To conclude, this kingdom cannot be meant of any state in this life, for they are those that overcome & keep his works works unto yethe end, to whome Christ will give power over the nations to rule them with a rod of iron Rev 2.26. And moreover the beginning of this Kingdom is to be when the Ancient of days sits in judgment, & yethe son of man comes in yethe clouds to receive of him yethe Kingdom: wchwhich to interpret of any thing els then yethe day of judgment & yethe second coming of orour Saviour is very dangerous. ffor yethe last overthrows yethe faith of yethe Iewish Church concerning yethe day of judgment, wchwhich they grounded on this place; & both together will justify any man that shall allegorise all yethe like descriptions of those things in yethe new Testament & so turn all to a fable wchwhich God forbid.

Having thus shown that Daniel's four Kingdoms are a Calender of all times to yethe end of yethe world, whereof yethe Roman is yethe fourth the 4th falls to the Roman Empire; I cannot but give you notise that shall desire you now to consider whither it is not this fourth or last Kingdom of yethe world & wchwhich StSaint Paul had relation when he said had relation when he said meant by yethe end of yethe world when he said: These things are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of yethe world are come 1 Cor 10.11 Now inIn yethe end of yethe world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Heb 9.26.

This I demonstrate by those arguments.

Arg 1. The sixt Trumpet Seale is a description of yethe universal ruin of Idolatry. And the ruin thereof happened in the age between Constantine & Theodosius.

The first assertion is manifest by what I said in Def 64 & 65 & in Prop 10.4 to wchwhich I refer you. And the13 the second is to be met with in all histories. Who knows not ytthat Constantine was yethe first Christian Emperor & that began to suppress the Idolatry? But yet he completed not yethe conquest. caused The Idols he caused to be thrown down & some few of yethe Idol Temples to be demolished neare Constantinople he caused to be to be demolished, & all yethe rest to to be shut up he took away the revenues for their worship to be shut up. And in that state they continued & which his sons continued to prosecutedprosecute heathenism much more then he till yethe reign of Iulian yethe Apostate who opened yethe remaining Temple again & renewed heathenism the worship, but Gratian & Theodosius (after they had been again shut up) caused them to be it to caused that to be demolished throughout the Empire & the worship to cease wthwithout & afterwards partly demolished partly converted to christian uses whereby the worship ceased wthwithout relaps

To describe yethe great struggling of yethe Heathens in defence of these their Gods, & the severall overthrows of their Armies (signified by turning yethe moon into blood) would be too tedious. Let it suffice to tell you that yethe Tyrants Eugenius & Arbogastes were the last Champions of that kind, & those Theodosiosius overthrew wthwithin less then a year before his death. So that And therefore in all respects we may he is to be accounted him the finisher of this victory over Heathenism, & by consequence the sixt Seal must extend from Constantine to yethe end of his reign.

Arg 2. The sixt seal is the time at wchwhich yethe Dragon was cast out of heaven by Michael. And this was performed in the age between Constantine & Theodosius

The first assertion is manifest by what I said in Prop 10.4 & yethe second may appear by these considerations 1 That yethe casting out yethe Dragon out of heaven is yethe Abolishingabolishing the Idolatry of the Kingdom represented by the Dragon. 2 That this Idolatry is abolished by yethe prevailing of Christianity, & 3 That yethe Kingdom represented by the Dragon is yethe old Roman Empire. The 3d is manifest by Prop 25 & the two first by what was said in Prop 10.4 or even by these two sentences alone: The great Dragon was cast out, ytthat old serpent called the Devill & Sathan wchwhich deceiveth yethe whole world vers 9. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb & by yethe word of their testimony vers 11. For these are a notable interpretation of yethe whole Prophesy. Now joyning all yethe three considerations, the result is that yethe casting out of yethe Dragon was yethe universall abolishing of yethe Idolatry of yethe Roman Empire by the prevailing of Christianity. And this as I said, every one knows to have happened in yethe age wchwhich began with the reign of Constantine.

Arg Arg. 3. The sixt Seale is yethe time wchwhich immediately succeeded the greatest persecution of the Church under yethe heathen Emperors. But yethe age from Constantine to Theodosius immediately succeeded that persecution.

The first assertion is manifest, as well becaus yethe sixt Trump14 Trumpet immediately succeeds yethe fift wherein yethe persecution is represented by yethe souls under yethe Altar, as becaus yethe casting out yethe Dragon immediately succeeds yethe war between him & Michael wherein yethe soldiers of Michael got yethe victory by yethe word of their testimony & loved not their lives unto yethe death. How both these represent a very great persecution you may see at large explained in Prop 10.4. And no doubt it was notably great above all others, for it is not likely that the holy ghostGhost would take so much notise of a small persecution & slip over a great one.

The second assertion is manifest out of History wchwhich informs us that yethe tenth or last of yethe heathen persecutions, wchwhich was begun by yethe edict of Dioclesian & after ten years restrained by yethe Edict of Maximian, & at length wholly made to cease by the victories of Constantine, was notably sharp & great above all yethe former, being yethe onely & seems comparable to ymthem all put together, being yethe onely persecution wchwhich was universal. ffor amonstamongst those that of Decius is accounted the greatest being much more sharp & universal then yethe rest, & yet that lasted but a a Baron: Annal: An 253, sect 48. one year & three months whereas this continued ten wthwith as great or greater violence & universality. Omnibus ferè auteactis, saith Orosius, diuturnior et immanior fuit, nam per decem annos incendijs Ecclesiarum, proscriptionibus innocentium, cædibus martyrum incessabiliter acta est. In yethe beginning of it wthwithin yethe compas of 30 days seventeen thousand are said to have been slain. b Nor was yethe fury of yethe persecutors mitigated by the progress of time In Egypt alone (a very small portion of yethe Empire) were slain, saith Ignatius of Antioch, a hundred & fourty four thousand me, & seventy thousand banished: whencewhich arose occasioned amongst yethe Egyptians whence yethe Æra of Dioclesian, amongst the Egyptians was called also yethe Æra of Martyrs. And if you peruse yethe description wchwhich Eusebius gives of it, you will find it was no milder in other Provinces prose no milder in other Provinces unless the region on this side yethe Alps onlybe excepted. What think you then was done throughout the whole Roman world? Omnis ferè sacro Martyrum cruore orbis infestus est saith Sulpitius Severus. And again Nullis unquam bellis mundus sanguine magis exhaustus15haustus est neque majori unquam triumpho Ecclesia viciät quam cùm decem annorum stragibus vinci non potuit

And this I take to be the ten years tribulation predicted to yethe Church in Rev 2.10. ffor although that be spoken to yethe Church of Smyrna yet it excludes not yethe rest of yethe Churches but rather includes them, becaus it is not likely that this persecution should be any other then the greatest wchwhich they were to suffer, & it is less likely that the greatest persecution should happen to them wthwithout affecting their neighbours.

I hope I need not now put you in mind of the relation between this persecution & yethe conversion of yethe Empire to toto Christianity; namely how yethe one is represented by a battel & the other by a victory wchwhich yethe saints obteined over the Dragon by the blood of yethe Lamb & by the word of testimony: ffor it is sufficiently apparent that this ** Maximinus one of the Persecuting Emperors his edict for restraining it in yethe East at yethe end of the ten years, runs thus. Prioribus Augustis Christianorum gentem tanquam deorum cultui adversam penitus esse delendam, se quoque aliquamdiu ratum simili debere uti sententia: Sed quomiam eo magis gens ista propagetur et crescat quo maximè putetur inhiberi, velle se potius ut siquidem blandis quis ad deorum cultum persuasionibus acquiescat recipiatur, nullus verò cogatur invitus. Euseb. Chron Hist. l 9.9 persecution was the means whereby Heathenism was overthrown; the blood of Martyrs ever proving the seed of yethe Church. But that wchwhich I would here note is the mystery of the child-bearing woman, how much that adds to the force of these two last arguments. And to that end I desire you to consider these things: ffirst That as soon as yethe woman ishas brought forth & her her child is caught up to the throne of God, she flies into the Wilderness, chap. 12.6. Secondly that her flight into the wilderness begins not till after the Dragon is cast down, vers 13 & 14; & therefore her childbearing & yethe exaltation of her child wchwhich immediately precedes this will fall in wthwith yethe war & victory over the Dragon. Thirdly that since yethe this Woman is the Church, the pains of her childbearing described something emphatically in vers 2, must be a great persecution of the church, & by consequence the very same wthwith that exprest by the battel between Michael & the Dragon. ffourthly becaus the woman does not represent a single person but the whole body of yethe Church, therefore by the analogy, her child must not represent any single person alone but the whole body of the church some great body of men. ffor as a woman & a man are of yethe same kind16 kind, & differ onely in sex, so the things represented by yethe woman & her man-child must have no other difference. Compare this place of Iohn wthwith Isa 66 to wchwhich it is related & I suppose it will put yethe matter out of doubt. The words of Isaiah are: Before her pain came she was delivered of a man child – shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed she brought forth her children. ffiftly since the feminine nature of yethe woman consists in this that she is an EcclesisticallEcclesiasticall body, the masculine nature of her child must consist in this that he is a civil body. ffor these are opposites: Polity & Religion, Magistrates & Priests, State & Church; & are generally considered as male & female. The man Child must therefore be a body of Magistrates or a temporall Kingdom. Yea this you have exprest in vers 5, And she brought forth a man-child wchwhich was to rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron, & her child was caught up to God & to his throne. Lastly since the same persecution of the Church is both the war by which the Dragon was vanquished, & yethe pains by wchwhich yethe Woman brought forth this child, therefore the birth of this child & its exaltation up to God & to his throne will fall in with the casting out yethe Dragon out of heaven; as being the opposite effects of that persecution. And consequently since the Dragon is the heathen Empire, the man Child by opposition must be the Christian Empire, whereof yethe one is dethroned & yethe other at yethe same time exalted into yethe Throne. This must be yethe result of yethe war between Michael & yethe Dragon; & therefore so soon as yethe Dragon is cast down you have yethe exaltation of the man child to yethe Throne celebrated in these words by a voice from heaven saying: Now is come salvation & strength, & the Kingdom of orour God & the power of his Christ.

And that you may be sure this is no other then the Christian Roman Empire & more especially its magistrates body of Magistrates you have both yethe religion & the universality of it described together in vers 5. The Woman brought forth a manchild who was to rule all nations wthwith a rod of iron. For here yethe rod of iron is a singular phrase for yethe scepter of a Christian Kingdom See17 See chap 2.27. & 19.15 & Psal 2.9: & all nations can import no less dominion then the Roman. And both these together can agree to none but the age between Constantine & Theodosius, becaus the Empire was not Christian before Constantine nor universal in a monarchical form after Theodosius.

Arg: 45. The sixt seale is the time wchwhich immediately next a little preceded the finall division of yethe Roman Empire & the wars wherein the Roman Empire Western part of it was divided into ten Kingdoms. But the time between Constantine & Theodosius immediately a little next preceded that division & those wars.

The first assertion is was m manifest from hence that these Kings had not received their Kingdom in the time of yethe sixt head or Seal but were to receive them about yethe same time wthwith yethe Beast & therefore since he rose at yethe beginning of the Trumpets seventh Seal, their rise will fall in with the first wars of in the Trumpets, & that is with those which those next after some short time of peace signified by the half howers silence, succeed yethe sixt seal. Posit ffor there twas shown that yethe Empire at the rise of the Beast (wchwhich began imperfectly in the sixt Seale & was perfected at yethe beginning of yethe Trumpets) was divided into two branches the Beast & yethe Beast by Prop 10 & the Dragon, & that the horns of the Beast rose at or soon after yethe beginning of yethe Trumpets

The second assertion is manifest out of history. ffor wthwithin less then a 10 years after Theodosius his death brake out the Gothic wars whereby the Empire wchwhich till then continued in a monarchicall form, was rent wthwithin less then fifty years yethe Empire continued always under the sole dominion of Rome till yethe building of Constantinople & then became divided between those two cities. It was first divided at yethe death of Constantine between his sons & the A.C. 336 & then reunited by LConstantius's conquest of yethe west A.C. 353, & after yethe death of Iovian A.C. 364 divided again imperfectly & at length perfectly & for ever at yethe death of Theodosius A.C. 395 & wthwithin 15 years after the western part of it was rent by vehement wars into ten Kingdoms wchwhich could never since be reunited, of wchwhich I shall hereafter give you yethe catalogue.

Hence it is easy to collect that yethe western part of yethe Empire is yethe Beast wchwhich rose out of yethe Sea at yethe death of Constantine & that by yethe Dragon's giving him his old seat Rome, & a little after was slain by yethe sword of Constantius & ceased to be till yethe death of Iovian & then was healed & revived by yethe new division of yethe Empire between Valentinian & Valens wthwith their successors, & began his plenary reign (yethe reign of his eighth head) at Theodosius's death when the final division & yethe wars wchwhich set up yethe horns began. But of this hereafter.

Thus you see yethe time of this seal is bounded every way by demonstrative characters; for such I account these fourfive Arguments becaus there is no other time to wchwhich any one of them can be applied. And these things being premised, I come now to interpret the series of yethe seals & Trumpets.

This is manifest by what I said in yethe last Proposition.

The whole time of these Seales is defined by Prop 20 & 2726 & so it remains onely that we show how it is to be distributed among them. But in order to this you are first to know what is meant by the four Beasts wchwhich introduce yethe visions of these Seals. Now this is in great measure determined by the qualities of the horsmen in each seal; but becaus all those qualities do not always run through yethe whole time of yethe seal, therefore God has applied a further character of them by introducing every Horsman wthwith a Beast saying comeCome & see. Wherefore before we explain the seales it is necessary that we first show what is meant by the four Beasts. And this depends — And this depends upon yethe form of yethe heavenly Court or Theater described in chap 4: wchwhich being a representation of Gods dwelling in yethe midst of his church, is to be learnt from the manner of yethe Iews incamping in the Wilderness. For it alludes to that, as you may perceive by the analogy.

Know therefore that in yethe midst of yethe Camp was placed yethe Tabernacle called in this Prophesy yethe Temple of yethe Tabernacle ch 15.5 or barely the Temple vers 6, 8, &c. And within this, as I conceive, in yethe veil was the door opened in heaven to let StSaint Iohn in to the sight of yethe Throne of God ch 64.1, wchwhich Throne you must conceive to be over the Mercy Seat between the Cherubins, for it was within the Temple ch 15.8, & 16.17. And about this Throne you must imagin the seven lamps ch 4.5, & the Laver, here called a Sea of glass ver 6, & the golden Altar ch 8.3, & yethe Altar of Sacrifice ch 5.96.9, & yethe Arc of the Testament ch 11.19 to be so placed as they were in the mercy seat ab Wilderness about the mercy Seat whither they bewere within or without the veil. Exod 40.

Next about yethe Tabernacle incamped the Priests & Levites answering here to yethe 24 Elders; that is, of each order twelve. And about them at a distance beyond them were placed yethe rest of yethe twelve tribes in four squadrons toward yethe four quarters of heaven every squadron with its own standard: wchwhich & these you have expreseded by the four Beasts, which haveare full of many eyes to represent a multitude of people by their eyes, & wchwhich are situate in yethe middle coasts of19 of yethe throne & round about the throne, that is over against the midst of every side of yethe throne round about it. This form of incamping you have described in Num 1 & 2 And of onely yethe signes of yethe standards wchwhich are not there recorded, the Iews But yet ththe Rabbies inform us by tradition from their Ancestors, Aben Ezra in 2 Num, saith that in yethe eastern standard was a Lyon in the western an Ox in the southern a man & in the northern an Eagle. Our Ancestors, saith Aben Ezra in 2 Num Num, delivered that in yethe standard of Reuben was the figure of a man becaus (as he supposes) of the mandrakes on in yethe standard of Iudah yethe figure of a Lyon becaus so Iacob so compared him; Gen 49.9 in yethe standard of Ephraim yethe figure of an Ox according to his being called yethe firstling of an Ox, Deutr 33.17 & in yethe standard of Dan yethe figure of an Eagle. SheThe same hath bar Nachman here, & Chazkuni in Num 3.

And this is not a little confirmed by Ezekiel's vision of the four four-faced (not four headed) Cherubins who looking saw the northward saw them each wthwith the face of a man in the front & wthwith yethe face of a Lyon toward yethe right hand, & wthwith yethe face of an Ox toward yethe left hand, & yethe fourth face wchwhich was the face of an Eagle must therefore be Northward. And these as if there was some mystery in their position went every one streight forwards & turned not about when they went. Ezek 1.4, 9, 10. I suppose it was, as in yethe Apocalyptic vision, to represent God, (whose glory appeared in yethe midst of them) to be yethe Lord of yethe four quarters of Israel.

Having thus framed a conception of the heavenly Court, you may further consider that yethe Iews in yethe wilderness were not all saints but a mixture of good & bad, & therefore yethe Beasts wchwhich allude to their squadrons are capable of signifying any sort of men the people of any nation to wchwhich they are applied Beasts as they are a type drawn from the nation of nation mixed the Iews, so they may be applied to typify the people of any other nation. As they worship God they must signify saints but when they are applied to characterise the horsmen in the seales, they may also in that respect typify such societies of men as are agreable to those horsmen. Considering therefore that the horsmen are yethe four first of the seven Kings according to wchwhich (as I signified in Prop ) the Dragon is divided20 divided into seven heads: each horsman with his Beast will represent a King wthwith his people, or a King with his an Army & their standard. And what more significant type of the Roman Emperors then this?

But yet the first of these horsmen we must except from their number. ffor yethe colour of his hors discovers him to be the same with that Rider in chap 19.11, who had on his Thigh a name written King of Kings & Lord of Lords. Here he goes forth conquering & ἵνα νεκήση that he might conquer, & there he appears again to finish the conquest which he had begun. And thus he is the Alpha & Omega of the Prophesy. The first fruits of his Conquests were the great spreading of yethe gospel in the Apostles days, & the silencing of Oracles yethe heathen Oracles: & his further success hereafter you have signified by his Bow Def . His Army & standard is represented by the first Beast wchwhich is a Lyon towards yethe East, & this proclaims him an EastenEastern Prince & yethe Lyon of yethe Tribe of Iudah; & his dignity you may further learn by the Crown wchwhich is given to none but him.

This first King we have interpreted of therefore is to be interpreted of orour Saviour a single person: Butbut as he is equivalent to a series of many so the other three Kings must be applied each to a series of many. ffor this the great number of Emperors to be distributed among them requires; & we have Daniel's authority for it, who although there were 9 or 10 Kings between Cyrus & yethe last Darius, yet he calls them but three Kings becaus they were onely three different lines of Kings, Dan 11.2.

The second King is introduced by the second Beast wchwhich is an Ox situate to yethe west & this whilst in yethe Vision it bids21 bids StSaint Iohn look towards it informs us that this Seal must begin with Trajan the spaniard, an Emperour out of the west. Trajan a Spaniard, saith Dion, was neither of Italy nor an Italian nor of Italy: before him no man had obteined the Empire of another nation had obteined the Empire. In yethe former Seal it was in yethe family of Cæsar, & to yethe end of this it continues itin his family

To this Horsman it was given to take peace from the earth (i.e. that it should be taken from yethe earth in his reign) from his neighbours by invading them) & that they & that they (he & his neighbours or his own subjects by civil wars) should kill one another ἕνα ἀλλήλους σφάξωσι wchwhich last words confirm yethe explication of yethe former. ffor what other sense can there be in this, that powe it was given him that men should kill one another? then that it was given him or that it was allotted to his reign that men should rage with mutual slaughters. This killing one another you have further expressed by his ensigne yethe Ox wchwhich is a Beast appointed to yethe slaughter & represents his armies & other people of his kingdom, but let us see yethe event. And to pass over the wars of Trajan wthwith Decebalus & afterward his conquests beyond Euphrates so great that he compared himself to Alexander; let us take a view of yethe broiles between the Iews & his other Subjects, as being more to yethe purpose & alone sufficient to verify the Prophesy These things therefore I understand of civile slaughters, but yet the great sword wchwhich external enemies was given him I take to be is an Emblem of victoriousness as the Bow was of the first rider. ***