The Name Mark and Number of the Beast, Chapter 9
CHAP. IX. The Truth of the Interpretation is further confirmed, from the scope of the Seventeenth Chapter of the Revelation.
HEre all solid Expositors do agree, That the same matter is handled again, which was formerly discoursed of in the 13th Chapter. The thing is not aliud & aliud, another and another; though it be delivered aliter & aliter, in another and another manner. That which is there spoken concerning the Beast, as a King or Potentate, is here applied to an Idolatrous or Whorish Church. But let us hear the words of the Text: So he carried me away in the Spirit into the Wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a Scarlet-coloured Beast, full of the Names of Blasphemy, having seven Heads, and ten Horns, v. 3. This Woman is an Idolatrous Church; and, if we look to the whole scope of the description, she can be no other, but the Roman Idolatrous Church. That this is meant of the City of Rome, is clear, from the 9th Vers. The seven Heads are seven Mountains, where the Woman sitteth. Now all Stories do agree, That Rome was seated upon seven Hills, and was famous through all the world by the title of Septi-collis, or The Seven-hilled City. And to put all out of question, the Angel saith, The Woman which thou sawest, is the great City that reigneth over the Kings of the Earth, ver. 18. Now what was the Great City, which in the days of Iohn reigned over all earthly Kings, but the City of Rome? There are such clear Characters in the Text, that the Ancients who lived before the fall of the Empire, did all agree in it, That Rome was the City Babylon. And the Jesuits in these days, who of all men living are the most active to hide the meaning of this Scripture, do yield that Rome is here intended: But how? Not Rome Christian, but Rome Pagan. To this we reply, Though the Apostle doth make mention of Rome Pagan; yet he doth primarily intend Rome Christian, or rather Rome Antichristian. Let it be considered what Title is given to her; and so, not onelyonly in this Chapter, but in other places, she is called The Whore of Babylon. In Scripture-language, this Name is onelyonly given to Idolatrous Churches. We never, or at least seldome, reade in the Writings of the Prophets, of the Whore of Egypt, of the Whore of Edom, of the Whore of Tyrus, or of the Whore of Damascus: this Title is usually given to Samaria and Ierusalem, to the Churches of Israel and Iudah, as they did fall away from the Worship of the true God, to serve other gods. And therefore Hosea in the Vision was to take a wife of fornications, because the land had committed great whoredome, in departing from the Lord, Hos. 1. 2. So the Prophet Ezekiel being to speak of the spiritual fornications of Samaria and Ierusalem, calleth the one Aholah, and the other Aholibamah, Ezek. 23. 4. From these and many other Scriptures, it is evident, That the Title is usually given to Idolatrous Churches, which have departed away from Christ their lawful Husband. So then, if the Whore of Babylon doth signifie Rome; this must needs be applied to Rome Christian, as she did break her Marriage-Covenant with Christ, and yield her self up to another Husband. For Rome Pagan was never married to Christ; and therefore though she might be called Babylon in the figure, yet she is not the Whore of Babylon.
Secondly, she is described in the Text, having a Golden Cup in her hand: By which amorous po…ion, she did entice the Kings of the Earth to commit fornication with her. Now this doth not appertain to Rome Pagan, but to the Romish Church, which hath greatly deceived the Kings of the Earth by her Idolatries and Superditions.
Thirdly, it is clear from the scope of the Text, That the Woman doth ride the Beast in its last and renewed State, in the times of the ten Kings; for these shall carry the Whore, and shall be wholly at her devotion, till the words of God be fulfilled; and after that, they shall hate her as much, and burn her flesh with fire. If we apply this to Rome Pagan, there is nothing will agree: for she had no beeing in the times of the Ten Kings. But all things may be fitly applied to Rome Antichristian, which is truly and properly called the Whore of Babylon in the figure.
But now a little to draw nearer to the Point: When was it that the Whore did begin to ride the Beast, and where shall we set the date of her Dominion? For so the Angel doth expound the words; The Waters where the Whore sitteth, are Kindreds, and People, and Multitudes, and Nations, and Languages, ver. 17. Her sitting upon the Beast, and upon many Waters, doth not onelyonly imply an ordinary sitting, but a sitting in the way of Lordship, Dominion, and Supreme Command. Such a kinde of sitting we must look after, if we will truly know the time when the Whore began to ride the Beast. And here, I say, at that time when the Bishop of Rome did begin to be the second Beast, or Universal Head under the Emperor Phocas; then at the same time did the Roman Church begin to be the Mother of all Churches; or rather, the Great Whore that rideth the Beast; the Mother of all the Fornications, and the Idolatries of the Earth.
Let us therefore more distinctly consider the times, as the Angel doth give the true delineation of them: And therefore speaking of the Ten Kings that should carry the Whore, that should be wholly at her devotion, he doth expresly speak of them, They have no Kingdome as yet, but receive a Kingdome as Kings, one hour with the Beast, ver. 12. Therefore the fall of the Empire, and the rising of the Kings, must needs anticipate or go before the Jurisdiction and Dominion of the Great Whore. And lest there should be any mistake in the time, the Angel doth plainly shew, That there must be eight Revolutions of State in the City of Rome; and that seven of them must fall, before the time cometh that the Whore shall ride the Beast. These are his words: There are seven Kings; five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space: And the Beast that was, and is not, he is the eighth, and is of the seventh, and goeth into Perdition, ver. 10, 11. From whence it is manifest, That the Ten Kings must arise, and seven Forms of Government must fall in the City of Rome, before the times of the Great Whore can begin. But here is a hard question to be decided by the way: How can the Beast be said to be the eighth King, and yet one of the seven Heads? I will the more willingly take it into Consideration, because I have been heretofore much puzled with the question. And I finde also, that the very best and most approved Interpreters do not give a certain sound. To let pass how far Brightman and Paraeus have gone aside in the matter; Mr. Forbes makes the Kings, and Heads of the Beast, to be co incident terms: but in this he is greatly mistaken. For the Beast, in the order of Kings, is expresl… said to be the eighth King; and in the order of Heads, he is onelyonly one of the seventh. Therefore we may certainly conclude, That these are not equivalent terms, but that necessarily some distinction must be made betwixt the Heads and the Kings. Mr. Mede therefore keeps himself in doubtful terms: for speaking of the seventh Change of State; to wit, The Christian Caesars; he saith, That this Potentate, because he should be of short continuance, shall seem to be Dynastes alius, another Ruler; sed revera non alius, in deed and in truth not another. So likewise concerning the Beast, in which State he should carry the Whore, This Beast (saith he) in respect of the Change of the Caesars, seemeth to be the eighth; but revera non nisi septimus, in deed and in truth no other but the seventh. In which words of his, so far as I apprehend, there are two passages which seem to me to differ from the scope of the Text: For when he speaketh of the Change of the Caesareate, from the Pagan to the Christian Caesars, how can he call that of the Christian Caesars, Dynasten quasi alium, revera tamen non alium? The words of the Text are plain, Five are fallen; one is, to wit, that of the Pagan Caesars, when Iohn wrote the Revelation; and the other, foreign, that of the Christian Caesars is not yet come. It is clear then, that the Governments of the City of Rome are eight in all, and not eight in appearance onelyonly; and the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars is foreign, another in reality and truth, and not another in shew onelyonly, as Mr. Mede will have it. So likewise for the Beast, it is strange, that he should affirm him to be quasi octavum Dynasten, as it were the eighth Potentate, sed revera non nisi septimum, but in deed and in truth no other but the seventh. The words of the Text are express: The Beast that was, and is not, he is octavus, the eighth in reality and in truth, and not the eighth in appearance only. Therefore the Exposition of Mr. Mede doth contradict the words of the Text, and the knot remains. Upon much debate, I finde, that we must go another way to work; and here we must distinguish the Roman Governments, as they are simply so called, from the Roman Governments, as they are Heads of the Beast. If you look upon the Roman Governments, as so many Policies and Forms of Dominion, then it is clear, That there are eight Forms of Regency; to wit, The Kings, the Consuls, the Decemvirs, the Dictators, the Tribunes, the Pagan Caesars, the Christian Caesars; and after all these seven, cometh the Beast, as octavus Dynastes, the eighth Potentate. Now on the other side, if you reckon the Heads of the Beast, there can be but seven Heads; and therefore the Beast must needs be the particular seventh, seeing the Christian Caesars, from Constantine to Augustus, cannot be called an Head of the Beast at all, unless we will go against the scope of Scripture: For it is not the manner of the Scripture, to call Christian Governments by the Title of a Beast, or the Head of a Beast: This Character doth properly appertain to the Kingdomes and States of this World, that persecute the Church, and are contrary to the Laws of the Kingdom of Christ. Upon this account the Christian Caesars do indeed make a distinct Dynasty or Policy, and yet are no part or Head of the Beast. The words of the Text are clear: for when the Spirit speaketh of the other that should come, to wit, the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars, he doth not say, foreign, another Head; but foreign, another King: which sheweth plainly, That the Christian Casars are a distinct Form of Government, but no Head of the Beast. So likewise the Beast of the last edition is not termed foreign, the eighth Head; but he is simply called foreign, the eighth King. Touching the Kings, it is spoken of them, Five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come: and the Beast that cometh out of the Bottomless Pit, he is the eighth. To satisfie the doubt, we do pitch upon this sense, that the Beast is both the eighth Dynasty, and the seventh Head. For if you reckon by the order of Kings, (the Dynasty of the Christian Caesars being included) he must needs be the eighth. But if you reckon by the Heads of the Beast, which are Pagan and Idolatrous Forms of Government; then that of the Christian Caesars must be Status ex…resimus, or exemptilis, a State exempted and put out of the Kalendar. From whence it comes to pass, That the Beast, if you reckon him among the Kings, his place is to be the eighth; but yet among the Heads, he is but the seventh. And so these words, The Beast that was, and is not, he is the eighth, and is one of the seventh, are plain (as I take it) and the knot is untied. But leaving this scruple, I finde, That all solid Interpreters do agree in the general sense of the Text; to wit, That the Antichristian times begin at the fall of the Empire, and the rising of the Ten Kings. The words of the Angel are so clear; for speaking of the Roman Dominion, and the Ten Horns of that Beast, he expresly saith, These have no Kingdome as yet, but shall receive a Kingdome one hour with the Beast: which plainly sheweth, That their times shall be, when the Roman Dominion shall come to the last and Antichristian edition of State. The fall of the old Empire, and the rising of the Ten Kings, is an infallible Character of the beginning of the Antichristian times. And this no man can rationally deny, that doth look upon the true scope of the Angels Interpretation.
But our question is, concerning the times of the Great Whore; when was it that she did begin to ride the Beast? We cannot say, That it was at that time when the Kings did rise out of the ruines of the Empire: For then the Kings of the Earth did not dogmatically and conscientiously acknowledge the Church of Rome the Mother of all Churches. To the resolution of the case, we will consider what Expositors do say to this purpose. For in the 17th Chapter, though there is mention made of the Beast with Ten Horns; yet there is not the least word of the two-horned Beast. Now the reason ordinarily given, is very solid, and it doth agree with the scope of the Scripture: For it is plain, That the description under the resemblance of a Beast with two Horns, Chap. 13. is again repeated under the similitude and type of a Great Whore, Chap. 17. Both Scriptures speak of one and the same matter in substance, though in a different manner: And if need should require, we have many Arguments to prove the Parallel.
Now then, in the present case, seeing Iohn speaks of the City of Rome, that in his days was the great City that ruled over the Kings of the Earth, it is to our purpose to inquire, when the Church came within the verge of the Dominion o… that great City. And here I say, if we calculate the times aright, and reckon 666 years, from that time when that great City came to have Dominion over the Church, we shall precisely come to that point and instant of time, when the Church of Rome was made the Catholick and the General Mother of all other Churches. The Church first came under the Dominion of the City of Rome: and then 666 years after, …hat Church her self was declared Universal Mother of all Churches. And here then our Interpretation is one and the same in substance, in both Scriptures. And whereas the Woman hath this Inscription on her Forehead, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots, and the Abominations of the Earth: The Name then on the Forehead of the Woman, is not a Grammatical word, consisting of Letters and Syllables; but it signifieth her Universal Maternity or Motherhood, when she began to be declared Universal Mother over all other Churches. Now if you apply this to the times, it came to pass in the 666th year from that time, when the Church, and the Territories of the Church, came under the obedience of the City of Rome. And this is the Number of her Maternity or general Motherhood, or of the Name written in the Forehead of the Woman. If we apply this to the twohorned Beast in the 13 Chapter, his Name is no other, but his Paternity or Universal Headship; and the Number of his Name is no other, but the Number of his Universal Headship, from the beginning of the Roman as the fourth Metal-Kingdome. And so the sense of one Chapter is clear, by the scope and drift of the other. But we go on.