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verfe, join them with these here, and place them allthus: And the eighth King is alfo of the Beast. which was, and is not. He is of the feven; and when he shall come, he must continue for a fhort Space, and then goeth into perdition. See here an eighth King, that belongs to the Roman Empire, And this eighth King is of the feven, he is of the number of the feven Governments. It must neceflarily be, that this eighth King must come from hence, that one of the feven is divided into two. And 'tis the Head of the Roman Emperours divided into two. For the Roman Emperours are either Pagans, or Chriftians. The converfion of the Emperours made fo great a change, that the Chriftian Emperours deferved to be reckon'd for an eighth head.

However, because they laft but a fhort space, and because in refpect of their Temporal, they were perfectly like the fore-going Emperours, the Holy Spirit ranks them under the feventh head. And when he cometh, he must continue a Short Space. That is to fay when the fecond

part of the Head of the Emperours fhall become, viz. the Chriftian Emperours, it fhall not continue long. Indeed the Chriftian Emperours did not poffefs the Empire, but from the converfion of Conftantine to Valentinian the third about 130, or 135. years. Befides, the tranfpolition of the words which I have fuppofed, doth not make any difficulty here; for if I made a commentary, I could eafily bring examples much more harth in the writings only of the N. Teftament,

And the ten Horns, which thou faweft, are ten Kings, which have received no Kingdom as jet: but receive power as Kings one hour with the Beaft. These are the ten Kings, or the ten King

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doms, into which the Roman Empire was rent, when the Imperial power was deftroyed in the Weft. And the fame time that the ten Kings were made; the Beaft, that is to fay, the fecond Beaft of the 13th. Chapter, the Beast with two Horns, the Roman Church, began to form its Empire. This is one of the most remarkable places of the Prophecies, to find the point of the birth of the Antichriftian Empire. Therfore it deferves a larger reflection, which fhall be found afterwards in its proper place. These have one mind, and fhall give their power and frength unto the Beaft. Thefe ten Kings, or thefe ten Kingdoms, fhall voluntarily fubmit themfelves to the yoke of the Roman Church. For the fhall not obtain her dominion by the way of Conqueft, but by the way of illufion, of feduction, and perfwafion. She fhall perfwade the Kings of the Earth to give her their power. In truth this did fo happen. The Princes doating on this Idol of St. Peter's Chair, the Apoftolical See, raised this throne fo high, that it was like afterwards to have swallowed them up.

Thefe fhall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb fhall overcome them. They shall lend their arms and their power to the Roman Church to fmother the truth. But the truth of Jefus Chrift fhall furmount them, fhall enlighten them, and get fuch a victory over them, as fhall be happy for thofe that are overcome. England, Sweden, Denmark, and many other States have been already overcome in this manner.

And he faith unto me, the waters which thou faweft, where the whore fatteth, are peoples, and multitudes and nations, and tongues. This Woman, this corrupted Church, fhall have the multitude for her, the fhall afcribe great honour

to

to her felf from thence, and make use of that as an argument, that she is the true Spouse of Jesus Chrift.

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And the ten Horns, which thou fauft upon Beaft, thefe fball hate the whore, and make her defolate, and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, &c. We fhall have occafion afterwards more than once to reflect on these words. Therfore we shall fay nothing of them at prefent.

The woman which thou faweft, is that great City, which reigneth over the Kings of the Earth, The great City is not precifely the City of Rome, 'tis the Roman Church that hath its feat at Rome on the feven Mountains. This is an important truth, that the great City in the Revelation fignifies not Rome precifely, but Rome conjunctly with its Ecclefiaftical Empire. Itfhould be proved; but we must referve the proofs for another place, where it will be very material for us to fix this, what the City fignifies.

CHAP. XVII.

Babylon in the 17th. and 18th. Chapters of the Revelation is Rome Antichristian and Papal, and not Rome Pagan.

TH

He 17th Chapter is one of thofe wherin the defcription of the Antichriftian Empire is certainly contained. We have applied it to the See of Rome with the fame fuccefs as we have done the foregoing Prophecies. But we have fome confiderations to add, to prove that that City spoken.

7.164

That Rome

ftian and

of in that Chapter is Rome together with its Empire, of Chriftian become Antichristian.

'Tis a place where the Papifts find themselves Chri- reduced to mighty ftraits. They have confeffed, not Pagan that the 11th and 13th. Chap. of the Revelation is Spiritual Babylon & fpoke concerning Antichrift. But because in the the fear of 11th. Chap. the feat of Antichrift is called the

Antichrift

Bellarm.

1. 3. de Pontif Rom. c.

༣3. The first

Beast of

City where I. Chrift was crucified, they will not acknowledg it to be Rome. And because in the 13th. Chap. Rome is not named, they will by no means have it to be found there. But in this 17th. Chap. they are forced to fee Rome in the city on Seven Mountains, and in that great city, that reigned over the kings of the Earth. This brings them to the laft extremity, and we need but fee what they fay on this point, to convince them that their Holy Roman See is the feat of the Antichristian Empire.

ift. They fay that Rome in this 17th. Chap. is Rome Pagan and not Rome Chriftian. The falfnefs of this fuppofition is evident. First it is clear that the Beast which carries the woman, is the fame with that Beaft that arifeth out of the the 13th. Sea in the 13th. Ch. This had feven heads and ten that of the horns, and upon his horns ten Crowns, and upon his heads the name of blafphemy. The Beast in the 17th. Ch. is defcribed after the fame man

Ch. and

17th are

the fame.

ner.

The Woman fate upon a scarlet-coloured Beaft, full of names of blafphemy, having seven heads and ten Horns. Secondly the Beast of the C. 17.3. 13th. Ch. arifeth out of the Sea. And I saw a

C. 13. T.

Beast rife up out of the Sea. That of the 17th. Ch. afcends out of the bottomless pit, or the Chap. 17. deep. The Beast that thou faweft was and is not, and fhall afcend out of the bottomless pit, or the deep. Now the deep and the fea in the vifi

8.

ons

13.3.

7.

ans are the fame thing. Thirdly, 'Tis faid of the Chap. firft Beaft, that all the World wonders after the Beaft. That all that dwell upon the earth shall .8. worship him, whose names are not written in the book of Life. 'Tis faid alfo of that in the feven- Chap. 17. teenth. That they that dwell on the earth shall . zwonder, whose names are not written in the book of Life, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Fourthly, The Beast in the 13th Chap. makes war with the Saints, and 'tis Chap. 13. given to him to overcome them. That in the 17th Chap. carries a Woman, that makes her self drunk Chap. 17. with the blood of the Saints. Fifthly, The Beaft". of the 13th Chap. receives a deadly wound in one of his beads, which dies and rifes again. The Beaft in the 17th Chap. was, and is not, and muft Chap. 74 afcend out of the bottomless pit, or the deep; was, and is not, and yet is. Who doth not fee, that the latter is an explication of the former? The Beaft was, and is not, because his head hath been mortally wounded. He is however, and muft afcend out of the bottomless pit, because his deadly wound' fhall be healed, and the Beast fhall rife again. Sixthly, The Beaft in the 13th Ch. hath ten horns, which fignify ten Kings. That in the feventeenth hath likewife ten Horns; and the ten Horns which thou faweft are ten Kings.

7,8.

is not a

the Beaft

These fo exact and perfect refemblances plain- why there ly fhew, that these two Beafts are one. But why woman is there a Woman feen fitting on the fecond Beaft, fitting on and none upon the firft? we have already hinted of the 13th the reafon. In the thirteenth Chap. there are Chap. as two Beafts, which by the confeffion of all Inter- that of the preters, even the popish ones themselves, fignify 17th. one and the fame thing; only the Beaft with the feven heads fignifies the Empire; and the Beast M 3

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