theſe yeers are not indefinitely the whole time from the Viſion, untill the end of the world, or untill the comming of Antichriſt: becauſe Antichriſt began to rage between them, or while they were running on.
IV. And laſtly, that the Papiſts Antichriſt, who, as they feine, ſhall come and beare ſway in the laſt foure yeeres of the world, is but a vaine Skare-crow, by which they deceive themſelves and the world: becauſe Iohn foretold that the true ANTICHRIST ſhould bee manifeſted within the firſt Thouſand yeeres after CHRISTS deſcenſion.
Ribera ſaw this knot in Apocal. Cap. 20. Num. 33. therefore to untye the ſame he ſaith: that which followeth: And lived, and reigned, is not to be referred to thoſe that worſhipped not the Beast, but onelyonly unto the ſoules of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jeſus. But this ſubtilty is too repugnant to the Text, and ſheweth that here the Papiſts are at a Non-plus: for John ſaith of the very ſame: they lived and reigned: Of whom he had before ſaid: they ſate upon thrones. Now theſe were not onelyonly ſuch as were beheaded, but alſo the Conquerours of the Beast.
But (ſaith RIBERA) he ſaith not that theſe were dead or ſlaine: What of that? It is enough that he maketh the Confeſſours alſo Conquerours of the Beast, and ſaith that they ſate with the Martyrs, or certainly he meaneth that theſe alſo were ſlaine, becauſe before in Chap. 13.15. he had ſaid: that all that worſhipped not the Beast, and his Image were ſlaine: but theſe worſhipped not the Beaſt and his Image: therefore they were either ſlaine, or Confeſſours, that were Conquerours of the Beaſt: and it remaineth, that they ſate with the Martyrs. It remaineth that they lived and reigned in theſe thouſand yeers. It remaineth that the Beaſt was within the ſaid firſt thouſand yeeres: for betweene this time, Iohn ſaw the ſoules of the ſlaine for the Teſtimony of Jeſus, and of them that denyed to worſhip the Beaſt: but the worſhip of the Beaſt could not be refuſed before he was. Laſtly it remaines, that the Papiſts Fiction touching the Beaſts coming in the laſt four yeers of the world, is as repugnant, as the opinion of the Chiliaſts, to this moſt manifeſt place of Scripture.
And they lived and reigned with Chriſt theſe thouſand yeeres] Now comes, as it ſeemes, the inextricable knot, which of old drove the Millenaries into by-wayes, while they did not ſufficiently conſider neither the Scope, nor the words of the Propheſie, nor the Analogie of Chriſtian beleefe. The which, leaſt it happen to us alſo, let us well ponder the ſenſe of the words, directing the ſame to the ſcope before declared. Let us therefore, I ſay, conſider of theſe things in order.
I. Who they were that lived and reigned with Chriſt?
II. How, and how long they lived and reigned with him?
III. Who were the reſt of the dead, and how they lived not againe?
IV. What the firſt Reſurrection may bee?
V. LASTLY, What the opinion of the Chiliaſis or Millenaries was, and how to bee refuted?
What concernes the firſt, Beza renders foreign & foreign, lived and reigned, (which are Preterperfects) by the Futures, ſhall live and reigne: becauſe he ſaw, ver. 6. foreign ſhall reigne, is in the Future. But here the Preterperfects are to be retained, becauſe they anſwer to the Preterperfect foreign ſate, notwithſtanding the difference in reſpect of the ſenſe is very little: for John ſpeaketh of things to come, as paſt, by a Propheticall manner, for the certainty thereof, but the words foreign with Chriſt, belong in common to both, They lived with Chriſt, Who they are that lived & reigned with Chriſt.and with him they reigned. But who? To wit, They, which ſate on Thrones: alſo reigned and lived with Chriſt, namely, the Soules of them that were ſlaine by Romane Tyrants, and by the Hereticks for the witneſſe of Ieſus, and the Soules alſo of the ſlaine or tormented, for denying to worſhip the Beaſt, as erewhile I ſhewed againſt Ribera's ſubtilty. For John declareth the condition of thoſe whom he ſaw ſitting on thrones, what it was during the thouſand yeeres, both corporally on Earth, (already ſpoken of) and spiritually in Heaven, which here he declareth: They lived and reigned with Chriſt, to wit, contrary to the fooliſh opinion of the world touching them, which is for the conſolation of the Godly. The world indeed judged theſe ſlaine to have miſerably periſhed: but death to them was life, Oppreſſion a Kingdom with Chriſt. This is the Firſt: that the ſoules of the ſlaine, not reſtored to their bodies, but being out of them (as before wee ſhewed) did live and reigne with Chriſt.
The Second ſeems more difficult to be expounded, viz. how they lived and reigned with Chriſt, and how long? But the matter is not obſcure, if the words be rightly conſidered, and not wreſted againſt the Scope and mind of the Spirit, as the Chiliaſts did, rendring foreign they lived, foreign they lived againe, that is, How the Chiliaſts corrupted the text.they roſe up out of their Sepuichres: and what the Spirit ſpeaketh of the ſoules of the Martyrs, they wreſted to their bodies, and ſo feined a corporall Reſurrection of the Martyrs, a thouſand yeers before the laſt day. This firſt Falſhood, was the ground of the Millenaries errour, againſt which we muſt firmely hold too, and urge the ſimple word, foreign lived, in ſtead whereof, The ground of the Chiliaſts error.they evilly ſuborned the compound foreign lived againe. For here is ſpoken of the ſoules of Martyrs living in Heaven, which, as being immortall Spirits, could not die with their bodies, or be ſlain on Earth, therefore cannot bee ſaid to live againe, but (as it is in the Text) they lived with Chriſt.
They object to the contrary, that foreign lived, is put for foreign lived again, as before in Chap. 2. ver. 8. foreign for foreign. But both is denyed, becauſe theſe two words doe much differ in ſound and in ſenſe: and therefore may not be confounded neither here, nor in the place alledged. Not here, becauſe this confuſion imports two abſurdities. ONE Phyſicall or naturall, that the ſoules of the Martyrs were flaine: The OTHER Theologicall, that a Corporall Reſurrection of an infinite number of the dead, ſhall be before the laſt Day, contrary to the Faith of all Chriſtians, taught by Chriſt himſelfe: The houre is comming, Ioh. 5.28.in the which all that are in the Graves, ſhall heare his voyce, and ſhall come forth: They which have done good, unto the Reſurrection of Life, and they which have done evill, unto the Reſurrection of death. Neither before in Chap 2. becauſe Chriſt in ſaying: which was dead, and lived: gives us to underſtand, not onelyonly that he was dead and raiſed againe, but alſo that he lived, even while he was dead in the fleſh, or that he was living in his Divinity, to demonſtrate his two-fold nature, as before we ſhewed, Chap. 1.18. and Chap. 2.8. Adde to this, that although it ought there ſo to bee taken, yet here it cannot, becauſe of the Arguments following, which admit not the ſame.
Moreover, they urge the Antitheſis of the following Verſe: But the reſt of the dead lived not againe: By which (ſay they) it ſeemes to bee plaine that foreign is put for foreign, but thence the contrary doth plainely follow, viz. that the Holy Ghoſt by a different word, noteth a diverſe ſenſe: for the Antitheſis is not of a contradiction in Synonymaes, but of a metaphoricall contrarietie, both in the ſubject and attribute, becauſe the ſame thing is not denyed touching the Remnant of the dead, which was affirmed touching the ſoules of the Martyrs properly, that they lived and reigned with Chriſt: But another thing, contrary to a happy life, Metaphorically: that they lived not againe in the firſt Reſurrection, for, that they repented not: which, as by and by I ſhall clearely ſhew, is the proper and genuine fenſe.
To returne to the Queſtion, The ſoules of the Martyrs live with Chriſt, How the ſoules lived and reigned with Chriſtnot onelyonly a Naturall Life (for this after death is common to the ſoules of the Godly and ungodly, being immortall Spirits) neither onelyonly a Spirituall Life of Regeneration, which the Martyrs had (before they were ſlaine) on Earth: but a bleſſed and glorious Life, which Iohn ſaw them enjoying with Chriſt in Heaven. They reigned alſo with Chriſt, not in the Kingdome of Grace, which is in this Life, but in the Kingdome of Glory, which is in Heaven: according to the promiſe: I appoint unto you a Kingdome, as my Father hath appointed unto me: And: To him that overcometh, Luk. 22.29 Rev. 3.21.will I grant to ſit with mee in my Throne, even as I overcame, and ſit with my Father in his Throne. But they do wholly erre, who ſuppoſe that we interpret this clauſe of the life of Regeneration, and of the Kingdome of Grace, and thence draw Sophiſmes for the Chiliaſts opinion, which ſhall be treated of in the following Verſe. Iohn therefore ſaw the Soules of the Martyrs that were beheaded here on Earth, living bleſſedly, and reigning gloriouſly with Christ in Heaven. But how long?
Thoſe thouſand yeers] viz. How al the Martyrs lived a thouſand yeeres with Chriſtin which Satan was kept bound in the bottomleſſe Pit: not that the Martyrs were all ſlaine together, about the beginning of the thouſand yeeres, and ſo all of them lived the whole thouſand yeers with Chriſt: But he ſpeaketh of a continuall ſucceſſion, that none during the ſaid yeeres, in which they were ſlaine for the Teſtimony of Ieſus, or for refuſing to worſhip the Beaſt, did miſerably periſh, but lived bleſſedly, and reigned with Chriſt in heaven. Wherefore in the thouſand yeers is a Synecdoche, familiarly uſed in our ordinary ſpeech, and in Scripture, as before I ſaid: For example: A man is ſaid to come to day, though hee come not in the Morning, but at Noone, or Evening: or, A man is ſaid to live or die in this yeer, not onelyonly if he live or die at the beginning, but alſo towards the middle, or end of the yeer: ſo the Martyrs are ſaid to live and reigne with Christ a thouſand yeeres; although all of them were not ſlaine at the beginning, but ſome towards the middle, others towards the end thereof. Mat. 12.39 Ioh. 2.19.By a like Synecdoche, the Son of man was three dayes and three nights in the heart of the Earth, and in three dayes raiſed up the Temple of his body, although hee lay not much longer then one day and two nights in the Sepulchre. The Iewes were Lxx. Iere. 29.9.yeers in the Captivity of Babylon, although Daniel was longer: Zerubbabel, and they that were born in the Captivity, were Captives fewer yeers: Gen. 6.3.So God granted from the five hundreth yeere of Noah, unto the flood, an hundred and twenty yeers unto men, although, all they that were born within the 120. yeers, had a ſhorter time of repentance, &c. Away therefore with their ſcoff of 400. The Martyrs shall alſo reigne after the thouſand yeers.Crownes in ſtead of a thouſand.
Neither is this Synecdoche any way derogatorie to the happineſſe of the latter Martyrs ſlaine by Antichriſt, for we are not to thinke that they ceaſed to live, and reigne with Chriſt after the thouſand yeeres were ended: for they ſhall reigne with him for ever and ever, as wee are taught, Revelat. Chapter 22.5. It was enough for Iohn to ſhew, what condition the bleſſed Spirits ſhould be in, thoſe thouſand yeers; in the mean while not denying, that both they and other Martyrs ſhould further live and reign with Chriſt.
But thou wilt ſay, Why the thouſand …ers are …fined.to what end was it to define a thouſand yeers, if the Martyrs were to reign longer? I anſwer: It was meet they ſhould be defined, becauſe of the wonderfull events that were to come to paſſe in thoſe firſt thouſand yeeres, bringing as it were a new face on the whole Earth: for Ieruſalem being deſtroyed, Iudaiſme was to be overt…owne: Satan being bound, Paganiſme was to decay: and on the contrary, Chriſtianiſme eſtabliſhed in the whole Romane Empire, not without ſhedding of very much blood: laſtly in the midſt of Chriſtianiſme, Antichriſtianiſme was to bee erected, and toward the end of the thouſand yeeres, confirmed and brought to its height, with no leſſe ſpilling of Chriſtian blood, in Gregory VII. that cruell Beaſt.
5. But the reſt of the dead lived not againe] Having expounded the ſtate of the Godly, what it was in thoſe thouſand yeers, firſt on Earth, afterward in Heaven: now he addeth the ſtate of the wicked during the ſaid time on Earth: that they lived not againe, in the firſt Reſurrection, that by this Antitheſis he might the more ſet forth the happineſſe of the Martyrs, and withall teach us, that Satan was not ſo bound, but that he ſtill held very many, even all the time of the ſaid yeers in Paganiſme and Antichriſtianiſme, who would not embrace the teſtimony of Ieſus, and live againe, or be raiſed from the death of ſin: leaſt we ſhould imagine that the thouſand yeers ſhould be altogether a Golden-Age, or that the Church were to expect the applauſe of the whole world. This is the ſumme.
By the Rest therefore, are underſtood all others (the Martyrs and Confeſſours excepted) who embraced not the Teſtimony of Ieſus in all this time, but were either profeſſed enemies of Chriſt, as Iewes and Pagans without the Church, or falſe Chriſtians or Antichriſtians in the Church: Theſe hee ſaith are DEAD, not by a corporall, but a ſpirituall death in ſin, of which death the Apoſtle ſpeaketh, Ephe. 2.1. 1. Tim. 5.6 Mat. 8.22. Ioh. 5.25.When ye were dead in ſinnes: And, ſhe that liveth in pleaſure, is dead while ſhe liveth: ſo Chriſt: Let the dead bury the dead. The dead ſhall heare the voyce of the Sonne of man: for he ſpeaketh of the ſtate of the ungodly living on Earth, whom he oppoſeth to the Martyrs, not as then living with Chriſt in Heaven, but as formerly embracing and profeſſing the witneſſe of Ieſus on Earth: Therefore in the words The reſt of the dead; the diſtinction is not betwixt the dead, but after the Greeke Phraſe the Genitive is put for the Nominative: The reſt of the dead, for the reſt being dead, ſo in Chap. 9.20. the reſt of men, that is, other men, or at leaſt it is a diſtinction of ſuch as of old were living on Earth, but dead ſpiritually: for of old the Martyrs alſo, before they repented, and embraced the Teſtimony of Ieſus, were dead ſpiritually, as the reſt: but becauſe they lived againe ſpiritually on Earth, therefore after death they lived and reigned gloriouſly with Chriſt in Heaven. But the reſt lived not again] To wit, from the death of ſin through Faith and Repentance, but deſpiſing the Teſtimony of Ieſus, remained in Paganiſme, Or repented not of their Idolatry, Hypocriſie, and other ſinnes in Antichriſtianiſme: as in Chap. 9.20. The reſt of men, which were not killed by theſe plagues, repented not of the workes of their hands, that they ſhould not worſhip devils, and Idols of gold, &c. which place doth excellently interpret this. But that he ſpeaketh not of a corporall living againe, as the Chiliaſts did interpret it, ſhall by and by appeare by Iohns Declaration.
Ʋntill the thouſand yeers were finiſhed] That is, during the whole thouſand yeers wherein Satan was bound: for againe he addes the Article foreign Theſe thouſand yeers. But did they live againe afterward? no certainly, for they which live not againe in this life, ſhall never live againe in the life to come. Therefore the Particle foreign Vntill, limits not a time of living again, but ſimplie denyeth the ſame: they lived not againe untill, for, never. As: Thou ſhalt not come forth untill thou haſt paid the very laſt mite, for, never. Hee knew her not untill ſhee had brought forth her firſt borne, for, never. The Chiliaſts ſaid: They lived not within, but after the thouſand yeeres: but by the ſame reaſon they ſhould ſay, that the Soules of the Martyrs lived in, but not after thoſe thouſand yeers. Both is falſe: for the Martyrs have never ceaſed to live and reigne: neither have the reſt of the dead ever lived againe. It therefore noteth their voluntary contumacie in Paganiſme and Antichriſtianiſme: that however Satan was bound in a ſpeciall manner, and could not deteine them in Infidelity: yet they would not, after the example of the Martyrs, repent, and embrace the witneſſe of Ieſus, ſo as the fault of their deſtruction was onelyonly in themſelves. The fourth thing followeth, touching the firſt Reſurrection. This is the firſt Reſurrection] In the Greeke IS is left out: but the Ellipſis is expreſſed ver. 6. This is the ſecond death. By this Addition Iohn doth expreſly declare, what kind of living againe he meant, that the reſt of the dead lived not: namely in that, which is the firſt Reſurrection, as if he ſhould ſay: they lived not again in the firſt Reſurrection: the meaning is thus: This is the firſt Reſurrection: for: This living again, in which I ſaid the reſt of the dead lived not, is to be underſtood of the firſt Reſurrection: for the monſtrative foreign This, is not to be referred to the ſoules of the Martyrs which he ſaid LIVED, but onelyonly to the reſt of the dead, who he ſaid, lived not again, which the particle foreign in the Verbe foreign lived againe, and repeated in the Noun foreign Reſurrection, doth intimate. The Declarat o… alſo of the contrary ſheweth the ſame, ver. 14. This is the Second Death: where likewiſe the Demonſtrative foreign This, is not to be referred unto all that were judged, ver. 13. but only to them that were caſt into the Lake of Fire, and were not found written in the booke of Life.
Now it followeth to ſpeake of the manner of this Reſurrection, and what it is. The Chiliaſts ſaid it was corporall, but here is ſolidly demonſtrated, that a corporall raiſing up of the Martyrs out of their Sepulchres, is not proper unto the Martyrs, but that it muſt be underſtood of a Spirituall living again from the death of ſin, in all that ſhall be ſaved.