Hitherto the principles of the Encratites had been rejected by the Churches; but now being refined by the Monks, and imposed not upon all men, but only upon those who would voluntarily undertake a monastic life, they began to be admired, and to overflow first the Greek Church, and then the Latin also, like a torrent. Eusebius tells us, [2] that Constantine the great had those men in the highest veneration, who dedicated themselves wholly to the divine philosophy; and that he almost venerated the most holy company of Virgins perpetually devoted to God; being certain that the God to whom he had consecrated himself did dwell in their minds. In his time and that of his sons, this profession of a single life was propagated in Egypt by Antony, and in Syria by Hilarion; and spred so fast, that soon after the time of Julian the Apostate a third part of the Egyptians were got into the desarts of Egypt. They lived first singly in cells, then associated into coenobia or convents; and at length came into towns, and filled the Churches with Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons. Athanasius in his younger days poured water upon the hands of his master Antony; and finding the Monks faithful to him, made many of them Bishops and Presbyters in Egypt: and these Bishops erected new Monasteries, out of which they chose Presbyters of their own cities, and sent Bishops to others. The like was done in Syria, the superstition being quickly propagated thither out of Egypt by Hilarion a disciple of Antony. Spiridion and Epiphanius of Cyprus, James of Nisibis, Cyril of Jerusalem, Eustathius of Sebastia in Armenia, Eusebius of Emisa, Titus of Bostra, Basilius of Ancyra, Acacius of Caesarea in Palestine, Elpidius of Laodicea, Melitius and Flavian of Antioch, Theodorus of Tyre, Protogenes of Carrhae, Acacius of Berrhaea, Theodotus of Hierapolis, Eusebius of Chalcedon, Amphilochius of Iconium, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen, and John Chrysostom of Constantinople, were both Bishops and Monks in the fourth century. Eustathius, Gregory Nazianzen, Gregory Nyssen, Basil, &c. had Monasteries of Clergymen in their cities, out of which Bishops were sent to other cities; who in like manner erected Monasteries there, till the Churches were supplied with Bishops out of these Monasteries. Hence Jerome, in a Letter written about the year 385, [3] saith of the Clergy: Quasi & ipsi aliud sint quam Monachi, & non quicquid in Monachos dicitur redundet in Clericos qui patres sunt Monachorum. Detrimentum pecoris pastoris ignominia est. And in his book against Vigilantius: Quid facient Orientis Ecclesiae? Quae aut Virgines Clericos accipiunt, aut Continentes, aut si uxores habuerint mariti esse desistunt. Not long after even the Emperors commanded the Churches to chuse Clergymen out of the Monasteries by this Law.

Impp. Arcad & Honor. AA. Caesario PF. P.

[4] Si quos forte Episcopi deesse sibi Clericos arbitrantur, ex monachorum numero rectius ordinabunt: non obnoxios publicis privatisque rationibus cum invidia teneant, sed habeant jam probatos. Dat. vii. Kal. Aug. Honorio A. iv. & Eutychianio Coss. A.C. 598. The Greek Empire being now in the hands of these Encratites, and having them in great admiration, Daniel makes it a characteristick of the King who doth according to his will, that he should not regard the desire of Women.

Thus the Sect of the Encratites, set on foot by the Gnosticks, and propagated by Tatian and Montanus near the end of the second century; which was condemned by the Churches of that and the third century, and refined upon by their followers; overspread the Eastern Churches in the fourth century, and before the end of it began to overspread the Western. Henceforward the Christian Churches having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, came into the hands of the Encratites: and the Heathens, who in the fourth century came over in great numbers to the Christians, embraced more readily this sort of Christianity, as having a greater affinity with their old superstitions, than that of the sincere Christians; who by the lamps of the seven Churches of Asia, and not by the lamps of the Monasteries, had illuminated the Church Catholic during the three first centuries.

The Cataphrygians brought in also several other superstitions: such as were the doctrine of Ghosts, and of their punishment in Purgatory, with prayers and oblations for mitigating that punishment, as Tertullian teaches in his books De Anima and De Monogamia. They used also the sign of the cross as a charm. So Tertullian in his book de Corona militis: Ad omnem progressum atque promotum, ad omnem aditum & exitum, ad vestitum, ad calceatum, ad lavacra, ad mensas, ad lamina, ad cubilia, ad sedilia, quacunque nos conversatio exercet, frontem crucis signaculo terimus. All these superstitions the Apostle refers to, where he saith: Now the Spirit speaketh expresly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, the Daemons and Ghosts worshipped by the heathens, speaking lyes in hypocrisy, about their apparitions, the miracles done by them, their reliques, and the sign of the cross, having consciences seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, &c. 1 Tim. iv. 1,2,3. From the Cataphrygians these principles and practices were propagated down to posterity. For the mystery of iniquity did already work in the Apostles days in the Gnosticks, continued to work very strongly in their offspring the Tatianists and Cataphrygians, and was to work till that man of sin should be revealed; whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders, and all deceivableness of unrighteousness; coloured over with a form of Christian godliness, but without the power thereof, 2 Thess. ii. 7-10.

For tho some stop was put to the Cataphrygian Christianity, by Provincial Councils, till the fourth century; yet the Roman Emperors then turning Christians, and great multitudes of heathens coming over in outward profession, these found the Cataphrygian Christianity more suitable to their old principles, of placing religion in outward forms and ceremonies, holy-days, and doctrines of Ghosts, than the religion of the sincere Christians: wherefore they readily sided with the Cataphrygian Christians, and established that Christianity before the end of the fourth century. By this means those of understanding, after they had been persecuted by the heathen Emperors in the three first centuries, and were holpen with a little help, by the conversion of Constantine the great and his sons to the Christian religion, fell under new persecutions, to purge them from the dissemblers, and to make them white, even to the time of the end.

Notes to Chap. XIII.

[1] Lib. 4. c. 28, 29.

[2] In vita Constantini, l. 4. c. 28.

[3] Epist. 10.

[4] L. 32. de Episcopis.

* * * * *

CHAP. XIV.

Of the Mahuzzims, honoured by the King who doth according to his will.

In scripture we are told of some trusting in God and others trusting in idols, and that God is our refuge, our strength, our defense. In this sense God is the rock of his people, and false Gods are called the rock of those that trust in them, Deut. xxxii. 4, 15, 18, 30, 31, 37. In the same sense the Gods of the King who shall do according to his will are called Mahuzzims, munitions, fortresses, protectors, guardians, or defenders. In his estate, saith [1] Daniel, shall he honour Mahuzzims; even with a God whom his fathers knew not, shall he honour them with gold and silver, and with precious stones, and things of value. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds or temples;—and he shall cause them to rule over many, and divide the land among them for a possession. Now this came to pass by degrees in the following manner.

Gregory Nyssen [2] tells us, that after the persecution of the Emperor Decius, Gregory Bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus, instituted among all people, as an addition or corollary of devotion towards God, that festival days and assemblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the faith, that is, to the Martyrs. And he adds this reason for the institution: When he observed, saith Nyssen, that the simple and unskilful multitude, by reason of corporeal delights, remained in the error of idols; that the principal thing might be corrected among them, namely, that instead of their vain worship they might turn their eyes upon God; he permitted that at the memories of the holy Martyrs they might make merry and delight themselves, and be dissolved into joy. The heathens were delighted with the festivals of their Gods, and unwilling to part with those delights; and therefore Gregory, to facilitate their conversion, instituted annual festivals to the Saints and Martyrs. Hence it came to pass, that for exploding the festivals of the heathens, the principal festivals of the Christians succeeded in their room: as the keeping of Christmas with ivy and feasting, and playing and sports, in the room of the Bacchanalia and Saturnalia; the celebrating of May-day with flowers, in the room of the Floralia; and the keeping of festivals to the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, and divers of the Apostles, in the room of the solemnities at the entrance of the Sun into the signs of the Zodiac in the old Julian Calendar. In the same persecution of Decius, Cyprian ordered the passions of the Martyrs in Africa to be registred, in order to celebrate their memories annually with oblations and sacrifices: and Felix Bishop of Rome, a little after, as Platina relates, Martyrum gloria consulens, constituit at quotannis sacrificia eorum nomine celebrarentur; "consulting the glory of the Martyrs, ordained that sacrifices should be celebrated annually in their name." By the pleasures of these festivals the Christians increased much in number, and decreased as much in virtue, until they were purged and made white by the persecution of Dioclesian. This was the first step made in the Christian religion towards the veneration of the Martyrs: and tho it did not yet amount to an unlawful worship; yet it disposed the Christians towards such a further veneration of the dead, as in a short time ended in the invocation of Saints.

The next step was the affecting to pray at the sepulchres of the Martyrs: which practice began in Dioclesian's persecution. The Council of Eliberis in Spain, celebrated in the third or fourth year of Dioclesian's persecution, A.C. 305, hath these Canons. Can. 34. Cereos per diem placuit in Coemeterio non incendi: inquietandi enim spiritus sanctorum non sunt. Qui haec non observarint, arceantur ab Ecclesiae communione. Can. 35. Placuit prohiberi ne faeminae in Coemeterio pervigilent, eo quod saepe sub obtentu orationis latenter scelera committant. Presently after that persecution, suppose about the year 314, the Council of Laodicea in Phrygia, which then met for restoring the lapsed discipline of the Church, has the following Canons. Can. 9. Those of the Church are not allowed to go into the Coemeteries or Martyries, as they are called, of hereticks, for the sake of prayer or recovery of health: but such as go, if they be of the faithful, shall be excommunicated for a time. Can. 34. A Christian must not leave the Martyrs of Christ, and go to false Martyrs, that is, to the Martyrs of the hereticks; for these are alien from God: and therefore let those be anathema who go to them. Can. 51. The birth-days of the Martyrs shall not be celebrated in Lent, but their commemoration shall be made on the Sabbath-days and Lords days. The Council of Paphlagonia, celebrated in the year 324, made this Canon: If any man being arrogant, abominates the congregations of the Martyrs, or the Liturgies performed therein, or the memories of the Martyrs, let him be anathema. By all which it is manifest that the Christians in the time of Dioclesian's persecution used to pray in the Coemeteries or burying-places of the dead; for avoiding the danger of the persecution, and for want of Churches, which were all thrown down: and after the persecution was over, continued that practice in honour of the Martyrs, till new Churches could be built: and by use affected it as advantageous to devotion, and for recovering the health of those that were sick. It also appears that in these burying-places they commemorated the Martyrs yearly upon days dedicated to them, and accounted all these practices pious and religious, and anathematized those men as arrogant who opposed them, or prayed in the Martyries of the hereticks. They also lighted torches to the Martyrs in the day-time, as the heathens did to their Gods; which custom, before the end of the fourth century, prevailed much in the West. They sprinkled the worshipers of the Martyrs with holy-water, as the heathens did the worshipers of their Gods; and went in pilgrimage to see Jerusalem and other holy places, as if those places conferred sanctity on the visiters. From the custom of praying in the Coemeteries and Martyries, came the custom of translating the bodies of the Saints and Martyrs into such Churches as were new built: the Emperor Constantius began this practice about the year 359, causing the bodies of Andrew the Apostle, Luke and Timothy, to be translated into a new Church at Constantinople: and before this act of Constantius, the Egyptians kept the bodies of their Martyrs and Saints unburied upon beds in their private houses, and told stories of their souls appearing after death and ascending up to heaven, as Athanasius relates in the life of Antony. All which gave occasion to the Emperor Julian, as Cyril relates, to accuse the Christians in this manner: Your adding to that antient dead man, Jesus, many new dead men, who can sufficiently abominate? You have filled all places with sepulchres and monuments, altho you are no where bidden to prostrate yourselves to sepulchres, and to respect them officiously. And a little after: Since Jesus said that sepulchres are full of filthiness, how do you invoke God upon them? and in another place he saith, that if Christians had adhered to the precepts of the Hebrews, they would have worshiped one God instead of many, and not a man, or rather not many unhappy men: And that they adored the wood of the cross, making its images on their foreheads, and before their houses.

After the sepulchres of Saints and Martyrs were thus converted into places of worship like the heathen temples, and the Churches into sepulchres, and a certain sort of sanctity attributed to the dead bodies of the Saints and Martyrs buried in them, and annual festivals were kept to them, with sacrifices offered to God in their name; the next step towards the invocation of Saints, was the attributing to their dead bodies, bones and other reliques, a power of working miracles, by means of the separate souls, who were supposed to know what we do or say, and to be able to do us good or hurt, and to work those miracles. This was the very notion the heathens had of the separate souls of their antient Kings and Heroes, whom they worshiped under the names of Saturn, Rhea, Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Venus, Bacchus, Ceres, Osiris, Isis, Apollo, Diana, and the rest of their Gods. For these Gods being male and female, husband and wife, son and daughter, brother and sister, are thereby discovered to be antient men and women. Now as the first step towards the invocation of Saints was set on foot by the persecution of Decius, and the second by the persecution of Dioclesian; so this third seems to have been owing to the proceedings of Constantius and Julian the Apostate. When Julian began to restore the worship of the heathen Gods, and to vilify the Saints and Martyrs; the Christians of Syria and Egypt seem to have made a great noise about the miracles done by the reliques of the Christian Saints and Martyrs, in opposition to the powers attributed by Julian and the heathens to their Idols. For Sozomen and Ruffinus tell us, that when he opened the heathen Temples, and consulted the Oracle of Apollo Daphnaeus in the suburbs of Antioch, and pressed by many sacrifices for an answer; the Oracle at length told him that the bones of the Martyr Babylas which were buried there hinder'd him from speaking. By which answer we may understand, that some Christian was got into the place where the heathen Priests used to speak thro' a pipe in delivering their Oracles: and before this, Hilary in his book against Constantius, written in the last year of that Emperor, makes the following mention of what was then doing in the East where he was. Sine martyrio persequeris. Plus crudelitati vestrae Nero, Deci, Maximiane, debemus. Diabolum enim per vos vicimus. Sanctus ubique beatorum martyrum sanguis exceptus est, dum in his Daemones mugiunt, dum aegritudines depelluntur, dum miraculorum opera cernuntur, elevari sine laqueis corpora, & dispensis pede faeminis vestes non defluere in faciem, uri sine ignibus spiritus, confiteri sine interrogantis incremento fidei. And Gregory Nazianzen, in his first Oration against the Emperor Julian then reigning, writes thus: Martyres non extimuisti quibus praeclari honores & festa constituta, a quibus Daemones propelluntur & morbi curantur; quorum sunt apparitiones & praedictiones; quorum vel sola corpora idem possunt quod animae sanctae, sive manibus contrectentur, sive honorentur: quorum vel solae sanguinis guttae atque exigua passionis signa idem possunt quod corpora. Haec non colis sed contemnis & aspernaris. These things made the heathens in the reign of the same Emperor demolish the sepulchre of John the Baptist in Phoenicia, and burn his bones; when several Christians mixing themselves with the heathens, gathered up some of his remains, which were sent to Athanasius, who hid them in the wall of a Church; foreseeing by a prophetic spirit, as Ruffinus tells us, that they might be profitable to future generations.

The cry of these miracles being once set on foot, continued for many years, and encreased and grew more general. Chrysostom, in his second Oration on St. Babylas, twenty years after the silencing of the Oracle of Apollo Daphnaeus as above, viz. A.C. 382, saith of the miracles done by the Saints and their reliques [3]: Nulla est nostri hujus Orbis seu regio, seu gens, seu urbs, ubi nova & inopinata miracula haec non decantentur; quae quidem si figmenta fuissent, prorsus in tantam hominum admirationem non venissent. And a little after: Abunde orationi nostrae fidem faciunt quae quotidiana a martyribus miracula eduntur, magna affatim ad illa hominum multitudine affluente. And in his 66th Homily, describing how the Devils were tormented and cast out by the bones of the Martyrs, he adds: Ob eam causam multi plerumque Reges peregre profecti sunt, ut hoc spectaculo fruerentur. Siquidem sanctorum martyrum templa futuri judicii vestigia & signa exhibent, dum nimirum Daemones flagris caeduntur, hominesque torquentur & liberantur. Vide quae sanctorum vita functorum vis sit? And Jerom in his Epitaph on Paula, thus [4] mentions the same things. Paula vidit Samariam: ibi siti sunt Elisaeus & Abdias prophetae, & Joannes Baptista, ubi multis intremuit consternata miraculis. Nam cernebat variis daemones rugire cruciatibus, & ante sepulchra sanctorum ululare, homines more luporum vocibus latrare canum, fremere leonum, sibilare serpentum, mugire taurorum, alios rotare caput & post tergum terram vertice tangere, suspensisque pede faeminis vestes non defluere in faciem. This was about the year 384: and Chrysostom in his Oration on the Egyptian Martyrs, seems to make Egypt the ringleader in these matters, saying [5]: Benedictus Deus quandoquidem ex AEgypto prodeunt martyres, ex AEgypto illa cum Deo pugnante ac insanissima, & unde impia ora, unde linguae blasphemae; ex AEgypto martyres habentur; non in AEgypto tantum, nec in finitima vicinaque regione, sed UBIQUE TERRARUM. Et quemadmodum in annonae summa ubertate, cum viderunt urbium incolae majorem quam usus habitatorum postulat esse proventum, ad peregrinas etiam urbes transmittunt: cum & suam comitatem & liberalitatem ostendant, tum ut praeter horum abundantiam cum facilitate res quibus indigent rursus ab illis sibi comparent: sic & AEgyptii, quod attinet ad religionis athletas, fecerunt. Cum apud se multam eorum Dei benignitate copiam cernerent, nequaquam ingens Dei munus sua civitate concluserunt, sed in OMNES TERRAE PARTES bonorum thesauros effuderunt: cum ut suum in fratres amorem ostenderent, tum ut communem omnium dominum honore afficerent, ac civitati suae gloriam apud omnes compararent, totiusque terrarum ORBIS esse METROPOLIN declararent.—Sanctorum enim illorum corpora quovis adamantino & inexpugnabili muro tutius nobis urbem communiunt, & tanquam excelsi quidam scopuli undique prominentes, non horum qui sub sensus cadunt & oculis cernuntur hostium impetus propulsant tantum, sed etiam invisibilium daemonum insidias, omnesque diaboli fraudes subvertunt ac dissipant.—Neque vero tantum adversus hominum insidias aut adversus fallacias daemonum utilis nobis est haec possessio, sed si nobis communis dominus ob peccatorum multitudinem irascatur, his objectis corporibus continuo poterimus eum propitium reddere civitati. This Oration was written at Antioch, while Alexandria was yet the Metropolis of the East, that is, before the year 381, in which Constantinople became the Metropolis: and it was a work of some years for the Egyptians to have distributed the miracle-working reliques of their Martyrs over all the world, as they had done before that year. Egypt abounded most with the reliques of Saints and Martyrs, the Egyptians keeping them embalmed upon beds even in their private houses; and Alexandria was eminent above all other cities for dispersing them, so as on that account to acquire glory with all men, and manifest herself to be the Metropolis of the world. Antioch followed the example of Egypt, in dispersing the reliques of the forty Martyrs: and the examples of Egypt and Syria were soon followed by the rest of the world.

The reliques of the forty Martyrs at Antioch were distributed among the Churches before the year 373; for Athanasius who died in that year, wrote an Oration upon them. This Oration is not yet published, but Gerard Vossius saw it in MS. in the Library of Cardinal Ascanius in Italy, as he says in his commentary upon the Oration of Ephraem Syrus on the same forty Martyrs. Now since the Monks of Alexandria sent the reliques of the Martyrs of Egypt into all parts of the earth, and thereby acquired glory to their city, and declared her in these matters the Metropolis of the whole world, as we have observed out of Chrysostom; it may be concluded, that before Alexandria received the forty Martyrs from Antioch, she began to send out the reliques of her own Martyrs into all parts, setting the first example to other cities. This practice therefore began in Egypt some years before the death of Athanasius. It began when the miracle-working bones of John the Baptist were carried into Egypt, and hid in the wall of a Church, that they might be profitable to future generations. It was restrained in the reign of Julian the Apostate: and then it spred from Egypt into all the Empire, Alexandria being the Metropolis of the whole world, according to Chrysostom, for propagating this sort of devotion, and Antioch and other cities soon following her example.

In propagating these superstitions, the ring-leaders were the Monks, and Antony was at the head of them: for in the end of the life of Antony, Athanasius relates that these were his dying words to his disciples who then attended him. Do you take care, said Antony, to adhere to Christ in the first place, and then to the Saints, that after death they may receive you as friends and acquaintance into the everlasting tabernacles, Think upon these things, perceive these things; and if you have any regard to me, remember me as a father. This being delivered in charge to the Monks by Antony at his death, A.C. 356, could not but inflame their whole body with devotion towards the Saints, as the ready way to be received, by them into the eternal Tabernacles after death. Hence came that noise about the miracles, done by the reliques of the Saints in the time of Constantius: hence came the dispersion of the miracle-working reliques into all the Empire; Alexandria setting the example, and being renowned, for it above all other cities. Hence it came to pass in the days of Julian, A.C. 362, that Athanasius by a prophetic spirit, as Ruffinus tells us, hid the bones of John the Baptist from the Heathens, not in the ground to be forgotten, but in the hollow wall of a Church before proper witnesses, that they might be profitable to future generations. Hence also came the invocation of the Saints for doing such miracles, and for assisting men in their devotions, and mediating with God. For Athanasius, even from his youth, looked upon the dead Saints and Martyrs as mediators of our prayers: in his Epistle to Marcellinus, written in the days of Constantine the great, he saith that the words of the Psalms are not to be transposed or any wise changed, but to be recited and sung without any artifice, as they are written, that the holy men who delivered them, knowing them to be their own words, may pray with us; or rather, that the Holy Ghost who spake in the holy men, seeing his own words with which he inspired them, may join with them in assisting us.

Whilst Egypt abounded with Monks above any other country, the veneration of the Saints began sooner, and spred faster there than in other places. Palladius going into Egypt in the year 388 to visit the Monasteries, and the sepulchres of Apollonius and other Martyrs of Thebais who had suffered under Maximinus, saith of them: Iis omnibus Christiani fecerunt aedem unam, ubi nunc multae virtutes peraguntur. Tanta autem fuit viri gratia, ut de iis quae esset precatus statim exaudiretur, eum sic honorante servatore: quem etiam nos in martyrio precati vidimus, cum iis qui cum ipso fuerunt martyrio affecti; & Deum adorantes, eorum corpora salutavimus. Eunapius also, a heathen, yet a competent witness of what was done in his own times, relating how the soldiers delivered the temples of Egypt into the hands of the Monks, which was done in the year 389, rails thus in an impious manner at the Martyrs, as succeeding in the room of the old Gods of Egypt. Illi ipsi, milites, Monachos Canobi quoque collocarunt, ut pro Diis qui animo cernuntur, servos & quidem flagitiosos divinis honoribus percolerent, hominum mentibus ad cultum ceremoniasque obligatis. Ii namque condita & salita eorum capita, qui ob scelerum multitudinem a judicibus extremo judicio fuerant affecti, pro Divis ostentabant; iis genua submittebant, eos in Deorum numerum receptabant, ad illorum sepulchra pulvere sordibusque conspurcati. Martyres igitur vocabantur, & ministri quidem & legati arbitrique precum apud Deos; cum fuerint servilia infida & flagris pessime subacta, quae cicatrices scelerum ac nequitiae vestigia corporibus circumferunt; ejusmodi tamen Deos fert tellus. By these instances we may understand the invocation of Saints was now of some standing in Egypt, and that it was already generally received and practised there by the common people.

Thus Basil a Monk, who was made Bishop of Caesarea in the year 369, and died in the year 378, in his Oration on the Martyr Mamas, saith: Be ye mindful of the Martyr; as many of you as have enjoyed him in your dreams, as many as in this place have been assisted by him in prayer, as many of you as upon invoking him by name have had him present in your works, as many as he has reduced into the way from wandering, as many as he has restored to health, as, many as have had their dead children restored by him to life, as many as have had their lives prolonged by him: and a little after, he thus expresses the universality of this superstition in the regions of Cappadocia and Bithynia: At the memory of the Martyr, saith he, the whole region is moved; at his festival the whole city is transported with joy. Nor do the kindred of the rich turn aside to the sepulchres of their ancestors, but all go to the place of devotion. Again, in the end of the Homily he prays, that God would preserve the Church, thus fortified with the great towers of the Martyrs: and in his Oration on the forty Martyrs; These are they, saith he, who obtaining our country, like certain towers afford us safety against our enemies. Neither are they shut up in one place only, but being distributed are sent into many regions, and adorn many countries.—You have often endeavoured, you have often laboured to find one who might pray for you: here are forty, emitting one voice of prayer.—He that is in affliction flies to these, he that rejoices has recourse to these: the first, that he may be freed from evil, the last that he may continue in happiness. Here a woman praying for her children is heard; she obtains a safe return for her husband from abroad, and health for him in his sickness.—O ye common keepers of mankind, the best companions of our cares, suffragans and coadjutors of our prayers, most powerful embassadors to God, &c. By all which it is manifest, that before the year 378, the Orations and Sermons upon the Saints went much beyond the bounds of mere oratorical flourishes, and that the common people in the East were already generally corrupted by the Monks with Saint-worship.

Gregory Nazianzen a Monk, in his sixth Oration written A.C. 373, when he was newly made Bishop of Sasima, saith: Let us purify ourselves to the Martyrs, or rather to the God of the Martyrs: and a little after he calls the Martyrs mediators of obtaining an ascension or divinity. The same year, in the end of his Oration upon Athanasius then newly dead, he thus invokes him: Do thou look down upon us propitiously, and govern this people, as perfect adorers of the perfect Trinity, which in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is contemplated and worshiped: if there shall be peace, preserve me, and feed my flock with me; but if war, bring me home, place me by thyself, and by those that are like thee; however great my request. And in the end of the funeral Oration upon Basil, written A.C. 378, he thus addresses him: But thou, O divine and sacred Head, look down upon us from heaven; and by thy prayers either take away that thorn of the flesh which is given us by God for exercise, or obtain that we may bear it with courage, and direct all our life to that which is most fitting for us. When we depart this life, receive us there in your Tabernacles, that living together and beholding the holy and blessed Trinity more purely and perfectly, whereof we have now but an imperfect view, we may there come to the end of our desires, and receive this reward of the wars which we have waged or suffered: and in his Oration upon Cyprian, not the Bishop of Carthage, but a Greek, he invokes him after the same manner; and tells us also how a pious Virgin named Justina, was protected by invoking the Virgin Mary, and how miracles were done by the ashes of Cyprian.

Gregory Nyssen, another eminent Monk and Bishop, in the life of Ephraem Syrus, tells how a certain man returning from a far country, was in great danger, by reason all the ways were intercepted by the armies of barbarous nations; but upon invoking Ephraem by name, and saying, Holy Ephraem assist me, he escaped the danger, neglected the fear of death, and beyond his hope got safe home. In the end of this Oration Gregory calls upon Ephraem after the following manner: But thou, O Ephraem, assisting now at the divine altar, and sacrificing to the Prince of life, and to the most holy Trinity, together with the Angels; remember us all, and obtain for us pardon of our sins, that we may enjoy the eternal happiness of the kingdom of heaven. The same Gregory, in his Oration on the Martyr Theodorus written A.C. 381, thus describes the power of that Martyr, and the practice of the people. This Martyr, saith he, the last year quieted the barbarous tempest, and put a stop to the horrid war of the fierce and cruel Scythians.—If any one is permitted to carry away the dust with which the tomb is covered, wherein the body of the Martyr rests; the dust is accepted as a gift, and gathered to be laid up as a thing of great price. For to touch the reliques themselves, if any such prosperous fortune shall at any time happen; how great a favour that is, and not to be obtained without the most earnest prayers, they know well who have obtained it. For as a living and florid body, they who behold it embrace it, applying to it the eyes, mouth, ears, and all the organs of sense; and then with affection pouring tears upon the Martyr, as if he was whole and appeared to them: they offer prayers with supplication, that he would intercede for them as an advocate, praying to him as an Officer attending upon God, and invoking him as receiving gifts whenever he will. At length Gregory concludes the Oration with this prayer: O Theodorus, we want many blessings; intercede and beseech for thy country before the common King and Lord: for the country of the Martyr is the place of his passion, and they are his citizens, brethren and kindred, who have him, defend, adorn and honour him. We fear afflictions, we expect dangers: the wicked Scythians are not far off, ready to make war against us. As a soldier fight for us, as a Martyr use liberty of speech for thy fellow-servants. Pray for peace, that these publick meetings may not cease, that the furious and wicked barbarian may not rage against the temples and altars, that the profane and impious may not trample upon the holy things. We acknowledge it a benefit received from thee, that we are preserved safe and entire, we pray for freedom from danger in time to come: and if there shall be need of greater intercession and deprecation, call together the choir of thy brethren the Martyrs, and in conjunction with them all intercede for us. Let the prayers of many just ones attone for the sins of the multitudes and the people; exhort Peter, excite Paul, and also John the divine and beloved disciple, that they may be sollicitous for the Churches which they have erected, for which they have been in chains, for which they have undergone dangers and deaths; that the worship of idols may not lift up its head against us, that heresies may not spring up like thorns in the vineyard, that tares grown up may not choak the wheat, that no rock void of the fatness of true dew may be against us, and render the fruitful power of the word void of a root; but by the power of the prayers of thyself and thy companions, O admirable man and eminent among the Martyrs, the commonwealth of Christians may become a field of corn. The same Gregory Nyssen, in his sermon upon the death of Meletius Bishop of Antioch, preached at Constantinople the same year, A.C. 381, before the Bishops of all the East assembled in the second general Council, spake thus of Meletius. The Bridegroom, saith he, is not taken from us: he stands in the midst of us, tho we do not see him: he is a Priest in the most inward places, and face to face intercedes before God for us and the sins of the people. This was no oratorical flourish, but Gregory's real opinion, as may be understood by what we have cited out of him concerning Ephraem and Theodorus: and as Gregory preached this before the Council of Constantinople, you may thence know, saith [6] Baronius, that he professed what the whole Council, and therewith the whole Church of those parts believed, namely, that the Saints in heaven offer prayers for us before God.

Ephraem Syrus, another eminent Monk, who was contemporary with Basil, and died the same year; in the end of his Encomium or Oration upon Basil then newly dead, invokes him after this manner: Intercede for me, a very miserable man; and recal me by thy intercessions, O father; thou who art strong, pray for me who am weak; thou who art diligent, for me who am negligent; thou who art chearful, for me who am heavy; thou who art wise, for me who am foolish. Thou who hast treasured up a treasure of all virtues, be a guide to me who am empty of every good work. In the beginning of his Encomium upon the forty Martyrs, written at the same time, he thus invokes them: Help me therefore, O ye Saints, with your intercession; and O ye beloved, with your holy prayers, that Christ by his grace may direct my tongue to speak, &c. and afterwards mentioning the mother of one of these forty Martyrs, he concludes the Oration with this prayer: I entreat thee, O holy, faithful, and blessed woman, pray for me to the Saints, saying; Intercede ye that triumph in Christ, for the most little and miserable Ephraem, that he may find mercy, and by the grace of Christ may be saved. Again, in his second Sermon or Oration on the praises of the holy Martyrs of Christ, he thus addresses them: We entreat you most holy Martyrs, to intercede with the Lord for us miserable sinners, beset with the filthiness of negligence, that he would infuse his divine grace into us: and afterwards, near the end of the same discourse; Now ye most holy men and glorious Martyrs of God, help me a miserable sinner with your prayers, that in that dreadful hour I may obtain mercy, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made manifest. I am to day become to you, most holy Martyrs of Christ, as it were an unprofitable and unskilful cup-bearer: for I have delivered to the sons and brothers of your faith, a cup of the excellent wine of your warfare, with the excellent table of your victory, replenished with all sorts of dainties. I have endeavoured, with the whole affection and desire of my mind, to recreate your fathers and brothers, kindred and relations, who daily frequent the table. For behold they sing, and with exultation and jubilee glorify God, who has crown'd your virtues, by setting on your most sacred heads incorruptible and celestial crowns; they with excessive joy stand about the sacred reliques of your martyrdoms, wishing for a blessing, and desiring to bear away holy medicines both for the body and the mind. As good disciples and faithful ministers of our benign Lord and Saviour, bestow therefore a blessing on them all: and on me also, tho weak and feeble, who having received strength by your merits and intercessions, have with the whole devotion of my mind, sung a hymn to your praise and glory before your holy reliques. Wherefore I beseech you stand before the throne of the divine Majesty for me Ephraem, a vile and miserable sinner, that by your prayers I may deserve to obtain salvation, and with you enjoy eternal felicity by the grace and benignity and mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be praise, honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

By what has been cited out of Basil, the two Gregories and Ephraem, we may understand that Saint-worship was established among the Monks and their admirers in Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria and Cappadocia, before the year 378, this being the year in which Basil and Ephraem died. Chrysostom was not much later; he preached at Antioch almost all the time of Theodosius the great, and in his Sermons are many exhortations to this sort of superstition, as may be seen in the end of his Orations on S. Julia, on St. Pelagia, on the Martyr Ignatius, on the Egyptian Martyrs, on Fate and Providence, on the Martyrs in general, on St. Berenice and St. Prosdoce, on Juventinus and Maximus, on the name of Coemetery, &c. Thus in his Sermon on Berenice and Prosdoce: Perhaps, saith he, you are inflamed with no small love towards these Martyrs; therefore with this ardour let us fall down before their reliques, let us embrace their coffins. For the coffins of the Martyrs have great virtue, even as the bones of the Martyrs have great power. Nor let us only on the day of this festival, but also on other days apply to them, invoke them, and beseech them to be our patrons: for they have great power and efficacy, not only whilst alive, but also after death; and much more after death than before. For now they bear the marks or brands of Christ; and when they shew these marks, they can obtain all things of the King. Seeing therefore they abound with such efficacy, and have so much friendship with him; we also, when by continual attendance and perpetual visitation of them we have insinuated ourselves into their familiarity, may by their assistance obtain the mercy of God.

Constantinople was free from these superstitions till Gregory Nazianzen came thither A.D. 379; but in a few years it was also inflamed with it. Ruffinus [7] tells us, that when the Emperor Theodosius was setting out against the tyrant Eugenius, which was in the year 394, he went about with the Priests and people to all the places of prayer; lay prostrate in haircloth before the shrines of the Martyrs and Apostles, and pray'd for assistance by the intercession of the Saints. Sozomen [8] adds, that when the Emperor was marched seven miles from Constantinople against Eugenius, he went into a Church which he had built to John the Baptist, and invoked the Baptist for his assistance. Chrysostom [9] says: He that is clothed in purple, approaches to embrace these sepulchres; and laying aside his dignity, stands supplicating the Saints to intercede for him with God: and he who goes crowned with a diadem, offers his prayers to the tent-maker and the fisher-man as his Protestors. And in [10] another place: The cities run together to the sepulchres of the Martyrs, and the people are inflamed with the love of them.

This practice of sending reliques from place to place for working miracles, and thereby inflaming the devotion of the nations towards the dead Saints and their reliques, and setting up the religion of invoking their souls, lasted only till the middle of the reign of the Emperor Theodosius the great; for he then prohibited it by the following Edict. Humatum corpus, nemo ad alterum locum transferat; nemo Martyrem distrahat, nemo mercetur: Habeant vero in potestate, si quolibet in loco sanctorum est aliquis conditus, pro ejus veneratione, quod Martyrium vocandum sit, addant quod voluerint fabricarum. Dat. iv. Kal. Mart. Constantinopoli, Honorio nob. puero & Euodio Coss. A.C. 386. After this they filled the fields and high-ways with altars erected to Martyrs, which they pretended to discover by dreams and revelations: and this occasioned the making the fourteenth Canon of the fifth Council of Carthage, A.C. 398. Item placuit, ut altaria, quae passim per agros aut vias, tanquam memoriae Martyrum constituuntur, in quibus nullum corpus aut reliquiae Martyrum conditae probantur, ab Episcopis, qui illis locis praesunt, si fieri potest, evertantur. Si autem hoc propter tumultus populares non sinitur, plebes tamen admoneantur, ne illa loca frequentent, ut qui recte sapiunt, nulla ibi superstitione devincti teneantur. Et omnino nulla memoria Martyrum probabiliter acceptetur, nisi aut ibi corpus aut aliquae certae reliquiae sint, aut ubi origo alicujus habitationis, vel possessionis, vel passionis fidelissima origine traditur. Nam quae per somnia, & per inanes quasi revelationes quorumlibet hominum ubique constituuntur altaria, omnimode reprobentur. These altars were for invoking the Saints or Martyrs buried or pretended to be buried under them. First they filled the Churches in all places with the reliques or pretended reliques of the Martyrs, for invoking them in the Churches; and then they filled the fields and high-ways with altars, for invoking them every where: and this new religion was set up by the Monks in all the Greek Empire before the expedition of the Emperor Theodosius against Eugenius, and I think before his above-mentioned Edict, A.C. 386.

The same religion of worshiping Mahuzzims quickly spred into the Western Empire also: but Daniel in this Prophecy describes chiefly the things done among the nations comprehended in the body of his third Beast.

Notes to Chap. XIV.

[1] Chap. xi. 38, 39

[2] Orat. de vita Greg. Thaumaturg. T. 3. p. 574.

[3] Vide Hom. 47. in. S. Julian.

[4] Epist. 27. ad Eustochium.

[5] Edit. Frontonis Ducaei, Tom. 1.

[6] Ad. an. 381, Sect. 41.

[7] Hist. Eccl. l. 2. c. 23.

[8] L. 4. c. 24.

[9] Hom. 66. ad. populum, circa finem. & Hom. 8, 27. in Matth. Hom. 42, 43. in Gen. Hom. 1. in 1 Thess.

[10] Exposit. in Psal. 114. sub finem.

* * * * *

The end of the first Part.

* * * * *

PART II.

* * * * *

OBSERVATIONS UPON THE APOCALYPSE OF St. JOHN.

* * * * *

CHAP. I.

Introduction, concerning the time when the Apocalypse was written.

Irenaeus introduced an opinion that the Apocalypse was written in the time of Domitian; but then he also postponed the writing of some others of the sacred books, and was to place the Apocalypse after them: he might perhaps have heard from his master Polycarp that he had received this book from John about the time of Domitian's death; or indeed John might himself at that time have made a new publication of it, from whence Irenaeus might imagine it was then but newly written. Eusebius in his Chronicle and Ecclesiastical History follows Irenoeus; but afterwards [1] in his Evangelical Demonstrations, he conjoins the banishment of John into Patmos, with the deaths of Peter and Paul: and so do [2] Tertullian and Pseudo-Prochorus, as well as the first author, whoever he was, of that very antient fable, that John was put by Nero into a vessel of hot oil, and coming out unhurt, was banished by him into Patmos. Tho this story be no more than a fiction yet was it founded on a tradition of the first churches, that John was banished into Patmos in the days of Nero. Epiphanius represents the Gospel of John as written in the time of Domitian, and the Apocalypse even before that of Nero. [3] Arethas in the beginning of his Commentary quotes the opinion of Irenaeus from Eusebius, but follows it not: for he afterwards affirms the Apocalypse was written before the destruction of Jerusalem, and that former commentators had expounded the sixth seal of that destruction.

With the opinion of the first Commentators agrees the tradition of the Churches of _Syria_, preserved to this day in the title of the _Syriac_ Version of the _Apocalypse_, which title is this: _The Revelation which was made to _John_ the Evangelist by God in the Island _Patmos_, into which he was banished by _Nero_ the _Caesar_. The fame is confirmed by a story told by [4] _Eusebius_ out of _Clemens Alexandrinus_, and other antient authors, concerning a youth, whom _John_ some time after his return from _Patmos_ committed to the care of the Bishop of a certain city. The Bishop educated, instructed, and at length baptized him; but then remitting of his care, the young man thereupon got into ill company, and began by degrees first to revel and grow vitious, then to abuse and spoil those he met in the night; and at last grew so desperate, that his companions turning a band of high-way men, made him their Captain: and, saith [5] _Chrysostom_, he continued their Captain a long time. At length _John_ returning to that city, and hearing what was done, rode to the thief; and, when he out of reverence to his old master fled, _John_ rode after him, recalled him, and restored him to the Church. This is a story of many years, and requires that _John_ should have returned from _Patmos_ rather at the death of _Nero_ than at that of _Domitian_; because between the death of _Domitian_ and that of _John_ there were but two years and an half; and _John_ in his old age was [6] so infirm as to be carried to Church, dying above 90 years old, and therefore could not be then suppos'd able to ride after the thief.

This opinion is further supported by the allusions in the Apocalypse to the Temple and Altar, and holy City, as then standing; and to the Gentiles, who were soon after to tread under foot the holy City and outward Court. 'Tis confirmed also by the style of the Apocalypse itself, which is fuller of Hebraisms than his Gospel. For thence it may be gathered, that it was written when John was newly come out of Judea, where he had been used to the Syriac tongue; and that he did not write his Gospel, till by long converse with the Asiatick Greeks he had left off most of the Hebraisms. It is confirmed also by the many false Apocalypses, as those of Peter, Paul, Thomas, Stephen, Elias and Cerinthus, written in imitation of the true one. For as the many false Gospels, false Acts, and false Epistles were occasioned by true ones; and the writing many false Apocalypses, and ascribing them to Apostles and Prophets, argues that there was a true Apostolic one in great request with the first Christians: so this true one may well be suppos'd to have been written early, that there may be room in the Apostolic age for the writing of so many false ones afterwards, and fathering them upon Peter, Paul, Thomas and others, who were dead before John. Caius, who was contemporary with Tertullian, [7] tells us that Cerinthus wrote his Revelations as a great Apostle, and pretended the visions were shewn him by Angels, asserting a millennium of carnal pleasures at Jerusalem after the resurrection; so that his Apocalypse was plainly written in imitation of John's: and yet he lived so early, that [8] he resisted the Apostles at Jerusalem in or before the first year of Claudius, that is, 26 years before the death of Nero, and [9] died before John.

These reasons may suffice for determining the time; and yet there is one more, which to considering men may seem a good reason, to others not. I'll propound it, and leave it to every man's judgment. The Apocalypse seems to be alluded to in the Epistles of Peter and that to the Hebrews and therefore to have been written before them. Such allusions in the Epistle to the Hebrews, I take to be the discourses concerning the High-Priest in the heavenly Tabernacle, who is both Priest and King, as was Melchisedec; and those concerning the word of God, with the sharp two-edged sword, the [Greek: sabbatismos], or millennial rest, the earth whose end is to be burned, suppose by the lake of fire, the judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries, the heavenly City which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God, the cloud of witnesses, mount Sion, heavenly Jerusalem, general assembly, spirits of just men made perfect, viz. by the resurrection, and the shaking of heaven and earth, and removing them, that the new heaven, new earth and new kingdom which cannot be shaken, may remain. In the first of Peter occur these: [10] The Revelation of Jesus Christ, twice or thrice repeated; [11] the blood of Christ as of a Lamb foreordained before the foundation of the world; [12] the spiritual building in heaven, 1 Pet. ii. 5. an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, who are kept unto the salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time, 1 Pet. i. 4, 5. [13] the royal Priesthood, [14] the holy Priesthood, [15] the judgment beginning at the house of God, and [16] the Church at Babylon. These are indeed obscurer allusions; but the second Epistle, from the 19th verse of the first Chapter to the end, seems to be a continued Commentary upon the Apocalypse. There, in writing to the Churches in Asia, to whom John was commanded to send this Prophecy, he tells them, they have a more sure word of Prophecy, to be heeded by them, as a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in their hearts, that is, until they begin to understand it: for no Prophecy, saith he, of the scripture is of any private interpretation; the Prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Daniel [17] himself professes that he understood not his own Prophecies; and therefore the Churches were not to expect the interpretation from their Prophet John, but to study the Prophecies themselves. This is the substance of what Peter says in the first chapter; and then in the second he proceeds to describe, out of this sure word of Prophecy, how there should arise in the Church false Prophets, or false teachers, expressed collectively in the Apocalypse by the name of the false Prophet; who should bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, which is the character of Antichrist: And many, saith he, shall follow their lusts [18]; they that dwell on the earth [19] shall be deceived by the false Prophet, and be made drunk with the wine of the Whore's fornication, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be blasphemed; for [20] the Beast is full of blasphemy: and thro' covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandize of you; for these are the Merchants of the Earth, who trade with the great Whore, and their merchandize [21] is all things of price, with the bodies and souls of men: whose judgment—lingreth not, and their damnation [22] slumbreth not, but shall surely come upon them at the last day suddenly, as the flood upon the old world, and fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrha, when the just shall be delivered [23] like Lot; for the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished, in the lake of fire; but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, [24] being made drunk with the wine of the Whore's fornication; who despise dominion, and are not afraid to blaspheme glories; for the beast opened his mouth against God [25] to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. These, as natural brute beasts, the ten-horned beast and two-horned beast, or false Prophet, made to be taken and destroyed, in the lake of fire, blaspheme the things they understand not:—they count it pleasure to riot in the day-time—sporting themselves with their own deceivings, while they feast [26] with you, having eyes full of an [27] Adulteress: for the kingdoms of the beast live deliciously with the great Whore, and the nations are made drunk with the wine of her fornication. They are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, the false Prophet [28] who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel. These are, not fountains of living water, but wells without water; not such clouds of Saints as the two witnesses ascend in, but clouds that are carried with a tempest, &c. Thus does the author of this Epistle spend all the second Chapter in describing the qualities of the Apocalyptic Beasts and false Prophet: and then in the third he goes on to describe their destruction more fully, and the future kingdom. He saith, that because the coming of Christ should be long deferred, they should scoff, saying, where is the promise of his coming? Then he describes the sudden coming of the day of the Lord upon them, as a thief in the night, which is the Apocalyptic phrase; and the millennium, or thousand years, which are with God but as a day; the passing away of the old heavens and earth, by a conflagration in the lake of fire, and our looking for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Seeing therefore _Peter_ and _John_ were Apostles of the circumcision, it seems to me that they staid with their Churches in _Judea_ and _Syria_ till the _Romans_ made war upon their nation, that is, till the twelfth year of _Nero_; that they then followed the main body of their flying Churches into _Asia_, and that _Peter_ went thence by _Corinth_ to _Rome_; that the _Roman_ Empire looked upon those Churches as enemies, because _Jews_ by birth; and therefore to prevent insurrections, secured their leaders, and banished _John_ into _Patmos_. It seems also probable to me that the _Apocalypse_ was there composed, and that soon after the Epistle to the _Hebrews_ and those of _Peter_ were written to these Churches, with reference to this Prophecy as what they were particularly concerned in. For it appears by these Epistles, that they were written in times of general affliction and tribulation under the heathens, and by consequence when the Empire made war upon the _Jews_; for till then the heathens were at peace with the _Christian Jews_, as well as with the rest. The Epistle to the _Hebrews_, since it mentions _Timothy_ as related to those _Hebrews_, must be written to them after their flight into _Asia_, where _Timothy_ was Bishop; and by consequence after the war began, the _Hebrews_ in _Judea_ being strangers to _Timothy_. _Peter_ seems also to call _Rome_ _Babylon_, as well with respect to the war made upon _Judea_, and the approaching captivity, like that under old _Babylon_, as with respect to that name in the _Apocalypse_: and in writing _to the strangers scattered thro'out _Pontus_, _Galatia_, _Cappadocia_, _Asia_ and _Bithynia_, he seems to intimate that they were the strangers newly scattered by the _Roman_ wars; for those were the only strangers there belonging to his care.

This account of things agrees best with history when duly rectified. For [29] Justin and [30] Irenaeus say, that Simon Magus came to Rome in the reign of Claudius, and exercised juggling tricks there. Pseudo-Clemens adds, that he endeavoured there to fly, but broke his neck thro' the prayers of Peter. Whence [31] Eusebius, or rather his interpolator Jerom, has recorded, that Peter came to Rome in the second year of Claudius: but [32] Cyril Bishop of Jerusalem, Philastrius, Sulpitius, Prosper, Maximus Taurinensis, and Hegesippus junior, place this victory of Peter in the time of Nero. Indeed the antienter tradition was, that Peter came to Rome in the days of this Emperor, as may be seen in [33] Lactantius. Chrysostom [34] tells us, that the Apostles continued long in Judea, and that then being driven out by the Jews they went to the Gentiles. This dispersion was in the first year of the Jewish war, when the Jews, as Josephus tells us, began to be tumultuous and violent in all places. For all agree that the Apostles were dispersed into several regions at once; and Origen has set down the time, [35] telling us that in the beginning of the Judaic war, the Apostles and disciples of our Lord were scattered into all nations; Thomas into Parthia, Andrew into Scythia, John into Asia, and Peter first into Asia, where he preacht to the dispersion, and thence into Italy. [36] Dionysius Corinthius saith, that Peter went from Asia by Corinth to Rome, and all antiquity agrees that Peter and Paul were martyred there in the end of Nero's reign. Mark went with Timothy to Rome, 2 Tim. iv. 11. Colos. iv. 10. Sylvanus was Paul's assistant; and by the companions of Peter, mentioned in his first Epistle, we may know that he wrote from Rome; and the Antients generally agree, that in this Epistle he understood Rome by Babylon. His second Epistle was writ to the same dispersed strangers with the first, 2 Pet. iii. 1. and therein he saith, that Paul had writ of the same things to them, and also in his other Epistles, ver. 15, 16. Now as there is no Epistle of Paul to these strangers besides that to the Hebrews, so in this Epistle, chap. x. 11, 12. we find at large all those things which Peter had been speaking of, and here refers to; particularly the passing away of the old heavens and earth, and establishing an inheritance immoveable, with an exhortation to grace, because God, to the wicked, is a consuming fire, Heb. xii. 25, 26, 28, 29.

Having determined the time of writing the _Apocalyse_, I need not say much about the truth of it, since it was in such request with the first ages, that many endeavoured to imitate it, by feigning _Apocalypses_ under the Apostles names; and the Apostles themselves, as I have just now shewed, studied it, and used its phrases; by which means the style of the Epistle to the _Hebrews_ became more mystical than that of _Paul_'s other Epistles, and the style of _John_'s Gospel more figurative and majestical than that of the other Gospels. I do not apprehend that _Christ_ was called the word of God in any book of the New Testament written before the _Apocalypse_; and therefore am of opinion, the language was taken from this Prophecy, as were also many other phrases in this Gospel, such as those of _Christ_'s being _the light which enlightens the world, the lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world, the bridegroom, he that testifieth, he that came down from heaven, the Son of God_, &c. _Justin Martyr_, who within thirty years after _John_'s death became a _Christian_, writes expresly that _a certain man among the _Christians_ whose name was _John_, one of the twelve Apostles of _Christ_, in the Revelation which was shewed him, prophesied that those who believed in _Christ_ should live a thousand years at _Jerusalem_. And a few lines before he saith: _But I, and as many as are _Christians_, in all things right in their opinions, believe both that there shall be a resurrection of the flesh, and a thousand years life at _Jerusalem_ built, adorned and enlarged_. Which is as much as to say, that all true _Christians_ in that early age received this Prophecy: for in all ages, as many as believed the thousand years, received the _Apocalypse_ as the foundation of their opinion: and I do not know one instance to the contrary. _Papias_ Bishop of _Hierapolis_, a man of the Apostolic age, and one of _John_'s own disciples, did not only teach the doctrine of the thousand years, but also [37] asserted the _Apocalypse_ as written by divine inspiration. _Melito_, who flourished next after _Justin_, [38] wrote a commentary upon this Prophecy; and he, being Bishop of _Sardis_ one of the seven Churches, could neither be ignorant of their tradition about it, nor impose upon them. _Irenaeus_, who was contemporary with _Melito_, wrote much upon it, and said, that _the number 666 was in all the antient and approved copies; and that he had it also confirmed to him by those who had seen _John_ face to face_, meaning no doubt his master _Polycarp_ for one. At the same time [39] _Theophilus_ Bishop of _Antioch_ asserted it, and so did _Tertullian_, _Clemens Alexandrinus_, and _Origen_ soon after; and their contemporary _Hippolytus_ the Martyr, Metropolitan of the _Arabians_, [40] wrote a commentary upon it. All these were antient men, flourishing within a hundred and twenty years after _John_'s death, and of greatest note in the Churches of those times. Soon after did _Victorinus Pictaviensis_ write another commentary upon it; and he lived in the time of _Dioclesian_. This may surely suffice to shew how the _Apocalypse_ was received and studied in the first ages: and I do not indeed find any other book of the New Testament so strongly attested, or commented upon so early as this. The Prophecy said: _Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this Prophecy, and keep the things which are written therein._ This animated the first _Christians_ to study it so much, till the difficulty made them remit, and comment more upon the other books of the New Testament. This was the state of the _Apocalypse_, till the thousand years being misunderstood, brought a prejudice against it: and _Dionysius_ of _Alexandria_, noting how it abounded with barbarisms, that is with _Hebraisms_, promoted that prejudice so far, as to cause many _Greeks_ in the fourth century to doubt of the book. But whilst the _Latins_, and a great part of the _Greeks_, always retained the _Apocalypse_, and the rest doubted only out of prejudice, it makes nothing against its authority.

This Prophecy is called the Revelation, with respect to the scripture of truth, which Daniel [41] was commanded to shut up and seal, till the time of the end. Daniel sealed it until the time of the end; and until that time comes, the Lamb is opening the seals: and afterwards the two Witnesses prophesy out of it a long time in sack-cloth, before they ascend up to heaven in a cloud. All which is as much as to say, that these Prophecies of Daniel and John should not be understood till the time of the end: but then some should prophesy out of them in an afflicted and mournful state for a long time, and that but darkly, so as to convert but few. But in the very end, the Prophecy should be so far interpreted as to convince many. Then, saith Daniel, many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be encreased. For the Gospel must be preached in all nations before the great tribulation, and end of the world. The palm-bearing multitude, which come out of this great tribulation, cannot be innumerable out of all nations, unless they be made so by the preaching of the Gospel before it comes. There must be a stone cut out of a mountain without hands, before it can fall upon the toes of the Image, and become a great mountain and fill the earth. An Angel must fly thro' the midst of heaven with the everlasting Gospel to preach to all nations, before Babylon falls, and the Son of man reaps his harvest. The two Prophets must ascend up to heaven in a cloud, before the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of Christ. 'Tis therefore a part of this Prophecy, that it should not be understood before the last age of the world; and therefore it makes for the credit of the Prophecy, that it is not yet understood. But if the last age, the age of opening these things, be now approaching, as by the great successes of late Interpreters it seems to be, we have more encouragement than ever to look into these things. If the general preaching of the Gospel be approaching, it is to us and our posterity that those words mainly belong: [42] In the time of the end the wise shall understand, but none of the wicked shall understand. [43] Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this Prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein.

The folly of Interpreters has been, to foretel times and things by this Prophecy, as if God designed to make them Prophets. By this rashness they have not only exposed themselves, but brought the Prophecy also into contempt. The design of God was much otherwise. He gave this and the Prophecies of the Old Testament, not to gratify men's curiosities by enabling them to foreknow things, but that after they were fulfilled they might be interpreted by the event, and his own Providence, not the Interpreters, be then manifested thereby to the world. For the event of things predicted many ages before, will then be a convincing argument that the world is governed by providence. For as the few and obscure Prophecies concerning Christ's first coming were for setting up the Christian religion, which all nations have since corrupted; so the many and clear Prophecies concerning the things to be done at Christ's second coming, are not only for predicting but also for effecting a recovery and re-establishment of the long-lost truth, and setting up a kingdom wherein dwells righteousness. The event will prove the Apocalypse; and this Prophecy, thus proved and understood, will open the old Prophets, and all together will make known the true religion, and establish it. For he that will understand the old Prophets, must begin with this; but the time is not yet come for understanding them perfectly, because the main revolution predicted in them is not yet come to pass. In the days of the voice of the seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets: and then the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign for ever, Apoc. x. 7. xi. 15. There is already so much of the Prophecy fulfilled, that as many as will take pains in this study, may see sufficient instances of God's providence: but then the signal revolutions predicted by all the holy Prophets, will at once both turn mens eyes upon considering the predictions, and plainly interpret them. Till then we must content ourselves with interpreting what hath been already fulfilled.

Amongst the Interpreters of the last age there is scarce one of note who hath not made some discovery worth knowing; and thence I seem to gather that God is about opening these mysteries. The success of others put me upon considering it; and if I have done any thing which may be useful to following writers, I have my design.

Notes to Chap. I.

[1] Dem. Evang. l. 3.

[2] Vid. Pamelium in notis ad Tertull. de Praescriptionbus, n. 215 & Hieron l. 1. contra Jovinianum, c. 14. Edit.Erasmi.

[3] Areth. c. 18, 19.

[4] Hist. Eccl. l. 3. c. 23.

[5] Chrysost. ad Theodorum lapsum.

[6] Hieron. in Epist. ad Gal. l. 3. c. 6.

[7] Apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 28. Edit. Valesii.

[8] Epiphan. Haeres. 28.

[9] Hieron. adv. Lucif.

[10] 1 Pet. i. 7, 13. iv. 13. & v. 1.

[11] Apoc. xiii. 8.

[12] Apoc. xxi.

[13] Apoc. i. 6. & v. 10.

[14] Apoc. xx. 6.

[15] Apoc. xx. 4, 12.

[16] Apoc. xvii.

[17] Dan. viii. 15, 16, 27. & xii. 8, 9.

[18] [Greek: aselgeias], in many of the best MSS.

[19] Apoc. xiii. 7, 12.

[20] Apoc. xiii. 1, 5, 6.

[21] Apoc. xviii. 12, 13.

[22] Apoc. xix. 20.

[23] Apoc. xxi. 3, 4.

[24] Apoc. ix. 21. and xvii. 2.

[25] Apoc. xiii. 6.

[26] Apoc. xviii. 3, 7, 9.

[27] [Greek: moichalidos].

[28] Apoc. ii. 14.

[29] Apol. ad Antonin. Pium.

[30] Haeres. l. 1. c. 20. Vide etiam Tertullianum, Apol. c. 13.

[31] Euseb. Chron.

[32] Cyril Catech. 6. Philastr. de haeres. cap. 30. Sulp. Hist. l. 2. Prosper de promiss. dimid. temp. cap. 13. Maximus serm. 5. in Natal. Apost. Hegesip. l. 2. c. 2.

[33] Lactant de mortib. Persec. c. 2.

[34] Hom. 70. in Matt. c. 22.

[35] Apud Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 2. c. 25.

[36] Euseb. Hist. l. 2. c. 25.

[37] Arethas in Proaem. comment. in Apoc.

[38] Euseb. Hist. l. 4. cap. 26. Hieron.

[39] Euseb. Hist. l. 4. c. 24.

[40] Hieron.

[41] Dan. x. 21. xii. 4, 9.

[42] Dan. xii. 4, 10.

[43] Apoc. i. 3.

* * * * *

CHAP. II.

Of the relation which the Apocalypse of John hath to the Book of the Law of Moses, and to the worship of God in the Temple.

The Apocalypse of John is written in the same style and language with the Prophecies of Daniel, and hath the same relation to them which they have to one another, so that all of them together make but one complete Prophecy; and in like manner it consists of two parts, an introductory Prophecy, and an Interpretation thereof.

The Prophecy is distinguish'd into seven successive parts, by the opening of the seven seals of the book which Daniel was commanded to seal up: and hence it is called the Apocalypse or Revelation of Jesus Christ. The time of the seventh seal is sub-divided into eight successive parts by the silence in heaven for half an hour, and the sounding of seven trumpets successively: and the seventh trumpet sounds to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, whereby the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ, and those are destroyed that destroyed the earth.

The Interpretation begins with the words, And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the Ark of his Testament: and it continues to the end of the Prophecy. The Temple is the scene of the visions, and the visions in the Temple relate to the feast of the seventh month: for the feasts of the Jews were typical of things to come. The Passover related to the first coming of Christ, and the feasts of the seventh month to his second coming: his first coming being therefore over before this Prophecy was given, the feasts of the seventh month are here only alluded unto.

On the first day of that month, in the morning, the High-Priest dressed the lamps: and in allusion hereunto, this Prophecy begins with a vision of one like the Son of man in the High-Priest's habit, appearing as it were in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, or over against the midst of them, dressing the lamps, which appeared like a rod of seven stars in his right hand: and this dressing was perform'd by the sending seven Epistles to the Angels or Bishops of the seven Churches of Asia, which in the primitive times illuminated the Temple or Church Catholick. These Epistles contain admonitions against the approaching Apostacy, and therefore relate to the times when the Apostacy began to work strongly, and before it prevailed. It began to work in the Apostles days, and was to continue working till the man of sin should be revealed. It began to work in the disciples of Simon, Menander, Carpocrates, Cerinthas, and such sorts of men as had imbibed the metaphysical philosophy of the Gentiles and Cabalistical Jews, and were thence called Gnosticks. John calls them Antichrists, saying that in his days there were many Antichrists. But these being condemned by the Apostles, and their immediate disciples, put the Churches in no danger during the opening of the first four seals. The visions at the opening of these seals relate only to the civil affairs of the heathen Roman Empire. So long the Apostolic traditions prevailed, and preserved the Church in its purity: and therefore the affairs of the Church do not begin to be considered in this Prophecy before the opening of the fifth seal. She began then to decline, and to want admonitions; and therefore is admonished by these Epistles, till the Apostacy prevailed and took place, which was at the opening of the seventh seal. The admonitions therefore in these seven Epistles relate to the state of the Church in the times of the fifth and sixth seals. At the opening of the fifth seal, the Church is purged from hypocrites by a great persecution. At the opening of the sixth, that which letted is taken out of the way, namely the heathen Roman Empire. At the opening of the seventh, the man of sin is revealed. And to these times the seven Epistles relate.

The seven Angels, to whom these Epistles were written, answer to the seven Amarc-holim, who were Priests and chief Officers of the Temple, and had jointly the keys of the gates of the Temple, with those of the Treasuries, and the direction, appointment and oversight of all things in the Temple.

After the lamps were dresed, _John_ saw _the door_ of the Temple _opened_; and by _the voice as it were of a trumpet_, was called up to the eastern gate of the great court, to see the visions: and _behold a throne was set_, viz. the mercy-seat upon the Ark of the Testament, which the _Jews_ respected as _the throne of God between the _Cherubims_, _Exod._ xxv. 2. _Psal._ xcix. 1. _And he that sat on it was to look upon like _Jasper_ and _Sardine_ stone_, that is, of an olive colour, the people of _Judea_ being of that colour. _And_, the Sun being then in the _East, a rainbow was about the throne_, the emblem of glory. _And round about the throne were four and twenty seats_; answering to the chambers of the four and twenty Princes of the Priests, twelve on the south side, and twelve on the north side of the Priests Court. _And upon the seats were four and twenty Elders sitting, clothed in white rayment, with crowns on their heads_; representing the Princes of the four and twenty courses of the Priests clothed in linen. _And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings, and voices_, viz. the flashes of the fire upon the Altar at the morning-sacrifice, and the thundering voices of those that sounded the trumpets, and sung at the Eastern gate of the Priests Court; for these being between _John_ and the throne appeared to him as proceeding from the throne. _And there were seven lamps of fire burning_, in the Temple, _before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God_, or Angels of the seven Churches, represented in the beginning of this Prophecy by seven stars. _And before the throne was a sea of glass clear as chrystal_; the brazen sea between the porch of the Temple and the Altar, filled with clear water. _And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four Beasts full of eyes before and behind_: that is, one Beast before the throne and one behind it, appearing to _John_ as in the midst of the throne, and one on either side in the circle about it, to represent by the multitude of their eyes the people standing in the four sides of the peoples court. _And the first Beast was like a lion, and the second was like a calf, and the third had the face of a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle_. The people of _Israel_ in the wilderness encamped round about the tabernacle, and on the east side were three tribes under the standard of _Judah_, on the west were three tribes under the standard of _Ephraim_, on the south were three tribes under the standard of _Reuben_, and on the north were three tribes under the standard of _Dan_, _Numb._ ii. And the standard of _Judah_ was a Lion, that of _Ephraim_ an Ox, that of _Reuben_ a Man, and that of _Dan_ an Eagle, as the _Jews_ affirm. Whence were framed the hieroglyphicks of _Cherubims_ and _Seraphims_, to represent the people of _Israel_. A _Cherubim_ had one body with four faces, the faces of a Lion, an Ox, a Man and an Eagle, looking to the four winds of heaven, without turning about, as in _Ezekiel_'s vision, chap. i. And four _Seraphims_ had the same four faces with four bodies, one face to every body. The four Beasts are therefore four _Seraphims_ standing in the four sides of the peoples court; the first in the eastern side with the head of a Lion, the second in the western side with the head of an Ox, the third in the southern side with the head of a Man, the fourth in the northern side with the head of an Eagle: and all four signify together the twelve tribes of _Israel_, out of whom the hundred forty and four thousand were sealed, _Apoc._ vii. 4. _And the four Beasts had each of them six wings_, two to a tribe, in all twenty and four wings, answering to the twenty and four stations of the people. _And they were full of eyes within_, or under their wings. _And they rest not day and night_, or at the morning and evening-sacrifices, _saying, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come_. These animals are therefore the Seraphims, which appeared to _Isaiah_ [1] in a vision like this of the _Apocalypse_. For there also the Lord sat upon a throne in the temple; and the Seraphims each with six wings cried, _Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. And when those animals give glory and honour and thanks to him that sitteth upon the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty Elders_ go into the Temple, and there _fall down before him that sitteth on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created_. At the morning and evening-sacrifices, so soon as the sacrifice was laid upon the Altar, and the drink-offering began to be poured out, the trumpets sounded, and the _Levites_ sang by course three times; and every time when the trumpets sounded, the people fell down and worshiped. Three times therefore did the people worship; to express which number, the Beasts cry _Holy, holy, holy_: and the song being ended, the people prayed standing, till the solemnity was finished. In the mean time the Priests went into the Temple, and there fell down before him that sat upon the throne, and worshiped.

And John saw, in the right hand of him that sat upon the throne, a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals, viz. the book which Daniel was commanded to seal up, and which is here represented by the prophetic book of the Law laid up on the right side of the Ark, as it were in the right hand of him that sat on the throne: for the festivals and ceremonies of the Law prescribed to the people in this book, adumbrated those things which were predicted in the book of Daniel; and the writing within and on the backside of this book, relates to the synchronal Prophecies. [2] And none was found worthy to open the book but the Lamb of God. And lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four Beasts, and in the midst of the Elders, that is, at the foot of the Altar, stood a lamb as it had been slain, the morning-sacrifice; having seven horns, which are the seven Churches, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came, and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne: And when he had taken the book, the four Beasts and four and twenty Elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us, unto our God, Kings and Priests, and we shall reign on the earth. The Beasts and Elders therefore represent the primitive Christians of all nations; and the worship of these Christians in their Churches is here represented under the form of worshiping God and the Lamb in the Temple: God for his benefaction in creating all things, and the Lamb for his benefaction in redeeming us with his blood: God as sitting upon the throne and living for ever, and the Lamb as exalted above all by the merits of his death. And I heard, saith John, the voice of many Angels round about the throne, and the Beasts and the Elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I, saying, Blessing, honour, glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four Beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty Elders fell down and worshiped him that liveth for ever and ever. This was the worship of the primitive Christians.

It was the custom for the High-Priest, seven days before the fast of the seventh month, to continue constantly in the Temple, and study the book of the Law, that he might be perfect in it against the day of expiation; wherein the service, which was various and intricate, was wholly to be performed by himself; part of which service was reading the Law to the people: and to promote his studying it, there were certain Priests appointed by the Sanhedrim to be with him those seven days in one of his chambers in the Temple, and there to discourse with him about the Law, and read it to him, and put him in mind of reading and studying it himself. This his opening and reading the Law those seven days, is alluded unto in the Lamb's opening the seals. We are to conceive that those seven days begin in the evening before each day; for the Jews began their day in the evening, and that the solemnity of the fast begins in the morning of the seventh day.

The seventh seal was therefore opened on the day of expiation, and then there was silence in heaven for half an hour. And an Angel, the High-Priest, stood at the Altar, having a golden Censer; and there was given him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all Saints, upon the golden Altar which was before the throne. The custom was on other days, for one of the Priests to take fire from the great Altar in a silver Censer; but on this day, for the High-Priest to take fire from the great Altar in a golden Censer: and when he was come down from the great Altar, he took incense from one of the Priests who brought it to him, and went with it to the golden Altar: and while he offered the incense, the people prayed without in silence, which is the silence in heaven for half an hour. When the High-Priest had laid the incense on the Altar, he carried a Censer of it burning in his hand, into the most holy place before the Ark. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the Saints, ascended up before God out of the Angel's hand. On other days there was a certain measure of incense for the golden Altar: on this day there was a greater quantity for both the Altar and the most holy Place, and therefore it is called much incense. After this the Angel took the Censer, and filled it with fire from the great Altar, and cast it into the earth; that is, by the hands of the Priests who belong to his mystical body, he cast it to the earth without the Temple, for burning the Goat which was the Lord's lot. And at this and other concomitant sacrifices, until the evening-sacrifice was ended, there were voices, and thundrings, and lightnings, and an earthquake; that is, the voice of the High-Priest reading the Law to the people, and other voices and thundrings from the trumpets and temple-musick at the sacrifices, and lightnings from the fire of the Altar.

The solemnity of the day of expiation being finished, the seven Angels found their trumpets at the great sacrifices of the seven days of the feast of tabernacles; and at the same sacrifices, the seven thunders utter their voices, which are the musick of the Temple, and singing of the Levites, intermixed with the soundings of the trumpets: and the seven Angels pour out their vials of wrath, which are the drink-offerings of those sacrifices.

When six of the seals were opened, _John_ said: [3] _And after these things_, that is, after the visions of the sixth seal, _I saw four Angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another Angel ascending from the _East_, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four Angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, nor the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads._ This sealing alludes to a tradition of the _Jews_, that upon the day of expiation all the people of _Israel_ are sealed up in the books of life and death. For the _Jews_ in their _Talmud_ [4] tell us, that in the beginning of every new year, or first day of the month _Tisri_, the seventh month of the sacred year, three books are opened in judgment; the book of life, in which the names of those are written who are perfectly just; the book of death, in which the names of those are written who are Atheists or very wicked; and a third book, of those whose judgment is suspended till the day of expiation, and whose names are not written in the book of life or death before that day. The first ten days of this month they call the penitential days; and all these days they fast and pray very much, and are very devout, that on the tenth day their sins may be remitted, and their names may be written in the book of life; which day is therefore called the day of expiation. And upon this tenth day, in returning home from the Synagogues, they say to one another, _God the creator seal you to a good year_. For they conceive that the books are now sealed up, and that the sentence of God remains unchanged henceforward to the end of the year. The same thing is signified by the two Goats, upon whose foreheads the High-Priest yearly, on the day of expiation, lays the two lots inscribed, _For God_ and _For _Azazel_; God's lot signifying the people who are sealed with the name of God in their foreheads; and the lot _Azazel_, which was sent into the wilderness, representing those who receive the mark and name of the Beast, and go into the wilderness with the great Whore.

The servants of God being therefore sealed in the day of expiation, we may conceive that this sealing is synchronal to the visions which appear upon opening the seventh seal; and that when the Lamb had opened six of the seals and seen the visions relating to the inside of the sixth, he looked on the backside of the seventh leaf, and then saw the four Angels holding the four winds of heaven, and another Angel ascending from the East with the seal of God. Conceive also, that the Angels which held the four winds were the first four of the seven Angels, who upon opening the seventh seal were seen standing before God; and that upon their holding the winds, there was silence in heaven for half an hour; and that while the servants of God were sealing, the Angel with the golden Censer offered their prayers with incense upon the golden Altar, and read the Law: and that so soon as they were sealed, the winds hurt the earth at the sounding of the first trumpet, and the sea at the sounding of the second; these winds signifying the wars, to which the first four trumpets sounded. For as the first four seals are distinguished from the three last by the appearance of four horsemen towards the four winds of heaven; so the wars of the first four trumpets are distinguished from those of the three last, by representing these by four winds, and the others by three great woes.

In one of _Ezekiel_'s visions, when the _Babylonian_ captivity was at hand, _six men_ appeared _with slaughter-weapons_; _and a seventh_, who [5] appeared _among them clothed in white linen and a writer's ink-horn by his side_, is commanded to _go thro' the midst of _Jerusalem_, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations done in the midst thereof_: and then the six men, like the Angels of the first six trumpets, are commanded to slay those men who are not marked. Conceive therefore that the hundred forty and four thousand are sealed, to preserve them from the plagues of the first six trumpets; and that at length by the preaching of the everlasting gospel, they grow into _a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people and tongues_: and at the sounding of the seventh trumpet come out of the great tribulation _with Palms in their hands: the kingdoms of this world_, by the war to which that trumpet sounds, _becoming the kingdoms of God and his _Christ_. For the solemnity of the great _Hosannah_ was kept by the _Jews_ upon the seventh or last day of the feast of tabernacles; the _Jews_ upon that day carrying Palms in their hands, and crying _Hosannah_.

After six of the Angels, answering to the six men with slaughter-weapons, had sounded their trumpets, the Lamb in the form of a mighty Angel cane down from heaven clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the Sun, and his feet as pillars of fire, the shape in which Christ appeared in the beginning of this Prophecy; and he had in his hand a little book open, the book which he had newly opened; for he received but one book from him that sitteth upon the throne, and he alone was worthy to open and look on this book. And he set his right foot upon the sea and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth. It was the custom for the High-Priest on the day of expiation, to stand in an elevated place in the peoples court, at the Eastern gate of the Priests court, and read the Law to the people, while the Heifer and the Goat which was the Lord's lot, were burning without the Temple. We may therefore suppose him standing in such a manner, that his right foot might appear to John as it were standing on the sea of glass, and his left foot on the ground of the house; and that he cried with a loud voice, in reading the Law on the day of expiation. And when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. Thunders are the voice of a cloud, and a cloud signifies a multitude; and this multitude may be the Levites, who sang with thundering voices, and played with musical instruments at the great sacrifices, on the seven days of the feast of Tabernacles: at which times the trumpets also sounded. For the trumpets sounded, and the Levites sang alternately, three times at every sacrifice. The Prophecy therefore of the seven thunders is nothing else than a repetition of the Prophecy of the seven trumpets in another form. And the Angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, that after the seven thunders there should be time no longer; but in the days of the voice of the seventh Angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the Prophets. The voices of the thunders therefore last to the end of this world, and so do those of the trumpets.