The Revelation Unrevealed Concerning the Thousand Year Reign, Section 1 – Section 2
§. 1 THat Prophesies especially before they be fulfilled, That this one difficult place of Scripture alone, expresseth this thousand years reign.are no other then Riddles, needes no other proof then (amongst other) the two dark passages of the Revelation; the one concerning the Number and Name of the Beast 666: the other concerning the Thousand years reign of the Saints; either of which I may boldly say, many have guessed at; but no man living hath yet been ever able fully to unfold.
Our businesse is with the later; set forth by the beloved Disciple, Rev. 20.4.5.and Evangelicall Prophet, St. John towards the shutting up of his divine Revelation; out of the literall sense whereof, not a few in these later times have been raysed to such a confidence of the speedy accomplishment of this new Kingdome, as if they did already see the clouds breaking under the glorious feet of their returning Saviour, and the chaires of this blessed State set ready for their Enthronization; How many have I heard joyfully professing their hopes of an imminent share in that happy Kingdome; yea some have gone so far, as already to date their Letters from New Jerusalem, and to subscribe themselves glorified: whose ungrounded credulity may receive some just correction, if they shall but see the strange variety of construction, which this supposed earthly Sovereignty hath undergone from men as wise in their owne opinion, as themselves.
Whereunto that I may make the better way, I shall lay this for an undoubted ground, that there is no Passage in the whole book of God, wherein this Millenary reign of Saints is punctually expressed, save onelyonly this of the Revelation: For; as for those 66 texts alledged by Alstedius, and the late Herald of Zions, joy, they are too generall to make out such a specialty, both of the terme, and the personall administration which is contended for; and besides have been by the judgement of all allowed antiquity, and all Christian Authors, till the fag-end of this last Century, understood of the spirituall beauty, and glory of the Evangelicall Church, under the happy times of the Gospell: Whosoever shall bee pleased to take a strict view of these severall Scriptures, shall finde them onelyonly to import the calling of the Gentiles, the conversion of the Jewes, the abundance of rich graces poured out upon beleevers, Gods gracious protection, and enlargement of his Christian Church, the subjugation, and overthrow of the publique enemies thereof; all which may well stand without any relation to this pretended dominion of the raised Martyrs, or changed Saints: So as I cannot but wonder to see Christian authors so apt to humour the refractory Jewes, in a literall construction of the propheticall predictions of the restauration of that pompous and secular glory, which they have hitherto fondly dreamed of, and hath been hitherto unanimously decryed by all the ancient and late Doctors of the Christian Church: and to see these Evangelicall promises thus carnally drained into a wrong channell: which certainly who so shal stand upon in so grosse a sense, may as well contend that the new Jerusalem shal really have twelve gates of twelve pearles, and streets of pure gold, Rev. 21.21& the foundations of the wals all manner of precious stones: And if these be figurative, why should the other be literall?
§. 2 But that Scripture which might seem to beare most weight in this subject, The Prophesie of Daniel improperly alleaged to this purpose.is the prophesie of Daniel, who in the construction of the favourers of the Millenarian opinion, is pretended to speak particularly of the tyrannicall reign of Antichrist, of his destruction, of the happy deliverance and peace of the faithfull under the Gospel, not without a speciall designation of the punctuall Time wherein that man of sin shall be revealed; & wherein Gods people shall enjoy rest and happinesse, both in the beginning and termination thereof: Insomuch as, besides Alstede, our learned Mede, in a Latine Manuscript of his, which came lately to my hands concerning the Revelation of Antichrist, grounds his judgement upon Daniels Prophesie; not a litle blaming some late Expositors for turning the stream of those predictions another way; but reserving a due reverence to so great and Eagle-ey'd Authors, I dare appeal to all unbiassed judgements, whether it do not best suit with all the circumstances of those aenigmaticall prophesies of Daniel, to confine their relations only to the Jewish Church, making their utmost extent to be the death of the Messiah, & the destruction of Jerusalem, without any further medling with the state of the Church Evangelicall; saving onelyonly in that one touch of the second comming of Christ to judgement, wherein both the whole Church and World is joyntly concerned: To make therefore the fourth Monarchy to be the Roman tyrannizing over the Reformed Church under the Gospel, and the little Horn with eyes to be the Antichrist of the last times, and to draw the computation of the times mentioned unto an accordance to an imagined calculation, may seem to be no other then a strayning of the Text beyond the intention of the Author: sure we are, that al those propheticall predictions were literally and really fulfilled to and upon the Jewes, under the reigne of those Kings amongst whom the Grecian Empire of Alexander the Great was shared; and that in the just times which were designed: but upon what grounds we may stretch them further to a re-accomplishment in these last times it is neither easie nor safe to determine. O…colampad. Comment. in Danielem l. 2.Two things must be yielded, First, that those descriptions which are made by Divines of that cruell Tyran, and persecutor, Antiochus Epiphanes, may well by just allusion be applyed to the Antichrist under the Gospel; secondly, that it hath pleased the Spirit of God to make use of the same expressions in Iohns description of times, which had formerly been taken up by Daniel; but hereupon to inferre a revolution of the same condition of the Christian Church in the last age of the world, both in respects of her enemies & several events seems strangely inconsequent.